Cold

A bit of a surprise at just how cold it is today, not sure what I expecting it to be to be honest, perhaps I am thinking that spring can't be far away or that I want spring to start early!

Weatherspoons

Went to a weatherspoons pub yesterday and had a great meal of surf and turf.

I could not enjoy the real ales they sell as I was driving but in the past when I am not the duty driver I have enjoy some very good pints of real ale such as abbot ale.

Microwave

So for the very forts time I just seen a microwave with a steam cleaning button!

I know?

What the hell is it for?

Turns out that to use it you have to put a cup of water in the microwave, it then heats it up for ten minutes after which you then have to wipe down the inside of the oven.

I am sure that you can get just the same effect by putting a cup of water in the oven and just setting the timer for ten minutes.

So I think that having a button like this on a microwave oven is just a bit of a gimick.

Podcasts

I still have too many shows and not enough time in which to listen to them

I wonder if there is a word for such a situation , if not I am sure that there should be.

Cooking

Just tried one of the recipes from the new Jammie Oliver's book that came out at Christmas.

I have to say it was very nice and that it turned out very well, even if I have to say so myself.

It did take more than the thirty minutes that Jamie reckons it should take.

Snow

Snow why?

I have had enough of all this snow stuff I want spring to start and to start soon.

Music

Why is music such a great thing to listen to?

Why does it make you feel better most of the time?

Why does it allow you to escape to somewhere else?

I don't know the answers to these questions, but I bet there are people out there who do know.

Thing is I yet to find them or any evidence of their work.

Book writing

For some reason or other I started to write a new and if I must say so myself better book on trains and the landscape.

Now several years ago I started writing a book called Tain and terrain it got to edition three and then for various reasons it did not progress any further.

Well for various reasons I have looked at it again and decided that a total rewrite was needed.

So last night I darted all over again and I think that this time I have got a much better book and a much better layout for the book.

This time I still have the book starting in Woking train station and we take a trip on the train from Woking all the way to it's terminus at Weymouth pier.

All the way I talk about each train station and a bit about it's history, I then in the next chapter talk about the town that the train station is in, again talking about the places history and any other notable information that I could find out about it and that I also think is interesting.

So far in writing the book I have got every train station covers and also every town that the train stops in.

The book at this time runs to over 400 pages but I am sure that as I edit the book the page count will go down as I have at this time included a lot of information that I am behind to think is not needed.

I have also included lots of pictures to illustrate the train stations and also some of the notable features in the towns that the train stations are in.

I am not sure yet how long it is going to take to complete the book but it has to be in weeks and not days.

I will report back here as to how progress goes.

Podcasts

I wonder if there is a name for the event when you have too many podcasts to listen to and not enough time?

Days

So the days of jan are to me rushing by, not to sure why it feels like the days are passing quickly, but to me they are

I have wondered if it has any thing to do with the time of year or how light or dark it is.

Expectations

Why do we have them ?

what purpose do they serve?

Do they have a good outcome ever?

Lies

I have yet again been lied to it hurts

Things

So how many things have you near to as you read this

Tied

For some reason I feel very tied and it's only 18:11 now I have had abusy day but so that I feel how tied as I do now

Strange may be it the fact that it has been a really dark day who knows what the cause is

All I know is that I am very tied when I should not be so

Cold

Wow went outside just now 20.19 it was a bit of a shock at how cold it was

Darkness

So I know I keep on going on about it but I am glad that finally I can see that the days are now just starting to get a bit longer.

Seeing as I have lived so far through a lot of winters and springs I have noted that as I have got older the more notice I now seem to take on just how dark it get and at what time,not to sure why that is but that's what I have noticed

I know that if I look up sunrise and sunset times I can find out very quickly when daylight will exceed nighttime.

I can also see the sunrise time creep back earlier and earlier, but there is sometime about actually experiencing it that makes all the difference

Book reading

I have just finished reading the third book by Leo McKinstry that I have read in a row.

The other books by him that I have read were Spitfire and Lancaster the book that I just finished reading is called Hurricane.

All 3 books follow the same pattern and I suppose that if it works and it's not broken why change it, I must say that for these three books that it works very well

I am not sure if I could read many more books laid out in the same way but for these three it's okay

So back to the book that have just read it's okay it does go into the history of the plane and where it came from and why.

It also does explain just who the aircraft designer is and why the planes he designed are the way they were.

The is also information on the fight to get the plane built in the numbers that the RAF needed back in 1940 and how without the number of planes built that the outcome of the Battle of Britten may have had a very different outcome.

All in all a book that does tell you the story of the plane and what use it was put to during the war. you are even told just how many of each mark of plane was made and what the reasons where for the different marks and why there were less marks of the Hurricane compared to say the Spitfire.

So if you get the chance to read this book do so, personally I would I think read all three books in the order that I did, that is read the Lancaster book first then the Spitfire then finally the hurricane book, it will change your view on the war and how each of these planes had there own part to play in helping Great Britian win the war.

Sunset

I did wonder just how many sunsets a year are you know nice good looking something to take your breath away.

Then another thought canes to me do the sunset else where in the world have the same sort of niceness factor, I mean does it change if say you are in a warm climate?

Does it change if you are nearer to the equator?

I don't know all I can say for certain is that now and then here in the UK we do get some sunsets that make you go wow

Sunrise

I see that sunrise today is before 8am nice

M25 part 2

Well I have made it a round the M25, where did I go wrong?

The last .5 of a mile and missed the turning on the last roundabout.

The good thing is that the GPS.

M25

Tomorrow I have the fun of trying to find a hotel in Kent for some training.

Now what you should know is that I can get lost with the best of them.

As I have to go round the M25 I shall take my gps and I just know that I shall get lost even with the gps trying it's best.

Sleep

So I have found out that sleeping in hotel beds does not happen,due to it being a strange bed and all that sort of stuff.

But I have also found out that it's also hard to get used to sleeping back in your omen bed when you back to it

▶ Tosi - Leprosy by Tosi.

▶ Tosi - Leprosy by Tosi.

Listing to this music which i think is helping with the writing project in hand.

Home

Home again I feel happier now

Last day

Finally last day of the course

Away

Still away, good news is that I have only one more night away, the even better news is that I have only the tail end of the cold that I had earlier on this week

I must admit that the bed in the hotel is not that comfortable and so sleep is something that I am short of, but then when you are staying away do you expect to have a good time?

It is amazing how being away turns your life upside down, it's the little things that you take for granted each day that are some of the first things that you notice are missing when you are away

Cold

Having a cold suck and when you are on a course and staying away from home

Away

I do not have to in my job stay away from home very often . In fact it's thankfully a rare event.

So to find myself miles from home for the next 3 days is a strange event and I must admit that it is something I don't like

Blue sky

For the first time in what seems like ages we have had a blue sky day.

I must admit that it has been a cold blue sky day but at least it's been really bright and sunny.

It will be interesting to see how the sunset tonight plays out and just how long it will stay light for.

As we have had over the last few days some very dark nights darker than you would normally expect it to be, in fact one day last week it was only by looking at the clock I even new that sunset was due!

Clouds

Well there are lots of clouds about today, but none of them are the kind I like.
I can not wait until it's a bit warmer as we always seem to get much better looking clouds when it's warmer.

The Big British Fuel Tax Con. | I'll Try to be Nicer, If You Try to be Smarter

The Big British Fuel Tax Con. | I'll Try to be Nicer, If You Try to be Smarter

I think this is the most shocking thing I have read on why fuel in the UK is so expensive.

Rain

Lots of rain, very glad that it is not snow as it would have been a few weeks ago.

It's nice also to notice how the day is starting to get light for longer.

Cold

Bit cold it was a bit of a surprise at just how cold it has got.

I thought that it was going to stay near to the seasonal norm, but alas it was not to be.

Back at work

I know it's only been a few days but it already feels like I have been at work for ever.

Things

Funny how a simple thing can become far more than you think.

Space Weather Radio: News and information about sunspots, solar flares and meteor showers

Space Weather Radio: News and information about sunspots, solar flares and meteor showers

I might not be able to see them but at least I will be able to hear them

Dirk Maggs Productions Website :: Home

Dirk Maggs Productions Website :: Home

The new theme for the Dirk Maggs website, the only problem is, I am not sure that I like it.

For some reason to me it looks too dark and gloomy. so what I think I will do is leave it on the site for a few days and then come back to it, and see if I still hate it. if so I think I will go back to the theme that I had before which was much brighter.

YouTube - YELLO Touch

YouTube - YELLO Touch

This is just a track of Yello's that I like, I think it has something to do with the base and the rhythmics used.

Reading

I don't know if I recored it here that I finally late last year read Spitfire by Leo Mckinstry, its the second book of his that I have read, the first being Lancaster.

Well as I was out yesterday and found myself in a book shop, what should I find in paperback for the first time?

Yep another book by Leo this time called Hurricane.

Its the third book in the series and I hope that it will be just as good as his other two books.

Tanglefoot

Did I say here before that I like tanglefoot real ale?

No?

Well I do, not sure why I like it but have a good idea that it might have something to do with the taste.

Ipad

Screen protector 1 User 0

Putting a screen protector on to an Ipad is I think a lesson in patience or it's a quick and very easy route to madness, well for me it is!

This simply play the protector on the Ipad and squish the odd bubble out ( is what the chinglish instructions say to do)

After more than 6 attempts I still have a screen with air bubbles on it!

I am told by the other half, and she would know this sort of thing ,that they will get smaller over time, lets hope so.

Because at this moment in time the Moon has a flatter surface than my poor old Ipad.

Basingstoke

So off to joy old Basingstoke wonder if there will be any bargains to be had.

ipad 1 year on

This is what I said back on 28th Jan 2010 about the ipad, it makes interesting reading 1 year on, or very nearly 1 year on.

ipad

So the ipad is out, I don't know why but I wanted it to have more than they gave. By that I mean that as a version 1 device it has some failings that to me here in little old England are so obvious that you begin to wonder just what plant so of the folks in Apple are on.

I suppose will will never know what sort of discussions went to to decide what the machine should or should not have but the sad fact is that for what ever very good reasons, some of the stuff that they have left out are well to me just strange.

Take for instance multitasking, if I understand it right the new cpu that the ipad has, is more than capable of doing more than one task at the same time, the OS in the ipad can multi-task, in fact I think I have read somewhere that it does multi-task if you happen to be Apple and its your software running at the time.

So why does it not multi-task? there must be a reason, what it is I just don't have a clue.

The other thing that is not there is a forward facing camera, which would make the ipad just so much more usable, may be Apple don't want to sell too many devices or the cost of adding a camera broke the budget on the build cost.

Talking of build cost, I wonder just how much it does cost to make an ipad?

One thing that makes me really unhappy is that when I use my itouch ( which I do use very heavily, and have also run out of space on lots of times, its a 32G unit) is the number of website that don't work because I don't have flash on the itouch and I now see that for some reason Apple have still not got over there fears, worries about allowing it to work on the new ipad, why?

I am told by those in the know that the machine eg my touch is more than capable of running flash without any real problems.

So I have looked at other version 1 devices that Apple has done and have decided that a version 2 device is the better way to go.

So I have 12 more months to go before I will have to look at replacing my touch , I hope it lasts that long as the use it gets is stupid.

It goes without saying that as the year went by that I had a chance to play with the machine and the end results of that was that I now have an ipad with the latest OS on it, I am glad that I did not get the machine any earlier as I think that it would have been a bit of a disappointment in having to wait for so long to get the right operating system that makes use of all that the machine has to ofter.

I do know that an ipad2 is going to be announced soon but I don't think I could wait another 5 to 6 months for it hence the jump to the ipad1.

So I shall look at the ipad2 when it eventually makes its appearance here in the UK later this year.

1000 Blog Posts

I think that this year 2011 I could hit the 1000 blog posts, now for other folks that is not a big number. But for me it is, as looking at the site logs and the blog post records soon shows that I sometimes go for many weeks without making a post.

Not sure why sometimes I have lots to say and on other days noting not a thing to talk about.

So it will be interesting to see how the blog posts go this year.

New year

So another year of blogging starts.

I wonder just how many blogs I will do this year.

It looks like last year was not a bad year with some 160 odd blogs entry's which is good as I do know that I can go for weeks without making an entry.

so heres to 2011

Reasons to be Cheerful - Charlie's Diary

Reasons to be Cheerful - Charlie's Diary

This is a very good look at what has improved in the last 10 years. Some of this stuff I did not even know about.