Sites I like
Tuesday 29th April
A few years ago, I thought it was only songs that could be 'growers'. You know, the ones you hear for the first time on the radio and absolutely detest, but then find yourself adoring after a few weeks. These days though, I'm more likely to find a car that will grow on me than a song - probably due to my desperately short fuse when it comes to crappy radio. I have to admit to finding the new Renault Mégane quite attractive now after months of declaring it to be a bit of a minger. I saw one parked and had a bit of a snoop round and now I'm even considering a test drive. How very odd.
Also, after my recent article about why I think British Gas suck and Jude's rant about a BT phone monkey's lack of a sense of humour, I found this article on BBCi particularly interesting. Just because they say it won't get you anywhere, doesn't mean complaining online isn't fun.
Posted on April 29, 2003 | Comments (5)
Sunday 27th April
I have finally got round to writing another article for this site (see writing page), two for other sites (which I will link to when they're up), and may even write another later on today. Are you impressed? I also found some time to check out the radio and chat at the Lipstick Girls site. If you like a variety of music and are at a lose end one evening, check it out. I tried DJing a few times but found that putting a microphone in front of my face is the best way to get me to shut up as my mind goes blank! Thankfully the rest of the gang know what they're doing.
Posted on April 27, 2003 | Comments (0)
Saturday 26th April
Next month, St Petersburg in Russia will be 300 years old. This is one of the few places outside of the UK that I have been to but, unfortunately, the one I can remember the least about. I have been to France (mainly with school/college), the US (only Florida), and briefly visited both Germany and Belgium, all of which I remember more about than my wonderful eight day trip to St Petersburg and Moscow. I think it's time to get the photo album out again.
Posted on April 26, 2003 | Comments (0)
Friday 25th April
I have just had the pleasure of listening to one of the world's laziest radio phone-in competitions. Battle of the Sexes sounded like a great idea - the male presenter asks 'manly' questions of the female contestant, and the female asks 'girlie' questions to the male - but the problem is that they haven't spent more than two minutes thinking them up! If that. All the bloke gets asked is stuff on soap operas and the girl gets things about football. Who could fail to realise that all it would take is a male Corrie fan or a female footie supporter and the prize is in the bag. Maybe I should send them some example questions and spare my cringes every Friday morning.
Posted on April 25, 2003 | Comments (7)
Tuesday 22nd April
The NUT conference is here and, once again, bringing lots of educational issues into the news. Teachers are threatening not to teach class groups of over 27 children, sending the extra kids home instead, and companies are being criticised for promotions in association with schools which effectively encourage a diet of snack foods. I'd like to say it's stuff like that second story which has left me with quite a bit of excess weight to shift and a life-long sugar/carbohydrate addiction, but I don't think they did "Books for Schools" when I was a nipper. Dammit.
Posted on April 22, 2003 | Comments (0)
Monday 21st April
So, that's the Easter weekend almost over. We had so many plans but some were spoiled by the severe lack of open shops on Sunday. I know this is due to the fact it's a religious holiday, but people who aren't Christian have to put up with shops being open on their religious holidays, so why does everyone else have to put their lives on hold? I don't believe in any god and don't begin to claim an understanding of any religion but, if I want to buy a barbeque on Easter Sunday, I'd like to find a shop open and willing to sell me one. Is it really too much to ask? OK, so I'm probably going to hell for that but I'm not bothered as I don't believe in it anyway. Everyone's entitled to their own beliefs but surely this is forcing it onto others.
Posted on April 21, 2003 | Comments (4)
Friday 18th April
I have heard that motorists parking either a Smart city-coupé or cabrio in one London NCP car park, will get a 25 per cent discount. Apparently an electronic sensor mounted on the ceiling of the car park will recognise that the car is a Smart and a parking ticket will be issued which automatically calculates a reduced rate when the driver goes to pay. Seems strange to me as, unless they have specially marked small bays for these cars, they aren't really taking up any less space. Perhaps someone should come up with a car park that has different size bays where you pay for the size you need. That way, drivers of the tiny Smart can pay only for the space they use while owners of the Mercedes E-Class can choose a larger space to protect their pride and joy from dints.
Posted on April 18, 2003 | Comments (6)
Wednesday 16th April
On BBC Breakfast this morning was a story about how poor grammar and spelling is costing British businesses a fortune in lost business. If this is true, it proves that people who claim these skills are no longer important do not have quite as many others on their side as they'd hoped. It's always good to know that some people still care about standards of written English (perhaps because it's one thing I'm reasonably good at), as I'd hate to think that the UK population were happy to have most other European nations coping with our own language better than we do ourselves.
Posted on April 16, 2003 | Comments (2)
Friday 11th April
There is a small story in Auto Express this week saying that an Italian showgirl has taken out adverts in the press asking for the return of her stolen Porsche. If it's returned intact with a full tank of petrol she is offering to sleep with the thief! Now that's initiative. I'd love to see the guy's face if he returns it but forgets to re-fuel on the way.
Another item in this week's issue is an event called Motor DRIVE LiVe on 24-26 May. It's like a motor show only better, because you get to drive the cars! We're not going this year though as you have to be at least 25 to drive the performance cars. I know it must be something to do with the insurance they have for the event, but it's a bit of a shame. It's just the sort of event we need in this country at the moment though, so I hope it continues for many years.
Posted on April 11, 2003 | Comments (0)
Wednesday 9th April
Why does it feel so good to vent your anger by writing it all down? I have a couple of complaint letters brewing at the moment and know that I will feel so much better once I've typed, printed and posted my feelings to the companies who have really frustrated me with their poor service of late. The problem some people have is not reading things through and sending poorly thought out and hastily checked insults that end up in the bin at best. I can only hope that someone will pay attention to my whining this time, but at least I will feel that bit more relaxed once I let it all out.
Posted on April 09, 2003 | Comments (3)
Tuesday 8th April
We've just been to John Lewis to get two types of scales (for food and for people), in order to assist us with our après Easter diet plans, and came back having spent slightly more than we anticipated. Our first venture into proper widescreen begins next Thursday when they deliver a nice big box with 'Hitachi' written on the side, and so we have until then to decide what to watch on it first. I vote for The Matrix or Gladiator but, as I won't be waiting in for the delivery, suspect I will only get second viewing anyway. I'm off to refresh my memory as to exactly what we own on DVD now.
Posted on April 08, 2003 | Comments (0)
Saturday 5th April
Why do car manufacturers insist on making small cars that aren't? I'm sick of all these family sized superminis - what about the people who don't have (or want) a family, what do we buy? All small cars on the market seem to follow the MPV styling now so, if you want a car that's not as tall as you, looks like you're out of luck. I currently drive a Peugeot 106 and, when the time comes, would like to replace it with a three-door sporty looking car that fits into small spaces. I suppose it's probably a good thing that currently only a few cars seem to fit the bill as I wouldn't want to store a nice new motor anywhere other than off the road, so we'll have to move house first!
Posted on April 05, 2003 | Comments (3)
Friday 4th April
There has been lots on the news recently about women in the coalition forces, fighting in Iraq. First this was portrayed as a good thing, as women are now getting treated more equally in the armed forces than ever before, but now the media are focussing on different issues - "What about the children some of them are leaving behind? What happens if these soldiers get captured and raped?" I was happy to hear that the US Army is refusing to comment on any of these issues as all of the people concerned are soldiers like any other.
Also on the news was an item about the risk of cervical cancer being increased by 100% if you have been on the pill for 10 years or more. Again, the sensationalist reporting of some media would have many women concerned enough to risk unwanted pregnancy, but when I listened to the full story it seems that the risk is still very small and most cases will be caught by regular smear tests anyway. The broadcast media's reporting of current events really does need to be taken with a pinch of salt sometimes.
Posted on April 04, 2003 | Comments (0)
Wednesday 2nd April
I hadn't been paying much attention to it, but the second series of American Idol has apparently been been doing well in the US and the finalists are set to record a charity single. I'm sure the release would have gone largely unnoticed in the UK had it not been for the latest twist to the tale. The planned song for the charity release was the lovely, and currently very appropriate, Bacharach tune 'What the World Needs Now is Love', but after an apparently "overwhelming" response from viewers the idea was ditched in favour of two patriotic songs, 'I'm Proud to be an American' and 'God Bless the USA'. It's a crying shame that the American public (or at least those who watch populist television shows), are so keen to get the world's back up in the current climate. Maybe that's not their intention, but it doesn't send out a good message. It's all very well being patriotic, but how can we be proud of what our governments have dragged us into?
Posted on April 02, 2003 | Comments (3)
Tuesday 1st April
I briefly toyed the idea of putting an April Fool's joke on my site today just to see who I could wind up (especially after the success of Jude's "Oops, I'm pregnant again" wheeze last year), but thought the better of it. Not sure if I didn't want to make fools of my friends or if I just didn't have the guts to post a big whopping lie along the lines of wedding/emigration/etc. Wouldn't want to scare people, or steal Ditsy's thunder! I'm off to have a rummage and see if anyone else has been more daring.
Posted on April 01, 2003 | Comments (1)