Sunrise

In the last week I have noticed a gradually evolving sunrise time, it's noticeably lighter in the mornings. I like it when the mornings and the evenings get lighter. Spring is on the way and I'm looking forward to feeling some warmth when I'm outside, I can't remember the last time I left the house in just a T-shirt and shorts. The sun looks so lovely sometimes, I was driving during sunrise on Sunday and the sun looked so wonderful out of my rear car window. Here is a sunrise photo I didn't take myself but you must know the kind of scene I'm talking about.

Twitter/Facebook

I wonder what the world would be like without Facebook and Twitter? I can't decide whether these services are good or bad. I find tweets too short and Facebook too intrusive. I've used Twitter but have not kept up a constant stream like a lot of its users do. I can see how it could be interesting for people who are at live events but it does seem to be phenomenally popular for reasons I don't get. Can anyone explain it?

I feel Facebook is slightly sinister, so I have an irrational personal fear of it. I don't feel I'm really using these services to get the most out of them. I have accounts in the services but for Facebook I use my real name and all of my friends are people I've known through work. I like to separate work from my family and friends and I don't think Facebook makes its controls very easy to understand and control. Especially with the Facebook app compared to the website. I feel like stopping from using them and then starting again but am worried someone will steal my identity.

RZ Oscar Dress

I don't normally notice the fashion press, it passes me by in the usual course of events. However, since the Oscar awards ceremony I did happen to somehow catch sight of the red carpet photo of Renee Zellwegger's dress. I have no expertise in fashion and I don't know what criteria to apply to decide whether the dress is a good one or not. I just saw the photo and thought wow, she looks good. She is very very slim though, almost too slim. I thought she looked great in the Bridget Jones roles, I did enjoy those films even if they were much lighter films than I usually enjoy.

The Brits 2013

It was The Brits award ceremony this week, a ceremony I've seen a few times and have always thought was pretty awful. This year was no exception. The actual award was designed by Damien Hirst and I think it's a piece of crap. I don't really see the attraction of Damien Hirst's work, I just can't see why his work sells for so much.

David Shrigley

I was in the library this week and noticed a book on one of the display shelves, it was an art book by an artist called David Shrigley. I haven't seen the work of this artist before. I found out a little more about the artist and it turns out he is only very slightly younger than I, by a few weeks but we were born the same year. I was intrigued by his art and his sense of humour. I like the idea of compiling a book based on drawings and the volume of his work is impressive. I realise the art is not to everyone's taste - I guess some may say it's not very professional looking. That's true to some extent but is it any less worthy for it? What is art anyway? The sister blog to this one (Dinkums and Doodles) contains some drawings you might like, if you like this style.

The Killing

I recently caught up on a TV series from a few years ago called The Killing. It was a Danish programme, so was broadcast with subtitles. It was very gripping and featured a detective called Sarah Lund who was very down to Earth. She had a dysfunctional home life, like many detectives in these kind of shows but I found this drama very believable because she didn't always know the answer to problems. She often follows up dead ends. I'd recommend the series. One of the better crime dramas on TV.

Daleks

I like the TV series Dr Who, there have been some actors who have played the doctor who I have liked more than others. Same with the enemies, but one enemy I always enjoy watching are the Daleks. Sadly, I read today that the designer of the Daleks, Ray Cusick died this week. The design for the Daleks is truly iconic in my opinion.

Roobarb and Custard

When I was young, still at school, I enjoyed a cartoon in the kids time TV slots - no dedicated kids channels when I was young. The cartoon was called Roobarb and Custard and I liked it for several reasons. It was funny first and foremost. I liked the animation style, it wasn't as clean and professional like other cartoons. It was like a pen drawing. It oscillated and moved when cartoons were getting cleaner and more life-like. It was short enough to enjoy and leave you wanting more for next time. I enjoyed the anarchic theme music - well, it seemed anarchic to me at the time. The narrator was an actor called Richard Briers who has just got the best voice for children's television.
It was created for TV by Bob Godfrey, who was also responsible for Henry's Cat but I don't remember that programme so much.
Here's an episode I found on YouTube that I'm including as my mark of respect for Bob Godfrey who died recently at the grand old age of 91.

R.I.P. Reg Presley

Reg Presley

I was saddened today to see the news that Reg Presley has passed away. In some ways, The Troggs have been very influential in the development of British music. Their reputation always seemed to precede them. Their version of Wild Thing was something I liked to singalong to as a kid and it remains one of the first great guitar chord sequences for rock beginners to play and enjoy. They have enjoyed a bit of a come back in recent years with cover versions of some of their songs, the main one being Love Is All Around. Personally, I don't like the song all that much but I've found this version on You Tube and I think it's a good one.

New Router

I installed a replacement router last night. The equipment I had been using was previously supplied free by my ISP. I've given it over a year but during that time we have been experiencing random wi fi dropouts. Because they are random it is impossible to predict when it's going to happen and I've heard and read other people comment the same. So, I decided to buy a new router and try it. All seems good so far.

February is here

Yes, here we are at the beginning of a new month. The weather has changed from snow to wind and rain. More wind than anything though.
Haven't had much time to do any blogging this week. I was busy last weekend helping my son to complete a school project, so I hope this weekend is more relaxing.
Have a good weekend all!

Transformers/Star Trek

Friday and Saturday evenings this week I have spent watching the recent big budget Transformers movies. The special effects are something pretty special it has to be said. That goes for both films. The second movie, Dark of the Moon, however feels like it has the pacing wrong. It started okay but the second half lost its way I think. I managed to watch it all the way through but it was a bit of a struggle. Of course, having Rosie Huntington-Whitely and Megan Fox as leading ladies helps keep the interest going too, but I'd take the first film over the second every time.
The other film I watched last night was Star Trek Nemesis. It wasn't as good as I was hoping for. I can't exactly put my finger on it but sometimes the transition from TV to film feels wrong. I've always enjoyed Star Trek as made for TV episodes. The films have been okay but not what I would favour. Anyway, it's been good watching these films even if I thought the pacing was off.

New York

I love this little song by Stephen Fretwell

Lost In Music

A few drinks and then listening to my favourite music = great times :-)


'nuff said!

Week of wonder

It seems like a strange title for a post I know. It was all that came to my mind whilst I was typing. This week so far has seemed a little bit strange. The snowy weather, the schools being closed and my family having time off whilst I've had to work.
I've decided that our family PC needs a Windows reinstall. It's slowly been getting slower and I think it needs a change. I've backed up most of the data, just a few things to do and then I can start over. It takes a bit of planning to do a Windows reinstall, that is if you don't want to lose any data. Personal files are stored in different places by different applications, not all in My Documents. Some apps store files that are used in strange places. I'll also need to have the license keys of software I have downloaded. Sometimes it involves digging around in my email folders to retrieve account details. Yup, there is more to the business of a reinstall than meets the eye.
The rest of this week looks set to be a busy one. I'll perform the reinstall at the weekend. I've yet to decide whether to upgrade to Windows 8, that's my other decision of the week: do I get back to a manufacturer install of Windows 7 and create a clean restore point. Or do I get back to the manufacturer install of Windows 7 and then upgrade to Windows 8 on the top of that? And then reinstall my applications on Windows 8? Is there any point moving to Windows 8? Has anybody out there used it? What did you think? I'm interested in hearing about your experience.

Snowy

well, the weekend started for my children at about 11am on Friday. we received a text to tell us that their school was closing due to the snow. I was working from home so popped out to go get them. I took their Wellington boots because at the time of their leaving it was dry and cold. Certainly different to that after a couple hours of snow. It is surprising how fast the snow covers the ground. It's been snowing most of the weekend and is now quite deep.
I bought a plastic sledge for the kids on Saturday, I was wondering if they would get to use it but the snow has continued to fall. My daughter was out with it early this morning playing with her friend, while my son went round to his friend's house to play Mine craft and Skylanders.
I'm grateful that I don't have to travel by car to do my job. It doesn't look as though the snow is going to be leaving us very quickly. The weather is going to be below freezing all week.

Magic the gathering

Like father like son they say. I have been looking into this card trading game and it seems to offer quite a lot of possibilities. I think it might be something that my son would enjoy in a couple of years when he grows out of some of the things he currently obsesses about, like Lego and Pokemon and possibly Skylanders (when it arrives in our house this week).
I like the artwork on the cards and the fact that there are thousands of cards that make the game very strategic. I would like to play it with fellow casual players, there are game nights where you can go and play but I think if I turned up I'd find I'm in the wrong demographic and that would make me uncomfortable. So I doubt I'll ever play it outside my own home. I don't know, I could be wrong about this.
The game is built around owning and maintaining a deck of cards. The cards contain creatures and spells that you can use to reduce your opponent's life to zero, each player starts a game with 20 life points. The back of the card is always the same but the front is where the artwork and information for playing is. I was never a role playing game guy, so this world is slightly alien to me and it may not survive long to sustain my interest. However, I'm going to see how this develops and give it a chance.

Card back

Example of a card front

New enthusiasm

My son's passions usually involve some element of collecting, usually at our expense! He's decided to spend the gift money he got from family members and friends on a game and figures called Skylanders Giants. I don't know anything about it but from what I can tell by taking a quick look it is based around a videogame and the collection of expensive figurines. For a ten year old boy with an imagination it is probably everything he needs to get excited, his friends have it apparently and when the talk in the school playground is about something that sounds cool it is only natural to want in. Here's an article about Skylander's Giants if you want to read further.

Let me down gently

It's very cold here in the UK at the moment. Snow has been forecast and I think some has fallen on the higher ground, none where I live as yet. Our house takes a while to warm up and the heating is not really set for this cold temperature, so it tends to shut off before the house is comfortable in every room. We have had to use portable oil radiators to keep some rooms warm without resorting to having the full heating system on. It means we stay warm and have to stay together. At least until the times when the heating system starts up again.

After doing the house cleaning hores this morning, we decided to go on a family bike ride. I pumped the tyres up, as I usually have to, because it's been a few weeks since we took the bikes out for a ride. They were okay, to be fair, just not as hard as I like them so I added some more air pressure into each tyre to make them more solid.  We decided to ride along by the canal on the towpath, we like to look at the canal barges and imagine ourselves living on a boat. My children think it would be exciting, I'm less keen! About halfway through the ride, just as we decided to turn back my wife heard a pop, pulled over and as I pulled up alongside I could hear the fateful hissing. First time she has had a puncture since we bought the bikes a couple of years ago, so not bad average really but it does happen. Unfortunately, we had no repair kit to fix the problem so she pushed it home with us walking and riding at her speed.
My face and hands were really cold (even through thick gloves) and my nose was a bit drippy. We got home and the smell of the food cooking in the slow cooker was delightful. We'll be eating that stew very shortly and I for one and looking forward to it. Just what we need in this cold weather to warm us up.

Postscript: The stew was lovely, really yummy!!

Tech News

I see in tonight's news that Jessops the camera shop has gone into administration. I've been a customer of that chain a few times in my past. Back in the day before smartphones all had cameras on them. I think the mobile phone market has largely replaced the point and shoot camera one. It's a sad but true fact. Why didn't they see this coming and change their business strategy?

I think 2013 is going to be a good year for consumer electronics. I was given a Google Nexus 7 tablet computer for Christmas by my wife. It's great for browsing the web and reading digital magazines and books. She knows I love gadgets. This year I am expecting some news about the next generation of video game consoles. I have an Xbox360 so I am looking forward to what the Xbox720 will be like, if that's what they're going to call it. My son has already started asking for a laptop for next Christmas. He has so many problems writing with his hand that I think it might be beneficial for him. My wallet does groan at the thought of it though.

I was wondering whether to upgrade out home PC to Windows 8. This is at an offer price during January and I don't know what to do for the best. Our Windows 7 machine isn't that old but is starting to slow down, I think a change might be a good thing for it.

2013 Has Arrived

Happy New Year to all of my readers! I hope you had a good Christmas Holiday 2012. A new year is with us now and the celebrations of last night are behind us. How did you spend your New Year's Eve? I was with my family the whole time.
I cooked a beef stew with suet dumplings for our evening meal, using up some leftovers from the week. My wife bought us a slow cooker in the sales just after Christmas and we're keen to try cooking a new variety of meals with it. I hadn't made dumplings before but my mother in-law said they were very good, which is high praise as she is a great cook herself. So we ate and then immediately after we went out and drove to the cinema to go and see High Society, another classic film they decided to put on. The cinema we go to is wonderful, it has very comfortable seats and in the lobby there is a bar and sofas and all sorts of books about film. The owner walks on to the stage before the main film is shown and says a few things. This time he said it was a good film for a New Year's Eve (I guess because of the Champagne!) and that it was a good 35mm print this time around, apparently the last time they got the film it was quite badly scratched and the colour was a bit washed out. My mother in-law said that it was a much better colour than even the DVD she has. With modern films you don't see scratches or colour fades, it's easy to forget things like that. I don't know how modern films are projected, perhaps they aren't even on film like they used to be. I'll have to look that up after this post!

The film was great, I've seen it before but it's much better seeing it on a big screen. It was a good way to spend the first part of the evening. After that we drove home and had a few drinks and some pizza, some sticky chicken skewers and a big heap of sausage rolls I heated up in the oven when we got home. My wife and I were in bed watching Final Destination 2 after that, pausing to watch the London fireworks on TV at midnight. I thought the fireworks were fantastic and not long after that we went to sleep.

Christmas cold

It's been quite a surreal Christmas this year for me. I had a sore throat on my first day of holiday and it gradually got worse and turned into a full blown cold, peaking on Christmas Day and Boxing Day. So I've spent most of the week on pills feeling slightly "out of body" and "woolly headed". This cold seems to be lodged at the moment and not moving out, so I think it'll be with me for at least another week.

Christmas Eve!

The shops are just about to close and it's gone dark outside on Christmas Eve. In a few hours time we'll all be tucked up in bed. Ready to start the day tomorrow in our pyjamas with sleepy heads and tired eyes. We have a quiet night tonight, maybe doing some preparation around the house for the guests we have coming tomorrow. If we don't get around to it tonight, it'll be done in the morning.
We have some present wrapping to do before we go to bed. Not so many now the children are getting bigger though, thankfully. It shouldn't take much time. I don't like wrapping presents very much, only because I'm not a very good present wrapper. I've sometimes received gifts that I felt bad about opening because they had been wrapped so well. They can be wrapped so beautifully with ribbons and bows. I sometimes put ribbons and bows on my gifts but ... mutton dressed as lamb... is all I can say.

Whatever you do tonight, I hope you stay safe and have a very pleasant evening and a wonderful Christmas Day tomorrow! 

My dear fellow bloggers, I hope you get the presents you wanted! Eat and drink whatever you like tomorrow because if you can't do it to excess at Christmas, when can you?

Merry Christmas!

Holiday movie: Home Alone

Last night we had a family outing to the cinema to see Home Alone, we have it on DVD and my children and I have watched it many times over the years. Funny how having it on the big screen makes you notice little details you've never noticed before. Like how beautiful Catherine O'Hara was as the mother. I love the sequence of traps that Kevin lays for the burglars. It's a feel good film.

Christmas anticipation

I've just finished work for the holidays and am on my train home. It's a good feeling I have to say. I'm going to be busy for the few days but its all good family fun.

I used to get so excited about finishing school and waiting for Christmas day. Now, I'm just rather glad I don't have to think about work for over a week.

I hope that I can make the most of my days off.

How Much More Can We Take?

I wake to another day of mourning for innocent lives lost. I was working yesterday and didn't see the news. I opened the door to my wife as she came home and she told me about the shooting in Connecticut. Kids as young as five. I just thought Oh No Not Again.
It makes me sick just thinking how someone could empty a gun on someone else for no reason. Take your own life but don't take other lives, especially ones so young who have their whole lives ahead of them. The next president of America could have been killed yesterday or the next Albert Einstein or a doctor who could have saved many lives, it's just such a tragedy!

Something has to be done about the access to weapons these crazy people seem to have. I don't see any reason why anyone who isn't a policeman or in the armed services requires a lethal weapon. If the argument is to protect yourself surely there are non-lethal alternatives?

Street Entertainers

The other night I was out after work doing some Christmas shopping. It was cold and dark but a lot of people were around. A street entertainer was playing his guitar and singing. I liked his take on the songs I knew and I liked his song choice. I actually felt like his music made me a tiny bit happier. So I dropped some coins into his open case. I felt it was right and moral to do that because he was working and entertaining me. I was only walking past so it wasn't like I stopped to listen but there were a few shops close together and whenever I went in and out I heard him.
It's a fairly rare thing for me to do. Usually though, street entertainers are not very good. That sounds uncharitable I know. It's not that I don't appreciate their effort but equally I don't donate just by default. They probably don't expect that either to be fair but I feel slightly uncomfortable when walking past someone who's trying hard to sing or play to entertain but isn't doing it for me.
In a similar vein the talent shows like X Factor really do contain mostly dross. The audience seem to whip themselves up into a frenzy over something that really is quite poor. I don't understand it.

DIY Catflap (or rather not DIY)

Our kittens are early risers, unfortnately a bit too early. My wife bears the brunt of it because they seem to like sitting on her in a morning, waking her up, wanting to be let outside to go hunting and exploring. I manage to sleep through it, much to my wife's irritation, so for the benefit of marital harmony I have purchased a catflap in the hope that the kittens (8 months old now and looking like proper cats) will be able to let themselves in and out. However, I'm not really a DIY man. I can just about handle a screw driver, some drilling (though I hate it) and very simple electrics (replacing light bulbs and light switches) but for most DIY maintenance jobs I don't have the experience to know how to handle problems and am generally too cautious in case I cause a bigger problem.
I remember a friendly neighbour who, once as I was leaving the house, shouted to me through his kitchen window. When I went over to investigate he had his thumb in a pipe and said he couldn't take it out because water would spray out. At the time, we were fortunate enough to know someone (not close enough to really call them a friend but getting there) who was a plumber and my wife called and he came to the rescue.

Knowing that trying to do things yourself can cause even worse problems, I have hird a man to come and fit it for us. I hope it all goes smoothly, I would like to think the kittens will use it but I suppose that's another ball game for another day.

A Close Shave

I was returning to my hotel after having some food this week when I remembered I had to text a friend to get her new address. The street was fairly busy even though it was almost 8pm, a lot of shoppers were returning to the train station near the hotel. Suddenly, quietly and quickly a teenager on a bike grabbed my iphone as I was texting. My grip was good though and in the seconds the attempt lasted I had a strong enough grip to hold on. I guess he had to control his bike at the same time as trying to get the phone and my grip was too strong. Fortunately I didn't have my woolly gloves on, which would have been slippier. The rubber bumper around the phone also helped although it got broke in the attack. Seconds later he let go and rode off giving me an evil look without my phone. Nobody around me stopped to help and I didn't have presence of mind to shout out or do anything other than hold on. If he had of got my phone it would have been awful. I had photos of my children and it could be used to buy stuff. Aside from the personal side the phone was an expensive gift from my wife. How dare a stranger just try to get it by passing me in the street! I feel affronted!

First snow of Winter

I woke up to snow falling this morning. On my commute the roads were jammed and traffic crawled. It's only light snow as well. Don't think much of our chances if the snow gets much heavier. Here's a photo of some fields I pass. I'm heading North for work and it is snow free. I wonder for how long?

Mid-life and happiness

I was reading a magazine feature that suggests there have been research studies that demonstrate similarities between humans and animals when looking at a dip in happiness in the mid-life period. I find that interesting. What is that all about?
I wonder whether it is something to do with awareness in middle age that life is actually quite short and fragile? And that the clock is ticking on you having the means to support yourself later in life whilst also having dependents (maybe) who are your children and your elderly parents?
Or that you realise you are not young and hip, no matter what you do to your appearance or the lifestyle you lead?

I don't consider myself unhappy but at the same time I would agree that I am much less carefree and happy go lucky than I ever was. I am much more measured in what I do than when I was young, less spontaneous and much more conservative. I guess as you get older and can think about retirement I can imagine you do feel a bit more carefree and less responsible for others - a bit like being young again.

Royal Pregnancy

William and Kate are to have a baby! Funnily enough my wife saw a photograph of the Duchess of Cambridge just a few days ago and said she thought her face was looking puffier. She casually, almost jokingly, put it down to being pregnant and it turns out she was right. I think that's either luck or what I call an excellent process of deduction.
So there it is, another member of the royal family. It's great! Something to look forward to in August or September.

Advent

I like advent calendars. Always have. The ones I had as a kid were simple and basic and there was no chocolate or gifts inside them. Still, I liked opening up the little windows to see what was inside. So to remind me of those days, here's a candle...

Diet and Exercise

After being unwell last week I lost extra weight, a couple of kilos. As part recovery I have been eating a few things that were considered off menu. I need to be very careful that I don't let a few treats become a habit.

Now that I'm feeling more myself I am also starting to think about exercising again. I have a strong suspicion that a yoga pose known as the Cobra on Wii Fit was what actually strained the muscles in my back. So that one is not something I'll be returning to. But at the moment I've stopped all exercise, which isn't good either. On Friday I think I'll start doing exercises again on the Wii Fit but I'm going to pick the safer ones.

Wet

The rain has been pouring down over the last few days. Fields are so wet because the water table is so saturated. There is nowhere for the water to drain off to. On the train I noticed a golf course flooded out - it would require a canoe to navigate the course!
My garden lawn is a squlechy horrid quagmire, not nice to walk on at all. The wet weather is moving North, where I work. I live in the South, so wherever I go it seems to follow me.
This is a photo from my train station, lovely isn't it? Nice and grey and wet! I'm joking, can't stand all this wet weather.

Car: the decision

I decided last Sunday on the car to buy, it was actually the first car I went to see, so perhaps that was more impetuous than I thought it was going to be. I had made up a few cards and was literally expecting to have to see a few cars before deciding, trying a few out. But I didn't. I liked what I saw, thought it was a good deal and that was that. I had more or less made up my mind on paper anyway. So I decided to get a city car, the Hyundai i10, it's the Style edition so has a few neat extras such as heated front seats, slide and tilt sunroof, front foglamps, rear spoiler with integrated brake light and an interior trim with two tone dash. The car has electric windows and aircon as standard, there is a CD player and MP3 player connection so I'm happy.
I picked it up today and the weather was so dismal and wet that I had to do something to jazz up the photos a bit, so forgive my poetic license with the photos. It's tiny but has a high body so the headroom and relatively high driving position makes it feel larger than it is - like the Tardis in Dr Who!

Recovery food

My back completely froze up this week and I've spent most of the time in chronic pain. It has gotten a lot easier today but it's been a hellish week.
My wife brought me home a MacDonalds McChicken sandwich and it cheered me up. I haven't eaten much this week at all. Funny how MacDonalds can help sometimes isn't it? What food or drink makes you feel better after being unwell?

Cheese 2

Well here we are again. Another week and I'm here talking about cheese. This time it's about a cheese taster pack I was given, surprisingly enough. I was given the pack just after lunch last week so I put it in my bag for my commute home. I opened the pack and got a nice surprise. There was some oat biscuits, onion marmalade and three chunks of cheddar cheese. The company that was generous enough to give out these lovely samples was The Lake District Cheese Company, ironically we had a pack of their cheddar in our fridge at home. I hadn't tried the cheese from our home before I gave the samples a go. I have to say the cheese was very lovely. On an oat biscuit with the cheese and the onion marmalade the sample was delicious - that's a Deeee-licious!

Stargate SG1

Last weekend I saw a box set of DVDs for this sci-fi series and it was season 1, I've never really watched any of it before (I know, where have I been?!). I am quite liking the episodes I've seen so far. It is a bit more, how should I put it, anthropological than I was expecting!

Soup

It's autumn now and the weather is getting cold and damp. For lunch I've been heating up soup from a can. I've been eating Heinz soups from a can for years since I was a kid. I just wonder, what with soup becoming more of a specialty food and more fresh product variety on the supermarket shelves, whether you still eat the same soup from a can that you did as a child. Is it even around?

What's your favourite soup? I like the beef broth because it is thick and more filling.

Christmas approaches

Time until the Christmas holidays is slipping away. I'm a little unnerved by how fast it is approaching. Have you started buying for it yet? I've bought my wife some art glass ornaments but she chose them, I'll wrap them up for her for Christmas.

My wife is a lot more organised than I am generally, she has started but I am more of a slow burner. Things are so expensive. I wish people had lower expectations and that there wasn't so much pressure to spend so much. I think I'll have to be pretty cautious with my gift spending this year. I'd rather give out Christmas spirit than presents!

Cars

I'm planning to buy a car in December, to replace the one I have. It's not that there is anything very wrong with my current car but it is not very fuel efficient and I do less miles and spend less time in it. The fan in it has never been very strong so things like the heater and the air conditioning aren't very good. I find it relatively comfortable on longer drives and it can go fast when I push it. It has a big boot that has been useful and the seats fold down for times when I need to transport large items of furniture for example. Aside from the expense of fuel, I find it is expensive to insure and work on it is never very cheap. Being an older car I'm worried there will be work needed on it fairly soon that will be costly. My needs have changed since I bought the car, I really bought it because I was doing up to 500 miles a week and I needed a vehicle that would be comfortable on distance drives. Something smaller and more fuel efficient will do nicely, I don't think a 3 door is practical with my kids so I'm looking for a 5 door model.

My biggest question to settle is whether to stretch and go for a basic model of a brand new "cheap" car or buy a used car and get something a little bigger but with a history that I don't know about. Warranties are pretty good these days, so the former option seems better but I know I'll have to stretch my finance a bit even for a "basic" model. I could use a finance option but I'd rather go short for a while and own the car outright, not the easiest option but one I think is less stressful for me personally. I've no problem with other people who choose the finance option, it's whatever suits you best I guess.

I've never bought a new car. All of my cars have been at the cheaper end of the used car spectrum. The same was true for my wife but she saved hard to get herself a new car back in May. We are lucky enough to have jobs where we are able to afford two new cars but we have both been driving cars that are twelve/thirteen years old. Some basic models don't have air conditioning and I would really like to have it, which might add a few hundred pounds to the cost. The climate in the UK is not too bad but AC really helps in the middle of summer.

Here are some of the small, "cheap" cars I've been looking at - what do you think I should do: go for new or get a used car?

Kia Picanto

Citroen C1

Hyundai i10

Volkswagon Up

 

Chevrolet Spark

Toyota Aygo

I'll have to take a few test drives to see what I prefer. If I go for a used car then I will have an almost unlimited choice.

Shropshire blue cheese

Cheese is lovely. I was watching a TV show that was attempting to show the variety of English cheese on the market. Asking people on the street to name some English cheeses and most could name only two or three, which is not great! So I thought I'd try to invest a tiny amount of my energy into trying cheeses from around the British Isles that I might not have thought about trying before. My first one is Shropshire Blue cheese. It has a nice orange colour and has distinctive blue veins. It tastes creamy and has the bitter blue tang to it that stays in the mouth long after eating it. It's a great cheese to eat with food (like most cheese). I had mine cubed and dropped on to a plate with some salad leaves, ham and broccoli omelette and balsamic glaze. I drank a can of Pepsi Max with it but a nice wine would have been better. It is a cheese that will go well with other cheeses in case you are thinking of hosting a cheese party in your own mouth!

Photo Challenge: Autumn

I had a day off at the start of this week and took my kids out with a camera and asked them to take autumn photographs. I took my iPhone and did the same. These are my results. The kids photos were much better.

US Elections

It's very near the end of the race for the presidency and it seems to me catching headlines here and there over the last week that the encumbant president has the edge. However, I guess it all depends on who turns out to vote on the day.

I don't really have anything intelligent to say on the subject or otherwise, except that isn't it time for a female president?
One thing I find amusing is when they show the candidates going to the polling station to vote - who are they going to vote for? Their opponent? Can they vote for themselves? If they can, it doesn't quite feel right.
Another thing is when the winner on the podium thanks his opponent. And 24 hours before was slagging them off. That's just two-faced!
I am probably not a very good voter, I just go with gut instinct and ignore all the hype and words and promises. I know once they're in power they'll try to do whatever they like and the opposition will be opposed. Best that can be hoped for is that things aren't screwed up any more than they are and that the average person on the street can get by without feeling they are losing money everyday. I think the word is hope.

Bonfire night

There is a tradition of celebrating the day Guy Fawkes attempted and failed to blow up parliament with gunpowder. The 5th November is traditionally bonfire night in the UK but it has become less common for households to have their own bonfire parties. Instead many people attempt mass firework demonstrations run by local companies or community groups. I remember as a kid always having our own fireworks, they were more a demonstration of coloured smoke than today's fireworks. Nothing like the fireworks of todays professional displays.

The big local demonstrations of today usually fall on weekend nights. This evening we had some friends over and went to a local display. The fireworks were great, some screamed, some exploded with massive bangs and some made a type of camp noise that was very amusing.