April has arrived

April is here. Today we had a family day, and took the kids, plus a friend who had slept over, for a walk around the waterfront area in Hull.
It was a lovely day, and we walked for about an hour and a half. the kids had a good time, and best of all, it was free. It's lovely to see children having a good time without needing electronics or having to pay.
While we were out, my youngest, who is 6, asked "Why is an orange called an orange?"
"Because it's Orange, perhaps?" we all replied, with perhaps a hint of sarcasm in our voices.
"Then why isn't a banana called a Yellow?"
That shut us up! Funny how it takes a child to point out what a silly world we live in at times.

By the way, if you've got Google Earth, I've stuck a few pics online, that can be loaded into it. They can be found here:
http://www.panoramio.com/user/77308

Me again.

Not been on here for a while. Probably best start with "Hello Jo!" as she's probably the only person who'll be seeing this for a while!

News?

The car is still going. It needed a few hundred pounds worth of work doing to the rear suspension - one of the swing arms had failed - this was the cause of the knocking, not dampers, or the bushes, which were the next thing to need replacing. Not entirely happy about the gear selectors for 2nd gear - I reckon that will be the next thing to go. I can drive it without second if necessary, but that wouldn't be ideal.

PC has been plagued with problems recently. Due to me mucking about with a DVD drive, I ended up corrupting Windows, and needing to do a complete reformat and reinstall. Many hours later I had just about got it all running again, and Windows fully updated (it needed to download Service Pack 2 which took hours) when an update on my video card driver caused it all to crash again. Every trick in the book was tried to get it running again, but in the end I gave up, and just flicked the off switch on the wall.

Today I find that it works. So much for the technical approach!

Otherwise life is ticking by slowly.
My eldest daughter (10) was messing about a few days ago. She threatened to pull out all my white hairs. Then she thought better, pointing out to me that she would leave me almost bald if she did.
I reminded her that I still have the receipt for the Nintendo I have bought her for Christmas, and can still return it...

Update on the Car

Fiona has been for her MOT. She failed on a few points, a tyre needed replacing, a bulb had blown, and the wipers needed replacing - oh yes, and both back suspension dampers were knackered, which explains the aforementioned clunking.
She's had all the necessary work carried out, and I treated her to a full service as well, so she's good for another year (hopefully!!).

We Went To London!

Last weekend Gina (my wife, if you didn't know) and I went to London. What's more, we didn't take the kids!

It's the first time in 10 years of marriage and kids that we've had a "romantic" break together, and it was long overdue.

We got the 8.02 train down, having dropped the kids off at Gina's parents' the night before. We were in London by about 10.40. It was absolutely scorching hot. We took our suitcase to the hotel (a four star hotel, no less!) where our suitcase was taken by the concierge - hey, we're living the high life here!

After checking in, we headed off into the big city. We ambled up Oxford Street, window shopping, but not buying anything. We reached Marble Arch just as the RAF did a flypast - we found out it was the Trooping Of The Colour today!

Then we went into Hyde Park. By this time we were sweltering. After walking a rather long way round, we hired a pedallo for half an hour, and cruised the Serpentine. Then it was back on foot, as we went in search of the Peter Pan statue, which we had been ordered to find and photograph by Lily, as she had seen it in a film.

Mission accomplished we headed for Harrods.


Time was getting on by the time we got there, so we had a look around the food courts, then headed back to the hotel via the tube.

After a small panic about whether the concierge could find our case, we got showered and dressed ready for the evening's entertainment: "We Will Rock You" the Queen musical at the Dominion Theatre.

It was absolutely fantastic! I can't say how much we enjoyed it, but suffice to say I would recommend anyone who likes Queen to go and see this if they have the opportunity!

By this time it was 10.30pm, and we were shattered, so we had a relaxing drink, sitting on seats outside, overlooking the British Museum. We finished our day with a Big Mac, and an enjoyable night in a four star hotel with no children!!

The following day we had continental breakfast (hmm... would have liked a Full English, but never mind). We packed our case, and dropped it in at reception while we checked out. We then did a "speed tourist" thing - see as many major sights as we could, before we had to get back for the train.

We bought an "all-day" unlimited travel tube ticket, and took in the following:

Buckingham Palace - note the "I'm a tourist" camcorder and bag...
The London Eye, and The Thames, as seen from Westminster Bridge...
Also seen from Westminster Bridge were a whole load of Mini's - the originals, not the BMW crap...
Big Ben...Picadilly Circus - note the old Routemaster Bus, advertising "We Will Rock You"...
And Trafalgar Square - with Nelson's Column obscured, as it is being sandblasted...


Then, sadly, it was time to head back. Once on board the train, we came home in style, travelling first class. It was very nice, with as much coffee as I could drink, and a nice (if rather small) meal.

All in all, it was an exhausting weekend, but a very enjoyable one.

Hello Dot!

Has anyone noticed how women keep fighting for sex equality - until it doesn't suit them?

"Oh, we're as good as men, if not better... oh, by the way Matt, can you shift the photocopier for us, we've tried but it's too heavy."

I eventually was bribed by Dot saying she'd write something nice about me on my Blog if I moved the photocopier. I checked later, but she hadn't. On quizzing her next day - "Well, I had to call in at the pub on the way home"

Okay, I take it back - sex equality is alive and well - I thought that was a male-only excuse, but now women seem to use it as well!

Anyway, Hello Dot!

Water Water Everywhere...

It's strange to think that the South of England has got hosepipe bans, because of the lack of rain.

Up here, we have had heavy rain for a couple of days. Monday afternoon's downpour resulted in this:








Most people were relatively sensible going through the water. However, there was one carload of louts that drove up and down several times, as fast as they could. Tits.


Oh what a surprise - they drive a Corsa!

Incidentally, this is the view as seen from a (sensible) driver's viewpoint..

Another Blog Entry - In the same month!! WOW!!

Bloody hell!!
It would appear that people have actually read my blog!

However, this is only because of them reading Phil's and spotting my ID on one of the posts.

He's still in Australia. Making friends with a barman on a train, no less...

I'm still here, enjoying a couple of days escape from the usual lab work by covering for our van driver. For once, nothing dropped off the van, broke, exploded, or otherwise failed. Though it will shortly need at least one new back tyre.

And no, that has nothing to do with me doing handbrake turns and doughnuts in it. Honestly, you powerslide around one roundabout in a van that just happens to have a work colleague in, and suddenly you've got a reputation.

Okay, maybe it was twice, but that was some time ago, and he recovered...

By the way, if anyone not from the lab reads this blog at all, please post and let me know, I would love to hear from anyone...

May Update

Well, not so much May update, as 2006 update. I seem to have entirely missed 2005 which is a neat trick. Not sure if anybody actually noticed, I have a feeling that the majority of people only blog for themselves, or a very limited number of friends.

Here is where I get flamed by all those with hundreds of blog followers.

Just on the offchance of a visit, I must say "G'Day" to Phil, currently on a trip to Australia. If anyone else is reading this, his blog is over at:

http://www.upsidedownaustralia.blogspot.com/

...and is problably a lot more interesting than this one.

Updating from a much earlier post of my own, I noted that I drive a Ford Fiesta.
I sold her (she was called Lexie) to a colleague, who promptly mutilated her by scraping the side down a garage wall!
I bought a Ford Mondeo from Ebay. I was most impressed by the extra power (going from an asthmatic 1.1l engine to a 1.8i Zetec). Suddenly I could actually overtake things, without needing to give them a week's written notice. "Silvie" as she was known, took us all over, including on a week's holiday to Wales last summer. Then, in winter, a spark plug did something it shouldn't, which sent a shock up to the ignition pack, which in turn sent an electrical "spike" to the engine's computer. This tripped out, and suddenly my 130mph car was capable of just 30. It also stalled every time I dipped the clutch, and could only move away by keeping the throttle on hard, and controlling the speed using the clutch.

Not an ideal situation, so I got it into a garage. It cost me £300 to discover that the car was worth £80 scrap. The repairs. parts and labour would have cost £1000 to put the car back on the road - and the car was only worth about £800!

The above pic is of the truck which came to carry her away to a scrapyard. Not my happiest moment.

Now I own a Fiat Punto, and old P-reg (1997), but with only 41000 on the clock. She (Fiona) is nice - but makes a few rattles that I don't like the sound of - possibly the back suspension or sub frame. I think a service is called for.

This is Fiona.





Other news...

Nothing too exciting. I've turned 34 recently. My eldest daughter turned 10 last week. My wife is 30 next month. Oh, and We've been married 10 years.
And we're still very happy.

Which is nice.