The random happenings in my life during January 2010. The names of the guilty have been changed. But they should know who they are. I might even be subject to some retribution…….
The month started quietly as all of the country was covered in snow. The kids out my way were pretty useless. No one threw a snowball at me. My car alarm did not go off as they didn’t clear the snow of it. And to make matters even worse, a distinct lack of snowman. Poor, poor effort in my book.
We only had one day when the sun as out all day when we were still snow covered. I duly togged myself up and ventured out with the camera. I did a 2 hour walk in the morning and met…..just two people, even though the schools were still closed. Guess everyone likes the warmth of their house too much.
Snow covered Severn Estuary. Aust Bridge is in the background - that's the orginal bridge.
Its early days, but word on the street is that Burger Boy has a girlfriend. But please don’t tell anyone as it’s a secret!
Regular readers will not be surprised that I have another South Glos Council moan. You received good press about having ample salt/grit supplies towards the end of the cold, snowy spell. Neighbouring Councils almost ran out. But when it thawed the state of the roads became truly awful. Yes, you had loads of salt/grit left as you didn’t put that much on the roads. Now get on with the road repair problem asap – please. Pretty please!
Now here’s a good one for the grey matter. A posh jewellers gets its front window smashed in by very amateur thief’s – who get caught quickly I add. Police disclose that the window items were all fakes. This was because it is a requirement of the insurance company. Makes sense to me…….but what if you walk into the shop and specifically ask to buy an item in the window? Are you sold a fake at full price? Mmmmm. Interesting!
My latest training gadget is a Wobble Board. A round piece of wood and a domed bit is underneath, centred in the middle. This puts the board about 4cm’s off the floor. All you have to do is stand on it without holding onto anything. Simple. Er, no. Can just about manage 10 seconds. And what an unbelievable leg, knee and ankle exercise it is. Apart from extra leg strength, I’m hoping it makes my balance better. This should help my very low speed manoeuvring on the mountain bike. Will let you know how I get on.
I am fortunate enough to drive a BMW and it was time to get two new rear tyres fitted. If you have a Beamer, you will know that the tyres wear out in the centre, no matter what pressure they are run at. So instead of Michelins, I now have Dunlops fitted. They have a different tread pattern for the middle of the tyre and I hope this leads to better mileage.
Michelin on middle wear indicators, but loads of outside tread. Typical BMW wear.
New Dunlop. Note the different centre tread pattern compared to the Michelin.
Now you all need to pay attention here. For the umpteenth time, don’t go to an AGM. Ever, ever, ever. Got that? For reasons probably involving insanity I went to Gloucester Cricket Clubs AGM. Three hours of my life that I will never get back almost wasted. I say “almost” as at least it wound me up. And I walk out mystified and annoyed at the level of ineptitude at the club. So I cheered myself up and bought Somerset Membership.
It was rather nice of the man from Cambodia to offer me a place to stay for a holiday. My “to do” list gets even longer.
My cycling update is non existent! Weathers too cold. But I did take the bike to bits and give it a full service, so already to go when the weather picks up. Will you let me off?
And finally for this part, my advice is to go out and make someone smile. After all, it’s a free service.
General Randomness
I’ve managed to do a bit of writing this month and did a couple of articles (apart from the jokes):
UK’s Energy Supplies https://smarty09.wordpress.com/2010/01/11/uks-energy-supplies/
Weather Cycle https://smarty09.wordpress.com/2010/01/09/weather-cycle/
Sports News
It all starts on New Years Day. The big local derby saw Mangotsfield visit Yate and my 5 year record of watching Yate win this one…..continues. Dear me. A 4 – 2 loss. Dare I suggest that no less than 5 Mangotsfield players had too much “pop” the night before?
The world of darts crowns its World Champion early in the month. And for the 15th time, it was Phil “The Power” Taylor. 15th time? Nuff said. He is a legend. He won £200k, with the runner up getting £100k. Not bad for a pub game!
As for Bristol City, yes, I went to that game. Not often you see the home side get hammered 6 – 0!
And now onto cricket. England have been playing test matches in South Africa. Performances have been patchy as well. England do not have a Test batsman listed in the world’s top 16. Problem there then. Also the much lorded Kevin Pietersen only produces a good innings in every 20 odd. So why is he in the test team then? The problem with test cricket is that the England players cannot adapt from the one-day format. It’s as simple as that.
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