A Month in My Life – April 10

The random happenings in my life during April 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 election was duly announced and so there was a massive pile of paper thru my letterbox. At least I found out that I was in a brand new constituency! And did you spot there was an obvious omission in all the manifesto’s? Well, here it is: “if elected and we fail to implement 75% of the manifesto, then we admit we are liars and useless in our jobs. Therefore we will not be standing again”. So in other words……..use your vote with care.

Burger Boy’s buckle belt looks like this:

Burger Boys Belt Buckle

You will have spotted that a certain volcano caused a lot of havoc. Masses of media attention and I do not know anyone who was caught up in it. No different from the Swine Flu then – I still don’t know anyone who caught it……. But I did enjoy all the jokes.

Now here is a classic tale about red tape. There is a Housing Charity that has done brilliant work for many years. In the last 3 years they have doubled in size and helped out countless people. Given their increased size, they decide to use the Law Society to review their work. Quality of work was given the thumbs up, but they now have tripled the amount of paperwork they used to do. As they do not have the funds for extra staffing, they have had to reduce the number of people they see. This means less help for people in the community. Less help due to extra paperwork. Quality of work unchanged. Sounds daft to me.

And one of the things the Charity is famous for?…….suing local Councils for making people homeless as they have not understood or applied the law properly. Mmmm, I’m going purple with rage again……

I spent a few days down in Cornwall and The Boss ran me ragged. Friends were also down that way and so we all hooked up. A very busy and thoroughly enjoyable few days were had. If you are ever in Truro, make sure you visit the Kathmandu for they do the finest curries you will ever come across. And if you are in the Gorran Haven area, pop into Treveague Farm and you will see nature in action:

New born lamb at Treveague Farm

Mr Ranter discovered that I have been blogging about him. Now you might just be a tad puzzled as to why he had no idea. Well, he’s not on Twatter and thinks Facewink is a pointless collection of non-friends. But he has only just discovered the delights of a smartphone, so there is a chink of light in the tunnel. Anyway, he wishes to point out he does NOT rant. He is the voice of reason. Yea, right!

I have just realised I have not had a rant over South Glos Council for a while. I mentioned all the potholes left after the winter snow a while back. Well, the really bad ones were fixed pretty quickly. The smaller ones were circled in yellow paint about 2 months back. There were so many circles, I described it as “the yellow brick road”. And I can now report that the paint is fading – fast. Any bets on which month the repairs will actually happen?

Went out for a long bike ride on a very gusty day, so it was hard work. OK, it damn near killed me! But finally, I experienced a tailwind that led me to accelerate rather nicely….uphill. First time I have had that one happen, and rare events are always nice! And I’m pleased to say that my perseverance with the wobble board has paid off. My bike handling is greatly improved.

General Randomness

Looks like I am about to embark on a spot of family tree research. Given my weird family, it is bound to be hysterically funny!

Probably the best thing I discovered this month was Dropbox. An online site where you can store up to 2GB for free. Never loose a file again. I like that. And it automatically updates changed files as well. Super, super stuff. My simple  guide is here: https://smarty09.wordpress.com/2010/04/24/dropbox/

Sports News

Firstly, big congratulations to that “little” team called Fulham. They have made it all the way to the Europa League Final. An amazing fairytale that started way back last July.

I was treated to some lovely hospitality for the Bristol City v Notts Forest game. The quality of the food was matched by the quality of the football: excellent (for once!). Interestingly, Burger Boy had a good go at eating a proper meal, but his eyes really lit up after the game – large pile of pizza. There’s no hope for the lad.

Mangotsfield’s Easter Monday derby with Yate saw them win. Unsoddinbelievable!! I have waited 5 years for this victory and it comes on a cool windy day. Lets hope this is the start of a decent run in the local derbies. Please. Pretty please ;). The season officially ended with the club in a comfortable 9th position. Hope they can build on this for next season.

And then the cricket season started with woeful performances by Gloucestershire. The whole team is just not performing and the body language is truly awful. Something is wrong. Seriously wrong. So why do I go? Well, I’m sat in the sun, nattering to all and sundry. So in other words it’s a massive social. Nowt to do with quality of cricket……But then on the last day of the month they pull off an away win at Lords. Onwards and upwards? We shall see.

The warmer weather sees the start of the Motorbike racing season. I have not been to the opening British Superbikes meets, but have been watching the TV coverage. Some very close racing going on in the support races.

And MotoGP also began. The first race was just littered with unexpected events – very, very enjoyable. In case you have not guessed, 2 wheels rule by the way 😉

The best sporting moment of the year so far is an utterly astonishing win in the World Snooker championship. Steve “interesting” Davis knocks out the World No 1 and reigning world champ. Steve is 52 years old. There’s life in the old dog then. Commentators described it as the best ever victory whilst the tournament has been at The Crucible. Needless to say he got utterly thrashed in the next match!

A month in my life – February 2010

The random happenings in my life during February 2010.  The names of the guilty have been changed. But they should know who they are. I might even be subject to some retribution…….

Burger Boy does NOT have a girlfriend. This is a fact. Well, that’s what his Dad tells me.

Bob the Builder keeps sending me loads of text jokes. He’s a good lad!

Skype finally released the official version for my mobile phone. Downloaded and installed fuss free. A test call or two and no problems encountered at all. But this was over my Wi-Fi network, yet to test it over 3G. Suspect it will be a bit flaky.

I am not sure whether this is just an “age thing” on not, but I increasingly despair at how soft and forgiving we are nowadays. Another classic example was a carer who stole money from a disabled woman she was looking after. The whole incident was caught on camera as well. She was given a four month suspended sentence. So in other words, just a slap on the wrist and no more. Yet the person had a position of trust and abused it. Sends out the wrong message in my book.

We all had a good moan at the MP expense candle. And now the Parliamentary body set up to monitor future expenses is to cost 6 times more than the repaid expenses. Nice to see common sense being applied then………

Just for a bit of a giggle, I started to do the Lottery again. Not taken part since the first few weeks when it started many years back. Decided to do it all on-line and it was dead easy to register and set up. I’m doing random numbers on the Euro Millions. Why? Well, bigger prize money and statistics show that if you are less likely to share a payout on random numbers. Will let you know if I win. Wonder from which part of the world I will post the news!!

And now for an update on my Power Monkey. It works a treat and charges both my mobile phones and i-Pod from the different adaptors. However, so far the solar charger is useless. The red charging light comes on in the weak winter light, but it has insufficient power to actually charge the unit. So now all packed away until April. I hope it works then as the cricket and motorbike seasons start, so I’m outdoors a lot.

Power Monkey at the back, solar charger in front

I’m now getting pretty well with my Wobble Board. It has taken some time to get used to, but the perseverance is worth it. It uses muscles that cycling and walking do not use, improves the balance and strengthens the legs. All for just a few minutes each day whilst watching the telly.

Here’s a good one for all you observant people. In all the disaster type movies and TV programmes, people walk everywhere. The humble bicycle is ignored even though it would be the most efficient type of transport. Anyone know why?

After his last cycling adventure, Mr Ranter decided to buy a proper racing bike. He went the whole hog and splashed out an astonishing £2,700. Then he had to buy some “extras”….like pedals. Er, what? You spend all that money on a new bike and you don’t get pedals?! Strewth almighty, it’s a barmy world alright.

Weather wise, I had one dry week in the month and went for it. 54 miles cycled in damn near freezing conditions mind. At least I wore the right clothing so was warm and dry, honest! But the wind was a bit of a killer..I had the ultimate kick in teeth during one of my cycle trips. I reach the crown of the original Severn Crossing (now M48) and ease up as now on the down slope. But due to the headwind, I had to keep peddling to maintain speed. Doh! No rest period for me then.

General Randomness

No new blogs or rants in the month I’m afraid. There are a few new jokes in that section mind. So mosey on over and have a butchers!

And now for a monumental feat. In February Mark Beaumont completed his latest cycle adventure. It took him 9 months to cycle from Alaska to southernmost tip in Argentina. A total of 13,000 miles. He also climbed the highest peaks in North America and Southern America during the trip. Wow. What an epic venture! His travel documentary is on the BBC on 23rd and 30th March. Final part on 6 April. Set your recording apparatus!

Sports News

For me the 4th of February was one of those great days as it meant spring is not too far away. Yes, the Yamaha YZR-M1 2010 was launched. What’s that then? Why it’s the coming seasons MotoGP bike for Rossi and Lorenzo. Time to dust off those knee sliders chaps! The riders had two separate testing trips in Sepang. Needless to say the fastest on all days was Mr Rossi. Has he already won the mental battle? Time will tell.

And then I learn a new MotoGP fact. When they crash and the parts are not fixable – they get crushed! How sad is that. Would love to buy a part and put it in the living room on display. Oh well.

And for a sports mad person, the Winter Olympics passed me by. Simply not interested at all. Oh well! I did hear though that GB won a Gold medal. No surprise really. It’s all down to the Nation’s love of tea. So that’s jumping on a tea tray and hurling yourself down an ice slope. The posh name for it is the Skeleton.

On the watching football side, I thoroughly enjoyed my trips to Cossham Street to watch Mangotsfield. There is a hardcore dozen (ish) who have a good old sing song and banter. Must be the funniest crowd in the league by far. Keep it up chaps – and of course chapess!

And the month ended with Portsmouth FC going into Administration. That’s good in my book. It’s about time the Revenue wised up and put the knife into clubs that don’t pay. Hopefully Crystal Palace, Chester et al will all go. I have nothing against these clubs. Believe me; it’s for the long term good of the game. See my rant https://smarty09.wordpress.com/2009/11/03/football-clubs-and-tax-debts/