Next Weeks News

So a bit of a cold snap due next week. It could drop as low as *3 degrees* in some parts of the UK! LOL! Its been below freezing here most of last week.

Oh well, it'll probably mean some pensioners and low income people will die of hypothermia because they're too frightened to turn their heaters up, but no doubt the share holders and bosses of Centrica and Powergen will be nice and warm anyway, so it doesnt really matter

I'll certainly be very warm, its gonna be 80 degree's here, so screw you lot as you freeze in your homes, Im alright Jack....!

I think I'd make a great boss of a power company :-)

The Perils of Flying

Remember Tony came to work a couple of weeks ago over here and we went for a curry on the Saturday? Tony is one of the fittest people I know, he's over 50 and is probably fitter than I am. So I was amazed to get to work this morning and find an e mail from him in my in box saying that when he had flown back, he had had a pain in his leg just under his knee, that he thought was a pulled muscle.

He didn't really think much of it, until he told his wife, who immediately told him to go and get it checked out at the doctors (its always the women that make us blokes go to the doc's isn't it?!)

Well, after a check up, blood test and scans, turns out he had DVT and the clot in his leg had moved from his knee and lodged in his left lung, making breathing quite difficult! He's on blood thinning medication and has to inject himself every day

DVT is a disease of the circulation. It occurs most often in people who have not been able to exercise normally, just like when you're on a long haul flight.
Blood passing through the deepest veins in the calf or thigh flows relatively slowly: when a DVT occurs it moves so slowly that it forms a solid clot which becomes wedged in the vein.

Quite often there are no symptoms at all, but Tony just thought he had pulled a muscle I found this out about DVT, just goes to show how unlucky you were Tony!

"The most common serious complication is a pulmonary embolism which occurs in between one in three and one in four cases of DVT. A piece of the clot lodged in the leg vein breaks off and travels through the body to the lung, where it becomes lodged again causing severe breathing difficulties."

But lucky enough to avoid these:

"Untreated, up to one in ten people who suffer a pulmonary embolism die as a result.
More rarely, a part of the clot may also lodge in other organs including the brain, where it leads to a stroke."

It made me wonder that if it had've been me, I probably wouldn't be here now - I haven't been to the doctors since I was 16 - Jeez thats 20 years this year! And if DVT can happen to Tony, they really can happen to anyone. Im off to buy some flight socks and some asprin for my return flight, anyone who flies long haul should take heed.

Well, just glad you're ok Tony, you'll live to eat another curry!

Guns and Ammo

Had a great day today...went to a shooting range this afternoon with Dave of the RAF, Dave G who I used to work with, Rob who i work with, and Tom from skiing (and work)

We got there and we chose our weapons. Tom brought his own gun, a Heckler and Koch pistol, a bit like this one:







We also chose a Glock 9mm handgun and another one, whose name I cant remember but it shot .45mm shells and had a bigger recoil


This is Dave with the Glock. Really quite scary....
This is me locking and loading. I reckon even I cud hit the target from this distance. The words 'barn door at 5 yards' spring to mind though.
IThis is me letting off a few rounds

This is Dave shooting quite well

All in all, Tom and the two Daves shot the best, but they had done some shooting before in some shape or form.

I utterly sucked. In fact it was joked that if I went on a rampage, the intended victims would have a btter chance of survival if they stood high on desks or cabinets, as my shots seemed to aim low. meaning if my victims hid under a desk id probably hit a few of them. Of course i would never do that though...

I was utterly amazed to see some people coming in with evil looking sniper rifles complete with telescopic lenses! There was even a fully automatic machine gun for hire for $20...I was soooo tempted!

I have a video of me shooting too, just need to work oout how to post videos though....

Radio Stations

Following on from the Dave Lee Roth/Morning Edge post, what do you reckon makes a good radio show? When I lived in Malvern I lived 3 miles from work, so very rarely listened on the 'commute' to work. In the summer I would usually bike in (if the weather was ok!) so never listened at all, but when I worked in London/Oxford/Farnborough I would tune in all the time to while away the drive.

I dont think there is any difference at all with good radio shows in the UK or the US. But what makes a show 'good'?

Jagger Mondo and Dean had a good mix of talk/music (ie less music, more talk) Chris Evans (and his team) on Virgin had a similar format. There was the 'main guy' (Jagger on kdge, and Evans on virgin) who held thing together and a team built around him (although Evans was more dictatorial than Jagger). Its the same with Chris Moyles and 'comedy' Dave and the rest of them, although I find Chris Moyles quite obnoxious, and unfunny, so I dont tend to listen to him. Im sure he's popular with some, but maybe Im just getting old and find the word 'arse' not that funny any more. No, wait, I just laughed at the word 'arse', so maybe its just Moyles talent that I dont find funny?

Anyway, Lex and Terry claim that talk shows are the future (they have done research and everything), and thats why they don't have any music. That might be true, but I think they have to come up with some content to make it work rather than just having, what amounts to a phone in to move the show along. Even I could sit there and have people call in with relationship problems that I fixed on air, and have a radio show (you could even do that on a blog!). Oh they even have a comedy 'head to head' with homeless people telling jokes to win 100 bucks, so they do think of some stuff to broadcast.

So whats the formula? Shock jocks? Comedy Homeless folk? Phone ins? Radio 4's Im sorry I haven't a clue? Hancocks Half Hour?

Ryans

Went to a buffet place, Ryans, for lunch today. One of the guys I work with is returning to the UK next week, so a few of us had lunch. Can't believe Im off back on 31st march - boo hiss!

I ate so much! I had a main course, then a slice of pumpkin pie, a slice of pecan pie, and some kind of pie with custard - damn my sweet tooth :-) I reckon i'll be going there again sometime soon!

Im so glad its Friday tomorrow. Its been pretty busy this week, but I submitted my report today and it was well received. I reckon I will probably be sent out again later in the year (after the tax rule date!)

I have a great Saturday planned....I'll tell you about it later!

Dave Lee Roth

....Just aint cool, I'll explain why.

In my quest to find a new radio show to listen to in the morning, I noticed a huge bill board on my way home yesterday advertising Dave Lee Roth's morning show. So I decided to tune in (105.3 Free FM) ("That advertising had absolutely no effect on me at all" - Homer Simpson, shortly before joining clown college)

I know DLR is more famous for being the front man of Van Halen, but why would he turn to radio? He is quite a soft spoken bloke, and his voice just doesn't seem to 'fit' the radio.

He was born in 1954 which makes him 52 this year, and this morning he was interviewing 19 year old Sean White (a.k.a the flying tomato) who just won gold at the olympics in the Snowboarding. I was almost cringing as he interviewed him about how great it is to be in the media spot light, and all the girls you get, and free stuff. He was also going on about how he has just taken up surfing - I think Sean was really impressed :-) Im sure he isn't, but he just sounded like a sad old has been.

Lex and Terry are just a talk show now, with no music (apparently thats what makes award winning shows these days) so, I've given up on them. Bring back Jagger, Mondo and Dean!

Looks like its NPR, 'morning edition' again tomorrow...

Theres nothing like an Adrenalin rush in the Morning

....to make your sphincter muscle go spastic.

Was driving into work this morning - its been well below freezing all weekend, so most of the roads were well gritted. Listening to Lex and Terry, thinking jeez this morning show is bad. Just before the turn off on 635 I went over a bridge that hadn't been gritted...

Car started to slide to the right, then to the left, then virtually sideways. By now I was wondering how I was going to explain this one to the hire company. Luckily I managed to gain traction and right it, avoiding the concrete reservation at the side.

Adrenalin really makes you sit up and pay attention :-)

Im Rubbish at Maths

I am really terrible at Maths, and now I think I am losing the ability to add up...check this out

UK gas prices expected to rise 22%
UK Council Tax expected to rise 4%
Petrol prices set to rise again
UK Train fares set to rise again (4% I think. Phillip can probably tell us about bus fares)
Television License goes up again - I think its about 126 pounds now.

Yet UK inflation 'holds steady' at 1.9%.

How does that work then? I know inflation is worked out by a number of essential items in a 'shopping basket' and compared year on year (and I know gas prices are included) but how can prices rise and inflation hold steady?

Someone must know!

Telly Marathon

Oh I had so much I wanted to do this weekend. Tidy up, play half life 2, wash the clothes again I'd forgotten about in the washing machine, but no - damn you 'The History Channel'!

Switched on the TV at about 11am to see just how freezing it was outside, and flicked to the history channel, to find the UFO files on. This episode was about abductions, and about how 4 college students on a camping trip being abducted and probed by some greys. The next episode was about Roswell, and several episodes later it was 5pm. The last episode was about reverse engineering alien technology and making an Inertia cancelling device, an anti grav propulsion system and an evil transporter, that doubles as a fax machine (I kid you not!)

The way TV programming is done over here is very clever. They dedicate an entire block of time to showing the same show (CSI does it on a week day, Court TV does it as does Cops) It just gets you hooked and before you know it, its dark outside! I am so weak.

I decided to get some beer...took me 10 minutes to de-frost the car.

I flicked the History channel back on, and it was 'decoding the past'. Nostrodamus - 4 back to back episodes. So I had to watch that. Then there was Edgar Cayce - the modern day Nostrodamus. I was glued to the settee. At 10:30pm I flicked to the discovery channel - 'The Haunting' about a family that bought a house, where a 15 year old had committed suicide, and her ghost would walk around and answer the phone. I nearly 'soiled' myself when my phone rang as I was watching it! It was some spanish guy talking to me in Spanish, so I hung up and went to bed.

Lost weekend....

Weird Weather

At the moment, its 86 degrees here - I have the air con on. But while i was watching The Simpsons, there was a severe weather advisory for snow tomorrow! I just can't imagine its going to drop over 40 degrees over night - I might have to dig the ski's out tomorrow!

Morning Edge Cancelled

Gutted to find out that the Morning Edge has been cancelled due to the presenters wanting more money. They have been replaced by a duo called Lex and Terry, who I listened to on the way in this morning. There wasn't much music on, just a lot of people calling in

I'll give them a go, but its not the same :-(

I knew it was cold, but...

Blimey, I knew it was cold in Colorado, but good grief


Colorado man dies in cold

13 Feb 2006
A 28-year-old man from the US state of Colorado died on his way home from work on Thursday February 9th, when temperatures plummeted to below zero degrees Celsius.
The body of Greg Piche, a cook at Fatty's Pizzeria in the ski resort of Breckenridge, was discovered at around 13:00 local time on Saturday February 11th, reports Rocky Mountain News.
Search and rescue teams believe that Mr Piche had wandered approximately 100 feet off one of the trails between Wellington Road and Colorado 9.
Co-workers reported their colleague missing when he failed to turn up for work on Saturday.
After authorities checked the home of the man, search and rescue teams from Summit County were called.
Mike Schmitt, a spokesman for Summit County search and rescue, told the newspaper that he believes Mr Piche's shoes came off when he was trying to break his own trail, of several feet deep, that was left in the snow.
US weather forecasters are predicting temperatures of around minus 15 degrees Celsiu! s for Colorado by the end of the week.

Note to self

Think before you drink, before you blog :-)

I took the nerd test

And the result was...



I rule :-)

Curry With Tony

By sheer coincidence, on Friday I turned my UK mobile phone on to charge it up. Got a voice mail from Tony (I used to work with him) saying he was working in Dallas until Sunday, and did I want to meet up for a beer? Dallas is a big place, so I presumed he would be miles away...turns out he's on Beltline Drive, which is just near the Londoner!

We met up there last night and had a few beers before going on to the Claypit for a curry. I think he was impressed! I smell of garlic and ginger today though, so I don't envy the person sitting next to Tony on the plane tonight!

Squirry Button!

Well, it seems that enough money was raised for Fuzzy the Ferret, so Im jumping on the bandwagon! Donate a dollar to save Sqirry the Squirrel!

Your money will be spent wisely....honest.

The Skiing Pics

Got back from Breckenridge last night after a 13 hour drive :-( We set off last Friday at about 1am and drove along Highway 287 pretty much all the way to Colorado. Only got one speeding ticket too! Just as we got into Colorado, I had the car on Cruise control at 76 mph, but missed the sign that said it was a 65 zone - d'oh!

Anyway, heres some of the pics from the holiday...no broken bones to report, which was good!

This is a picture of the view from the condo window


This is the kitchen area of the condo...hmmm beer!

This was the night of the Super Bowl, I bet Mark $5 that Seattle would win...spirits were high at this point in the evening....


Mark had high hopes for Pittsburgh...Tom couldn't really give a knack.

Mark reckons he's gonna win


Its not looking good for Seattle.


Damn the Seahawks :-(



Anyway, heres some skiing pics....

Mark tries to look cool at the top of the lift

Me testing out the new board. I got fed up of falling over and almost breaking my wrists. By Monday I was just about ok though. Still prefer skiing.
Me and Tom at Vail - Vail was brilliant. (12,500 ft)

The Rocky Mountains More scenery

The view from the cable car of the restaurants and hotels etc.

At this altitude (around 11,500ft) the air is really thin, and you get really short of breath. Some people had said that we would experience altitude sickness, but that didn't happen, unless being drunk counts?

Yea, unlike Mark, the air was quite thin up here :-)

If you want to see the full 7 megapixel images, just double click on them. They look pretty good.

Snowboard Cheapness

Picked Mark up from DFW yesterday, and we hit the pub :-) We had food and beer and he whooped my ass at darts. Today we went to Wal-Mart, and then to Sports Authority. We checked out the snow gear and we couldn't believe how cheap it was! So, $90 (47 quid) later I had a brand new snow board and Mark bought Skis, boots, poles and bindings for $387 (about 232 quid!)

We then had a trip to down town Dallas and had a look around Dealy Plaza. We got accosted by some guy intent on proving the conspiracy theories - I didn't like to argue with him, cos he was quite scary, and I thought he was going to rob us!

Here's some of the pictures from today:

This is me in the Gun section of Sports Authority, notice the insane, manic grin on my face.
















This is the book depository, seen from Houston street














This is the view from the bridge over Dealy Plaza. Notice the easy line of sight from the 6th floor window...If you double click this picture, you can see the X on the street where Kennedy was shot (its 'back and to the left' of the car)

This is a picture of the new (left) and old (right) courthouses, where Lee Harvey Oswald was shot. This was taken from the bridge too.










This 'shot' (no pun intended) was taken from the grassy knoll. In my opinion its the only kind of shot thats ever been fired there :-)



This is a shot of me with a cool building in the background.



And here we have a shot of the day's purchase's :-) As you can see, I still need to get boots and bindings, but at these prices, who cares?! USA, USA, USA!