I ask you, can you think of a better month of weather than the May we’ve just experienced? It was almost perfect wasn’t it? I loved it and it made lockdown a lot more bearable. And here we are on the 2 June and it’s already raining with only deteriorating conditions being forecast, sigh. Carol was really busy online with her work and ‘Team’ meetings so I’ve been kicking my heels a bit today in boredom… Continue reading
Well the last posting was about saying goodbye to our great friend Sheila, tinged with guilt and much sadness at missing her funeral. This one follows a similar path; a farewell coupled with a hint of sorrow and some regret but I hope this will be more uplifting. Here perhaps we have something to celebrate and smile at. Unless I’ve really fucked up. Continue reading
Just look at this view, stunning eh. When I was back working for BT I used to drive to and from work in London and I’d spend nearly 5 hours a day on the road. When it came to time off I’d yearn to go places to get away from it all but mostly away from the car and roads and traffic. Places just like the scene above in fact – wandering round the lakes, on the moors, in the dales etc. Ah the peace and tranquility eh.
I’m always fascinated by people who like gadgets and the latest technology; it’s like they’re drawn to shiny new things like magpies. And I love to hear how essential these items are to their lives, as if everything up to this point has been empty and meaningless. Ha! You’re probably thinking from my tone that I’m being incredibly sceptical and dismissive but far from it. I sort of get it – after all you’ve often heard me rave on about my wonderful desktop, iphone and tablet – all from Apple. They are essential to me and I am gutted that my laptop has finally died. Plus I like German cars and reliable broadband service. So there you go, I’m not a complete technophobe. But there are certain things that I can happily live without….
So Barry Manilow marries his long term manager Garry. Oh Mandy, I bet you didn’t see that one coming. You could have knocked me over with a feather boa when I heard the news. Blimey, next you’ll be telling me that Sir Cliff’s a bit hint of mint. Continue reading
I think most regular readers will know I’m a huge fan of Apple’s technology and we are very fortunate to own a range of their stuff. People will also know I’m not the most capable technologically. It’s an odd thing for someone who spent 30 years working in the telecoms/mobile/broadband industries to admit to, but there you are. I spent all that time marketing services and facilities (and mostly successfully I think) about which I had little idea on how it all worked. I didn’t really care to be honest as I had enough colleagues, friends and family members who’d always get me out of a technological cul-de-sac. Thankfully.
One of the things we noticed in France was the popularity of the Dacia range of vehicles. I guess it’s not too surprising given that Renault bought out the former Romanian state car brand a few years ago. The cars are famously affordable and very much aimed at the budget end of the market. Fair enough and by all accounts they’re doing good business in France, Bulgaria, Turkey and all sorts of places. The vehicles look a little like they’re designed by British Leyland’s Allegro stylists but I’ve nothing against them. Except the names they’ve come up with for the range. Now very old readers will know that I’ve written on the subject of car naming in the far-off past; it’s something of a thing of mine. I especially enjoy really crap vehicle names and the marketing men at Dacia (who must have been recruited from Bucharest’s top hardware and ironmongers store) have come up with some lulus.
Well this is going to be a relatively short blog (hopefully uploaded first time of writing)  following up on two recent postings. The first concerned a hopeless Xmas lunch we had at a local pub/restaurant where the management had invited us to a complementary second meal to showcase their real capabilities. Ooh would it prove to be A1 or just OK or NFG again? The second was all about my continuing hopeless relationship with technology  and yet another visit to the Genius bar at my local Apple store in Kingston. Would they be able, a la Chris Martin, to ‘fix me’ and my lovely but sick iMac desktop? Or would I find myself contemplating jumping off the top floor of the Bentalls store car park in desperation at losing all my personal and business data, unbacked-up for the last 5 years? Well I guess you can tell I didn’t jump but was it a happy ending?
Pasta Paulie 