Apple Shmapple

After some initial and really very minor issues with my I Phone, I am now almost a full convert (to Apple....who'd have thought it?!)

The retail experience still irritates but the product is great (or 'The Bomb' as my freind Alaina has it) .

Lots of folks have sent information about my initial gripes and I have now got it all set up, except for watching live video on the BBC. I player is fine for stored or pod cast stuff and there is plenty of chance to catch news, views and a ton of stuff so I am chuffed.

There is aslo a great 'app' (as the trendy apple types say) to catch live radio so I may look at that. Thanks to Bloggers who offered advice.

I have become an I Pod experimenter too and have chucked about 300 tunes on. I do tons of train travel and whilst an I Pod is reasonably appealing I think I will be more of a quiet newsy/review pod-cast sort of a chap, rather than sharing and blaring my tunes via headphone with other train passengers. I think it's pretty selfish to bang out tunes that way.

Off to Scotland for a few days' work so that should all be fun.

I can Blog via I phone so I will have a go at that.

Top Spod action.

See what you can (not) do...

I am a little bit arsed off about my I Phone now that I have it. About it, not with it...

When I signed up with the provider (yesterday) all I wanted assurance on in order to sign up was as follows:

Can I watch BBC News 24 on the go?

Can I Bluetooth my contacts from my Blackberry and my other phone to the I Phone?

Can I listen to the radio live?

A confident yes to all three had me signed up, but here I am 24 hours later and none of those three things is possible!

Arse!

It's all about Flash and Stereo Bluetooth you see.

The Store staff today told me that 'you have been misinformed'.

Cosmic.

It's still a great bit of kit but the retailer in me is a bit fucked off about the careless service.

Dear John...

Surely THIS VID' is the perfect combination of internet spod action?

Get in!

And now on with the working day...

Miles and miles and miles.

I have a couple of weeks of long distance work as we head out of August and into September!

This week I have been in Cumbria again and enjoyed my train journey home last night. Next week I am travelling on the bank holiday in order to get to Aviemore - this is 498 miles from my house and I am there for the purpose of closing down a temporary store we have. It is in place just as long as the pair of nesting Ospreys remain in residence on Loch Garten. This will be hard work as we divide the stock up amongst other UK stores but it is a pretty smart location. The week after I am of to Suffolk for a few days and will be part of a presentation team doing stuff for our store managers.

Today I am happy to be at my house with a day 'working from home'!

Frankly worrying...

Hey there train fans,

Here's a top vid' of yours truly on The Forth Rail Bridge a week or two back. The bridge is massively massive and ginormous so a vid' of the whole thing would be huge, but here's a taster.

This is a large rail bridge over the Firth of Forth in Edinburgh. It is a cantilever bridge opened in 1890 and still taking 200 trains per day.

More train drama today as I am off to Cumbria later.

Honk!

Journeys.

I came to my head office today on the train via London (always fun) .

It's usually pretty speedy and BS5 morphs into Paddington in about 90 minutes but today that leg of the journey took three and a half hours owing to all trains within a sniff of Paddington being held on a red signal for 90 minutes.

This happened at Slough. There was not much to look at out of the window (or on the train really) so I read my new book and chilled out. It was quite fun to sit there and observe people getting excited and changing plans. I read a wadge of pages in my Oliver Cromwell biography and remained calm. And scoffed my sarnies!

As I was on the train the news came through about the Lockerbie bomber gaining compassionate release. I think this is the right decision and is decent (and dare I say it) Christian. The chap who made the decision made a decent statement to justify his choice and it was couched in humanitarianism. I know the Americans are largely aghast but I think the humanity should cut through that.

Here endeth a post that has seen rare seriousness on Blog BS5!

Lamb review...

By the popular demand of 1 (thanks Saz!) , here is a picture of the aforementioned Lamb Tagine!

It was a soft, gentle taste that lingered and for me the spices were a little eclispsed by the apricot and peachy sort of taste. A great dish to have in the BS5 recipe book but for me it requires but a small tweak and a bit more spice.

All that said, no plates were left anything but empty.

Collar and tie for me today and off to London at a civilised mid-morning hour.

Lamb Tagine

Here at BS5 today, I am going for a new food venture and cooking Lamb Tagine!

I have eaten this abroad and also at my folks' house (Sally their neighbour cooks it fabulously).

Anyhow, Nigella is a keen reader of Blog BS5 and has advised me with a recipe. Raw ingredients pictured and a taste-update to follow.

Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

You can see turmeric, ground coriander, ground ginger, aprocots, lamb, cumin , cinnamon sticks, garlic and honey. Spinach on the side too.

Should be a good bit of eating and bleating.

Wall and Crane

Here's a wall I saw on holiday - in England on the way home, in fact.

Can any Bloggers I.D the building?

:)

Also: check out this TOP scale model rail crane. How good is that, and how come you never mentioned it before, Madame-museum lady? Oh YES....you know who you are....(and it was a delight for us to meet you, despite holding back top crane information) .

Holiday snaps.

Back to work today after a really smart week's holiday in Scotland. I put about 1100 miles on VX52 at an average 50.1 mpg (fact fans) .

In Scotland I saw:

The Forth Rail Bridge

Glamis Castle (pictured)

Edinburgh Castle

Loony street theatre types gearing up for The Festival

St Giles Kirk, Edinburgh

Shooting stars at 2am (The Perseid Shower was visible over Perthshire on Wednesday)

Princes Street

The Royal Mile

Lots of Scottish people

A Haggis

Several top buses with ears

A Viaduct over the River Tweed

I had a really great time in really fine company! Back to it this week whereupon other Scottish themed posts may follow.

The Great Crane Robbery

My good friend Walshy sent me this crane vid - it's entertaining in so many ways with its various nods to transport, machinery and car washing.

Top Friday action!

I am off to Derbyshire on the train this morning and then when I get home later I am on a week's holiday. Ideal.

It is a Friday store visit today so I am taking cake - a cake that I made (under supervision) !

Checking out well...

As I type I am watching the funeral of Harry Patch who went on recently at 111.

It is at Wells Cathedral where I have been many times (it is a handful of miles from BS5) .

In the commentary as he was on the way in, one of the TV pundits said something really worthwhile and resonating. He said that so many people were watching and listening today because Harry Patch reminded them of their own grandfathers. Precisely.

Mine was born in the same year and went-on in the eighties and well into his own eighties, and that is what I have been thinking about today as wel las the man pictured here (Harry Patch, of course) .

On my Grandpa's 18th he was on The Somme on its opening morning. On mine, I am sure I was having a vastly easier time.

Anyhow, Harry Patch is having a warm and affectionate send off now and it is a good and fine thing.

111 is a fair number. If I last that long it will be 2083 and I might have finished my bathroom .

Celebrity Swears.

I worked in Cardiff yesterday where 'we' have a Regional Office that supports the four Welsh stores I look after in my job.

On the way back to catch my train I was waiting to cross the road thinking of this and that and looking at Cardiff Castle.

I was aware of a man next to me in effusive conversation with another chap next to him, thanking the fellow for the pleasure given. I looked up to see A-list comedic dude, Roy 'Chubby' Brown; what that man doesn't know about swearing isn't worth knowing, but he was nice as pie in his thanks. We crossed the road at the same time and I thought he was a good sort to thank a random fan!

Vietnam tunes

I had a great run today. It was a little after half six and it was raining, which is always great running weather! I am hapy to be running again as it makes me feel alert.

Off to Cardiff later for a little work on Welsh stores that I support in my work. As I sit on the train, I will try not to think about the 100,000 gallons of water pumped out of The Severn Tunnel every day.

This morning I have been (mainly!) listening to THIS, which I came across via The West Wing and a radio station I like...

Breakfast now!

Phone a friend.

I have had a happy and productive day today and it has seen many things for which I am thankful.

I was actually proactive beyond work today. I try to be proactive at work but sometimes fail to be so when I get home again.

Anyhow today I did just that and extricated myself from my expired mobile phone contract with Orange. The firm I work for operates a staff scheme wherby one can receive 30% off contracts with O2 , so I am going to avail myself of that and take on a 16 gig I Phone 3Gs (whatever that means). This should all happen in the next ten days and I can get some shiny new kit and all the rather Guardian reading tendencies that might be bundled with it for free (though I will not ditch collar and tie, nor will I start to drink ridiculous coffees) .

I also had encounters with two friends from school today - one over lunch and a physical reality (Radders) and the other virtually and via a new thread started on Facebook a day or two back (thank you Neil 'Beanie' Broadstock; great to chat with you this week and renew dialogue and memories between BS5 and Phoenix, Arizona - US of A) .

Here's to I Phones, school pals, the working day and upcomng thoughts of Scotland (upon which more tomorrow) .