A blessed year.

I am a grateful man.

One wall, one city, one Chicken.

Contentment and more.

Happy new year.

VX 52 and the 100, 000 milestone .

VX 52 is very soon to come of age and pass one hundred thousand miles driven!

I purchased him at 34k and have had many happy miles since driving past bridges, factories, convoys, other Mercedes cars, and along many exciting Motorway routes. We have bumbled along in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. We've driven to work, on holiday and in rain, shine, snow, ice and hail.

How is he to pass the mighty 100 barrier later today?

He's taking four girls to the ballet in Cardiff.

What a milestone.

Christmas day

A new pair of slippers

A nostril hair trimmer

A 2 hour course firing and driving a Steam Engine

A very happy, grateful Blogger!

Merry Christmas.....

Happy times of change.

Two years ago my Christmas bowl of chocs lasted until March.

As 2010 closes , stock turn for this range has accelerated hugely. It's a measure of delight really as the month of December generally sees the bowl all done for.

Thanks to D'ang who explained turn and churn as a retail concept. His 14 minute M&S career lends him significant retail clout far beyond my slender grasp as an 8 Store Area Manager.

Flower ticket

Some time ago I posted a picture of my rail ticket with a train-shaped hole punched into it by the ticket man!

A fan and reader of this blog has now submitted her own picture to post!

Here is a Norwich to Newport flower from Norfolk blog fan, Dandelion!

Check out that floral ticket check action!

I wonder if Dandelion has any bacon shaped like a large country?

Snow joke, you idiot!

Luckily this is not my car, but the front of VX52 nearly took a hefty crumple today :(

I was in my car at BS5 (and with loved ones in the car) , we were taking the road slowly and gently in the slip sliding snow where there is no room at all for traffic to pass. A chap came piling along ahead of us with no intent of giving way.

He then stuck his brakes on and in slow motion fishtailed towards us out of control. We were going less than 10mph and I was able to stop and reverse about five feet - five feet that saved a VERY expensive afternoon. What a pillock!

I was very restrained and just thanked him for backing up. No point in giving the man a load of verbal when I am sure he knew he'd been a cock, but then again he just looked straight ahead and would not make eye contact anyhow!

My Google search list...

Now and again I upload a picture of my most recent Google searches, and this always brings mention of something geeky.

However, if I load that up today my lovely other half will twig the fact that I have purchased a Mercedes Actros and a Chainsaw for her as the main Christmas gifts this year.

:(

Lightning reactions!

Well folks, just two years after it fell off, VX52 has a new wing mirror glass on the passenger side! I can now cross into the inside lane without guessing.

My car was serviced today by my pal Spence. VX52 has new oil and filters and is just 400 miles short of 100,000 on the clock.

Cheers Spence!

Beetle BS5

This iron chap lives in the middle of Bristol at a venue called @Bristol which has a science and nature museum, a planetarium and a huge aquarium .

I had a right old lark here today and we came out for a lark about afterwards in the frozen fountains.

The beetle is one if a handful of sculptures, and with artistic flair here I am intelligently 'deconstructing its narrative' as they say in The Guardian....

Not for this blogger!

This was a recent mail-shot to BS5!

Not my scene really.

Maybe if it had said 'express who you are through watching Sci Fi on tv and having a sneaky pint'?

No train action at all on BlogBS5 this week. I was due in Cumbria and Yorkshire with an overnight stop at York but the North has tons of snow and is closed!

Geeky search action Pt II.

It's been a little while since I fired up a screenshot of Google searches, and the last such blog post contained the search 'how heavy is an inter city 125 train?'

This recent batch has an edifying mix of scaffold related location searches, a decent hymn, a dive location in Australia where my good pal Mike has just booked a jaunt, a cool and hip Californian clothes brand, and most critical of all how to sidestep in Doom on the IPhone!

Anyone else have such an interesting search history?

Wow!

Now obviously I hope there is not too much hurt, shock or distress at the scene but Blimey! Top transport drama and action!

Toot toot!

Check this fella out!

I am on a train through to North Wales today and my ticket has just been checked between Crewe and Stafford. The chap checked and clipped the ticket with a clipper that left the shape of a steam train!

Now that's dedication to the cause.

Toot toot!

Swiss

Every six weeks or so I pitch up at my head office to do a bit of work. Working there is civilised and pleasant , and the office runs a minibus for free each morning and evening to the outlying villages.

I was on the minibus tonight (headed for my b and b) and heard two fellas having a chat about a parcel from Amazon:

'What have you got there?'

'Two copies of the fungi of Switzerland!'

Blimey! That was random.

I mean did he buy it twice or are there sufficient mushrooms in Switzerland for a two volume exploration?

Almost three!

My Blog is three years old on Friday October 15th....expect a post of suitable gravity and importance!

Why change the habit of the last 1,073 articles of vital information?

Half Life

Did you know that 50% of all the people who have ever lived and existed on the planet throughout all its history are alive right now?

Does it therefore follow that if 40% of today's population know who Barack Obama is, then he is known to 20% of all humanity ever?

That statisitc surprised me when I heard it, so I am doing my bit for the environemnt and using fewer resources, i.e staying in bed longer.

A field near work.

Today I have been at an all dayer near my head office. It was an HR and training day with the standard content of that sort of affair.

I had a lift back to my b and b with a colleague who is always interesting and bright company.

He and I got to chatting about an Airfield that was on the way, and on the spur of it we decided to endure the rain and a five minute trudge through a field to visit it.

This is it.

It is the airfield at Tempsford and every SOE flight into occupied Europe left from here, dropping women and men in their twenties into Europe to support Resistance cells. They were briefed and armed at the barn.

Poignant stuff with a memory to many, including Violette Szabo.

Great visit!

Tax!

This is the tax disc for my car.

It is purchased, delivered and ready to go .... before the old one has expired. That's the first time ever!

Is this maturity on the distant horizon?

Gosh.

£200 is a bit strong, about 360 in dollars, I think!

Me and my bro'

Hey, this is us from a few weeks back! I have two brothers and this is the one next up from me (standing up).

We were at my folks house Christening a wooden spoon I had just received as a much appreciated gift!

I chose a slow beef stew as the spoon's maiden voyage and cooked that for a few of us to eat that night.

Khaless didn't appear in a stew inspired vision, unfortunately.

Fault Lines

My brother's new book hit Amazon today and has already sold 5 copies since breakfast! Bring on that royalty cheque!

No publicity yet and it just uploaded and Joe Public arleady bought some. I hope it shifts a good few.

Here it is, so have a look and check out chapter 17 on Spaceships and Car Chases!

A steal at $28 of your American dollars.

A zebra in BS5!

This was very exciting!

New tarmac and road paint action here in BS5 has resulted in an exciting zebra crossing. This rather helped me as I wobbled safely across it last night on the way home from the pub.

I had been away all week and went to my local for a fancy dress birthday party. I suppose most people would blog a picture from that, but this is Blog BS5....

Top Geekery!

An update to my speed tester app', and a cheeky 8.3 meg a second.

Get in for Geekery!

The train home from London.

A long and busy ride on the train tonight and the first time in many months that I have returned to Bristol in the dark! Here comes Autumn.

Obviously this was not the actual train I came home in because I am not coal....

Mr Sheen

Off to the railway station this morning, as is my working habit. Top new shiny door action en-route today! Check these fellas out.

Blog BS5: even when it's not trains or bridges or roads, the action keeps on coming.

How long before some peasant tags them with graffiti though?

Handy!

Through London today and there's a big old tube strike. Buses are the civilised alternative but the usual stop is a road currently being resurfaced. Here's a handy poster from that bus stop...

Fantastic Time Waster!

Check out R-type for the IPhone. It's a retro' treat with wave after wave of top class aliens and robots to shoot. Mind you, waves and waves is stretching the truth regarding my progress! Here I am in a little explosion on the left just before the end of the level1 boss.

Progress beckons....

September blogger.

Haven't posted in aaaaaaages but here is a vid' from a quick break I took in Wales over the bank holiday last weekend!

Happy larks in Wales, the last hurrah of the summer holidays (although September 1st has been a scorcher!)

Bus drama!

Cor!

Nasty bus action in Manila this afternoon with an enraged police officer (who had been removed from his post) holding a load of hostages. Loads of dead Chinese tourists as a result, and a bungled attempt to break the siege.

The bus was held up on a road that was right under my brother's apartment building in the city. He is UK side for a while now but he has a pal in the same building who could see the whole thing from his window.

More than they bargained for on that bus trip :-(

Steaming!

Caught this at York today. Very exciting!

A steam train in half.

The National Rail Museum welcomed me for five and a half hours of total train dram in York this week. You can wander about to see, touch and explore about twenty steam trains and hundreds of other exhibits. This steam train is dissected and a knowledgeable chap explains the principles of steam locomotion each afternoon.

Pooooop poop!

More train action!

Through this train station today on the way to a store visit near Exeter!

Jesus in a piece of toast!

You know how you see crazy people who have had a vision of JC in the toast, or the Devil in the bubbles at bathtime?

Well I caught this still from Star Trek, the movie from last year. Check it out for spooky time line stuff!

I reckon if you just look at it a bit strangely, up and left of James T Kirk on his motorbike, there is a Borg face in the image of the Shipyard between the two tall piers or cranes! You can see the white of his skin, two eyes, a nose and a bit of a mouth with a microphone across it.

All spooky and indicative of the timeline to come!

And yes, I watched the trailer a load of times then took a snap when it was paused on my Iphone.

I'll get my coat....

May I have a single to....

Looked in at this railway stop on my holidays in Wales last week. It's just over the bridge into Anglesey and has a handy phonetic guide for those whose Welsh is not up to the task (myself included).

Total drama!

Pulled the car up at Blaenau Ffestiniog yesterday and encountered this!

Total drama and lots of Desmond! (Toot-toot !)

Speed!

When I arrived home a moment ago I fired up my work lappy in order to bang out a fast email. Something came up that needed a speedy solution (I was walking home from the train and a meeting in Birmingham).

My 21st C laptop is a work machine and was given to me 7 weeks ago to replace my previous one.

Look at the lightning time below.....it records the moment from pressing the on switch to detection of my wifi network and connection to my work server.

Nuclear attack warnings are are faster.....

Top smart!

Total crane action at Kings Cross St . A bit precarious gaffer taped on to that hotel roof though.

Cool!

Reading near Reading

Now without getting all Jules from Pulp Fiction on you, here is a part of the OT that I like and just enjoyed reading on the train today.

Hey if it's not your thing ( or you think 'pretend friends' as my deliberately irreverent brother says), them that's cool but I just like this bit particularly.

And there's a woman in the opposite seat who is reading the same book! Mind you, she has a leather bound book but mine's on IPhone today.

Fear doesn't really mean following through sort of fear in this verse; more 'aware of' I think.

Trains and bridges will be back soon! Well before peace on Israel probably .....

Updates!

An hour or so to back up my phone (always a slow process) and install a new version of OS4.

The result?

Smaller signal bars to make me think I am not losing signal really.

Here they are, courtesy of the 18 Phd employees at Apple mentioned by Steve Jobs in his Friday press conference.

Well spotted before now but ignored 'til you were rumbled, chaps.

£140,000 combine harvesters.

I'm on the train home from London tonight and all week I've been on a retail refit in Sussex. During the visit I happened upon 'Used Machinery Trader'.

What a cracking read! Take this Claas Lexion 600 as an example. Second hand and it still costs 140 large but you get a vertical knifestraw chop, power spread, laser steering (cool) and a yield per quality meter. Ideal! 0 - 60 is a bit sluggish but hey ho.

You can't go wrong being a spod , especially when you haven't got a clue about vertical knifestraw chop action.

Me and a billion people ...

Fab company and The World Cup Final.

Radio and tv action planet-wide.

I like my seat for the game very much.

Cool!

Buy one, get your money back.

To Waitrose today in Monmouth before heading for BS5 and the World Cup Final.

BS7 and I picked up this and that, and spotted bags of peas on RTC (reduced to clear) so we nabbed two.

At the checkout they came up at their reduced price of 99p down from £3, but they were originally on a BOGOF and this still kicked in, taking £3 off.

Everyone loves a bargain. Spend two quid, get three quid off!

Thank you John Lewis Partnership.

More scoff!

Summer barbecue prep' today.

This is the veggie end but there's venison and sausages too...

Must be time to crack a cold lager....

Prepping!

Fabulous lamb curry to follow .

We have:

Lamb
Coriander
Mint
Chilli
Ginger
Cumin
Peppers
Onions
Garlic
Tomatoes
Cardamom
Olive oil

On a slow heat now!

Top deck action!

More fascinating video action here on BlogBS5 this morning!

Here is a view of the lower end of Park St in BS1, and College Green where the Cathedral (just visible) has been since the early 10th Century.

After College Green and the rather swanky hotel (always good for a posh pee stop!) the vid' swings around into the centre of the city.

No spaceships but I hope you enjoy this Friday morning view.

The perils of afternoon ales

I am 38 and my brother is 40. We should know better really.

He lives in Manila and I live in BS5 so when he visits it's a real treat and a catch up. We took a stroll to look at doors for some impending work on my house but then repaired to The Seven Stars. 'Just a couple' was the order of the day so we could catch Spain Germany in the World Cup later on.

On the way home the swings and rides looked a good lark, so here we are near my house!

Bleat!

Curried goat today as my brother is coming to visit and he hasn't had goat before and requested it.

The goat in question must have been a bony bugger and I am making stock from his bones now!

Curry picture to follow tonight!

Quite smart!

Now I'm not one for irregular pint glasses most of the time, but I liked this one lots! The beer was great too. I had this is 'The Mall', a smart pub near the suspension bridge.

I thought about slipping the glass into BS7's handbag but that's not good and it was too small anyhow!

Domestic Saturday .

A mighty Saturday here in BS5. Off for a run soon ( it's half six) and then I'm going to clean my sofa covers, clean me, and wash the car.

Do weekends get any more active?

Top transport action.

A pal of mine sent this to me on Friday ( the image, not the vehicle) .

These were on site where he works and are used to lift parts of bridges into place!

Cheers Jack.

A right old lark!

Had a good old go with one of these today at the blissfully quiet Apple store in Bristol.

Had a go with an IPhone 4 too. The display is sharp and the video camera is great, but I wouldn't shell out for one over a 3GS just yet.

The iPad was pretty heavy for its size but really tactile too. I'd definitely get one if I had dollars to burn.

Blimey!

Well here's a thing!

This is the train on the Wrexham and Shropshire line and I'm on it from Wolverhampton to Shrewsbury .

I've just stepped on and thought I had the first class carriage. It's clean as a whistle, very roomy and very well appointed. This is really elegant and everyone has a roomy table!

Top stuff and most impressed here.