Have you been?

Last week I was on the train coming into Bristol Temple Meads from Derbyshire. 

It was late on a Friday; I was tired, delayed, irritable and not in a mood for larks. 

I then saw this fantastic bit of train vandalism that was pretty smart in its forward thinking.

It put a smile back on my face - well done to the bloke who did that! (Only a bloke would be that thoughtful and childish and inventive and harmless all in one go!)

The other pic' is my fine brother's fine dogs - I saw them recently and they were top smart and constantly up for larks with sticks.

Gadget stuff.

It's time for a gadgety sort of a post!

This weekend as well as the dizzying purchase of a new mop, I treated myself to a new radio. 

I stay away quite a lot and I am yet to stay in a place where the advertised free wifi exists, the radio works, or the TV is snazzy enough to get Radio 4.  I am a bit of a Radio 4 spod and I like it in the morning as I get ready ....so...

I purchased this DAB radio which is handy enough to pack into my away bag. I spent Saturday afternoon messing about with it and filling up the presets. Smart! It was a right old bargain and can switch from DAB to  regular radio too.

Also, on Friday I came to like my Blackberry more than I had before. I was in Matlock Bath(in Derbyshire)  awaiting a connection home and I googled The Trainline, a website that tells you all you need to know in this regard. It has a mobile friendly service that is dead good at giving you all the connection details and live updates for delays!

Over the weekend I did this smart bit of burning action too...

Train action Friday

Having ranted yesterday about the irritation of missing a train at Exeter, today I had a late train at Derby. On a Friday night homeward this usually sucks but today's extra 40 minutes was a Brucey, it enabled me to stroll from the overpriced station shops into Derby to find a sandwich and 4 cold Fozzies. That's a fair deal by me and here comes a cold one.

A decent day's work but pretty choppy in other regards and I feel :( about my part in that.

On the go now!

On the go now and I think Drive knows the score; he's put her into top and the pedal is to the metal. Come on! Bristol. Bristol!

Bollocks!

Missing train connections really fucks me off, especially when station staff tell me it's all going to work. Here I am with an hour on my hands after missing the previous one by a minute. I am not on the train , nor am I whizzing homeward I am on a station, blogging. Arse!

Spod!

Just back from seeing Star Trek at the cinema.

I can understand why both my brothers thought it was Top and Massive

Too excited to Blog right now!

Set course for everywhere..

Another  series of away days this week; to Derbyshire today and a reservoir called Carsington Water. Tomorrow it's off to Loch Winnoch near Glasgow and the day after that, a nature reserve in Kinross. On Wednesday night I am back to Carlisle and then all the way down to BS5 on the train in order to carry on to Exeter in Devon the day after!

There is the prospect of seing Star Trek at the cinema on Friday but it feels days, miles and many counties away.

Ding Dong Merrily on by...

Today I was in the garden at Ma and Pa's just looking at the grass and stuff, and the Church bells started up! I recorded them for your pleasure. Not a great sound recording really, but some nice garden action in the meantime.

Incidentally, Rogue Trooper wasn't there, I just like the picture.

'Enjoy' as the Americans and the trendy (wanky) North London types say.

Cinema date...

What with all the excitement of concrete, trains, stations and breakfast, I forgot to put this picture up on my Blog.

When I was out and about last week and between meetings, I grabbed lunch in an office where I happened to be working. I got chatted up by these two chicks who wanted to know if we could all get together to see Star Trek this weekend (I have a very appealing request already so I politely asked if they were free another time) .

Anyhow, 'Carla' the chick on the right was giving it some in a French accent which I reckon was a put-on. The other chick, Michelle said she lived in a house that is white; odd thing to throw in but there you go. 'Mine's kinda yellow-ish', I said.

The pipes, the pipes are calling...

What a top smart day for blogging.

Keen readers may recall some Hong Kong photos from last week, including a very smart escalator (incidentally, a senior citizen I know of has recently captured the delights of the escalators at Cabot Circus that go slowly when no one has been on them awhile and then speed back up if you catch them just right -  it's quite exciting).

Anyhow, I am with my HK brother this weekend and  he had forgotten to send me this top image, reflecting the culture and diversity of 21st Century Macau.

And there are cranes in the background!

Champagne!

It was my birthday in the week and I turned 37 (eek) . On the day itself, I was working in a small town in Bedfordshire called Biggleswade and I didn't tell work colleagues of the occasion so it was a quiet affair.

Last night I visited Ma and Pa in Herefordshire. We all had dinner together and were joined by my parents' very kind, thoughtful neighbours. They are great company and Mrs Neighbour has a liking for champagne just now and again. She was kind enough to give the pictured gift to me for my birthday. How thoughtful was that? She's a good sort. Anyhow, we certainly drank it as you can see. Pol Roger was Winston Churchill's favourite champagne. I am not sure that Pol Roger is related to Pol Pot - I hope not.

Anyhow - sore head this morning but very much worth it for a happy evening in great company.

Oh yes- the Apple Mac you can see is not mine. Obviously!

A bucket in Nantucket...

Here is my bucket.

This really is a game bucket and he delivers every time. He's not been in BS5 for weeks and will accompany me home this weekend. I can't upload an image of bucket and car this morning as I left VX52 at the pub last night when I went for a few pints with my brother.

This bucket came from Wellington Bridge in Co. Wexford about three years ago!

The other pic' is Paddington station. I went through there on Wednesday night (back to BS5), and my brother came through 12 hours later from Hong Kong.