Cars Stolen Because of Keys Being Left in Ignition

 Cars stolen (Buckinghamshire Advertiser)

The above link is about cars being stolen because people are leaving their engines running or keys in the ignition when putting shopping away.

You have to be seriously stupid to walk away from your car with the engine running making it even easier for anyone to steal it.

If you have had your car stolen this way, you are an idiot and deserved to have your car stolen.

From The Register: eBayer punts Wii for £1m

eBayer punts Wii for £1m | Reg Hardware

For Christmas I really want to get a Wii. The problem is, everyone else does! Some enterprising sod has put  his/her Wii up for sale on ebay with a starting price of £1 million.

I'm not that desperate! If you do buy this, please give it to me. If you are stupid enough to buy a Wii for £1,000,000 maybe you'll just give it away to someone deserving... like me!

 

P.S. This is also testing the Windows Live Writer "Blog This" plugin for Firefox. Get it here.

Starting a Micra on a Cold Morning

06:30 this morning, the car wouldn't start.

We own an old Micra. It's gold, has seen better days, but gets us around, and was free. What more can I say.
Anyway, there is a problem with old Micras which is probably quite costly for Micra drivers over time; in cold weather the car won't start for love nor money. We had owned the car for only a couple of months when we first encountered this, and had to call the AA out because of it.
The problem is that the engine management system (yes, there is one in a Micra!) reads the ambient temperature incorrectly and spurts too much petrol into the engine when the ignition is turned, effectively flooding the engine. Modern engines are quite well sealed which means that the petrol doesn't evaporate quickly. Plus, the engine will continue to inject too much petrol into the engine if the temperature stays about the same.
How does one fix this problem? I have read on the odd forum that buying a new temperature detection unit (thermometer to you and me) can fix the problem, but there is no guarantee. The easiest way to get around this issue is to pull out the engine management fuse and start the engine. This burns off the excess fuel, and warms up the engine bay a bit. Switch off the engine, replace the fuse, and the engine should start as normal. It's not the most convenient solution, but will prevent people from buying an unnecessary bit of kit for an ageing model of car.

UPDATE - I have noticed quite a few hits on this article since writing it. If you find it useful (or even not) please leave a comment so others may gain from your knowledge/experiences too.
SheyMouse

The Liverpool Irish Festival

Mrs Mouse to Be is the Director of the Liverpool Irish Festival.
The festival runs over the next few weeks and contains a wide range of artistic performances, lectures, film, exhibitions, and education activities.

If you have stumbled across this blog entry for any reason, please visit the website and check out the events.

Tell your friends.

It is an excellent line-up with something for everyone!

Thought For The Day

One should only ever press the snooze button twice before getting up.

My First Moblog

Welcome to my first attempt to moblog. Can't add photos yet but might work it out at some stage.

New Beginnings: Part 3

I have just changed my profile details to Chesham, Buckinghamshire. This is because last week we moved there from Streatham.
Chesham is a lovely little market town and has some great pubs in it and in the surrounding countryside. I will have to write more about these as and when I go drinking in them.
Right now I am mostly unpacking boxes.

Boy do I hate unpacking...

Dib Dib Dib

Today (August 1st) is the centenary of Scouting. There is a massive jamboree today at Brownsea Island just off the coast of Bournemouth. Learn more about it here.

Congratulations to the Scouts all over the world.

New Beginnings: Part 2

Congratulations to Mrs. Mouse-to-be. She handed in her notice yesterday and is now leading up to starting a new job with the Liverpool Irish Festival.
This is a very exciting time for both of us. I'm now fully into my new job at WMS. She will be working on the LIF.

Talk about exciting!

Thought for the Day: Comic Writing

I think there is something quite comedic about someone reading The Idiot's Guide to Comic Writing.

New Beginnings

Right, so, nearly two months on since my last entry. It's amazing how, when life isn't just right, you can't be bothered with some things.

Well, I'm kind of back now. I have recently started a new job as a tester at WMS Gaming, and am now waiting to make my first foray into the United States to head office. I am hoping to go up the Sear's Tower and take some pictures. If I manage this, I will be posting the pics on my photo blog and flickr.

Watch this space...

World or Warcraft - part 2

It is now 10:45 in the morning, a little while after my last blog.

I'm now downloading another patch! This one is small, just 219MB.

You would think that the patch would have been incorporated onto my disk vastly reducing the time I have to wait to play this game, and therefore increasing my chances of becoming addicted.

Right now I just feel frustrated, and can't really be bothered with the game.

I'm going out.

World or Warcraft

I sit before you ready to embark on what my gamer mates call "crack for geeks".

This is World of Warcraft.

The Times a couple of weeks ago was giving away a free two week trial of this game. I have now installed the game and am waiting for a small patch (697MB!) to install and update.
A quick sideline on patches. I started off my career as a tester at a games publisher in London. One of the games released, Fallout Tactics, had to be patched almost immediately (not my testing, our sister company). I say "almost immediately". What I actually mean is "on the day of release" (no wonder the company is no longer around). This patch was 80MB, and made industry people nearly pass out when they heard this needed to be downloaded, or requested from customer support.
"80MB on a 56k modem, that could take days!"
If you were paying per minute for your connection, you could end up paying almost as much as the original game. Ludicrous! This wasn't that long ago either, only in 2000.

So now I am sitting here blogging waiting for 697MB of patching goodness to download in "About 2 hours". I'm going to wait for it and play the game because I am curious to see what all the craik is about (see what I did there?).
10% downloaded...
World of Warcraft stormed onto the world stage in 2004 and has since continued to grow into a community of gamers 8 million strong. That's 8 million people paying approximately £8.00 per month subscription! For more information, I recommend you read the Times article. If you choose to give the game a go like I am, you can either request a disk from The Times, or you can download it from the World of Warcraft official site.

You see, I haven't even played the game yet and I am dealing it like an addict!

24% downloaded, still "About 2 hours" to wait...
It's only a game. Plus, it's only a 2 week trial, then I can give it all up.

30% downloaded, "About 75 minutes" to wait...
Tell my mum I love her.

40% downloaded, "About 65 minutes" to wait...
Tell the future Mrs. Mouse that I will see her at the wedding.

50% downloaded, "About 51 minutes" to wait...
Why am I sitting here watching a download?

60% downloaded, "About 42 minutes" to wait...
Bored, hungry, going for breakfast.

. . .

. .

.

How Slack?

Yep, I’ve been slack with keeping my blog. How will I ever become a famous blogger if I don’t blog? How can my friends and family ever figure out what’s going on if I don’t blog? How can I ever get into the habit of writing often (so I can potentially write a book) if I don’t blog? On a scale of 1 to 10 in slackness I go all the way to 11 (thank you Spinal Tap).

On a plus point, I am still taking photos, but they are in 35mm format and I need to take a few more photos before I can send the films off to be developed. With such a nice Easter weekend being predicted by the weathermen, I think I will have no problem taking photos.

Bring it on!

Commuting on the Tube

I have mentioned before how good Diamond Geezer's blog is. His entry Strangers on a Staircase is no exception. It covers the thoughts of people getting off the tube in whichever rank they are. It is amazing how often one encounters the 28th and 29th people off the tube during rush hour.

Happy Birthday Future Mrs. Mouse

The future Mrs. Mouse was born on this day a couple more than 20 years ago (it's not polite to mention a lady's age). Everyone sing in full voice now:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MRS. MOUSE TO BE
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

There were quite a few people born on this day in history:

Johnny Cash was born today in 1932. The original Man In Black was known for many hit country songs including Boy Named Sue, Ring of Fire, and I Walk the Line.

Fats Domino, also a singer was born today in 1928. He sang many songs, but the one I remember clearest was Bluberry Hill. It reached number 2 in the American charts in 1956.

Levi Strauss was also born on this day in 1829. He is famous for the Levi's brand of jeans worn by many of the gold prospectors during the California Gold Rush during the late 19th century.

So there you have it. Johnny, Fats, and Levi are definitely in illustrious company.

Happy Birthday!

Sinus Headaches are not Fun

I have had a sinus headache for the past four days. Now, I have had the normal blocked sinus headache before. Most people experience these when they have a particularly snotty cold.
Last Friday, I woke up and headed off to work. It was only about two stops into my normal train journey when I realised that I couldn't focus on my newspaper or anything around me because the pain in my left eye and on the left side of my head was so bad.
I have spent the past four days, including Friday, leaning over a bowl of boiling water and sniffing Otrivine. I am still in pain, but not as bad as it was. At its height, I almost could not see out my left eye, and moving my head at all caused hard thudding pains down the left side of my head and neck. This is the worst headache I have had in memory.
I hope this bloody thing goes away soon so I can get back to my photography, as well as other projects I have on the go (you will hear about them at a later date).

Nannoo, Nannoo

Idiots

As you may know, I have another blog. SheyMouse's Photoblog is where I post a lot of my photos. I know I am not the greatest photographer in the world, but I am learning and improving with every day. Therefore, if I got good enough to be exhibited in the Natural History Museum in the Shell Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition I would be very annoyed if someone came and did this:
BBC: Activists Deface Shell Exhibition
I first saw the article on Londonist. I agree with everything that the article says. Here is the link:
Londonist: Oily History Museum

If someone did that to my photo, protective glass or not, they would have to sleep with one eye open for a very long time.

The people who did this were trying to get a message across about global warming, etc. being bad. All they succeeded in doing with me is putting me off ever listining to or reading any of their material. Defacing someone elses property (particularly art) is shameful, and cowardly.

If you want to get your message across, why not make a statement that these wildlife photos may no longer be possible if the climate keeps on changing? If any of you who did the defacing read this, I hope you are ashamed of what you've done.

Muppets.

Happy Australia Day!

Today (January 26th) is Australia Day. All over the world Aussies are going into pubs and drinking their favourite (usually overpriced) Aussie tipple (mine's a VB) and probably having a shrimp on the BBQ, or a vegemite sandwich. So, as they say in the Visit Australia ad here in the UK:

Where the bloody hell are you?!

First Snow for London

Last night the first snows happened in London for this winter. Everywhere looked nice and white, and the wind stayed away.
Go over to my photoblog to look at some of the photos.

2012 to 2012

Today is a momentous occasion for London (and the rest of the UK); there are now 2012 days to go before the 2012 Olympics. You would think there would be some sort of celebration to try and drum up some enthusiasm. Nothing. All we had this morning on the BBC news was Lord Coe going on about how he wants the games to be the greenest games to date. Woo hoo. That has really got me excited... Not! Where's the "Today is a great milestone in the journey to the Olympics!", message? I don't want to hear statistics on how little waste there is going to be. I want to hear about how great things are going to be! It's not even the main news item on the London 2012 website!
The Olympics is becoming so over budgeted that someone soon is going to say 'enough'. Then what will happen? Less seats in the stadia? Already there is going to be less money going to non-Olympic good causes due to the increased funding required from the National Lottery fund.
I think the British Olympic Committee (BOC) has missed a perfect occasion for positive promotion of the Olympics today. If people feel good and excited about something as big as the Olympics, then they won't focus so highly on the money aspect.
I am a big fan of the Olympics. I think that it is a good way to promote racial equality, sportsmanship, sports for health. Having never been in a country leading up to hosting the Olympics before, I am unaware of how other countries and people viewed their government's handling of money and publicity for the event. I am perhaps talking for a point of ignorance slightly, but I feel that the BOC were a bit ignorant at what the overall costs would be; you would have thought they would find out about things like VAT first! I also feel that the press are not getting enough "good news" from the BOC and therefore have to dig up dirt for their papers. The BOC needs to get their house in order and start 'attacking' the British view on the Olympics by releasing good publicity as soon as possible. After all, we all like an excuse to celebrate don't we?

Every Man Should Know His Limits

Yesterday I mentioned how manly I feel when pressing the button of my umbrella to see it fully extended while others are still fumbling with theirs.

Today I found that it is a quick tranisiton between feeling cool and manly and looking like a complete tit while fighting with your umbrella in 60 - 80 mile an hour winds.

Sometimes you are just meant to get wet!

Every Man Should Have One

Every Man Should Have: A Push Button Umbrella

I have a good quality compact push-button umbrella. When I press the button, it extends out instantly to cover me from the rain while people are fumbling with their old fashioned hand extended ones.

It makes me feel very manly when I have to whip out my umbrella.

Customising One's Blog Template on Blogger

One of the features of blogger is that I can view/edit the HTML of my blog template. I have been trying to work out how to do this. I think I have finally done it. If you visit here and see everything messed up, I have pressed 'Save' rather and 'Preview' and am probably weeping in a corner.

It's not fun unless I am pulling it apart and figuring how it works.

I Need a Wii

The trend nowadays is to drink water like there's going to be a drought tomorrow. However, water drinking was taken to extreme in the U.S. when a woman died from drinking too much water while competing in a competition to win a Nintendo Wii:

BBC News: Why is too much water dangerous?

This is an unfortunate accident where someone who dropped out of science class as soon as possible to study media studies didn't know that cells swell when given water. If given too much water, these cells will eventually burst.

So there you have it. Too much water is bad for you. Limit your intake to about 2 litres per day (including tea, fruit juice, etc.), and you should be fine.

Next they will be telling you breathing is dangerous!

What I Learnt Today

1. If you don't do your trainers up properly, you will get a blister on your toe.

2. If you don't look where you are going, you will step in a muddy puddle.

3. If you wear predomintantly white trainers to a park after it rains, they will get dirty.

4. If you try to use Jedi mind tricks to get someone out of your photo, they will not move.

Went for another walk today. I went all the way to Streatham Common and back with a good walk around the Rookery. I will post photos on my photoblog most likely, but this photo is one I particularly like.

And rest...

I feel great. I always feel good when I do something I said I'd do.

I have just come back from my walk. I wasn't out for the whole time since my last post, but I was out for about 3/4 of an hour. I power walked down to the library and got some recycling bags. I also got my watch fixed having broken it about five months ago while camping. All of this was done while trying to keep my heart rate up, so wherever I walked, I did it quickly.

Now I'm back home having some water, and I'm about to have something to eat. It is lunchtime after all!

Having mentioned the benefits of water in my last post, I am now going to mention a bit about the food side of exercising. If you find yourself getting more and more into exercise, you should begin thinking about what you eat and when. When you exercise, even going for a brisk walk, you burn calories, and lose moisture. When you return home from exercising, your body will tell you it needs food and now! It will also tell you that the best thing for it is yummy sugary or fatty foods. Avoid eating fatty foods and simple carbohydrate* foods (sugary foods). Instead, try and feed your body a bit of complex carbohydrate* (potato, bread, pasta) and perhaps a bit of protein (chicken, fish, lean meat). After light exercise, the best thing you can do for your body is have a tuna sandwich (easy on the mayonnaise, add lettuce if you have it), washed down with about a litre of water. Simple, easy to make, and good for you.

Now where did I put that mars bar... :-)

*The main difference between simple and complex carbohydrates is the speed they are absorbed into the body. Simple carbs (chocolate, sugary drinks) are a quick fix; you feel good quickly, but will lose that feeling equally quickly. Complex carbs (potato, pasta, bread) release their energy steadily and slowly; keeping you energised for longer and you don't have a come-down like that of simple carbs.

It's Good to Walk

I have decided to do more exercise.

Like many people, I indulged a bit too much over the Christmas and New Year period. I've put on a few pounds (which I took off last year!), and really want to increase my fitness level.

One thing people think when they decide to start exercising is that they need to run a long way often, or lift heavy weights until it hurts. Increasing your base fitness level is not that hard. A minimum of 20 minutes exercise three times a week is all it takes. The simplest and cheapest (free!) way to exercise is go for a walk. You needn't go and buy loads of kit. Put on some comfortable shoes and trousers and go for a walk. Walk slightly faster than you normally would to increase your heart rate, and try to keep it up for 20 minutes.

Simple ways to ensure you walk for 20 minutes:
Get off the train/tube/bus a stop or two earlier.
Park your car a little bit away from your house.
Explore a part of your neighbourhood you have never been to.
Explore a part of your friends neighbourhood.
Go for a ramble.
Walk to the shops when you are off to get milk/eggs/the paper, and take a longer route.

Doing even one of those suggestions will ensure you get a bit more exercise, and boost your fitness levels.

So, now I have to put my money where my mouth is. I'm off for a walk to my local library to get some recycling bags. Boring, I know, but it gets me out, and will take about 20 minutes there and back. I feel healthy just writing about it!

Finally, and most importantly, drink water. Take some with you, or have some in the fridge for when you get back. Your body loves water, and it helps the body to flush toxins, regulate your body temperature, and lubricate your joints, muscle fibres, and arteries; and that's just a few of the things water does for you!

Londoner's Blog Worth Reading

Having put Londonist and Random Acts of Reality into the links section, I remembered a blog I used to read, but hadn't in a while.

Diamond Geezer blogs a lot about life in London. He is witty, writes well, and writes about interesting topics. I especially likes some of the features he does like following the meridian line through London from Royal Greenwhich Observatory.

Go and have a look. You won't be disappointed.

London Bloody Transport

How difficult is it to ensure that a commuter train is running? It's the busiest time of the day, and yet, this morning I was late for work because "The 08:07 train to London Bridge has been cancelled due to a lack of carriages."
What?!?!
If I went and asked Southern Trains why this is, they will say that due to vandalism they are short on carriages. I accept that some carriages get vandalised so badly that they need to be taken out of commission. However, I also feel that during the busiest time of the day, they should at least make an effort to field enough trains for commuters. We in the UK pay the highest prices per mile to travel compared with anywhere in Europe. Is it unreasonable for me to expect my money to go towards ensuring I can make it to work on time?

Exercise

I just got home with every intention of going out for a walk and then decided I couldn't be bothered.

Bloody winter!

At the moment I'm too caught up with getting used to blogging, as well as playing with my photos in my photo blog and my flickr.

I'm going to have to start excercising at some point. I think I'll have to make that my priority this weekend.

Until then, back to flickr, and photoblogging!

iPhone Revealed

As often as possible I'm going to comment on a news story I've read in the papers or online. Today's pick isn't really a revelation, but I've go to start somewhere!

So, yesterday Steve Jobs of Apple unvailed the new iPhone. Everybody is swooning over it. Jobs said in his presentation "The iPod changed everything in 2001. We're going to do it again with the iPhone in 2007." I have no doubt about this. Apple is such a strong brand that you would have to be six feet under to miss it.
Like iPods, I feel that the first generation will be good, but wait for the 2nd generation as they will have got most of the bugs out. The best thing about the iPhone, I feel, is that everyone else will be forced to raise their standards. Be on the look out for smart phones that do what the iPhone does, but cheaper and in some cases better. iPod did that for music, so why can't iPhone do that for mobile telephony?

PvP has a great little comic strip about it today. Brent is a Mac yuppy in case you are slightly confused.

Some Links to Pass the Time

I have added some of my favourit links for you to take a look at. As I add more I will probably end up categorising them, but they will remain in list form for now.

PvP Online is a comic strip I read almost every day. It's about a gaming magazine company and all the characters which make up the staf (including a mythical troll called Skull). It is very witty and you do not really need to know about games to follow it.

Dilbert is another comic strip I read on a regular basis. It has been going for quite a while now, mainly because Scott Adams is such a fine observer of office politics.

Random Acts of Reality is a blog by Tom Reynolds covering all aspects of his life centering mainly around his work in the London Ambulance Service. The stories make for compelling reading and give one a healthy respect for all Ambulance personnelle everywhere.

My final link today is Londonist. It is a blog covering as much as possible of the goings on in the Greater London area. I usually dip into it every now and then for a mild diversion and to see if there is any cool stuff happening.

Wilkommen, Bienvenue, Welcome

Welcome to Mouse's Musings. This is the sister blog to SheyMouse's Photo Blog. The photo blog was started because I wanted to take more photos and see if I could capture any good ones to show off. Early days is all I have to say on that one.

I started this blog because I keep on wanting to write about what I'm thinking, observing, looking at on the web, etc., but my photobolg is not for those kind of musing. Therefore, this is where my musings will be placed. The aim is to put links and musings here whenever I get the chance.