It's Coming Home!

Today is a joyous day. The BBC has regained the television rights for Formula 1.
I have enjoyed watching F1 since I was a little boy getting up early with my father to watch the races all the way across the world. When I moved to the UK, I enjoyed watching F1 on the BBC. A large part of this enjoyment was because I did not miss a second of the action. There are no adverts on the BBC, so every thrill and spill is there for you to watch.

Then ITV got the rights.

Being a fan, I still watched the races, but never felt quite as close to the action as the glory days of BBC coverage. We, the viewers, were often quite frustrated by missing out on an incident (be it overtaking, pit stop, or crash) because ITV were showing their adverts. This reached its height during the 2005 San Marino Grand Prix when ITV went to an advert break with three laps to go.  ITV have not been that idiotic since, but the memory of it is still there.

So, now the BBC have won the television rights back after 12 years of being away. The BBC always have to be at the forefront of any media advance, technique. Therefore, I believe we can look forward to some very interesting additions to the way we view Formula 1.

Bring on the 2009 season I say.

St. Patrick's Day Musings

You would have to be living in a box to not know that today is St. Patrick's Day. Or, you would be forgiven for thinking last weekend was it, since St. Patrick's Day is such a commercial monster nowadays.
And who am I to complain? I love Guinness, and some of my closest friends are Irish. Plus, I will use any excuse for a party. Even though I'm feeling under the weather today, nay because I am feeling under the weather, I fully intend to investigate the medicinal qualities of the world's best loved stout. 
I've certainly a fair amount of Guinness this weekend. Mrs-Mouse-To-Be and I were invited to the Irish Embassy last Friday for his annual St. Patrick's Day party. Actually, I was just a tag-along, it was the future Mrs. Mouse who got the invite. I guess being director of the Liverpool Irish Festival gets one into those kind of gigs. It was an excellent evening with a lot of food, drink, and Guinness.

Incidentally, if you are ever searching for the Irish Embassy of London in google, do not click on the "ireland.embassyhomepage.com" link. This is NOT the Irish Embassy website. I believe it is one of those advertising pages. Instead look for the Department of Foreign Affairs Ireland website or click the link to go directly to the www.embassyofireland.co.uk website.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Stephen Fry Rules!

My life is complete. I have always enjoyed watching Stephen Fry on TV. My earliest memory of him is a little hazy. I cannot remember if I first saw him in Jeeves and Wooster or A Bit of Fry and Laurie. Either way, I enjoyed watching Fry with Hugh Laurie in these shows and continued to watch them in the Blackadder series. Yes, I am aware that the Blackadder series predates Jeeves and A Bit of..., but I only started watching the series much later on. More recently, I have enjoyed watching Stephen Fry on QI (I've even been to watch the show being made).
By the way, if you haven't watched any of the above, you should either get hold of some of the shows, or shoot yourself. You don't know what you have been missing.
Anyway, as I said, my life is complete. My colleagues at work mentioned that they had heard a Stephen Fry podcast. Having piqued my interest I jumped on the internet to see if I could find it. Very quickly I found out that Fry has a website on which he keeps a blog, and more recently has been posting podcasts. Joy!

Being the fan of Fry that I have described above, you would be within your rights to wondering why I haven't found his site before. Well, I never thought to look, but now I have I cannot wait to read his next blessay, blog, or blissquisition, nor can I wait to listen to his next podgram.

If I have done anything to interest you in Stephen Fry, click on the link to his site on the right of this one.

A.R. Tym's Butcher of Liverpool

Last weekend the Soon-to-be-Mrs-Mouse and I had a bit of a dinner party. We invited our good friend Bones over, the deal being he provide the meat, and we cook it.
Bones is the master butcher in A.R. Tym's butcher on Smithdown road in Liverpool. The meat he provided was fantastic. We sampled both fillet and rump steak that evening and the quality of the cuts were hard to beat. I highly recommend that if you are in the Liverpool area and in need of some fine cuts of meat, please go and see Bones for your supplies. You will not be disappointed.

A.R. Tym's Butcher
208 Smithdown Rd.
Liverpool,
L15 3JT
Tel: 0151 733 0114

Incorrect Use of The Rearview Mirror No. 1

This morning on the way to work I was followed by a woman applying her makeup. Now not only was she in the driver's seat, but she was attempting to drive at the same time as using the rearview mirror to see where she was applying her makeup.
Ladies, the rearview mirror is not for makeup application, it is meant to help  you see what is behind you. Also, why not get up five minutes earlier and do your makeup at home, rather than endangering yourself and other road users?

Something to Live By... Well Sort of!

Seen in my daily quotations page:

Dance like it hurts, Love like you need money, Work when people are watching.
  - Scott Adams

Euro Sign Keyboard Shortcut

What I learned today:

If you have not Euro sign on your keyboard, it can be quickly brought up the following ways:

1. Press Ctrl+Alt+E
2. Press Alt+0128

I am particularly impressed by the first one as I can never remember the 0128 of the second one.

Gecko_gr made a comment on this post a while back which I thought I should bring to the front of the entry.

For US keyboards, the following shortcut works:

Right ALT key + 5, or ALTGR +5

Thanks Gecko.

What They Do Best

Looking outside my office window I saw this.

I am always amused by the amount of times I look at road works and either see everyone sitting around doing nothing, or seeing no-one at all.

It must be a tough life...

4x4 Rage

I unfortunately have to travel to work most days by car. This is because it is cheaper and quicker for me to get to work this way.
My route takes me past a few schools during the school run period. Living down the road from a couple of posh schools, one of which is The Beacon School for Boys, puts me right in the path of all the 4x4 drivers. I and my friend both have a policy of not letting out 4x4 and "buses" (people carriers, SUVs, etc.). This is because it is not necessary for a 2.4 children family to drive around in a 4x4 in the misguided idea that the passengers will be safer. GET A PROPER CAR!

Anyway, for the past two days, I have been amazed at the laziness and bad driving of some of the 4x4 drivers in the area.
First, there was a woman who drove from the school to Lollards Close, a total of about 0.8 miles. This distance in any car doesn't get your engine up to optimum heat. This will wreck the car. Try walking. Both you and your child will benefit from getting out a bit.
The second example, which never ceases to amaze me, is the way 4x4 drivers shy away from puddles, usually quite close to hitting the oncoming traffic. If you drive any 4x4, chances are you are the heaviest vehicle around. Everyone else is driving through the puddle, and they're in normal cars!

In short, if you have no relevant reason to own a 4x4 take it back and buy a normal car. You might find it easier to exit driveways, and will probably find you have a bit more money due to not having to fill up at every petrol station you pass.
And don't mention safety. They aren't safer. All you are doing is putting anything you hit in more danger of being killed, especially children. Given that all most people in the London area seem to do is drive their 4x4 or SUV to school and back this has a certain irony to it.

Once again, buy a proper car.

BBC NEWS | Arrest after 32 dead horses found

 

BBC NEWS | England | Arrest after 32 dead horses found

This happened from just down the road from where I live. I am appalled that someone kept animals in such atrocious conditions. Some of the comments from local websites suggest that this farm was known for its bad treatment of animals. Why wasn't anything done sooner? Horses were housed so close together that some of them were standing on other dead horses!

If you don't take care of animals in your care whose main aim in life is to please their owner/master, then you deserve to rot for your neglect.

Happy New Year

Doing the rounds on my blogs.

Since this is a blog of musings and suchlike, I give you the video below which makes Mrs-Mouse-To-Be giggle every time.

Enjoy!

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!