Goodbye Audi…

 Life  No Responses »
May 092013
 

Normally when you say goodbye to someone, or maybe something, it is normally followed with, ‘see you soon’, or ‘nice meeting you’.

I said goodbye to my Audi A3 last night after a mere 21 months.

This is the shortest period that I have owned a car in a very long time.

I had a twinge of regret when I handed over the keys to the BMW dealer. The car was a truly great car hampered by all manner of minor issues that made it reallly very hard to live with.

Let me rewind though….

I bought it used in August 2012. I paid about the going rate for the car, it was very well equipped with a huge sunroof, DSG gearbox superb leather sport seats and one of the nicest 2.0 Turbo engines I have ever encountered. It was also very, very low mileage in the two years and two months since it was registered it had covered a little over 17,000 miles and had obviously been extremely well cared for.

In the first two weeks of ownership I had a ‘TMPS System Failure’. I reported it to the Audi shop – CommonWealth Audi in Santa Ana and they said to mention it at service. The light had done out and the car felt normal and I passed happily through 18,000 miles. This was of course a mistake that would prove costly.

Very Costly. Continue reading “Goodbye Audi…” »

 Posted by at 10:07 am

29.5 Miles later….

 Cycling, fitness, Life  No Responses »
Apr 012013
 

A tale of three bicycles……

Kestrel

On Friday night I made a late decision that I would go for a ride with a local cycling club on Saturday morning. My intention was also to go out on my Mountain bike on Sunday – which meant a quick change of wheels and a tune-up.

I started with the Mountain bike, the front dirt tire was flat, at some point it looks like I had managed to run over a drawing pin. This was an easy fix. Ten minutes, no tools, job done. I also lubed the chain, checked what few bolts there are and declared it ‘fit for purpose’. The front brake pads are a little worn and it really needs a wash, but it was functional.

Then I moved on to my road bike – actually it is a Triathlon Kestrel bicycle that has a serious personality disorder due to the chaotic way that I mixed and matched parts – thinking that it would be a good idea to check it for issues – simple things can slow you down, make sure that there is air in the tires, lube on the chain and things were generally in good shape. The first issue was a show-stopping one, the front tire was flat. Undeterred I pulled the wheel, removed the tire and examined the tube. There was a huge hole in it. The Stan’s ‘no tubes’ limit was well and truly exceeded, there was no way that this huge hole could be sealed. So I patched it with a ‘scab’, checked the inside of the tube and found a thorn and pulled it out. I then put it all together, inflated it to 120psi (yes, really), then lubed the chain, adjusted the cables and called it a good job.

On Saturday morning, I woke early as usual and pulled on my cycling gear, hoping to head to the 8AM meeting point and join the ride. The first thing I noticed on reaching the garage was the stupid front tire. Sadly it was flat, again. I did not have time to change the tube once more and as I suspected that the issue was probably not as simple as adding another patch I realized I would need so much time that the ride would probably be long over by the time I was finally ready, so I left it alone and grabbed my trusty mountain bike.

Continue reading “29.5 Miles later….” »

How to port your Vonage number to Google Voice (and why you probably want to)

 Life, Technology  No Responses »
Mar 182013
 

Over the past few years, Voice over IP (VIOP) has become more popular. VOIP allows you to use your internet connection to make phone calls for a fraction of the cost of a traditional land-line. Vonage were one of the first popular VOIP providers, offering very low cost international calls and free US calls for a low monthly price. Back in 2006 switching to Vonage saved around $40 / month for those of us that liked to call the UK from time to time.

But now the landscape is shifting again, that $34 / month (Vonage + taxes) feels expensive when you can use Google Voice to call domestically for free.

That same $34 would pay for 1700 minutes of talking to the UK (at $0.02c / minute), that is a little over 28 hours.

Traditionally Google Voice is used to route incoming calls to mobile or home lines. The idea is that you give people your Google Voice number and then you program GV to forward calls and text messages to a phone that suites you.

For example, you may want to forward calls from your mother to your home and mobile numbers simultaneously, ensuring that wherever you are, you will get the call. You may want to route only important calls to your land line, or you may want to setup a ‘quiet time’ so that all calls automatically go to voice mail. Another super cool features of Google Voice is that it will transcribe voicemail and automatically send e-mail the transcript to you.

Oh and calls to the US that flow through GV are free, calls to the UK are $0.02c / minute and there is no monthly fee associated with the service.

The ideal service is probably to use a SIP device that connects to your old home phone and your network, plus a combination of a SIP service provider and Google Voice. Ideally Google Voice handles your outgoing calls (to ensure that your outgoing caller ID is correct) and incoming calls can be routed wherever you like, including your SIP number. Continue reading “How to port your Vonage number to Google Voice (and why you probably want to)” »

Roadies vs Mountain Bikers….

 Diet, fitness, Life  No Responses »
Mar 182013
 
Light, fast and fun.

I have recently taken to the idea of a Sunday morning ride.

For the last three Sundays I have ridden one of my bicycles around 22-25 miles on one of a variety of loops in the area. I am not the only one, there are a lot of people out riding. I often catch up with a group or a couple of riders and tag along until we go different ways or I run out of legs, or they drop back. Regardless on my previous couple of rides on my road bike there has been a level of camaraderie among the riders. We all speak to each other and often wave.

What I did not realize is that you need to be a part of the clique. If you are riding a road bike or in my case a ‘bitsa’ Tri-bike, then fellow roadies will wave and smile and encourage you to join them.

Now try exactly the same ride on a mountain bike, albeit one with city tires.

On Sunday I rode a slightly different loop, my usual loop sees me riding north, then east, then south and then west to get home, this time I followed the north trail and it took me towards the cost (west) before I eventually turned left and headed homeward. At about the twelve mile point I encountered a group of riders, they were all in their 30’s and 40’s and all riding multi-thousand dollar road bikes.  They were all dressed in various team replica gear, cycling shoes, ‘sponsored’ helmets, the works. As I moved through the pack I said ‘good morning’ to the rider that I was alongside. They pretty much all look away, or straight ahead or otherwise ignored me. At one set of lights I turned to the rider that pulled up alongside me said ‘I guess I am the odd one out huh ?’ He said ‘you could say that’ and looked away.

The reason that they ignored me is simple, I was not conforming to the rules.

Continue reading “Roadies vs Mountain Bikers….” »

Thoughts on the challenges that the new Pope will face…

 Life, Religion  No Responses »
Feb 272013
 

When it was announced that Pope Benedict XVI was stepping down, I wondered what the real reason behind his decision was.

As the leader of the Catholic Church, I like to think that he was aware of pretty much everything that goes on among the rank and file priests around the world.

Therefore I cannot see any reason why he would not be aware of the appalling instance of priests that sexually abuse children.

The Pope, is, or at least should be, the moral authority of the Roman Catholic Church and as such should, in my opinion at least, be responsible for bringing to justice those that abuse the exalted positions that allow the predatory priests access to those that they crave.

To me, at least, Pope Benedict failure to change the Vatican’s traditional methods of handling child sex abuse by priests and so abuse of children is criminal.There is no way that he was unaware of what goes on in the churches around the world. Every time you are exposed to the news, it seems that more and more cases spring to light almost daily.

Continue reading “Thoughts on the challenges that the new Pope will face…” »

So, you want to cut your cable bill…..

 Life  No Responses »
Feb 272013
 

I am not sure when paying over $200 / month for cable TV, Phone and Internet became normal, but apparently this is pretty much what ‘everybody’ pays.

Decently fast internet is $65, the rest of the bill is consumed via Phone, TV and numerous little add-ons. Having a DVR costs over $20 / month, the actual DVR rental is $9.99, then you need the service too – which adds another $10, plus taxes and regulatory fees. Oh and HD programming costs a few dollars too, and so does basic cable and many other things. Log story short, cable TV with a DVR costs about $115 / month.

Luckily there is an alternative.

Almost 100 channels are available for free. All you need is an antenna and a TV that is capable of receiving digital (ATSC) signals.

The major issues though is that I simply do not watch TV live, I record a few shows each week and watch later.In other words, I need a DVR.

So, my journey started wwith finding an open-source DVR that I could use to record Hawaii-Five-O and Elementary to a format that I could playback on my WD TV Live or my jailbroken AppleTv.

Continue reading “So, you want to cut your cable bill…..” »

Too fat to be photographed…..

 Diet, fitness, Life, Photography  No Responses »
Feb 032013
 

Yesterday a friend posted a link to a blog entry called ‘So you’re feeling too fat to be photographed . . .’.

All of the comments on the link were overwhelmingly positive.

But to me, the idea that even family and friends will look past the blubber is a little weird. Sure I look at the latest photos of my family and think ‘yeah, its lovely to see them’, but I also think ‘good grief, that loved one has put some pounds on since the last time I saw a photo’ or similar…

I notice and I am sure that I am not alone.

So reassuring fat people that you look great to your family, when, well, you are actually obese, or more, seems wrong.

So I wrote a comment that basically said that I thought that the ‘you look great to your family’ concept was right up there with ‘everybody’s baby is beautiful’ and that rose colored glasses prolong the issues. Simply anyone that is tipping the scales at the obese level (or more) has a much larger chance of running into serious health issues later in life. Fat is not healthy.

I may have also suggested that in pretty much all of the examples, that they looked to me like they all needed to get there fat asses to the gym and stop inhaling calories. But as the thread is long deleted, I cannot exactly remember.

I did have the grace at least to mention that one of my personal motivators on my weight loss journey has been a photo of myself looking rather rotund.

Continue reading “Too fat to be photographed…..” »

218lbs Now merely Over Weight….

 Diet, fitness, Life  No Responses »
Jan 232013
 

As of this morning I am down to 218lbs – for my British friends that is 15st 8. This means that my BMI is down to 28.

At 6-2 and 218lbs I am merely overweight, rather than obese.

This is pretty significant as my progress over Christmas was inthe wrong direction, from December 6th to January 8th I went from 219 to 225 and then back to 221. The last two weeks have seen me back on track, losing 1.5lbs per week on average. I over ate all holiday season, but I continued my fitness regime.

My target of ‘about 185′ remains in place, I have lost about 33lbs (2 stone 5) and I have another 33 to go, so I am, I guess, half way to my target.

While being ‘merely half way’ after all of these months of watching what I eat and working out on a regular basis may seem a little sad, I feel like I am much further towards my goal that the scale actually tells me.

Continue reading “218lbs Now merely Over Weight….” »

Becoming a little less fat..

 Diet, fitness, Life  No Responses »
Sep 062012
 

I have been slowly gaining weight for the past few years going from about 210lbs in 2000 all the way up to a not so comfortable 250lbs recently.

I have tried eating a little less and I have tried going to the gym on occasions.

I ride a bicycle too, but nothing was working – the weight continued to accumulate.

In a recent photo I barely look like ‘me’. I look like a fat guy with a bad haircut and a misguided moustache.

I pass that photo on the stairs every day.
Continue reading “Becoming a little less fat..” »

The not-so hyper connected generation(s)

 Life, Technology  1 Response »
May 212012
 

I feel like I am an old man just typing this post.

A DEC VT220-A Terminal last Tuesday

But I am rapidly coming to terms with a new role in the technological world. That roles is as an ‘educated older man, to build solutions, not for the upcoming generations, but for my generation and one either side…’.  That does not fit on a business card though….

The current generation of computer users barely actually use computers. They all use cell phones and tablets, not those archaic boxes that we (my generation) call computers.

They do not have any idea about ‘running’ a program, they simply use an app.

They do not save data locally either, everything is expected to be available regardless of which device they use. Nobody keeps a diary, that is what Facebook and twitter is for. You do not e-mail your friend a photo, you either MMS it to a single recipient or you post it on Twitter or Facebook or you pin it or you instagram it.

Memories are now transient – the only inkling that you existed a few years ago is that you posted a photo on Facebook or maybe a video on YouTube.

Sales of actual physical photo albums are limited to the over-40′s set or maybe even older. Continue reading “The not-so hyper connected generation(s)” »

 Posted by at 3:00 pm  Tagged with:
 Older Entries