BandAid's Blog

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2012-01-08T11:10:00.001Z

DSC_0210_221
Originally uploaded by BandAidUK

2011-04-17T17:04:00.001+01:00

Oggmeister guarding the window!!

My gorgeous Ali

2011-04-17T16:20:00.002+01:00

It's a glorious day. Mid April and 21C.

I don't often blog - FaceBook is a lot easier. But I see I've had over 5,000 hits on my Blog - so I suppose I'd better make more of an effort.

Defeated by the chocolate cake!

2010-05-25T20:35:00.001+01:00

Starters - Garlic Bread the size of a pizza!
Main course - Margarita pizza!
Dessert - Chocolate cake! ....... Too much!!

It was a valiant fight - but Sydney had to throw in the towel!!

Ali's birthday.

2010-05-25T19:16:00.001+01:00

We've come out to the local Italian restaurant - Ask.

It's Ali's birthday. I'm too much of a gentleman to say how old she is!!

New olympic mascots

2010-05-19T23:18:00.002+01:00

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/mobile/olympic_games/london_2012/8690467.stm?

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The first blossom

2010-05-03T20:40:00.001+01:00

These trees blossomed for the first time this year.

And they blossomed all at the same time - during the same weekend.

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All's well with the world!

2010-04-22T10:52:00.001+01:00

God is in the heavens, the Sun is in the firmament and........

.....they’re back!!

With the Icelandic volcano calming down and the amount of ash in the atmosphere back to safe levels the airlines are starting to get back to normal.

Seen from my office this morning – two jets who seemed to be racing each other!!

No vapour trails! - Thanks to the Eyjafjallajokull Volcano in Iceland.

2010-04-17T09:22:00.003+01:00

Normally this patch of sky above the south coast is criss crossed with vapour trails of planes heading to Gatwick and Heathrow.

They're normally still very high and so we only see them rather than hear them. Still - very strange to see such a clear plane-free sky!!

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Bun Penny Pub - Lee-on-the-Solent

2010-04-05T15:03:00.001+01:00

The oldest pub around, the Bun Penny dates back to medieval times.

It's under new management and we're here for a spot of Bank Holiday lunch.

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Vosene and Coal Tar Soap!

2010-04-05T09:49:00.000+01:00

When I was a kid, Mum used to buy Vosene medicated hair shampoo.
The other day I asked Ali to pick a different hair shampoo to my normal Head and Shoulders as I fancied a change. She came back with a bottle of Vosene! So, everytime I wash my hair it takes me back to my childhood!

What does it smell like? Well, Mum also used to buy those huge coal tar bars of soap too. Syd used to like Wright's Coal Tar Soap and that's what Vosene smells like.

I know shampoo is a pretty lame thing to blog about, but hey!, I just thought I'd share this little nugget with you!

First Bike Ride of the Year!

2010-03-28T15:51:00.000+01:00

First bike ride of the year. Just to check out my GeoCache and to make sure the wheels still go round!!

It just missed us.

2010-03-25T16:28:00.002Z

The sky's becoming lighter and the thunder more distant. Looking at the Isle of Wight Weather website you can see that the thunder storm just missed us.

Yuk!

2010-03-25T16:10:00.000Z

Well the rain got here.....along with the lightning. But it's that boring intercloud variety. Lots of thunder and the occasional defused flash of lightning.

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There's a Storm Brewing!

2010-03-25T15:55:00.000Z

It's gone dark all of a sudden and there's the distant rumble of thunder.

Cool - I love thunder storms!!

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Gas and Electricity Bills

2010-03-24T10:49:00.001Z

Now's here a thing.

Here in the UK, you can pay for your gas and electricity bit by bit each month, using a system called direct debit, straight from your bank. I guess it's the same almost anywhere. This means you can budget your fuel costs over the whole year and not feel the pinch too much in the winter months.

When we moved to our new house, we forgot to set up our direct debit for a couple of months and so there was a little bit of a deficit when we did. This meant the direct debit was higher than it needed to be as we were playing catch up.

A couple of years down the line and I've looked to see we built up a bit of a surplus!!

Here's the rub. The utilities shout quick enough when WE owe them money. But when THEY owe us money they're strangely quiet!

I guess the moral of the story is

Check your gas and electricity bills regularly. There might be a pleasant surprise for you.

Virgin Galactic and the UK Space Agency

2010-03-23T19:29:00.002Z

Two pieces of space news today.
Working quietly in the background has been Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic team. Already working on their second version of the White Knight they yesterday conducted the first "captive capture" flight which meant the mothership carry the spaceship to its operating altitude.

VirginGalactic Homepage

Some have dubbed it the "British NASA". And I guess they're not far wrong.

The British National Space Centre has been relaunched today as the United Kingdom Space Agency which will come into being on the 1st April 2010.

The UK Space Agency will give the sector the muscle it needs to fulfil its ambition. Britain’s space industry has defied the recession. It can grow to £40bn a year and create 100,000 jobs in 20 years.

Lord Drayson
Science and Innovation Minister

A new £40m International Space Innovation Centre (ISIC) at Harwell is at the heart of Government plans to support Britain’s growing space sector.

Business Secretary Lord Mandelson and Science Minister Lord Drayson announced the creation of the ISIC, supported by £12m from BIS’ Strategic Investment Fund, at today’s launch of the UK Space Agency.
The centre, to be sited with the European Space Agency facility opened last July, will provide a central hub for British space activity and ensure the UK maintains its world-leading space capability. Funded through public and industry investment, the ISIC will establish centres of excellence in the UK to:

exploit the data generated by Earth Observation satellites;
use space data to understand and counter climate change; and
advise on the security and resilience of space systems and services.

The space and satellite industry is one of the UK’s unsung success stories. It supports 68,000 jobs in the UK directly and indirectly and contributes £6bn to the economy. This hi-tech, high-skilled sector underpins high speed broadband, high definition television, GPS and weather forecasting that the modern world relies on.

Procrastination

2010-03-23T13:10:00.003Z

Are you browsing this Blog because you should be doing something else, but haven't got round to starting yet?!

Just another five minutes and I'll start.
I'll just make myself a cup of tea
I'll just post a blog (this one's me!)

If this strikes a chord then you are..... P R O C R A S T I N A T I N G ! !

I'm the world's worst! Here's the situation:

I'm on annual leave from work. I'm a manager and paramedic in an NHS ambulance trust and so there's always lots to do.

March always comes along and I always have loads of leave to take. If we don't take it before the end of March - we lose it. To make matters worse - I-m also studying for a MSc, distance learning from Leicester University and my essay is due in two weeks' time!

So, here I am, on annual leave. I've still got work things to do (typing up staff appraisals and filling in a Cabinet Office on-line survey) and I really ought to be cracking on with my essay. But, I'm in the house on my own and I'm doing everything other than what I should be!!

So, I have now got this out of my system -and I really must crack on with what I should be doing.

Vet tells of when she thought she was going to die.

2010-03-22T09:58:00.001Z

More details are coming out about the amazing road traffic collision on the A1(M) in West Yorkshire back in January when a lorry clipped a Renault Clio and pushed it along for nearly a minute at speeds of up to 60mph - the lorry driver totally oblivious!! For more information, click on the link to the BBC News Website.

Ali's Toyota Celica

2010-03-21T13:38:00.000Z

It's Sunday and so it's time for doing some of those chores.

Al's Celica's rear brake pads were nearly down to the metal and so they needed changing.
So, with the sun trying to break through the clouds and the temperature actually in double figures it was time to get to work. Now, I'm a fairly dab hand when it comes to things mechanical and so it didn't seem too much of a task - until I came to compressing the brake calliper piston!!

Now, I know there are special tools for doing this - but my local Halfords didn't have any. So, on a Sunday the only option was to go to the local DIY store and buy a...... C clamp.

So, you may see a C-Clamp - but I see a super duper Piston Brake Caliper Compressor!!

Will this rain ever end?

2010-03-19T17:18:00.001Z

It's been a bit of a wash out today - first the fog (and fog horns!) this morning, followed by this rain.

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How could you NOT see a Clio under your nose?!!

2010-03-18T17:17:00.003Z

She was pinned to the front of a juggernaut in the fast lane of a motorway but somehow the driver of this family hatchback escaped unharmed.

Unseen mobile phone footage has been posted on YouTube apparently capturing the moment a Renault Clio was trapped on the front bumper of a haulage lorry as it sped along the A1 (M) in Yorkshire.

A West Yorkshire police spokesman told The Times: “As far as we’re aware the footage is real. This is an incident we attended in January.”

It is believed both drivers emerged without any injuries once both vehicles had come to a stop. A driver from Arclid haulage firm was seemingly oblivious to the car in front.

A spokesman for Arclid Transport, a Cheshire-based haulage firm, said an investigation into the incident had started. “All I can say is that we are aware there was an incident on that stretch of the motorway in January. The police attended, there were no injuries and no arrests.”A male voice can be heard on the video shouting: “He hasn’t even seen it.”

In the video, the lorry travelling is recorded for 22 seconds in the fast lane. If it was driving at 60mph the car would have been pushed for more than a third of a mile during the clip

A Ferrari 1 - 2

2010-03-14T14:07:00.000Z

A really dull race, but a good result for Ferrari. Alonso first with Massa second.

Good to see Lewis on the podium in third.

Points are different this year with Alonso getting 25, Massa 18 and Lewis getting 15.
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Here we go - the start of the 2010 F1 season.

2010-03-14T12:07:00.001Z

The lights go out.....and we're off!!
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Guess where we are?!!

2010-02-27T17:33:00.000Z

The cockerel gives it away!!
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