tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11999025709496561402024-03-12T23:21:52.520+00:00DBA DudeDBA Dudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05684347517853961518noreply@blogger.comBlogger401125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1199902570949656140.post-80082612714331193332012-04-08T15:01:00.002+01:002012-06-14T19:12:01.363+01:00DBA Dude - RIPHi,<br />
<br />
My uncle, DBA Dude passed away on the evening of the Wednesday the 4th of April.<br />
<br />
We are still making preparations at this point, but he will be laid to rest in his home town in the north of Scotland sometime after the 14th of April.<br />
<br />
DBA dude was laid to rest on the 21st of April in his home town in Scotland.<br />
<br />
Regards,<br />
<br />
The Nephew.DBA Dudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05684347517853961518noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1199902570949656140.post-9035980960689357682011-03-11T17:35:00.001+00:002011-03-11T17:38:47.023+00:00Ups and DownsOn the up side this week I was on a training course learning about the programming language for Microsoft SQL Server; we have 4 servers running this at work and people have occasionally asked me to do things on them which I have done but it has always taken me longer than I would have expected.<br /><br />The course was terrific, I learnt loads and now feel pretty confident that I will be able to satisfy any requests that my madcap friends at work land on my desk.<br /><br />On the down side the course was held in a building just outside Euston station which mean that I had to use the tube each day to get there and back from Waterloo; it only takes 10 mins but the tube is my least favourite form of transport. Although the course started at 09:00 each day (apart from the first where registration started at 08:00) I continued to get there for 08:00 – which meant I avoided the crush of rush hour.<br /><br />The finish time of 16:30 was a factor in my not being able to use the usual trains to return home, and even coming back to a different station and catching a cab I ended up returning home 30 mins or more later than usual.<br /><br />My fellow tube sufferers were a pretty standard cross section of working stiffs in London apart from one dude on Wednesday; he was wearing a suit and tie, carrying an electric blue briefcase and had a bowler had painted to match. The real killer detail was that he had a “face pack” of matching colour on his face and hands; I have no idea what was going on but was impressed by the sang-froid of my fellow travellers who acted as though nothing unusual was going on!DBA Dudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05684347517853961518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1199902570949656140.post-69414937255036644752011-03-03T18:35:00.002+00:002011-03-03T18:37:54.101+00:00Hot Lava Java<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-X6pqQ9aEv5I/TW_fugFmSLI/AAAAAAAAAZ8/ZG4al41kGD0/s1600/hot%2Blava%2Bjava.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 270px; height: 270px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-X6pqQ9aEv5I/TW_fugFmSLI/AAAAAAAAAZ8/ZG4al41kGD0/s320/hot%2Blava%2Bjava.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5579924453315725490" /></a><br />On Monday of last week I made a very interesting discovery in my local supermarket; I was looking for ground coffee to fuel the start of my working day and they had none of their Fairtrade strength 5 on the shelves.<br /><br />What they did have was <a href="http://www.taylorsofharrogate.co.uk/">Taylors of Harrogate</a> Hot Lava Java which is a mind blowing strength 6! A blend of Java Arabica beans and Indian Robust (which deliver the high caffeine content) not only does it deliver what it says on the packet but it is very flavour full to my taste buds.<br /><br />At the end of the week I returned to buy more but there was none to be found, last night it had returned so I bought 2 packs to keep me going.<br /><br />A must buy for lovers of strong tasty coffee.DBA Dudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05684347517853961518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1199902570949656140.post-36078820019367120622011-02-27T13:55:00.000+00:002011-02-27T13:56:37.432+00:00Nothing To See Here, Move Along PeopleI have been busier than a very busy thing at work for the last 6 months making changes to our application and wrestling with the quirks and eccentricities of the software that we use. The current score is 3 to 2 in my favour but that could change rapidly – especially if I have to use functionality for the first time.<br /><br />Call me old fashioned but there is no substitute for a reference manual for a software application, one where all of the commands (and their purpose) are defined. If it also supplies examples of how to put them together to achieve specific goals that is a real positive.<br /><br />What I face is a help file which does none of the above.<br /><br />Still things are looking up, I delivered my second release of our application on the last Saturday in January and nothing has gone pear shaped (as yet) and after 10 months in the job I am starting to get a feel for when the underlying software is not going to play nice.<br /><br />This week I received official confirmation that I had successfully completed my probation period and am now a permanent employee; which in these troubled times is a good place to reach.<br /><br />In other news I was diagnosed with bad cataracts in both eyes last September (which explained my blurry vision for the last year or so) and after much faffing about/deliberation they finally decided to replace the lens(s) with ones that will almost correct my short sightedness rather than fully correct it. This took around 6 weeks but I finally had the first operation just over 2 weeks ago and what a difference.<br /><br />Less than 24 hours after the op the vision in my right eye had come back into focus, colours were amazingly vibrant and the world is a much clearer place. Had the post op assessment on Tuesday and they were pleased with the recovery – looking to schedule the second op sometime in the next 4 weeks and I can hardly wait for it to be done.<br /><br />It was a strange experience to know that your eye was being cut into and the old lens taken out but there was no pain and the procedure took around 30 minutes to complete.<br /><br />I had my spare specs modified to replace the right hand lens with clear glass but found that using them was causing some double vision to occur so I stopped wearing them after the first week. Now for the first time since I was 7 years old I am not wearing glasses, the joy of waking up in the morning and not having to scrabble around for them before getting up is a fantastic feeling.<br /><br />Will need to get another pair to fully correct the short sightedness but cannot have an eye test until 4 to 6 weeks after the second op; my consultant told me to get a cheap pair made up to correct -3 in both eyes but this is going to prove tricky. In the nanny state of England optical dispensers cannot supply glasses without a written prescription that is less than two years old; will try mailing the hospital to see if they will send me something which allows my local dispenser to meet my needs.DBA Dudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05684347517853961518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1199902570949656140.post-18275452751587493562010-12-14T10:27:00.002+00:002010-12-14T10:31:32.092+00:00Taste - Rock Trios Part 1On the train home one day last week I fired up Electric Ladyland on the mp3 player and (as ever) was impressed by the awesome sounds reaching my ears. This got me thinking about the classic 3 piece line up of guitar, bass and drums; 1966 saw the formation of arguably the two finest exponents of the genre, The Jimi Hendrix Eperience and Cream.<br /><br />We begin our journey through worthy exponents of the genre with a lesser known outfit but one that I remember well from my youth: Taste, yet another example of European musicians heavily influenced by the sounds of the Blues.<br /><br />Was never lucky enough to see them live, but this clip from their Isle of Wight performance in 1970 gives a taste (sorry, could not resist the opportunity) of what they were like as a live unit. Had trouble finding live clips of the whole band performing, this one is short but sweet:<br /><br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/XBagcBSavIM?fs=1&hl=en_GB"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/XBagcBSavIM?fs=1&hl=en_GB" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br />This one features Rory’s fine slide guitar playing <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CZNuTeq9hs">Gambling Blues</a>.DBA Dudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05684347517853961518noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1199902570949656140.post-76519860344791266252010-11-24T05:44:00.005+00:002010-11-24T05:56:51.667+00:00I Predict A Riot<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_KVd-5iT-LhY/TOym5c8ymNI/AAAAAAAAAZk/YuvtAK9nvfc/s1600/Students-besiege-the-entr-035.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_KVd-5iT-LhY/TOym5c8ymNI/AAAAAAAAAZk/YuvtAK9nvfc/s320/Students-besiege-the-entr-035.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542988747340159186" /></a><br />On Wednesday 10th 50,000 students marched through London to protest the Government’s plans to increase fees from their current level of around £3,000 a year to up to £9,000. The road outside our office block was closed as the march was scheduled to end just past us in front of Tate Britain.<br /><br />Next to our building is a smaller 7 storey block which houses Conservative party headquarters (amongst others), at around 13:30 the fire alarm went off in our tower block and after gathering our possessions we started the long trek down 14 flights of stairs. By the time we reached the tenth floor we could smell smoke and when we got to the fourth we met some people coming up who told us that we needed to switch to the back stairs as smoke bombs had been thrown into reception.<br /><br />Standing at the back of the building we could hear the baying and chanting of the mob outside the 7 storey block, after about an hour we were told we could go back inside. <br /><br />The damage to the building next door was pretty extensive but none of our people was hurt which was a result. Today there are more protests planned and even as I write hatches are being battened down, who knows what will happen. In the meantime here are the Kaiser Chiefs with <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pb3m2GMkwY">I Predict A Riot</a>.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_KVd-5iT-LhY/TOyn_DTqwzI/AAAAAAAAAZs/2bZ4LxIoX1o/s1600/PB110289.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 239px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_KVd-5iT-LhY/TOyn_DTqwzI/AAAAAAAAAZs/2bZ4LxIoX1o/s320/PB110289.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542989943047635762" /></a>DBA Dudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05684347517853961518noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1199902570949656140.post-20777404707983983022010-10-24T09:06:00.002+01:002010-10-24T09:25:20.331+01:00CommutingNot what I see of a morning:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_KVd-5iT-LhY/TMPsugr3W1I/AAAAAAAAAZc/O0unpTxGl_I/s1600/Empty3.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_KVd-5iT-LhY/TMPsugr3W1I/AAAAAAAAAZc/O0unpTxGl_I/s320/Empty3.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5531525051133156178" /></a><br /><br />Coming up for six months of the daily shuffle this week and I am surprised to find that the journey is not wearing me down; there are two explanations that might account for this.<br /><br />The first is the daily uncertainty of wondering if I will make my preferred connection in Guildford; it stops at Clapham Junction where I hop onto another train and exit at Vauxhall – 10 min walk to work and arrive at desk at 07:45.<br /><br />There is only one stop between it’s starting point and my hometown station but on average it is late two times out of five each week and the window of opportunity at Guildford is only 3 minutes wide, leaving very little room for operator error. Last Thursday was a classic, it arrived on time but the guard/ticket collector made the fatal flaw of walking the train before the 8 minute last leg resulting in 2 stops where we were stationary for over a minute before heading off as he had to walk the length of the train to close the doors.<br /><br />End result is my connection is still there when I leap off in Guildford but the doors have just been locked so it is a 10 min wait for the next one which will se me arrive at work around 20 mins later than normal.<br /><br />The second is the constantly evolving cast of characters that I see on my travels each day, on my preferred connection that list includes sleeping dude (25 mins into the journey but always sound asleep), bohemian chick (dresses out of the box c/f her fellow female commuters but always with an eccentric elegant charm), Telegraph dude (always wired into his mp3 while reading the Telegraph), FT dude (every morning he will extract 2 “pills” from a foil wrapped strip and munch away – indigestion tablets or some fancy mints, perhaps one day when my eyes get fixed I will find out).<br /><br />The pair that I least like to see of a morning get on 2 stops after me on the first train, fortunately they are not regulars as they spend the entire journey talking about their kids football teams. Not so much about the play itself on the park but more around the labyrinthine backbiting on the coaches and other parents. The first time I encountered them I made the mistake of getting into the same coach as them on the second train and their dialogue continued all the way into London – not a mistake that I have repeated.<br /><br />The good news (as winter looms on the horizon) is that I now have the kit that allows me to work from home; so bring it on Mr Snow I am ready and waiting for you!DBA Dudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05684347517853961518noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1199902570949656140.post-59949341293925753662010-10-24T08:56:00.001+01:002010-10-24T09:29:52.422+01:00Dave GrohlThis is one talented dude, most musicians never break through into the big time with their bands but he has done it three times; from thrashing in drums in Nirvana, to fronting Foo Fighters and most recently thrashing those drums again with Them Crooked Vultures.<br /><br />Not to mention a slew of other side projects, more power to your fingers Dave – keep the good sounds a coming. Here are Foo Fighters on Jools playing <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kE7LRKwacr8">Best of You</a>.DBA Dudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05684347517853961518noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1199902570949656140.post-6137329190189841082010-09-17T14:51:00.000+01:002010-09-17T14:53:21.810+01:00Me and the PopeThe pope is in London on Friday and Saturday.<br /><br />On a normal working day I leave the office just before 16:00, amble past MI5 HQ before crossing Lambeth Bridge and walking down Lambeth Palace Road to Waterloo.<br /><br />This Friday at 16:00, the pope dude is visiting Lambeth Palace before crossing Lambeth Bridge at 17:00 in the popemobile.<br /><br />As a result, the roads in pink on the pdf file in the link are being closed from 11:30 until 21:00!<br /><br />Having learnt of this I arranged on Monday to finish at 11:50 on Friday (flexi) in the hope that I can escape before the hordes descend – I join Millbank around about the k in Millbank on the <a href="http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/friday-17-september-1130-2100.pdf">link</a>.DBA Dudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05684347517853961518noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1199902570949656140.post-14585791857568786812010-09-15T19:16:00.000+01:002010-09-15T19:18:26.862+01:00Slash - Paradise City – Glastonbury 2010Nuff said. Enjoy 9 mins plus of one of the many great <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5outz-ciR6s">musical moments</a> from Glastonbury 2010.DBA Dudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05684347517853961518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1199902570949656140.post-6706163419183624562010-09-11T08:25:00.002+01:002010-09-11T11:52:51.893+01:00Local CrimewaveSo, on Wednesday morning I left DBA cottages just before 06:00 to walk to the train station, immediately noticed a police van blocking off the High Street 40 yards from my house. An officer was standing on my side of it and we exchanged good mornings as I passed by, strange place to block the road I thought but there was a train to catch.<br /><br />Found out the reason on my return when I had to visit the supermarket to pick up some essentials, the building society on the High Street was boarded up; turned out that some would be thieves had used a digger to smash into the building society but had fled the scene empty handed.<br /><br />What is it about September and digger attacks on local financial institutions? It was five years ago this month that more successful thieves used a digger to remove the ATM from the same branch and another bank was robbed in the same fashion round about that time.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_KVd-5iT-LhY/TIswUjiGzWI/AAAAAAAAAZU/sOBm_f8fr5c/s1600/digger1.gif"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 304px; height: 171px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_KVd-5iT-LhY/TIswUjiGzWI/AAAAAAAAAZU/sOBm_f8fr5c/s320/digger1.gif" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515555298339114338" /></a>DBA Dudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05684347517853961518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1199902570949656140.post-78507685909648239902010-09-06T21:10:00.000+01:002010-09-06T21:11:43.772+01:00Handsome Hank And His Lonesome Boys'Earlier tonight I heard an ad on the TV for what I have no fecking idea, however the music was great, it was a bluegrass cover of Guns N’ Roses Paradise City. Again it turns out that Google is your friend as entering “Paradise City country style took me straight to this place on YouTube:<br /><br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZVlsxvhm0WU?fs=1&hl=en_GB"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZVlsxvhm0WU?fs=1&hl=en_GB" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br />I have been a fan of bluegrass music for sometime now, but this just cracks me up and will be going on my mp3 player real soon; they appear to be <a href="http://www.myspace.com/handsomehankandhislonesomeboys">Swiss</a> but what the feck, these dudes can play!DBA Dudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05684347517853961518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1199902570949656140.post-1247582140414333992010-08-15T08:31:00.002+01:002010-08-15T09:42:00.325+01:00Filthy KicksMentioned in yesterday’s post that I was listening to a friend’s band in the car and they are an interesting listen; dance music with some rapping and haunting Yiddish derived violin playing over the top.<br /><br />Their first release is available for free at their <a href="http://www.filthykicks.co.uk/">site</a> and I can recommend it if you think they sound interesting.<br /><br />They have been playing on the festival circuit this summer and have a video which was released last month, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjK7xx43AR4">enjoy</a>.DBA Dudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05684347517853961518noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1199902570949656140.post-11695888528341678252010-08-14T10:54:00.003+01:002010-08-14T11:03:22.585+01:00Losing The Will To Live<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_KVd-5iT-LhY/TGZoM87xcdI/AAAAAAAAAZE/1Mcbr7s-Fv8/s1600/ikea.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_KVd-5iT-LhY/TGZoM87xcdI/AAAAAAAAAZE/1Mcbr7s-Fv8/s320/ikea.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5505202166231560658" /></a><br />Had Monday off this week so found myself waking up in Somerset on Monday morning, the sun was shining and I was feeling well relaxed; decided to indulge in some shopping on my to and out of Bristol.<br /><br />First stop was my favourite cider farm <a href="http://www.thatcherscider.co.uk/">Thatchers</a> where I picked up a couple of 12 packs of my regular brews – trauma free, relaxed mode continues.<br /><br />Next stop was to invest in some CD/DVD storage racks, described as being 2.02m in height; slightly apprehensive about whether they would fit in the car – all depended on if they were a complete length or came in two pieces. Unfortunately for me the location of these racks was in the labyrinthine halls of IKEA, arrived around 11:00 and the car park must have been 90% full – bad omen; 20 mins of shuffling round and I finally found them and the news was bad. They were single pieces of wood and with packaging would probably not fit in the car.<br /><br />Managed to pick up some glasses and plastic storage containers for less than £5 so my time was not completely wasted; reached the part of the store where you collect your larger item and had to make a decision. Get them and if they did not fit have to endure the torture of the IKEA returns process or cut and run before I had totally lost the will to live.<br /><br />No contest, 10 mins later I was on the road heading for the M4, listening to a friend’s band on the mp3 player driving the sound system and as Bristol fell behind in the rear view I could feel my spirits rising once more.DBA Dudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05684347517853961518noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1199902570949656140.post-66561636869445075772010-06-20T09:58:00.000+01:002010-06-20T09:59:48.257+01:00Working AgainJust finished my 8th week in a new job and apart from the length of the journey things are going pretty well; the natives have been welcoming and friendly and while the application software that I have to work with could best be described as “quirky” I am starting to get my brain around it.<br /><br />Unlike last year’s gig this one is permanent so hopefully should not have to place myself in the job market again for a few years; gets a wee bit frustrating applying for jobs and not hearing anything back from 90% of them – anyone would think that there was a world wide recession going on!<br /><br />The job is in central London but rather than using the tube I have a 20 minute walk along the Thames to get to the office (way more pleasant) – have to walk past this building on the other side of the river:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_KVd-5iT-LhY/TB3YH5LI98I/AAAAAAAAAY8/IQyXZebVTks/s1600/houses_of_parliament.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 209px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_KVd-5iT-LhY/TB3YH5LI98I/AAAAAAAAAY8/IQyXZebVTks/s320/houses_of_parliament.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5484777551325362114" /></a><br /><br />And then amble past the headquarters of MI5 before finally arriving at my destination.<br /><br />Hopefully the down time on the journey (and random events observed en route) will prove inspirational in creating blog posts and that “normal” posting will ensue.<br /><br />Saw my first in train beggar on my 2nd week in, train had left Waterloo and stopped at one station and five minutes later a young man came down the coach saying that he had not eaten for 3 days and any money would be gratefully accepted. That was a surreal experience, made me feel like I was travelling in India rather than in the leafy home counties of olde England.DBA Dudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05684347517853961518noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1199902570949656140.post-36823175059916568642010-02-24T17:03:00.002+00:002010-02-24T17:06:56.123+00:00Customer Service?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_KVd-5iT-LhY/S4Vcif66NKI/AAAAAAAAAY0/NgvjRq7nQYY/s1600-h/siemens.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 68px; height: 142px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_KVd-5iT-LhY/S4Vcif66NKI/AAAAAAAAAY0/NgvjRq7nQYY/s320/siemens.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5441857472501003426" /></a><br />My friend D bought a new and expensive fridge freezer when he had his kitchen made over around 2.5 years ago. Last Friday morning he came downstairs to hear an alarm sounding from it and no refrigeration activity to be detected; after unloading the contents and stashing some in the shed outside (giving thanks to the cold snap for a change) he examined his options.<br /><br />Fortunately he had bought extended warranty for the appliance so he made the call and was told that an “engineer” would call on Tuesday – a hassle but with a good outcome only 4 days away he agreed. Fast forward to Tuesday and the “engineer” calls, two minutes later he announces that the compressor has seized and that it will require a “system engineer” to replace it, swift phone call and the question “Monday afternoon OK?” is put to D.<br /><br />Valiantly refraining from throttling the guy D asks him why he cannot fix it and is told “I can only fix door lights, change fuses and order parts” there are 30 “engineers” for every “system engineer”. Considering that these appliances are very simple pieces of kit and contain only two major working parts (the compressor and the expansion valve) it seems to us that this company is running a pretty shabby customer service operation.<br /><br />Now D & family are out of refrigeration options for another six days – assuming that the “trained monkey’s” diagnosis of the fault is the correct one and that swapping the compressor does the trick. Watch this space...DBA Dudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05684347517853961518noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1199902570949656140.post-30606058812007047842010-01-24T13:50:00.000+00:002010-01-24T13:51:54.248+00:00Worst Fouls Ever?Have seen some dastardly deeds done in the professional game over the years but this young lady from New Mexico really takes things over the top and into a new dimension.<br /><br />The incredible thing is that the only offence that she received a booking for in this game was for kicking the ball directly into an opponent’s face – makes you wonder what the match officials were doing for the rest of the 90 minutes.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/gNmPybFK2_o&hl=en_GB&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/gNmPybFK2_o&hl=en_GB&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>DBA Dudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05684347517853961518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1199902570949656140.post-63664247664297037442010-01-10T16:13:00.001+00:002010-01-10T16:16:50.801+00:00Beer 123 – Morland’s Hen’s Tooth<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_KVd-5iT-LhY/S0n9X64pmmI/AAAAAAAAAYo/VMNkv3Wu0FQ/s1600-h/HensTooth.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 239px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_KVd-5iT-LhY/S0n9X64pmmI/AAAAAAAAAYo/VMNkv3Wu0FQ/s320/HensTooth.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5425145813530155618" /></a><br />Had a bottle of this last night with my curry and it went down really well; bottle conditioned which makes it extremely lively when being poured and results in a thick creamy head. Fine red colour and a strong malt taste but pleasantly lacking in sweetness for a brew of it’s strength (6.5% abv) and with some complex fruit flavours going around in the mix. Well worth a try but be careful when pouring due to the liveliness and the need to keep the yeasty bottom in the bottle.<br /><br />Thanks to Eldest Niece for supplying a box of bottles of this on Boxing Day and to Eldest Nephew for putting 3 into my “goodie box” (which also included some <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sliced_sausage">square slice</a> and homemade pepper pate) when I left the West CountryDBA Dudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05684347517853961518noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1199902570949656140.post-45022327696254210232010-01-08T18:17:00.000+00:002010-01-08T18:19:05.402+00:00ABC Of Boogie WoogieDo not know much about the origins of this lot (apart from the drummer) but caught them on Jools Holland’s show last year and they blew me away. Great sound and fine musicians, on this track the two pianists are joined by Jools for some three way boogie woogie, enjoy:<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Dic_cd4sJL8&hl=en_GB&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Dic_cd4sJL8&hl=en_GB&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>DBA Dudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05684347517853961518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1199902570949656140.post-65255356573628496252010-01-07T18:56:00.001+00:002010-01-07T18:59:27.512+00:00White BritainIf you follow this <a href="http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/?2010007-0107/GreatBritain.A2010007.1150.1km.jpg">link</a> you will see a grand satellite photo of Britsain taken by NASA today – no longer a green and pleasant land it has more the look of Greenland.<br /><br />Meanwhile in Capetown the English cricket team managed to battle their way to a <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/england/8445230.stm">draw</a> with South Africa – after five days play and with only 17 balls left to be bowled the last English batsmen came to the crease. After 15 nerve jangling minutes the last ball was bowled and the last man was still standing – this is the second time in three test matches that this bowler has batted out time to save his team mates from defeat and keep them hoping for a series victory.DBA Dudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05684347517853961518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1199902570949656140.post-28754652968692269262010-01-06T16:21:00.003+00:002010-01-06T16:26:32.368+00:00Winter Wonderland<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_KVd-5iT-LhY/S0S5cM6rkII/AAAAAAAAAYg/_rSgCmg59vY/s1600-h/Snow10a.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 239px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_KVd-5iT-LhY/S0S5cM6rkII/AAAAAAAAAYg/_rSgCmg59vY/s320/Snow10a.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5423663745415745666" /></a><br />Woke up this morning to find that the weather forecast had indeed been correct for once and 7 to 8 inches of snow had fallen overnight – have never seen this large a fall in this part of Berkshire in all of the 30 odd years I have been living down here. All schools in the county (and neighbouring ones) were closed for the day and I will be surprised if any are open tomorrow; a walk up the high street revealed that most of the shops and banks were also shut but luckily the local co-op was open and I was able to resupply on Fairtrade tea bags.<br /><br />With more heavy snow forecast for tonight and temperatures dropping to -5C overnight and sub zero all day tomorrow and beyond it could take a while for this lot to disappear – my one consolation is that as I am currently looking for work using various internet sites the disruption has not affected my day.<br /><br />Also a bit weird to be listening to cricket commentary from South Africa in the midst of all the snow and ice (temperature there dropped by 10 degrees from yesterday to a balmy 25C!). Photos were taken out the back of DBA cottages earlier today.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_KVd-5iT-LhY/S0S5BshbV_I/AAAAAAAAAYY/FahesCs45pU/s1600-h/Snow10b.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 239px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_KVd-5iT-LhY/S0S5BshbV_I/AAAAAAAAAYY/FahesCs45pU/s320/Snow10b.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5423663290043291634" /></a>DBA Dudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05684347517853961518noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1199902570949656140.post-44735676102954534262009-09-24T11:19:00.002+01:002009-09-24T12:00:23.605+01:00Winning At Any Cost?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_KVd-5iT-LhY/SrtRMeaZJTI/AAAAAAAAAYQ/xsHKuuPFivo/s1600-h/piquet1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 159px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_KVd-5iT-LhY/SrtRMeaZJTI/AAAAAAAAAYQ/xsHKuuPFivo/s320/piquet1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384987054215603506" /></a><br />This <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/8258987.stm">story</a> illustrates that if the rewards are high enough then the unscrupulous will stop at nothing to attain them; in last year’s Singapore Grand Prix the Renault of Nelson Piquet Jr crashed on lap 47 out of 61 forcing the safety car to be deployed.<br /><br />His team mate Fernando Alonso in what had proved to be an uncompetitive car all season had pitted for fuel and fresh tyres two laps earlier. This left the rest of the front of the field needing to stop for fuel and tyres but not Alonso who went on to win the race.<br /><br />The crash happened on a part of the track where there were no cranes available to remove the car, it also occurred at a time when Renault were thinking of withdrawing from F1 due to the costs and lack of success.<br /><br />A month after he was sacked by the team in August of this year Piquet revealed that he had been instructed to crash by the team principal Flavio Briatore and the chief of engineering Pat Symonds.<br /><br />Last Wednesday it was announced that they had left the team and that Renault would not be fighting the allegations of race fixing. On Monday Renault received a 2 year suspended ban from F1 so if they do no more wrong then they are home free. Not so Briatore who has been banned indefinitely and this will apply to any F1 team or drive associated with him.<br /><br />The danger that this pair not only put their own driver in but also everyone else on the track at the time was immense but they calculated that the rewards were worth the risk – cannot help but think that some time in a Singapore jail would be a more fitting punishment.DBA Dudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05684347517853961518noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1199902570949656140.post-25234636834797010622009-09-16T09:01:00.002+01:002009-09-16T09:04:35.599+01:00Fall Of Toledo – 1085<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_KVd-5iT-LhY/SrCb5ulfwyI/AAAAAAAAAYI/jNq7yI7XvnI/s1600-h/Toledo.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_KVd-5iT-LhY/SrCb5ulfwyI/AAAAAAAAAYI/jNq7yI7XvnI/s320/Toledo.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381972970767893282" /></a><br />This was without question the most significant event of medieval times for the development of science, mathematics, astronomy and medicine in Western Europe. The city in Spain had been ruled by Muslims for over 350 years and scholars had flocked there from all over Islam and a very large library of works covering all these and other subjects had been established.<br /><br />Fortunately for us the leader of the occupying Christian forces did not go on the rampage burning all of these books – which notably contained translations from Greek into Arabic of parts of the writings of Aristotle.<br /><br />Islamic scholars had taken the words of the Qu'ran on observation, reason and contemplation to their hearts and starting from the Greek texts made great advances in the sciences from the 7th century onwards. As an example there were discourses written which put forward the ideas of a heliocentric solar system and the elliptical orbits of the planets in the 11th century – 600 years later Galileo was convicted by the Catholic Church of heresy for advancing the same ideas. <br /><br />To put this in context, at that time my ancestors might have bathed once a year, put disease down to God's wrath and popular learning was actively discouraged outside of religious centres as it could lead to heresy.<br /><br />All of these views were the exact opposite of the beliefs in the Islamic world.<br /><br />In the years the Christian occupation of the city scholars from all across Western Europe travelled there and started translating these works from Arabic into Latin. Without this leg up it is very doubtful <br /><br />The golden age of Islamic scientific expansion started in the 8th century and lasted for 600 years until the rise of certain clerical factions resulted in a terminal decline. Sadly this has been the fate of science at the hands of more than one religion – if empirical evidence contradicts religious scriptures then those responsible for that evidence must be heretics or infidels.<br /><br />In these times it is good to be reminded of the debt we owe to those early enlightened Islamic scholars, makes a pleasant change from reading about extremist Jihadis.DBA Dudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05684347517853961518noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1199902570949656140.post-30605945003386562282009-09-12T08:33:00.000+01:002009-09-12T08:36:40.052+01:00Rodrigo Y Gabriela – 11:11This week saw the return of my favourite Mexicans with a new cd 11:11 – which is comprised of eleven new compositions inspired by eleven of their favourite artistes. It was released on Monday and has been in pretty constant play since then after I got a copy on that day – and as a bonus it includes a DVD with footage of them rehearsing the songs and an interview.<br /><br />I cannot recommend this highly enough, here is the opening track inspired by Carlos Santana.<br /><br /><object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Z8QjxTpXh1g&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Z8QjxTpXh1g&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object><br /><br />They are touring all over the globe, check out their <a href="http://www.rodgab.com/home.html">web site</a> and follow the link to their MySpace page where the tour dates are listed - catch them if you can, you will not be disappointed.DBA Dudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05684347517853961518noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1199902570949656140.post-44028742447176319502009-09-07T18:15:00.001+01:002009-09-07T18:19:01.061+01:00NewsThe good people of Samoa are switching to drive on the correct side of the road <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/8236773.stm">today</a> (IE the left) in a move designed to allow for the import of cars from New Zealand and Japan making it cheaper to get around.<br /><br />Scientists had revealed that the <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8234898.stm">Andromeda</a> galaxy has consumed smaller galaxies as it continues to expand and that one day it will collide with our galaxy.<br /><br />Meanwhile in Papua New Guinea a multi national scientific expedition has discovered a new species of <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/sep/07/discovery-species-papua-new-guinea">“giant” rat</a> – weighing in at 1.5 Kg they are about the size of a cat. They found another 39 new species including a fanged frog – just when you thought that things could not possibly get more weird this year.<br /><br />The UK’s <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/north_east/8239248.stm">smallest cinema</a> (capacity of two) has been opened in Shetland to critical acclaim – it used to be a bus shelter.DBA Dudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05684347517853961518noreply@blogger.com0