Feeds

I read a number of blogs, which I acess via IE7's handy feeds list in the FavoUrites sidebar thingy. One of which is Random Acts of Reality. This morning, I was a bit confused. Tom seemed to be talking about timing and rotor arms. Until I realised that I had gone onto Martin Randle's TR7 16V rally car blog. I'm off to work in a few minutes to build 300 cars. I suppose I'd better wake up.

Another National Treasure

I don't want to Murray the kid, but I think he's going to be better than Schumacher. You just watch.

Sod the housing market.

According to this post on A World To Win, which I found on NHS Blog Doctor, public sector workers such as nurses, teachers and firefighters cannot afford to buy homes in seven out of ten towns in the UK. This comes as no surprise to me. Chez MnG would cost about 10-12 times my salary, such are the house prices in this part of Derby. A deposit on this place would cost more than the 1983 purchase price of my parents' house. Not being one for saving, I'm renting this place, which in itself takes most of my salary. Thank heavens for Tax Credit, but then I suspect that if housing costs hadn't been allowed to run away, there'd be no need for it.

To be honest, owning a house is not something I want to do. My grandmother, a Wren who worked on secret stuff, former history and French teacher, wife of a Marine, had to go into a home last year because, basically, to paraphrase You, Me and Dupree, the Grandma-ness has gone. The home's not a problem. It's owned by friends of the family, and Grandma's best friend, the mother of the owner's wife, is also a resident. The problem is the money grabbing authorities. Because Grandma owned her own home, bought and paid for, my mother is having to sell it to pay for her care. At full market value, mind. She can't rent it out, or sell it to my sister cheaply. Bah.

So bollocks to it. I'm not joining the home-owning bandwagon. I'm going to carry on renting, and play the system for all it's worth, by claiming all that I'm legally entitled to. It's how I can afford to go to college.

Bleurgh

I've had some sort of dreadful lurgy this weekend. Fever, aches, lethargy, stiff neck and a delicate stomach. I feel like shit.

I did it!

So, I've handed my notice in at work, even though I haven't sorted an AAT course out yet. I had planned to stay until summer shutdown in August, but I got to the point where I didn't want to go to work, which is different to the normal 'can't be arsed' feeling everyone gets. Everyone I've spoken to is supportive, so that's ok.

The cars (both ours and the car I got for my brother, which he pays me back for) will of course go back. Hopefully we'll get some money back by reclaiming our bank charges, so we can use that to buy a second car. Something that will be able to tow the TR7. With housing benefit and extra tax credit, we should be able to offset the loss of my salary. And I'll have no more crap hours, and more time with the family.
I suppose I'll have to start exercising more, or I'll turn in to the Goodyear blimp.

A National Treasure!

RF Potts have had their shop in Babington Lane, Derby, for as long as I can remember. If you want to connect a widget to a doobrey, chances are they'll have the lead to do it, or the connectors t omake the lead yourself. Prices are good, too. The only negative is that if they don't have something, it tends not to exist (even if you know it does).
They're open on Easter Monday (today) too! So after spending £1.95 on an F-connector-to-F-connector lead, my cable and my broadband are now working. Cool.

Some work on my TR7, and bodging the cable.

I've done some work on the left door of my TR7. Here's a pic, and there are a few more pics and more details on my TR7 blog.

I nearly didn't post this entry. My broadband's been playing up this weekend. I phoned Virgin Media, and after being told to unplug this and plug that back in, et cetera, that they'd book an engineer for Thursday morning. (My wife, who phoned up, was told at one point we'd never had broadband. Seeing as we were one of the broadband triallists for Derby, that's virgin on the ridiculous. Sorry.)

Anyway, once I'd got off the phone from VM, I tried unplugging the cable modem that was fitted when we upgraded to V+. This worked for a bit. Now, when they installed the V+ box, they split the cable using a quite large metal splitter, with the piece going to the cable modem (a small box with connections, blinkenlightzen and yet another power adapter to find a socket for) being only about 15cm long. This is what's failed, I think, as I've plugged the main cable from the wall into the modem. So we've got broadband, just no cable TV, at least until I can get to the shops later.

Test

This seems to work.
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Posted via my mobile.

This is good.

I bought this the other day. It's funny as f*ck.

It's fun to charter an accountant.

I've has an epiphany. The other day I found out that I wouldn't get a payrise this year, as basically, I'm not too good at my job. I made too many little, but important mistakes.

Also, #1 stepdaughter has decided to quit studying sciences at sixth form, and get an accounting apprenticeship. She'll go to business college one day a week to study for her AAT qualifications , and work four days, and for this she'll get £100 a week (after a 3 month probation). After 3 years, and gaining AAT membership, she'll earn a cool £300+ a week. Not bad for a 20-year old. And she can then fast-track to full chartered status.

Now I can't get an apprenticeship, being too old, but I can go to college part time for my AAT qualifications. And darling wife's vinyl graphics business is doing very well indeed. So well, in fact that all being well, I could become a house husband, letting her devote more time to the business. I could study part time, and within 5 years have a job that suits me.

And be earning a packet.