Year: 2009

Update

14th July 2009 admin Uncategorised 1 Comment

Well, the main news at the moment, is that I’ve got a new job. Its probably the best job I have ever had, working for an international software house.

Most people I’ve spoken too agree, that the first month being unemployed, isn’t so bad. You get to tidy the loft, read all the books you promised you would and stuff like that.

After that, life gets pretty dull, and with time a bit depressing. Thats why Im so happy. Put simply by one of my friends, getting back to work means that life can return to normal.

Above is the picture of the forest in Westminster park which I sometimes visit. Its been a great place for me to just wander around, when things have been difficult. I went there the day after I got the job, and I really felt like life had begun again.

In the week since, I’ve tried to do as many low budget adventures as possible, I will be posting them up soon.

A load of people have helped me out recently, when life has been difficult. I wont embarrass you by naming you here, but you know who you are, and that you have my sincere thanks.

In other “news”, my friend Dan has been on holiday for a week. He comes home tomorow, so ill find out if he had a good time.

Izabel has returned to the Frog and nightingale (she lives in Poland with her boyfriend, and they come over for a few months each year).

Also, the Chef from the Frog and Nightingale, Keith celebrated his silver wedding anniversary on Sunday. I was invited, and it was really nice (and there was loads of really good food, and it was free).

Apologies for the low quality of the photos, but I lent my camera to a friend, and still haven’t got it back. I am presently using my IPhone, but I think its just one more example of how versatile these things are.

Ive been meeting up with 2 old friends from Corning, Matt & Glen (along with my usual friends). They went on holiday with Social Circle (the Manchester based “get out and do it” outfit). Now that things have improved, Im hoping to get a bit more involved in stuff like that.

Nominated numptee’s of the month:

Gary Mckinnon

Just a few points, from someone who knows a bit about technology.

1. forget the romanticized view of hackers, they generally fall into 1 of 3 categories.

a, they work for organised crime

b, they are “white” hat which means they “ethically” cause mayhem to “help” people by exposing problems with other peoples networks

c, nerdy mischievous people who mess about with other peoples stuff for fun.

2. The very people going on about his rights and all the rest are, from my experience exactly the kind of people who go berserk when someone’s children kick a ball through their window.

For me the similarity is a good one. I don’t care if Gary Mckinnon was looking for aliens (and wasn’t as I suspect, just trying to cause mayhem to increase his own kudos within the nerd community). He caused damage to someone else’s network and there should be consequences just like if he kicked the ball.

3. I’m not even going to comment on his “addiction to hacking” nor the repeated appearance of him on TV with his mother.

4. Still not convinced ?. Think about this then. The hospital near here, has a secure firewall which cost more than £100,000. They have it because of people like Mckinnon. How many people will be denied £6000 operations because of this ?.

Hackers are a menace.

Jamie Neale

I don’t want to rain on the parade of all this self indulgent nonsense, but common sense surely has to prevail.

Ive been to the Blue Mountains. Why didn’t he take warm clothes, a survival bag, some emergency food, some sort of map etc (you know, like every 7 year old cub scout knows to do !).

People who have been following the story, have talked about survival training. I’ve done quite a lot of these courses, but in every case, the emphasis is on not putting yourself in that position in the first place through planning.

In adventure terms, aside from breaking the law or insulting someone’s culture or religion, wandering around ANYWHERE without knowing where your going is about the surest way to get into trouble I can think off.

I’ve been doing various adventure stuff around Chester, and on Saturday, I was pleased to see the army doing a recruitment event.

They even had a tank.

On the adventure front:

Id really like to get to Capetown and complete the bluelist this year.

Frank is busy organising a really cool train journey through the Jungle from Kuala Lumpur to Bangkok (with loads to do in between) for next year.

India crew (who as Ive mentioned before, aren’t actually from India, that’s just where I met them) are organising a weekend in Berlin, which should be pretty smart.

Two places Id really like to see, are Lisbon and Budapest (a weekend in both places with travel included would be cheaper than a weekend in London). If your interesting in going to either of those, give me a shout.

On the subject of London, I want to go down there for a day, and just look around the museum. Im also told that there is a “beach” in Birmingham at the moment (artificially created in the middle of the town). Its open until September, if anyone Fancies an hours drive.

The Dee coastal path

12th July 2009 admin Uncategorised Leave a comment

I’d mucked about around the Dee Estuary a few times on my bike, but I never realised, it was an official path (and now featured as an extension onto Chester’s promenade walk).

I head for a place called the Cop (nothing to do with Liverpool football club) where the walk begins.

The football ground of Chester City.

The path runs very close to Chester football ground, which despite living here for 8 years, I have never seen.

Since its nearby, I decide to pop over and have a look. Well, its a football ground, and I enjoy football as much as watching Goldfish swim around a bowl.

I continue along. The route, runs along the coast of the river Dee, for 7 miles (or 8 miles depending on which signs you believe).

Its a pretty quiet walk, you meet a lot of cyclists in training, but very few walkers. Its very open to the elements, so the usual rules apply, of wearing an old pair of trainers, and if its warm, take a daysack containing water, a warm jumper and a waterproof coat with you (this is Britain after all, and it could well start raining half way around).

One thing that always surprises me, is the number of people who walk along a “road” walk, like the Wirral way, but wear walking boots. The thing is, “propper” walking boots, have a gripping sole, that’s designed to “bite” into something (preferably the ground) if it can’t do that (ie you are walking on a tarmac’ed road, rather than a muddy field) then they will bite into your feet.

I can’t realy talk, as I fell for that one while doing Hadrians wall . The first 12 miles are tarmac (and lead through, effectively a housing estate) and I sustained the worst blisters Ive ever had there.

The Coastal path, effectively ends at the Connors key bridge.

From here, its possible to walk back into Chester along the number 5 route of the cycle path (again, 7 or 8 miles, depending on which sign you believe).

The cycle path (as you would imagine) is very flat, and mostly straight. Its a lot more sheltered than the coastal section, and makes the 2nd half of the journey, a lot more relaxing.

About a mile from town, the path joins the Canal towpath and its possible to wander into Chester admiring the barges (and then find a pub next to the Canal and have a pint, this being johnsunter.com after all).

Whilst researching this trip, I learned of a new and exciting walking technique, which is fashionable at the moment. Many people, will be familiar with Climbing (and even Canoeing) in the Alpine style. Siege technique is also well know in the Himalayas.

Well, not to be outdone here in Chester, walking in the Amelia style is gaining popularity. Named after the recently returned Chester socialite Amelia Webb, it involves setting out on a fairly long walk, with minimal equipment. Getting tired or bored after about 20 minutes, and then taking a taxi (YES, A F*CKING TAXI !) to the pub to relax and discuss the walk !.

Continuing on my budget adventure theme, Ill be visiting Southport and going on the Chester secret history tour in the next few days, so stay tuned (well you dont have to actually, it’s not like I have a radio station or anything).

Media

12th July 2009 admin Uncategorised Leave a comment

Well, money has been tight, so I haven’t been to the Cinema, and I have had to cancel my subscription to love film. Never mind, there have been loads of cool things on the TV lately.

Along with Fringe, Dollhouse is one of the two best new TV series, that I have seen this year. They both have a science fiction theme, but Dollhouse (made by the same guy who created Buffy the Vampire Slayer) has a less science orientated theme and has a bit more “glam”.

Each of the characters are human, and in their own way flawed. It makes for great TV interaction. Also, for people like me who enjoy action, the fight scenes are superbly choreographed.

The first couple of episodes are a bit tame, but don’t be put off, they are there to set the scene. The last 5 episodes, have plot twists flying at you left right and centre.

Ive also been catching up on some comedy series.

Family Guy, recommended by my old friend Amanda, and more recently by Jude, is hilarious adult entertainment. I would say that its near the bone, but its not that subtle. I’m amazed they get away with putting half of the stuff into every episode, as its so controversial.

But lets be honest, in private, chatting with friends, aren’t some of our funniest conversations very controversial, things we wouldn’t want the rest of the world to know, but secretly we find hilarious.

One scene the other evening featured God (and I mean literally a cartoon character of the Christian God) dressed in robes drinking in a bar, and chatting up girls by lighting their cigarettes at will. In the next scene he accidentally sets fire to one of the girls and shouts “Jesus Christ” in alarm.

At that moment, a cartoon character of Jesus Christ (with thorns and everything) steps into view to help. I don’t know how they get away with putting that on the TV, they must get death threats every week !.

I’ve also been watching both series of Flight of the Concords, as recommended by Matt Bridges, and his lovely daughter Eve. There are no glossy sets, flash props, or anything like that, its just pure inventive situation humour.

A show I’ve never really followed (as it pokes fun at IT) is the IT Crowd. The scene in the 2nd series where faced by a visit from the serious fraud office, over pension discrepancies, the boss calmly walks to the window, opens it, and steps out into oblivion, moments after congratulating himself on his business prowess is a landmark in TV comedy.

On a far more serious note, I was watching Leaving Las Vegas. This isn’t a film to watch if you want cheering up, but its gritty and real. I think school children should perhaps be encouraged to watch this film, for some of the scenes that show the harsh reality of alcoholism.

Otherwise, they will probably just see Fosters adverts, with witty guys, attractive women and sunny days, that gives a one sided view of drinking. It also shows (what I believe to be) the reality of prostitution. I think rubbish TV programs like The Secret diary of a call girl (based on a blog, which I honestly think was written by a man) are dangerous.

I’ve waited 9 years to watch that film, and it was just as good as Id been told.

I’ve been recording all 5 episodes of the new Torchwood series. I wanted to watch them all together. The previous series have been pretty good, so ill have to see what happens.

I found out a really interesting fact the other day. Mariska Hargitay who plays Olivia Benson, in the superb Law & Order – Special Victims Unit (and interestingly has a small part in Leaving Las Vegas) is the daughter of Jayne Mansfield.

She was actually in the car on the night of the accident, which decapitated her mother.

Update

12th July 2009 admin Uncategorised Leave a comment

Firstly, profound apologies for not updating the website for a while, I have just had loads of things going on. I’m still seeking employment, and I have a 3rd interview on Tuesday for a fantastic job. It isn’t exaggerating to say, that if I get that job, it will quite literally change my life (so no pressure!).

Ive been switching on my old mobile (the one I use for travelling) and Ive noticed that a few of you, have been sending texts to my old number. As most of you know, I know use an IPhone, and my number has changed.

If the number you are using does not end 320, drop me a line, and Ill give you the new one.

In terms of the website, I know that some of the sections under About, need completing and I haven’t setup old johnsunter with the original site yet. Myself, and that son of toil Henrik, are working desperately to fix this as you read.

Congratulations to Mark. Wasn’t able to join him on his stag do, due to a minor venue conflict, but everyone here at johnsunter.com wish to congratulate him on his impending/already completed wedding. Life as a married man, will require a level of financial stability, so may we provide a shameless piece of biased advertising.

If you need the services of a photographer, have a look here I can highly recommend him.

Sometimes its the simple things in life that bring you pleasure. In Tesco, I used to shop for my packed lunches, and noticed some Tesco own brand chocolate wafers (a sort of rip off Kitkat). The thing that was interesting, is that they were available in a mint chocolate flavour, which the “real” Kitkats arent.

They were dirt cheap, tasted delicious, and you can imagine my disappointment, when they stopped selling them several months ago.

“Insiders” at Tesco (my friends who work there, and cant be named due to draconian hr rules and blogging) tipped me the nod the other day, that they are back on the shelves. Although Im trying to lose weight, I ate an entire packet, in one sitting.

On the technology front, Ive been keeping myself busy at home.

Finaly built my VM Ware server. Some of the stuff you can do on it is amazing, and its all the more spectacular for the fact that it runs on my home computer.

Learning a product called Appsense. Its amazing, it enables virtual desktop and hybrid networks to run worldwide roving profiles, in near realtime.

Finaly, a hilarious story about my Auntie Marjorie.

Most people know of the tragic events of Manchester United and the Munich air disaster. There are streets named after the fallen players all over the city.

On the approach to the City of Manchester stadium (the stadium built to house the commonwealth games, which later became the home of Manchester City) there is a road called Alan Turing way (the road was there, 6 years before the stadium was built).

My Auntie believed that it was named after one of the United players (a strange choice at any rate, United players, on the approach to City’s ground !).

In reality, Alan Turing had nothing to do with football, he was the famous wartime code breaker, and johsunter.com is dedicated to his memory.

Well, I’ll get going now, but near and far have fun and never stop searching for adventure…

Two IPhone Apps, influenced by books.

10th July 2009 admin Uncategorised Leave a comment

This week, I thought I would mention 2 apps, which I use every day.

The link, is that they are both inspired/influenced in some way by books.

In the case of Appigo Todo, it was actually designed around the principles from David Allens book Get Things done.

With Ixpenseit (featured in the apple advertisements) the link is more tenuous. I have long been a fan of Alvin Halls books. In various ways, they talk about recording expenditure. To my knowledge, Alvin had no part in the design of this program, but if you’ve ever used it, it feels like he did !.

Appigo – Todo.

Todo, was specifically designed around the principles of GTD. If you really want to know how it works, you should go out and buy the book, but a rough idea is that you capture things in a dependable place, and then organise them in a way so that they can be applied and carried out appropriately.

For example, if your in your house and realise the battery’s in a torch have run down, life has the weird irony, that results in:

A, the torch battery’s will be on your mind on the way to work, while your eating your dinner, while your talking on the phone, therefor partially distracting you, and adding in its own small way to your stress factor.

B, when you are in the supermarket, passing the battery’s, it will never occur to you to purchase replacements, and the cycle will continue.

Personally, Ive always subscribed to the big list/small list idea. I have a mind map for the year, with major concepts and projects on it, and I have a small to do list, with next actions for each of this. If you don’t do it that way, you end up with a massive to do list, which has visit and Cayman Islands, next to buy some milk !.

Whatever system you choose (and you should give significant thought to which one) its still brilliant to be able to jot down an idea, just as it occurs to you. At the very least, it relieves stress, and it always amazes me, after a night out, or a long train/plane journey, just how many good ideas I’ve had.

It also synchs with a website called Toodlodo , so not only is it backed up in realtime, but you can work on your list/lists in full screen, when your at home.

How can you put a price on a good Idea.

FYI Mobileware – IXpensit.

In his books, Alvin talks at length about high level financial strategy, but also practical points about day to day expenditure. One example, is cashpoints and magazines.

Imagine you see a magazine you like. You don’t have any cash, so you nip to the cashpoint, withdraw a tenner and buy the magazine. The 2 key points here are A, you just paid the maximum possible amount for that magazine and B, the change from the transaction is unlikely to go back into the bank, and will probably be fettered away on something.

A better strategy would be too get a subscription for the magazine, knocking at least 40% off its cost, and “saving” the £6.50 that would have bought cream cakes etc.

The best way to do this off course, is to record all of your petty cash transactions (this isn’t half as tedious as it sounds) and then look for patterns and places where money can be saved with minimal “damage” to your personal life.

This program is brilliant, as it allows you to do that, but can also plot graphs of where your money is going, what you spent the money on (its only when you evaluate it, you find out just how much you spend on say bottled water). The daily budget feature is especially useful.

It is also able to email a spreadsheet, of all the transactions which makes detailed analysis really easy.

If you’ve got an IPhone, get the apps, and record all your petty cash transactions for 3 weeks. I promise, the results will be startling (and even if they aren’t, you will know who owes you money 🙂

Fathers Day.

21st June 2009 admin Uncategorised 1 Comment

Fathers day, has always been a bit of a non event for me. I don’t have any children, and my father died when I was 13. It was typified by this window scene at the Rohan shop, showing some sort of “Dad” opening his presents.

The worrying thing was, I own all the clothes that the dummy is wearing, and it took me one step closer to the belief that I am becoming my own father (the first clue, was the size of my sideburns).

Well, this year was different. An old friend from From years ago (Mathew Bridges, we worked together at Corning) invited me over for Sunday dinner, with his 2 lovely daughters.

Food was excellent, company interesting and informative (even his 5 year old daughter had something to bring to the conversation).

His older daughter was charming, and once again severely threatened my long held belief that “young person” is another way of saying “idiot”. She definitely wasn’t.

Its been just about the best Fathers day, that I can remember, and I would like to say thanks to Matt and his family, for inviting me.

Norfolk Broads at 21

17th June 2009 admin Uncategorised Leave a comment

Its been a while since I updated johnsunter.com

Ive been catching up on a series called Jericho. Unfortunately, the series was cancelled after season 2, but its pretty ace, so if you get a chance, have a look.

Well, an old friend from years ago, got back in touch recently, and sent me scans of these photos from a barge trip many year ago.

We went on a few other adventures, including a camping trip to Llanberis and a rented cottage in Llanwrust. Still, our most ambitious adventure, was the barge trip, you can see some pictures bellow.

Its a while ago now, and I cant remember that much about it, so the naration may be limited.

One of the great things about my youth, was that cider was less than a pound a pint. Another great thing about travelling on a barge, is that each evening you stay over in a different destination, so its like several holidays in one.

On the left, is my brother David, next to him is the illustrious “Mac” in the center of the picture, is Frank (more about him later) next a girl called Janeen, who Caz picked up from somewhere (Caz is taking this picture) then Me, then Lee.

The barge actually had a maximum number of occupants, but we were young then, so we just chose to ignore it.

We had friends sleeping in the kitchen, on the sofa in the main cabin, and just about everywhere else.

The actual boat from the trip. Traditional longboats might look more romantic, but they are more expensive, slower and an absolute bugger to turn around !.

As we travel across Bradon water, you can see that it was a very choppy section of open water.

At one point, smoke billowed from the engine and it appeared that we might be in distress. As it was, we were okay, we simply poured a can of coke over the engine, and everything seemed to be alright

The engine was probably scrapped later, but we weren’t around for that.

Showing just how small and pokie the rooms were. The jumper I was wearing was a Jo Brown sweatshirt.

Lee had seen me admire it in Wales, and bought one by post for my birthday. Even when we were young and skint, we were always kind.

This is a one off picture of the cottage we stayed in at Llanwrust. I only stayed for the weekend, as it was New Year, and I was starting a new job.

I remember around the town square, we got a bit drunk, and actualy offered some Police Officers a fiver to take us back to our cottage (it was about 2 miles out of town) they said that ordinarily, they would, there were just too many people about.

I believe later in the week, Caz got drunk, fell down the stairs and ended up coughing blood, but he was okay in the end.

Back to the barge trip, we had moored up for a pub lunch, and since we were only just finding out feet with the controls, ended up driving away and Lee had to run and catch us up, after unhooking the boat.

The first of the main adventures on the trip, when Frank drove the boat away, without uncoupling, and damaged the boat (a piece was ripped off, I was sat in the barge at the time, and I felt the boat “stretch” 3 feet).

Later, the excellent Janeen, dropped a kitchen knife in the water (never to be seen again) while trying to “disgorge” the landing rope from the Jetty.

The 2nd adventure, involved being stopped for speeding. Apparently 7mph is the fastest a boat may go on the Norfolk Broads, as the wash from the boat damages the broads.

But we didn’t know that, so after a brief warning, we were stopped and fined more than £100 (at the time, a kings ransom).

I also remember Frank going to negotiate with the River Policeman, wearing Union Jack boxer shorts. Not surprisingly, his plea for clemency fell on deaf ears !.

A brilliant trip, and a defining moment in my life. Thanks to all of you that came.

I have some of my own pictures from the original barge trip here.

Tesco Cycling, and the collapse of British Humor.

17th June 2009 admin Uncategorised 2 Comments

I write the article below, a couple of weeks ago. Since then, Ive seen this article on BBC News. Some people really have no sense of humour at all !.

Over the last few weeks, we have seen corruption, deceit and abuse of privilege. People getting away with things, for which the man in the street, would probably be arrested.

To quote Blackadder: “Disease and deprivation stalk our land like two giant stalking things”.

Action needs to be taken now !

1. Call as many friends as you know, get some bicycles and get over to Tesco.

2. Enjoy your right to cycle around at dangerous speeds, while giving scant regard to safety or the control of your bicycle around young children.

If someone like Duffy (the new female Tom Jones) can do it in a Coca Cola promotion, everyone should be allowed too (even if they aren’t making a “tick all the demographic boxes” advert).

When I tried, they wouldn’t let me, there is nothing personal in this whatsoever.

Oh, sorry, did you think I was talking about the MP’s expenses scandal ?. That’s a bit outside of my scope.

Credit Crunch Lunch – updated.

9th June 2009 admin Uncategorised Leave a comment

I’ve had quite a bit of free time lately. Loads of places in Chester are offering exceptionally good deals on pub lunches. I’ve tried a few of them, and decided to do a bit of a review. Have a look bellow and tell me what you think.

Since a originally wrote this “article”, a couple of things have changed, so I have revised it.

	The Temple Bar
	About the pub:Temple has really picked up lately, after being a bit of a dive, a few years ago. I go in there regularly, they sell the excellent Amstel lager that I like for £2 a pint. I had: Fish, Chips and Mushy Pea’s It was:Mushy pease, were very runny. Fish was nice, but a bit soggy, I normally prefer it a bit crisper. Plenty of chips. It Cost: £8 (You actually get 2 meals for £8) Conclusion:Food was okay, but not particularly outstanding. Was pretty upset that they didn’t mention I could have an extra meal included in the price. Will probably just stick to the cheap Amstel.
	Food Quality: **	Value for money: *
	The Frog and Nightingale
	About the pub: Okay, so its my local and I’m slightly biased, but that said, it has 2 excellent chefs and all the food is purchased locally and fresh. It now only has 1 chef, as Jo has left. The ace Nathan is standing in though !. I had: 2 course lunch. I had pate to start, and Chile as a main. It was: The pate was excellent, and as good as the stuff I’ve eaten at the Grosvenor hotel. Chile was delicious with nacho’s and rice, although I would have liked a little more.It Cost: £5 Conclusion: This is isn’t so much a pub, as a restaurant that has a bar. What I ate was some of the best food in Chester, for £5.
	Food Quality: *****	Value for money: ***
	The Custom House
	About the pub: One of my favourite drinking haunts, down towards the racecourse. They employ a lot of students, which can sometimes mean waiting a while to get served. In every other way its an amazing pub. I had: Fish, Chips and Mushy peas. It was: The best fish and chips I think I’ve eaten in some years. It Cost: £4.75 Conclusion: Food was fantastic, but its still a single course meal and a pint north of £7.50, and were attempting to find good food for pocket money, which this isn’t.
	Food Quality: ****	Value for money: **
	The Boat House
	About the pub: Lovely pub, down by the river. On a sunny day, it looks like the Mongol hoards have descended on it. They’ve obviously had a re-organisation, as the landlord appears to run a tight ship now. I had: Steak Pie with Gravy and Chips. Comes with an inclusive drink, I chose Fosters. It was: A delicious full sized pie (not like one from the chippy, which I was expecting) plenty of thick gravy and loads of chips. Fosters was sharp crisp and clear. It Cost: £5 Conclusion: I thought for a moment, they would do the old trick, of serving me the drink, then hanging around with the food and only putting it out, when I ordered a 2nd drink. They did nothing of the kind, the food was on the table in 20 minutes and I was asked on 2 occasions if the food was okay etc. It just doesn’t get any better than this !. Since then, the pub has been taken over. You can still get a nice pie and chips (although you now have to suffer a pint of Carlsberg, which I find “Gassy”) the problem is, it costs £10.70 !!!.
	Food Quality: ****	Value for money: **
	The Red Lion
	About the pub: One of the busiest and most popular pubs in Chester. Not one I go in often, but a friendly pub, with a good mix of regulars and not so regulars. They do pints of Fosters for £1.79 a pint and various spectacularly cheap food deals. I had: The Thursday curry and a pint for £5 (they do 5 different sorts of curry. It was: A clear fresh pint, and the curry was tasty, if a little small. It Cost: £5. Conclusion:The Shere Khan, aren’t going to put their restaurant up for sale just yet, but the Red Lion Curry was quite nice.
	Food Quality: ***	Value for money: *****
	Burger King (obviously)
	About the pub: Its not a pub, but it was spotlessly clean and the staff were friendly and helpful. They advertise a £2 deal, and in the advert they say “you’ll feel like you robbed us !”. I had: burger, medium fries and a coke. It was: Very tasty, but not really wholesome, if you know what I mean. It Cost: £2. Conclusion: Okay, not particularly healthy, but as an occasional treat, what can you say, it was 2 quid !.
	Food Quality: ***	Value for money: ****

And the winner is ?: Nobody is going to go in a pub and order lunch, without having a drink as well. Considering this, it would be the boat house, as its a delicious meal without compromise and a drink included for a fiver.

Well, as we’ve seen above, the Boathouse no longer do the £5 deal. The principle of a not buying a meal, without a drink still stands, and on that basis it would have to be the Red Lion (they do food and a drink all week, for £5, I just wanted to try the Thursday Curry, and it didn’t disappoint).

In other categories, I would say:

The best value lunchtime snack: Burger King

The best quality pub food at a fair price: The Frog and Nightingale

The best “pub” fish and chips in Chester: The Custom House

On the subject of food. If you have a moment, visit hungersite. All you have to do, is visit the site and click on some links, and you will feed someone in the developing world for nothing.

Update – what have I been doing with myself lately.

4th June 2009 admin Uncategorised Leave a comment

Well, just a few words to say thanks to all of you, who keep coming back to visit this website.

The weather has been fantastic this week. On Monday, I went up to Manchester, and spent the day with my old friend Lee Sawbridge. It was really cool, just hanging out in Manchester (although I did intend to move back to Manchester and start a new life there, I changed my mind. Its still a fantastic place to visit though).

A guy I met in Morocco last year, kept chatting about Manchester (that’s one of the things that persuaded me to try a move “home”). As it was, I realised that my home’s in Chester now, and life’s moved on, but I couldn’t resist popping over to his bar just to see what it was like and it really was fantastic.

The India crew (they arent actualy from India, but I met them there) are organizing a trip to Berlin in October. Ive been there before (Berlin 1, Berlin 2) but they are such good company, Ive decided to go back (and at least it means I will be going somewhere overseas this year, I dont think I could stand a whole year stuck at home).

I’m still looking for work, so if anyone is looking for a spectacularly gifted engineer, with stunning communication skills (and modesty) give me a shout. In the meantime, I continue to “work” on finding a job, each morning and write 3 page letters to the benefit office, explaining why they should give me a little of my own money back, now that I’m not working.

On a more humorous note, I have registered with the NHS job website. I set it to send me details of every job, that contains the word “IT”. What I didn’t realise, was that every job contains the phrase “Must have a comprehensive knowledge of IT”. So far, Ive been offered jobs as a midwife, an accountant and even a diversity trainer.

Things at home are okay, Jude and Nathan went away for the weekend camping, and asked me to look after the cats. Amazingly, I didn’t starve or over feed them, and they were both fine, when their owners returned home.

A friend I haven’t seen for ages, and used to be a regular in the Northgate Arms, along with the rest of us, has recently appeared on the social scene. Amelia, went back to Spain for 2 years, and has just returned to the UK.

We went out for a couple of drinks last night, along with another old friend from Corning, Matt Bridges.

My mate Dan, just got a new job, so I haven’t seen much of him lately. Its said that in life, as one door closes, another one opens. Seems like my doors keep closing and his keep opening 🙂

Im in the process of re-writting my credit crunch lunch article, as I couple of things have changed since I originaly did it.