tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-164669522024-03-08T03:31:48.612+01:00Nick101I need to come up with a half-way decent subtitle here but can't think of anythingUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger273125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16466952.post-81018201014633561692007-05-05T12:43:00.000+01:002007-05-05T12:47:36.066+01:00Paris goes to jailIs it just me who thinks that <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6624223.stm">Paris Hilton going to jail</a> is one of the funniest things to happen this year. I really think they should make a fly on the wall documentary about. Like The Simple Life on acid.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16466952.post-38935003230138460732007-04-26T18:59:00.000+01:002007-04-26T19:02:35.138+01:00PolishSee, <a href="http://www.freakonomics.com/blog/2007/04/24/what-is-it-about-polish-people-and-lines/">its not just me that thinks Polish people are rude</a>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16466952.post-847505379436513102007-04-23T18:25:00.000+01:002007-04-23T18:29:23.812+01:00Holiday photos (finally)Right, <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetpants/sets/72157600083308196/detail/">photos of our trip to the Pacific coast are now on Flickr</a>. These are mainly the choice cut and around half of the ones we actually took. In the process of labeling them...<br /><br />Meanwhile you can now also see our <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetpants/sets/72157600107609181/detail/">weekend camping in the New Forest</a>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16466952.post-112105446424479712007-04-11T18:56:00.001+01:002007-04-11T18:58:54.748+01:00New job (again)Now clearly my last post was far more important however I have a new job. Start it on the last day of this month. Woop. I would tell you who it was with and where but I don't want it to be google-able. However suffice to say it is closer to home in fluffy Berkshire, I get to drive to work and it pays more money.<br /><br />No more shitty present employer or commuting into the skanky hole where my present employer is based on slow and horrendously expensive trains in cattle truck conditions.<br /><br />Oh, and also I promise our holiday photos, all 900 hundred of them, will be on Claire's Flickr soon and selected highlights will be here.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16466952.post-64913220162085662872007-04-05T17:34:00.001+01:002007-04-05T17:34:04.096+01:00Act of ultimate hardness<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IfRb-sWuDk">New Die Hard trailer</a>. Yeah.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16466952.post-42651395485442963022007-03-27T14:30:00.000+01:002007-03-27T14:31:01.308+01:00Jet fogI got up this morning at about 8am in San Francisco. Had coffee and breakfast and then walked to the San Francisco cable car museum which we looked around until around 11:30am. Then we picked our bags up from our hotel and went via taxi and train to San Francisco airport and boarded the 4:30pm flight to Heathrow. I had dinner and a glass of wine and watched a few movies and was about to go to sleep when they switched the lights on in the plane and gave me breakfast.<br /><br />The plane arrived, supposedly, at 10:30am. We then caught the train back to my flat and dosed for a while. Claire is still asleep.<br /><br />Meanwhile, the weather in the UK is better than the weather we left in California, the clocks have supposedly changed, my clock on California time tells me it is 6:20am, my mobile phone (which I left off and in the UK) tells me it is 8:05am, my computer tells me it is 2:20pm, my bedside alarm says it is 12:40pm and my video clock says it is 1:20pm. My brain says it is night time, the rest of my body says it is day time and at the moment I am totally befuddled as to what is going on.<br /><br />Anyhow, my present confusion as to what time it is and what I am supposed to be doing aside, I/we had an excellent holiday which included traversing gorges, catching ferries and having 'eat as much as you like' sushi for $20 (£10) in Vancouver, skiing and apres ski in Whistler and cycling across the Golden Gate Bridge and visiting Alcatraz in San Francisco.<br /><br />No doubt more details and maybe some pictures to follow. In the meantime I am going to go work out whether to have lunch or breakfast or sleep or something else in between.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16466952.post-75913348777006967392007-03-08T20:46:00.000+01:002007-03-08T21:46:10.209+01:00My first skiing accidentSo last night I had my final ski lesson before we go away on holiday which happens to include a long weekend skiing in Whistler.<br /><br />During this (otherwise pretty good) ski lesson, I happened to take a tumble and jabbed my thumb in the process. Don't ask me quite how, I don't exactly know. Anyhow, for the lesson, I ignored and really didn't notice it. It was only when it got in that I noticed it was a bit swollen. Nothing major.<br /><br />Anyhow, Claire packed it in ice, bandaged me up so it didn't swell and I went to bed.<br /><br />The following morning it looked the same as the previous night. Still a bit sore so I (we) bandaged it up again and I went to work. It was only by lunch time when it had started to swell that things started to become an issue. It started to throb, and kept on swelling. Following intervention by the first aid lady my workmates basically instructed me to go to hospital to get it checked out. So I went, relunctantly, becuase I still have loads to do before my last day tomorrow.<br /><br />Anyhow, trying to work out the most rapid way of sorting this out I went to the NHS 'drop in' centre in Wembley, just 30 minutes down the road from work. This was a little hard to find but find it I did. Ten minutes later I was in with the GP. He was instantly concerned and said I had to have X-ray. However, there were no X-ray facilities on-site and I had to go to Northwick Park Hospital.<br /><br />Ok, now this was a mission. With mobile assistance from Claire (and no help from the drop in centre staff) and a few wrong turns and one dodgy bus journey later I was at Northwick Park Hospital. And omg, what a class 1 shit hole it was. Spalling concrete, wailing mothers, large expanses of worn lino flooring and the smell of a badly run tower block.<br /><br />So I find the X-ray department in this turd hole filled with hoardes of people who looked liked they'd been queueing there for days. Anyway, after queueing for five minutes I get to the front of the queue and the work shy wench on the reception takes a brief look at my referal card and, in summary, told me she had never heard of the place I had been referred from and in any case it wasn't valid as the GP hadn't signed it. 'You have to go to a&e here first' (great! a&e in this shit hole). Meanwhile my thumb is throbbing more. It is now three hours since I left work.<br /><br />At this point I was a bit fed up with proceedings so decided to ditch the whole lot and start again at a half way decent hospital. So it was back on the bus, then tube, then another bus. Picked up my car from Claire's and went to Hillingdon Hospital, which I arrived at at 4, where I was X-rayed and diagnosed quickly. Thankfuly only a severe bruise, no break or fracture. Finally out at 5:30. If only I had just gone with my gut intinct and by-passed the London hospitals in the first instance.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16466952.post-2792967685414954142007-03-02T19:25:00.000+01:002007-03-02T20:25:44.494+01:00Colds, skis and travelsI notice I haven’t done a post in a little while. Erm, so here is one.<br /><br />At the moment I am busting with excitement as in just a little over a week we will be in Vancouver. However, to temper my enthusiasm I am presently suffering from a bizarre cold which has been afflicting me for the past few weeks. It started with a sore throat, moved on to block my ears and now appears to be on my nose with a case of the sniffles. Its odd though because I generally don’t get colds like this. Personally I blame having to board a <a href="http://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/">skanky and overcrowded train</a> every day and work in unreasonably air conditioned office and enjoy the delights of dozen times recycled air.<br /><br />Anyhow, last weekend we had a short break in Cornwall (photos on <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetpants/">Claire’s flickr</a>) which was very pleasant and relaxing. We can recommend the <a href="http://www.chycor.co.uk/hotels/port-gaverne/">Port Gaverne Hotel</a> (or, well the self catering cottages annexed to it to be precise) very highly.<br /><br />Highlights include missing the last ferry from Padstow to Rock and them kindly laying on a special service just for us and our ‘gentle walk’ along the coastal path between Port Isaac and Port Quin turning into a near marathon due to the massive descents and climbs along the coastal path which clings tightly to the seriously undulating cliff face and extreme weather conditions in the form of a proper North Atlantic wind. However a (rather late) lunch of ham, egg and mash for me (because they had run out of chips) and freshly caught fish pie (obviously the fish being the caught bit) for Claire ameliorated the mild exhaustion.<br /><br />In other news I can now ski, albeit only in a straight line as I have ‘issues’ with corners. I have one more lesson to do before I end up going down a mountain proper so hopefully can get this resolved by then otherwise I am going to have to hope for one very straight mountain in Whistler.<br /><br />That’s about it I think.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16466952.post-4277556933980234822007-02-14T19:07:00.000+01:002007-02-14T20:15:23.864+01:00SkiingI am learning to ski. Starting next Monday at Bracknell dry ski slope. It would have been nice to learn on snow in the Milton Keynes XScape however that is over an hour away whereas Bracknell dry ski slope is fifteen minutes down the road from my flat (and cheaper I might add).<br /><br />This is prompted by our trip to <a href="http://nick101.blogspot.com/2006/12/more-adventures-across-pond.html">Vancouver and San Francisco</a> next month where we are going up to stay in <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=whistler,+british+columbia&ie=UTF8&z=10&ll=50.064192,-122.893066&spn=0.513943,1.955566&om=1">Whistler</a> over the weekend and going skiing (or snowboarding if your name is Claire).<br /><br />I am not sure at the moment whether to be excited about scooting down a mountain or terrified of falling off a mountain.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16466952.post-43918008051333626402007-02-06T19:20:00.000+01:002007-02-06T20:24:31.628+01:00NauruI stumbled across <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nauru">The Republic of Nauru</a> a few days ago. The fourth smallest country in the world and comprised of one, almost wholly strip-mined, tiny Pacific island and populated by 13,000 obese, yet incredibly poor, people. I thought it was an elaborate but fictional Wikipedia article to start off with but it turns out it is a real place. The history of the place sounds like the plot of a bad movie. Bizarre. The Lonely Planet (bearing in mind this is a pro-travel website) <a href="http://www.lonelyplanet.com/worldguide/destinations/pacific/nauru">synopsis is brilliant</a>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16466952.post-79071978299254525532007-02-05T00:14:00.000+01:002007-02-05T01:14:59.711+01:00Blue MenOn Friday I went to see the <a href="http://www.blueman.com/">Blue Man Group </a>in action with a bunch of Claire's girlie friends and their other halves (and Claire too). I had no idea what to expect as I couldn't find much detail on what these 'Blue Men' actually did.<br /><br />However, I am pleased to say that the aforementioned 'Blue Men' were very entertaining and well worth going to see.<br /><br />I would tell you what it was all about however that would spoil it if you haven't seen them (but I will say about the bit where one of Claire's friend's boyfriends was plucked out of the audience, stuck in a boiler suit, turned upside down, hurled aginat a wall and turned into a work of art which was particulary amusing).<br /><br />What made the whole thing work was that you didn't know what they were going to do next. Go see.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16466952.post-21550254799389494732007-01-30T20:15:00.000+01:002007-01-30T21:13:25.424+01:00How much First Great Western Rail suck IISo, if you didn't guess from <a href="http://nick101.blogspot.com/2006/12/how-much-first-great-western-rail-suck.html">this post</a>, I think First Great Western Rail are a bunch of fucking idiots.<br /><br />To this end I sent them a letter telling them quite what I thought of them. And guess what happended. The other day, I received a letter from them.<br /><br />Guess what it was? A response to my complaint? Haha, yes that would be rather good wouldn't it.<br /><br />No, I get junk mail... marketing info. 'Would you like to have a weekend away in Oxford for the paltry price of 84766746767676780903670984 bejillion pounds?'<br /><br />Well no actualy, I spend enough time on your shitty trains during the week, the last thing I want to do is dignify you with my presence at the weekend.<br /><br />Tossers. Seriously, are they running a train company or a steaming juggernaut of badly planned and late running shitty PR?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16466952.post-33790221650068337232007-01-14T22:23:00.000+01:002007-01-14T23:23:51.228+01:00Skipping the Country IIThey always say the beauty is in the detail however when it comes to working out moving abroad, the detail is not at all beautiful and is actually verging on the mildly overwhelming.<br /><br />Getting to Australia and finding somewhere to live is the easy bit. I could do that in a weekend. The hard bit is finding a job out there and getting a visa to be there and having a job in the first place to support myself. At the moment I have three options…<br /><br />The first option would be the best but is rather plagued by ‘technical details’ imposed by the Australian High Commission. This is the basic semi-permanent independent work visa which has no majorly restrictive conditions and allows you to stay and work in Australia for up to four years. However, to qualify for this you have to reach a certain number of points; specifically 120. I have 105. Their requirements are very high and short of being an experienced Doctor, or having a large amount of cash to invest in the Country (which I don’t) you don’t get to qualify.<br /><br />The second option is the most preferable however involves a lot more ‘up front’ work and effort. This option involves me getting a job in Australia, whilst still in the UK, and securing a visa on the basis of that. Due to a shortage of planners in Australia, as in the UK, I am told that with my experience there is a reasonable chance of this. However, securing an actual job first appears to be an uphill battle. For a start I am not in Australia and am therefore unlikely to be the prime target of any Australian firms recruitment campaigns. Added to this I have no Australian planning experience (obviously) and at present, little more than a fleeting knowledge of the Australian planning system. This is a difficult route to proceed along.<br /><br />The final option is, as I like to call it, ‘the seat of your pants option.’ This involves travelling on a working holiday visa. This allows me to stay and work in Australia for a period of one year subject to some rather irritating conditions. The first is that I cannot work for any Australian employer for more than three months (or maybe six months… I am still confused by conflicting advice on this). This therefore puts me in the ‘temp’ planner working bracket and means that, in essence, I will have to go out speculatively and find a temp job there, hopefully as a planner. There are some opportunities to get a temp job before I go but judging by the temping market this will be literally only weeks in advance, if that.<br /><br />This option has the advantage of being able to extend the ‘working holiday’ visa by a further year, but in order to qualify I would have to do three months of my first year doing ‘regional work,’ ie. sheep shearing or fruit picking etc. in order to qualify. And to be blunt, I am somewhat unconvinced that I want to do that and how that would actually look on my CV. The difficulty is that this visa wasn’t really designed for me; I am looking at picking up my career and planting it again in a different country for a little while, not go on holiday.<br /><br />At present I have not picked a route, however I have made at least one contact that I think can address some of these issues. I am not expecting this to be any easy journey by any stretch of the imagination however, fingers crossed something will work itself out, this is all early stages after all.<br /><br />Then again, I could just try and find myself a nice Australian girl to marry, not too sure what Claire might say about that mind.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16466952.post-32960842525297552512007-01-10T19:42:00.000+01:002007-01-10T20:58:35.333+01:00Skipping the countrySo <a href="http://bongoandkate.blogspot.com/2006/12/japan.html">Bng is/was thinking about Japan</a>. I am also thinking about moving to a different country for a while. Australia to be precise. I am still investigating <a href="http://www.planning.org.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&amp;id=171&Itemid=267">jobs</a>, <a href="http://www.australia.org.uk/lhlh/Visas%5fand%5fMigration.html">visas</a> and <a href="http://www.apartmentsplus.com.au/">accommodation</a> however I can’t find any decent reason not to go. The draft plan at the moment is to move out to Australia at some point between the end of the UK summer and Christmas so we get two summers. Thinking <a href="http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=sydney,+australia&ie=UTF8&z=14&ll=-33.869988,151.209984&spn=0.040693,0.122223&t=k&om=1">Sydney</a>/<a href="http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=sydney,+australia&ie=UTF8&z=14&ll=-33.869988,151.209984&spn=0.040693,0.122223&t=k&om=1">Melbourne</a> area or maybe Brisbane for the weather, try to get me a job before we go and get a working visa otherwise we will (hopefully) find temp planner jobs out there on a working holiday visa. This may then be followed by a similar arrangement in New Zealand (where, fyi, they are lot more amenable to letting you stay permanently than Australia). This is, of course, early stages so ‘the plan’ may be subject to variation/amendment.<br /><br />To say I am amazingly excited about this is an understatement. My Mum however, not so much.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16466952.post-47417132578453467922007-01-02T23:05:00.000+01:002007-01-03T00:27:55.958+01:00New yearWell, I don’t know about anybody else but the past few new years I have had have always been a little bit disappointing and a non-event. Usually festivities have involved a house party of some description and much booze and the final midnight countdown and post midnight celebrations have always been a little, well, vanilla. Don’t get me wrong mind, for those of you that have been there, it has been good catching up with people and seeing friends etc. but the big event was never as ‘big’ as I was generally hoping for.<br /><br />So, this new year <strike>I</strike> we did something a bit different. But I will come to that shortly…<br /><br />My brother was moving house on new years eve, from Reading to St Albans. And I was helping out. Everything was proceeding fine before our merry jaunt down the M4 ground to a very sudden and complete halt. At which point our little convoy of a van and two cars finds out via the radio that the motorway has been shut, with us on it, due to a large accident and according to the radio; ‘nothing moving very soon’ which left everyone a little despondent to say the least.<br /><br />This was made doubly irritating by us being at the very back of the queue, literally there were four cars behind us and then the motorway was closed and nothing further was coming. If we had been moments later onto the motorway we would have missed the whole thing. So we sit, and wait, and wait. Meanwhile Nick sees new years eve turning into an evening on the M4.<br /><br />However, a police car turned up and sat at the back of traffic. Initialy I thought this was to ensure no law breaking jaunts by rogue elements taking a backwards trip along the hard shoulder (or the whole motorway to be honest because nothing was coming). However as it transpired after a short wait the police car got cars to do a U-turn and escorted us back the wrong way up the (non-functioning) motorway and off the wrong way off the entry ramp at Slough Central. And of course, as we were at the back of the queue, we were first off and sneaked past all the traffic queuing off the motorway onto local roads. So pleased with that and thank you to Thames Valley Police.<br /><br />Anyway, moving of brother was sorted, albeit a little later than planned and involving a collision of van with car, oops, nothing too serious mind.<br /><br />So back to Maidenhead in time to meet Claire where we were staging our evening in, avoiding chaos in town and on transport, with a nice meal and cocktails.<br /><br />At midnight a bottle of champagne was popped from the balcony to the tune of multiple fireworks going off across the town which we had a fantastic view of.<br /><br />And, do you know what, going back to the reason I started this post, it was one of the best new years I can remember, at least since that year with the three zeros.<br /><br />Here’s hoping everyone else had a good new year too and wishing you the best for the year to come, it, for me at least should be an interesting one… (maybe more details on that as events transpire).Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16466952.post-24246862570079543662006-12-22T23:03:00.000+01:002006-12-23T00:27:06.690+01:00The Christmas postDespite…<br /><br />1. My general opinion on Christmas being an overly commercialised circus of hype.<br />2. London shops being rammed full with people making any kind of purchase a nightmare.<br />3. Mass transportation demand chaos causing huge disruption and inconvenience<br />4. The weird fog epidemic presently plaguing London and the south east (at least, if not further).<br />5. My hour and a bit long train ride from Ealing this evening because a set of doors on the train decided to open for no apparent reason whilst the train was cruising along at about 60mph (seriously I am not kidding) (having a train jump to an emergency stop is one thing I hope never have to repeat) and the resultant damage control exercise.<br />6. Claire still being away snowboarding.<br /><br />... I am feeling surprisingly festive with a selection of now nicely wrapped gifts sitting in front of my non-existent Christmas tree.<br /><br />Have a good Christmas people.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16466952.post-43442191337562692842006-12-19T22:32:00.000+01:002006-12-19T23:35:14.746+01:00U864<a href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2511387,00.html">Interesting article</a> (I thought) about a toxic WW2 submarine in the North Sea only recently discovered (<a href="http://digg.com/">via</a>).Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16466952.post-86932278171687709502006-12-18T22:31:00.000+01:002006-12-18T23:39:28.261+01:00How much First Great Western Rail suckTo First Great Western Rail, may I just say that I have been forced into using your trains for just over six months now and must say I have generally been nothing short of being thoroughly underwhelmed by your service. However your recent timetable rearrangements are nothing short of bizarre, inconvenient and devastatingly dumb.<br /><br />You are not allowed to announce with great pride that your new timetable provides a greater number of services. Your new timetable only provides a greater number of services because you have decided to stop them at every fucking station along the way. And because you have ancient relic piece of shit trains that accelerate and brake about as speedily as an asthmatic snail; this means that the journey into London now takes even longer than it did with your previously (slightly less) appalling service.<br /><br />Add to this that you now appear to have made all the trains even smaller so they are even more crowded and everyone is forced to smell even more of their neighbours stinky armpits than before. Seriously, at what point did you think that any mainline service between London and Reading was going to comfortably accommodate everyone from all the stations you now kindly stop at when it only has two carriages?<br /><br />This is of course assuming that the train fucking works. Lest I not go into detail about how you imprisoned myself and an array of other hapless passengers on one of your delightfully shit trains when it decided to break down half way between Maidenhead and Taplow and you left us stranded in the middle of nowhere for three hours with no apology and no compenstaion.<br /><br />And a further thing, on what basis do you consider it acceptable to cancel my train because of 'stock shortages.' I presume this means you ran out of trains? Seriously how can you fucking run out of trains? What did you tuck it up in the shed last night and get there this morning to find it had magically disappeared overnight?<br /><br />And I say tuck it up at night because quite clearly you are no longer operating any kind of late night service. One of the few redeeming virtues of your old timetable was that I could get out of London at 2 o'clock in the morning. Now there's no chance of that, I have to sit on yet another of your slow trains having enjoyed my last drink at midnight.<br /><br />So First Great Western Rail, can you confirm for me whether you are in fact running a train company or are you running a fucking circus. Should I expect the 08:15 to roll in next week being towed by an elephant, or perhaps the 17:36 won't actually be a train, perhaps it will be a baboon, or a chocolate teapot or something else equally pointless.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16466952.post-78511449407069781872006-12-16T13:21:00.000+01:002006-12-16T14:27:07.241+01:00TravelsWell, looking back over the (somewhat thin on the ground) recent posts it seems the blog has turned into more of Nick's travel journal. So as not to depart from this general theme here is my <a href="http://www.travbuddy.com/widget_map_display.php?id=25930">rather fun map of where I have been</a>. <a href="http://www.travbuddy.com/widget_map.php">Create your own</a>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16466952.post-74693059040143043302006-12-15T21:36:00.000+01:002006-12-16T00:57:38.976+01:00More adventures across the pond<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcNtn9Yyd5uedARLurWNm7W3m2h6-7TcEUJk_kSW6ZHAB4yVuGrtL6nbmNbomLtrRexc71oWlQ7oDwrtUWn4bxVXOiRvhvSWWLIqWkWFK3fowO0NJjwKaITMwLFiGeMVwXSmw3/s1600-h/san-francisco.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcNtn9Yyd5uedARLurWNm7W3m2h6-7TcEUJk_kSW6ZHAB4yVuGrtL6nbmNbomLtrRexc71oWlQ7oDwrtUWn4bxVXOiRvhvSWWLIqWkWFK3fowO0NJjwKaITMwLFiGeMVwXSmw3/s200/san-francisco.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5008871230846493634" border="0" /></a>In March we are going for a multi-stop trip to San Francisco and Vancouver. Claire has friends who are on work placement in Vancouver so we are staying there for free for ten days and having done considerable investigation on flights it transpires that it is barely more expensive to fly through San Francisco so we are stopping for five days there too.<br /><br /><br />We are flying out to San Francisco on <a href="http://www.virgin-atlantic.com/en/gb/index.jsp">Virgin</a> (because they were very nice when we flew with them to New York) where we connect to a flight to Vancouver with <a href="http://www.united.com/">United</a>. I know this sounds a bit weird but for quite a lot of flights out (or back) you have to connect somewhere (often random places like Cincinnati or Salt Lake City) and this way we get a cheaper deal than we were quoted from <a href="http://www.flightcentre.co.uk/">Flight Centre</a> by around 250 squids and get nice Virgin Flights rather than having to board <a href="http://www.flyzoom.com/">something crappy and expensive</a> which seem to be the only airlines that fly direct to Vancouver.<br /><br />Haven't booked anywhere to stay in 'cisco yet. Was thinking <a href="http://www.argonauthotel.com/">this place</a> looked rather funky and is highly praised on <a href="http://www.tripadvisor.com/">Trip Advisor</a> however my parents wisdom suggests that Fishermans Wharf is tack central and not the place to stay. We will have to see...<br /><br />It is still three months away but I am already really rather excited, hence why I am telling you all about it.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16466952.post-5573748980105519292006-12-03T16:45:00.000+01:002006-12-04T00:56:37.577+01:00Ten reasons why I would move to New YorkNow it has been about a fortnight since I got back from New York. And I can without doubt say it was one of the best places I have ever been. Here are my ten reasons which I came up with (in no particular order) without even struggling and could easily list more.<br /><br />1. Food. The food in New York is amazing. Not only are the portions huge, they are extremely tasty, not greasy, oily, fatty, re-heated or any other negative things that you seem to have to put up with to some degree at almost any restaurant in the UK unless you pay through the nose. And also the service is excellent and swift and many places stay open all night meaning you literally can get what you want, when you want. And yes you can have breakfast at 3 o’clock in the afternoon, or a Chinese for breakfast. And on top of all that it is extremely cheap, I don’t think we paid much more than $30 (£15) for two meals including drinks and everything the entire time we were there.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-MWOZelvuALAovaTlLgCYsXUDYpE3MJTXxyAyLzPCyWcG1SWOdMSfeu_DT8ju4RC2ajMIOXCESoLdW4qvpWgeHqGsOWwxP_VdsDVjp0bmVM8p4g-gfjZVN23C3Kc-Gq2yfXWr/s1600-h/IMG_0801.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-MWOZelvuALAovaTlLgCYsXUDYpE3MJTXxyAyLzPCyWcG1SWOdMSfeu_DT8ju4RC2ajMIOXCESoLdW4qvpWgeHqGsOWwxP_VdsDVjp0bmVM8p4g-gfjZVN23C3Kc-Gq2yfXWr/s200/IMG_0801.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5004340606259339618" border="0" /></a>2. Central Park. Central Park is stunning. It is without doubt the nicest park I have ever been to. And that is saying a lot because if there is one thing London is good at it is really nice parks. The contrast of Central Park against the tall buildings surrounding it is breathtaking in its own right. However the park in its own right is amazing, beautifully laid out and landscaped and maintained to the absolute highest standard.<br /><br />3. Cost. New York is cheap. Especially at the moment with the high performance of the pound against the dollar. Ok, it costs a little bit to fly out there and stay but once you are there it is totally bargainous.<br /><br />4. The people. New Yorkers are great people, they are polite, accommodating, open minded and generous. Taxi drivers at the airport looking for a fare helped us to our shuttle bus drop off point even when we declined their offer of a taxi, the woman in the shuttle bus gave us hints and tips on good local restaurants and shops on the trip from the airport to the hotel, people chatted to each other on the subway and let people get off the train before trying to get on.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjghAm3L7KbbmoSuoqc1_LqFQiY7VnEBFP1ubDarnnm0Wh5NGOQRzwRi7x_g-BIovQhZc682giLvo2Yg-MvsN0eV3R8vN4Wcv8MwkPzXeazB0sVmDBRNfk2iv7zd0XjDvqB-yKU/s1600-h/IMG_0810.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjghAm3L7KbbmoSuoqc1_LqFQiY7VnEBFP1ubDarnnm0Wh5NGOQRzwRi7x_g-BIovQhZc682giLvo2Yg-MvsN0eV3R8vN4Wcv8MwkPzXeazB0sVmDBRNfk2iv7zd0XjDvqB-yKU/s200/IMG_0810.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5004339863229997394" border="0" /></a>5. The Subway. The New York Subway is brilliant. I can't stand the London Underground because it stops everywhere (going local in NY speak), behaves erratically and you got told nothing about why the train has stopped for no apparent reason in the middle of nowhere for 20 minutes. The New York Subway has express trains which just makes so much sense, they are impeccably clean and run very smoothly and if it ever stops for more than 20 seconds, somebody will be on the PA telling you exactly why they’ve stopped what they doing about it, how sorry they are and that the train will be moving again in about 90 seconds.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilrj3bf4xhh0vJ88NjeLVURkC2liZFDsOxlfjf1tYdbzU4G80W5r09E8XIxjnEpasItUtYqkTt1sUrSQ4bOWeLMGLVk4jD9kqLMEztyA8xcPFWodEPtKxZbZb0VJz_jBdsOloo/s1600-h/IMG_0729.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilrj3bf4xhh0vJ88NjeLVURkC2liZFDsOxlfjf1tYdbzU4G80W5r09E8XIxjnEpasItUtYqkTt1sUrSQ4bOWeLMGLVk4jD9kqLMEztyA8xcPFWodEPtKxZbZb0VJz_jBdsOloo/s200/IMG_0729.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5004339330654052674" border="0" /></a>6. The Staten Island Ferry. One of the most breathtaking views in the world on a very pleasant and amazingly rapid ferry <span style="font-weight: bold;">for free</span>. Seriously, how is that not outstanding?<br /><br /><br /><br />7. Shopping. Question: What would you like to buy? Answer: Its there, whatever it is. Also imagine how little it would cost, then half the price and that’s how much it is.<br /><br />8. Empire State Building. Stunning building which looks good from afar and looks good up close. And the views from the top are far ranging and staggering.<br /><br />9. Street network. New York is a busy place and the streets are busy and crowded with cars. However the traffic isn’t all that bad considering. The Streets and Avenues work like this: All the lights are red on all the junctions, everything along the entire street is stationary and all you can see is a vast nest of red lights. Then bam all the lights go green in one go, all the cars stamp on the gas and everything leaps forward by about 5-10 blocks. Compared to south eastern England’s lurching and arbitrary infrastructure this is extremely satisfying.<br /><br />10. Getting there. It is a seven hour flight from Heathrow Airport. Go on one of those nice Virgin Atlantic flights into JFK and by the time you’ve had your pleasant in flight meal, a few glasses of free wine and played about with the entertainment system you have arrived.<br /><br />Now any one of these reasons is an excuse to go in itself. If you haven’t been book your trip now. Seriously. <a href="http://www.mta.info/">Here</a> <a href="http://www.lastminute.com/">are</a> <a href="http://www.expedia.co.uk/">some</a> <a href="http://www.tripadvisor.com/">links</a> <a href="http://www.lonelyplanet.com/">to</a> <a href="http://www.opodo.com/">help</a> <a href="http://www.onnyturf.com/subway/">you</a>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com218tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16466952.post-18566930739768122772006-11-29T20:53:00.000+01:002006-11-29T20:58:53.838+01:00How del.icio.usNow I got bored with Jason Kottke's self satisfied ramblings months ago however stumbled across this rather amusing piece <a href="http://www.kottke.org/06/11/delicious-will-eat-itself">about del.icio.us eating del.icio.us</a> whilst finding a link to the page <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetpants/302273932/">I linked to here</a>. You probably have to be an internet nerd to appreciate this though.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16466952.post-33183865234963739392006-11-26T23:58:00.000+01:002006-11-27T09:00:14.034+01:00In other news....Right all sorts of little things have been going on that I thought I would have a brief rant about.<br /><br />Firstly, you may have noticed some subtle changes to the appearance of Nick101, such as the loss of the Weather-pixie, the Blogger and Britblog icons and the loss of my nice centrally aligned format to posts. All due to the 'upgrade' Blogger Beta which I am somewhat nonplussed by to be honest (sorry nice people at Blogger (aka Google)). Additionally this has also messed up my Statcounter stats as the the html no longer works and I haven't had the opportunity to fix that yet.<br /><br />Next... over the summer period those nice people at Network Rail appear to have installed a CSR (Cab Secure Radio) telecommunications mast outisde my flat which has only just become apparent due to the autumn loss of tree screening. I am not really bothered about this, and actually am not actually allowed to be bothered about this having ranted to so many people who have mobile phone masts approved by me that are at the end of their gardens that such matters were a non-issue and their children and pets wouldn't die of radioactive death plague. Interesting for me though as it tests my proffessional convictions.<br /><br />This weekend I met Claire's parents for the second time which went very smooothly if I do say so myself. I also (and possibly more challengingly) met her autistic brother for the first time which also seemed to go well. I think fun was had by everyone although I do feel a little socially drained from the whole thing as I have only just recently got home from this little adventure (hence my late night post).<br /><br />Speaking of Claire, if you are interested you can see her <a href="http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=12879703">Myspace page and blog</a> here (hope you don't mind the publcity Claire!) (I shall hold my tongue regarding <a href="http://worstofmyspace.com/how-to-not-suck-at-myspace/">my general opinion on Myspace</a>).<br /><br />More news... I am bored with my now not so new job (again) having been there nine months and am getting itchy feet again. Am intending on applying for another job with a certain other London Planning Authority. Although this one will require another move of home becuase it is massively uncommutable from Maidenhead, probably more into London (which I have been thinking about anyway... Chiswick, Acton, Fulham, <a href="http://nick101.blogspot.com/2006/08/chez-bue.html">Chez Bue</a> locale methinks), says he in advance of having even completed the application forms let alone get an interview.<br /><br />Erm, what else...<br /><br />Presently enjoying listening to: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhaTnsrtifI">Faithless - Bombs</a>. Video is very good.<br />Presently <strike>downloading</strike> planning on hiring from the video shop as is legal and proper: <a href="http://www.fox.com/prisonbreak/">Prison Break</a>.<br /><br />That is all for now. Have a good week people.<br /><br />(And yes I know this post is full of repetitions and typos bt I don't care so there!)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16466952.post-7751851848258154832006-11-21T19:46:00.000+01:002006-11-21T20:46:43.310+01:00New York photosThe majority of the <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetpants/sets/72157594384791989/">photos from New York are now on Claire's flickr</a>. However here are some of my favourites (click to enlarge - the photos are quite big).<br /><br />A really nice candid shot of 106th Street off Central Park West.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger2/1032/2010/1600/930580/IMG_0796.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger2/1032/2010/400/61040/IMG_0796.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Claire being all artsy in Central Park.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger2/1032/2010/1600/35621/IMG_0790.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger2/1032/2010/400/764486/IMG_0790.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Central Park, looking west towards the Upper West Side.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger2/1032/2010/1600/64278/IMG_0955.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger2/1032/2010/400/386592/IMG_0955.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Nick and Claire in a helicopter. Yes that's right we did a helicopter tour of Manhattan which was nothing short of amazing, even if the weather weas a little grey and windy.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger2/1032/2010/1600/861332/IMG_0847.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger2/1032/2010/400/829204/IMG_0847.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Statue of Liberty from the aforementioned helicopter.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger2/1032/2010/1600/743676/IMG_0853.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger2/1032/2010/400/597105/IMG_0853.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Upper East Side of Manhattan taken from Central Park across Jackie Onasis lake (this is my new desktop background on my computer).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger2/1032/2010/1600/681933/IMG_0887.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger2/1032/2010/400/812872/IMG_0887.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Nick and Claire messing around in Sheep Meadow in Central Park.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger2/1032/2010/1600/64142/IMG_0969.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger2/1032/2010/400/346770/IMG_0969.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>The Flatiron Building in Mid Town, New Yorks first steel framed skyscraper.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger2/1032/2010/1600/862866/IMG_0978.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger2/1032/2010/400/260338/IMG_0978.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Nick and Claire looking very fetching by a fountain in Central Park.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger2/1032/2010/1600/956510/IMG_0960.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger2/1032/2010/400/398883/IMG_0960.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Chrysler Building et al as seen from the 86th floor of the Empire State Building.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger2/1032/2010/1600/410930/IMG_0917.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger2/1032/2010/400/818564/IMG_0917.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Fun in the Skyscraper Museum.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger2/1032/2010/1600/135949/IMG_0861.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger2/1032/2010/400/149150/IMG_0861.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16466952.post-68689891426506605552006-11-20T14:42:00.000+01:002006-11-20T15:46:04.866+01:00Flight timeNew York is amazing. I didn't want to leave. However, now back in glorious England and feeling a little jet lagged. Photos (of which we have around 300) soon...<br /><br />Did I mention New York was amazing?<br /><br />Also congratulations to Laura who gave birth to six and a half pound baby Thomas last night at about the same time I was leaving JFK airport I think.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1