My life in words......and pictures

This blog has moved

2010-05-01T17:21:00.001+01:00

This blog is now located at http://guitardj.blogspot.com/.
You will be automatically redirected in 30 seconds or you may click here.

For feed subscribers, please update your feed subscriptions to
http://guitardj.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default.

Moving to WordPress

2010-03-26T11:32:00.000Z

I've neglect my personal blog for a while as I've focusing on getting content on my tech blog but hopefully that will change when I make the move to WordPress. Blogger will stop ftp'ing come May 1st 2010, so I figured I'd move over to WordPress so that I can customise things a bit more and host it on my own site as well as being able to blog straight from my BlackBerry, so I can update posts a lot more frequently.

It has been great being on Blogger but think it's time for a change, pastures new, so to speak. While I'm migrating, you can read my blogs over at www.thematrixfactor.com for some tech news.

Take a free IQ test now

2010-03-23T09:55:00.002Z

Free-IQTest.net - IQ Test

Finally got my BlackBerry Storm2

2010-03-10T21:58:00.000Z

After months of deliberating on what to get for my next upgrade, I finally decided on the Storm2 as news spread that it was coming to O2 UK. So, after waiting for it to finally arrive in store I got my upgrade a couple of days ago.

I will be putting up a full review of my usage sometime during the week, which you'll find over on my Tech Blog. So far it's going okay, just getting used to the SurePress thing though. It's a very different touchscreen experience to the iPhone. So, watch this space for my review.

I was too excited to open it up and use it that I forgot to make an unboxing video. So, I'll just show my you my excited, cheesy photo instead.

Channel 4 saying goodbye to Friends in the UK

2010-02-13T19:04:00.000Z

I heard some sad news a couple of days ago with the announcement of Channel 4 here in the UK that they will stop airing Friends on Channel 4 and C4's digital channel E4, the show that brought us Rachel, Monica, Phoebe, Ross, Joey and Chandler, and the ever changing hairstyles. Even though the series ended almost six years ago, the series has been re-run seven days a week on E4, airing double episodes every night.

I'm saddened as I am an avid fan of Friends right since the very beginning and watch it religiously, right through until the end. Somehow, it never gets old to me. I can sit there every night and still laugh out loud as if it's the first time I'm watching it. It will still air until autumn 2011, so I've still got over a year to enjoy my beloved 'Friends'. It's still sad to know that it will be ending though.

The official statement from C4 is: "After 15 years, 10 hit series and 236 terrific episodes it's time to say goodbye to old Friends and welcome new ones, in the form of more comedy, drama and entertainment from the US and UK.

"We are incredibly proud to have been the home of Friends for so long, but at a point when the channel is undergoing a period of creative renewal it felt like the right time to part company."

Got to get someone to buy the whole box set for me.

Dilemma sorted

2010-01-31T21:36:00.000Z

You may remember my post last month about my dilemma over what my next phone was going to be. Well now I think I have sorted this out.

On my list was the BlackBerry Storm2. But this was only available on Vodafone here in the UK. Or for a price way over what I can pull out of my pocket from Expansys. That is about to change though. The BlackBerry Storm2 is on its way to O2 UK, so that makes me a happy bunny as I have decided that it will be my next phone. I don't know any pricing information right now. But as of now I'm a very happy bunny as I think I'm loving BlackBerry too much to leave it behind just yet.

Okay, excitement shared. I shall go back to being overjoyed by myself.

Great British Railway Journeys

2010-01-20T17:17:00.000Z

I have found myself currently hooked onto a BBC TV show called Great British Railway Journeys which sees Michael Portillo (former Policitian), journey through four railway lines as described in a guide by George Bradshaw, written around 170 years ago. I only stumbled across it as I was browsing through the BBC iPlayer one evening when I couldn't sleep. The first one that I came across was his journey from Carlisle to Glasgow.

This journey intrigued me as it was the last leg of a journey I took many years ago to meet my, now, partner. Though I didn't take the detour trips that Michael Portillo took through his journey, it still interested me to find out bits of history along this route.

Since that night I searched to the iPlayer to find other episodes and discovered that there were many other episodes to watch and catch up on.

I am not really a railway buff but I think it's the fact that the railway was my mode of transport to get to my destination to meet my partner, whom I have been with for a great seven and a half years, that has given me a bit of interest on railways. Something I don't think I was aware of until now. Or maybe it's just interesting to see that a guidebook, written in the Victorian period, can still be followed in our modern world today.

It's given me a bigger insight into Great Britain and makes me want to follow the exact same route. Most especially to ride on an old steam train that goes over Ribblehead viaduct. The sight looks amazing just by watching it, heaven knows how amazing it would be to actually see it with your own eyes.

There are four railway journeys made each week following the Victorian guide book. I have more or less caught up now, thanks to the iPlayer. Michael is currently on the third journey from Swindon all the way down to Penzance. This long journey is then broken down into about five episodes as he passes through towns, taking stops to visit places or old trades mentioned in the Bradshaw's guidebook.

Bradshaw was a cartographer and he was the first man to make timetables of all the trains that ran throughout Britain in the Victorian period.

The first railway journey taken goes across the country, coast to coast, starting at Liverpool going through to the seaside town of Scarborough.
The second sees Michael journey upwards from Preston going up passed the border into Scotland with his final destination Kirkcaldy, a place close to Michael's heart.
The third journey (which is currently on) goes south-west on the Great Western Railway (GWR), starting at Swindon, going through Cornwall, ending up in Penzance.
The fourth journey, I believe is from Buxton to London.

It has been a very interesting and educational series so far. I can't wait for the rest.

Why not have a look for yourself. Early episodes can still be watched on the BBC iPlayer. Let me know your thoughts on the show. A mini fansite, independent of the BBC was created for the series, check it out at www.greatbritishrailwayjourneys.com.

BBC iPlayer is only available in the UK.

I want me one of these

2010-01-01T15:34:00.000Z

I love baking, from a cookie biscuit to sticky toffee pudding. I came across this and I want one. Cookie pan that allows you to make a cake that looks like an Oreo. Hmmmm yum.

iPhone on Tesco Mobile coming Dec 14th

2009-12-10T15:01:00.001Z

I know I don't usually post tech blogs on here but my tech blog is currently down as I am sorting out moving host, so I thought I'd blog here until I get that sorted.

Anyway, Tesco have announced the date for the release of the Apple iPhone on their network as being Dec 14th. They have also released the pricing of the tariffs you can get with the iPhone

#You can get it on contract for just 12 months, the shortest contract-length for the iPhone with O2 and Orange on a minimum contract-length fo 18 months. Unlimited Web and WiFi (with BTOpenZone) for the length of the contract and Pay As You Go owners get free Web and WiFi for 12 months. There is also a 24-month contract available.

There are two tariffs to choose from for Pay Monthly. The cheapest tariff is only £20/month and with that you can get £60 worth of calls & text per month. Your other option is £60/month where you get can get 'unlimited calls & texts' (subject to fair usage policy, as always). The price of the iPhone on the 12-month contract is also more expensive than other networks for obvious reasons (12-month contract). Pay As You Go prices are the same as on O2.

Full tariff details below. You can also check out the Tesco website for more details.

Guide to Jailbreaking your iPhone

2009-12-06T23:59:00.000Z

The first time I got my iPhone I decided to jailbreak it a week after purchase. I had no regrets in doing so. Loved the fact that I could cooler apps than those found in the App Store and install themes, I even created a few themes for myself. Then after a 2.2.1 (if I recall correctly), I didn't decide to re-jailbreak my iPhone. Why? I can't really say. Could have been to do with the fact that it was a hassle to reinstall all the apps I download through Cydia as there was no way to save and restore them? Or perhaps because it became a secondary device after I started to use the BlackBerry 8900 as my primary device? Either way didn't jailbreak it again.

Until now.

Since I have been using the iPhone again a bit more than before, I thought I'd give the jailbreak another try. And I have just successfully jailbroken my iPhone.....again. Since the process of doing it this time around was so much smoother and easier than the first time around I thought I'd share the process with you.

WARNING: jailbreaking your iPhone does void your warranty. The guys at Apple will not be too pleased if you brought them a jailbroken iPhone to fix. That said, unjailbreaking your iPhone is easy, just restore your phone back to default and that's the jailbreak gone. Proceed at your own risk but as long as you follow the instructions you should be fine.

Another note to point out is that the process below only jailbreaks your iPhone, it does not unlock your iPhone. What's the difference? Unlocking your phone means that you would like to put another network simcard into your iPhone in the future. If you're not too fussed about your network then what are you waiting for? Follow the steps to jailbreak your iPhone.

Step 1 - Make sure that you have iPhone update 3.1.2 installed. I also recommended to backup your device, in case you want to unjailbreak your phone in the future.
Step 2 - Download the jailbreak program from blackra1n.com.
Step 3 - Connect your iPhone to you PC if it is not already connected. Run the blackra1n program. It is recommended that you run the program from C:\ drive, so move the file from where you downloaded it to to your C:\ drive. (Note: If you are running Vista or Windows 7 you should run it in compatibility mode and as "Administrator." To do this right-click on the file, go to Properties, then click the "Compatibility" tab. Makre sure the "run this program in compatibility mode for:" checkbox is selected and choose Windows XP Service Pack 2 from the drop-down list. Click "OK" to close the window. Right-click to run as the Administrator). When you run the program you will get a very simple window with a button that says "make it rain", as shown below:

Step 4 - Click the "make it rain" button to start the jailbreak process. The message will than change to "entering recovery...", then "running...", leave your iPhone to do its thing. Once the jailbreak is complete you will see a picture of geohot's face (the creator of blackra1n), then your device will reboot.
Step 5 - Once your device has rebooted, launch the blackra1n app on your iPhone (it's a black raindrop icon). From here you can pick which installer program you would like to install. I recommended Cydia and Rock. Icy is for those who want to unlock your device (and this is near impossible if you've already updated to firmware 3.1.2)

Step 6 - Your jailbreak is complete. Once you have installed your preferred program(s). Launch any one of them from your iPhone and enjoy the apps.

The above procedure can be used on MACs too, there is a MAC version that can be download from the blackra1n website.

A couple apps I recommend downloading to get you going are:

Winterboard - so that you can install themes
Intelliscreen - allows you to see calendar entries, sms, email messages and other things from the lock screen
Backgrounder - allows you to run apps in the background

I also recommended signing up to a RockID to allow you to save all the jailbroken apps you download so that these can be restored after an update (I haven't had to use it yet so I don't know if this works but I've signed up and enabled the save feature in the settings for the Rock app).

Other things to note: If Apple release a firmware update and you update, this will unjailbreak the device. You may have to hold off updating your device firmware if one becomes available. Always read the Cydia or Rock messages before updating the firmware as and when they become available. You may have to wait until there is an update to the blackra1in app before updating your device.

There you have it. A quick and easy process to jailbreaking your iPhone. Go ahead and liberate your iPhone now.

Help! What phone?

2009-12-04T21:33:00.002Z

I've got myself into a bit of a pickle. For the past 9 months I have been using the BlackBerry Currve 8900 as my primary device. Prior to that I was using the iPhone. I fell in love with BlackBerry after being introduced to the device while working as an O2 Guru. I still kept my iPhone as a secondary device as I regularly use some of the utility apps and used the iPod but never used it as a phone.

I have loved everything about the 8900, just the instantness of getting messages, IMs, Facebook messages, comments, etc. But lately I've found myself picking up the iPhone more frequently, mainly to use the apps, games, reading my RSS feeds, twitter updates. I've thought about going back to using the iPhone but after a long hard think I don't really want to go back to using the iPhone, I'm into the interface, the touch interface. I miss using the touchscreen. I keep thinking about putting my sim into the iPhone, there's a tiny urge to do so but something stops me and it's because of the push notification that I get from the BlackBerry that I'll miss. So, I'm looking at other touchscreen phones I could get instead. I've thought about the Nokia N97 as I did enjoy my Nokia N95, from QuickOffice to the camera and would like go back to Symbian. Then again I've thought about getting and Android phone, purely because I have not used the OS yet and there's the geek in me that wants to try it out. Then there's the BlackBerry Storm 2. It's a BlackBerry, which will provide with the things I currently have and it's a touchscreen.

There's too much choice and it's doing my head in a little bit. But the two strong contenders are the HTC Hero and the BlackBerry Storm 2, with the iPhone trying to sneek itself in there. I think the only reason this is the case is because the iPhone has great apps that use quite regularly that I can't get on the other two. Actually, I'm not sure about the HTC Hero but I know I can't get the apps on BlackBerry, heaven knows I've tried. What are the apps, you ask? eBay app, SquareSpace app, twitter app (well I can get a twitter app on the BlackBerry but it's so much easier browsing through them on a touchscreen) and games are generally more fun on a touchscreen.

I've weighed my options and had a look at prices but being a student, already strapped for cash, I can only dream of owning those phones - the HTC Hero or the Storm 2, that is.

What do you think? Which should I get? Anyone know where I could get any of the two phones quite cheap (student budget), unlocked? Suggestions welcome.

Pacquiao Vs Cotto

2009-11-15T23:26:00.003Z

The much anticipated boxing match between Manny Pacquio and Miguel Cotto has come and gone. I stayed up to watch the fight last night, with it's consequences during the day. I sat through three pre-matches before the big fight, I hadn't heard of any of the six boxers but was interesting nonetheless but I did nod off every now and then.

The match finally got on the way around 4:40am.....there abouts, I couldn't wake up my partner to watch with me. She had asked to be woken up but was already in dreamland. So, I lay there and watched the fight by myself.

The bell goes and the fight starts, I get a tense feeling, I wanted to reach for my BlackBerry and check my Facebook to check out friends status' and Twitter for any tweets relating the the match but I didn't want to take my eyes away from the screen, I wanted to watch every punch thrown. Instead, I thought about how millions of Filipinos around the world were probably glued to the TV just like as I was, to give support to the man who has become a national hero, bringing Filipinos around the world together with every match he fights. I can't think of any other person that has brought the Filipinos around the world to a halt and sit in front of the TV to watch him defeat boxing champions.

I was born and raised in the UK but I was brought up in a very Filipino way and Filipino Pride runs deep in me. It's great to a Filipino proud to represent.

SquareSpace

2009-11-10T15:51:00.004Z

I've been wanting to update the look of website for sometime but always get distracted by other things and don't really get the time to do so. Or maybe I'm just procrastinating too much and need to just get on with it.

Anyway, I've been hearing a lot about SquareSpace lately, it's a website builder but not just your ordinary website builder, this site also lets you import your existing blogs from Blogger, MovableType, WordPress and TypePad. It will also import tags, comments, media, authors and search engine optimisation so as not to lose your Google ranking.

It has been much hyped by the guys over at Tekzilla and well as GeekBrief's Cali Lewis.

I'll work on it during the next week or so and blog on the results soon after.

Why not try out yourself too, check out SquareSpace now.

Getting back on track

2009-11-10T15:43:00.002Z

It seems I have been neglecting my own personal blog for some time. Rest assured I shall be blogging on here once again. I was focusing a lot on a tech blog which I am trying to launch over at www.thematrixfactor.com but that too has been neglected of late although not as long as this one.

I have been busy with personal life and getting things back on track so things will pick on here more frequently. Mostly on personal thoughts but may also start to add some tech and gadgety stuff too, as those are the things that most interest me but my main tech blog will be at www.thematrixfactor.com (which is also going through a design change soon).

You can head over there now to check out my previous blogs.

Is the new iPhone 3GS worth it??

2009-06-12T22:21:00.003+01:00

Check out my blog at www.thematrixfactor.com for my latest tech blog

Apple iPhone 3G

2008-10-08T11:41:00.006+01:00

Recently I took that jump (leap) and purchased the iPhone 3G. I know, I know after all my iPhone bashing on the first gen it seemed like I was going to be a Nokia NSeries fan forever. Fact of the matter is the iPhone ended up being the only option I had when it came to upgrading my phone when my contract ended.

Here's how it goes. I haven't got deep pockets so very rarely can I buy a mobile phone simfree, with no contract from such sites as www.expansys.com or www.clove.co.uk or ebay.com for that matter. So I have to go through my upgrade. Previously owning the Nokia N95 then the N95 8GB I was hoping to get the N96 which was due out around the time I could get my upgrade. But then I found out that O2 were not going to be getting the the Nokia N96 so I was quite bummed. So I then went online to see what other phones I could upgrade to. There was a point I was thinking about the Sony Ericsson Xperia 1 but I couldn't wait for that so after much deliberation and reluctancy I upgrdaded to the iPhone 3G. I was quite reluctant at first to get the iPhone 3G as I was totally bashing the iPhone when it first came out last year and I'm sure most of you agreed with me. But in all honesty I must say that I am loving the new iPhone 3G. I love the fast access I can get to the internet, email etc. One of the major updates from the first gen being that it's now 3G and has GPS so those are a big plus. I am also loving the new App Store, having already downloaded many apps. It's a phone you just can't put down. It does drain all that battery and find I have to charge in nightly but it's all good.

I'm still bummed be to camera but it's a sacrifice I took as I love taking my pics and videos on the go and the N95 8GB allowed me to do this greatly so that's something I miss, being able to take good quality pictures but I'll save up for a point and shoot maybe.

There are still some nitty gritty bits that could be improved such as the simple things that should be standard now on all phones: MMS, copy and paste (at least with smartphones), video recording, autoflash, even landscape mode for typing SMS or Email. But other than that I am loving my iPhone. Surprising, maybe after I had been an iPhone basher when the first one came out but there are improvements on the 3G version that make it a little bit more worthy than before.

Apple just get your act together and fix the simple things that do matter to people, whether you think so or not.

24052008073

2008-05-24T20:56:00.003+01:00

24052008072

2008-05-24T20:56:00.001+01:00

20052008069

2008-05-21T22:51:00.001+01:00

I got my Nokia N95 8GB!!!

2008-04-14T12:34:00.002+01:00

Almost five months ago I got my Nokia N95 which I was very excited about even if I got it months after it's release.Now, a week ago I received the N95 8GB version for my birthday. And I'm loving it even more. Faster, longer lasting battery, firmware v15 running sweetly. And the Spiderman 3 movie is a nice bonus.

I'm not gonna ramble on about the specs and features as I'm sure you all know them by now but I'm loving mine and not sure why I didn't get one sooner. My best excuse is I just didn't have enough money ... hehehe.

Here's a picture I took with the phone.

Leap Year!!!

2008-02-29T14:24:00.002Z

So, it's a Leap Year and what do we do with the extra 24 hours we're given every four years?? Treat it as any other day? For most, that would be the case, including myself. But wouldn't you think with a whole 24 hours extra we should do something more worthwhile with it? As it seems such a waste. It only comes along every four years and perhaps having a whole day off to do whatever you wanted to be a good thing.

I've been quite busy of late and so an extra day in the month for those things is a good thing for me. But really I think everyone should get time off to enjoy this extra day that we have.

Life's ups and downs

2008-02-21T17:18:00.003Z

Life's ups and downs. I'd always considered myself as a calm and very patient person. I guess I misjudged myself. What drives a person to hurt the one they love? There really is no excuse.

I fear the worst. Is my life over? Have I caused the end of my life? Life would mean nothing without that person. Have I driven them away? In the words of Charlotte Church "I need professional help". I am the Crazy Chick as described by Charlotte Church in the song with the same title.

I'm crazy insane and also crazy in love. Help me please. Some one help me.

I lived the best times of my life and I fear I have thrown it all away.

I'm babbling now. Yada yada yada..................

I LOVE YOU

Happy Valentine's Day

2008-02-14T10:21:00.002Z

And so Valentine's Day is upon us. Love is in the air. Whether you love it or hate it, it's one the big days of the year. The most texts sent in a day, flowers, cards.

I've always been a sucker for romance and the like, and I think love is a great thing, especially when you have someone that loves you back. It's what life's all about and everyday becomes Valentine's Day.

So, I wish you a Happy Valentine's Day, for you and your loved one. And for those single people out there, hang in there, there is someone out there for you.

Pancake day and Ash Wednesday

2008-02-06T23:04:00.001Z

Well, did anybody fill their tums up with pancakes yesterday?? I know I did. Being Pancake day here I decided that our dinner was gonna be pancakes. I whipped up my recipe and made scrumptious pancakes for everybody. I served them up with some bacon and scrambled eggs....they make a good mix. Also, it's great with lovely golden syrup.

I love baking and making everyone lick their lips in anticipation for my next cake dish but I've served my last for a while..... I think.....I will explain in a moment.

First, today is Ash Wednesday. The start of Lent. Growing up we would all give up something for the duration of Lent, and as kids it was all about given up chocolate, crisps and the like....basically junk food for Lent. But as I got older that changed as I didn't eat those much anyway, and also you realise that Lent is about more than given up junk food, but it's a start. Now I'm not going to get all religious here so don't click away just yet.

Anywho, so as I was saying, as I've fattening up tummys for the past couple of months baking cakes and cookies etc I thought I'd stop that for Lent this time, reminding me of what I used to do when I was younger.

I've lost my trail of thought now so Imma sign off until next time.

Busy bee...

2008-02-04T14:56:00.001Z

My workmate..hehehe.....keeps me company anyway.

Well, it's been awhile since I've posted on here. I've been busy building my business site and also my personal site, so those have been keeping me quite busy of late. Hopefully they'll be up and live soon. And will let you know when they are up and you can check them out.

Haven't got much to say right now. Seem to have lost my words. Quite unusual, but anywho, will be back soon.

You could also check out my gadgets blog here.

Happy reading.

A new year begins.......

2008-01-03T01:56:00.000Z

And so a new year begins....2008.....time for those new year's resolutions. How many times do we make them every year and how many do we actually keep?

I confess, I for one make a few and hardly manage to keep any. But this year I feel things are different. It just feels different. The way we went into the new year..............so I have made a few in the hope that I will be able to keep them and fulfill them this year.

Wishing you all a prosperous New Year. May all your dreams come true and may the new year bring all the joys you wish for.

(I'm not quite sure about the relevance of the picture to my blog but it is was a nice banoffee pie I ate at the New Year)

The iPhone... The greatest phone???!!!

2007-11-26T22:28:00.000Z

Now there's no denying that the iPhone is a great phone but were people lining up in their droves when the iPhone was released here in the UK a couple of weeks back on November 9?

At £269 and an 18 month contract it seemed people were not prepared to spill out for it. Why is this so? It's suppose to be the "greatest phone" but I beg to differ. It was being pushed as the smartphone to rival the Nokia N95 but the iPhone is far from being a smartphone. Yes the interface may be years ahead of others but it is definitely not a smartphone. It should've been advertised as being the phone with the best interface/operating system. Then maybe it wouldn't been so bad but they pitched it against the iPhone and both phones are in a totally different league to each other. I had found a few lists of cons over the net (www.allaboutsymbian.com/forum) a few days ago which you can see below:

No MMS.
No video recording.
No 3G.
No custom ringtones or SMS alert tones
No instant messaging.
Lacks tactile keys which makes texting horrible.
No memory expansion.
No games.
No speed dialing.
No installable software.
Battery can only be replaced by sending the whole phone away.
No voice dialing.
The camera is only 2megapixel, has no autofocus and no flash.
No cut/copy/paste.
No A2DP (for bluetooth stereo/headphone output).
No GPS.
No document viewing, let alone editing.
No flash support for the web browser.
No file browser.
Visual voicemail laggy and slow.
Only takes iPod cable which is non-standard and prone to breakage.
No TV output.
Web browser is slow, even over WLAN.
Can't type anything in landscape mode.
Only one picture at a time in email

Now I don't own an iPhone, as I don't want one, never did right from the start, and after reading that list above it puts me off even more. See what I mean when I say it cannot be a smartphone - you can't even view documents on it! Now I know there are other phones that do not have some of these features but most smartphones do. And as for the 2megapixel camera that's not even autofocus or has a flash! That's going backwards.

This may only be first generation but they could've done better with the features to class as the greatest phone.

I'm not saying the iPhone isn't great cos it is as far as the interface goes. It is miles ahead than others but the features bring it down to much for it to be even considered for me. I love my N95 and I'm going to be sticking with it for awhile to come. The only phone that I would consider instead of the N95 is the N95 8GB version but that doesn't have an expansion slot so I guess that still leaves me with my trusty N95 where I could use an 8GB memory card. And with a recent firmware update that increases the internal RAM by about 30MB.

So all in all right now I think the iPhone isn't worth the £269 and 18 month contract. Not until they can make all the features alot better and really turn it into a REAL smartphone. Then and only then will I even consider getting it.

Long tiring train journey

2007-11-12T17:58:00.000Z

(This was written on the train yesterday night, I didn't manage to upload while on the train.....)

Sitting on the train right now, going from Glasgow to London. Been on the train for about 4 hours now. We've just left Crewe and until then it had been quite a quiet journey. Lots of people seemed to have got on at Crewe. It got quite hectic in our coach with many people trying to find their reserved seat or trying to find a free unreserved seat. One guy even tried to say that we were occupying his seat contrary to what had been stated CLEARLY on the overhead that it had been reserved between Glasgow to London. I had to politely tell him that we had these seats reserved for us and we had been sitting here since Glasgow. I was going to show him our tickets but he seemed to get the point and went off. But I must say that the train system seems to be a bit of a botch lately. We been on a few trips between London and Glasgow the past month and twice we have had to stand due to there being no seats available. It was like being on the London Underground with many people having to stand. I don't understand why the issue more tickets than available on the train. These journeys are long and people should have to stand for 7 hours. We made a point this time to reserve our return journey seats to avoid having to stand, something I wish we had done for our previous trips as it caused us much back pain for a few days.

There was one journey where the whole system went down and they were unable to print out the reservation details so it meant that all reservations for the journey were cancelled and people could sit anywhere. This caused much havoc and arguments where people would be saying "you're in my seat" then the person seated would have to explain that they were not as nobody had reserved seats due to an error. It was like playing musical chairs. People shifting from one seat to another, trying to grab the unavailable seat. It was hectic. We were one of these people being shifted about. "Never again!" we said. Never again would take the train. But yet here we are. We took it as we still had an open return ticket so why waste it. But we made sure to reserved seats to avoid the frustrations. This is what i recommend to anyone wanting to travel by train. Maybe most people our there do and we were the silly ones who didn't but I had previous experiences where I could just get on the train and find a seat no problem. But times have changed and so we must change to fit these changes (does any of this even make sense right now???!!!!!)

Anyway, I've ranted on enough. It's now 8:05pm, we've just arrived in Stafford. We've another 3 hours to go. Might get some shut eye for a bit.....

My new keyboard

2007-11-12T17:47:00.000Z

(I actually wrote this yesterday while on the train but didn't have a way to upload to my blog.....)

I've just got my new Nokia wireless keyboard and I'm just trying it out while I'm on the train. I've made a few typos along the way as I'm trying to touch type. I've small fingers so it's quite confortable for me to do so. If the keyboard was a bit smaller I'd probably have to finger type which I find quite difficult. So for a small hands person like myself it's quite an alright size.

Having an N95 this keyboard is a Godsend especially if you have to write or create/edit documents. Trying to use the keypad is a right pain even when you have multitap on. So being able to use a keyboard it a great bonus helping me to get through responding to emails while on the road.

It was one thing I missed when I went from my old phone - Sony Ericsson P990i, to my new phone - Nokia N95, having a full QWERTY keyboard. The P990i was huge to carry around but the keyboard was useful and the phone did what I needed it to do for a while. The keyboard was the only thing I really missed when I got my N95. Apart from that the N95 is the well needed upgrade for me. I'm loving all the features and I hope that Nokia does not abandon it now that the 8GB version is now out.....

Liking it so far....I have small fingers so touch typing is quite easy for me.

My thoughts for the day

2007-10-27T21:48:00.000+01:00

I have had time to do alot of thinking over the last two months, about my life and where it's heading. The one thing I was sure of was a life with the love of my life. The time apart made me fall deeper in love.....she is my life, my treasure, my everything.

Then I started thinking about what I wanted to do - get my degree, find work/career, continue my business or go in a complete different direction. But all I've been doing is thinking!!! Not doing!!!!! I just need to do these things instead of thinking about them. I listening to podcasts everyday and think about starting one but what stops me is that I don't know what kind of podcast to do. There are so many out there. I'm sure I'll find something soon, I mean take that Lonelygirl15 who made all those youtube videos and got famous.....hahahahhaha....... what a joke.........But I should just do and stop thinking......right?!

Web designing is pretty cool, need to brush up but I'll get my website live soon. With all these social networking sites around and Web 2.0 designs to think about...it gets me quite excited to get my website up and running.

My trail of thoughts have seemed to suddenly come to a halt.....brain dead maybe?......too much thinking for the day......need to make it relax.......

The burning questions in my mind......

2007-10-26T22:47:00.000+01:00

Feeling quite lost and confused though I know I shouldn't......or am I really lost and confused? or just plain crazy? Let me try to explain.

My love is back and I am very happy and delighted about that fact. Life becoming normal again.......Lately she has started writing again.....I have always loved her writing.....she's a writer see.....but hadn't written for awhile........something or perhaps someone has sparked something in her to start writing.......a good thing a guess as I get to read her writing once more......but as I read her words.....at times I get confused by what she writes...............she writes from the heart and her words flow like water down a stream, gripping my concentration and wanting me to read more. But somehow what she writes lately makes me feel a little lost and confused......one for the fact that she's able to write alot nowadays......and two....I feel ashamed to say.......

I shouldn't be feeling like this though because I know that she loves me dearly and we are forever soulmates but I can't help but something when I read her blogs.......it makes me feel weird........sends so many questions firing up in my head.....needing answers yet afraid to ask them for fear of losing......I don't want to let it drive me crazy and I know that I should not be reading more into this than I should but how I wish for this to be over soon.......soon so I can get my love back.....all.....once more as I know that there is something there........a women always knows............hmmm.........I must be strong and not let this get to me before it drives me up the wall........

My new N95 phone

2007-10-04T15:12:00.000+01:00

Now I know that the Nokia N95 has been out for what seems like donkey's years now. I've been wanting to get this phone since the first time it was announced by Nokia. But alas I was too skint to buy one when it was released here in the UK. So after many many months of waiting until I could finally get it, I am now a proud owner of the Nokia N95, getting it free on O2 through my yearly upgrade. I have had it for a week now and I must say I'm loving it!!

Apart from the poor battery life, it's a great phone. When it arrived at my door I ripped it open and started using it there on the spot. Transferred all my pictures and files from my old phone, synched my contacts and I was away. I tried out all the applications and even upgraded the Office Suite to be able to edit my documents. It met all my expectations and has everything I need in a smartphone. One thing I miss from my old phone though (Sony Ericsson P990i) is the full QWERTY keyboard for writing texts and documents but iTap helps, though I think I may invest in the bluetooth keyboard soon for editing my documents on the road. I'm loving the Lifeblog that comes with the phone, it's a great way to chronicle my everyday life, though I've only been using this for one day so I'm still learning my way around using Lifeblog.

I'm loving the camera taking so many random pictures when I can. Also the video camera is excellent to capture those moments and then watching it on the TV using the TV-out cable. I even got myself the Nokia Tripod so I could use my phone to make my YouTube videos.

So all in all I'm loving my new N95 even though it took forever for me to get. For me it's one of the best smartphones out there.

All alone.....

2007-09-24T18:40:00.000+01:00

Having your partner away can feel quite lonely and very depressing at times, feelings I have had to go through the past 5 and a half weeks. We were only suppose to apart for four weeks but alas things did not go according to plan so the time apart is now longer.

In the past 5 years we have been together we have never been away from each other this long. The longest we had been apart before was 10 days early on in the relationship then it went down to a couple of days. Never more than a week. So quite obviously this time apart right now is very painful for both of us. I have had really low times where I just wanna cry all day but then there are times I feel I have to get through this and be strong as I know that we're going to be together again. But having done everything together for so long it took some time doing things. It seemed everything single thing that I did reminded me of my partner. Shopping, cleaning, cooking, even just going out to buy things for the house. I mean I have company, the kids and they can cheer you up, they can say the most nicest things to put that smile on your face and that works for a while then you go back to the depressing thoughts again. And sometimes you've got to be the strong one when the kids are missing them too. Even food....I lost all appetite to eat. But I have to say I don't really know how I've managed to cope and I have and there is never a moment that my partner is not on my mind. Every minute of every day I think about them. Knowing that they are probably feeling as sad and lonely as I am.

But for the past two two nights I have felt even more lonely as this time I am really alone. Because of our plans not quite going to plan I have had to go on a trip, that should have included both of us, by myself. I have spent the last two nights sleeping alone with no kids to cheer my up when I feel sad, just me, myself and I. This is going to be the third night and I am really feeling the low low crunch of loneliness. Crying just doesn't cut it. I have to cook for one, or heat food for one. I can't even cook. The fridge is filled with.....bottles of water and one packet of mushroom pie.....

I know many people love to live alone and it's great to have all that time to yourself but after being with someone and doing everything together so such a long time then suddenly having them gone was not the best.

Now I know my partner's coming back and I may be feeling a little over the top. I know that there are people there in much dire circumstances than I am in right now but I was sitting reading my Harry Potter, having nothing else to do and I was overcome but this sadness as I am sitting alone, on the bed, in a bare room and I feel like I'm in prison or something. I don't know but it's the lowest feeling I have ever felt, I can't even describe it........

No more Melinda....she was robbed

2007-05-21T11:30:00.000+01:00

I don't know if many have been watching American Idol being here in the UK butI've been following the American Idol series on ITV2 for awhile now and although I haven't been enjoying it as much as I did last year I did have a favourite, Melinda Doolittle, but alas right at the final hurdle she has fallen. Beaten out of the final by Blake Lewis. There was no doubt that Jordin was going through. I think she was robbed. I was so shocked at hearing the results, I was speechless! You could see the shock and dismay of the judges. She was by far the best and so consistant in her vocal performances. She's the Idol for me this year.

My votes now go to Jordin, although I can't make an official vote...hehe. She is young and so talented. It would have been great to see Melinda and Jordin in the final. But we get to see Jordin V Blake instead.

I'm still in shock but now that I have written this I think that I can now move on...hehe.

The city of Edinburgh

2007-03-22T18:00:00.000Z

I recently went to Edinburgh, for a random visit. It's only two hours away from where I am, so a friend and I thought hey let's go for a drive.

It's a fantastic city and I have been there a few times before already. I just amazed that everytime I go I'm always fascinated by it even if I keep going to the same places over and over again. There's just something about the place. Strolling down the Royal Mile, it's a nice feeling. Even at night, with all the shops closed. With it's very historic buildings to see, I could never grow tired of the city.

It's one of my recommended cities to go visit.

Bad service

2007-03-05T16:40:00.000Z

Went out for lunch today. Got served, fairly nice food. Ate it up. Then wanted to get some dessert. So I went out to the queue, there were already two others in the queue with another being served. This person seemed to know the person behind the till as they were chatting away, emersed in conversation. I have nothing against this but they were chatting away as if oblivious to the rest of us waiting in the queue.

This annoyed me tremendously I mean chatting away like that as if we were invisible people in the queue. I mean I'm a patient person but is just complete rudeness, I'm sure they would have just kept chatting away if the guy in front of me didn't set them straight as there was a queue building up behind us. And the fact that both of them just kept blabbing away, not even one of them had the decency to halt the conversation. NO. They kept going. Complete and utter rudeness.

iPhone

2007-02-21T14:49:00.000Z

I know news of the iPhone came out ages ago but I want to put my views out on it, even it's a bit late.

They say the iPhone is the phone of the future, well perhaps only in the concept of it. I mean, I have to say that the form of it was advanced with a fully touchscreen interface but it's other specs are definitely not future. First of, on a 2 megapixel camera, come on, what's that about, and NO 3G, well how can the phone be of the future with no 3G, although rumours go round that the UK release may have 3G but we'll have to wait and see about that.

I don't disagree that the phone is great as there are alot of good aspects to it but they seem to have been exaggerated to an extent. We'll just have to wait until it comes out to see what it's really made of. Me personally I'm looking forward to the release of the Nokia N95, that it my eyes is of much better specification, 5 megapixel camera and it's 3G.

The sun is out!!!!

2007-02-17T16:28:00.000Z

The sun is out today in our side of Scotland. We normally go out on Saturdays regularly but today, as the sun came out, everyone seemed to come out and play. A bit of sun and everyone is out. It's funny that, but being Scotland it still rained after a couple of hours of sun. But the sun did come out again, so kids are all out, families are all out enjoying this bit of sun as the people of Britain must savour every bit of sun that comes around as everyone knows our great british summer is all about rain.

It's just so funny to. I start imagining people in their houses waking up then opening their curtains and see sun and it's like "The suns out, quick, get changed, let's go out and enjoy it!" Then you have everyone stumbling around getting changed jump in the car or whatever transport and take themselves to the beachside.

Can you picture it? I'm sure you can.

Valentine's Day

2007-02-15T20:20:00.000Z

Well yesterday was Valentine's Day. Did you spend it with that special someone or we're you alone, or are you one of those who just don't give a damn.

Well I'm on who looks forward to Valentine's Day, always preparing ahead to get that special something for my special someone, every year I've always been the one to give something first but this year I was really surprised that I was beaten to it. So sweet.

Spent most of the day going around as a whole family though but then you get to spend the last few hours with your loved one and it ends so right. Valentine's Day has always been so special to me and it has been even more special these last four years. What I love most is getting that special something and watching your partner open it up, it's such a great feeling and I recommend it.

Those dreaded sales calls!

2007-02-15T20:10:00.000Z

Don't you just hate sales call...

I used to look forward to the phone ringing, to hear a familiar voice of a friend or a family member but nowadays I dread answering the phone. Why? Because of those dreaded sales calls, marketing calls and other stupid calls of people offering you new windows and doors, credit cards, loans, etc. I sooooo fed up of them.

This one company calls up and says this is not sales call but I'd like to ask you a few questions, so they ask their questions and a few minutes later the phone rings again with a company offering you new windows as you'd answered you might consider changing them in the previous call. What a nuisance!!! I tell them I'm not interested in changing my windows right this moment I would change them when I felt I needed to which was not anytime soon. Then they insist and tell you all sorts, twisting your arm into changing your windows. I'm having none of it anymore, when these people call I'll tell them straight.

There was this one call saying that our telephone number had won a free phone from the 3 network. Blah blah, so I'm thinking a free phone yeah but what's the catch a 12-18 month contract? So I ask him, can u get the phone on Pay as You Go he says YES the choice is yours you can get it on contract or pay as you go. So I say I'd like to have it in pay as you go, he says ok ma'am. Then he asks if I currently have a phone, I say yes but I don't use it much, he asks how much I spend a month, I tell him £10-£20 a month and I get some free calls and free text, so he tells me I can get more with this contract he's offering. I tell him I don't want a contract I want pay as you go, I don't want to be tied as I don't use it much to make calls just make text, and he ends up terminating the call. Hehe. Free phone my ass, free phone with a contract...that's what!

There was one call today said there were calling for telecommunications company, I immediately said I'm not interested and they say "This is not a sales call ma'am"....Yeah right, it clearly is!

So lately, I just answer, politely (rudely more like) decline their offer and just put the phone down on them. Simple.