Mrs L says

There is probably no god.

2009-01-09T17:17:00.003Z

Grrrrrr with HMRC

2008-12-11T14:51:00.002Z

Trying to sort out tax and pension.....

How do you find out your tax office - call them you think? To get through I need to tell them my NI number, my name, my DOB, my addresses and my employer. So my NI number is recognised but something about the other information is wrong so they won't speak to me.

So let me get this right - they know my name, my DOB, my addresses and my employer but I don't.

So how do I get to speak to them? Well I have to tell them the right information but yet they won't tell me what I'm getting wrong.

Does it not occur to them I might know these things and they might have something wrong!

So now I have to send them details of what I think my name, my DOB, my addresses and my employer are with proof that they are all these things and then they'll "consider my case". But I don't know who to send it to because they can't tell me my tax office because they can't verify who I am so no one will take my call.

Maybe I'm the person who sends them all that bloody money every bloody month - they don't mind taking that, do they?

Annoyed of North London (but who knows what my name is or where I actually live as obvioulsy don't).

stop the petitions

2008-11-16T08:04:00.002Z

I do not like this current trend to try to govern our country by media petitions.
Petitions against Brand and Ross and X factor were one thing. The Sun readers signing a petition against harringey council is quite another. Its ridiculous.

Perspective needed (and why I also hate the Daily Mail)

2008-10-30T08:51:00.003Z

People get a grip.

Tamsin is SO right in condemning the current witch hunt of Brand and Ross from the media and Daily Mail readers who should be more worried about the state of the environment and economy.

http://living.morethan.com/2008/10/29/whats-wrong-with-this-picture/#comment-3034

Tragic?

2008-10-04T09:19:00.001+01:00

This car is really being driven now by someone working where i do. Who would have thought.

So tired

2008-03-13T19:18:00.001Z

Of travelling to and from work everyday. First time in over a week haven't got a taxi home. And it's raining. Crappy day at work. Too much to do before computer lost me 3 hours. Too many ideas and not enough time to act on them. And its raining. And the bus sucks. Days like these get me dreaming of running away to Devon and living a simple life. Could i do it? Would it still rain?

Marc Ronson

2008-02-22T22:16:00.001Z

Is putting on a good show. However my friends would prefer to watch from the back where the sound is Shit and i can't see. So i'm on my own with just my blog to talk to but a great view. The venue has run out of beer from the over crowded bars and the cloak room had hour long queues before closing as its full which is Shit. Did they not expect the people they told tickets to to turn up? Hammersmith sort it out or i won't be back.

Perfect spring day and why i love london

2008-02-08T15:27:00.001Z

15 mins early for a meeting in town and just enough time to enjoy some moments by the river. Its been a horrid week at work with no one understanding what a deadline is. But after this meeting i'm going home; i'll deal with the implications monday. But for now i'll feel the sun on my face for a few moments more.

Hungry pirates

2008-01-22T12:59:00.001Z

Lost Pirates on the tube

2008-01-22T12:57:00.001Z

Well it made me laugh. It is a tuesday lunch time after all. I'm quite suprised they are allowed underground with those swords.

My resolve crumbled

2008-01-21T10:07:00.000Z

Mr L now owns a Wii. My worry is nothing will now ever get done in the house. However, as Tamsin points out it is actually quite good fun (Tamsin's Blog: The open road). I'm actually far better at virtual bowling than in real life. And I'm sure the boxing could actually keep me fit...

Chickens

2008-01-12T09:44:00.001Z

This has been excellent so far. Hugh and jamies programmes about the way chickens and eggs are farmed has really got us thinking. Looking at the state the chickens are in has made me decide i def don't want that inside me. Free range for us from now on. Actually we were pretty good before and we mainly get our meat from waitrose which seems to have a good record. Watching jamie's programme last night did though was really open our eyes to thinking about where the egg and chicken in other food comes from. Also where the meat comes from when you eat out. Paying extra now doesn't seem silly at all. If only i had time to make everything i eat from scratch. I also appreciate that some people are on really tight budgets and demand cheap produce. I'd love to see britain eradicate indoors intensive farming but think it would be worse if the supermarkets then went and bought cheap eggs and chickens from abroad which is what would happen. British farmers really are in catch 22. So i think hugh and jamie are doing the right thing targeting consumers. And i for one have taken notice.

British Gas took £600 from our account

2007-10-30T18:33:00.000Z

Can you believe they are allowed to do this?

Earlier this year they wrote down a reading wrong and said we'd owed them £600 for electricity. We complained and they admitted they were wrong and would correct it. Next bill - we were £600 in debt. We reminded them they said we didn't owe it. They agreed and said they'd fix it. We decided to leave. They told us we owed them £600. We pointed we didn't and they agreed. We left.

Today they take out £600 without telling us.

I've just been at a conference about web 2.0 and how brands should be using it for research. One theme that came out is that they should be monitoring the negative conversations that are being said about them. So I hope someone from British Gas reads this and realises how crap their customer service is and tries to improve it.

Imagine if i walked into their office and took out £600 worth of equipment. Surely it would be called stealing. So how can they be allowed to get away with this?

We've had to contact our bank to try to get money back and we'll be charged for this let alone charges for going overdrawn and our time in sorting it all out.

I just can't believe that big companies can get away with such blatant disregard to their customers in this day and age!

We've recently just lost lots of money because of Fly Be and Lloyds TSB crap travel insurance and i was going to write about that..

Fly Be cancelled the flight we were meant to take to Inverness. This meant we had to get a different flight to Glasgow. We had to rearrange our car hire - which cost more as we would now pick up from one airport and return at another. We'd booked a luxury B&B near inverness which as we arrived in Glasgow 12 hours later than we were meant to be in Inverness obviously didn't make and they charged us the full price. Plus we had to pay for another hotel. Fly BE refused to refund this money as they cancelled the flight because of safety worries (although they told us at the time it was because the plane had a light on they didn't know what it was). So we thought - at least we have travel insurance - but guess what it doesn't cover this. I'd like to therefore ask what the fuck does it cover if it doesn't cover losing money on holiday.

So Lloyds TSB, Fly BE and British Gas - you are all money sucking big corporations that don't have a clue about customer care or customer service that i plan never to use again in my life and i hope you all go bankrupt and catch horrible corporate diseases.

OK so not a well written blog - but at least it has got it off my chest

What a joke

2007-09-27T17:18:00.000+01:00

Johnson is Tory mayor candidate - Boris to be mayor???

Lets hope not.

Has he not noticed that bendy buses are actually very good - especially if you are getting on at a crowded bus stop or in a wheel chair or have a push chair etc etc.

And actually the congestion charge is working pretty damn well and is attracting interest from other major cities in the world (e.g. New York).

He's going to give us all bigger houses.. er ... Nice idea but I'd like to know how

Now I was never a fan of Ken when he was a politician but i think he is a great Mayor.

To all those who voted for Boris because they thought "he was funny": Please stop. It won't be funny if he fucked up the greatest city in the world.

there are 16,000 people out there who don't deserve to call themselves Londoners. Hopefully they'll be to busy watching repeats of have i got news for you to vote in the real Mayoral election.

Although if we are all really lucky they are actually Ken supporters who thought that it might be amusing for Ken to say he beat a monkey in the race for Mayor.

However, on the up side - thank fuck he has nothing to do with education now. Please Boris - go back to presenting TV where you can be funny ......

Kubb

2007-07-31T14:44:00.000+01:00

The history of Kubb is shrouded in mystery and there are several theories about the origins of the game. Most of these agree that Kubb evolved in Scandinavia and is over 1000 years' old and came about as a way for the Vikings to wile away the long summers' evenings. It is occasionally suggested that it may have developed in Northern France, but seeing as the Normans were originally from Scandinavia, the source was probably the same.



It has been suggested that Kubb evolved into the version played today from an early form where the Vikings used to play with the skulls and thigh bones of their victims of rape and pillage. Then as Christianity swept across Northern Europe, it was no longer deemed politically correct to kill people for the purposes of a friendly team game and so the Vikings started using wooden blocks instead. The more probable and mildly less gruesome (but far less interesting!) theory is that Kubb started off as a game played using the off-cuts resulting from chopping firewood. This is supported by the fact that in Swedish, the word "kubb" means block of wood

Glastonbury 2007

2007-07-11T22:46:00.000+01:00

My favs were:

Just Jack

Mr Hudson

Lily Allen

I want to go next year already!!

Wet holidays

2007-07-07T17:34:00.001+01:00

Two holidays in England in the wettest June ever. However, they were fun. Glastonbury was great, made even better by the people we were with and a fab gazebo.

Scotland was beautiful, even through the rain clouds. For once on holiday I really relaxed (in Scotland rather than Glastonbury) and its taking a few days to get back into the hecticness of London life.

The Olympic Logo: Mr L's letter to the Guardian

2007-06-06T10:23:00.000+01:00

As the debate rages on about the Olympic logo this is Mr L's letter to the Guardian:

Dear sir / madam

Instead of the traditional vilification of anything different (Edgy symbol of digital age or artistic flop, 5/6/07) the London 2012 team and their brand designers should be applauded for having the courage to create a brand that is truly innovative and unique in the sterile field of corporate Olympic designs.

Leading edge design often makes us uncomfortable at first, particularly if we are outside the main target group. This brand is explicitly aimed at young people, who have been marginalised by previous Games and are almost certainly not to be found voting in online petitions or frequenting the comment pages of the traditional media. Maybe they do have reservations themselves, but none of those opposed to the brand seem to have thought it worthwhile to ask for their opinion. This may prove to be the greatest justification of all.

Sadly, the only thing more predictable than the rush to condemn will be the scramble from the same people to jump on the acceptance bandwagon in a year’s time, when the new brand is a showcase for London as a continuing leader among world cities - brave, bold and embracing change.

Yours faithfully

Glastonbury pre meet

2007-05-29T12:38:00.001+01:00

We had a great planning meeting for Glastonbury yesterday.
I'm soooooo excited.

I feel rubbish today - but I'm sure I'll feel worse in 4 weeks time!

Wet bank holiday

2007-05-27T17:01:00.000+01:00

What a wet miserable bank holiday weekend.

I have been to the gym though so maybe the rain isn't all bad. I've also been painting my front door just as I said I would. That wouldn't have happened if it had been lovely and sunny. It is just drying at the moment. Although nothing is really dry at the moment as it has been pouring down with rain.

A rainy afternoon likes this makes me want afternoon tea. A crumbly scone with clotted cream and strawberry jam. That reminds me of being in Exeter when it would often rain and we'd go for a drive and have scones and cream or eat them at home in front of the fire.

I've also joined Facebook. I'm still getting to grips with how it works and of course find it funny "poking" someone. You can search on your school and university. I left my school 12 years longer ago than anyone else who is already on it. So I think really does prove the point that we are a generation to old for these social network sites. Saying that - there were quite a few people I knew on it. A clever little thing goes through your address book and tells you which of your contacts are on facebook. There were a couple of people I don't know at all but most surprising was seeing my little bro on there. However the thought of poking him is just to wrong for words.

Tomorrow we're having a pre glasto meet up. I'm getting really excited about going but starting to have doubts about how well I'll be able to cope with it now - it's 7 years since I last went and I am a lot more into my creature comforts now. Mr L and I went and bought a tent yesterday. It was pretty heavy carrying it home (well that is what Mr L said) and he got my thinking about having to carry all my things from car to campsite at Glastonbury. Phew - worn out already.

It is certainly going to be a very different Glastonbury experience than I've ever had before. I always used to work there. This meant less traffic queues arriving and leaving. Staying a week. Safe camping and therefore a pillow, lilo, far more clothes than i really needed, a hot meal every day, a tent with a constant supply of tea.. etc, A shower, a proper flush toilet..

However it did mean I missed some of the bands. Although actually I don't care much for "bands", rather the acts I wanted to see. This year I'm looking forward to seeing Mr Hudson, Just Jack and Jamie T if they are playing.

Lets hope the weather gets better in the next 4 weeks. Last year on this day I was in the desert in America. Standing at a spot where 4 states meet. It was a lot hotter!

Working on a Sunday sucks

2007-05-13T21:33:00.000+01:00

Working on a sunday again. It sucks. Hopefully I'll trade this for a day at Glastonbury though.

I cooked dinner for some friends last night and even amazed myself.

Now time to eat some chocolate and watch TV!

DIY

2007-05-11T08:57:00.000+01:00

I'm getting back into trying to finish off those last few jobs that i want doing round the house. I really want new windows as we have horrible aliminum ones. Trying to get a quote without a sales agent coming round has proved too difficult though. Someone came from Anglian last night. i didn't think he was too pushy but Mr L is not so keen on the idea of having anyone else round now or having the windows done. It was a bit more expensive than we'd thought it was going to be. the next step is to get a quote from a local firm but i don't know anyone who lives near us who has had their windows done so i don't know how to get a recommendation.

The next job will be painting the front door. It's currently red but I'd like a nice duck egg blue. I think I'm going to be able to paint this myself. I think i would like a nice shiny door knocker on it as well.

But enough of that - today i must finish writing a report. Tonight we are going out to dinner at the lovely Pumphouse. Yum.

my phone is amazing

2007-05-06T16:22:00.000+01:00

Have eventually worked out how to download music on to my new phone (Sony Ericsson W880). How cool. No wonder the kids want to play their phones on the bus. It's a pretty amazing thing that music is now so portable. I remember when we were kids and when we wanted to carry music about we had a boom box. Of course that was considered pretty anti social and you certainly wouldn't have got two or three of them going with different songs on the bus in the morning. So the downside of portable phones with music is that now in the morning I have to listen to crap R n B from several different sources. Maybe next week I'll be competing with Just Jack on my phone (which of course is of better quality!).

Whilst looking for a picture of a boom box i found this blog that I've quite enjoyed - Techie Diva. Its pink and girly and about technology. Cool.

My garden blog

2007-05-06T11:33:00.000+01:00

I've learnt how to mobile blog. So now I have a mobile blog as well where i can keep a photo diary. This year, after planting some bulbs last year, I've discovered how wonderful it is to grow things. So I've planted lots of seeds in the garden. Before it was mainly shrubs; although this may be because I "weeded" up all the previous flowers. I planted some Gladioli bulbs last month and already they have started to grow. So I thought it would be could to keep track of where everything is and how quickly things are growing with a picture blog. You can find my gardening blog at mrslsgarden.blogspot.com.

I love my nano though

2007-03-31T18:02:00.000+01:00

It is so small and tiny and light. I love it. If only it was pink.

I also got a new phone this week. It is lovely as well. It's a Sony Ericsson W880i. So small.

Mine's silver though with lovely pink flowers on the screen.

I know need to learn how to blog from it and be down with the kids.

poo to itunes

2007-02-04T23:46:00.000Z

well I'm now in a really bad mood. A couple of weeks ago I lost all my itunes folder on my computer. I had most of my songs and playlists on my ipod mini. I've spent the last couple of weeks trying to work out how to get these from my ipod to the computer but despite several arguments with my husband and hours searching on the internet no luck. I really wanted some new music on my ipod that I've bought so wanted to be able to update my ipod.

So anyway, this evening I've bitten the bullet, downloaded all my cds again and uploaded my ipod. So I've lost all the ratings and playlists I had. My husband is cross as I've been pissing around trying to work it out for the last 2 hours and I'm pissed off because I've been pissing around with it for the last two hours and now it looks like I'm going to have to sit here for another hour whilst it wipes it all and updates it. Poo.

Not happy and its nearly Monday morning.

poo.

Home and away

2007-01-31T22:28:00.000Z

Arsenal have just beaten Tottenham which is excellent news. I can imagine my hubby jumping for joy. I imagine he'll have a sore throat again when he comes in tonight. I'm nice and chilled out on the sofa, however. Lets Hope we can beat Chelsea in the final now.

I'm going to Dubai in a month. I'm really looking forward to catching up with my best friend who lives in Kuwait. It will be really nice to have some sun as well. My plan to lose some weight before I go hasn't got very far yet. It took until yesterday, the 30th, to get to the gym. So that New Year's resolution was a bit late getting started. The other - not to get drunk - has already been blown out of the window....

Last Saturday was H's leaving do. She is quitting a life of marketing to go off round the world. It all sounds very exciting. I don't think I would have the guts to leave the UK. I'm sure she is going to have a fab time though. She is meant to be writing a blog - and I look forward to hearing about her adventures. And I'm sure she'll have some. In fact she manages quite well at that in the UK. I spent the Saturday afternoon before looking after her in hospital following a bike accident and some serious concussion. So bike riders out there - wear a helmet. And A&E nurses and doctors - you really are amazing.

I really don't get how bankers can earn such high bonuses when it is nurses and teachers that really deserve them. That just doesn't seem fair to me. I've recently been looking at graduate recruitment as part of my job. I was shocked to see that £30k+ is the average starting salary for grads in banking and law. How much? That seems a lot to me. If I had my time again would I choose banking over Market Research.. urrmmm?

And grads seem to expect so much more now. Students in general seem to be so much more in control of their destinty thanIi remember being. ButIi think the internet and mobile phones are a lot to do with that. How much easier must it to be a student with a computer, the internet and a mobile phone..

umm anyway mr L is on his way home..I could just about hear his excitement over the noise on the bus he was on. Which allows me one moan before I sign off. Bloody kids and their bloody mobile phones with the crappy music and no head phones. I'mm sure we spent most of our teens and twenties trying to get better and better quality music equipment and now that it is available the kids nowadays insist on playing crap R&B on a tinny mobile phone. It is particularly annoying on the bus when several of them are competing to see who can have the rudest badest tunes... grrrrrr. rant rant.

xx

ra ra ra

2006-09-17T02:02:00.000+01:00

What a lovely day we had at the races today.
Placepot rules - several of us had big wins.
Don't we do lovely things

We've had our a house a year

2006-07-14T11:12:00.000+01:00

We got the keys for our house a year ago today.

Every thing now seems to be falling apart.

Although saying that - there have been numerous things leaking over the last year, it wasn't just yesterday!

Good luck to Al who is getting her house today.
And happy birthday to GB. See you for drinks in the park later.

I've had some lovely flowers delivered

2006-07-07T15:05:00.000+01:00

and I can't stop grinning.

I stood outside at 12 today and thought about all the people who had lost their lives and all those who had been injured. Not just on 7/7 last year but in all the conflicts round the world.

My office is across from New Scotland Yard. There were many policemen standing outside for the 2 minute silence as well. It made me think about how the view of the emergency services was congratulated last year. I saw Billy Elliot last night (which was fab - I'll come to that another time) and that portrays the police at the time of the minors strike in a very different light. I know many of the survivors of 7/7 along with other people are calling for an enquiry. What is important to me is to live in a community where there is openness and people trust and respect each other.

I am so lucky to be alive, have the life I do, and the people round me who love me back.

I'm welling up again.

Feeling very emotional today.

2006-07-07T10:27:00.000+01:00

I went to Kings Cross this morning and laid some flowers in memory of those who lost their lives or were injured this time last year. This time two years ago I was getting the final arrangements in place to be married. So this time last year, as I was travelling to work, I was thinking about our first wedding anniversary and where we would be going away. I had my ipod on loudly and was daydreaming so missed the bang but over the next few days and months would certainly see the effects.

I’ve been thinking about last July 7th all morning whilst travelling in to work and now I’m at work and everything seems normal. I guess that is one of the most remarkable and noteworthy points about what happened to London, the fact that everyone was able to pull together and carry on. My heart goes out to the families of those who lost loved ones last year and to the survivors though. We must never forget what happened. What happened at that moment but also how people reacted to it afterwards and the following pride of being a Londoner.

So our wedding anniversary is on Sunday. Last year we were away and this year we’ll be watching the world cup final. One thing I really remember from July 8th last year is once we got to Babington house we went for a walk in a corn field. It all seemed so quiet and peaceful. It felt like all I’d heard was noise and crying and police and ambulance sirens for what had seemed like forever but had only been a day. I wanted to read everything in the newspapers and couldn’t stop watching the telly. But yet I really remember that moment of peace.

We were also in the process of buying a house last year – and moved in on the 14th. So the 2 minutes silence last year was shortly before we picked up our keys. Two of our friends and their baby are moving today – I hope they have a relatively stress free day. Three other friends are moving next week – so good luck to them as well. And this makes me think about all these events that are interconnected and remind me of happy and sad things. Our house has a garden so the flowers I took this morning were from there – North London flowers. More connections.

Make sure you take time out today to think about what you’ve got as well as what you may have lost. To my husband, family and friends – I love you all.

Take That and party

2006-07-05T20:20:00.000+01:00

Feast your eyes

I heart Mike Skinner

2006-07-04T21:45:00.000+01:00

I know it's wrong with my demographics, but I do.

I was listening to him on my ipod this morning in the sun and I just couldn't help but smile.

He is a lyrical genius. A poet for a generation.

He also blogs

turns out they can't (England beat Portugual that is)

2006-07-03T11:40:00.000+01:00

What a disapointing day Saturday was.

We did make up for the disapointment by partying well into the night any way.
Thanks for a great b-b-q without the b-b-q guys!

Tams - thanks for the web tip. I need to look that site up when I have a minute, I've now lost the post edit bar - so I can't spell check or link...

maybe England can beat Portugal

2006-06-26T16:14:00.000+01:00

In response to Troy joy's comment: Mrs L says: another day of football
Indeed we did see the England game. On a lovely big telly as well. Very tense. Although we seemed OK for a while after the first goal.

I wasn't hopeful at all for the next match. But after watching Portugal last night, I think if we can get an early goal and defend well - we'll be alright. (that's quite an obvious comment - isn't it?)

troyjoy - have a great holiday.

(I'm not sure I've sussed this linking stuff yet. Permalink, backtracking - still so much to learn)

Another busy week

2006-06-25T23:01:00.000+01:00

Well work has certainly been busy. I certainly seem better at taking on things than finishing things.

As I said last Friday I went to my friend's gig at the Vibe bar in Brick Lane. I love going to Brick Lane on warm evenings as there are always so many people about and it has a nice vibe. It was Moefoe's album launch and it all seemed to go well. Managed a celeb spot at the Truman Brewery as well - Dave Gorman.

Saturday was my friend's daughters 5th birthday. A very enjoyable afternoon in the park. Although I have to admit I did arrive after the kids games. I did bring a pink skipping rope that played house music though - so I was down with the kids a bit.

Sunday was spent gardening and watching football. I'm still getting used to this gardening lark. It takes so much time but I do feel proud when I manage anything, even if it is pulling all the strangle weed from one bed.

On Tuesday we went to a friend's to watch the England vs Sweden game. Evidence from his kitchen suggests that he has never cooked before but he assured us he would provide food. We were skeptical and more than one of the girls had emailed him to ask if he needed help. He assured us "no". There certainly was food when we got there and lots of it. Raw. And the cooker didn't work. Our host took no responsibility for cooking so I got busy with the b-b-q. I thought the bonus of b-b-qs was that men did the cooking. Why is it then that I've had to do the cooking at the last three. Maybe it's the men I know.....

Our Swedish friend put up a good fight for her team. She did well defending herself against the tirade of abuse from everyone else. During the second half several people seemed less interested in the football. We escaped before midnight. Many didn't.

We also went to see Carmen this week. I thought it was the opera but actually it was a modern dance adaptation. It wasn't what I had expected but brilliant to watch. We went to see Carmen because we played a song from it at our wedding. I came down the aisle to .... Our wedding anniversary is July 9th. Yep the World cup final. No nice weekend away this year! So a trip to Carmen was negotiated.

Also lots of football watching this week. As you can tell if you read any other posts. I'm not really into football, but I seem to have got sucked in. Maybe it's because I haven't watched Big Brother yet... Mr L and whambam are very into it. I don't really have any choice, but I do like making predictions on the scores. I also love it when an under dog does well.

And then another weekend. Football. Beer. Junk food. Indigestion.

listen to the final comments from the boys on today's football

2006-06-24T22:43:00.000+01:00

Mr L: "Normal order of the world is restored by the end of the day. Mexico can, however, go home with their heads held high"

Whambam: "Where are we going next?"

Troyjoy: "Delightful, final goal was reminiscent of the Justin Fashanu goal of the season"

Whambam: "I love the world cup. All those nations together. Having fun. United. I want more. Please don't make me go to bed. Can I have another beer please?"

We're looking at extra time

2006-06-24T21:48:00.000+01:00

Whambam Dan believes Mexico are the moral winners.
I'm still cheering for them.

Of course the afternoon hasn't been all football and beer. We've had burgers and discussed books as well. Troyjoy and I are both reading the Tipping Point. We both got it yesterday and have got to about page 40. So we've been talking about who we know who are connectors and mavens in our group.

another day of football

2006-06-24T20:20:00.000+01:00

Currently watching the boys watching football.
Can the Mexicans beat Argentina?

Mr L says no, not in open play
Whambam Dan says probably not
Troyjoy says no

I say - I hope so - then I can carry on drinking Corona as my world cup beer.

Ban oversized hand luggage

2006-06-22T19:21:00.000+01:00

I read in the Metro earlier this week that airline passengers are to banned from taking over sized hand luggage on flights.

Excellent I say.

This was something that wound me up when we were in America. People with "hand luggage" they couldn't even carry themselves.

It meant long queues as you entered security (but I have a bigger beef with security - I'll come to that another day). And long queues as you entered the plane. This was because so many people had luggage they couldn't lift to get in the over head lockers. Then when someone else taller or stronger offered to help them lift it they had to spend about 5 minutes trying to shove it in because the bag was too big for the locker.

What happened to taking on the flight what you need for the flight? Eg ipod, book, passport, water?

I realise that people don't want to wait for their luggage after the flight but it annoyed me that I had to wait to board and unboard my flight whilst lockers were crammed and unloaded the other end. It wasn't like we waited long to get our bags either - but this was probably because there were only about 20 suitcases on the plane. So if airlines are going to let people with big hand luggage board they need to start designing planes for short haul flights differently - less cargo area and bigger over head lockers.

England are through

2006-06-21T14:31:00.000+01:00

And due to play Ecuador at the weekend.

I was in Ecuador, in Quito, 5 years ago when Ecuador beat Peru (I think) in a world cup qualifier (the victory led them onto their first world cup). There were massive parties in the street and celebrations that night like I'd never seen before. It was an amazing atmosphere. Hundreds of cars drove through the streets with their horns blaring and people hanging out of the windows.

Although I'm please they are doing well lets hope it is us who is celebrating on Sunday. I'll also be celebrating my Nan's birthday. Happy birthday Nan!

thank you Ukraine for some goals

2006-06-20T11:03:00.000+01:00

Even in the last few minutes they were still going for it (OK so they had a big goal difference to make up)

But Spain - what happened to you?
You were meant to score goals in the first half.
You lost us a fiver

Good luck to England tonight!

There aren't enough goals in this World Cup

2006-06-19T14:40:00.000+01:00

I'm bored with defensive play and 0-0 draws. There's been France vs Switzerland, Mexico vs Angola and on Sunday Japan vs Croatia. I fell asleep during this game, the biggest excitement had been looking for two friends who were in the crowd.

OK - so I may not be the biggest football supporter and so you can tell me it's not all about scoring goals - but attacking play is far more exciting to watch. And I believe this world cup has seen the least goals scored so far..

So how about spicing the world cup up a bit - no entry into the second round unless you'd scored 5 goals or something like that?

Mr L said this was a pretty silly idea and would be far to hard to control. His idea though is a cracker. No points for a nil nil draw. This would at least force some attacking play. So what do you reckon?

I think it's great - let's hope FIFA are reading.....

Busy week

2006-06-16T16:48:00.000+01:00

Well, the end of the week. And what an action packed week it's been. Last Friday we went to our friends wedding. It was a great day. They'd got together at our wedding a couple of years ago and so we got a mention in the speech. Of course I'm so modest I didn't stand up and milk it to much! The weather has been really hot in the UK since we got back from holiday and the wedding was in the countryside so it was all rather lovely.

On Saturday though, there was a mad drive back to the City to watch the first England football game. The drive should take an hour or so, but there were a million cars on the road and lots of road works. The prospect of football coupled with the hottest day of the yequaledlled lots of very angry drivers. 2 hours later as we reached London and were still stuck in traffic coming into town, so we jumped out the car and walked the last bit of the way home whilst our friend driving carried on to drop someone else off.

Anyway, we made it with time to settle on the sofa before the football started and a few friends came round. Luckily England got a goal within the first couple of minutes but they didn't play well. We won though - and of course that's what matters! The sun was shinning and the grass was cut so we spent the rest of the day having a barby and drinking lots of beer, cava and pimms. Actually we drunk the supply we had for the whole tournament in that one day - but never mind.

Back at work after my holiday and very busy with things. Including looking at blogs for work purposes. Hence me starting a personal one here. So what do you think of company blogs? More to come on that maybe...

And of course there has been football all week. But there are so many other people with more to say on that matter than me.

Off to a friends gig tonight - www.moefoe.co.uk

And my friend's 5 year olds birthday party tomorrow.

Hopefully it will be a nice sunny weekend.