tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91071739602645125532012-01-29T07:17:11.630ZBus Driver, and according to my better half, Artificer-General of Chaos Incarnate! Oh yeah, and Blant Writer as well! This is a combination blog-cum-rant, or "Blant" on, well, whatever is the centre of my attention at the time, really!Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.comBlogger3061100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-56219961474346646282012-01-28T12:36:00.001Z2012-01-29T07:17:11.634Z

So, there I was, nice and early into the depot this morning, and what a surprise, someone else blew out, resulting in my getting roped into doing their (longer) duty instead of my scheduled duty, doing the route from our depot that goes through the middle of London. Nice, you might think, a little variety, and all that. Not so nice, however, when a bunch of f***wits from "UK Uncut", "Occupy

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-14667522002753958772012-01-23T07:40:00.000Z2012-01-23T07:40:03.988Z

Just a brief one, this time: 恭喜發財 (Gùng héi faat chōi) to you - it's now the Year Of The dragon, so Happy Chinese New Year, may it be a prosperous, happy, and rewarding year for all of you!

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-6245726005523496622012-01-20T01:10:00.001Z2012-01-20T01:24:02.842Z

...that the US does NOT need new laws (SOPA/PIPA). They've just closed down what they call a Piracy filesharing site using existing US laws - laws that certain US Senators and Representatives say aren't up to the job that they've just achieved...?! The Register: BREAKING: Kiwis collar Kim Dotcom as US throws the book at Megaupload. Of course, the likes of Anonymous and similar have retaliated

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-28796825621912499952012-01-18T11:43:00.000Z2012-01-18T11:58:10.714Z

Currently, two bills (a bill is a draft of an act of law, before it's is subjected to a vote; if the vote accepts the draft, it is passed to the President of the United States to be signed into US statute law) are going through the United States Senate, and the United States House of Representatives; these are SOPA and PIPA (the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protection of Intellectual Property

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-57335644228238699152012-01-17T11:54:00.000Z2012-01-17T12:18:53.146Z

...Only buggered up by First Great Western's appalling customer lack-of-service. I've been spending some quality time with my other half, in the sticks, in the middle of nowhere. It's very nice to get away from London, with all its' hustle and bustle, and greased whippet (to coin a northern friend of mines phraseology) speed of life, and instead, wind down to a slower pace of life, and have

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-17718759461396454862012-01-14T15:45:00.001Z2012-01-14T18:16:59.686Z

The blue frame in the photo to the left is a gas holder, or "Gasometer". Note the filled one to the right in the background, which is very much the exception to the rule these days - normally, it appears that they're both empty. You can tell, by the way, which one if the newer of the two. It's the blue framed one. The grey, filthy-looking one, dates back to before the Second World War; the

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-82327059510275861462012-01-04T16:15:00.001Z2012-01-04T19:17:40.873Z

Every so often, the morning sky is full of colour, even if it does tend to portend some really grotty weather for later in the day. This morning saw one such example. The following photo was taken from near the western end of the route I drive, and it's also by far the best morning sky shot I've had the pleasure to snap with this phone this far - and yes, I was parked up, standing by my bus as

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-39127367023606494432012-01-03T17:10:00.000Z2012-01-03T17:10:02.635Z

...that we're not allowed to do certain things at work... It's been one of those days, and my sarcasm senses are vibrating away on 'Full'... best you run for cover...! Were we allowed, I'd probably be about ready to stick a sign up in the window of my cab, facing boarding passengers, that said the following: Like I said, it's a shame we can't stick up notices like this, but then

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-91396915628799509602012-01-02T10:38:00.001Z2012-01-02T14:33:34.031Z

You have to feel sorry for some folks, at times, like the poor old gent who got on my bus at the mid-point bus station earlier today. He was rather put out, to say the least. He'd made a special effort to get into the shopping centres in town, to find that they were, for the most part, closed up tighter than a bankers' wallet. What he was most annoyed about, though, was not that they were all

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-41686433491401006382011-12-29T00:01:00.000Z2012-01-04T19:21:58.782Z

I am frequently asked by colleagues and friends why it is that I detest both Apple, and anything made by Apple, these days. It's simple. It's called the "Walled Garden" (Click for definition link on Wikipedia). Put briefly, my interpretation of the theory goes that if you buy into walled garden tech (such as Apple's iOS as used on their iPhones), you'll never be able to get out of the walled

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-72000394280868983432011-12-28T12:09:00.000Z2011-12-28T12:11:24.618Z

So, six in the bleeding morning, and the landline rings. "Hello?" (real original, but then I'd only hit the sack a couple of hours beforehand. What? I'm on Christmas leave!) The line was slightly crackly, and there was a mild hiss in the background. Only on international calls does this noise seem to happen. I checked the caller display, to find that, oh joy, it said 'Blocked'. "Hello, my name

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-51844457345615386992011-12-27T22:00:00.000Z2012-01-02T14:35:22.897Z

Having cast heavy hints for the last month or so, I actually got one of the items that I desperately wanted this Christmas: A USB-to-IDE/EIDE/SATA converter cable adaptor, and let me tell you, it does exactly what it says on the tin. This is it: IOMAX USB 2.0 to SATA/IDE Adapter Kit with Power Adapter for 2.5/3.5/5.25 Inch SATA or IDE Drive. As you may recall from an earlier entry here, my

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-84396841651270766992011-12-26T12:24:00.000Z2011-12-26T22:54:51.134Z

We've all done it; and will, likely as not, do it again. Leaving the assorted year-long animosities in the hallway, you sit down with the rest of the warring factions - I mean family - and act civilly around the table as the feast, supplied by the masochist that is the cook (in my case, my Sister, for the must be fifth or sixth time on the trot), is placed before you on the table, your mouths

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-15141729664300381372011-12-20T08:26:00.002Z2011-12-22T00:42:39.219Z

The train fares go up next month. Apparently, by an average of 5% or so. Since my other half lives some 70-odd miles away as the crow flies, it's cheaper for me to use public transport to get there, even when I *did* have a car. You will recall that a car that I owned was AGAIN stolen from where I live, close to a year ago now (the second in four years, dammit), so I haven't bothered getting

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-4015505947013772652011-12-19T23:21:00.001Z2011-12-20T08:27:13.352Z

To misquote Colin Clive from the movie Frankenstein: "It's alive! It's ALIVE! IT'S ALIE-YIVE!" Ahem. What am I talking about? You will recall that I recently ordered a Parallel to USB cable, in the hope that I could revive my old prehistoric-like LaserJet 6P, following the discovery of a post in "Pete's Blog", where he did exactly that. Well, the cable arrived from Amazon while I was at work

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-50362768985398430242011-12-18T14:03:00.002Z2011-12-18T16:43:03.972Z

Like a fair number of the people I know, I do a fair amount of my Christmas shopping on-line. I find it soothes the fevered brow, allows me to browse at my leisure, and shop in the comfort of my own home - or, now I have a decent smartphone, almost anywhere I can get an internet connection. Unless, of course, I'm physically out and about, playing at the Annual National Finals of Murderwalk, the

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-67137027160727177322011-12-15T03:53:00.000Z2011-12-15T04:08:48.268Z

So, my desktop PC died a few months back, when the primary hard disk - the boot drive - catastrophically failed. Well, it was, I'll admit, only a matter of time, and I'd been half expecting something like that to happen, so had (wisely) been doing what I tell others to do: I'd quietly been backing most of the data on it to one of my external USB hard drives, so (queue the bugler in the

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-47209521311583089812011-12-13T20:27:00.000Z2011-12-15T03:58:10.560Z

OK, so a fair few people recently got hit by malware that they loaded onto their phones. Android phones, to be precise. It would appear that the software packages (Applications, or as lazy people call them, "Apps") they installed to their phones were slightly modified popular games. The uploader of these games cracked them open like a Piñata,and inserted some of his own lines of computer code,

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-85965431177449717172011-12-08T13:38:00.001Z2011-12-08T14:01:05.212Z

There I was, on the tram to work, earlier today, when, at the stop before I got off, two young women - barely out of school by the look of them - got on the tram, and loudly continued the conversation that they'd obviously started some time before. Nothing new in that, really, we all continue conversations on public transport, although most of us have the decency to moderate - that is, lower the

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-74244866266049257002011-11-17T06:00:00.001Z2011-11-26T01:08:50.885Z

I suppose that I'm probably as guilty as most of you when, from time to time, I use American English, slang, and idioms. However, I'm slowly coming to the boil over some so-called words creeping into the language over here, when they should have firmly stayed over there instead. One, at the time of writing, really stands head and shoulders above the rest for sheer stupidity. It's the use of the

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-53829648278606324722011-11-16T10:51:00.001Z2011-11-16T10:59:21.790Z

You might have noticed that I've updated the masthead image. I reckoned that since not everything in this Blant was bus-related, a better idea would be for a photo of london. So, there it is. Anyway, I hunted for a spot in London that would give me a good vew of the centre of the city, while including a few iconic buildings, and in a place that I could take the photo without having to ask

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-83425935080653740002011-11-16T06:40:00.001Z2011-11-16T10:43:58.862Z

Grammar drives me nuts at times; I'm generally good at it (you may have noticed this, reading the many entries in this blog), but even I get things wrong from time to time (most especially with the use of the apostrophe). However, one thing that drives me completely round the twist, when I read other peoples' work, is the ever-lasting battle between "Your" and "You're". So, in a hopeful spirit

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-6188502766257020272011-11-14T06:42:00.000Z2011-11-16T10:44:53.712Z

Well, I'm on the way to our head office today, as some twit in the EU decided, a few years back, that it'd be a jolly good laugh to make LGV & PSV drivers take some after-market training in how to do our jobs - after, that is, we actually get through all the hoops to get our vocational licences. Another way to either bleed more cash from self-employed drivers, or rake it in from our employers.

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-51735335879687741672011-10-26T16:22:00.001+01:002011-10-26T16:28:42.867+01:00

My new upgrade phone arrived a couple of hours ago - by Parcel Force, no less. Those who know me well, will have heard me turn the air blue (and many other colours besides) when muttering about their shortcomings in delivering - or rather, not delivering - stuff to me. To keep it polite, let's just say that we've had issues, Parcel Force and I. All this appears to be changing, though. Including

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-28977547210361475152011-10-24T18:37:00.001+01:002011-10-25T08:53:46.597+01:00

... hate having a cold. My entire body above the waist, less arms, neck, and head, ache through repeated coughing and sneezing. My nose is regularly blocked, and kleenex and (would you believe it, they make Soothers) Cadburys need to really start better marketting of their stock, as I'm going through their products like a hot knife through butter (there's a much more appropriate simile

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-21028517942510761982011-10-22T16:26:00.000+01:002011-10-24T08:19:14.214+01:00

...and of course, I've come down with a stinker of a cold in the last two days. Just as well I had the 'Flu jab a fortnight ago, if this cold is anything to go by. *Insert window rattling sneeze and obligatory "YeeeeeeUCH!"* You see what I mean. Anyhow, it's given me a chance to go over the on-line mobile phone deals again; you will recall a few months back, I was looking at a couple of

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-75587420668628342372011-10-08T18:43:00.000+01:002011-10-08T20:43:34.996+01:00

It's Saturday. Normally, this means that a shift at work is going to be overly hard work, with short turn-round times, loads of traffic, and short meal reliefs... Imagine my vast relief when I found out it was to be a short shift, two rounds only, with close to an hour meal relief! Unfortunately, the feeling was not to last long. First trip... For practically half the trip, I had the

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-64526078412373120362011-09-18T16:57:00.000+01:002011-09-19T00:56:36.915+01:00

You may not think of these as irritating, but try being on the receiving end, day in, day out, all year long, and you might just realise how damnably aggravating the following can be... When you're standing at a bus stop and you hail a bus to stop, please, stand by the bus stop 'flag' (the pole with the bus stop sign on it). When stopping at bus stops, we're trained to stop the bus, when

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-64700464103023954582011-09-17T20:49:00.004+01:002011-09-17T20:50:00.779+01:00

...was out there in their cars today. This, on a Saturday, you will quickly understand, was Not Good™ (spot the capitalisation and Trademark signs), at all; it clogged the roads worse than I've seen since the run-up to last Christmas, let alone the last snopocalypse we suffered. This, when coupled with the roadworks on the route, made the traffic the worst we'd seen in quite some time. As a

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-64925845951903696382011-09-16T11:02:00.000+01:002011-09-16T23:31:21.766+01:00

...that it must be F***wit day! OK, here we go... Both of these miserable excuses for motorists, within ten second of each other at the same set of traffic lights, carved my bus up, missing the offside front corner by scant centimetres, as they cut from the outside lane to the inside lane, to get past the queue turning right, forcing me to brake hard and likewise causing my passengers a great

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-69810822679735543182011-09-14T23:21:00.000+01:002011-09-14T23:22:13.024+01:00

I saw this the other day, just took a little while longer than normal for me to get it here, as it was taken on my Fuji camera, as the phone camera is still playing silly wotsits. Read the small print below the number plate (click the photo for a larger version) :-) Nice to see that even bug stompers have a sense of humour ;-)

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-16575649625784892732011-09-13T07:34:00.000+01:002011-09-13T09:41:10.238+01:00

So, it's been over three years since I started this blog, and I reckon that it's now time for a minor facelift. I'll be doing this in small increments, since I'm generally very happy with the layout and look of the Blant. One of the things I want to do, is add an image of the London skyline, or something similar, like a panoramic photo of London, to use in the masthead. The problem is in

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-7928090259412141312011-08-24T18:16:00.002+01:002011-09-14T23:26:37.879+01:00

Here's why... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-14652482 These guys just really take the sodding cake, they really do. The idea of a hand-held computer is nothing new, after all. It's been around in science fiction for decades, even longer, maybe. Likewise, the idea of using a touch-sensitive screen is nothing new either - there are two types, resistive, where only one touch works at a time

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-68970688316310424732011-08-22T11:52:00.001+01:002011-08-23T03:18:36.178+01:00

It occurred to me, while watching a clip on youtube (of collisions caught on video), that many of us out there don't carry any form of emergency identification at all. Even bike riders, for pities sake. So, in the hope that this might actually help someone someday, a few ideas... I have a pair of ID discs that I always wear; they're modelled on my old Army ID Discs, they've got the "big 6" on

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-40893416365373606952011-08-16T11:36:00.004+01:002011-08-16T11:36:56.917+01:00

Well, following the truly disgusting events of monday night, it appears that triple Seven (777) demolition pulled out all the stops in performing their task for the Reeves Family; the roads are once again open to traffic, four or five days earlier than expected by London Buses (Our diversion notices were saying it'd be the weekend before things got back to normal). Congratulations on the fast

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-6077655219441582562011-08-16T11:31:00.002+01:002011-08-16T11:33:02.427+01:00

This "Nemi" cartoon in todays' Metro got me laughing myself practically off my chair in the cafe opposite the eastern Bus Stand in my meal relief this morning - and got me some very odd looks from staff and customers alike ;-) http://img.metro.co.uk//i/pix/cartoons/nemi/2011/08/16.gif Enjoy!

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-86147230911012175632011-08-14T09:38:00.009+01:002011-08-15T10:08:07.914+01:00

This is a shot from Google Streetview, from a year or two ago. That's close to a hundred and fifty years of building history, family history (The Reeves Family), and local history as well, all wrapped up in one, there. I took the next set of photos on the way home from work yesterday. Unsurprisingly, a fair few others were doing the exact same thing. This is all that's left. It's almost as

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-19625950390253328862011-08-14T06:41:00.001+01:002011-08-14T09:16:49.816+01:00

...there's a view that I have to photograph. Here's two such photos, taken this morning. This is looking across south east London, at about 6.30 this morning. Rather appropriate for a Sunday, with all the beams of light shining down. I like it, anyhow. It's not often that I've got a camera of doing such a sight even half its justice, so whenever I can, and I've got the camera with me, I try

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-33884736592526523522011-08-11T03:26:00.005+01:002011-08-14T18:07:12.394+01:00

Having spent the last couple of days off sick with a crook neck (I was reversing a bus on the southern bus stand, and CRACK, there went me neck, aaaargh!), I got into work this morning to find the wreckage of the bus that was torched in the Riot in Croydon on Monday night. That's it, on the left. the yellow bit is the "Vehicle off Road - Do not Use" steering wheel cover that some comedian has

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-50656307440953382532011-08-09T12:18:00.009+01:002011-08-09T19:15:51.790+01:00

OK, my major rant below done, time for a smaller one...! It appears that my current contract with Vodafone's up for renewal soon; I had Mobile Phones Direct tell me this the other week (I got my current HTC Touch Pro 2 from them), so looked into it today. I'm far from impressed. Seems that if I go for the phone that I want (a Samsung Galaxy S II running Android v2.3 "Gingerbread"), then

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-79182750564055168822011-08-09T10:02:00.005+01:002011-08-24T15:00:28.206+01:00

I cannot, in this place, call the people that did all of this by the words I want to use; the Blant wold be censored so fast it'd make my head spin. Last night, the violence that hit Tottenham and then Brixton came to Croydon. Live, on the news, the BBC showed a bus and a major landmark shop being razed to the ground, for no more reason than to give the offenders a cheap laugh. Frankly, I'm

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-77402006901436483502011-08-08T09:16:00.001+01:002011-08-08T17:41:47.682+01:00

Not, I strongly suspect, that those rioters in London yesterday give a toss, but once there's been that kind of disorder and damage, there are aftermath costs to consider. Increased insurance for the shops is a fairly safe bet. Increased council and policing costs to add to already high council tax bills is a no-brainer, as the yanks like to call that kind of logic. Costs associated with some

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-78359049952918196532011-08-04T11:23:00.004+01:002011-08-04T11:25:55.525+01:00

First things first. It's not a bog-standard single lump of plastic cut to card-shape. It's actually several thin layers, bonded together to form a composite 'near-field' RFID card. That means it's got a small computer chip inside the card, linked to an antenna, also built into the card. It's all 'passive', and doesn't need a power source. When it's held to ("touched") a card reader, the card

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-4984591873403128572011-07-21T21:49:00.001+01:002011-07-21T21:49:05.616+01:00

So, here I am, sniffling throgh this damn cold and going through Kleenex like I've got shares in the firm, and mentioning throuigh blocked-up nose and rough voice to a mate, over the phone, that I can't even get my freeview digital telly to tune into all the bloody channels these days (cannot get the news channels, movie channels, or even some of the mainstream chanels for pities sake), as they

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-15853475249142861742011-07-21T15:43:00.002+01:002011-07-21T21:44:23.715+01:00

Great, isn't it? All you folks who can take cold remedies take heart: you don't suffer nearly as much as those of us who are on heart medications. For some reason, the medicines we're prescribed react very badly (read: they could put us back in hospital at best) to cold remedies. The problem is one that I am led to believe that  pharmacists call "contraindications", which is medi-babble for "

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-49948230124634568952011-07-16T18:15:00.002+01:002011-07-16T18:15:34.801+01:00

Heh. I'm tired, it's been a loooooooong day, and I'm now home, so I decided to fix, as much as I could, the Twitter feed widget settings (I've come to calling it the birdfeeder *shrug*). It's still not a hundred percent, but at least you can now read the last four tweets completely (it's on the right of the page, just scroll on down, you'll find it!). Next up: Figure out how to prevent the "

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-20421481533737263822011-07-16T07:39:00.001+01:002011-07-16T07:39:46.530+01:00

I regularly see posters and adverts for new films on our buses - it's an occupational hazard, after all - but this one - "Horrible Bosses" - has me chuckling evilly in anticipation - if only beacuse I have known a few bosses in the past that I could happily see through a set of rifle sights *wink* Here's hoping the hype meets expectations, for once ;-)

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-85421016727444527702011-07-15T09:21:00.003+01:002011-07-21T21:42:25.030+01:00

OK, fair do's. I seem to recall burbling on about not going on farcebunk - I mean facebook - to all and sundry over the last couple of years (their security would appear to suck bitter lemons, and besides, it's well over-hyped, and those who know me *know* that I'm rather averse to jumping on those kinds of bandwagons *wink* "So, what's this?" I hear you yell... yeah... well... um... *ahem* I

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-84574361208891316022011-07-12T23:07:00.001+01:002011-07-13T19:07:20.671+01:00

So, here I am, on the way home from work (late in the evening, of course. Driving a bus tends to mean you work some Godawful hours most of the time), and there's some Polak screaming full tilt into his phone. In, of course, Polish. So loud, in fact, that you could probably hear him in Warsaw without the aid of a phone. Why IS it that folks from across the waters tend to yell full tilt into their

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-63636216421636501082011-07-06T12:26:00.003+01:002011-07-13T19:10:11.330+01:00

Like most of us on this side of the gender divide, I shave daily (well, daily when it's a work-day, and most days in addition, unless I'm being really slothful!). The first razor I ever owned was a Christmas present from my Grandmother when I was thirteen, if I recall correctly; seems on reflection that my old man copped out and ran for cover (I was apparently one of those 'difficult' brats to

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-7594628977729078312011-07-03T22:14:00.002+01:002011-07-03T22:16:44.379+01:00

This is only part of the result of someone not using their eyes when turning across oncoming cycle-based traffic (whether powered or not). Off camera, a young man has broken bones, a head injury - despite his crash helmet - and was, I think, VERY lucky escape with his life. I won't detail what happened in any detail, as the Police are still considering what action to take. But I was there. I

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-76833927781484643152011-06-27T19:59:00.002+01:002011-07-03T22:18:27.590+01:00

And the prize, honking great, lowbrow, amoeba-brained half wit moron that parked right on top of this traffic island is one of them. Vans can get past. Cars can too. But anything wider, and, well. You see my point.

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-57086282792375593712011-06-18T13:55:00.002+01:002011-06-22T21:02:32.188+01:00

Then this is, indeed, Summer.

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-70089816841152947592011-06-05T08:55:00.003+01:002011-06-05T14:28:39.727+01:00

Had a major shift in how I look at things this morning... OK, so there I was, getting a lift from a mate to a living history event that we try to regularly attend, and he got saddled with his kids for the day as well. Not as bad as you might imagine, they're actually fairly well behaved, which just goes to show that if you train 'em right, they come out right... (hint hint cough nudge

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-85140844878670089762011-05-26T18:23:00.002+01:002011-06-22T21:06:33.913+01:00

There was a Queen song containing the line "Thunder and lightening / Very very frightening"... Well, I dunno about being frightened, but ye flippin' gods, the rain was torrential, and the thunder and lightening was well bleedin' loud, and well bleedin' bright, respectively. So. Do we blame the Icelandic Volcano, the missed Gotterdammerüng over in Times Square, or just global warning again?

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-41192283931706603842011-05-25T14:25:00.000+01:002011-05-25T14:25:32.406+01:00

I suppose certain Danes hated it then, as they just banned it! BBC News: "Denmark bans Marmite under food safety regulations" Well, I guess they have to protect their smelly Pickled herring industry somehow, but I think this is a bit like taking a Bentley to swat a fly, somehow...!

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-2818728233401311642011-05-17T14:19:00.001+01:002011-06-22T21:04:49.103+01:00

OK, here I am, just about to get to the western terminus, and me darn bus breaks down. Just as I'm about to finish me duty for the day. Just ten bleein'm minutes, but could it wait? Nope. The red lights of engine death, the wail of banshee-like alarms, and for you, ze bus iss ofer, ja? Well, not quite. Now, I have to wait for the engineers to get here, to assume responsibilty for the bus.

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-43626329323499085172011-05-12T15:27:00.000+01:002011-05-13T21:27:47.548+01:00

No, I'm not kidding. Stolen from the Bromley, South London area, right from outside the front of my block of flats, no less, and no-one saw a blasted thing. Full set 58 pattern webbing less bayonet frog and pistol holster British issue Mess tins (not that important, frankly, replicas can be had for peanuts) Folding skeleton bed (1980s issue, replica) 58-pattern roll mat, issue (genuine)

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-50489256140215273412011-05-10T00:03:00.002+01:002011-05-11T16:32:49.453+01:00

...but I'll comment anyhow. What a blindingly self-important and totally ignorant dullard. Thanks, matey, you just blocked the road. Muppit. Problem is, he's not alone. There are loads of gormeless half-witted peanut-brained cretins out there who only think of getting one car length, or a bus lenth ahead of the car or bus in front. So, we come back to my contention that the only people that

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-21834646804001271402011-05-06T22:19:00.003+01:002011-05-06T22:27:05.481+01:00

So, I'm currently on a second day off sick, with what appears to be a nasty dose of food poisoning. Trust me when I say this, it is most definately not nice. In all likelihood, it's probably my own fault, as I suspect that I may not have reheated something properly. And therein lies a lesson, folks. ALWAYS make sure that what you reheat - especially in a microwave oven - is so fully and

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-37769224860224002852011-04-29T10:10:00.004+01:002011-04-29T16:19:48.333+01:00

Front the start of this blant, let me make one ting abundantly clear: I am a loyal Subject of the Crown and an ardent Monarchist; I swore an oath to that effect as well, when I joined the Territorial Army many years back. Indeed, all British servicemen and women, regardless of their being regular or reservist, swear such an oath. Many of us take that oath to mean a great deal more than the words

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-3703220180846989032011-04-27T15:17:00.003+01:002011-04-29T23:15:33.507+01:00

So... There I am, on the first trip of the day, when all of a sudden, I get honks and yells from passing cars and pedestrians... Looking out the window into the rear view mirror, what did I see? Smoke. Loads of it. All coming from my engine compartment. Oh ! So, The drill is to pull over, evacuate the passengers, turn the bus off, and investigate the source of the smoke (without getting myself

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-34252203340712312952011-04-27T10:10:00.002+01:002011-04-29T23:18:09.971+01:00

You'll have seen on the news all the hooplah regarding the upcoming county and referendum elections and vote that's due on May 5th. If you have ANY interest in having a say in how this country is run, then make sure you're registered to vote TODAY, and get down the council offices and ensure that you're on the voters' register. Then, on the day, vote YES to AV, irrespective on how you vote for

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-82340088500021629822011-04-25T15:49:00.001+01:002011-04-29T01:18:30.529+01:00

So, one long weekend later, having spent the majority of it with the other half, and feeling nicely relaxed, I get back to work. To find that a certain south London football team are playing at home. Oh, joy, thinks I. The roads'll be stuffed up. Then I see all the Police in what they now call their "Public Order Equipment" - that's riot gear, to you and me. Not a major worry, they tend to do

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-879850172054731722011-04-17T10:04:00.002+01:002011-04-17T11:51:10.292+01:00

Just a short note this morning... There I was, munching away on a Subway breakfast sub roll (good vaule, too - 6" egg, bacon, and cheese, topped sparingly with my favorite condiment, HP brown sauce, with a coffee, at a rather affordable £2 meal deal, nice!)... And I suddenly realised that all the cafes and take-away places that I like to eat at, all serve HP sauce - yet everywhere you go these

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-62330432639388217812011-04-16T21:30:00.002+01:002011-04-16T21:34:13.755+01:00

It's amazing what passengers do, once on a bus. Most are normal folk, they sit (or stand) peacefully, waiting for their stop, and get off. A few might even call a "Thank you" to the driver (which is always appreciated, let me remind you). A few, though, mostly the younger (teenagers and the twenty-somethings), if they can reach it, will hit the emergency door release in thick traffic, as they

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-41089557235363209602011-04-14T02:56:00.002+01:002011-04-14T03:07:09.730+01:00

Well, I knew bad luck had a mate. Now I know his name. It's PITA (pain in the ****!). My PC is definately stuffed. Coloured confetti on the screen from the very moment I turned in on the other day. So I did the usual things they tell you to do, when you place a call to tech support (no need to do that here, I did Tech Support for a few years a while back). Then I checked the connections,

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-49400486590540749262011-04-12T11:44:00.002+01:002011-04-12T12:11:28.536+01:00

OK, from the top... Overslept by half an hour, PC went screwey as I tried to access my morning email collection, and the bus to the tram was late, and driven like it was part of a snail race. And then I missed the tram by mere seconds. So... Since bad luck comes in threes, let's hope the rest of the day goes a shedload better, eh? P.S. Oh yeah - this was sent via email from my smartphone, so

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-31523744124130248362011-04-11T12:27:00.002+01:002011-04-11T14:08:48.130+01:00

So, there I am, turning up for work at what I thought was half an hour before my shift was due to start, and whoops! I'm an HOUR and a half early! Seems that I forgot that during the half term, like the school holidays, we swap to a slightly different schedule, to save on the buses being well early due to the vastly reduced rush hour traffic and passenger loadings! Anyhow, the upshot was a much

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-75066859752191269202011-04-05T21:08:00.002+01:002011-04-05T21:10:48.473+01:00

Pardon the title, it's merely a figure of speech Anyhow, over the last few months, I've been getting what can only be marketing calls on the land line at home. They call, withheld number, and hang up on getting the answerphone. No message, nothing. Strictly against the rules, there are not supposed to be silent calls these days, and the companies know this, hence, I suppose, the blocked numbers

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-9278458500770845012011-04-03T12:45:00.003+01:002011-04-05T21:15:26.245+01:00

A couple of weeks back, I commented on some of the customers of a certain fast food chain. My opinion of these... people... hasn't changed. I still believe them to be from the shallow end of the gene pool, and that's being icily polite... However, it occurred to me that another, slightly less comprehensive chain, with similar products, wasn't mentioned. To be fair, I should point out that I've

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-67890945451079570752011-03-29T11:44:00.005+01:002011-03-29T11:54:47.408+01:00

It's been one of those weeks from hell, this last week, but at least things get better :-) Pity the roads don't, though... We were on diversion (yet again) last night, as we have been for a few days now (I managed to avoid the worst of it by being on four days rest from last Thursday *grin*), but it's still going on. Reason? Resurfacing in the Croydon town centre. Now, while I knew that the

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-28816013870339671962011-03-26T15:43:00.001Z2011-03-26T15:44:51.802Z

So, here's the problem. They say that visitors to any given home must be included if they're staying overnight. Problem: They don't make it at all clear if they mean over night from Saturday night to Sunday morning, or overnight from Sunday night to Monday morning. I called their 0300 number (a so-called "local rate" call, so expect to be charged for the privilage of asking the government for

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-55314192124853326252011-03-22T11:17:00.004Z2011-03-22T11:39:09.637Z

This movie should be well worth watching! And yes, it had me chuckling for the entire first round of my duty this morning!

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-50148843266966849972011-03-18T12:47:00.000Z2011-03-18T12:47:54.260Z

Our armed forces are stretched to practically breaking point. The RAF can't field enough surveillance aircraft without halting the mothballing of two Nimrod aircraft, the Tornado is expensive and will apparently be obselete in less than a decade, the new Typhoon 2 fighter is already practically obsolete, and way way way to expensive, and the less said about the RNs loss of aircraft carriers the

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-30174398204096519452011-03-16T10:33:00.001Z2011-03-16T10:34:49.455Z

Well, here I am, halfway through my Spring Leave allocation, and I've apparently got Strep Throat. It hit me last Friday, and came on full force on Sunday. Anyhow, I managed to struggle in to see the doctor on Tuesday (croaking with a really scratchy voice, like a man about ready to expire on the spot), who took one look, tried to look down my throat and failed due to my dry retching and

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-48951737447840758432011-03-08T16:30:00.013Z2011-03-08T22:21:36.909Z

So, there I was, on a day off, and out and about. Feeling peckish, I nipped into the McDonalds in Church Street in Croydon, and got queue jumped by some muppit that didn't even look old enough to shave. So, I pulled him up on it with a "'scuse mate, there's a queue here!" What did I get in reply? A glance over the shoulder in utter contempt, and "Yeah, and I'm in it." he then turned back around.

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-46545634896909329492011-03-01T11:54:00.001Z2011-03-01T11:58:32.087Z

OK, so Vodafone's back up and running; blurb on the news sites suggets that this was sone by network engineers grabbing what they could from vodafones testing labs and using that kit to rectify what thieves had done overnight. But it still leaves some gaping and stupendously common-sense questions left unanswered... Here's an excerpt from one of their staff on their customer forums... Have you

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-11130945030431521882011-02-28T11:03:00.001Z2011-02-28T11:32:40.508Z

Seems Vodafone's been burgered by thieves today. Would be the day my other half is moving homes, of course. Seems the burglars knew exactly which place to target - and unfortunately for us Vodafone punters, it's a major data hub at Basingstoke, used by Vodafone to route all manner of calls and data across the network. Needless to say, it's stuffed up everything six ways from Sunday and then some

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-72495570200876965882011-02-06T19:40:00.003Z2011-03-08T18:41:52.486Z

Well, some people were complaining why my bus was cut earlier. To summarise, though, someone had the extremely poor fortune to have a rather serious road traffic collision (RTC) just before I was due to leave the western stand on my first trip of the afternoon. First on the scene were the London Ambulance Service, closely followed by the London Fire Brigade (LFB), and then, lastly, once the

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-76369428887823652212011-02-06T11:38:00.000Z2011-02-06T11:38:09.084Z

This is disappointing... I had a gadget on this blog, on the right column, displaying "instant UK traffic". It hasn't worked for well over a week now, and it appears that it won't ever again - Google, who hosted the gadget, couldn't help, and the Blogger system recommended removal as it "doesn't appear to be working". I can't even get access to the site that provided the service, now (Error 504,

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-23246605603213965452011-02-02T02:35:00.000Z2011-02-02T02:35:54.658Z

This made me chuckle, whilst stuck in traffic... Hope it gives you a chuckle too

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-43319501181601425442011-01-25T21:02:00.002Z2011-01-26T18:44:14.197Z

Found at the eastern end of the route today, an ANPR road check point run by the boys in blue, just after the bus stand. This is a fairly common sight to see these days, as the Met crack down with a blitz on unlicenced drivers, vehicles with no road tax, no insurance, and/or no MoT. What was new to me this time, was the presence of this vehicle, the Mobile Processing Unit... Apparently

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-13510707876511790522011-01-07T02:19:00.000Z2011-01-07T02:19:32.007Z

One of the things I tend to pay attention to a bit more than most of you out there, is in our Security threat indicator level. This is a habit from when I was both in the T.A., and as a Civil Servant. In those days, it related mostly to the threat from Irish Extremist terrorism, and I was no more than a hundred yards from the mortars launch point that the IRA deployed in Whitehall in 1991.

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-62452904332985966842011-01-02T05:14:00.013Z2011-08-21T17:49:37.480+01:00

Well, Happy New year, and I hope your hangover is now a thing of the recent past ;) Having discussed it at length with the other half, here's a list of those movies I'll be wanting to see this year, and their tentative release dates (according to IMDB, that is)... 7 January 2011 The King's Speech Looks like being a fun film, and with the actors listed (Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush and Helena

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-16949478113595854782010-12-30T08:19:00.002Z2011-01-03T16:12:15.099Z

Well, pick your currency of choice. The Deutchmark went the way of the Dodo a few years back, and "another Euro" just doen't have the same ring to it. Ho hum. Anyhow, the rest of yesterday went if not swimmingly, at least passably. Today, though, has the ring of Muppitday to it. Evidence the gormless minicab driver with his fog light on, and five miles after the halt sign at the lights. What

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-66360727638577899632010-12-29T07:46:00.001Z2010-12-29T07:46:22.498Z

So, I get to the bus stop five minutes early, having had to run, as the night bus that takes me to work was running early...The first bus I take out develops a brakes problem, and then the replacement bus blows its turbo...OK, so bad luck comes in threes, allegedly.Wonder if anything else will go wrong today?

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-5889994394710602242010-12-25T03:21:00.001Z2010-12-25T03:22:19.042Z

...The Christmas shopping had been done almost a week earlier... the last work shift before Christmas Day was over, and I was on the way home, when AAAAAAAAAARGH! Memory resurfaced - I'd forgotten one of the most important pressies - the one for my Mum!?! OH HELL!!! So, last minutes shopping hell for me - again. Sigh. you'd think I'd've learnt my lesson on this from ages part (well, the last

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-73266476725824575482010-12-22T16:12:00.002Z2010-12-23T00:31:49.888Z

We just got a new rota schedule in a couple of weeks back at work. Needless to say, it got changed within a week. And in doing so on both counts, they screwed up my, and more to the point, my better halfs, Christmas and new year arrangements The idea was to have been for my other half to come up from the west country, and spend the new year with me. So much for that idea, when the new rota

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-76253201677184288192010-12-19T14:07:00.007Z2010-12-23T03:06:42.655Z

So, there I was, on the way into Croydon, to perform my almost last minute Christmas shopping. By bus and tram, since I've got the handiness of a staff pass, and the car's off the road - naturally, it was snowing again - and who wants to drive in this bleeping clag, anyhow? So, I get to the tram interchange, and the coffee stand windows were up, there was a woman there, and whoopee! It looked

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-52617954102188914412010-12-18T21:21:00.004Z2010-12-19T00:09:10.445Z

Well, we've been hit again. Snow, wonderful on the telly on "Snow Sunday" and suchlike, but not so hot (sic) when it's a few inches thick (and getting thicker by the hour), and still falling. Even the Trams, informally famous for having little trouble coping last time (a few weeks ago, no less), were having a few problems this time - frozen points were the hiccup, this time around. The photo (

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-79575593030119635632010-12-09T04:53:00.000Z2010-12-09T04:53:31.701Z

Read this: Wikileaks are for-hire mercenaries - Cryptome. Wouldn't surprise me one bit if it's true. The reading between the lines on all recent leaks on wikileaks seems garnered to be sensationalistic crap (with the possible exception of the BNP membership list, which was actually quite public spirited). Oh, and in my view, naming it Wikileaks is, by the way, insulting to the wiki system, and

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-1756361900399513702010-12-06T13:09:00.003Z2010-12-07T11:13:36.838Z

It was fun to watch the American Diplomatic Corps running around in ever-decreasing circles, but now the fun's over. The individual who released the sodding stuff is now directly endangering BRITISH subjects. Read here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11923766. Releasing a US National Security Interests list that is frankly a target list for locations in Britain is not only

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-34879167892193041362010-12-04T13:31:00.000Z2010-12-04T13:31:31.117Z

Well... not exactly like that, but it was a close-run thing! Wish I could take credit for the cause, but it's so damn funny, I have to share I had cause to look up a telephone number that called me while I was otherwise occupied the other day (I'm on the late shift this week, and was having a shave, if you must know) Anyhow, the phone rang, and I nipped out of the bathroom, hit the handsfree

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-69513395787746650452010-12-03T11:26:00.001Z2010-12-03T11:27:46.639Z

I really have had enough of the banks. It's bad enough that the banks like Barclays went and added NFC (Near Field Communications, otherwise known as "contactless card technology", much like an Oystercard for public transport in London) to credit and debit cards, and then issued them without opt-in or opt-out to their customers - we've no damned choice, it seems - add to this that Barclays then

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-3168590948633200452010-11-30T13:08:00.002Z2010-12-19T00:11:05.938Z

Well, isn't it horrifying what ten hours of cruddy weather'll do, eh? This is what greeted me on glancing out the window at 1pm this afternoon, having hit the sack at 5.30am or so. As you can see, (and probably have experienced for yourself if you live in the London area), we got blitzed by the snow again - it kept on dropping, like soft frozen bomblets, clogging up pretty-much everywhere it

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-86086277316814590862010-11-30T03:26:00.001Z2010-11-30T03:29:56.076Z

OK, I was on late shift this evening, and having seen the forecasts, was wondering i I was going to make it home this evening - every forecast from doom and gloom to bright and sunny have been spread about with great glee by all and sundry over the last week, and truth be told, naff all has happened down here, aside from a rather huge drop in temperature. Well... that was, until this evening...

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-80722287569824590942010-11-25T19:19:00.002Z2010-11-25T19:21:21.613Z

I tend to bin these most of the time as generally, they cannot be verified. I've checked the ARRSE website however, and this appears genuine. Here's the link there for you to verify it for yourselves: http://www.arrse.co.uk/intelligence-cell/152968-power-arrse-required-pen-mightier-than-sword-scenario.html. It also appears in the Parliamentary Early Day Motion website, as follows: http://

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-74360013655511417872010-11-22T07:25:00.003Z2010-11-22T18:37:50.509Z

Heh, saw this on the first trip this morning... It reads "Bored Suzuki driver: Warning: I wanted a Land Rover"! Well, he may have wanted a better 4x4, but at least he's got a sense of humour!

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107173960264512553.post-38001685862765362592010-11-19T11:01:00.002Z2010-11-20T04:42:57.150Z

Well, there I was this morning, on the second trip of the day, a third full of passengers, having left the western stand, when, two minutes down-route, I'd just entered a roundabout, and a police car came screaming across, and blocked the exit I wanted, leaving me perched on the inside lane, between exits - not good. Luckily, I wasn't blocking the exit or entrance I was straddling with my bus,

Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17773910041947142728noreply@blogger.com0