Journal Entries
Ever gone out to buy something...
Posted May 14, 2006
...and come back with something totally unintended?
My Skoda hatchback needed a service, so I took it to the garage yesterday.
'While you're there,' says Mrs Monk, 'have a look at car prices: we need to think about replacing yours.'
So I had a look at car prices, and I came back with a list of them. Now today I have swapped my hatchback for a second hand turbocharged 4x4 Octavia estate. All at Mrs. Monk's instigation, I hasten to add...
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Latest reply: May 14, 2006
Throw away the key
Posted May 12, 2006
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/staffordshire/4762481.stm
I am very glad to say that this bunch of thugs were sentenced just down the road from where I live.
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Latest reply: May 12, 2006
Happy Birthday to You!
Posted May 10, 2006
This is where my family orginates from:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4756021.stm
There used to be a farmhouse in the family which is now at the National Museum of Welsh Life in Cardiff: http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/southeast/panoramics/pages/welshlife_redhouse.shtml
'Will heaven be like Swansea, Edward?'
'Yes, only...less idyllic.'
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Latest reply: May 10, 2006
Mechanically Nostalgic Musings
Posted May 8, 2006
I was listening to a radio program the other day where they discussed the Clifton Gorge suspension bridge, designed by Brunel and built by some very brave men. A new contest has been launched on Brunel's bicentenary to design a new bridge. Not that the old one has problems, but it would be good to encourage new thinking and encourage interest in engineering, even if remained a paper exercise only.
When I was a kid, we didn't have much money at all. We weren't poor but there was little left over for luxuries. The best present somebody ever bought me was a construction set of fischertechnik. I'd had loads of Lego up to that point but you get a bit bored building skyscrapers all the time. This stuff, on the other had, was amazing. You could build anything you wanted from it.
I was never a very fanciful child but I was very imaginative in my own way. I loved engineering. I loved exploring possibilities. So when i was bought this as a present it was not long before I wanted more and more of the stuff. Very little more of it came, because it was German, could only be bought from Hamleys and was very very expensive. Back in 1970, the basic set cost £3 10s, which was close to a king's ransome. I got two more small sets but that was it.
I brought all this up because I asked my daughter what she'd like to be when she grew up. She said she wanted to be an engineer on the space shuttle. She loves mechanical things, so I decided to buy her some of this. It's still expensive, but when you compare it to the cost of a GameBoy cartridge it really isn't. If we want more engineers in Britain we have to start young. We have to encourage their imaginations and passions from an early age. We have to get them away from the games consoles and DVD players. And we have to allow them to discover for themselves that it's only slightly more difficult to create than to consume, but immeasurably more satisfying.
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Latest reply: May 8, 2006
A pity all weeks can't all be like this
Posted Apr 29, 2006
Monday: I get paid and also a £900 bonus (as well as £1200 in shares)
Wednesday: A cheque for £3000 arrives in the post as a legacy from my grandmother
Today: the mortgage company has written to me to tell me they ar oing to pay me £3500 as a result of upholding my endowment complaint.
I'm sure I'll get some bad karma from all of this.
Discuss this Journal entry [6]
Latest reply: Apr 29, 2006
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