Finding new tyres is a ballache

I need some new tyres for my car and finding some new ones has been doing my head in cos there are so many different opinions on the web about so many diferent tyres. I wasn't going to get some more of the Avon ZZ3s that I currently have cos I thought they were a bit slippy setting off in the wet but I finally managed to speak to someone that made sense at Camskill.com and he was explaining that all tyres are gonna be like that when you are setting off at a junction, in the wet when you've only been out in the car for 2 minutes. He also said that they are a damn good tyre, that he uses them and that they have some more expensive ones that I could buy but he recommended that I stick with the Avons. They have them for a bloody good price as well at £63 each including delivery and Ashton Autos will fit them for 9.50 a tyre. I'm happy with £290 all in considering ATS quoted me £530 for the same tyres.

I found out today that you can run all sorts of emulators and homebrew on the PSP through a backdoor in Grand Theft Auto. I tried it out and it worked so how cool is that? Time to hunt out all my old game DVDs!

Well, its the Donkey Cup final this weekend and hopefully United will stuff Wigan and we'll have some silverware to show for season. Come on you reds!

Listening to: Nothing
Back: Pretty good

General stuff

Its been a few days since I last posted so there is a bit to get through.

Firstly, what a shitter about Alan Smith breaking his leg and dislocating his ankle. I can handle going out of the cup to Liverpool cos thats just football but you really have to feel sorry for Smudger.

Koopa has been getting let off the lead a bit more. We went on the park with Suf, Jen and Gill on Sunday and I let him off again this afternoon on the green. He is coming back to us eventually but only when there isn't something more interesting.

Deb's laptop has now got Ubuntu installed on it but its not finished yet. I need to sort out the driver for the wireless card and some things are really bugging me such as how to set up the default application for opening MP3s and WMAs.

Went to a meeting in Leeds for work yesterday and my back was killing me most of the day which is just weird cos I was fine going all the way to Slough and back and that took miles longer. I think my back has mood swings ;-)

Listening to: Faith No More - Fool For A Lifetime
Back: Sore from a trip to Leeds yesterday

Deb gets Ubuntu

Deb has started using her laptop again and has been complaining about how much stuff she has to update. E.g. Windows Update, Virus Checker, Spyware Blaster, Ad Aware, etc. So, I've decided to stick Ubuntu Linux on it and see how she goes with that instead cos she only uses office, media player and Firefox so she should be fine with it. Given that there are virtually no viruses or spyware there should be much less to update. The only thing that might cause an issue is the wireless card but I found a few bits of help for that.

Its a mates birthday tomorrow so we are watching United V Liverpool in the FA Cup at her house tomorrow and then going into town later after that to get drunk. Should be good!

Listening to: Nowt
Back: Bit sore

The dog has been unleashed

We finally decided to be brave and take Koopa to the park and let him off his lead on Sunday. We went with Suf, Jen and Gill (Jen's sister) and their dogs Lucy and Dennis so that he would follow them around and come back when they did. It all started well but then he decided to run off the park and into a road but luckily it was the back entrance to the park where the road is not much more than a dirt path so there wasn't much danger. I chased him and got him to come to me and then after that he was pretty good. We did it again yesterday but this time with just me and Deb which was a bit scarier but he came back eventually. Its good though cos it really seems to wear him out ;-)

Watched United stuff Portsmouth on Saturday which is good and who would have believed that Boro would beat Chelsea. I can't see Chelsea losing enough to let United catch them though.

Right, I'm off to prepare a few Valentine's Day surprises for Deb.

Listening to: Alice In Chains - Alice In Chains
Back: Sore this afternoon but I dunno whats caused it

Knackered

I've been well busy this last week and as a result I'm knackered. I've had loads of meetings during the week, lots of annoying bugs left by an ex employee to fix in one of our systems and to top it all off I had to go to Slough and back yesterday for a 2 hour meeting. I set off at 6:30am and got back at 8:30pm. I laid on the couch to relax for a few minutes when I walked through the door and promptly fell asleep until Deb made me go to bed a few hours later.

I'm still tired this morning but I took the dog for a walk first thing anyway and I decided to run for a bit of it to see what he thought. Well, he really seemed to enjoy it and he's been kipping ever since we got home so I guess I knackered him out ;-)

Just doing some chores around the house today and then I'm gonna watch United against Portsmouth later this evening.

Listening to: Budgies and the fan on the laptop
Back: Sore after going to Slough yesterday

50 notes blown on double vodkas

I went out to watch United beat Fulham on Saturday evening and I got absolutely wasted. I spent £50 on double vodkas and coke, a burger (which the dog ate most of when I got home) and my bus fare home. I spent a lot of Saturday night puking and then most of Sunday feeling like shit cos I was so tired. I won't be doing that again for at least a couple of weeks.

Not much else to report from over the weekend so I'm gonna go home now.

Listening to: Sound of the gimps in the office ;-)
Back: Bit sore after a few meetings

Total turnaround , bought an LCD TV

Well, I've done a complete turnaround and bought an HD Ready LCD TV. I found one in Richer Sounds that is a 27", has a decent spec and loads of inputs. Also, it actually has the correct resolution for 720p HD TV cos a lot of bigger TVs don't and they have to actually downsize the picture which makes it lose some quality. It's a complete no name brand called Funai but I don't care for two reasons. Firstly, the picture on it looked fantastic playing the Monsters Inc film and I'm talking noticeably better than the more expensive Phillips, Samsung and Panasonic ones around it. Secondly, I got it for £660 including a 5 year warranty and if anything goes wrong they collect it in the first year and I walk into the shop with it for the 4 years after that and that is so much better than if you buy from the Internet. They didn't have any in stock cos they'd sold the one they had after I'd gone home to ponder whether to get it so mine is being delivered on Tuesday. Can't wait!

Also, I had an MRI on my back today which lasted about an hour and the noises were at just the right level/frequency/something to make me chuck up which was nice. I cheered myself up by buying Dead Or Alive 4 for the 360 ;-)

Hope United do better against Fulham

Listening to: Just the sound of the budgies ;-)
Back: Pretty good

LCD TV woes

So, I've got my Xbox 360 and I'm thinking I want to get an HD LCD TV. I discuss it with Deb and to my amazement I'm given the go ahead to get one on the conditions that its not too big and not too expensive. Now to her amazement, this was 2 days ago and I still haven't bought one cos after reading reviews and getting advice off mates and stuff I'm not sure that the picture quality will be that good compared to a bog standard TV other than for the Xbox 360. I think I'm gonna wait a while to get one for the living room but I might get a 20" one for upstairs and move the 360 upstairs. I can justify £300 for a TV for my consoles but not £600 for the main one we watch when the picture quality ain't gonna improve that much and there is not really anything wrong with the one we have.

Can you believe that Blackburn beat United 4-3 last night and were even 4-1 up at one point. What is happening to them? Still, at least they aren't doing as bad as Arsenal are ;-)

Listening to: Foo Fighters - The Colour And The Shape
Back: Pretty good