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My log for the year 2006First, do you know why a log is so called? Well it appears that on ships a lump of wood was thrown overboard on a ship and then the time noted in how long the ship took to pass it. Christopher Columbus recorded these times in a log and thus we have the expression log book. We lost our two remaining cats this year within a couple of months of each other. Hobo was the first to pass away followed by Marty. Marty was rescued along with his three brothers, Mickey (now deceased), Sammy and Sooty, when they were kittens. The Cats Protection had them neutered and where going to release them into the wild but we decided to keep them all for pets. The mother in law had two and so did we. Hobo appeared in our back garden one day and used to spend the night under the garden bench. It appears that he was a cat that had a bad temperament and had been re-homed by the Cats Protection. Hobo escaped and when the Cats Protection member tried to capture him, he did not want to go with her. Hobo was determined to stay with us. He moved into the house and although still wary he began to behave more like the other cats and sat on the arm of my chair while I stroked him. We had no idea how old he was but he lived with us a number of years before starting to become ill and then passing away. April 2006 I purchased a Satellite Navigation device, the Navman PIN 570 from Halfords. Near to us is the Elsecar Heritage Centre and they have opened a kiddies indoor play area, Brandon and Liam enjoyed playing on the apparatus. Afterwards we all went to Wingfield Farm to see the farm animals. Both kids loved the outing Took Brandon and Liam to Knowsley Safari Park for the day. We picked Liam up from his home and set off using the Sat Nav to get us there. The Sat Nav came up with an unexpected route near to Barnsley in that it showed small country roads rather than the proper one to take. If you had a similar experience, email me and I can construct a list of route errors. We had got tickets for Legoland and a three nights stay at the Crown Plazza Hotel in West Drayton. I suggested that on the way back we might call in to Whipsnade Zoo, it was agreed and so bought tickets 1st May 2006 - We visited Whipsnade Zoo and although some revues online seemed to be less than kind, we enjoyed the day and thought it value for money. The PIN 570 once again showed a routing error. Darren went to see Vicky at the Roundwood Health Centre regarding a problem with his shoulder. It appears that he has torn it and she referred him to a specialist in Sheffield. I took Darren to the clinic in Sheffield to have a MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scan done and again to get the results. Poor lad needs to have an operation to have the muscle repaired (more on this later). After the second visit Darren suggested we go for a game of Golf. Well I have not really played any so went along with him. I am left handed but ended up with right handed clubs. Well you can imagine that my score was not that good. I did manage to get the last of the 9 holes in one over par so perhaps there is hope.
Earlier this year I got asked to take over the TPM for a department. In learning about it again and also travelling to and from work I wondered how the principles of TPM could be applied to the UK roads. Oh, what is TPM? A visit to Wikipedia should start you off in the right direction as to TPM, Total Productive Maintenance ( Total Productive Management). I think that if the British Government were to set up a TPM study group about UK roads then so called greenhouse gasses from motor vehicles could be reduced and at the same time result in massive savings for the country in general including me and thee. It appears that there is afoot plans to open up a rail link across the Pennines to carry freight lorries, not before time and something I have wanted investigating for sometime now. I hope that they think carefully about it and ensure that they make provision for extending the service and also that the locations of the loading areas are set close to the motorway network in addition to providing a cheaper service for night freight. With the advent of Satellite Navigation, I predict that in the future the government of many countries will make it a requirement that all new vehicles have them fitted but linked to the engine management systems to regulate the maximum speed on a section of road. I would be in favour of a scheme like this since it would reduce deaths on the roads, no speed cameras and police forces could then be better employed reducing other crimes. If it does not come into force then it more likely that governments make money by fining those caught speeding, we will see. With the loss of the cats we have now got a bird table and it amazing the variety of birds that come and visit. The sparrow, a family of blackbirds, blue tits, finches, robins, magpies, starlings and pigeons to mention but a few. At night, a small mouse appears to sweep up the crumbs left on the floor by the birds. As I write there are 5 starlings and 3 sparrows in the garden. My car insurance is due in June, so time to compare prices and I have a list of some companies that you also might like to try. visit my car insurance page for more. Notice I have added some Google banners on the left of the page. The first is for those of you like me that have websites. You let Google choose the ads to display on a page and get revenue when someone clicks the ad. The second is an alternative browser to Internet Explorer and allows you to have tabs rather than loads of windows open. The third one allows you to advertise keywords on Google or other websites. Finally for those of you wanting to have free photographic software there is Picasa.
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You can contact me at martin@martinlee.co.uk |
