layerz

Its back!

Sun, 02 Dec 2007 19:36:54 GMT

Well I got the Audi back yesterday and I can't stress how happy I am to have it back allbeit one or two things still need sorting.
The first thing is that I was expecting this whole repair to cost in the region of 700 alone for the head gasket and I knew after that I would need new tyres immediatley or I would be fucked by the police and in general as they were balding.
So when the repair bill came in at 460 I was fairly happy, obviously it is not what I wanted to spend near on half a grand getting the car running again. The tyres were another 130 quid for some fantastic BF Goodridge profilers I coulda prolly saved 50 quid on front tyres and gone budget but these are what keep you in contact with the road and it really is not worth risking your life for 50 quid.
Whilst at it I got a 4 wheel laser alignment for another 30 quid, and this was needed as there was alot of uneven wear.
New bulbs and new number plates yet to come as I want to car completley up to scratch if I am not buying a new one.

I have gotten used to the Megane over the past 2 weeks which has been a life saver as I did not need to rent or buy a step in car. It is odd as everything in the Megane is very very heavy and getting back into mine it is refreshing that it is so light and easy to drive.

Due to being carless nothing has really happened over the last few weeks, but I do have the Birmingham meet that myself and James have sorted out, sorted in the sense of we are all meeting at the train station and then gona go for shops/food/booze but should be good as I have been bored silly latley. Hopefully you will see a bit less of me online and I can get back into the gym.
I know I said that I was gona get back into the gym more but for obvious reasons I have slacked off, also I put on a few lbs and been eating loads, this stops as of tomorrow and I am gona carry on where I left off.

Also watched a few great movies over this weekend, American Gangster, The twilight samurai & Zatoichi's Pilgrimage. All three were great but if I had to pick out the best one it would be Twilight Samurai as it is the best film I have seen in a long long time.
Here is a link on imdb if you want to check it out http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0351817/

Now I am off to get work stuff sorted, have a beer/jd or two and watch top gear!

So much for plan B!

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 23:46:58 GMT

OK so sunday the day was spent looking at cars, my first major dissapointment was that I can not find in a Mazda mx-5 I am too tall and wide!
I did however test drive a brutal/mental Renault Megane R30 225 bhp and wow is the only words to describe it and I was all buy ready to buy it, and was thinking about how to raise the funds when common sense kicked in a bit.

I needed a new car for reliability, why do I need that because my job is 30 odd miles away and I rack up a hell of alot of milage and need a car that works. The other option is don't travel as far for work, but I enjoy my job alot so I thought ok move closer to my job.
So I had made the decision to fully resurect the A4 into its fullest and then some more, this time any improvements will be non power related, .....sorta maybe a new exhaust but it will be getting a few imrpovements at somepoint.
First thing is first a new headgasket and skimming is gona cost me a good 500 plus, and then new tyres as mine are mega bald on the fronts.
So untill then I owe my Mum big time for lending me her car and I wont have mine back till next wednesday.

And then another change of plan that I wont go too far into atm but my arm has been twisted to avoid getting a place of my own untill a later point and prolly the end of next year.
In which time I shall be trying to clear as much debt as possible and somehow trying to get spare cash through ebay.

So far a bit of the same in this update as usual car bleh bleh and me gettin a house but somewhat of a route plan change, which I think is something to be happy about but at the same time disheartening as part of me desperatley wants to get out there on my own right now.

An on another note and a big wakeup call in a way, near my work today on a really crappy road a 17 year old lad in a hot hatch killed himself by driving too fast and loosing control and driving head on into a vann and snapped his neck from the impact. This more or less happened right outside my office and shook alot of people as well as the road being shut by police.
When I do get the car back making sure it is 100% safe is right up there, might cost a bit more or it might cost nothing but my life is not worth scrimping on and I just need to remember it is alot colder atm and I can't drive like it is still summer.

Wasn't expecting that!

Sun, 18 Nov 2007 09:52:52 GMT

Well yesterday my car died, it seems the slow water leak that has always dogged they car and was a suspection bad pipe or bung plug................was a pin hole leak in the head that is no longer a pinhole leak. The waterr light came on about 5 mins before work, and I thought bah fill it up in a min as normally the light comes on with loads of warning.
The bastard thing was at the redline when I looked! 120degrees plus!!! so I was about 2-3 mins from work and went in at tickover in 5th as stopping was not an option on the roads I was on.
Oil in the coolant resovoir confirmed it is the head, I am now lookingg at a repair bill of 500-700 if no other damage occured.
I am going to fix the car and move onto something much newer and lower milage, but funny how my car has suddenly affected my future next year.
I am going to be moving to Leicester within the first 6 months of 2008 and that is now decided, I need to get a place of my own be it sharing a house or my own flat but atm I am spending 200 plus on fuel a month and maybe 100 a month on general maintenance, add the 150 a month I pay to my mum and that is rent money sorted there! Or morgage.

I am gutted in the sense that I love my A4 tdi and it is one hell of a car, but I got my moneys worth from it and will fondly remember it as it did me proud. But I also like alot of other cars and I think now is perhaps the time for me to move onto something I have been eyeing up for a while.
I will post pics and stuff on here once I have made a choice and sorted the nessecary funds to obtain whichever car.........in other words I am not gona jinx it till I have it, I can tell you thou I want a petrol again.

I owe my Mum big time for all the help she has given me this weekend, she straight away when I got back from work (with the help of the AA) took me out to look at cars and I very nearly ended up with a 13k 207 gti but I got talked outa it just about.
However I get the feeling my Mum wanted me to get one particular car more so than usual as it was a good deal, but she wanted it more then me, perhaps something to do with the glass roof and keyless entry etc.....

I am also missing some of my friends/mates and someone in particular atm as not seen as much of them and I did not get the time I wanted to spend with them at expo or just in general, I am gona try and fix this a little bit with a good old piss up in birmingham next month.
Starting in the German market, and then moving whereever the hell the wind takes us!

Making up my mind

Wed, 14 Nov 2007 21:47:51 GMT

I made my mind up! I am gona change or more like I am gona become the person I know I like to be at times and try not to slip into my lazy form.
This kind of leads on from I am going to start doing more stuff with ebay to make some extra money, but also along the lines of I don't want to be as lazy and know that if I want to make more money I am going to have to work at finding/selling stuff to make it happen for me.
Also in the work sense I found out I got my appraisal in the next two weeks which should be interesting as I want to find out why I should be looking to stay with the company and what they can offer me to further my career there, otherwise atm I am spending 200 quid a month on fuel to get there plus all the maintenance that I need to carry out on my car due to the high milage, and I have just been told to stick it out as it will pay off in the long run. This is also to do with the fact that if I am getting my own place next year then I want to know I am moving to Leicester with a good reason.

This also means more of me not so much hitting the gym, but doing things like getting my diet right. But I also gotta make sure I am doing things with plenty of time to spare and not leaving things to the last minute. I just want to get 100% on top of the issues that seem to bite me on the ass on occasion and be in control of what is going on.

First thing is first I got a figure I want to clear of my credit card within the next few months and I am gona have to be really strict not to make any huge purchases or buy stupid things that look cool but infact never get used, my DS is sorta a point in case for this. Great lil handheld console but I hardly ever play it.

I need an action plan and above is sort of rough action plan!! Now I leave to put some of that into action!

A more compossed rant tonight

Tue, 13 Nov 2007 23:40:32 GMT

OK I just lifted this from an Audi forum and sums up my general feelings on the car atm. I love it but fucking hell it can be an arse to work on.

***************************************

This is just a bit of a general thread but I have started to notice a few things with Audi's or perhaps more specifically the B5

They are a pain in the ass to work on!

I just wondered others peoples thought/opinions on them as a car to work on and I would like too point out this may be my inexperiance with cars as I only really started working on them with this car last year.
But before this I had a peugoet 306 and I know they have things go wrong more often, but the bits to work on were a piece of cake.
Thus far I have found most bits on the A4 taking a 2nd look every time and having a little difficaulty with the jobs, I have been able to get everyjob done......bar getting the front bumper off. I have just found them fiddly and tonight got a bit fed up with not being able to get to the sidelights!

As I have said I know alot of this is down to my inexperiance, and places like these forums help me no end, but I work on friends cars and I find parts just bolt on a piece of cake.

All that being said and done, I still love my car and find it punches well above its fighting weight and even with the odd niggles I love to find a good B road.

************************************

It looks like mine and Matt's trip(s) to the USA are on next year, he has been invited back to Camp America so I may well be going over there to meet up with him for a week or two around septemeber....Gona have to be carefull to plan that around Alcon

Also I have decided on a money making plan for next year, pain in the ass I gotta wait tbh, but I am gona start buying and selling stuff on ebay. Mainly retro games, but might look into car parts also as can be a good way to boost up some income.
Basic plan is get bargains at bootfairs, and put em straight on ebay!

I am being a lazy fucker this week (and swearing alot!), not gona do weights but I am gona get in 5 hours cardio somehow..........but I already skipped monday and today.
I am noticing the muscle gains I have made over the last few months which I am very happy with, but I have slipped on my diet big time and I need to get that back on track which I kinda started again today. The gains are not great but I am looking leaner which I am happier with but I need to trim off and get my cardio just a bit more above my current level.

Thats it for tonight...................wow I was actually concise for once!

random no good explaination

Mon, 12 Nov 2007 22:14:54 GMT

The weekend was awesome, and the pics are tagged/uploaded on my facebook of MPH, the guys from Top Gear did their thing rather well and it was fair to say that saturday at MPH was fairly fucking awesome with me getting as many freebies as I could........which was basically some shampoo, bag, shot of whiskey..............EA sports stuff and just other randomness.

And my original plans for sunday did not happen, however it is fair to say that the alternative was probably better and worked out just aswell.

On a not so bright note, my car is misbehaving and needs a few things sorting big time and I can tend to the main issue this weekend.
The fucking injector needs reseating which i put down to a dodgy washer when I uprated them, typical I put in a new part and it is shit!
I need new front tyres and also that rear driver side disc is fucked due to the caliper being on bent before. Meh Some time this weekend on it should put things straight.

Meh I am watching superbad whilst typing this and I keep loosing attention, so gona finish now and do something properly later.

Cars, police and other stuff

Fri, 09 Nov 2007 22:05:46 GMT

Interesting day today for what I expected to be just another friday at work that was gona be boring. Work was slow again but getting to work and having a bacon, sausage and mushroom torpedo.
The journey to work however was a little entertaining and different, the first thing I must explain is that occasionally I may drift slightly over the speed limits on the rare occasion.............. well on the way to work today I had a BMW 5 series pull up behind me and on came the lights and I thought that I was being done for speeding a bit over the limit and had resided to the fact that was the end of my "clean licence"
So sitting there with the same feeling like you are in school and the head master or you boss or when you think you are about to get the shit kicked outa you, I wind down the window and I am like as polite as I can be. But the guy was like you know you have not tax disc, and I was like oh shit that fucking thing has slipped off again. So I picked it off the car floor and promised to get a new disc asap and he was really nice and just said to get it sorted.
So I was just told to get on my way and was rather happy at it just being thatm, so there you go a policeman told me to go and get a fancy new tax disc

Work was ok today also as had a conversation about what I would like to do with my career and the obivous thing has been that getting a DAPS qualification with allow me to proceed alot further in my long term career in the quarrying industry then just the short term promotions and in the short term of the next 2-3 years I will be gaining viatal expeiance that I can use once I get the degree.
So this descion has kinda cemented the fact that I need to move towards leicester and be closer to my work and it also means that I can at somepoint revert back to have a pertrol car and hopefully get something like a v6/v8(I wish for a v8 audi) but in the mean time a 155bhp diesel will do me.

Nothing really to coment on other then being very happily semi pissed or as I like to call it merry, had a beer, 3 bottles of bulmers and a shot of aftershcok..............so that explains any shitty grammer tonight..........or explainis it in general.

So tomorrow morning is MPH and I am looking forwards to this alot, expensive cars I can only dream of owning, sexy girls who look hot as untill they open their brummie mouths with alllllllllright chiiiiiiiiiic, and Jezza and the gang putting on an awsome show and me trying to get as many freebies as possible.

Also on a tv comentary I am really enjoying all my tv shows atm as all seem to be on form, with 30 rock had me lolling myu socks off tonight, and the same with scrubs...............I best call this quits as I am correcting an awfull lot.

Chaos theory

Thu, 08 Nov 2007 22:59:43 GMT

I am bored, I don't know why I am bored but I am..... I think it has to do with chaos and my relationship with it.
I seem to be at peace when everything is crazy and stuff is going on all the time like people talking, stuff kicking off at work or just having the tv on, whilst on my laptop and surfing the net (can I still call it that?) and chatting on msn.
When I am not juggling things like crazy or not active doing something I find it difficault to switch off, and I never used to have to be doing something all the time. I used to be fine just doing nothing but maybe it is a good thing and maybe not.
So chaos = good, peace = bad

I am very much so enjoying the cars new found power, especially sitting in 2nd at 30mph at around 2k revs or something like that with a chav or boy racer in a 1.4 trying to do his best racing impression and then I floor it leaving them in a cloud of smoke and a big smile on my face whilst being pushed back into my seat.
My new lights have all shown up now, all that is left is to spend a while fitting the new HID xenons and the new sidelights and I should actually be able to see at night!

Another thing this week is that I feel incredibly unmotivated, just been not feeling like doing stuff like I normally would and I don't know if this is down to the time of year or what. During the day at work I can't find enough to do as things are a bit quiet atm and I would rather be doing reports then clock watching for half a day.
Get home thou and I am a bit like meh don't want to go to the gym, don't want to play ps2, don't want to read etc....
I gotta snap outa this as it only heads one way, hopefully this weekend should be a good opportunity to do so, I will be getting Matt from the Station in Leicester tomorrow and we are off to MPH on saturday morning with a possible awesome game of monopoly involving JD, whiskey, sambucca and whatever else. Not sure on the rules yet, but I am sure we will improvise.

On sunday I may have a very awesome plan to be hatched, but pending not being hung over and a few other important bits and bobs it may or may not happen so can coment on that, or not as it was next week.

Faster car, Faster body, things seem to be going OK

Sun, 04 Nov 2007 22:25:13 GMT

First thing is I am gladd I have finally gotten around to this blog, and it might be a slightly long one to catch up.

At the moment things seem to be slowly moving forwards for myself, I had a flu type virus when the London Expo was on (also odd at the may expo earlier this year I was getting over a bad cough) this made things really crap as I went down thinking I was nearly over it and taking enough pain killers would get me through it..................I was wrong and ran a huge temperature and prolly not 100% with it and not myself.
   Over the 5 or so days I had the virus I lost 8lbs!!!!!!!!! which I regained quickly after but that is alot to loose in such a short time.
I am gutted that I was unable to go into the expo as I found out the main guy behind Afro samurai was signing dvd's and I really loved that series, perhaps he will be back there next year when season 2 has been released.
    I think being with kat helped makes things more bearable and she was great considering the state I was in and I promise to all of you I will be myself next time and do my best to get pissed!!!

Just after recovering I gave myself a good few days and took it lightly back in the gym and then got straight back into it, I am now starting to make noticable progress and my fitness is getting back to where I was at my peak last year. I have a bit to go and I need to get more cardio into my week but I am starting to feel fit and better in myself.
Strength wise I can feel things coming on and the weights are slowly going up but mainly I am starting to get my body to do what I want it to and the progress now is going to be more depentant on my diet then the gym work. This is mainly fine apart from I really struggle to get 200 grams of protein a day. For example that is 8 chicken breasts a day!
My weakness in my back is reducing and I am making progress there also which is something that seems perhaps small but I am happy with it.

Generally recently I have found myself bored silly as everything other then the gym costs so much! And I am trying to reduce my outgoings where possible so I can afford to go to big events like MPH and expo/Ireland etc......    but it is frustrating not to be able to do stuff when you want to.
So thank f*** for Lanma that relieves me of this boredom on tuesdays when I am not working the early shift that has me leaving work at 4pm so I can't be arsed to go from Whitwick to Rugby and back to the City Centre.
I have resultingly started watching more US tv shows which I now have quite the weekly list of shows to watch and are all highly enjoyable and I gotta thank Leon for some great gems like reaper where the devil is actually oddly likeable.

I have just realised I comented on expo a week or two ago, gona leave it now thou.

I will be onto the car stuff in a min, so those of you who do read this and are not interested in my biggest obsession can skip it however it is worth reading I feel.

On a planning note I need to sort out what I am doing with my holidays next year. I already know I am prolly going to 3 or 4 cons and need about 6-8 days holiday held back for cons.......Althou a few I might have to leave untill the friday night to show up to as I only have 22 days holiday to use.
So perhaps 3-4 days for cons and stuff because I want to do a bit of touristy stuff in the USA with my brother. Looking to flyout in september as his camp USA finishes and then we rent a mustang, or something fast in a straight line that can't corner and drive across a few states and make our way from California to Ottowa (Canada) so that might be a few more weeks and it looks like I am left with 7 days to play with all year!
Oh and there is the Ireland trip right at the begining of the year....

Next weekend me and Matt are off to MPH at the NEC and looking forward to this as it is sorta top gear live as the crew do a one hour show.
There will also be all the usual car stuff, 100's of supercars, loads of stuff I can't afford and girls in tight outfits! Like I said can't wait

And today was a good one, I finally got the Audi remapped although I was very hessitant as the car is about 10 years old and 137 k on the clock it has always run well.
The problem was thou one of my injectors has decided to become loose, I upgraded these earlier in the year and it seems the seal on it has gone and loosened itself a bit blowing some air out. However this was not an issue and may of helped gain some power.
   I originally had the car on some rollers earlier this year and it made 110 bhp and 170ish ft/lb of torque which was ok considering the age and milage.
   Today it made 106 bhp, which I put down to different rollers but still a good figure. I spoke to the guys at Chipped UK and when I said I was hopefull for 150ish bhp they were doubtfull as they felt the injectors would help but not that much.
The beast went and made 155 bhp and 222ft/lb of torque!!! get in
The guys at chipped uk were happy as was I, and the drive home was alot of fun, and I think I will need to do something to improve the brakes a bit at somepoint, also the suspension is next on my list.

I have also just ordered some HID's and nice new sidelights for the car that should imrpove visability alot and make it look a bit better when I am flooring it at 155 bhp :D

So that is it for today, all really positive at the minute, just gotta keep pushing on with stuff.

Gahh gotta be an Adult again

Thu, 25 Oct 2007 22:56:27 GMT

A few weeks ago it was broken to me that my Mum is selling the house in spring/summer next year and that I have two options for a place to live.
The first is that I can rent a place with my parents whilst they decide where they will buy their next house........now this means still driving to leicester and spending over 200 quid a month on fuel which is kinda a no no.
And the second which is obvious from the above it move towards Whitwick and get my own place in some shape or form, and at first I quietly panicked at this though however I am now quite excited by the idea of having my own place again and being able to do what I want when I want.
It is however the means to getting a place, I do not know if I should look at buying a flat or renting one and this is gona take some thought becuase I want to live comfortably and be able to go out on occasion and go on holidays/cons/expo's etc.......

So it is this that now has me clearing my credit card as soon as I can, and trying to be better with money, and somehow I have already justified the purchase of a 32" flatscreen lcd waiting to go in the living room of unknown place next year.

If I do get my own place closer to work it does allow for an interesting shift on things car wise, the first shift is that I can get a petrol like a V6.
And another thing is that I really need to book a holiday before I get a place as I would like to get away to USA next year with Matt as we discussed doing.

But will see what the future brings untill I hit panick stations and hopefully I got long enough to save some cash, pay off some bills and get a few trips in between!!!

Best work on getting a payrise/promotion at work then!

London Expo and how to loose 8lbs in 5 days

Mon, 22 Oct 2007 20:10:41 GMT

Well this weekend was planned to be a huge meet up on the friday after work down in London, go to the Expo on sat, then out at night to watch England win the world cup.

Sometimes it is never good to plan, as something like the flu comes and messes with them, on thursday I started to feel like crap but went into work and reliased during the afternoon I was in a bad way when I got a temperature, so off work friday and out go my plans to go down to London that day .
Another day spend in bed feeling crap, and then on the saturday as I had booked the room, and under the disillusion that I was now taking strong pain killers and it should clear up anytime now - they did not and I could only get away with it to an extent.
I did really enjoy going down and seeing my friends and I really enjoyed seeing kat who considering how bad I was, was really considerate.
Sunday I came back and ended up sleeping 14 hours and needing today off aswell and still could not see straight this morning..............oh and I lost 8 lbs in 5 days which has to be some kinda of fucking record.

I am weak!!! And this is a good thing?

Sat, 13 Oct 2007 19:36:27 GMT

Fairly standard saturday, I am on call and worked this morning started playing NFS carbon which I will talk about in a bit.

Went to the gym today and was talking to spence about some stuff and why I struggle with some exercises in terms of form. And it turns out I have got weak rhomboids, very weak to the extent they have almost been taken completley out of action my the surrounding muscles building up and me never putting focus onto them properly in the 5+ years I have been lifting.
The rhomboids basically help you retract your shoulders, and instead of using these I have been useing momentum and the strength of the surrounding muscles as a substitute which has done me OK to a point but I am obviously at a plateau and putting this right will help no end in my training.
I have been given some remedial exercises to do and gotta do these daily for say a month and also change the way I do rows and any pulling movements till I get these muscles back up to scratch.
I am fairly glad to of learned this as I was not aware and it could of been a long time till this came to light otherwise and I am hoping it will allow me to see a more imediate benefit to my shoulders.

I started playing Need For Speed Carbon today and have mixed opinions on it so far, after just 2 hours I am 15% in and this seems to be very very quick , but it is starting to grow on me a bit.
The storyline stuff to it is a bit different but feels like a direct rip from a fast and furious movie and the basis of how and where you race is also a bit anoying, you drive around or chose on a map where you will race! wow not like Tony Hawk at all then..............
The general game play is alright and enjoyable enough but the drifting is a little bit tricky but I think this is more me then the game, otherwise the races are piss easy so far ...........I just suck at drifting I am better at the technical stuff.
Just watching the England match whilst typing this and what an opening try!

Some people are talkers and others are doers

Wed, 10 Oct 2007 22:14:10 GMT

The first thing I am gona put on here is that I have no problem with overweight people unless it becomes an issue that effects their own health.
What I do have an issue with is people who diet and do no fucking research, always talk about what diet they are going to do it.
There is one very simple rule to dieting burn more calories then you consume, if you eat too much you gain weight, eat just right and you remain stable, eat less and you loose weight!!!
   Next step exercise!! it is not that hard to find 20-40 mins 3 times a week to do some exercise, a walk, bike ride or whatever. However most people complain of being tired after work and need that time to sit down on their arse watch tv and feel depressed that they want to loose weight.
Once you have lost the weight, if you are happy with how you look and want to stay that way do not go and fucking stuff your face and then 6 months later think where did I go wrong?
But the biggest thing if you are not going to make an active effort please do not chat crap about it, there are lots of people who do make and effort and it pisses us off to hear you moan, as stated above I have no problem with peoples weight I just have a problem with people who talk and do nothing.
I actually do train in the gym at least 3 times a week, my diet is somewhat different as I need to make sure I keep my protein higher but I still have to pay a fair amount of attention to it and I have lost weight and kept it off so I would like to think I know what I am talking about.
Rant over..........almost as I am now gona bitch at myself almost.

Today in the gym just did not work, I am on my 2 rep week which should mean I am lifting about 80-90% of my 1 rep max and today was legs. It was a real chore to drag myself into the gym today and I think that is partly down to not eating enough yesterday/ not enough sleep and then eating way to much crap at work today which left my groggy come 7 when I got home.
I am quite proud of my leg press as in the past when I have been heavier and stronger I could leg press one hell of alot of weight. And by alot of people in my gyms standards I still can, but anyway 2 rep day and I start my warm up with 160kg on the leg press and then stack it up to 300kg for the 2 reps sets. Last time I did this last year it was hard work but this time it was really hard, I was able to complete the first set but failed on the very last part of the 2nd and 3rd sets......I think this was down to not being fully with it and not having lifted heavy like that in a year.
Oddly I moved onto squats and then my body started to come to life by the end of them and I was able to use 110kg which is not great but not pittiful either.
The rest of the workout was fine, I have been doing chin ups with every workout to add lat and bicep strength, and my endurance in this area is going up and the movement becoming easier, I think I can now manage 5 chin ups!!! Not alot but I am a heavy git.
   My move to put videos on the ipod seems like a winning one for cardio watching an episode of 24(or whatever else) per session will see me through 45 mins and better then staring out the window just listening to music.

Sorry about the above rant about diets, but I felt I needed to get it off my chest here rather then in a situation I will later regret.

On which note I will say congrats to Dave, you have sincerly impressed me Dude and you are looking good and hope things continue to go well.

On some general notes, I returned to Lanma and dragged Clement along and it was good to catch up with people I had not seen since Ame, and nice to see Claire there with Mike. Now just to get Phil and Chrissie back at some point!!!
Tomorrow is gona be my day of rest as I have been either at the gym most nights or lanma or bleh!! and this weekend I am on call with the most work I have seen us have out of hours in a long time..............should be fun.

Also I hate and love my ipod, I hate the fact I can not find any of my music !!! I think I am gona need to switch to rockbox, but I love that it syncs fast and plays videos easily and the battery lasts more then 5 mins!

Car wise nothing new to report, I gotta detail the beast this saturday/sunday which is gona take a good 2-4 hours but it always looks stunning once done.

Cars cars and something about the gym

Sun, 07 Oct 2007 10:07:24 GMT

I will do the Japan post, maybe even today at some point!!!
Somehow a weekend with nothing planned other then a few small tasks has turned into one that I can not find the time to relax on, the intial plan was hit the gym on saturaday, watch the gp qualifers and change the rear brake pads on my car.
To start with I needed a windback tool to get the caliper piston the retract into the caliper, it did not help the piston was all the way out and I turned it the wrong way to start with letting it leak some fluid and get air into the system (:slapshead:) so I bled the system a bit but I really need to do a full bleed and perhaps even fully flush things. But tthis was one of the easier parts.
Seems the last guy to change the rear pads cocked it up big time on the drivers side. For a start the disc needed some refacing so I had to sit there turning the disc with one hand and file in the other like a record player bringing up the surface again to a better usable disc.
Next when it came to reasemling everything the damned caliper would not line up as it should. This is kinda why the disc needed some refacing and the pads had uneven wear on them.
All sorted with an allmight effort and a spanner and now the brakes should be better then before.

There was a plus side to all of this that put a huge smile on my face, I had to get to the shops to buy the tool somehow. Oh damn there was only one car left on the driveway..................The 3.0 litre V6 jag and by fuck does it shift and make a noise in sports mode, I was under no doubt it was cranking out all 240bhp with a noise that is just primevil, what I said about keepinig the TDI might be a lie.............
I might be looking at a 2.8 A4 quatro next.

I am also gutted for Lewis Hamilton today, he still has next week to put things right but it is alot of pressure and he has done a tremendus job for his first year in F1 whatever the result, and I feel this has been the best season In F1 in years.

Now gotta find some time and drag my ass down the gym today and make up for not going fri and yesterday...........shit!
I think perhaps first I am gona finish off the last few eps of prison break season 2, there is one thing that stands out as funny is how everyone recognises the convicts that have escaped, but like everyone!!

Been a month, I am still here.

Tue, 02 Oct 2007 19:02:45 GMT

At the end of my last blog I put something about post Japan me getting my backside back into gear at the gym and hoping the wheather over there was a bit better!!
I need to do a write up on Japan and will do so later but that is gona take me awhile and don't want to put too much into one blog.

Post Japan I can not wait to go away again, and looking forwards to planning a trip to the US next year possibly involving a 300+ horsepower mustang :D But untill then I got no time off work untill christmas! Expo can not come fast enough but it is only for the weekend.

As for the gym I am actually managing to get in for the 3 workout minimum I have set myself a week and I am slowly but sureley returning to form thanks to the semi arse kicking Spencer gave me over my lack of nutrition, within a week of sorting that to some extent I have seen an imediate improvement in recovery and in strength. Next stop on my gym stuff is putting some more cardio into the mix .... but a plan is in place for that too involving my Ipod and lots of TV shows.

Workwise things are cool, I have just gone back into Asphalt planning today and seem easy compared to when I last did it and will be alot easier then the transport side off things but I will also have customers with ego's that can content with some of the biggest ***** out there. I swear some of them think they are celebrities or something.
But now having done every role in the office and being fairly good at each role I gotta take this chance to stand out and then next year look at the next step in my career.

This weekend just gone was awesome getting a chance to see friends down in London, the wheather just about held out, and I was introduced to the world of parapara but I did not partake in it. Was good to catch up with people I have not seen since Ame, but also meeting some new people and getting to know snap better who was sound.
Sunday I got kinda sidetracked so I did not get any of the things that I had planned done, but the unplanned event was much better anyway.

Which reminds me I do have something else other then expo to look forwards to MPH car show in November :D

And my car is another story it is now loosing less water since the wheather has cool which is confusing the hell outa me and other people and I think I am gona need to put this in with an Audi specialist to get it solved.

On a final note of the car I have decided (well 95%) that I am going to keep it for a bit as a newer one is gona set me back at least 5k and then I will no doubt start looking at mods. I think when the wheather starts to pick up next year I am gona be looking at quite a few nice mods to hike the power up by at least another 30-40% and maybe before that I will be looking at a few other bits and pieces like new suspension and a nice straight through exhaust. Bolt on a new stereo and sound system to that plus a S4 body kit and Alloys and I am looking at a hefty amount of spendinig. But it should make for a diesel that will outstrip all GTI cars in power and handling and looks.
First thing is first thou, I must put new rear pads on this weekend as the current ones are down to the metal and making a horrible screeching sound. Need to bung some new front tyres on also as the current ones are worn out and getting quite close to the safe limits of messing around with them now.

Please bare with me I am on the 4th

Tue, 04 Sep 2007 20:59:32 GMT

In a break from the norm I have skipped Lanma tonight to sort some stuff at home like cleaning the kitchen, washing and other stuff like paperwork and arranging holiday stuff.
Odd how I don't mind what my room is like although I have limits but I hate seeing the rest of the house untidy, I hope my Mum never sees this blog!
Apart from my bank somehow loosing 200 quid from my account today was alright as I have achieved some stuff and done more at home then expected.

To lead on from yesterday, I had a crap gym workout and I think this is down to my dwindling attendance at the moment pre and post ame and I gotta sort this out and get myself back into better conidtion. I am planning to fully throw myself back into it after Japan but up till then doing as much as I can. I just want to get back to my strength level before I lost a bit of weight, but without gaining that weight back, which means a higher protein diet but watching the carbs just enough to trim my fats a bit.............. Blah sometimes I hate trying to get the balance between strength and toning just right.
I am not one to blow my own tumpet and this is more a down then a possitve, but most guys my size or weight are not the same size as me. Guys that are my size are generally weaker then me but then those that I am as strong as I am smaller and not as toned as, so I really should find out why it is but I can only imagine it is that I have alot denser muscle and bone then normal.........................why can't I be bigger!!!
Anyways post Japan = Ass kicking in gym

I am also hoping Japan has a bit more heat on offer then here, leaving for work at 6ish this morning the car was stone cold and needed the heating on full blast, however contary to that I needed the air con on the way home from work............. nutzzz

Also just as a finishing coment isn't it funny how some people react to things and suprise you?!

On countdown

Mon, 03 Sep 2007 21:39:48 GMT

Why is it evertime I try to post a blog on here during the day I have loads of ideas during the day to get thins out of my head but it gets to getting something down and I forget what I had originally planned.

So short one tonight.

A better weekend then last

Sun, 02 Sep 2007 22:51:58 GMT

I am fairly happy with the way this weekend went I got a bit acheived (somehow) and just felt more lke a weekend. Also managed to swing an extra on call which always helps out.

The cats cast is now on and it is alot bigger but it is holding and he seems happier with it, but still needing more attention. Would of helped if the vets listened to me when I told them I thought it was slipping and he was not doing well with it.... of course the owner is just a customer that has no fucking idea what he is talking about and does not know his pet better then a snooty vet.
Fucking told ya so!!!

Had a bit of a cheesy film night at a friends, and introduced to silent night dealy night part 2 --- Punishment!!! And Evil dead Army of darkness made for a fun night.

Also made it down to the LAC today which was great to see some friends I have not seen since AME and was a test run for some future London trips. On the note of the test it would of gone better if the motorway was not screwed with traffic and then to find the two lines I needed on the underground closed that I needed to use!!! but around 2.5 hours door to door was not bad considering the hold ups.
Thanks to Hugh David as he got me safley to Lanma from Bank.
It was a shame I did not have more money to spend as I think I would of easily spent a fair bit on dvd's had I not have a trip away this weekend coming, but looked to be some awesome merchandise and I need a tachikoma plushie to add to the car shelf.

On which I still can not figure out what the hell is up with it!
For those unaware I have an1998 Audi A4 tdi, now the only way I can afford to keep this car is by doing as much work as possible myself with only really big jobs that involve a ramp that I do not touch as I cover 400+ miles a week. Otherwise I service it myself on a regular basis.
I would have to say the car is currently running the best I have ever had it bar two things, the first has been slowly progressing and I am eliminating possible factors one by one. Basically it is using its water/coolant way too fast so it is leaking somewhere. I have already had a new radiator fitted as the old one was on the way out, which leaves me with a few options one of which will come with a tub of vasoline.
It is either; head gasket, flange at back of engine, expansion tank replacement or water pump...................never simple with this car.
The other problem is that the indicators are not indicating properly, this has just started happening in the last week, this however looks easier to solve and might just need a new switch that is between 10-30 quid depending where I go. The joys of motoring

On a possitive note I got my Ipaq working, I have had this problem since I bought it 3-4 months ago that the gps would not work and that it said no gps device found. So after some research and lots of faffing about I reset the thing and had to fuck about with the registry (change a 1 to a 0) and some other messing about. Should now work..... nope nothing. Maybe would of helped if I took it outside and it could pick up the satalites, but you should not need to edit the registry for something that should work out of the box.
Still I now have a working sat nav and can get anywhere in Europe in theory :D

Fri, 31 Aug 2007 16:20:35 GMT

I am out tonight and have had one hell of a day at work so felt compelled to rant only a few minutes after getting in as I have a few friends combined night out later on and it is unfair for me to be in a mood when I get there.

Basically had a shit day at work calling people all day apologising for letting them down, and in return getting a good ear fucking. This is the less glamourous part of my job when we need to shortfall deliveries as we have not had enough transport to get it out or a major accident fucks everything up.
I was asked if I wanted to work tomorrow, but I was not in the mood for an early start and am already on call so got a lil bit of extra cash there.
Now I have gotten that off my chest I feel a bit betterr, and tbh I was about ready to tell my work where to stuff it today untill sensibility kicked in and I thought better of it.

It is a good thing I am on holiday next weekend as it will give me a long deserved break I need atm, and not only that I am going to Japan!!!!..................I really must sort out the currency for Japan.

In other news I got to take my cat Simba to the vets tonight to get his leg checked as he more or less snapped one of his hind paws breaking all 4 bones, and is in a cast atm (pics on facebook), he has had the leg pinned and in a huge cast and I have nicknamed him hopalong for the time being. But he needs lots of attention (well he does anyway so more so now!) and stuff.
Hopefully the vets will tell us how much longer till he can get the cast off and go outside as it is driving him nuts being inside all the time right now.

And off for a nice pizza and other junk food tonight, and perhaps some cheesey music!!! ...... or not

Naught all planned for tomorrow other then going to the gym, sleeping and whatever.
Sunday gona take a wonder down to London to check out LAC and see some mates. Not alot but I think that makes for a good weekend.

Patience and sheep

Thu, 30 Aug 2007 21:47:54 GMT

One of my greatest strengths and perhaps one of my greatest weaknesses is my impatience for things to happen.
Sometimes this has resulted in me achievinig things faster then I normally would and others it means I have rushed into things that have cost me or not worked out that great. More often then not it has worked to my benefit.
I have decided thou that I need to get a better grip on my patience as I feel it will help me in the future just being able to hang on that much longer before making decisions.
ALSO just to clarify I mean long term patience in terms of decision making i.e. should I buy a house, car etc.... Job stuff.
Those of you that know me well will know that generally I am very Chilled out and take things as they come.
Those of you who work with me may think otherwise but I do not really let work bother me after I put my laptop away for the night, however many expletives and wonderfully crafted curse words I may string together. I do however get frustrated with people who do not think logically and act like tossers.

Funnily enough I meant to post this yesterday but an interesting turn of events has prompted me to put something down in writing so I can look back in the future, but saying this stuff also is like admitiing it to yourself and lets you push forwards.

To that I now need to take a long careful look at my options for the future and when at the end ofnext year I become debt free and strings free to do what I want I will have to make some big decisions about what I want to do with my life.
Untill then I plan to continue having some fun, book a few more holidays and cons etc....

As an after thought people are stupid, well not all the time just at airports, just dropped my Mum off at Birmingham Airport and had some really crazy people step out infront of me and run behind the car etc when I was pulling in and out!!
But also some cheeky sod in some huge BMW X5 thought he had right of way when he was illegally parked in a yellow box on my left hand side, and indicating as you pull out is ok.
Like I said people at places like supermarkets, carparks, airports etc..... = Sheep

Best laid plans sort of.....

Mon, 27 Aug 2007 20:41:39 GMT

OK got the car stuff done today, serviced it and washed it, some pics on facebook

Laptop is now sorted after backing up 60-80 gigs and then wiping all the crap dell put on as std, and without boring people with the details it is now running very nicely but my internet connection is still crap so msn is unstable still.

blah I was gona post something interesting but will do it later.

Not quite what I had planned

Sun, 26 Aug 2007 23:01:14 GMT

No car pics today, slept most of the morning and could no be arsed to do it today, same with the gym also.

I did have to go to a BBQ of a family friends and it was erm not the best in the world although the friends are great people it would be fair to describe her other half as a dimwitted fucktard, and they let the bbq cool off and go out which is a great move as the food ended up under cooked!!

The main thing I have been trying to do is track down a copy of final fantasy 8 for the psx to play this weekend. Before I continue I must thank the bakas for putting me onto this quest to find a copy of FFVIII after that conversation in the halls at the opal court at ame!
I found a few copies online and neither has loaded through magic swap 3.6 ( I am having the same problem with ff7) so I am gona need to get new copies from ebay as a trek into the high street and 3/4 shops did no good either.
In the meantime thanks to my friend Luke who has pointed me in the direction of an old classic called Fall Out for the PC which I shall be checking out tomorrow.

And that leads me onto the next thing, those of you who chat to me on msn will notice how crappy my connection is at times & this is partly down to my wireless but also some issues on this machine with bloody malware & spyware and other crap (I have avg fully up to date, so feck knows how this stuff got through).
So I am currently sitting here backing up between 60-80 gigs of stuff and then going for a fresh install protected from the get go & stripped out so XP boots faster and runs smoother.

Bit gutted to watch Hamilton not do great in the GP, but he still has a fair few races to nail the championship.

Will get the pics of the car up tomorrow should get a good long detail, and I will swap out the oil and air filters.

No idea for a subject title

Sat, 25 Aug 2007 16:52:52 GMT

OK, so first post here on LJ it is about time I started using this as I abandoned myspace as It was well crap.
I always think about loads of stuff I could put into a blog then when it gets around to it I sort of forget and do this!!
Blah well this weekend is somewhat of a sucky one as the plans I had went out the window and just trying to find stuff to do, partly filled some of it with sleep so far, and after this gona get off to the gym for a few hours.

I have been looking for a copy of FFVIII as I felt it was about time I tried to complete the game , only problem is the game is harder then I expected to track down, so looks like I wont be playing it this weekend but not really in the mood for any of my other general games I fancied starting something epic.

Only other plans are servicing the car (oil and air filter change) and giving it a damned good wash as it is a state right now!! Damned tree sap!!!

Nothing else to add other then will put some pics of the car up tomorrow with a before and after of the cleaning.