Made On Mobile: 2010

Carrier Bag - Carry Nowt

What's going on with carrier bags at Asda stores these days? My partner went shopping a few nights ago and when she arrived home, I was surprised at the size of the carrier bags she was given. They seemed to have shrunk by at least half!

Babybel Bull

Today I found myself very disgruntled with Babybel. I`ve been collecting the promotional packs this week in order to get the free space hopper. I had my 4 codes ready, and logged onto the website only to find that they have had to close the offer due to "Unprecedented demand". The thing that amazes me though is that these special promotion packs are still available to buy in local supermarkets. This should be deemed as false advertising. They claim that they only have 15,000 to give away but that is not stated on the tag when you buy the item from the supermarket. It`s only once you get home from shopping and check the website that you find this out, by which time it`s too late to take them back.

Babybel Space Hoppers

PS3 Controller Is Annoying

I love my playstation 3, yet I have a little problem that I wish to share with you all. I keep my controller in the drawer of my coffee table and whenever I go to fetch anything from that drawer, I always seem to catch the PS button on the controller (easy to do) which then results in the playstation switching itself on. This is all well and good when I wish to actually use the machine, but sometimes I don`t even realise i`ve switched it on and I come home from work 8 hours later wondering why it`s on. Please please please Sony, make it a feature that you have to hold the button down for a certain period of time in order to switch it on. I`m worried that by leaving the machine on for 8 hour periods without realising, it will result in a shorter life span of my console.

Last Minute Shopping Can Be So Fustrating

As I work in a small shop I find it rather frustrating that even after 7 hours of trading, people still leave it until a few minutes before we close to purchase our goods. We are usually open on a Saturday from 9am until 4pm yet customers still decide to come in 5 minutes before closing. This then means that I don`t get out on time because I then have to take time to cash up. WHY! We have been trading for over 7 years, so it`s not like they don`t know our opening times.

Tweet Tweet Twitter

I`ve had a Twitter account for over a year now and yet i`ve never really bothered with it until now. I set it up on my blog to "retweet" my posts. Now since posting my blog on my tweets i`ve seen my following rise quite rapidly. I`ve gone from having 7 followers when I first signed up to now having a lovely 851. I`m quite amazed how quickly it has risen. I think the fact that I dont spam like alot of people on Twitter and I actually post genuine content has helped me gain these followers. I`ve started reaching an audience that prehaps wouldnt have even seen my posts without me putting it out there.

Follow Me Here
Twitter

Best Way To Save Money - Thanks Natwest

I've had an account with Natwest now for quite a few years and although it's not my main account I decided that I would top up the balance. Now, a few weeks ago I made the stupid mistake of cutting up my new debit card instead of the expired one. So, whilst making my deposit I ordered a new card. They were very understanding and told me that the card would arrive to the branch in 5-7 days. That's fine I thought until I went to collect my card and they informed me that they had now lost my replacement and had to cancel and reissue one. They then proceeded to give me a direct number to the branch that turned out to be the wrong number.So, my final conclusion is that if you don't want to get access to your money when you want, then bank with Natwest. Useful banking, mmm, not sure.

Start Of Christmas

Bit Early For Christmas?

OMG!

When I saw this last Thursday I had to pinch myself that what I was seeing was real and not an illusion. A Christmas tree at the start of September. I found this in my local whilst I was dining out for my birthday. It was right by the door with the Christmas menu. Bit early I think, although I do love Christmas. Just incase your reading this Santa, Yes I have been a good boy this year.

Most Visited Place

When you ask people the question of "wheres the place you've most visited" most people usually mention a place from their childhood or honeymoon, but not me. My most visited place is my fridge. I just like to go there several times during the day. It doesn't have a sunny climate, so no chance of sunburn. But it never rains and it's all inclusive.

Working At The Car Wash

Where I live there are numerous cheap car wash outlets, all pretty much run by migrant workers. Today I had the pleasure of using one of these establishments and couldn't help wondering how they manage to make any money. As they cleaned my car I counted 6 workers all scrubbing away and all for £3. This equates to just 50p each. This is without the cost of cleaning fluids and materials. Now I understand that we are in a poor economic state, but surely living off 50p a job is pretty hard going, considering the good job they did on my car.

Battle For The Bed

Bedroom Battle Scar

Scratches, fat lips and general bruising. These are my battle scars from a night of sleep caused by my unsuspecting other half. I woke up a few days ago, only to find that she had been beating me in the night to gain duvet supremacy. You may laugh, but the wounds are real. The worse thing is she is a generally clumsy person anyway, so it should come as no great sursprise that I often find a elbow coming my way or a sudden knee to my lower regions. To be fair, she has no idea she is inflicting this damage upon me as she tosses and turns peacefully in her sleep. With great coordination and skill she manages to wail her arms and legs in such a manner, that creates great damage. Prehaps I should ask the sandman to restrain her more often.

TV Standby

Something that really bugs me is why Samsung make televisions without the ability to turn them off completely. I heard once that by leaving your tv on standby still uses a considerable amount of power. Now with alot of major corporations trying to become greener and more energy friendly, I was baffled as to why Samsung haven't addressed this issue. Before I start slating Samsung (I have 3 LCD tv's from them so can't be that bad). I'm sure they contribute alot towards energy saving but why make a tv that we cant switch off completely. I'm fed up seeing the little red light on when I'm in bed. No pun intended. Sort it out!

911 Remembering The Fallen

On the aniversary of 911 (the terrible attacks that shook America on September 11th 2001), I thought it was only right to take a moment and remember those killed that day. I`ve never been to New York, although its a place I would like to visit in the future. I remember watching the news back here at the time and thinking how horrible it must have been to be trapped in a building, hundreds of feet up and unknowning what was about to unfold . There are many thoughts and theorys as to what happened that day but today is not a time for those. Today is about remembering the people who were affected by those events. Firefighters, police and rescue teams who battled to help. The families of loved ones lost. But most of all we remember the people who were taken away in such unfair circumstances that day.

Rest In Peace

September Chill

The start of winter is approaching. Yes, it's that time of year when the the dark mornings set in, which are then followed by miserable dark nights. I think a sure sign of this became clear to me a few nights ago whilst lying in bed. I was cold. Now we have a 13.5 tog duvet on our bed and yet I still thought it was a little chilly. We are still only in September and yet I'm starting to reach for my winter warmers.

I Got The Blues

Something that confuses me is why cyan ink is harder to wash off than black, yellow or magenta? I've worked with ink for about 6 years now and have always wondered why? It just seems to stain, and it doesn't matter how quickly you try washing it off it seems to stain almost straight away. It is so frustrating.

Bikers Bash

My thoughts on bikers varies from day to day. Somedays I think that they are the cancer of the road and other days I can tolerate them without a thought in the world. Why? Well here it is. The first being that they have no respect for the speed limits on the road. It's almost like the signs aren't in place for them. Secondly, when I'm about to turn right why should I have to keep checking to make sure that they haven't decided to overtake. Surely it's the riders responsibility to overtake when safe. Thirdly and this doesn't seem too bad but happens, is when they try to squeeze through a gap and they clip your side mirrors without any care. My main gripe with bikers is this. Why oh why do I see more and more teenage boy idiots riding around on mopeds, most likely unisured and sporting learner plates. Why don't the dvla make it compulsory to actually pass your bike test instead of having them take a small test that even a newborn could pass. You wouldn't allow them to drive a car so why should a bike be any different. Personally I wouldn't trust half of them to push my supermarket trolley. I have even had them trying to race me on these lawnmower powered scooters whilst driving down the road. Don't get me wrong, the problem to me seems that these generation of young riders taint the name of the good,responsible,careful and experienced bikers and therefore painting them all with the same brush.

No Wonder The Banks Nearly Went Bust

Just how stupid are the banks of this world. I was going about my day today, just surfing the web when I came across something that just made me laugh.The people we trust to look after our hard earned cash have come up with a stupid and daft idea. They have started printing on their letters this message (see photo). I mean, if you are able to read the message on the letter then why would you need it in braille or worse audiotape! Didn't realise you read with your ears. This is just a small example of why our country is a laughing stock. Nobody takes us seriously anymore or perhaps they never have.

Big Day Boogie

With our wedding getting ever closer we were trying to think of a nice song for our first dance. I have been telling people that we may have "killing in the name of" by Rage Against The Machine just to see the reaction on their faces. It's never easy picking the right song, one that starts the journey of marriage. After a lot of thought and consideration we have opted for "Songbird" by Eva Cassidy. It's a nice slow song with beautiful words that should capture our moment perfectly. All that's left to do now is to stop the wife doing the robot dance.

Playing with Photoshop

This last week I decided to have a play with photoshop and was pleasently surprised with the results. Now, im more than happy for your comments if it means that I can make some progress in using this rather deep program but heres a sample of what I made and a brief guide of how I did it...

Black & White Photo with touch of colour (Photoshop)

Open up Adobe Photoshop (I`m using CS2).

Go File - Open - Select Photo you want to play with and select open.

Select the Edit in quick mask tool.

Use your brush to select the area you wish to make colour.

Once your happy with the area that you want to remain in colour.

Select the edit in standard mode

Go Image - Adjustments - Desaturate

Go File - Save

Done...

Clearing Out The Garage

I spent last weekend helping out the in laws with the tidying of their garage. The idea was that once tidy, the father in law would be able to store his car in there away from the winter elements. It turned out to be a major operation and although it looks a lot better it still has room for improvement. It's surprising how much stuff people accumulate over the years and how some people find discarding items that have either no use or no value apart from sentimental. In the garage we found tins of paint that I'm sure were used by cavemen to write on walls. After a while and several trips to he local council tip, it started to look positive but the job is far from complete. Trying to convince somebody who hoards stuff to part with it is an unenviable task, take my word for it.

Sunday Night Newlyweds

Later caught in a man trap

Take one drunk, one arranged marriage, one virgin bride and a lesbian couple. This is what amounts to Sunday night television on Channel 4 as they continue their season of trash, it never ends really.Yes, its Newlyweds - The One Year Itch. The program followed the lives of several married couples. As I sit here watching,there are several moments during the program when it seems a little strained. The drunk is perhaps the funniest, as me and my partner take the micky with our own voice overs, pretending to be drunk. The lesbians seem to want to hide their sexuality whilst the girl from the arranged marriage amazed me by saying "nobody asked me if I loved him". The virgin girl then goes on to say that the main reason for getting hitched was just to get laid as she believed in no sex before marriage. Then there is the fella who actually left his wife just a few months after his wedding only to return to his wife due to the fact that he kept popping round for a quickie. It seemed strange that even after he left she still pined for him and therefore trapped him in her man trap by getting pregnant. He seemed to look really happy, sense the sarcasm.

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