Catching up on events

It's been a while since I blogged. Perhaps that's an inevitable thing, you start with good intentions of writing a regular commentary on life, the universe and everything, but then the enthusiasm just tails off and perhaps, horror of horrors, you just have nothing interesting to say!

However, life rolls on and a number of things have happened so I feel that I should document them.

Firstly and most sadly, my mother has died - at the moment it's too raw a feeling to say much, but although her health had deteriorated to the point where she needed nursing care it still came as a shock when it happened so quickly.

A conversation I had with her just a very few weeks ago concerned the house we were buying in France - I showed her the photographs and she said how much she'd like to be able to see it one day - never now to happen which leaves me feeling rather empty. Even more poignantly the day of the sale completion is the day of the funeral.

Another event of note is the purchase of a new aeroplane, as I blogged earlier I rather fancied the CTLS (having flown a CTSW) so I am now the proud owner of G-CGRB and I'll write a separate blog entry about it.

I've joined Twitter!

Read my Tweets!

Why? That's a good question, and one to which I have no definitive answer.

It seems to me that blogging and tweeting are very much the same thing, casting your thoughts to the wind for no other reason than that you can.

Maybe, just maybe such exercise, being one that requires thought and some degree of manual dexterity (just to type) will contribute to the well being of participents. There was an article on Today on Radio 4 earlier in the week describing a study into dementia which suggests that keeping an active intellectual life reduces the risk factors for the onset of Alzheimer's. Perhaps there's a study to be done correlating numbers of bloggers and tweeters with dementia sufferers?

Fallout from Lehman Brothers Collapse

Trust is a funny thing - you only realise how important it is when it's not there. The MPs expenses scandal shows that to perfection - I suspect many people were, up until a few months ago, happy to address a letter to their MP as "The Honorable .......", but not any more.

However, that's not really why I'm musing away this afternoon, rather some thoughts on how I've lost (or so it seems at the moment) a sizeable chunk of money invested for my retirement. Having managed to save some cash over the last few years I had a review with my financial advisors and decided that as I am approaching retirement I should become rather more cautious with any investments and was given an interesting leaflet from DRL (Defined Returns Limited) which offered a 100% guarantee that my capital was secure and would pay me a %'age of the rise in the Footsie over a period of years, but if the index fell would then just pay me back my original capital.

What could go wrong with that?

Everything as it turns out!

Despite the promises in the brochure that this investment was suitable for those who needed to protect their capital it turns out that DRL invested the money with Lehman Brother in the Netherlands. That seems to be significant because despite the brochure saying that DRL and Lehmans UK WERE protected under the financial services protection scheme, Lehmans bv weren't. So when Lehmans went down in the US and the rest of the empire followed there went my dosh.

All may not be lost - so many people have complained about this to the Financial Ombudsman Service that they are conducting a special investigation/review into the matter - an action group has been formed with a website and blog at http://missoldinvestments.co.uk/ and there is an early day motion laid before parliament - so maybe, just maybe all is not yet lost.

HSBC - no improvement!

I wrote last year about my experience with HSBC following the theft of my credit card http://bartonflyer.blogspot.com/2008/03/hsbc-what-bunch-of-tossers.html - well the saga continued as, despite my thinking that I'd cancelled the card and was no longer a customer, some months after the episode, statements started arriving showing my balance of £0.00

After ignoring these for some 6 months, I finally decided to ring them and find out why they thought I was still a customer. Once again the automated system asks me to key in the card number, then my date of birth then it tells me I can't use that service as I haven't registered for it and don't have a security number (which of course I knew from the start!), by pressing enough buttons on the telephone I finally get to speak to a human being in the Lost & Stolen section. A pleasant enough chap but completely unable to help as the card is already known as being lost or stolen - well of course - it was me that reported it ... Doh!

Transferred to general card services, another helpful human being then confirms for me that the card is marked as stolen and HSBC know that I don't have a replacement card but that she cannot accept an instruction to cancel it by phone (why not - I don't have it, there are no transactions on it, there is no balance on it!) and I must write in to HSBC with an instruction to cancel.

OK, I'll do that, what is the address? HSBC's heplful human refers me to the address shown on the back of the statement.
I turn my statement over and guess what? Got it in one - there is no bloody address on the back!

Another interesting discussion ensues - I'm sure the helpful human thinks she's dealing with a congenital idiot as she keeps telling me the section on the back in which to look - I'm staring at it now - THERE IS NO BLOODY ADDRESS!

Just for reference if anyone else does need to contact this abysmal organisation the address is HSBC Bank plc, Chartwell House, 365 Chartwell Square, Southend-on-Sea, Essex, SS99 2UU

So, letter written, correctly addressed and successfully posted!
I wonder what will happen next?

Another Place

Now, heaven knows I'm no great art lover, and certainly much modern art leaves me cold (Mark Rothko - Emperor's New Clothes anyone?) but the Anthony Gomley statues on the beach at Crosby are impressive, thought provoking (what are they doing?, where are they going?, WHY?) and just plain FUN - so many looking out to see (or even out to sea!), just stood there; impervious to the wind, rain and tides - here are a few pictures:

An interesting diversion on The Web

One fascinating feature of the internet is the number of get-rich-quick schemes that pop up everywhere you look. Are these just the latest incarnation of the old pyramid selling scams, or is there really an opportunity to make money by imparting knowledge?

Well - only one way to find out and that's to set one up !

A bit of research (admittedly probably influenced by too much red wine) and I've registered my domain www.sunglassesforless.co.uk and bought a hosting package (PHP & MySQL) with the cheapest UK provider I could find and also signed up with Build A Niche Store (or BANS as it's nicknamed).

So the site is up and running - let's see what happens!

Musings on the USA

So, after a week back in the UK, following two weeks holiday in the USA: Time to ponder & give some impressions.

Counting up, this was something like my 25th trip to America over a period of some 30+ years, most have been business trips but about 5 or 6 were holidays, and it is interesting to reflect on the changes over time.

Our trip started in Chicago where we cleared immigration. This was smooth, reasonably quick and quite painless, I've certainly stood in much longer queues on previous visits so no complaints there, other than being fingerprinted - I am NOT a criminal so why am I treated as one? A connecting flight took us to Little Rock Arkansas where we were met by my old biking pal Bryn and he drove us to Searcy, around 60 miles North East where Bren was waiting with a glass or two of Red and a bowl of chili.

Over the next two days we were shown around the local area, then further afield to a little town called Mountainview in the Ozarks. A filling snack of BBQ pulled pork followed by Moose Tracks ice-cream certainly hit the spot. In the afternoon we watched the "Grinnin' and Pickin'" where folk just gathered in small groups with fiddles, basses, guitars, dulcimers and whatever and started playing & singing. Not for money, just for fun and charming it was. Most bizarrely though, the whole area is "dry" as in "no alcohol on sale" (certainly not in respect of rainfall as much was under water!). A visit to Wal-Mart, to buy some remarkably cheap Wranglers, got me thinking on why I could have bought a gun in a supermarket, but not a bottle of beer? I think that is one thing about America where I just believe they are fundamentally wrong in their reasoning. The right to bear arms may be important, but doesn't the right to life trump that? I've been in The South before, mainly Georgia, but this was my first time in Arkansas. My impressions were very favourable, a benign climate (possibly excepting the odd tornado), no overcrowding, no clogged up roads, beautiful lakes & mountains with a politeness and friendliness from everyone that I spoke to. But (isn't there always a but?) I just got the feeling that this was so much of a backwater that I'd never live there. Terrific place to visit and I would definitely go again and spend more time in the mountains, but I had the same feeling that I had in Australia some years ago, of being so far away from "mainstream" - that and not being able to have a glass of wine with your meal.....

On from Arkansas to Annapolis, Maryland. Staying at the William Page Inn we had the most comfortable room, great hospitality from Robert the Innkeeper and a really pleasant two days. The highlight was a day out with a very old friend, Stan Bielak and his wife Janet. Stan, a business acquaintance from some 15 years ago has, I'm delighted to say, become a friend. We spent the afternoon chatting in their beautiful home on the shores of The Chesapeake Bay, joined later by two most pleasant grandchildren, mad keen on soccer (that's football to the rest of the western world!). Then we went for a super meal at The Narrows just across the Chesapeake Bridge. All in all a very, very pleasant day.

Next day to Washington, where Lynne was to have two days attending the conference (which was the underlying purpose of the whole trip). Our hotel was "Rouge" both in name & nature. An older (late 60's?) building that had been renovated and turned into a "Boutique Hotel", apparently by someone with a limitless supply of red paint, but no ability to fix mirrors to walls or to organise engineers to mend lifts! However they did supply free booze (you've guessed it RED Stripe Beer or RED wine) for an hour every evening. On the first night we ate with the other members of Lynnes' study group at The Logan Tavern a really busy bar/restaurant about 10 minutes walk away and in the process one of our party made an excellent wine choice with an Argentine Malbec - Who said psychiatrists were dull? It is now Thursday 10'th April and with Lynne attending the conference I have the day to myself, so decide to do the tourist thing and get a day's subway ticket (what a bargain at $7.50). My first choice was to go to the National Archives to see the The Declaration of Independence, but unfortunately the queues for entry were right round the building and I passed on that option and went instead to The National Gallery of Art, a superb building where the collections are impressive to the point of overwhelming. I spent most time in the West building where the more traditional (classical?) art is kept, but did visit the East building for confirmation that (in my opinion) most modern art is just a case of The Emperor's New Clothes! On from the Art Galleries to The Capitol, a walk up the hill and back onto the subway and that was my day gone. That evening there was a dinner meeting organised by the American conference hosts with the guest speaker being the chief psychiatrist in the American Army, talking about the suicide rates amongst the US service personnel involved in their various conflicts. Not, you might think, the most engrossing subject for a talk over dinner, but the Colonel was an excellent speaker and her talk quite fascinating to me as a complete layman.

My impressions of Washington? Overall I found it rather a dull city, although there are some impressive buildings, there just isn't much of a "buzz" about the place.

Friday and we caught an early afternoon train to New York, to arrive in Penn Station. A taxi ride across town to our hotel The Affinia Gardens, another suite hotel but unlike The Rouge, not in garish red AND with functioning lifts! The meal that evening had been booked at The Tribeca Grill owned in part by Robert de Niro. After managing to get on the wrong subway line, a group of us ended up on Canal Street with about a mile to walk - so in true British spirit we did! The meal was good (though no sight of de Niro, but would I have recognised him anyway - surely he's not as famous as Johnny Briggs who we saw in Manchester?), but extraordinarily expensive even with the pound worth two dollars! Just possibly it may have been the quantity of extremely pleasing red wine that tipped the balance. One of us was certainly unconscious in the taxi back to the hotel but modesty forbids me to say which one. That said, why was it me that awoke with a headache the next morning? Once again Lynne was attending the conference (Saturday) so I had the day to myself in New York. The fizzy tablets did their work & I caught the subway to City Hall and joining the folk walking over The Brooklyn Bridge. From the Brooklyn side I took many (too many!) photographs some of which are up on my website in Gallery24 if you are interested.

Sunday was to be our last full day in New York, so we went for culture! A walk from our hotel on E 64th street, 25 blocks north to The Guggenhiem Museum on E 89th street. Such a pity, but the museum building itself is completely covered in scaffolding and udergoing a significant renovation. Inside, the major exhibition was by a Chinese American artist, Cai Guo-Qiang. "Challenging" would be my best way of describing it; from a set of cars in various stages of destruction, all suspended from the gallery ceiling, to 100 stuffed wolves running into a glass wall it certainly challenged me to try and understand what it meant or whether The Emperor's New Clothes had struck again? On the The Metropolitan Museum - a look around the ancient Egyptian galleries - very impressive, a look at the Fench Impressionists also impressive, then some Mark Rothko et al (you've got it - The Empero.....).

But what a treat outside - two young black guys doing a break dance and acrobatic show on the pavement - the climax was a full somersault over four audience members stood looking petrified!

The meal that evening was in Smith & Wollensky (a steak house that Stan had introduced me to on a previous visit to New Your a good few years ago). The Colorado Rib steak was enormous and delicious.

Monday was our last day in New York as were would be catching the Amtrak Lake Shore Limited train to Chicago. We did the tourist things and visited Macys then went to The Rockefeller Centre and up to "The Top of The Rock". Being a bright, clear, sunny day the views were spectacular in all directions.Finally a meal in the Sea Grill, in the Rockefeller Centre rounded off an excellent short stay in one of the world's most exciting cities. Once again I was impressed by New York, even though it's overcrowded and too touristy in many parts, it does have that "buzz" that is missing in Washington.


So - the overnight train to Chicago, luggage checked in at the station (how civilised is that?) and ensconced in our sleeper, we set off up the Hudson River valley through Schenectady, Albany and on towards the Great Lakes. Not the greatest night's sleep, but woke up to a flatish, pretty dull landscape and a train that was gradually going slower and slower until it ground to a complete halt. It transpired that one of the two engines had a problem so they took it off and we continued, eventually, with just the other engine pulling the train and finally arrived in Chicago about 4 hours late. Apart from the unfailing cheerfulness of the train staff it was a tad reminiscent of British Rail in the bad old days!

As Chicago was to be the end of the holiday, we'd decided to "hang the expense" and booked into the Ritz-Carlton just off the Magnificent Mile. Let me declare an interest right up front - I love Chicago, I think I've been 3 or 4 times now and the city never fails to impress. It's a busy, working town. There's an agression in the driving that I like (most driving in the US just seems SO slow and far too polite compared to Europe).
But, overall it's the architecture and the skyline that knocks me out: The view is from Navy pier towards the Hancock Tower (with the two aerials) - our hotel is the tall building immediately to the left).
Our first evening in Chicago we had seats at Wrigley Field to watch the Cubs pay Cinncinati Reds. Lynne's first ever visit to a baseball game and despite my insistance on wearing my Salford City Reds hat I think she thoroughly enjoyed the razzamatazz of an All American event.
For our one full day in Chicago we got tourist tickets on the subway and went to ride the "EL" round The Loop. The EL invokes thoughts of gangster movies and cop car chases and must be one of the travel bargains of the world!









A visit to the Marshal Field department store (now owned by Macy's) brought a great photo opportunity. We walked for miles that day, ending up down at the Navy Pier with the wind so strong that you could hardly stand up.

Continuing the strong restaurant theme of this blog, we ate that night at Morton's Seakhouse. Although a chain, the meal was superb, the service excellent and it rounded off the holiday in style.

Next morning, some shopping for various folk at home (with the exchange rate as it was the temptations to buy clothes were strong). A last lunch in an Italian restaurant then it was time to collect the bags from the hotel & get a cab back to O'Hare where the whole American adventure had begun.

Right at the beginning of this ramble I said I'd give my impressions and note the changes that I've seen over the years, so here goes:

There seems to be an enormous paranoia gripping America and its population that most definitely was never there before. 911 and the wars in Afhghanistan and Iraq have clearly taken their toll, though having lived in Britain through a much longer period under terrorist threat it certainly seems to me to be a massive overreaction.

The divisions between rich and poor seem greater than ever. I saw more people begging on the streets than in any previous trip, and more people sleeping rough. America may be the land of opportunity but the treatment (or lack of it) of those at the bottom of the pile shames an otherwise great and generous people.

American insularity remains as great as ever - though US newspapers seem to have a little more world news than I recall from earlier visits. But still precious little authoritative comment on foreign affairs.

Overall I still love visiting the USA. Although I'd vowed I wouldn't go whilst the idiot Bush was president, the opportunity was there and the pull too great and we had a wonderful two weeks. No doubt we will return (to quote a phrase!).

HSBC - What a bunch of to**ers!

Now I am a reasonable man.
It's a rare occasion on which I get angry, but today HSBC managed to do it.
In a previous blog entry I described the burglary: One of the items in my wallet was an HSBC credit card. Not a card that Iuse very often, but one that I wanted to keep. In the aftermath of the burglary I reported the card stolen, and was assured that a replacement card would be sent. Over the last few days I've received my replacement RBS card, MBNA card even my Nectar card but from HSBC nothing!
Then a letter arrived from HSBC saying that as my card was nearing its expiry date and because I used it so infrequently as a convenience to me they would not be replacing it unless I specifically asked them to. As I did want to keep the card I rang the number provided and that's when the whole shambles started.
After waiting around 1/2 a minute the automated response asked me to key in my credit card number - I did that. The disembodied voice then asked for my date of birth so I keyed that in. Short pause and then I am told that I cannot use this service as I do not have a security number - but wait ..... I rang the number they gave me, I entered the information they requested, they have never given me a security number - so press 4 to ask for a human being to speak to me. Sure enough a human does come on the line, a very polite female who asks me for all the information I've just keyed and what the issue is. I explain and then she tells me that I need to be transferred to the credit card department - but wait .... That is the number I called in the first place in response to a letter from the credit card department.
Never mind I get transferred to another human being, this time a well spoken man who is polite to the point of obsequiousness. I explain that I do wish to renew my card, at which he tells me that he needs to take me through some security questions so once again I give my name, my date of birth etc etc. He then asks for the expiry date of my previous card. I tell him that the whole reason for the call is that my previous card was stolen, that HSBC know that and it is at their insistence that I am making the telephone call in the first place!
Because I cannot tell them the expiry date of the previous card, which they have already accepted was stolen I am now told that I must go into a local HSBC branch with proof of my identity.
Result HSBC loose a customer.

El Rincon

A belated company Christmas night out at El Rincon de Rafa in Manchester. Terrific food, good wine, celebrity guests - yes we saw Johnny Briggs (AKA Mike Baldwin).
Arrived just before 8 and had a couple of Riojas to get into the atmosphere, the rest of the party soon turned up and a few drinks got everyone into a relaxed mood. The meal was a LOT of tapas of which there were some superb dishes, in particular the fish (cod I think) moist & flaky in a light batter, the tiny chorizo sausages and the crab. With the tapas over two giant paellas arrived - cooked to perfection. The hardy ones amongst us then tackled the crema catalana - whilst tasting great it wasn't exactly how I remember the dish from eating it in Spain, more of ice ream dessert than a creamy sweet custard.
Resisting calls to order Spanish brandy, I think that would have been extremely foolish (killjoy I know!) people stated drifting away with the last of us leaving just before midnight, pretty full, slightly drunk and well satisfied.

Burglary !

Sub title - How to be REALLY stupid!

Tuesday night, March 4'th.

With an early start in the morning, to catch a flight from Manchester to Cork, I took myself off to bed around 10:45 and was comfortably dozing off. Before retiring I'd done my usual preparation and put my wallet, car and house keys, mobile phone, passport and Euros on the kitchen table conveniently placed to collect on my way out in the morning.

Around 11:15, my sleep was interrupted by a loud shout from downstairs "OI OI": not quite conscious I then heard my wife on the phone dialling 999 and asking for the police. Curiosity took over and I got out of bed, quickly threw on some clothes and dashed downstairs.

Although I'd gone to bed, my wife was waiting up for her son to come home and because of that, the outer porch door and front door were both unlocked. On hearing what she thought was said son coming in, but not popping into the living room to say "hello", she took a look into the hall and was somewhat suprised to see a young man, dressed mainly in black with a handful of our posessions around his person - my wife's handbag, briefcase and my conviently placed phone, wallet and car keys (though I'm delighted to say he ignored my passport).

That's when the "OI OI" came out. At that, the little toe-rag made a rapid exit to join two others waiting outside and sprint off up the road. By the time I got downstairs my wife had called the police and to my great surprise ran outside, jumped into her car and made off in hot pursuit like some avenging angel. Fortunately she didn't find the miscreants for I hate to think what the consequences might have been!

The police arrived within ten minutes and were extremely efficient, professional and sympathetic. My only disappointment was that the dog handler didn't open the doors of his van and let the dogs out. I presume they need to actually know who they are after before they do that. A search locally yielded no trace of the burglars, but did turn up the handbag and contents (minus purse, mobile phone & blackberry) in a neighbour's garden. No such luck with my wallet.

The following morning brought some better news, the briefcase and full contents were returned by a stranger having been found a few streets away and a little later my driving licence was found just two streets away and returned by another good samaritan.

So the net cost was just some cash - around £100, all our credit cards, two mobile phones, one blackberry, cars keys (for two cars both of which have had the immobilisers re-programmed but will now need their locks changing), house keys (note to thieves - "the locks have all been changed") and most of all my old tatty wallet. I've had that wallet for some 20 years. I bought it at the seaside in Royan, it was cheap and cheerful (a bit like me I like to think), and now it's gone.

Mother's Day

Once more, using the new phone (Sony Ericsson K810i) to take a picture and publish it directly to the blog - suitably impressing my mother!

Office

Friday afternoon in the office, a new mobile phone arrives to replace my old faulty one, take a photo & publish it directly to my blog - isn't technology amazing?

Musing on Websites and Blogs

This whole internet phenomenon continues to amaze me. As one who has worked a lifetime in IT I marvel at the use of graphics, communications networks, database technology and so much more that was considered "difficult" just a very few years ago, but has now become commonplace.

My background is as a programmer and systems analyst, but starting in a very different world from today's wealth of multi-media. Working in the computer laboratory at Salford University, supporting the NAG librarary we thought using a programme to do matrix arithmetic or seeing the GINO-F graphics libarary draw a gingerbread man, was cutting edge - I wonder how many people who use a graphics editor and rotate a picture through 90 degrees have any inkling of the mathematics behind ther actions?

Writing COBOL programmes for stock control for BICC in the mid 1970s was very different to the development I see happening in my own company, using tools like VB.net with sophisticated development environments - no queuing to submit a stack of punched cards then wait a day for the results for today's developer!

I developed my own website Travels with my Digital Camera to learn HTML, PHP and MySQL. It probably helped quite a bit that I have a programming background so database design and structure held no fears, but it is also possible that I have limited my horizons by my own thoughts of what is and is not possible.

Since signing up for the blog, I've also discovered Google AdSense, so having incorporated some ads on my site (and blog) I am confidently sitting back and waiting for the cash to roll in.