I've never been to Dubai although I know a few people who have and all have remarked on how beautiful it is. Wall to wall sun, nice people, good golf, very Western .

Just browsing about this morning, I came across this Dubai Property site  and was surprised to learn how relatively cheap the properties are. Did you know you can buy a 1 bed apartment from as little as £57k or a 2 bed from as little as  £114k. Compared to places like London which has guaranteed rain and grumpy bastards, I thought this was a pretty good deAL

 A further look into that domain itself revealed that on average investors could look at a return over 3 years of  8%, guaranteed!

Time to get those pennies out of the bank perhaps.

I'm looking to buy a van but before I did so, I wanted to check out the van insurance market. The link I just reference is to a company named Motor direct.

Here's what they say on their website.

 Motor Direct is a specialist motor vehicle insurance centre of A-Plan Insurance, a leading UK insurance intermediary, offering individual solutions for a wide range of car insurance, van insurance, commercial vehicle insurance and minibus insurance requirements.

Whatever your car insurance or van insurance requirements, we have access to a wide range of schemes from some of the UK’s leading insurers and the specialist knowledge required to find you competitive motor insurance quotes.

We understand that selecting the right motor vehicle insurance is about more than finding the cheapest premium. We consider your individual circumstances before recommending a policy. You will appreciate the care we take when selecting your insurer if you ever need to make a claim.

Cheers

Death Proof - Tarantino does it again. Wicked film, cleverly shot, cool script, great soundtrack, great little goofy quirks...get out and watch it!

Here's a song from the soundtrack, 1965 would you believe!

The scene its associated with in the film is a little brutal, hold on make that a LOT brutal. Genius nonethless.

I blogged earlier on the topic of DNA databases and civil liberties, reading some of the comments here it was clear that many of the respondents were like me, distrustful of those who run things and didn't have very much confidence in their ability to safeguard their data or run things in a fair non invasive way.

It's clear too that on the whole government generally doesn't trust the people, as it, whatever 'it' maybe appears to be absolutely petrified of the people, so will at every opportunity, look at ways of nailing people down and restricting their ability to move outside of their structured confines or agreed ways of behaviour. laws, tax monitoring, proof of this and that.

It's as if people alone can't be trusted to run their own affairs, as if people need some kind of heavy handed controlling force that makes sure that society is allowed to run in a way that suits the existing set of arrangements, even if the existing set of arrangements are clearly askew and in need of redress.

It isn't just government of course, its banks and inurance companies and anyone else on the receiving end of a claim of one sort or another. I myself made a claim just the other day from my insurance company, I could almost hear the scepticism in the mans voice as he listened to my explanation of what happened. I could almost feel him referencing some cue card or watching some program on his computer screen that monitored my voice inflections for traces of suspected fraudulence.

I do of course have a choice to move on and source a new insurance company next time though, one that isn't so distrustful, maybe one that doesn't make me feel like some pseudo criminal, yet the reality is that wherever i go they are likely to treat me with the same level of suspicion as any other 'client'. It's a bad world and everyone is guilty until proven otherwise!

I'm not going to elaborate too much more as it will be interesting to hear what others think on this.

Why do you think there is such a lack of trust in our world? Am I painting an accurate picture of the relationship between the people and the state, people and commerce or is it a whole lot better than I purport?

Are people more dishonest than they once were, is there a declining set of moral standards, are we all to blame for the type of governance we have, or is it simply a reaction to an ever increasingly competitive world that forces a branch of 'every man for himself' mentality on us all?

I was reading Stephs blog the other day and read her post on DNA and Civil liberties I commented over there but thought I'd reproduce it here for furhter comment.

The debate stemmed from the comments of Lord Justice Sedley who called for everyone to be put on the national DNA database including foreign visitors. On the face of it it seems like a difficult argument to resist, who can really argue effectively against measures that would ( if we are to believe in the science) make the identification of perpetrators of rape, child killing and murder so much easier.

To be honest if I truly trusted those who governed me, if I hadn’t bore witness to a long list of civil abuses of power in my short time on this planet, if I hadn’t read books like 1984 and subsequently seen parallels in my own everyday life, if there truly was some means of ensuring that my very personal essence and blueprint, god given, biological, non political, non partisan, naturally created material exclusive to me could only ever be used to detect murderous or sexually abusive or violent crime then, perhaps, just perhaps I could well live with it. How can anyone seriously argue that a technology that actually identifies the perpetrator of a crime, that could well be commited again on others within our community, endangering the lives of our sisters and brothers, daughers and sons not be used?

I certainly can’t, not without being mocked and derided as an irresponsible idiot; yet like so many others have identified this isn’t what people have issue with. People have a serious issue with trust, they simply don't (rightly so too) trust those who’d be entrusted to ensure it was used in the right way. Data would be leaked and sold and companies would use this data in sneaky underhand ways. Forget the data protection act, that’s circumvented and ignored daily, its an old clunky mechanism that just cant keep up and is poorly policed.

People would be be right not to trust that cold hearted rationale that would for examples sake, take the chance and probability out from say, medical or life insurance. Companies like these would jump on arguments that say that open disclosure of ones DNA profile should be a requirement of being accepted into a policy. It would be used to develop multiple policies tailored specifically towards certain types of ailements. People would be frightened to the ends of the earth with probabilities that said, your gene profile shows you have a predisposition to cancer or (insert any other number of possible nasty later life diseases) and would be expected to pay the appropriate amount. Society would become eugenicised by a system that made living with a later possibility an economic burden. People would be expected to submit a ‘clean’ DNA profile to prospective employers or life partners, who’d want to knowingly pass on a death sentence or disability to their yet to be had offspring? What company would want to invest thousands of pounds in a person who might be dieing of leukaemia some 4 years down the line?

No, DNA profiling needs to be used for research into gene therapies and stuff that contributes to the greater good without damaging or spoiling the lives of those who live today and tommorrow and thats that nothing else, ever.As much as it pains me to say I really must be satisfied with what we have today (crime detection wise) and live with the consequences of its shortcomings. I think the law as it stands today is simply ill equipped to deal with the pandoras box of issues that would stem from such a policy. I relly dont want to live a life in a society that legislates reactively. Put some very solid, cast iron , irreversible protective measures in place 1st, then I might, just might have a second look. Not today though, no way.

Ok, so lots of people say anyone who doesn't wear a seatbelt is a moron and should be prosecuted and fined and all that punitive nonsense.

I disagree.

If I want to be an idiot, if I want to risk headbutting my airbag or flying through the windscreen then that should be my personal choice, it shouldn't be for the state to say I must.

I just got pulled for not weraing a seatbelt on a trip into town to get some money from the hole in the wall. Net result is a £30 fine. Lovely.

Now i know there are lots of arguments out there in favour of wearing the damn things but jesus, have a bit of leniency in the system for christs sake. I genuinely forget to belt up and get whacked with a £30 fine! its just not far i tell you. Yeah yeah, i hear all those voices saying, aha Rob well at least you'll think twice next time and all that stuff but still....

The motorist in the uk is such an easy target, we are a milked cash cow, criminalised and chased at every opportunity. I really really really dislike the mentality in this country that says bossy boots copper can dole out tickets willy nilly for piffling little things like failing to wear a poxy seat belt. If you look at the legislation it gives all manner of exemptions. If you are an emergency services person then it allows you discretion. This I can understand. It also allows people who drive people for hire (licensed taxis) for example an exemption from the law. Why? What is it about a cab driver that excludes them from the possibilty of flying through windscreens or nutting the steering wheel?

The law is an ass, either its dangerous to not wear a seat belt or it isn't. If a copper or a fireman or an ambulance worker needs to eject themselves from their vehicle quickly, then i can understand that a belt might impede them. But hang on, what if i were in an accident and happened to be constrained by the belt, what if the car was on fire and i couldnt release the damn thing, what then? Burn perhaps?

On balance i'm sure the damn things are probably safer to wear than not but it really should be my right to decide on whether I wear one or not.It's nanny state interference!

£30 feckin quid!!! Bastard. I asked the pc concerned whether or not she'd perhaps had a bad day and whether she enjoyed just pissing people off and ruining their day, to which she replied, ive had a great day sir, you do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if....fuckin robot! hang on i said, interrupting her, talk to me like a human being for christs sake, don't dehumanise me behind that facade of thing you think is justice...Sir, she responded, i'm just doing my job, I have no discretion over such things...what a fuckin robot.

At this point i gave up, no point antagonising a robot, they just call in the other robots and rip your car to bits to find something else to slap you with.

can anyone see where Im coming from here? can anyone see that she really didn't have to issue that ticket, she could have just told me off and warned me that if she saw me again she'd ticket me. No discretion indeed, what bollocks is that? Let me guess, she'll go back to the station and wear a lie detector that will recognise that she saw a naughty motorist without a seatbelt and thus gwt reprimanded for behaving like a human?

If you are a policeman or woman reading this, then jesus christ, try and behave like a human, and if you don't or don't want to even, then at least take a little look inside yourself and question why youve become such a horrible bastard at least. It just really isn't necessary.

end of rant.

I had to change a flight detail for a flight to Ibiza today.

I sat on the phone for 75 minutes!! Before deciding to give up the ghost.

What appalling customer service this is. "Your call is important to us, a customer service representative will be with you as soon as one becomes available"

What a lot of old bollocks that is. More like, your call to our premium rate 0870 prefix number is important to us!

Why can't companies just offer a decent after sales service? Is it so much to ask for a quick accessible easy to use service? I'll never book with these people again. So for the sake of screwing me over for 75 minutes at 10p per minute, they've lost a future customer.

Lots of my friends fly all over Europe too. I'll be telling them the same too. Do not use thomsonfly.com.

ad: Need a cheap flight?

I went to the Czech republic a few days back.

Went kayaking down the river Berounka en route to Prague with a group of Czechs.

What a marvellous group of people they were too, I'll post some pics when I get them.

It was really cool to get immersed into a different mindset and culture, even if I couldn't understand a word of what most of them were on about the majority of the time!

I must say though, they piss all over us brits for hospitality. Generous and warm hearted was the impression they left me with.

How about this though, 15 of us, drank all night from like 730pm to 5am, ate copious amounts of grub and basically sang and danced the whole night through. The bill at the end of the evening, for all 15 of us was just 1600 crowns or Koruny. That's about £39-00 mad eh?

Ok, a little recipe for that unusual brekfast offering.

Take one unopened lamb shish kebab from the night before.

Open it up and remove the lettuce onions and tomato.

Put it in a dish

Take soggy pitta bread and cold cooked lamb chunks and throw on plate.

Stick plate and nuke aforementioned in microwave for 1 minute 10 seconds.

Pile salad on top of steaming culinary delight, and eat with knife and fork.

Wash down with opened half drank bottle of stella nice cup of coffee

For a night on the piss..

Just got back home after a night on the hit and miss with a few pals. Nothing ever change, oh no (name that tune)

It's great really, even coming back on the train on the way home was a giggle. If I ad 2 bob for every woman who flirted with me I'd be 10p richer

As I said in an earlier communique - its good to hook up with friends and talk bollocks.

Kings cross really isn't so bad these days

Dobrou Noc

x

Sometimes I think my tendency to exercise my have a good rant and moan muscle tends to take over and I just go into one. That's not good and I'm glad it's not encouraged either. Moaning and whining achieves not very much at all. Things like that Ive decided, are best aired over a pint or 25 with a mate who tells you to shut your cakehole.

I hereby declare that from this day forth, I will do my utmost not to blog about negative existential crap.

Who want's to read about that stuff anyway?

Bright and fluffy is where it's at.

End of broadcast

Doesn't look far does it? 9.3 miles according to that map. I'm dripping like a proverbial, damn it was hot out there but really satisfying too. On e the way there were these two big grey horses in some field somewhere, anti social feckers mind, I stopped and said hello and made a few click click noises with me teeth but they weren't interested. Perhaps its my lack of horse like features, or maybe it was the bluebottle sunglasses, or IPOD blaring out those whiney bastard Stereophonics.

Enroute I found out to my cost that in this place called Charlton there's this huge big hill that seems to go on forever. Even for a fat fit bloke like me, it really was a push, I had to get off the bike at one point and let my heart have a breather. I passed a few more experienced cyclists (eg those who wear all the gear and stuff) who were yep, you guessed it, going *down* this big hill rather than up. I did feel a little like a james as they whooshed on past me with grins on their boats. Anyways, I wasn't too peturbed cos I knew that at the end of it all what goes up must come down so knew that eventually I'd be rewarded with a big fuck off downward stretch myself, which I eventually found only to have my baseball cap blown off halfway down, which was a bit of a bugger as I had to get off the bike and walk back up to get the hat.

Still, I'm pleased nonetheless, new routes are all good, a little like a mystery tour you keep going and going - when you think youve gone far enough you bear left and keep on doing so til you see a villiage name you recognise. Its amazing how charged and refrshed you can feel after a good workout, especially on a gorgeous day like this. I'm gonna go for a little cruise now down to the ex bro inlaws with the old top down on the jam. A nice cup of tea and a natter seems to be in order.

Barbie round a pals at 3, Amber reckons she might come too, but made me laugh when she said.."I dunno dad, I might come with ya, depends what I'm doing really" IOW, dad you'll do if there's nothing better on the agenda.

Kids, gotta love em

I'm off out for a cycle and a day in the currant. Have a good day all

What a top sunny day it was in my neck of the woods tody. The kids got back at 830am from Crete so were a little grouchy due to no kip and whatnot but by and large seemed pleased to see me when I picked them up at lunchtime.

Amber moaned like hell, cos i had the top down.."Me hair dad me hair.." jesus like yeah ok, darling, I'll leave the top up, just for you sweetie, just cos your hair looks nice... Here wear my baseball cap and shut your cakehole.

The Spanish kids were over from, yup you guessed it Spai n- two little sweeties, Hoolia (Julia) and Natasha. Jake came over and Kelly showed her boat too. We had cake and bits and bobs, and a big fuck off paddling pool in the garden whereby we all did the water fight thing. God knows what those snobby arsed neighbours of theirs thought but feck em, serves em right for being offish and having an Aston Martin DB9 in the garage!

Shall I go off on one and get all metaphorical about the sun, my son, kids and appreciation and life and all that stuff?

Nah, can't be arsed, i think I'll call me Czech friend in Moravia and see whats up

Hope you all enjoyed your day, wherever you were.

xx

For those of you who are interested in the minutae of my fabulously exciting existence, herein follows something I can publically share

Did you know that Sloppy Guiseppe Pizza's from Pizza Express are just so yum? I've just scoffed one, it was amazing. My taste buds are currently dancing on a hotplate of 'oh yes give me more' my mouth is alive with the sound of pizza.

Not even sure what was on it, but it was the absolute nuts and worth every penny of the 2 and a half quid they charged in Sainsbury's.

Washing down the flavours with a nice drop of leffe now. The flat's all spick and span in preparation for the return of the sprogs tommorrow. It's the boys b'day too, Ive sorted out a little party for him down at me old mans. All his cousins and people who love him will be there. Ive asked the old mans mrs to sort out a cake and, yeah it should be fun all round.

Have'nt bought him anything for his b'day yet, will prolly get him an xbox live subscription and bung him a few quid too.

Jesus, he's 15 - makes me feel old, which reminds me eek I'm 39 on Monday! Christ.