tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-110882972011-07-08T00:28:32.245+01:00My life in Taipei and then UKGoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.comBlogger7081100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-70865252247731566692010-04-27T12:52:00.001+01:002010-04-27T12:53:39.710+01:00

This blog is not going to be updated again. The new blog can be found here:http://apps.dongxi.org/Blog/

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-43300444208341898972010-04-26T14:10:00.002+01:002010-04-27T12:52:23.891+01:00

This blog is now located at http://thegoblinsblog.blogspot.com/. You will be automatically redirected in 30 seconds or you may click here. For feed subscribers, please update your feed subscriptions to http://thegoblinsblog.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default.

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-56581299338931742432010-04-21T22:19:00.000+01:002010-04-21T22:20:00.500+01:00

Heard in the office today:"Is Malcolm still stranded in Madrid?""Dunno""Must be running out of clean underwear by now"Haven't seen an aeroplane for a week now. Astounding isn't it that one volcanoe can cause this much disruption. People are starnded all over the planet.The airlines a re now questioning how dangerous it actually is to fly. There don't seem to be any ssafe limits defined and some

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-22922932997974666192010-04-14T22:13:00.000+01:002010-04-14T22:14:09.328+01:00

Clothing store Primark has landed itself in sea of controversy by selling padded bikini tops for girls as young as seven years. The Children's Society criticised Primark for "premature sexualisation and unprincipled advertising". David Cameron commented that it was "completely disgraceful". I'm interested in that phrase "premature sexualisation".If by "premature sexualisation" they mean that

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-14366846894373294132010-04-13T22:44:00.001+01:002010-04-13T22:44:41.163+01:00

My back feels better, thanks for asking. The doctor says I have an inflamed or torn something in my shoulder. He said take Ibuprofen. I don't like things medical much and I tend to trust doctors without question, my theory being that they have spent years training and therefore must know more than me. I apply the same theory to accountants and lawyers. I do whatever they tell me because the

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-24245644677147299552010-04-10T07:14:00.001+01:002010-04-10T07:14:13.475+01:00

I'm in agony. Actually, that is something of an exaggeration. I was in agony this morning due to backache. I have now taken enough painkillers to knock out a donkey, and I feel much better. I've had the backache for a few days now. I have no idea what caused it. It appears to be mostly in my shoulder. Anyway, I'm going to get it checked out on Monday because I'm running out of painkillers, and I

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-22385978045186049452010-04-07T22:30:00.001+01:002010-04-07T22:30:28.046+01:00

First off let me tell you I have agonising backache. Actually I think it might be shoulder related. It's agonising anyway, that's the important point. And it's behind me. I think I'm going to have to call the doctor. It's not getting better. I'm going to take painkillers when I get home.The long Easter weekend was great. It has meant I'm having to work like a loony because it coincided not only

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-25056300847735463352010-03-30T22:15:00.000+01:002010-03-30T22:17:09.572+01:00

I wrote things to go here three or four times last week, but events conspired against me, so this is to be a frankenstein document of all those things I didn't post.Heard in the office today (last week):Office worker 1: Blimey, that was short skirt, not that I was looking or anything.Office worker 2 (dribbling slightly): No, I didn't see her either.The new bedroom in the sky is finished. We had

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-35935943644096605782010-03-15T22:37:00.000Z2010-03-15T22:38:10.612Z

I laid an entire laminate floor in the new bedroom this weekend. I haven't replaced skirting boards, plugged the expansion gap with cork, or refitted the door, and I think I want to recut the piece round the door frame. I do however feel an incredible sense of achievment. And if there is one piece of advice I could give you about laying laminate floors by the way, it would be this, knee pads my

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-36228900457246442032010-03-10T21:28:00.000Z2010-03-10T21:29:22.539Z

I forgot to pay my stupid credit card bill this month. It was due yesterday. I know this because the stupid credit card company just called me and bearated me. I get fed up with the bastards. I pay the bill every month, I'm a good customer. Well technically I didn't pay this month, but it was only a day late, and it is paid now. And if their bloody on-line payment system worked occasionally, I'm

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-47173694963771587862010-03-10T21:23:00.000Z2010-03-10T21:24:10.244Z

I don't very often do the theme of the week thing because most of them are pretty stupid, but this week I am taken by the idea.What seemingly inconsequential decision did you make, or what seemingly inconsequential event occurred in your life, that ended up profoundly changing your life?Well children, let me tell you how six words in a text message changed the entire course of my life...After

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-1418709470336180782010-03-08T22:15:00.001Z2010-03-08T22:15:34.823Z

The day didn't start well. Things started going wrong in the early hours of the morning in fact. The dragon has been coughing like a walrus and producing huge amounts of snot for some days now, which in turn seems to cause her to snore (and there's no polite way to say this) like a warthog. By about 2 am I decided I couldn't stand it any longer and evacuated to the boy's room which has a spare

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-28860237031142770742010-03-03T21:39:00.000Z2010-03-03T21:40:00.595Z

So, the polls are closing. One poll put the Tories only 2 points ahead of Labour with less than 4 months to go before an election. The Sun however puts them 7 points ahead again today. The Sun likes to think it influences public opinion. In fact it's simply a very good barometer of proletariat opinion. I'm still predicting a landslide for the Tories, but it will be a vote against Brown, not a

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-48689683729602408012010-02-23T23:38:00.001Z2010-02-23T23:38:35.992Z

Well we're back from the Orient and all is well. The little man had a wonderful time in Taiwan with his Asian relatives, and he was so well behaved on the 15 hour flight home. He's now back at nursery with gifts of sweeties for his little friends and teachers.Our new bedroom in the sky is now finished. We just have to decorate it and put a floor down. I bought some laminate flooring on special

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-5449028432156008352010-02-04T17:12:00.000Z2010-02-04T17:13:06.467Z

So, I'm pretty nearly ready to go. I have my ticket, and the car park is booked. I've packed everything. Actually come to think of it, no point in lying about this, I haven't packed anything. There is a pile of clothes, gifts, shoes, and assorted crap all over the living room and two open suit cases. I've been instructed to bring two but only use one. I think the dragon is intending to bring back

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-9080289936847870782010-02-02T14:02:00.000Z2010-02-02T14:03:16.831Z

The Pope has launched an extraordinary attack on British equality legislation. According to the BBC report he has urged Catholic bishops in England and Wales to fight the UK's Equality Bill with "missionary zeal". Gordon Brown has suggested that it would be "inappropriate to comment" on the issue. That's odd isn't it? I'd have thought the British PM would be expected to make a comment when his

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-43297031613948667742010-01-28T22:26:00.001Z2010-01-28T22:26:34.341Z

I did make cauliflower cheese, using raw materials, and it was nice, but it wasn't like a shared dinner. Anyway, I'm fed I should get my computer back this weekend, which is good because I'm feed up with dragging my laptop backwards and forwards to work. The man in the computer shop actually called me today because he's fed up with waiting for me to show up with the money I think. Anyway, a Devon

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-75648036542367176022010-01-25T21:36:00.000Z2010-01-25T21:37:00.822Z

I get irritated by academics that talk tripe. Lord Rees, chief astronomer, is in the news today for making the following earth-shattering comments:"The chance of discovering life on other worlds is greater than ever."Not really surprising sine we get better and more experienced at astronomy every day."such a discovery would be a moment which would change humanity."Err, yes it would."It would

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-20240713564355578682010-01-22T19:46:00.001Z2010-01-22T19:46:38.785Z

Last night I made some delicious sandwiches to bring to work today. Today I am at work and the sandwiches are in the fridge, being delicious. I hate when that happens. I even made them out of nice bread that I sliced myself with a bread knife. I need looking after. I miss my wife.Tomorrow I'm being visited by the plasterer. See how close to completion the new bedroom in the sky is. Still no

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-60802518299624431442010-01-21T21:26:00.000Z2010-01-21T21:27:07.318Z

My office is trying to ban recreational web surfing. I can understand it, but I think they're going to start blocking sites, which is going to be a severe pain in my arse. Nothing I can do about it. Well, I suppose I could look for another job. Doesn't seem very sensible though does it.I went to Devon for the weekend. I'm still alone, so I managed to get out of the house by 9am, drive there in

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-34621560036363461222010-01-14T19:41:00.001Z2010-01-14T19:41:30.117Z

It's been a stressful couple of days. The Dargon was booked on an EVA Air flight out of London on Tuesday evening to go to Taiwan. I worked from home that day so that I could drive her to the airport in the evening. However, by lunchtime on Tuesday we discovered that EVA had overbooked the flight and she couldn't get on it. It was lucky that I called them to confirm that she would need a child's

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-33044285953418206712010-01-11T13:42:00.001Z2010-01-11T13:42:37.508Z

I have two things I want to talk about today; sex robots and self defence. I think we'll go with the sex robot first shall we:According to the Daily Telegraph, the world's first sex robot has been developed and was unveiled at the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo in Las Vegas at the weekend. Almost every line of this article is hysterical, but I think I'm going to pick a few of my favourites to

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-10499993949861292202010-01-09T16:52:00.001Z2010-01-09T16:52:50.611Z

I decided to drive to the office today despite the sonw. I don't know why because there appears to be only one other person here. We do make an awful fuss about snow in this country. It's really not that bad. The only problem was the carpark. It was untreated and covered in about 20cm of snow. Brakes didn't work very well. I still managed to get parked up though. There was no risk of hitting

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-60793903357666571532010-01-05T22:03:00.001Z2010-01-05T22:03:23.097Z

Happy new year to everyone. I haven't written here since before Christmas due to a full schedule that involved trips to Cambridgeshire (it was knee deep in snow), and Devon (it was Christmas). Also our primary computer has finally passed away after a long illness. I'm currently investigating what to do about a replacement, but until such time as I get around to actually doing something about it,

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-27699904652166576512009-12-17T22:50:00.001Z2009-12-17T22:50:27.005Z

It's the last week before Christmas week. Have a I sent my Christmas cards? No! I haven't even written my Christmas cards, including those that have to go abroad. I think that's only one this year in fact, unless you count Taiwan cards, which the Dragon has taken care of. So, if you happen to live in Canada and are expecting a card from me, it's not that I don't love you, I'm just crap. And I

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-87822375650624361282009-12-08T08:48:00.001Z2009-12-08T08:48:48.175Z

There is a story about genitals in this post, but it's right at the bottom. Feel free to skip the boring stuff and go straight to the final paragraph.Apparently one in four British teenagers admit to "sexting" regularly. And for those not sufficiently fluent in street speak, that means they send nude, or partially nude pictures of themselves to each other using mobile devices. That is obviously a

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-81037873853103053432009-11-26T21:49:00.000Z2009-11-26T21:50:06.059Z

The Professional Standards Director for Boots the Chemist, Paul Bennett, has had a Gerald Ratner moment. And in case you don't know what that is, Gerald Ratner, who was head of the largest jewellery chain in UK, had a habit of standing up at public events and telling everyone how crap his products were. If I remember correctly, he once described his jewellery as about as durable and expensive as

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-65595994723605332472009-11-18T22:12:00.000Z2009-11-18T22:13:01.193Z

I think my favourite story from the news last week is this one in which we hear of a wife who posed on-line as a 14-year-old schoolgirl in an effort to catch her paedophile husband attempting to pursuade real 14-year-old schoolgirls to have sex with him. It seems that David Roberts would spend hours alone in his study with his computer. His wife became suspicious when an instant message from him

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-22269836638391829462009-11-11T10:22:00.001Z2009-11-11T10:22:52.390Z

Had a bit of a crappy weekend. I came home from work early on Friday due to feeling like I was dying. I didn't die of course, but the weekend wasn't very active. The dragon hasn't been very good either. She reckons it's pig flew. The boy seems to have got off lightly. He's got a gravelly voice, and he's coughing, he also had a high temperature for a couple of days, but apart from that he seems to

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-80589196740153563962009-11-04T22:22:00.001Z2009-11-04T22:22:57.612Z

I don't know why I've stopped writing here. There just don't seem to be enough hours in the day lately. I'll tell you what's been happening since I last wrote:I've been dying of pig flew or something. We've all had it. The dragon is still suffering with intense snot issues. I'm feeling better now. I went to the supermarket last night to buy cold remedies. I selected three different types but was

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-78808502061643584712009-10-24T22:50:00.000+01:002009-10-24T22:51:09.144+01:00

In the list of useless objects commonly found in the average neighbourhood, leaf blowers must surely come somewhere near the top. Seriously, those things are a real triumph of marketing over functionality. If you took that invention on Dragons' Den they'd laugh at you."I've got this great invention. It blows leaves.""It blows leaves where?""Well onto the road, all over parked cars, into the faces

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-69282528086119305002009-10-21T17:05:00.001+01:002009-10-21T17:05:11.149+01:00

This is the second attempt I have made at writing this thanks to a laptop disaster earlier today. Computers seem to hate me at the moment.It emerged today that while on the US mainland it is not possible to be more than 107 miles from a McDonalds restaurant. Some clown, who frankly needs to get out more, has plotted all 13,000 McRestaurants on a map and found the spot furthest from any of them.

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-21950045998906690472009-10-19T22:35:00.001+01:002009-10-19T22:38:34.065+01:00

Everything in my life is breaking down. The car works now, but it cost a fortune to repair. It needed a new mass air meter apparently. The dragon's camera has an intermittant fault and her Mandarine-English translator has died. The home PC has had to be rebuilt but still seems to have a hardware problem which makes it slightly unpredictable. It's working at the moment. The central heating clock

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-52215771591352226192009-10-05T22:36:00.001+01:002009-10-05T22:36:37.249+01:00

Careless driving carries a penalty of nine points on the driving licence and a £2,500 fine. Using a mobile phone whilst driving will cost you £60 and three points on your licence. Leaving the scene of an accident can land you in jail for up to six months. I mention this because:Harriet Harman was allegedly seen crashing her car into another stationary vehicle while using a mobile phone, and then

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-83508855710894035702009-09-30T22:22:00.000+01:002009-09-30T22:23:00.115+01:00

Things have been difficult. The car died on the way home from work on Friday so I had to call out the recovery people. They were very ice and carried me home. I booked the car into the garage and tried to drive it there last night, but only made it about 200m. So I had to call the recovery service again. I thought they would tell me I wasn't covered because I was starting from home, but they

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-81918897748513628882009-09-24T22:24:00.001+01:002009-09-24T22:30:13.625+01:00

Lets talk about nudity...I'm planning to take part in the World Naked Bike Ride next June. I've probably mentioned this before. It has been in my mind for a while and friend Dickie expressed and interest in partaking earlier this year. Dickie has since whimped out due to some namby-pamby prior comittment, but I still want to do it. I really want to do it on the unicycle, but frankly 5 miles

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-13480817193858403942009-09-18T22:31:00.001+01:002009-09-18T22:31:31.202+01:00

I came across the work of Alyssa Monks today. If you want to see, it's possibly not safe for work, but here's the link. Her work is amazing. She paints pictures that look genuinely just like photos. The effect she manages to achieve is incredible, but I can't help wondering why she does it when a camera can do the job just as well. It's not really art is it? Maybe it is. It's certainly

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-84050268311494501752009-09-17T23:04:00.001+01:002009-09-17T23:04:50.692+01:00

I keep reading this story about members of a "sex cult" in Papua New Guinea who have been persuaded by their leader to have sex in public because it will increase their banana harvest 10-fold. Police apparently tracked down the leader to a hut which they surrounded, but the man made a dash for the wilderness with around seven naked followers. I don't know what to say really. I'm genuinely

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-26595787437284165572009-09-15T22:34:00.000+01:002009-09-15T22:35:17.522+01:00

I want to read this book. It's written by a neuroscientist and it's a collection of short stories about the afterlife. It must be weird. I'm going to swing by the bookshop on the way home if I get time. Actually, I have to finish The Greatest Show on Earth before I start my next book. I may try and order it online actually.Apparently it's been one year since the Lehman's collapse. I had to sit

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-36783187861917237032009-09-14T22:36:00.001+01:002009-09-14T22:36:20.750+01:00

I started writing an entry on Friday but it never went anywhere. I can't believe how little I write here these days. We are however entering the second half of the month which does mean I have more time to waste at the office. I will attempt to apply this time to writing the odd entry.The dragon is taking driving lessons. Poor girl is scared of British roads. I don't understand why. She has

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-35122879056644964342009-09-10T23:05:00.001+01:002009-09-10T23:05:09.104+01:00

There aren't enough hours in the day dammit. I had my stitches out yesterday, but the fact that my knee is swollen and warm caused much excitement. I am now on a course of antibiotics. I take the view that a mild infection is probably not as bad as the operation failing. My original fear was that the swelling was simply the original problem returning. I think it has gone down a bit though, so I

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-48103086376431134132009-09-04T21:48:00.001+01:002009-09-04T21:48:20.769+01:00

I'm writing this at lunchtime, but my intention is to take a picture of my knee tonight after I shower. I mention this as an incentive to include said picture in this post, when I finally get around to posting it.See, told you I would. There it is. Five stitches, count 'em, five!Friday came round quickly this week. I suppose that's because Monday was a bank holiday and I worked from home on

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-75364406319191908702009-09-03T22:30:00.001+01:002009-09-03T22:30:56.276+01:00

Over the last week I have started to write something here several times, and never actually completed anything. It's the beginning of the month. This means that wasting time on these pages in the office is not easy.The most significant thing to happen in my life over the last week is probably my knee surgery. That deserves at least some mention here. I went under the knife on Friday to remove a "

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-11807200790220573052009-08-26T13:47:00.000+01:002009-08-26T13:49:15.190+01:00

I've come to the conclusion that Norton Internet security is pants. I've been running it on my home computer for several months and it's fouled so many things up, it's probably better to have a virus. Anyway, I finally gave up with it yesterday when it started suffering from "serious errors" and shutting itself down. I spoke to someone who recommended Avast, which is free to home users, so I'm

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-12789477077035322662009-08-20T22:37:00.000+01:002009-08-20T22:38:58.574+01:00

It's my wedding anniversary today. I thought it significant that we got a card from my mother, and another from my aunt which both featured penguins. Stay with me, this is spooky. Not only that, they feature an almost identical slogan. See for yourself.See, I told you, Twilight Zone right?!OK, I'm going to get horticultural now. This photo was taken in our garden. It's a "Ken Sharp" fuchsia.The

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-62733745429607880622009-08-17T21:21:00.000+01:002009-08-17T21:22:12.986+01:00

I've been clearing out the loft. Do Americans use the word "loft". I mean the roof space in our house. We're turning it into a bedroom for the boy. There was a lot of crap up there. Actually, not as much as I thought there was, but a lot. The majority of it seems to be junk. I went to the recycling centre and threw most of that away yesterday. There is some left however, and we don't have a lot

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-82032979401384083592009-08-11T22:23:00.001+01:002009-08-11T22:25:20.113+01:00

I'm typing this at work on my laptop. The network has gone down. My company produces cutting edge software for the banking industry. We're world leaders in our field. That is not sarcasm, I truly believe in the product. Astoundingly however, we don't appear to be able to keep our own network up.My dodgy knee picture seems to have raised a few comments. Mr Punk thinks I have a cartoon knee. Abby

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-8709936552896901772009-08-07T22:15:00.000+01:002009-08-07T22:16:10.851+01:00

Well Ronnie Biggs has been released on compassionate grounds. Apparently he is going home to die. He may have reformed over the years. It's certainly true to say that he isn't a threat to anyone any more. But in the end, he was convicted and sentenced, and he didn't serve his time. He got away with it. He had a good life. What message does that send out to the scum bag element? Seems to me that

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-11402892895788609892009-08-03T22:18:00.001+01:002009-08-03T22:18:30.369+01:00

Time for a quick one. Look at my knee!Six weeks for an appointment with the orthopaedic specialist, six weeks! A perfect example of how throwing money at the NHS is not the answer, but thanks anyway Tony.Luckily I have private medical cover and I'm able to get a consultation on Monday. This is good, because if my knee gets any bigger, I'm going to have to start wearing a kilt.It seems to me that

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-57478671990365048572009-07-29T22:19:00.002+01:002009-07-29T22:29:02.099+01:00

I haven't written here properly for ages. It's been a busy month at work and outside work too come to think of it. This month we've had fiends Andy and Vivian to stay, and cousin Silvia. All guests have gone now, but we have more coming at the start of August. Like I said, busy.In addition to all that, my knee has swelled up like a balloon. I first noticed this last weekend. That would be the

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-56581439481148470732009-07-20T22:55:00.000+01:002009-07-20T22:56:09.456+01:00

So, Monday again, whoopee.England just beat the Australians in the second ashes test at Lords.I mentioned last week that his Holiness the pope slipped up in the bathroom and broke his wrist. That in itself had some comedy value, but today I read that three nuns in a Ford Fiesta were stopped for speeding at 120 mph as they raced to the Holy Father's bedside to check on his condition. The nuns,

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-90025515190192705872009-07-17T23:20:00.000+01:002009-07-17T23:21:03.539+01:00

I got to work late today, about two hours late in fact, because my train broke down and I was stranded between Didcot and Swindon for two, yes two, hours. I'm going to apply for a ticket refund, but I'm fairly sure I'm not going to get it. I figure they also owe me £8 for the taxi from the station which I had to catch because I missed the last morning shuttle bus.The Pope has slipped up in the

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-35567510551014554592009-07-13T22:45:00.000+01:002009-07-13T22:46:22.779+01:00

I have been reunited with my old unicycle. Long, boring story, but it turned up in mother's garage and I picked it up when we went down to Devon at the weekend. I can still do it. I've gone a bit rusty, but I still have it, see...And in case you were thinking that I can't really do it and that the picture is just a snap that someone managed to get before I fell off, go to the Dragon's YouTube

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-1859153794530420462009-07-02T23:00:00.001+01:002009-07-02T23:00:46.307+01:00

It's 8.45am. I've been at my desk for 20 minutes and I have achieved nothing. This is because the figures I need to compile today's reports have not arrived. On top of that, our new 10MB internet link, heralded yesterday as the greatest advance since man stopped eating dirt, is dead. So I can't even read the latest Michael Jackson news. Incidentally, Alan said yesterday that he was expecting

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-31303149399893654632009-06-30T22:46:00.001+01:002009-06-30T22:46:25.831+01:00

There has not been a British men's champion at Wimbledon since 1936, when Feed Perry won. So that would be 73 years by my reckoning. I therefore find it astounding that Andy Murray, Britain's best chance of a win in decades, is so universally loathed. Shouldn't we all be cheering him on and holding street parties and stuff? After the "late night, five-set thriller" yesterday, George at the office

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-29597458427535880992009-06-29T22:54:00.001+01:002009-06-29T22:56:07.219+01:00

I'm not going to talk about Michael Jackson.I was at the kids playground at the local outlet centre yesterday, drinking Starbucks and pondering the workings of the universe, when a tall, heavyset man sat down next to me. He was wearing knee length shorts and there was a large and intriguing tattoo on his calf. The design showed a large clock with the hands at 3.04. Under the clock was the date, 6

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-18186790237007311612009-06-24T23:05:00.001+01:002009-06-24T23:05:58.735+01:00

Haven't written here for a few days. I took some time off last week because my sister in law came visiting. She is Taiwanese, of course, but she was in Italy with her new boyfriend and the plan was that they both come to see us. It's only a two-hour flight. Things didn't go quite to plan however. The boyfriend, whom no one has yet met, got scared and refused to come. Sister in law was forced to

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-37910025474570895482009-06-11T22:20:00.001+01:002009-06-11T22:20:43.863+01:00

I think facebook is crap, but I've come to the conclusion that one needs an account just to keep up with everyone else. So, I've reactivated myself after months of dormancy. So, here I am, if you're interested. There are no dirty pictures. I read that it's not allowed.I just hired a car for next week. I got a big-arse Peugeot estate with 7 seats. My sister in law is coming to visit with her new

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-10572617024866442992009-06-09T22:19:00.000+01:002009-06-09T22:20:28.641+01:00

Gordon Brown is having a crap week then. I'm fed up with politics. I'm not going to talk about it other than to say, I hope the guy stays there long enough to guarantee the permanent demise of his insidious party.My car smells of decaying sea-food, long story. It's funny, I've lived in or around this town since I was a teenager, and I never really ventured into the Asian Quarter. I suppose I knew

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-86472591521658183822009-06-01T22:00:00.001+01:002009-06-01T22:00:29.065+01:00

Picture the scene ladies and gentlemen; it's Friday morning and I'm standing at the urinal at the office. I unzip my fly and that normally routine action is disrupted because there's no hole for my willy! I've only gone and put my underwear on back to front. Can you believe I got all the way to the office without noticing, so embarrassing! I was thinking I could just go into one of the cubicles

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-38674130379693322062009-05-27T22:42:00.001+01:002009-05-27T22:42:35.857+01:00

It seems that Alan Johnson, Health Minister, has suddenly become a radical reformist. He's calling for the PM to allow a referendum on electoral reform. Odd that Johnson has only become a reformist since the expenses row erupted and the public started calling for, well electoral reform. Strange coincidence also that he has chosen a moment when the future of the Labour party leader is in doubt. I

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-61983940635707711422009-05-21T22:04:00.001+01:002009-05-21T22:04:45.763+01:00

Prime Minister's Question time - 20 May 2009:David Cameron: This morning the Prime Minister said that a general election would cause chaos. What on earth did he mean?Gordon Brown: What would cause chaos is if a Conservative Government were elected and caused public spending cuts.Uproar and hysteria erupts in the house.David Cameron: So, there we have it, the first admission that he thinks he's

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-84443527780354602812009-05-19T22:29:00.000+01:002009-05-19T22:30:13.611+01:00

Another week, and new accusations and allegations in the Parliamentary expenses row have been published. It just gets worse every morning. It's like a horror film that seems pretty good for the first half hour, and then turns into a gore-fest so explicit and stomach churning that it actually becomes difficult to watch. I've had enough of it now. I want it to stop. The speaker needs to go. Reforms

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-25824864735702044912009-05-15T23:06:00.000+01:002009-05-15T23:07:23.923+01:00

And so we lurch awkwardly towards the end of another week. The rain is falling, the wind is howling, and the monument to sleaze that is now our parliament is still dominating the news. But I am not going to talk about it again. I've had enough of Phil Woolas trying to persuade me that the tampons he charged to expenses were for his personal use, and the Foreign Secretary David Milliband

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-61229089055536295892009-05-14T22:30:00.001+01:002009-05-14T22:30:49.335+01:00

I can't find a new battery for my beeper thing for the car. I wrote about this the other day didn't I. It's annoying me. I'm too scared to used the alarm now. I'm going to go to Maplin on the way home. I wonder what time it closes. I just checked. It's Open til 8. I'm going there tonight. Don't try and steal the car OK?I'm told the boy drew a picture of me today. This is exciting because it's

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-51673610188539652482009-05-11T22:14:00.001+01:002009-05-11T22:14:50.948+01:00

Written Friday, never posted:So, the Telegraph has somehow got hold of a complete copy of MP's expenses going back to 2004. How very embarrssing for the government which was trying to prevent their publication. Today saw the Telegraph publish expenses details for about a dozen cabinet MPs. There were no huge surprises, but the most interesting I thought was the news that Peter Mandleson had

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-21608996096127390172009-05-06T22:46:00.001+01:002009-05-06T22:46:36.145+01:00

I've been neglecting this diary. I think I need to start writing again. It's something I need to doHere's some things I could have written about in the last couple of weeks, but didn't:The boy started nursery. I'm pretty sure I mentioned this, but only in passing. He really liked it to begin with. Then he had a few bad days when he really didnt want to go. Now he seems to have found himself again

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-18163055673549012992009-04-29T22:32:00.000+01:002009-04-29T22:33:03.937+01:00

This is the best Gordon Brown quote I have yet heard:"I take full responsibility for what happened. That's why the person who was responsible went immediately."He was talking about the Labour email smear scandal. And in case you think I've paraphrased or quoted out of context, here it is on YouTube. Look out for the guy in the background that suddenly realises he's in the shot and wishes he

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-75633751662913006822009-04-28T22:10:00.001+01:002009-04-28T22:10:23.669+01:00

The boy has a toy croquet set in a draw-string bag. He brought the bag to me a few days ago because he couldn't open it. He handed it to me and said, "How the hell do I open this?", which is probably a sign that I should be watching my language.This weekend I repainted the fence. It looks like a very little fence normally. It runs along the top of the garden wall so people can't look over and see

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-64242459476222453482009-04-23T22:00:00.000+01:002009-04-23T22:03:20.973+01:00

So, happy St. George's day to everyone. I bet you didn't even know it was his birthday did you? Well it is. It was the Queen's birthday this week too. She was 83 on Tuesday. I find this worrying. She's well past retirement age, and I'm not keen on jug ears moving into the driving seat.***I think I know how to solve the economic downturn, at least in Britain. Incidentally, why is it an "economic

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-44706881655771847862009-04-17T22:10:00.001+01:002009-04-17T22:10:17.315+01:00

I found a lottery ticket blowing around the front garden at the weekend. Clearly a sign, a higher force at work I thought. There were four plays on it, and the draw was for 28 Mar. So I checked the numbers, and guess what...... in four plays, only one number came up. There should be a prize for doing that badly. Anyway, it wasn't worth anything. But, the following day news broke that someone in

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-9011793398697825242009-04-15T22:17:00.001+01:002009-04-15T22:17:48.941+01:00

14 AprilI made a spectacular fish pie last night with three types of fish, three types ladies and gentlemen, and prawns! You should have seen it. It was a work of art.We have tadpoles in our garden. I collected frog spawn from the canal with the boy. It's really fun to watch the little blighters wriggling around. We have far too many. I'm going to put some back in the canal and keep a few so we

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-84354735894359249802009-04-07T23:00:00.000+01:002009-04-07T23:01:38.202+01:00

Last night I was in the garden looking at the moon with the boy. I asked him how far away he thought the moon was, but he wasn't really sure about it, so I asked him how big it was. He decided that it was "very big", so I asked him, "as big as a house?" He thought about that for a moment, and shook his head, "I think, as big as a fire engine", he said. I was expecting him to say something like

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-18864420849564940882009-03-27T23:01:00.001Z2009-03-27T23:01:55.688Z

It's Friday, it's 3.30pm, and I should be writing a software manual. But I'm not, obviously. But that's the thing about being a writer. Very few people in the office know what you actually do, and everyone assumes you must be working if you're typing. And even if someone does come past and notice that I am in fact typing words in Notepad or Word, it doesn't look out of place, unlike those people

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-87939562938933089022009-03-26T22:55:00.001Z2009-03-26T22:55:54.853Z

Look at this tripe in the Telegraph about a "Ghostly figured dressed in Victorian clothes" captured by Google street view. According to the article, the figure, "dressed in long skirt, crisp blouse, bow tie, blue boater hat and scarf appears to be shimmering above the pavement".Here's my analysis:I'm intrigued by the statement, "A ghostly figure dressed in Victorian clothes was filmed on Google

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-90022468233985666552009-03-25T22:43:00.000Z2009-03-25T22:44:24.020Z

The home of banking failure Sir Fred (the Shred) Goodwin has been vandalised. Several windows appear to have been smashed and someone has lobbed a solid object at some speed into the rear window of his S600 Mercedes causing a loss of dimensional integrity. It's difficult to feel any sympathy for the guy. He's been a leading candidate for the position of "most unpopular person in Christendom"

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-21568368499542235262009-03-24T22:30:00.000Z2009-03-24T22:31:37.832Z

Very quickly, here are a few pictures from our Taiwan trip. These were all taken on Ali Shan moutain. It was a great couple of days, but it was hard work with a two year old, and there wasn't much time for sleep. I'll tell you all the story some other time.The 100 year old mountain railway, which is alarmingly unsafe looking, took us way up into Ali Shan mountain. One stretch of track was unsafe

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-53355134197398129452009-03-23T23:07:00.001Z2009-03-23T23:07:39.070Z

Oh there is so much grotty politics in the news today. The row about MP's expenses just won't go away, and quite rightly so. Over the weekend it emerged that Tony McNulty, the employment minister has been claiming expenses on a second home in which he hasn't lived for some time. It would appear that although he does own the property, it is occupied by his parents. He did live there, with his

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-42590799763324914922009-03-20T22:56:00.000Z2009-03-20T22:57:47.313Z

My passion for writing rubbish every day has died. Actually, that isn't really true. I think the passion is still there, it's probably more a question of time. Until fairly recently I've not been particularly stretched at work. It was easy to find half an hour or more to place letters on a page. My company has shed some staff however, and I am now doing what was two jobs up until February. It's

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-14596039193716094552009-03-16T22:27:00.000Z2009-03-16T22:28:09.686Z

And so we embark upon a new week. The sun is shining here in Oxford, which can be no bad thing, except I am sitting behind a desk, looking at the sun through a window. This is made all the more frustrating because I'm working on a network that appears to be constructed from original wiring by Edison. Email in particular appears to be beyond the capabilities of the infrastructure this morning.

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-70541579628004479192009-03-12T10:23:00.001Z2009-03-12T10:23:28.486Z

Yesterday the Ponce of Wales was waving his arms about and warning us all that we only have 100 months to act before the effects of climate change destroy the planet. Today he's in the news again over his "herbal detox tincture". It seems that if we all go out and buy a 50ml bottle of this stuff for 10 (from his Duchy Originals company) we can "help eliminate toxins and aid digestion". Must be

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-91808196332293165752009-03-09T23:04:00.000Z2009-03-09T23:06:00.867Z

It should be a quieter week this week. I could even get a few minutes to write here. Did you see the last episode of Lost? Things are coming together at last. I almost knew what was going on last night.Now, here is a hysterical story. You may have heard that British prisons are full, and in order to make space in them the government has decided that the best option is simply to let some of the

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-42865914943051459722009-03-05T22:17:00.000Z2009-03-05T22:18:52.451Z

4 MarchWe've been back in Blighty since Friday evening. I still haven't quite got my body clock back in sync. I got up at 5.30 this morning and sorted out a WiFi problem on our home network. Well actually I didn't sort it, I merely identified the problem. I have to solve it some other time. But that is a tale too boring to relate here.When I left London on Friday 13th Feb, there was still snow in

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-36508776438294477952009-02-15T09:21:00.001Z2009-02-15T09:21:36.971Z

Well I didn't expect to be posting again for a while, but the boy is asleep, the Dragon is meeting some old friends, I have my trusty laptop, and it appears I can jack someone's unsecured wireless internet from the kitchen of my sister in law's apartment.I'm still jet lagged, but I arrived safely yesterday evening. All is well. I really did think I might miss my flight yesterday however. I nipped

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-27435851745491509172009-02-13T08:58:00.000Z2009-02-15T09:00:16.700Z

OK, I'm off to Taiwan for a week or two. I'm taking a laptop with me, but frankly, the chances of me actually writing anything here before I get back are close to zero. Please don't burgle our house while I'm gone. And if you see the dragon, don't tell her I fixed up the bathroom either. It's supposed to be a surprise.The snow has gone by the way, and the sun is shining. I am confident that the

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-70070966130412591842009-02-10T21:02:00.002Z2009-02-10T21:05:52.935Z

Monday...The Home Secretary has been caught with her fingers in the sweetie jar, or so it seems. Apparently MPs are entitled to claim up to £24,000 a year to help them maintain a second home in London if their constituency home is too far away to commute to parliament. The Home Secretary has listed her main residence as her London home, which she is entitled to do, and her second home as the

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-62394171074832986472009-02-03T22:23:00.000Z2009-02-03T22:24:46.824Z

OK, it's late, just time for a quick entry here. You remember we had to race round London three weeks ago to sort out the boy's visa? Check out the chasing paper entry if you need a recap. It was a basically successful day, but we had a really foul journey home on the train, which was both late and overcrowded. I'm not sure why I didn't rant about it in that entry. Probably because First Great

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-11901519715929067082009-02-02T20:32:00.001Z2009-02-02T20:32:38.861Z

At 6.30am, despite forecasts of snow, I discover upon looking out of the window that my street was flake free. Good thinks I, I'll go to work. But by the time I had dressed, spoken to the dragon and the boy, had some toast, cleaned teeth etc, we're knee deep in the stuff. A quick check on train conditions confirms that the entire country has ground to a halt, and according to friend Dickie in

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-65098327574343087382009-01-31T08:21:00.001Z2009-01-31T08:21:54.302Z

29 JanI forgot to make a sandwich last night, so I have no lunch today - doh! Well I can go and buy something. So that was a bad start to the day. I did however receive a new laptop battery today, which is obviously a good thing. Generally though I feel a bit down because it's cold and wet, and my favourite people are 6,000 miles away. Still 2 weeks and one day until I can see them again.This

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-32819913989976704842009-01-26T22:24:00.001Z2009-01-26T22:24:45.694Z

Well this weekend I fitted a new flush mechanism in the upstairs lavatory, and fitted a new electric shower. I also replaced most of the woodwork in the bathroom, so it really only needs decorating now. I got utterly fed up with the lavatory project because the installation went fairly smoothly except for a tiny leak from one side of the cut-off tap I installed. It didn't really even need a

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-57586072449982624582009-01-23T19:46:00.001Z2009-01-23T19:46:23.551Z

Yesterday we had a discussion about infinity. Alan said that there is more than one type of infinity because there are an infinite number of even numbers for instance, and even though there are an infinite number, it's only half of all the numbers. He said that some infinities are "countable" and some are "uncountable". Alan is a theoretical physicist. So I said, if infinity can be expressed as 1

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-31659620888269888752009-01-19T12:12:00.001Z2009-01-19T12:12:47.443Z

15 JanI've spent half the day speaking on the phone to a colleague in Paris. He's very nice, but speaks so slowly, I keep wanting to finish his sentences for him. It's as if his battery is flat or something, or he needs winding up. I've never met him in person, but he retires next month, so I'm guessing he's 60-ish.The Dragon is officially ready to fly to Taiwan with the boy at the weekend. I'll

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-24131781850516660142009-01-14T22:34:00.001Z2009-01-14T22:34:31.322Z

We uncovered a huge visa problem with the boy at the weekend. It seems that, although he is blessed with a Taiwanese mother, he can only enter Taiwan for a maximum of 30 days without a visitors' visa. The dragon discovered this on Saturday, and after some quick calculations, realised that we had 6 days to sort out a visa because she is taking the little chap to Taiwan on Friday for more than 30

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-66574720102165968392009-01-08T22:22:00.001Z2009-01-08T22:22:56.133Z

I'm thinking about becoming a pirate...Avast you scurvy dogs!Do pirate ships have chemical toilets? I hate chemical toilets.There is a good piece by Gerald Warner in the Telegraph today. It's about global warming. Even if you're not a hard-nosed sceptic like me you should have a look. Apart from anything else he makes fun of Al Gore, which is always a good starting point as far as I'm

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-71801815295041134082009-01-07T22:39:00.000Z2009-01-07T22:40:34.185Z

Heard in the office today:"That's the thing about history, there's there's an awful lot of it."The list of huge high street names going bust is getting longer every day. Today the last of the Woolworths stores closes, Adams has closed over 100 stores, Zavvi has gone into receivership, MFI has closed its last stores, and Wedgewood is the latest casualty. Soon only Tesco will be left. Marks and

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-47625302478608000062009-01-06T22:25:00.001Z2009-01-06T22:27:20.776Z

5 JanuaryHere's a good story that carries a warning to all men who are thinking about having an affair; an Australian man has died after his wife set fire to his genitals because she believed he was having an affair. According to the report, the wife doused her husband's love spuds in meths and set fire to them while he slept. Upon waking and noticing that his bollocks were on fire, he

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-18635439768578535182009-01-02T22:56:00.000Z2009-01-02T22:57:13.088Z

I'm trying to work, but my laptop is doing something weird. It's thrashing the disk and everything is going ridiculously s l o w l y. It took about 20 minutes to update my virus definitions. I can type in notepad, but the letters seem to come out about 5 seconds after I tap the keys, which is fun. I'm not completely tech illiterate, but I'm at the office and therefore I don't have admin rights to

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-89891126338505850292008-12-23T23:14:00.001Z2008-12-23T23:14:23.185Z

I know, I haven't written anything for days. There is nothing wrong. I've just been busy doing other stuff. I'm ready for Christmas now however, and I'll soon get back to writing here. We're off to Devon tomorrow for a couple of days. I'll keep a video diary or something. I can't see it getting published before the new year however.Apparently it's the coldest winter in 30 years or something.

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-13578301842963974432008-12-15T22:11:00.001Z2008-12-15T22:11:28.945Z

I haven't written for days. Well, actually I have, but nothing that got finished. It's the pre-Christmas panic. Every free second is spent shopping, licking stamps, wrapping things, looking for a parking space, etc. I don't hate Christmas, just a few things about Christmas.We went to Devon for the weekend. It peed down with rain on Friday night. There was some discussion about whether we should

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11088297.post-58733273415910654252008-12-08T13:32:00.000Z2008-12-08T13:33:11.451Z

I've been Christmas shopping. I love wrestling through crowds of ignorant people to buy over-priced crap, and circling car parks for hours trying to find somewhere to put the car. Shopping in Woolworths is currently a full contact sport. You really don't want to be going in there with children by the way, your life expectancy plummets.Yes it's that time of year again. A walk from one end of the

GoblinBloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872021261062930443noreply@blogger.com0