I'm writing this seething stuck in my seat back from LA. Holding for a landing spot for 15mins.
Heathrow is a total disaster when or comes to landing. What makes me laugh the most though is all the ecological talk of towing the aircraft out of the stand etc. Then you waste lots of fuel just circling around London.
Still at least I get to use the Blogger app on my iPhone for once !
As I sit here on Sunday morning at 10AM, it feels like the first time for a few weeks that things have been under control. The house move went fairly well, save for a few companies making things difficult (I am still without broadband, but thanks to "3" have an interim solution). Rest assured plenty of "Blog Fodder" so expect plenty of stories (or is that moans ?).
Of course just as things get sorted I'm off to the US on travel tomorrow and don't get back until next Sunday. Still, it feels good to finally have things sorted.
I always find the contrast in shops around the country interesting. For various reasons I ended up having lunch in John Lewis in Cambridge Monday. What I found in interesting is the contrast in menu compared to the Oxford Street London store and Cambridge (Cambridge being downmarket of course). Oh and of course the London store having a nice view of Cavendish Square (Cambridge of course having a rooftop full of pigeons doing the toilet).
I had a craving for steak and alas they only had a burger, wasn't too bad, but didn't really satisfy the craving for hunks of red meat (must be the cold weather setting in).
Today at lunch I ended up in another place and again wanted steak. Alas, again only burgers. So, go me thinking...
Is a Burger a Steak in Cambridge terms ?
Finally finished as much as I can do in terms of tearing down stuff in the house. Worst task of all was removing the washing machine (I didn't want to leave it as I spent a fortune on it a few years ago and they really don't make them like they used to). Actually removing the machine wasn't the difficult part, it was putting back the parking bolts that hold the drum in place during transport. Took me over an hour, rest assured cursing and swearing ensued. Eventually go there though !
Visited the site and I'm a little concerned things won't be ready on time, though the guy working on the kitchen told me has wasn't going home until it was complete. Here's where things were at on Friday:
Will it be complete ?RedLaser - Price Comparison via Barcodes
For sometime I've thought the killer iPhone app would be one where you could be in a shop and use the camera as a barcode scanner to check prices on products. The technology for camera based barcode reading has been around sometime (apps on desktops like Delicious Library already use it).
Well one of my predictions for an iPhone killer app is now here 'RedLaser'. You fire the application up, guide the camera to the barcode of the product and behold- it looks up on the Internet (sites like Amazon) to find the price !
Totally amazing - used this a lot today just to log things I need to buy for the new place. I hope the authors make a stack of money- they deserve it for such an industry changing application.
My only wonder is who is the first retailer to ban the use of the app ?
myPantone - Colour Capture / Identification
I've been thinking of buying a colour identification gadget for sometime, but they are a little on the pricey side (about £300). Today I found that Pantone now do an iPhone app, so I downloaded it. Had a play around- it uses the iPhone camera to capture the colour (trouble is that lighting and the iPhone screen aren't that calibrated). Still, it's a fairly good first pass and for the low price you can't complain. I'm sure as the iPhone's camera evolves so will the app.
Back home in the UK. Arrive Thursay afternoon, off to post office to post some letter and sort out post re-direction. I can't believe it's less than 1 week before the move. The guy at the local post office was really helpful, the lady at the local coffee shop was really helpful, the people at the local butcher were really helpful. I'm really happy to be moving to such a great place.
I visited the site of the new house. Met one of my local neighbours, seems really nice (lady in her 60's). Second time I've chatted to someone a little older- on the flight back from SFO I was sat beside a 60's Welsh lady who was an actress- really interesting conversation about Welsh and Scottish self governance. I stupidly made a reference to England - which irritates me when people call Scotland England.
Today in Cambridge was less irritating than usual. Had a look in Habitat- yes a load of Cambridge-oids but not so annoying as usual. Then dinner at all-bar-one. I love this place in Cambridge, it's one of the few places that has a consistent staff. And... the staff are excellent (beyond recognition)- really efficient and friendly. I assume they are paid/treated well (at least they should be)...
