15 February, 2022
Interesting times in the world of software
About a decade ago, I was at a conference and talking to a fellow developer (I still call myself one, even though I don’t code so much these days) when he giddily told me about the funding he’d got for building a new piece of software he was hoping would make it big. It was […]
26 April, 2021
I broke my heart in five places and got it fixed
A year ago, I was sitting, shorn of all body hair and waiting to go in for a five or six hour operation. I knew the next two weeks would be hell.
5 December, 2019
The great pension scam, how people were conned, and how young people fixed it
In my previous post, I discussed the importance of separating wealth from income, and to stop beating up a chap called Rob Barber who made the mistake of having a high income but not feeling rich. I get exactly where he’s coming from because I’ve been in the same position. In fact, it was more dangerous, […]
23 November, 2019
Wealth, income, and why that bloke on Question Time with £80k was wrong (and right)
There’s a bloke who’s been on Question Time who makes £80k a year and claimed he’s not in the top 5%. Which clearly makes him a moron and a subject of derision, right? Sock it to the wealthy! They’re all bastards who need putting in their place! Well actually, he’s not. A lot of people […]
18 November, 2018
The EU are bullying the UK
A short screenplay, by me. It’s a Monday morning at a small train station on a mainline. It’s bustling as business travellers head to London for their week’s business. The air is cool, with people blowing little clouds of steam as they head into the station from their taxis and cars. Mr Hock, a late-middle […]
12 October, 2018
Why learning to lose is the path to winning
Last night was the count for the local by-election, in which I stood as a Liberal Democrat candidate. I lost. I came third. And I’m OK with that. But this isn’t a political blog, at all, even though I’m involved in it. So if you want the results, they’re here. Once upon a time, I […]
17 December, 2017
Why political parties lose support by winning.
People do like to look back angrily, don’t they? Yet many a time, their anger today doesn’t reflect how they really felt back then. If you look at the Iraq War, and the UK’s involvement in it, most people supported the action. For sure, an awful lot of people today don’t think it was right […]
23 November, 2017
Our office cleaner doesn’t vote. I think I know why.
Ever noticed that there’s a group of people who don’t vote? Good people, by and large… but they don’t vote. Eventually, I think I worked it out.
25 February, 2016
Staleys in the Isle of Man
One of the funny things about children and their memories is just how fallible they are. Full of false memories and forgotten realities. I lived, for a while, somewhere on the outskirts of Douglas on the Isle of Man, when I was about nine years old. The family I stayed in had a boy about […]
11 March, 2014
Bono’s office, some time in 2014
Hi guys, I suspect you know why I’ve called you in here for this meeting. Adam, Larry, uhm… hat guy… you know that costs have been rising and, what with piracy and everything we just don’t get the receipts we used to. Obviously that means we have to find some savings and, after looking through […]
2 March, 2014
What a difference a tyre makes – mini review of Yokohama Advan Neovas on track
Yesterday, finally, after a break of nearly four years, I returned to the race track. Not for a competitive event, but for a track day. And I learned a little… The scene has changed. Maybe. Track days were mostly full of road cars. Lotus Elises were hugely popular, but you’d see a collection of Porsches, various […]
5 June, 2013
Liverpool Central Library
So, Liverpool Central Library has had a revamp. The reading room was always ace, but had been closed for ages and I’d not been able to show it to friends. It’s now all been lovingly restored, and the ‘modern’ bit done in a much more interesting manner with wonderful natural light. It’s great to see […]
2 April, 2013
Twitter is about to die. Here’s why.
Something odd has started to happen on Twitter for me, and it’s cutting my usage of it down quite dramatically. Why? It’s because it seems the spammers are winning… @majorie6474 @davecoveney haha you bite so easy Toye :P Actually my mac is arriving tomorrow :P — Nick Hanson (@nrhansonp) April 2, 2013 @prestonrupemo @davecoveney haha […]
22 February, 2013
Finding a missing person in South America (and elsewhere)
I promised, ages ago, that I’d write up some tips on how to find somebody who’d gone missing in South America. Recently I had an email from somebody in the same situation which has spurred me into action. Since 1997 I’ve found or been found by my mother, my brothers and my sister. Here I’m […]
5 October, 2012
What It’s Like to Dine Out When You’re Veggie
Imagine, you arrive at the restaurant. It’s slick, it’s luscious. Wonderful smells assault your nose. You’re hungry. Very hungry. This is going to be great! So, you sit down, the waiter comes over. Oddly, he doesn’t hand you a menu. Instead, he decides to tell you what you can eat. “Tonight, for starters, you can […]
1 September, 2012
In Love With My Kids
I’m not going to say much, but I’ll just pop a gallery here of some recent shots of my two beautiful children. I’m in love with them. I can’t stop thinking about them. Everything else comes second. Doesn’t mean they don’t wind me up sometimes, of course…
18 July, 2012
It’s OK, Coming Second Isn’t So Bad
One of the lessons I’ve learned, from motorsport and life in general, is that coming second is actually OK. You’re brought up in school to believe that winning is important. Anything else is being a loser. Well, they’re wrong. The minute you learn to accept that you win by being the best that you can […]
31 March, 2012
Bell & Coggins Pattern 1321
I have a little selection of Bell & Coggins Porcelain that I inherited but which isn’t really something I’m ever going to make much use of – it doesn’t really fit with anything else we have and it’s too delicate to have around when you have young children. So, better that somebody who would enjoy […]
4 March, 2012
Why Gay Marriage Matters
Two people meet. They decide to live together and grow old together. Let’s ignore whether they are a man and a woman, or gay, or two brothers without any other relationships. Doesn’t matter. What does matter is that they’re not married. Together, these two people set up home back in 1970 in a house for which […]
26 February, 2012
Why You Should Be A Secularist
All these arguments about Britain being a ‘Christian’ country at heart (see Baroness Warsi here, here and most importantly here) are so much bull, and I’m tired of it. It’s part of an attack on the growing secularist movement but framed in such a way that it’s designed to scare the religious into thinking they’re going to be […]
3 February, 2012
Bye Bye Skoda
It’s always sad when you decide to get rid of a car that you’ve enjoyed owning. Not because it’s no good, but because your needs have changed. And the biggest problem was that we’re now parents to one growing toddler and another relatively new baby. Which nearly did my back in. Both the Skoda and […]