one year (and one day)

I've just noticed that my blog has been going on for 12 months now. And curiously 12 months ago I was wittering about traffic and my MP.

I definately should get a life

wheels

recently I've been sorting out my car troubles. I needed a new tax disc, which meant fruitlessly trying to get one from the DVLA website, but apparently the database wasn't updated. Then trying a phone line which was always engaged. Then trying a post office, then trying a post office which was further away but actually did tax discs.

Then being told that although my MOT was valid now, it ran out the day before my next tax disc would start, so they wouldn't give me a tax disc until I got a new MOT. basically they assume that if they let me buy a tax disc when I want to then I won't bother to get an MOT and I'll drive around in a dangerous car and with invalid insurance. I wasn't pleased.

My car passed the MOT second time, just needed numberplates and a windscreen wiper. Then I could get my tax disc and now I'm all set. Being slightly wiser I got a six month tax disc so next time my MOT and my tax disc renewal won't coincide. Car expenditure this month - approx 165 quid, plus petrol

It makes me wonder about road charging. Why not just tax petrol more and scrap the tax disc / tollroads / other daft ideas? Drive more miles? = use more petrol and pay more tax.Have a big gas-guzzling SUV? = use more petrol and pay more tax. Have a firm of container lorries which transport heavy goods across the country? = pay lots of tax, or get a better business model which might involve sending goods by rail instead. I wonder if my MP is reading this?

Fruit & veg today? - onions, 'shrooms, capsicum and runner beans in my risotto
Exercise today? - none

I spy

Went into town today, didn't get anything exciting apart from some photos.
here's one of a palm tree growing outside the new-look arndale centre. The picture is a bit poorly composed, with hindsight standing behind a large grey pillar didn't pan out too well. Memo to self - when taking pictures take a few in case some don't come out, and try standing in a few different places. I may have a go at working with the interesting things refected in the glass next time I'm around there

And the contradiction inherent in the artificial natural sponge caught my attention

Finally we went past the Vimto(tm) monument, but it was too dark. at some point I'd like to work out how to get a decent picure of something in the dark with my camera. perhaps holding it steady and not using a flash? whatever. picture of the Vimto(tm) monument will wait for a future thrilling installment

dates (mmmm, dates)

This here's a useful website- the doomsday algorithm for working out what day of the week any given day was, or - despite the rather pessimistic name - will be. So it turns out that despite what Mr Cave said, the King of Tupelo was born on a tuesday. I was born on a friday

and here's a couple of photos, first autumn has made my morning run rather attractive, in some parts at least. And in some of the other parts the graffiti is getting better. Allow me to help a local artist get some exposure

lead on, Macsween

had haggis for tea last week, it was delicious. I took a picture but now I can't find the lead for my camera, so you'll have to take my word for it.
Update - here's the thing hiding behing a pile of mashed parsnip and sweet potato. I assure you it was more filling than it looks here

5 - 7 - 5

my haiku was poor
autumn leaves are clichéd
I'll try something else

healthy snacks

Frito-Lay Angrily Introduces Line Of Healthy Snacks

PLANO, TX—"Look at what you've reduced us to," said CEO Al Carey, as he disgustedly held up a bag of Cranberry Spinach Explosion snack chips.

saw this on The Onion today, and laughed heartily <contains swearing>

sunday

I was thinking about my blog template this morning. I seem to be doing okay for sleep recently so I'm dropping that. Not sure about the fruit and vegetables, and the exercise lately has been sporadic so;

exercise today - 100 press-ups (target = 200 per day)
fruit and veg - none so far

going for sunday lunch with Dempsey and my lovely gf today, will address the F&V situ at that point

update - went to trof and had a reasonable meal. reasonable in that the food tasted okay, but they seem to subscribe to a commonly held view that "vegans don't like food". the deal is this, their sunday lunch has a beef option which is

• slices of roast beef
• yorkshire pudding
• roast potatoes
• gravy
• vegetables

and seemed to this observer to be a substantial amount of food

for the vegan option the beef and pudding were replaced with two 6" skewers with bits of courgette, cherry tomatoes, etcetera barbequed on them. which was tasty but hardly going to fill me up. I had a tofu burger for dessert but this came without bread (the bread had eggs in it??) so in the end I was satisfied but hardly stuffed

the thing is vegetables are nutritious but you need to eat sufficient quantities of them