Congratulations to Paula Radcliffe who is pregnant. Let’s just hope she doesn’t give birth squatting down on the roadside.

Tough week. Lots of driving to and from the bleak, industrial North. Lots of head scratching, pouring over computers and log files, talking to different people, all working together to try to fix a difficult, long standing, non-reproducible, high-profile problem. Arrive home. After the emotional reunions, hugs and tears, I am immediately asked to fix a difficult problem that is (thankfully) reproducible. Son took advantage of my absence to buy another PC game. Game launches splash screen and immediately crashes. ...

Dear Red Lorry You are a similar size to yellow lorry. You are a similar weight to yellow lorry. You have a similar size engine to yellow lorry. When yellow lorry slows down going up an incline, the laws of physics mean that you are also likely to slow down. Consequently, there is little point attempting to overtake yellow lorry. Unless you shed your trailer or engage turbo boost mode, you will simply hog the middle lane. You may eventually pass yellow lorry on the flat after 17 minutes and 9.4 miles. Alternatively, you may have to abort the manoeuvre and lose face. ...

Just returned from the annual torture of the seemingly simple task to renew two parking permits. Yes folks, we have to pay for the privilege of parking our cars in a nearby road, miles from our house. To secure the parking permits, you need a wad of paperwork. In fact, you probably need to produce fewer documents to adopt a Romanian orphan. If you have two vehicles registered to one person but used by two different people, the documentation requirements and level of complexity increases exponentially. ...

Just encountered two very talented buskers, attired in an immaculate dinner jacket with bow tie and a lovely, long, sparkly dress, singing the most beautiful opera. I was about to toss them 3 Norwegian Kroner but found they only accept credit cards.

Rugby players spend a lot of time physical training Compared to other form of sports. I have read the Rugby laws mentioned on this site. It’s a gripping sport which targets the grip strength and the active mindedness of a player. American football and rugby league are also primarily collision sports, but their tackles tend to terminate much more quickly. For professional rugby, players are often chosen on the basis of their size and apparent strength and they develop the skill and power over the passage of time. In modern rugby considerable attention is given to fitness and aerobic conditioning as well as basic weight training. ...

TechCrunch (with a focus on the UK) launches. [Via BlogHerald]

I honestly didn’t think I would see this Ole Gunnar Solskjaer wear a Red shirt again, let alone score in the Premier League. Three long, hard years fighting a recurrent knee injury. Well done Ole.

Norton Canes Services - M6 (Toll). Three clocks behind the till:- Clackett Lane - 13:59 Norton Canes - 13:57 Watford Gap - 13:58 You genuinely could not make it up.

I was enjoying a stroll along The Embankment yesterday morning, dressed in my Pearly King outfit, listening to Chas’n’Dave tunes on my iPod, munching on cockles and mussels, when I noticed banners hanging from each lamppost proudly proclaiming ‘We are Londoners’. The letter ‘D’ was shrunk to accommodate the rest of the letters. Just like a kid writing a Thank You letter to Auntie Joan and suddenly realising he’s going to run out of space. ...