Is this the end of the keyboard

Toshiba Netbook with 2 touchscreens and no keyboard.

http://www.wired.com/reviews/product/pr_fetish_toshiba_libretto_w105

Just a load of hot air Hot air balloon ride

Bunch of comedians, my mates. For my birthday, (which just happened to be the big 40! No stress. No panic. No midlife crisis. Ahem.) my mates told me I was always spouting off a lot of hot air and so decided that sending me up, up and away in a hot air balloon was the most appropriate present for me! The cheek of it.

OK, so it may be said that I always have an opinion and am not one to be stuck for words, but as we floated above the Kent countryside with my gaggle of mates and family waving at me from below I have to admit, I was lost for words.

The whole day out was fantastic. My hot air balloon ride experience started with helping inflate the balloon with the fans whilst the balloon is lying down. They told us that air from big fans is used on the un-inflated balloons and as the air from the fans is the same density as the atmosphere, the balloon inflates, but doesn’t try to float away.

Once filled with air, the pilot in the laid down basket opens up the burners to start pumping in the hot air and as if by magic, the balloon raises itself up to ‘standing point’. At this point, we all leapt in the large rectangular wicker balloon basket and before we knew it, the ground was falling away and we were floating up.

Being in a hot air balloon really is a surreal experience. You kind of expect to feel the wind in your face, but you don’t. It really is very calm and serene. You can even hear all the usual everyday noises below you, from traffic whooshing by to sheep bleating, but they all look like toy miniatures.

Of course, when the burners are going you certainly know about it and as the pilot deftly manoeuvres the balloon down to earth using the burners to control the descent, it takes a lot of skill to scale those tree tops and come to rest with the basket (and everyone in it) still standing.

The balloon is then kept floating above the basket until the support team arrives and starts pulling the guide rope which gently brings the balloon back to laying down. Good fun at the end, as we all got to walk along the balloon to push the last bits of air out before she was packed away and loaded onto the trailer ready for another busy day of hot air ballooning.

I can honestly say it was a superb day out and, despite the ribbing I get from the lads, hot air balloon rides are without doubt, the perfect 40^th birthday present for me! Cheers boys!

Zorbing with Stornoway

We love this latest indie music outfit! Although called Stornoway the group is actually from Cowley in Oxfordshire, but their quirky brand of music with vocal harmonies caught our ears.

Their first single has just been re-released and curiously it’s called ‘Zorbing’. We’re not sure which came first, Stornoway going zorbing or Stornoway writing the song and then being invited on a zorbing day out, but we love this little video of them doing a live acoustic version of the song…in front of a zorb!

Who’d have thought the extreme sport of zorbing would be made into such a heartfelt song with the classic lines “Inside a bubble, been Zorbing through the streets of Cali, we were always meant to be Zorbing together and I think it’s high time we started.” Bless!

Vuvuzela Filter Needed for World Cup

Do any of the broadcasters have Vuvuzela Filters?

If not it will be impossible to listen to the World Cup on the  radio

Surely the broadcasters can’t let the Vuvuzela ruin the world cup or people will be switching off in their droves.

Fine Dining on a Steam Train

A tepid cup of tea and an ever-so-slightly soggy sandwich is what we normally expect from the buffet car whenever we travel by train. But travel by steam train and you can experience tasty meals that have been freshly cooked onboard and served to your at a table. You even get proper cutlery!

This is exactly what we discovered to our absolute delight when we booked a steam train dining experience from an online activity gift voucher website. All booked up, the entire clan clambered aboard the 13:00 steam train express and took our very comfortable seats, which were quite frankly more like armchairs than train seats.

On the dot at 13:05, we gave our orders to our server, who then served us aperitifs at our table. And the food? Simply sumptuous. The duck and orange pate was very tasty, as was the mint roasted leg of lamb and the homemade profiterole dessert went down very well too. A resounding thumbs up from all the family and a delightful way to spend Sunday as you majestically glide through the countryside on the gentle steam train watching the scenery go past with good food and great company to boot.

What to do with Sim64

There are some websites that you just don’t know what to do with and Sim64.co.uk is one of those.

It was my original SEO testing site and then progressed to be my SEO Competition site and then on to being my main affiliate marketing site.

It was earning me a lot of money at one time (about £1,000 a week) from affiliate marketing, until I got a bit sill/greedy and pushed the google webmaster guidelines too far.

This resulted initially in a minus 30 penalty which went on to last about 3 years, since the penaty was dropped I’ve never really done anything with the site other than set up a dummy mini 5 page SEO site and re-set my Queens Speech pages.

If only I could get a bit of inspiration I would do more.

Restoring an Antique Chest of Drawers

It gets worse

Since having our table restored the wife is basically going around the whole house looking for any other antiques we have with the view of getting them polished up and restored.

Not only that, I caught her yesterday nipping down to the old barn in LC where they sell antiques,  second hand furniture and nick nacks.

She told me she had seen a nice antique chest of drawers that needed restoring and that they were going really cheap. The problem is, she sees theses things going cheap thinks she can get the antique restorer to tidy them up and that they are a bargain.

What she doesn’t seem to realise is that antique restoration is a specialst job and if you want it doing right it isn’t as cheap as she thinks.

She seems to have it in her head that Restoring an Antique Chest of Drawers is the sort of thing I can do in the shed over the weekend.

Tank Driving Vouchers

It’s been booked in for a while now and last weekend one of my childhood dreams came true – I got to drive a proper Army tank and not just any tank, but a huge genuine Russian one.

Having been bought one of those activity gift vouchers for Christmas, I booked myself in over the Easter hols so the whole family could come along and witness my exquisite tank driving skills. In the end, the family were far too busy going on passenger rides in military vehicles, listening to talks and tucking into lunch to watch my finest hour, but hey, at least everyone was enjoying themselves!

I have to say the whole day was really well organised and excellent fun with loads of activities packed in to the day. The clay pigeon shooting and SAS mission were fun, but the highlight for me was definitely getting my mitts on all that serious military hardware.

Starting off with a Humvee (which apparently starred in Black Hawk Down!), then going big with the F432 armoured personnel carrier and a Lance missile carrier before The Big One. Oh yes. Me behind the controls of a genuine Russian TS2 Gvozdika tank. I felt like a proper superhero.

I can truly recommend a day’s tank driving experience for anyone who loves big toys and have to say that my tank driving day out was such good fun I want to go and do it all again next year!

Tanks… Like Father, like Son!

Boys like toys. That’s just the way it is. And when we say boys, we mean boys of all ages, from toddlers to fully grown ‘sensible’ adults. I hold my hands up and admit I am still fascinated by the idea of rumbling around the countryside in one big, mean military machine on a tank driving day.

My 10 year old son knows this and is if by magic on my last birthday, I was presented with a Dads and Lads Tank Driving voucher. I knew something was up from the ear-to-ear grin on my sons face as he handed me the neatly wrapped package. This means that not only does Daddy get to see a load of tanks, but I get to drive one and mini-me gets to play too. Just whose birthday was it anyway?!

Seriously though, I’m looking at the tank voucher now and just about to contact the supplier to book (Into the Blues Tank driving experience) and I’m thinking it really is going to be one of those classic father and son bonding moments. Apparently we get kitted up in military gear and get driven around in an armoured personnel carrier. Then mini-me gets to get into the spirit of things with a paintball shoot out from the turret of the tank, whilst I get to actually drive a real ‘life size’ military tank! Just how cool is that!

Right time to stop waffling on this blog, I’ve got a ‘phone call to make to book the boys in for a Dads and Lads tank driving day out. Yippee!

Heading off on a Hawk walk – an ideal holiday activity

Normally around Easter time we head off somewhere on a skiing holiday, but with the fall in the value of the pound, a week of chocolat chaud on the slopes is proving too expensive this year, so we’ve decided to stay on ‘home turf’ and rent a cottage in the Lake District.

 Not ones for lazing around on the beach, we reckon there are plenty of activities for us to get our teeth into. One I’m keen to organise as a surprise for the family is a Hawk walk. I imagine going for a Hawk walk in and around the secret coves of Lake Windermere guided by en expert falconer who, like their trusted raptors, knows the area like the back of their hands is a enchanting experience.

 The falconry website I looked at even offers a special family package, so two adults and two children can be booked on a special family-orientated Hawk walk. I’m sure the kids are going to love this and along with a bit of walking, biking and maybe even sailing around the lakes, we’re hoping this is going to be happy, active home-made British family holiday!