sjdean on the blog

Just in the past week, fuel prices have shifted from 1.37 to 1.44 per litre in some places. I have been considering for a while getting a new car, but it's a case of finding something economical, and equivalent to my Nissan Primera in terms of reliability. This rules out pretty much all Petrol Engined cars and I'd go with a Diesel. I had my eye on the Toyota Avensis D-4D 2.0 and 2.2 litre cars, but they have such staggering problems with Head Gaskets blowing, heads warping, water pumps dying. It's crazy. There is some degree of warranty, but Im not being left with a £3k repair bill of a lump in 3 years outside of the warranty. However right now based on fuel economy, with a diesel, I could save £100 on tax and insurance per year, followed by a further £400 to £800 depending on economy. At only 5mpg difference in fuel economy, every time fuel increases by 5p, I save £12 a year. If fuel went up 20p over 2 years, by year three, Im saving £48 a year. The savings kee...

I was following a woman today with her mobile phone clamped to her ear. I shouted "Get Off Your Phone" as I drove past her turning right into McDonalds which some people would consider road rage. After McD's, where everybody decides to drive the wrong way down a one way road, and following a couple of people who ran red lights, I saw a police car in the distance. Rather aggrieved they took no action on the red light runners, my anger turned to elation when I saw that the woman on the mobile phone had been stopped. I was shouting for joy. That really did set me up for the rest of the day.

Following the apparent leak that the Samsung Galaxy S3 will be announced in March and released in April, Samsung have now scotched those rumours by denying them completely. But they have denied these rumours in such a a roundabout sort of way. They haven't said "We expect the phone to ship in Q2" or "it won't be on sale before May at the earliest". What has been said by other online sources is that the phone won't be announced in April or released in March. Samsung meanwhile just say they haven't got anything set in stone and have no details to give. Assuming it is announced on 15th March and released in April, then it will not be announced in April and released in March. Essentially though, as far as this blogger is concerned, if the phone is not announced with a release date by the end of March, I'll be buying a Samsung Galaxy SII as my current phone keeps crashing.

Speculation is growing with regards to the actual release date of the Samsung Galaxy S3. With nothing new to report other than the results of Google Searches, here's some bits in my own words. Samsung did not show off their new device at MWC in February, but their new device is rumoured to have its own show towards the middle of March. Samsung is believed to want to roll this out globally at the same time, which will mean a lot of phones need to be made as well as a a huge effort to synchronise advertising. How exactly a global release works with pathetic phone operators who need months to tweak firmware and add their branding, lock down the phone, produce their own packaging and what not, Im not quite sure. The rumour was that as Samsung is heavily involved in sponsoring the Olympic Games, that a release sometime around then (June/July) is most likely expected. But there are several indications from people in the know as well as an apparent leak from one of the lead market...

I had a big metal tube put down my throat a couple of weeks ago under General Anaeshetic. I woke up gagging and unable to breathe. I had to try to choke out the words "Can't Breathe. Phlegm." at which point the doctors whipped out a sucky instrument and I could finally breathe. Over the past ten years, I have been suffering some odd symptoms from congested sinuses, post nasal drip, tired eyes, throat tightness, sore dry throat constantly. It's like I woke up one morning with a cold that didn't go away. Ten years I've been suffering with this until a couple of years ago, I went to see the head GP at my local surgery who just kept fobbing me off with one excuse after the other, even giving steroids for post nasal drip when a simple home made saline (salt water spray) works much better. The Acid reflux is largely under control, the thyroxine levels are well adjusted, there's nothing I can think of to cause this problem. So last year, I finally had m...