because the world is not an egg...

Yesterday I waved a couple of friends (Robin and Boj) off on a small journey - they are driving to Ulan Baatar in Mongolia! Not quite on a whim, but with a group of some 400 other nutters in a range of vehicles all under 1000cc engaging in The Mongol Rally.
Team Goldenoeuf have chosen a 1984 (ish) Suzuki SJ as their chariot for the event - quite a good choice I think as it is mechanically very simple requiring nothing more than a socket set and a large hammer in order to fix almost any problem that could occur! Saying that though, there are three things renowned for going wrong with the SJ.
Firstly, wheel bearings have a habit of seizing. Whilst it is actually relatively simple to remove the seized bearings, putting the new ones on requires a ten ton press to get the bearings in place. To remedy this, the boys have had two full bearing assemblies (attached to spare axles!) made up 'just in case'.
Secondly, the cylinder head. The SJ was quite revolutionary for it's time by building the engine block from Aluminium. This saves it a lot of weight (so can have a smaller engine) but the nature of the material means that if it overheats the head warps. Permenantly. Being the intrepid chaps they are, they have also sourced a spare cylinder head.
Finally, the Suzuki SJ is rather famous for being top heavy and falling over. Oh dear.

Good luck chaps!

the worlds finest sport shop...

I headed into town yesterday primarily to watch Ocean's 13 at the Apollo West End on Regents Street - one of the best cinema's I've ever visited - there is plenty of leg room, seats like armchairs, a good sized screen and fabulous sound. If you are thinking of heading into town to watch a movie, I would suggest you avoid Leicester Square, and hit the Apollo instead - the price is pretty much the same, but the quality vastly improved. Ocean's 13 is a cracking film too, and much improved on 12. (11 is still the best though).

Anyway, back to my real reason for this entry - I got my ticket for the film with 15 minutes to spare so thought I would pop over to Lillywhites and pick up some new running socks. Imagine my surprise to find that they have none! The running department that once used to take up most of a floor has been condensed to a very small corner on the top floor and not a sock in sight. Actually, that's not strictly true - there was a small selection of socks next to the running shoes: Hiking socks...!
It's a terrible shame to see a once grand store - the sports equivalent to Fortnums - turned into a discount outlet shop. Not only that, but the company that bought it a couple of years back (SportsDirect) has even removed it's web presence. Type Lillywhites into a google search and the first link that comes up is 'JDSports'!
It's a sad sight to see the 'Worlds finest sport store' phrase that is etched above the main entrance out shone by the large, fluorescent 70% discount logos.
Worlds finest? My arse....

a bit of slack time...

Well, quite a lot of slack time to be honest - work has not been busy at all these last few weeks which has been hugely frustrating and very bad for the pocket.
However I finally got around to going through a load of my old pictures and uploading them to flickr. It's rather nice to re-visit some of my old outings and I was pleasantly surprised with some of the pictures I'd taken. Suffice it to say, my flickr account is now rather bulging with new pics, several of which have already been marked as 'favourite' by other users, which is very satisfying!
Not that I'll ever make any money from them of course...

good food

This week I have been fortunate to have some great dining experiences -
Tom Aikens
The multi-award winning restaurant in South Kensington is not cheap - the set lunch menu is £29.00 before adding booze or the optional 12.5% tip, but extremely good and very generous on the portion size!
The after lunch coffee was served with Petits Fours - normally one expects a couple of chocolates and a biscuit, but no, this was a full course in it's own right! There were four chocolates, 5 little sponge cakes and 6 of what can only be described of as pressed sugar sheets of different flavours.
Getting up from the table was a considerable effort and I would have to admit that I did feel a little ill from over eating for much of the rest of the day. My supper was an apple!
However, if you can afford it, I would strongly recommend that you go... or get someone to take you ;)

Nauroz
At the other end of the cost scale, but up there on flavour and experience is this Pakistani restaurant next to Eastcote tube station.
Recently placed as the number 1 Best Cheap Eats in the UK by the Independent it served up a fantastic meal for just over £10 a head including drinks (they're even happy for you to bring your own!).
The food is all prepared fresh and cooked to order - allowing you control over just how much chilli is added. The dining area opens onto the kitchens so you can see everything being prepared... and not a microwave 'ding' to be heard! The menu contains a number of dishes recognisable to the regular curry head, but there's also a good selection of foods you are unlikely to have seen (unless you are into Pakistani cuisine). They will also cook food not on the menu. A cracking place - make sure you try the cheeky Garlic Naan!


And now I must go for a run...

global warming...

So, June was a wash-out and July is forecast to be the same. The weather is definitely acting unusually with periods of sunshine and blue skies interspersed with squalls, lightening and hail - This time last year we were basking in 30°C sunshine and worried about water shortages; the weather is very much in flux.
To me this is a sign that change is not only on the way, but upon us. The equilibrium has been broken and the weather is oscillating until it finds a new stable point. I recall many years ago early global warming warnings (try saying that when you're drunk!) predicting that the UK would get warmer and wetter with rain fall being less regular and more torrential. Hmmm... I see a match here! Of course, a few years of slightly warmer and wetter weather is not conclusive, but could well be prescient of things to come.
Already there is massive glacier losses in the Andes and the Alps and of course the great polar ice sheets which appear to be shedding ice at an increasing rate.

We live in interesting times...