Harold's Home

Galápagos pictures

Mon, 02 Aug 2010 15:03:40 +0200

Click to go to Flickr if you have flash blocked.

Thoughts on a plane

Sun, 01 Aug 2010 10:01:37 +0200

[I wrote this a few days back as will become apparent and it's a bit rambling in places, for which I ask your indulgence.]

27-7: I�almost attacked a stewardess today. Well, you would have too. She threatened to take my cheese-plate away!

You see, I am travelling first class from Quito to Amsterdam. After breaking my left ankle in two places I had to cut short my dream holiday to the Gal�pagos. I will write about this later but for now let it be known that first class flying really makes a difference if you do it in one of those big planes. Not only in the immense vastness of empty space surrounding you, but also in the quality of the food. I have never described small potatoes as "amusing" and probably never will again, but these definitely fit the bill.

I rather regret not taking a picture of the food because the difference between first class and second (or business and economy resp.) is shocking. You get several different starters and a choice of mains. Included are fresh baked breads, small bottles of vinegar and olive oil and a small cute salt and pepper set. You also get real metal knives and forks. All of this was flying with Iberia by the way, different airlines may vary in the details I'm sure. There is also a choice of wines (3 red, 3 whites) and when your glass is empty someone comes along and refills it. Afterwards they bring you coffee and a choice of spirits to go with it. Man I could get used to this.

Jesus, they just brought me a bottle of water and an invitation to the minibar for after dinner. I AM A FLYING GOD!!

For the last few days I had been extremely annoyed with my insurance company's case managers for not really acting to get me home fast, but after some frantic action today I am flying home today and I am really loving business class. My dream holiday may have been cut short after only four days (of thirty) but what a way to recover at least a tiny bit of fun after days of pain in hospital. I am sure that tomorrow I will pay for this with renewed pain and discomfort, but for now I am unwilling to end this amazing luxury. By the time this gets input in the computer I'll have been home for a day or so but as I am writing this on the plane itself I'll sign off and sip my Glenfiddich 12 yo*.

Hasta luego, mortals.

*) pro tip: ask for a small whisky and get only a double instead of a triple.

Inde$troy

Sun, 11 Jul 2010 16:56:05 +0200

Rejoice, for I have finally taken the time to transcribe the lyrics to Saw Throat's Inde$troy album as those are impossible to find online.
This post-apocalyptic environmentally aware album has been out of print for ages but some torrents or downloads should be available if you care to dig a bit into the seedier side of the internets. Or you can try your luck with second hand stores or ebay (there's one up as I write this).

In 20 years this album hasn't aged much, many of the concerns expressed here are still valid, though we don't worry as much as we used to about acid rain or the carbon fluoro compounds we used to cram into our fridges and which deteriorated the ozone layer. Even though we have mended our ways in these areas we are still sadly lacking in respect for nature and our western lifestyle (soon to be enjoyed by billions more in rising economies like China and India) is leading to an ecological catastrophe we have by no means grasped. Recent events like those in the gulf of mexico are not isolated events but part of a much, much, larger pattern of abuse, indifference and outright greed, which we are all complicit in.
Frankly it sometimes seems to me that the best our planet can hope for is that the human race extinguishes itself very fast, after a few thousand years nature will continue pretty much as if nothing happened, albeit with a few thousand fewer species.

Clicky the image for the lyrics.

Are you just pleased to see me?

Thu, 24 Jun 2010 15:39:51 +0200

I am simply posting this because the sentence below is so awesome. First Attempt to Measure Plant Biomagnetism Fails

Trudy is an amorphophallus, a genus which takes its name from the Greek for "misshapen penis". She flowers only once every six years or so in an event that has become as famous as it is rare. When Trudy blooms she produces a putrid stench reminiscent of decaying corpses that attracts insects and tourists alike for miles around.

Eeek!

Mon, 14 Jun 2010 16:40:13 +0200

Serious iPad Flaw Discovered

I think I may hold off till version 2, my coffee table is already quite old and it probably wouldn't survive.

Customer support win

Mon, 14 Jun 2010 15:27:09 +0200

Hehe, we just had the first Dutch football match in the world championship and I took advantage of that to make some calls I had put off for weeks to customer support. Since 90% of Dutch people are watching the match wait times were zero (after navigating the menus) and my request was dealt with right away.

I have achieved a rare customer support win.

He just needed a hug

Thu, 10 Jun 2010 17:45:36 +0200

Does Darth Vader meet the diagnostic criteria for Borderline Personality Disorder?

A cure has been found

Tue, 01 Jun 2010 17:45:06 +0200

Looks like we have a definite cure for religion. Instead of polarising the debate we should be marrying into faiths and destroy them from within!

Did fornicating Farm Girls boost the rise of atheism in Britain?

This is probably why I'm single

Tue, 01 Jun 2010 12:34:49 +0200

http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/2010-06-01/

Head and neck injury risks in heavy metal

Fri, 28 May 2010 14:08:53 +0200

Lol at this research and it's conclusions: Head and neck injury risks in heavy metal: head bangers stuck between rock and a hard bass.