Today would have been Andy’s birthday.

I don’t want to wallow in sadness because that’s not what Andy would have wanted. Instead I want to highlight a few things that he influenced. So today, if you find yourself thinking about Andy, think about these things:

Carol Jarvis’ solo album is on pre-order at Amazon and you can [...]]]>

Today would have been Andy’s birthday.

I don’t want to wallow in sadness because that’s not what Andy would have wanted. Instead I want to highlight a few things that he influenced. So today, if you find yourself thinking about Andy, think about these things:

Carol Jarvis’ solo album is on pre-order at Amazon and you can order it here. Carol plays trombone wonderfully, and from a brief conversation with her I know that Andy changed instruments in a brass band so that she could take over, and encouraged and mentored her. She is donating the profits to MacMillan Cancer Support.

Stuart Pendred has been one of Andy’s mates since childhood. He’s now a hugely accomplished singer (yes, you are Stu…) and will be the baritone soloist at a performance of Brahms’ A German Requiem on Saturday 20th March 2010 at St Paul’s, Onslow Square, London. Find out more here.

Stu is also involved in running for Andy’s Angels who will be running again in 2010 in aid of the Bone Cancer Research Trust. The first race they’re hoping to compete in is the Oxford Town & Gown 10k on 16th May 2010. Find out more about entry here. I believe that the team are hoping to compete in more races during the year.

The BCRT was a cause that Andy was devoted to, partly because so little is known about Bone Cancer. At the time of writing over £5,400 has been committed in donations towards the £10,000 target that he had set himself to raise. If you want to donate or sponsor the runners, please do so here.

My own family, MrsG-T, MiniG-T, MicroG-T and even BabeG-T had all met Andy and all were touched by the great example that he showed of dealing with life and its ups and downs.

And finally, think about Andy’s amazing family – his wife, three daughters, son, sister, brother-in-law and nephew. They’ve handled the changes in the last couple of years with tremendous dignity, great humour and been unfailingly lovely. As a family we’ve hugely enjoyed spending time with them all.

Guys, I think you’re all great. Thanks for being a great tribute to our shared memory of Andy Greig.

Happy birthday Pal!

You might be wondering why I’m writing a post about Electric Vehicles, popularly referred to as EVs, having just received my lastest diesel company car.

Joe Simpson has written a post over here about Renault’s advertising of its strategy to move towards affordable and usable electric cars in the next couple of years, and others have [...]]]>

You might be wondering why I’m writing a post about Electric Vehicles, popularly referred to as EVs, having just received my lastest diesel company car.

Joe Simpson has written a post over here about Renault’s advertising of its strategy to move towards affordable and usable electric cars in the next couple of years, and others have commented on the cleverness or otherwise of Renault’s campaign.

However, my concern comes from the short sentence that is seemingly overlooked,

Renault – and Ghosn – are under fire in the French press for focusing too much on these electric models that are still two years away, and hurting sales of the current range.

The potential move towards EVs is a step-change in cars, the first significant change in the basic fundamentals of the personal automobile in perhaps one hundred years. It’s a different technology, which will require a different national infrastructure to provide charging points instead of petrol stations, and it’s an infrastructure that will probably be completely independent of the current one. This is not like adding a separate diesel nozzle to existing petrol pumps. In the immediate future you’re not going to recharge an electric car in the five or so minutes it takes to refuel your current vehicle.

Where am I going with this?

This could be the CD to the turntable, the DVD player to the VHS video but with the car. It’s the same end – you travel at your own time and speed – but in a completely different format, and with a significantly larger cost to the end-user.

So, if Renault (and others) are successful with their electric vehicles what’s going to happen to the market for petrol and diesel cars? Who’s going to buy a current model knowing that they’ll be facing something like 100% depreciation in two to five years?

If EVs take off, the market for petrol and diesel vehicles is likely to crash very quickly in the same way that VHS recorders did. This will potentially leave countries with massive fleets of unwanted cars as the populace move to EVs. How will the car manufacturers manage the transition?

I have an old turntable in the loft. Occasionally I drag it out, plug it in and listen to some vinyl LPs. Is this what’s going to happen to the car in its current form? Will some of us have their current (or next) car stashed in their garage, and bring it out for the odd drive, revelling in the past and the memories that go with it? If so, I’ll be swapping the Insignia for a nice V6 Capri. And maybe a classic V8 Range Rover. Best chat to MrsG-T about building that triple garage I guess.

Which car would you choose to keep?

I’ve never been a massive Vauxhall fan but changes to my company car scheme gave me the vast choice of errr… a Vauxhall. I could have chosen a Zafira but they were only available in low trim levels, so it was always going [...]]]>

From Blog

And welcome to my new company car, a 2010 Vauxhall Insignia Elite.

I’ve never been a massive Vauxhall fan but changes to my company car scheme gave me the vast choice of errr… a Vauxhall. I could have chosen a Zafira but they were only available in low trim levels, so it was always going to be one of these.

The colour was my boss’s choice as this was meant to be his car, but as he’s resigned I got it to save ordering another one in a different colour. Fortunately I like this particular shade of blue.

First impressions? The specification is significantly better than my previous car, including parking sensors, satellite navigation, a 160PS turbo-diesel engine with 6-speed manual, heated leather electrically adjustable front seats and full iPod control through the hifi. I spent 40 minutes reading the manual for the hifi alone.

Driving home for the first time became something of an adventure given the two inches of wet snow lying everywhere. It took two and a half hours to drive less than twenty miles home, and I never got higher than third gear.

Fiddly irritations that I hope I’ll get used to are the electronic handbrake, which is fine to put on but you have to press the brake pedal to release it and that’s a pain when you’re in a six mile tailback on a hilly B-road. Also the switch on the indicator stalk to flip through the trip computer screens should be on the end of the stalk in my humble opinion.

On the plus side, the automatic dipping headlights are amazing! Driving on backroads becomes much more relaxing when you don’t have to worry that you’re dazzling oncoming motorists.

Although there’s a USB port in the centre console, and the hifi is iPod compatible, it’s not iPhone compatible which is a bit annoying given that the iPhone has been on the market for a couple of years now. However you can pair the phone with the car via bluetooth giving you full hands-free calling.

I keep finding new features in this car, but my favourites so far are the heated seats and the DAB radio. And the auto dipping headlights, and the memory facility on the driver seat, and the sat nav.

More updates to come!

Key stats:

March 2010 Vauxhall Insignia Elite. 2-litre 160PS Ecotec turbo diesel engine with 6-speed manual transmission. 5-door hatchback. No optional equipment other than the Waterworld metallic paint.

• Mileage covered: 74
• Number of drivers: 2
• Average fuel consumption: unknown
• Total fuel cost: £0
• Front tyre life: unknown

Best things:

• Heated Seats
• Hifi system with Sat Nav
• Space
• Parking sensors
• Automatic dipping headlights

Worst things:

• The shape, especially the rear. I think it looks fat. Like me.
• The side elevation makes people think you’ve got a Jaguar XF and you haven’t…
• The weather driving home from the office the first time. See below.

From Blog

From Blog

I’ve never possessed any car longer than this one, and for someone who gets bored with cars quite easily it’s been a surprisingly easy three years, three months, and three days.

This car was a last-minute choice. I was all set to order a Focus Estate when MrsG-T pointed out that a Mondeo [...]]]> From Blog

So, this is goodbye.

I’ve never possessed any car longer than this one, and for someone who gets bored with cars quite easily it’s been a surprisingly easy three years, three months, and three days.

This car was a last-minute choice. I was all set to order a Focus Estate when MrsG-T pointed out that a Mondeo had more luggage capacity with all the seats up, so I ordered the highest specification I could get. I had to compromise on engine to get this Ghia version, but as it turned out the 115PS diesel hasn’t been a struggle and I’ve enjoyed the additional equipment.

The colour was my choice too, and one I haven’t regretted. In sunlight it looks absolutely great and there aren’t too many around in this shade of Tango Metallic (Ford’s name!)

Ford Mondeo used to be shorthand for the average man’s car, although the BMW 3-series now outsells it which must make BMWs average I guess! But this car has been properly screwed together, easy to drive, capacious, versatile, economical and, importantly, fun.

It’s a mature drive, a car eminently suitable for a 40-ish year old man. Outwardly it exudes sensibility but underneath there is the heart and mind of a teenager. Most of the time it hauls children, animals and luggage around, looks respectable in the office car park and turns out decent fuel consumption figures.

But, when no-one is looking, it reminds itself of what youth was all about, enjoying a surprisingly brisk drive on quiet A and B-roads. It gathers speed in much the same way that a middle-aged bloke runs at the school sports day in the dad’s race; initial acceleration is briefly quick but it maintains a decent pace until the end. Corners are relished, and on yumps and switchbacks it’s easy to pretend that you might have been a decent racing driver given the right breaks as the car sweetly negotiates with the road surface. It’s not hooligan fun like MrsG-T’s Ford Puma, rather when you get home it’s as if you and the Mondeo share a discreet smile. You’re both still young at heart!

The only thing that broke was the cooling fan (at 44k miles) and nothing else was replaced other than the usual tyres, brake discs/pads and a windscreen. The only lasting irritations are that the backlight in the mileometer doesn’t work, the speedo is surprisingly optimistic and one major design flaw – opening the tailgate when it’s wet results in water sliding off either side into the boot/trunk.

These minor issues aside (and a colleague informs me that the new model Mondeo has the same issue with rain/luggage-compartment interface) I’ve been very content to drive around in this car. Key features that have been used time and again were the cruise control, Sony CD player (with mp3 socket in the glovebox) and the enormous 500 litre boot.

This car has taken us to places as far apart as Inverness, Scotland and St Gilles Croix de Vie, France.

So, what next? Same segment (large family hatchback) but more space, more power, more equipment and even a different colour. More on that later.

However, in conclusion, if you are thinking about buying a car of this type I’d recommend the Mondeo very highly indeed and can think of no more fitting tribute to NV56 HLF than suggesting that you read this piece which I wrote a couple of years ago. The feeling and sensations are all still true. Well done, Ford. The Mondeo is a truly great car.

Key stats:

November 2006 Ford Mondeo Ghia TDCi. 2-litre 115PS turbo diesel engine with 5-speed manual transmission. 5-door hatchback. No optional equipment other than the Tango metallic paint.

• Mileage covered: 51,472
• Average fuel consumption: 40.38 mpg
• No. of drivers: 17
• Total fuel cost: £5,724.20
• Front tyre life: approx 20k miles

Best things:

• Cruise control
• Sony hifi
• Fuel consumption
• Space
• Handling/roadholding

Worst things:

• Tailgate water drainage design
• Noise at speed

From Blog

On the day it was delivered, 15th November 2006.

From Blog

A few days before I handed it back, 5th February 2010.

When MrsG-T and I married and merged our CD collections we were surprised that of the (roughly) 350 CDs there were only four duplicates. As the years have passed, children and pets have been added, bills increase inexorably and responsibilities get greater, our CD collection has stayed fairly static.

Of course we’ve added bits and pieces, [...]]]>

When MrsG-T and I married and merged our CD collections we were surprised that of the (roughly) 350 CDs there were only four duplicates. As the years have passed, children and pets have been added, bills increase inexorably and responsibilities get greater, our CD collection has stayed fairly static.

Of course we’ve added bits and pieces, but the one thing that’s beginning to bother me is the lack of new spiritual music we’ve added in recent years.

We stopped going to most music-oriented Christian festivals ages ago and seem to have lost touch with the ’scene’. As it were.

So, anyone want to post recommendations in the comments for stuff we should be listening to?

We like a wide range of musical styles from Bach to Queen, JTQ to The Who, Diana Krall to Oscar Peterson. Any ideas?

The underlying point of his talk was that without integrity our society will collapse.

He pointed out that British society is generally very cynical about the people who rule over us, illustrated by the joke about telling that a politician is lying by observing their lips move.

This [...]]]> This morning Laurence Singlehurst taught at our local church.

The underlying point of his talk was that without integrity our society will collapse.

He pointed out that British society is generally very cynical about the people who rule over us, illustrated by the joke about telling that a politician is lying by observing their lips move.

This cynicism has led to our society being sceptical about the motives of those around us, business, marketing, bosses, leaders. We now tend to assume that they have aims to benefit themselves at the expense of the ordinary people like us.

Our society needs to change; and big change comes though small changes. We need a change deep within people where they stop living for themselves and stop being selfish.

Society is given to pleasure-seeking, but in the past it was more about doing the right thing. We need to swing the pendulum back towards what is right.

Perhaps we need to start living for an altruistic goal, for a bigger ideal than our own pleasure. Business should be for the benefit of society, not just to line the pockets of shareholders.

And where does this all start?

In the heart of YOU. (And me.)

We the church need a greater passion for the people around us.

If Jesus died for everybody, then everybody is as valuable as Jesus.

Laurence suggested that every Christian should see themselves as a secret pastor. We all have our own small congregation of friends, family, work colleagues. We need to love them and care for them, but exhibit integrity in every area of our lives.

So there’s the challenge:

How far does the love of your church go?

How far does your love go?

However, I’ve come across a bug which stops displaying the tracking graphs sometime between 30 and 40 nights in. I tried various things (aircraft mode etc) but nothing has worked.

According to Lexware [...]]]> Many of you will know that I’ve recommended Sleep Cycle as a great alarm clock which also tracks your sleep patterns through the night.

However, I’ve come across a bug which stops displaying the tracking graphs sometime between 30 and 40 nights in. I tried various things (aircraft mode etc) but nothing has worked.

According to Lexware Labs, publishers of the software, the only cure is to delete the app from your iPhone and then re-download it. You will not be charged again for this.

It’s worth reading their contact page as it outlines this problem as well as enhancements that they’re working on for future releases.

Find it here.

UPDATE: Lexware Labs have now released a fix for this problem. Hoorah!