Stupid website

I've just used the most stupid website ever.

Unsuprisingly, it's from Virgin Media, who have rather lost the plot a lot in recent months.

I was trying to purchase a SIM card for Jessica's mobile, as they have a £10/month for 300 minutes and 300 texts deal - which is good. But only if you can actually manage to navigate the forms.

For starters, this is an existing customers only offer. So the first step is to enter your account number. I try to do this, but it won't accept that many digits, stopping me from entering the last one. In the end I used my account number for their email server, with the first two characters removed. This seemed to do the trick and lets me proceed.

I'm entering all my details (name, address etc), and it asks for a security question and password. I usually choose "Mother's maiden name" for these, and did so here. I filled out the rest, clicked the "Continue" button and was told there was a problem. You see, security question answers have to more than 6 characters long, and at 5 characters my mother's maiden name is simply not good enough. I contemplated changing it all to Ele's details, but her mother's maiden name is also 5 characters. How bloody stupid. I don't like most of the questions, as they are changeable answers such as "favourite book". So I scanned the list of questions:

Favourite Band - Liable to change so a bad question. Today it's AC/DC. HALT! LESS THAN 6 CHARACTERS!
First Pet's name - Cindy. HALT! LESS THAN 6 CHARACTERS!
Mother's Maiden Name - Beech. HALT! LESS THAN 6 CHARACTERS!
Town were you were born - Ah ha! That might do it. Thornton Heath. HALT! THIS HAS A SPACE IN IT AND IS THEREFORE NOT ALLOWED FOR SOME REASON WHICH WE WILL NOT TELL YOU. THE REAL REASON IS THAT WE HAVE WRITTEN A RUBBISH VALIDATION ENGINE THAT IS DONE SERVER-SIDE WITH NO INITIAL CLIENT-SIDE CHECKING AND IT WON'T ACCEPT ANYTHING THAT ISN'T A CHARACTER OR A LETTER BECAUSE WE DON'T KNOW HOW TO WRITE REGULAR EXPRESSIONS, DO STRING MATCHING OR EVEN REALISE THAT TOWNS MIGHT HAVE A SPACE IN THEM.

In the end I plumped for "First School", which I only attended for a couple of years. Good thing, too, as the next one had two words in it's name.

I finally get through this form, and place my order. And it's now just popped up and said "Oops, we're having a few technical problems at the moment." Well obviously they're technical. If it came up and said "Oops, we're having a few personal problems at the moment. You see Sharon was seeing Matt, but secretly he was in love with Mandy and she got so mad at him that she stormed into the data-center and threw a glass of water over him, but most of it went into the UPS and tripped it out causing our database server to go down." then that'd be different.

So I've no idea if the SIM will ever arrive.

I would call and ask, but my house phone isn't working. And in typical Virgin Media fashion, they would not forward my calls to my mobile (because I am not a doctor on call). Tommorow I am expecting a sofa to be delivered. The driver is to call in the morning. On my house phone. I've told Land of Leather my mobile number now, but I've no confidence it'll get changed in time. So will I waste another entire day waiting for a delivery that won't arrive? Or will me delivery jinx be banished?

It's a funny old game

So we haven't qualified for Euro 2008.

Of course, the logical thing to do is sack the manager. Everybody wants him gone. But let's just think about a few points here:

Lack of internation experience? Don't forget he was Sven Goran-Ericsson's assistant manager for several years, and he also took Middleborough to the UEFA cup finals. This is more international experience than probably any other English manager.

Injuries. Last night the entire defensive back four was not first choice. Some weren't even second choice. Both main strikers were out. This has been a consistent problem throughout the tournament.

People accuse the players of not caring, that they are happy to just pick up their huge wages. What rubbish. Of course they care. They probably care a lot more than you or I do. They are the ones who will miss playing, who will miss the chance of becoming European champions. They care a hell of a lot more than some drunk bloke in a pub.

Now there were a couple of errors last night. Carson should not have been in goal. If he didn't want to play Robinson, the answer was there in David James. A young, completely internationally-inexperienced player is not the right choice for a game like that. He did a couple of great saves later on, but was still responsible for at least one goal, if not two. Also, 4-5-1 plainly was daft. Starting with Defoe would've been better. And the only thing that got the team going all night was when Beckham came on. He made the second goal for Crouch. It's not trendy to say it, but Beckham is good. Very, very good.

But the biggest problem with sacking McClaren is finding a replacement. Who will want the job? As soon as you don't win a game - even if you draw a game - you are villified by the media and the "fans" who demand that you win every single game you play. They sacked Sven because he didn't win the World Cup. Talk about setting the bar a little high! Nothing short of total world domination will do, regardless of how many players you have injured. And if you stick with a system that works, you get labelled as scared of change, spineless. If you experiment and it works (like a few of the recent games when Heskey came back) then you "finally managed to get something right". But experiment and it fails, and you are an idiot.

Nobody will want the job. If they take it, it'll be for the money and nothing else.

Translator required

I just copied this from Jessica's MSN chat with one of her friends that she left on the screen. I can't understand a bloody word of it:

Never give out your password or credit card number in an instant message conversation.

.. E m ii l y y B a b ii e e .. .. && ii H a t e H o w M u c h ii L u v Y o u u B o ii .. <33 says:
hi
Jessica says:
hiiiiii
Jessica says:
i got a bebo
Jessica says:
wanna have it
.. E m ii l y y B a b ii e e .. .. && ii H a t e H o w M u c h ii L u v Y o u u B o ii .. <33 says:
i no lool youu added me
.. E m ii l y y B a b ii e e .. .. && ii H a t e H o w M u c h ii L u v Y o u u B o ii .. <33 says:
im acceptin it noww
Jessica says:
ok yeh i forgot derrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
Jessica says:
ar u emily g or b
.. E m ii l y y B a b ii e e .. .. && ii H a t e H o w M u c h ii L u v Y o u u B o ii .. <33 says:
emily g
.. E m ii l y y B a b ii e e .. .. && ii H a t e H o w M u c h ii L u v Y o u u B o ii .. <33 says:
lool
Jessica says:
kk
.. E m ii l y y B a b ii e e .. .. && ii H a t e H o w M u c h ii L u v Y o u u B o ii .. <33 says:
lool
Jessica says:
i never gave u my bebo
.. E m ii l y y B a b ii e e .. .. && ii H a t e H o w M u c h ii L u v Y o u u B o ii .. <33 says:
you did
.. E m ii l y y B a b ii e e .. .. && ii H a t e H o w M u c h ii L u v Y o u u B o ii .. <33 says:
waiit..
Jessica says:
no
.. E m ii l y y B a b ii e e .. .. && ii H a t e H o w M u c h ii L u v Y o u u B o ii .. <33 says:
im friends wif youu on bebo noww
.. E m ii l y y B a b ii e e .. .. && ii H a t e H o w M u c h ii L u v Y o u u B o ii .. <33 says:
ma pic is like a lil record fingy
Jessica says:
got u found u i love ur site i only just made mine now still workin on it!!!
.. E m ii l y y B a b ii e e .. .. && ii H a t e H o w M u c h ii L u v Y o u u B o ii .. <33 says:
lool okaii fankoo x
Jessica says:
ur welkom

.. E m ii l y y B a b ii e e .. .. && ii H a t e H o w M u c h ii L u v Y o u u B o ii .. <33 is inviting you to start sending webcam. Do you want to Accept (Alt+C) or Decline (Alt+D) the invitation?

.. E m ii l y y B a b ii e e .. .. && ii H a t e H o w M u c h ii L u v Y o u u B o ii .. <33 is inviting you to start viewing webcam. Do you want to Accept (Alt+C) or Decline (Alt+D) the invitation?

You have accepted the invitation to start sending webcam.

.. E m ii l y y B a b ii e e .. .. && ii H a t e H o w M u c h ii L u v Y o u u B o ii .. <33 just sent you a nudge.

.. E m ii l y y B a b ii e e .. .. && ii H a t e H o w M u c h ii L u v Y o u u B o ii .. <33 has canceled the invitation to start viewing webcam.

.. E m ii l y y B a b ii e e .. .. && ii H a t e H o w M u c h ii L u v Y o u u B o ii .. <33 is inviting you to start viewing webcam. Do you want to Accept (Alt+C) or Decline (Alt+D) the invitation?

You have accepted the invitation to start viewing webcam.

.. E m ii l y y B a b ii e e .. .. && ii H a t e H o w M u c h ii L u v Y o u u B o ii .. <33 says:
hi
Jessica says:
hi
.. E m ii l y y B a b ii e e .. .. && ii H a t e H o w M u c h ii L u v Y o u u B o ii .. <33 says:
who else ya tlakiin too?
.. E m ii l y y B a b ii e e .. .. && ii H a t e H o w M u c h ii L u v Y o u u B o ii .. <33 says:
i singed yoor bebo btww
.. E m ii l y y B a b ii e e .. .. && ii H a t e H o w M u c h ii L u v Y o u u B o ii .. <33 says:
i want a comment bk woman!!!
.. E m ii l y y B a b ii e e .. .. && ii H a t e H o w M u c h ii L u v Y o u u B o ii .. <33 says:
lool x
Jessica says:
oookkkk im just goin on it now kk
.. E m ii l y y B a b ii e e .. .. && ii H a t e H o w M u c h ii L u v Y o u u B o ii .. <33 says:
okai ix
Jessica says:
hang on its not workin let me try again
.. E m ii l y y B a b ii e e .. .. && ii H a t e H o w M u c h ii L u v Y o u u B o ii .. <33 says:
okaii x
Jessica says:
my bebo isnt comin up
Jessica says:
who ar u tlkin 2
.. E m ii l y y B a b ii e e .. .. && ii H a t e H o w M u c h ii L u v Y o u u B o ii .. <33 says:
katie s
Jessica says:
reallyt tell her i have bebo
.. E m ii l y y B a b ii e e .. .. && ii H a t e H o w M u c h ii L u v Y o u u B o ii .. <33 says:
okaiii
Jessica says:
brb
.. E m ii l y y B a b ii e e .. .. && ii H a t e H o w M u c h ii L u v Y o u u B o ii .. <33 says:
okaii x

You have stopped viewing webcam with .. E m ii l y y B a b ii e e .. .. && ii H a t e H o w M u c h ii L u v Y o u u B o ii .. <33.

.. E m ii l y y B a b ii e e .. .. && ii H a t e H o w M u c h ii L u v Y o u u B o ii .. <33 has stopped viewing webcam with you.

High Voltage Rock n' Roll

This morning, I was driving along, happily listening to AC/DC's High Voltage Rock n' Roll (that bit is important for reasons that will become clear later) in my car, when all of a sudden the MP3 player went off. I have an MP3 player wired in to the CD-changer bus interface in my car, y'see. I then plug in the power adaptor to the ciggie lighter socket when the battery gets low to charge it up a bit.

Except it didn't work, and just flashed up a "Low Battery" thing on the remote control display. I briefly harboured exciting thoughts about buying a MP3 player, but then realised that the reason it wasn't working was because the voltage selector switch on the power adaptor had moved from 4.5 to 3 volts.

So, amusingly, in this case it was more like Low Voltage Rock n' Roll.

Geeky birthday?

I feel geeky today... because today is my American date-format birthday!

My what, you say?

Well, it's simple. My birthday is on the 11th of July. In the UK, this will be written as 11/7/07. Today is the 7th of November. In the US, this will also be written as 11/7/07. So, it's my birthday all over again! Happy birthday to me!

Where's my cake?

Joe turns 2!

Well, Joe is now 2! Can you believe it? Where does the time go.

I took Friday off work to spend with him, as did Ele. He was quite excited as he knows what presents are, and now associates birthday parties with cake and candles. We opened his presents in the morning and he loved them all. Jess then had to go to school unfortunately, but Ele & I took him to Godstone Farm to look at the animals. We went there once before and he enojoyed it then, and he loved it even more now. In the evening we came back and Ele's family came over and we did the whole "happy birthday" thing and had cake. He liked that a lot!

The next day was his party, so we were up late getting the house ready and finishing his cake (Ele had made him a snake cake that looked really good. She was very proud!) and so on. We still had tons to do in the morning as well cleaning, getting food ready, decorating etc. We had a jungle themed party and bought a load of stuff from a website called www.partypieces.co.uk (I think) who managed to deliver the next day (it all arrived on Friday) which makes a change from a lot of companies... the stuff was all really good quality, too. Highly recommended site.

There wasn't loads of people coming, as we'd sent out invitations very late. That was a good thing though, as our house wouldn't have coped with much more. He had a great time with more presents, his snake cake, lots of people to play with and so on. He did have to go for a nap in the middle of it though as he was tired out!

After the party we decided to goto the fireworks display in Carshalton. We hadn't been planning to go so it was a bit last minute and we didn't have tickets. So we met up with my parents at their house (which is about as close as you can park to the park) and we all walked from there. I think there were 16 of us in total. We had to queue and buy tickets so we missed the first few minutes, but the beginning isn't anything special anyway. When we got in they were waiting for us right at the back near the gates. We've never stood there before and actually had a great view. I'd bought my camera and tripod and remote shutter release and managed to get some good shots of the fireworks. Joe loved it though he said afterwards it was "a bit scary". Then we waited for them to light the big bonfire and he liked that, too. He fell asleep in his pushchair on the way home - he had an exhausting and exciting day!

On Sunday we did our usual Tesco shop in the morning, then had to buy Jess some school shoes as hers had fallen apart after 6 weeks. That's what you get for being cheap and only spending £10 I suppose. She knew what she wanted (£50 but you get what you pay for I hope!). We went to Sutton but they didn't have her size, so we went to Croydon. Whilst Ele & Jess were in a shop, I was outside with Joe, rummaging through his bag to find a wipe to wipe his hands with, as he had just finished a banana. Suddenly, something white, bright and smoking landed about a foot to our right. I looked around to see what it was and then a green one landed to our left. I looked up and there was a stupid yob holding a firework tube over the edge of the multi-story carpark in front of us (one of those ones that shoots up red, green and white lights about 30-feet into the air) and aiming at the crowded high street below. A pink one shot out and just missed Jess who was coming out of the shop. I grabbed Joe and pushed him (he was in his pushchair) out of the way of any more. What a complete idiot! I mean, seriously, how stupid do you have to be to think that firing fireworks into a crowded high street full of people, and children and babies, is a fun thing to do? It's lucky nobody was hurt.

Still, overall it was a brilliant weekend and Joe loved every minute of it, which is the main thing.