dubai_phil

Download 8.47mps Upload 0.99Mps Ping 7Ms Actually that is pretty surprising for the local system, amazed two cans and a piece of string can achieve that

Just one other tiny lesson for others that may help. Because I travel back & forth I usually get a rental car for an average of around 25/30 days a year. Every time I refuse the extra insurance (it often costs an extra 15/20 quid a day. Worked out years ago that I could actually afford to have one crash every 14 months and still save money. Only times I ever take the extra insurance is when I am doing something like Glastonbury (that was lucky a caravan caught fire that day and the paintwork was burnt) and on my hols last couple of weeks when I was planning on a shed load of driving. In all that time - say 15 years I've only had that one fire issue which would have cost me the 500 quid excess, but the money I saved means I can now have about 10 crashes and still be in pocket. (The ex-wife once had a rental - she mashed the front of the car, we took it in and swapped it, 4 days later they sent me notice that they were going to charge me a claim for the 500 quid and then they promptly went bust the next day - another tip - try and use the cheaper guys not the big ones, you may get to keep the wheels for a month extra as there is nowhere to return it to! We tried to take it back got a jobsworth from the Administrator who refused to accept it and we only got asked to take it back some 2 months later, just as the ex was coming back from hols.) pap - going the publicity route won't help much (apart from make you feel better) just do the googling and follow the instructions to make a small claims counterclaim.

In other news as you guys bask in such a glorious summer.... Local Police have issued a warning to Motorists as the summer vacation season looms down here. Apparently after one of the hottest Mays' on record, forecasters are predicting that the summer heat down here could break all records. Officially the temperature never exceeds 50C (as all businesses by law must close if that were to happen), but expectations are that "in some areas" the temperatures could exceed 60C. The Police warning to motorists is to avoid refuelling cars "FULL" as there have already been a number of cases of cars parked in the sun exploding in the Northern Emirates. Whilst the blame for this is put on poor maintenance standards and expansion vents being blocked by dust and sand locally, this is the first time that reports of this nature have been seen. Wonderful news for us Sun lovers. 60C - simply means we spend all our salaries on Electricity for the A/C bills

Once upon a time I returned a rental car to Heathrow. I noted the time and the mileage, the guy who checked the car in said "no need for a receipt". One week later I got a bill for 500+ quid for damage and 5 extra days rentals. I queried it and got the same responses as pap. I then went to war, sent my Boarding pass & luggage tags to HSBC Credit Card department and the time & mileage information and told them I would refuse to pay the CC bill and they would have to take me to court. After a week they realised I may be talking sense and they got on the task. The money was removed from my account and eventually I got a reply saying sorry. I still have never used Europcar since. It DID teach me one major lesson. ALWAYS wait and ALWAYS get the receipt and ALWAYS get the receiver to confirm the no damage box. It adds about 10 minutes to the process.

They want your POSTCODE? Hmmmmmmmm Dune in spreading Spam shock???

I've followed Dickson all season on Twitter. His reactions to our success showed that he felt an affection to us, he was also slightly more interesting than some of the other inane footballers out there I tried to follow while I got the hang of the damned thing. One thing is for sure, he is no Puncheon, he clearly felt an affection for the club and the lads he left behind and he clearly enjoyed playing football while on loan. To give him the benefit of the doubt, his original tweet DID include the words Take that as the lad has got a pay rise and will have to watch PL football every week, so he is trying to be positive. This is not a big NC v Player issue, it is now a Dickson & His Agent issue. IF he wants to play then his agent has to find a club. he isn't tied to the Southcoast having tweeted about a view over Orient's ground from his new digs. He is one of those who will not be good enough for the PL, he's a decent guy. He'll get sorted, just the easy option (Yeovil) is not on the table any more

Players all seem well pleased with that game up first. Gives them a real chance to test themselves. I think back to when we used to play newly promoted/unfancied sides early in the season, we always got made to look stupid. Sooooooooooooo That means we should keep them down to single figures then

Where & when was that filmed?

Yeah they said that in Greece. As fast as a Civil Servant dreams up a way to close them, 1,000 far more highly motivated accountants & lawyers work out new ways to beat it.

Haha and PCFC have a tough derby against Bompey lol

Oooh, now THAT's tempting. Etihad sponsor Citeh. Etihad are just down the road. They offer complete packages for games for not more than the cost of a normal ticket home........ Hmmmm

Wow. This close season is hitting new heights in levels of boredom for some.

Yep. Except that doesn't hit the Bankers & accountants. Tax the houses or the land they are on? That would help the middle & lower income families in London versus those up in Geordie land (or the expat "commuters" up in Scotland)

Yeah but they don't PAY it.... Image rights for footballers on 100k a week being just one of a myriad of examples Just imagine the savings to the economy if there were NO tax breaks at all, everyone just paid 30%, no accountants to complete tax forms and thousands of public sector workers not needing overpriced pensions (let alone salaries) Point is no matter WHAT the tax rate, the REALLY rich don't pay, and the concept of higher tax rates has NEVER been shown to work

OK so it has taken me all day to get back up to speed thanks to my hols. Sue who the hell is that old tart on Italy's Euro 2102 show? I must say the ONLY thing I am shocked at so far is the complete lack of any mention of PCFC in relation to the corrupt sale of tickets for the Olympics. Surely we can't be seeing the FIRST signs of a lack ability to get involved in EVERY dodgy deal on the planet?

Oh Praise the Lord, no power cuts or technical disasters while I was on vacation & I HAD managed to record the final episode of GoT S2. Now, I have enjoyed many shows in my years, they have made me laugh, cry and entertained me, they have had innovative concepts (Life on Mars for one) they have had great characters (House) have changed my view on life & time (Dr Who) Innovative, gritty & realistic shows like The Wire (or hell even Bergerac & Shoestring ) or shows that have educated me (Masterchef, Mastermind). BUT. I honestly cannot think of any TV series I have ever watched that has such a broad brush, such stunning scenery/locations, such consistently high quality characterisation and acting and, such a damn gripping story as GoT. Is it possible that we have been watching the one show that could change TV series forever? Is this really the time when technology, the Easyjet Age finally allows us to see TV series painted on a canvas that is not some disused open cast mine in Wales (Dr Who). Finally are we getting TV that treats us as intelligent adults and works on that intelligence instead of insulting it (Sherlock?) In amongst the repeats, has GoT really changed the game? What a fantastic season finale, tying up many loose ends and leaving you wanting more from all 10 or more storylines. So glad technology worked & my youngest didn't screw up the Digital recorder while I was away

Just one question. Why the fuss over 50p tax? It's utter bollix. I've seen more than a few articles about "let's call them Bankers" only paying 5 or 10% of their income Normal Joe Public ends up having to pay a fixed percentage of their income (after basic allowances) - say it is somewhere near to 30% with NI etc, yet the rich get allowances and write offs and brought forwards and pay a fortune to Accountants (which gets written off). Just get everyone to pay the same damn average amount. 30% of a lot of money is a lot more than 10% after a bunch of bullsh1t write offs. NOBODY ever paid 50% anyway, it was just PR bull to make Joe Red Flag feel better. 50% 80% 100% it's just like Greece, none of the wealthy will ever pay the taxes anyway

Just back from hols. In order to blag a few extra days in Italy FMDP "volunteered" to go visit some of the manufacturers that supply the Italian Furniture store where she works. Business here has been improving from the utter disaster of Dubai's "Bankruptcy" some 3 years ago and can now be termed a steady trickle. My role in Italy was as "chaffeur" but also in her meetings I was asked to chip in with some general overviews on the economy down here. What I wasn't expecting was the total carnage that I saw in the Industrial estates around Northern Italy. The factories are admittedly getting close to their summer shut downs but every one we visited was a classical 1960's style big operation, but there were only a handful of cars in each car park, no more than half a dozen workers on the shop floors with one piece of "mdf' seeming to come past on a machine about every 5 minutes. The number of empty (and dusty) offices - well over 2/3rds of them seemed empty. As the guys said at our first visit "business has simply stopped", it is everywhere. It turned out that the few orders FMDP had placed this year made her one of their biggest customers. The guys said it had hit everywhere, LIDL's were much more popular, the bigger "Ipermarkets" had empty car parks, we had no trouble getting a table in the best restaurant in Treviso even in a wife beater top, shorts & Timberland sandals despite the collar & tie dress code notice in the window. It simply seemed in the towns and shops (that were NOT catering for tourists) life has come to a standstill in the country. They pointed out that on a personal level, none of their friends had had a pay rise for 3 years, and each month, new taxes or cost increases (Electricty Bill had risen 80 Euros in 6 months) meant that people were just hanging on and trying to survive. Anyway the image it gave was of the end of the melt down, and I couldn't help but compare it to my recent trips back to the UK which by comparison seems to be absolutely booming. Perhaps the worst is really yet to come.

Watched Safe House on the flight home yesterday. What a cracking (if cliched) new kid gets drawn into Conspiracy shoot em up Spy movie. Won't win awards, won't be a cult, doesn't add anything to the genre. But a cracking fast paced shoot em up Action Thriller. John Carter was second choice after that. Oh dear. Woeful from about every angle I could think of. Perhaps they shouldn't have brought Jar Jar Binks & his mates out of retirement as a supporting actors

We have a 5th striker. Guly. Well for many he'd be 5th choice rather than 1st anywhere in the team. Barnard is a good hard working goal scoring striker, who will do a great job for any team. IMHO in the PL however his first touch is not good enough to make up for a lack of "genuine" pace (unlike Lambert). Lee did a great job for us, but we will need better next season. Good luck to him IF he moves and any team that gets him will be happy with him provided he can stay fit

Ah so having ignored British Law and laughed in the face of the Authorities, PCFC are now going to have a go at ignoring European Supreme Court findings in relation to Footballers Contracts. Yep, that figures, keep lying cheating and breaking every moral obligation on the planet. I'm now somewhat surprised they have not come up with some clever Human Trafficking plan into Horton Heath or launched a new @Glitterchannel for kiddie porn

Oi I may be on holiday but I keep my spies on here

FMDP is grumpy. My fault for finding a juddervision stream half way up a mountain in Italy Hell I have to suffer enough watching England so it's only fair

PCFC's attempts to limp into next season have every chance of making Jake the Pake look like Usain Bolt