Tuesday 18 December 2007

Last Chance to Order a Wii!

Alrighty There People!

Just in case you didn't know, today is the last day you can order a Wii from Amazon and get free delivery before Xmas.

The dates are as follows:
Last chance for free delivery: 18th December
Last chance for first class deliver: 19th December
Last chance for express delivery: 22nd December

If you need one, order one - now!



Monday 17 December 2007

Need for Speed: Established 1995!

Alrighty There People.

I’ve just downloaded the demo of NFS ProStreet for the PS3 – amazing, simply amazing. I’ve been a fan of the NFS series for a long time, starting with my first PC which came with the game Need for Speed II: Special Edition, which would’ve been around 1998.

That got me thinking – how long has the Need for Speed franchise been running? I did a quick wiki search, and found the answer: “The Need for Speed” was released in 1995. That means the series is nearly 18 years old! For some people, need for speed started with Underground, but that in fact was NFS 9. ProStreet is the 13th title in the series, not including the two releases for the PSP, Underground Rivals and Most Wanted 5-1-0.

Looking back, NFS II:SE wasn’t fantastic by today’s standards, but I loved that game – it gendered within me the love of racing games that I have.

The whole series has been fantastic – although I’ve only had the pleasure of owning NFS II:SE, NFS III: Hot Pursuit, and everything since Underground. The whole gaming experience is fantastic, and the demo of ProStreet is good – although I’ve heard that free roam isn’t available, and I’m gutted about that. But never mind, I’m still going to get the game, and I’m sure I’ll love it.

Meantime, I’ll leave you with some box art of the series so far…
The Need for Speed (1995)




Need for Speed II (1997)

Need for Speed: V-Rally (1997)



Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit (1998)




Need for Speed: V-Rally 2 (1999)

Need for Speed: High Stakes (1999)

Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed (2000)

Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 (2002)


Need for Speed: Underground (2003)

Need for Speed: Underground 2 (2004)


Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2005)


Need for Speed: Carbon (2006)


Need for Speed: ProStreet (2007)

If you enjoyed this post, then DIGG IT!

Wednesday 21 November 2007

Nintendo Wii: £364.99 at Dixons.co.uk

Alrighty There People!

Well, for those of you that are desperate - and I mean desperate - for a Wii, are you willing to pay £364.99 for them? That's the price that Dixons online are asking.

As of 8.00am this morning, they received a shipment of 600, on a strictly first come first served basis.

The deal? Nintendo Wii, four games, black skins and a charging station. There is no choice in the games - you get Mario Galaxy, Ninja Turtles, Madden NFL and WWE Smackdown.

Willing to pay the price? Get there quick!

Direct link:

http://www.dixons.co.uk/martprd/store/dix_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@0638918871.1195635045@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccddaddmiejkjgicflgceggdhhmdfhk.0&page=Accessory&sku=821391

Enjoy!

Sunday 18 November 2007

Bumper Stickers for the Eco Warrior

Alrighty There People!

Thought some of you may find these interesting. For those of us that drive (that includes me!), and are concerned about the effect that our driving has on the environment.

I try to keep my 1.4 tdci under 1,000 revs - makes for slow acceleration, but does wonders for fuel consumption - and the environment.

Anyway, slap one of these onto your ride - show the world you car. All together now, "Aaaahhhh!"

I don't drive SLOWLY. I drive ECONOMICALLY.

Size Does Matter. Reduce Your Carbon Footprint.

Low Revs. Low Emissions.


Your Car's Emissions Are EXHAUSTING The Planet!

Dont' ACCELERATE Global Warming! (That's my fave!)

Get them here

DIGG THIS!

Sony Playstation 3 60Gb - Discontinued?

Alrighty There People.

So I was talking yesterday to someone who works in Gamestation, talking about my desire to get a Sony Playstation 3. I want the 60gb version, because, although I don't have a HDTV, I want the backwards compatibility with my PS2 games. I reckon what I'll do is trade in the PS2 for the PS3. Yeah, I know I'll only get about £20 for it, but at the end of the day, twenty quid is twenty quid.

I was browsing online the other day, and I noticed that in the states there is an 80gb Playstation 3. Haven't seen that here in the UK. So I mention this to the employee at Gamestation, who then hits me with this bombshell: The managers were talking about the Playstation 3, saying that the 60gb version is getting shelved because Sony are losing too much money on it, and sales of the 40gb, non backwards compatible version, are going through the roof.

After reeling from this, the advice I was given was simple: Either get one now, or you'll have to buy pre-owned, or a 40gb. (You can get the 60gb from the Amazon link below...)

Is this rumor? Is it true? Or is it a sales gimmick? Discuss.




DIGG THIS

Thursday 15 November 2007

The Digg Effect: Explained in Pictures

Alrighty There People.



I love Digg.com. I spend a lot of time there, browsing sites, adding comments, making friends. Some of the sites are fantastic, and deserve to make the front page. Other sites... well... don't.



There's a lot of talk about the Digg Effect, and I just want to spend a few moments highlighting what it is. The Digg Effect can be fantastic - it can propel you into the limelight. It can sell products. It can get things done - like getting dusty PS3's repaired. It can showcase talent, and it can showcase idiots. It can make a site. It can break a site. The Digg Effect is a powerful force to be reckoned with.



But there is a dark side, a side which I think is best explained through pictures. So using rubbish clipart and a few spare minutes, I put this together. It may explain the horrors of the Digg Effect...







So here we see th tragic power of The Digg Effect. Kirsty had found a fantastic site, so she submitted it to Digg.com. Lots of people also found the site great, and dugg it, causing an overwhelming flood of traffic to the site. Too overwhelming, it would seem, for the site's servers. The site went down. The story gets buried. But hey, Kirsty lives on to see another day.

If you liked this explanation, please digg it. And hey, don't worry - I'm sure Google can handle it ;)

Tuesday 13 November 2007

Hey, You Americans – You Think You’ve Got High Fuel Prices?!

Alrighty There People!

Do you remember the fuel protests of September 2000? If not, check out the wiki:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UK_fuel_protest

Well, guess what. The prices have steadily risen, until we’re now standing at the pump, filling our cars but emptying our wallets.

I used to be able to almost fill the tank with £20. Granted, I was only driving a 1.1 petrol engined Fiesta, but even then, as the price of fuel escalated, my £20 wasn’t putting as much in the tank.

Seven years later, I now drive a 1.4 diesel Fiesta. £20 now gets me half a tank, if I’m lucky. Yes, I know, the fuel tank will be better, and yes, I appreciate that inflation effects the prices of fuel, and it’s unrealistic to think that the fuel of today will be the same price as it was seven years ago. But the price has risen drastically since those fuel protests.

Now, I am in no way encouraging another fuel protest, where tankers were being barricaded in the refineries. But I would like to point out the rising cost of our fuel here in the UK, and I’ve put together a couple of charts, based on information that is available from the website of The AA. (
www.theaa.com)

Now, here you’ll find four graphs. The first graph show the price of unleaded and diesel, in pence per litre. The second shows the price of unleaded and diesel, in US cents per litre, just so that our American cousins can see what we’re putting up with. And, if you don’t do litres, the same graphs represent the price per gallon, in pence and cents respectively.


I’ve noticed a lot of sites crying out about the rising price of fuel in the states.

Sorry, but you ain’t seen nothing yet.

Tuesday 6 November 2007

TV Ruined My Life!

Alrighty There People!

This one's been in my head for a while now, and I've finally had time to think of what it should say and what to use...

Inspired by the Chocolate Love Story (the one with all the chocolate bar wrappers) and the Oily War (with all the petrol stations in a message from the government), I proudly present:

TV Ruined My Life!





If you've got super eyesight and can read that, congratulations. If not, I apologise, and point you to it's location:

http://docs.google.com/View?docid=df74bnws_0hm4v95

Enjoy, share, discuss.

Thanks!

The Dieting Man

Saturday 3 November 2007

The Dieting Man: Friday 2nd November 2007

Alrighty There People!

Well, I hang my head in shame. Only 1 silver star today. No, it wasn't junk food - although there was plenty of that flying around - it was the exercise. Although, saying that, I did go on boxing - but I'll come to that in a bit.

First of all, at work today I went to an awards ceremony. It was good, and there was a buffet - with sandwiches, cakes, desserts, biscuits and fruit. I had a coffee, a piece of pineapple, and a piece of melon. I was over the moon with my self control!

When I got home, I was absolutely wrecked, so didn't go on the bike. The only reason I went on boxing was to see if I could defeat Matt, and pinch those silver gloves of him. I tell you, they must be made of silver too, because a few hits from them and you're down! But first of all, I had two rounds of 'dodge' practice - so I suppose that counts too - and then I faced him. I did really well - although he knocked me down twice in the first round, I managed to get him down too, and lasted until the second round... where he clobbered me, and I did the only sane thing - I stayed on the floor until the ten seconds had gone. I didn't want another clunk on the head from him, not today anyway!

So devoid of another 60 odd points, I exited the ring. But I didn't have another fight, and I didn't do the bags - so what do you think? A silver star or not?

I leave it to your discretion.

Until tomorrow,

Adios!

The Dieting Man

The Dieting Man: Thursday 1st November 2007

Alrighty There People!

Another successful day, another two silver stars!

I haven't yet uploaded the videos or pics for today's activities, but you'll be able to see them soon on Metacafe.

Today was great, I had no junk food, just cereal for breakfast and lunch, a healthy dinner of two lamp chops, potatoes, peas and sweetcorn, followed by a Magnum - well, I know it's ice cream, but dessert is part of a well rounded out meal, isn't it?

Then we went and did the shopping - that seems to take longer and longer each week - and then it was on the exercise bike. Now, I didn't give it my all this time, so the scores weren't as good - still ten minutes of the bike, but only covering 2.17 miles, and burning 8.1 calories. But never mind, some exercise is better than no exercise.

After that, it was onto the Wii for some Daily Exercise. Now, you may remember that yesterday's age came in at 54 - not good. So today, I was well pleased with my age of... 22! Rock on.

With that victory cheering me on, I proceeded to the punching bags, which went as follows:
Round 1: 30
Round 2: 23
Round 3: 30

Yup, pleased with those results. I think I need to analyse the way I punch, to up those scores a bit though...

On to the fights, and fight one was facing Elisa. Previously, I had found her and easy opponent, but she lasted for two rounds. The first round, I managed to down her twice, whilst she didn't down me at all, so I knew that it would be all over in round 2. It was, and I gained 66 points.

Then it was on to Round 2, where I faced Matt. Now, it turns out that he is the trainer of the boxing - no wonder he's so hard to defeat! I managed to not get KO'd the first time he downed me, but the second time, I wasn't so lucky. It was all over before the bell sounded for the end of round 1. Humiliated, I exited the ring, stripped of 63 points, leaving me with 1501. Which still isn't bad really, is it?

So, roll on tomorrow, another day, another two silver stars!

Until tomorrow,

Adios!

The Dieting Man

Wednesday 31 October 2007

The Dieting Man: Tuesday 30th October 2007




Alrighty There People!

Well, today was a good day. Not only did I succeed in not eating any junk food, but I successfully completed ten minutes on the exercise bike, my Wii fitness exercises, three rounds of boxing the bags, and two fights. And guess what? You can check out pictures and videos of the aforementioned events!

I didn't have any cereal for lunch today, instead I had an apple and a banana.

I was wrecked when I finally got in at 9.20, but that didn't stop me hopping onto the bike, and burning off 9.5 calories as I blasted through 2.64 miles of my kitchen. Finishing that, I booted up the Wii, and went onto the fitness, which calculates your age. I did rubbish, scoring a ridiculously high 58 - check out the image below!


Then it was onto the bags:

Round 1 - 32 bags - Watch the video
Round 2 - 31 bags - Watch the video
Round 3 - 29 bags - Watch the video

After that, I started the fights. Check out this fight with Matt - he absolutely annihilated me!

Succumbing to defeat, I went on to fight Elisa, and I beat her to the ground in no time. Unfortunately, the camera got knocked in this video, but you can still hear it!

So, two silver stars for me, and tomorrow I'll try and do better with the fights!

Until tomorrow,

Adios!

The Dieting Man

Tuesday 30 October 2007

The Dieting Man: Monday 28th October 2007

Alrighty There People!

Well, I haven’t blogged for a while now, and it’s because I’ve just been so busy with lots and lots and lots.

I haven’t been on the Wii for ages, I haven’t been on the exercise bike again since I last blogged, and I’ve been eating flapjacks, cakes, and chocolate. And Ben and Jerry’s. What am I trying to say? I’ve totally gone off of the rails.

You know, someone once told me that if I put up a chart, and give myself a gold star for doing well, it would serve as motivation for me.

So I’ve made myself a calendar, and I’ll give myself one silver star for each day that I eat no junk food, and one silver star for each day that I do my full round of exercises – that’s ten minutes on the bike, Wii Fitness, 3 rounds of Bag Training, and 2 Fights. At the end of the week, if I have 14 silver stars, I get a gold star. Woohoo!

So this started today, and I managed to go the full day without any junk or bad stuff, although double chocolate muffins, iced buns, and roses were being passed around the office. But I managed to turn them all down!

Then, I got on my exercise bike, and did ten minutes (travelling 2.43 miles, and burning up an almighty 9.1 calories!).

Following that, I completed my 3 round on the bag, scoring 31 on round 1, 30 on round 2, and a humble 25 on round 3.

Then, stepping gingerly into the ring, I faced Elisa for fight one. Bearing in mind that I had 1455 points, she had 1505 points, and it’s been a while since my last fight…

Anyway, round one was really vicious, I managed to floor Elisa 3 times, but she floored me 4 times – and the last time I didn’t get up. That’s right, the fight was over in round one.

So I lost ten points, and went on to round two – where I floored Elisa before she had even managed to get a few swings in. Amazingly, she didn’t get up! Round 1, first knockdown, and she stayed down! That earned me a whopping 67 points, which I was very grateful for. So I swaggered out of the ring with 1512 points. Nice!

So today, I gained 2 silver stars. Tomorrow, I hope to do the same.

I’ll let you know how it goes.

Until tomorrow,

Adios!

The Dieting Man

Friday 19 October 2007

Why Do We Keep Paying Exorbitant Amounts of Money for FOOD?

Alrighty There People.

I'm quite angry at the moment. I went shopping last night, at my local ASDA, and I had a goal in mind - not just to get my weekly supply of food and necessities, but also to do a comparison.

You see, when we go shopping at places like ASDA, Tesco, Sainsburys and the like, we have a choice of three types of food: Brand name foods, such as Heinz, Wall's, etc; the supermarket's own brand of food, in nicely designed packaging; and the cheap stuff - SmartPrice at ASDA, Value at Tesco, and Basics at Sainsbury’s (I think those are correct) - these are just the food, in plain packaging, with it's description and nutritional information.

Now, the prices we pay for these differing packages varies greatly, but generally, the food is the same. So when I did my shopping last night, I made a comparison - of the branded foods, ASDA's own foods, and ASDA's SmartPrice foods. For the purposes of this 'test', I made a list of 20 food and drink items that may be bought in a typical week. I avoided other items, such as bodycare items - toothpaste, shampoo, shower gel, etc; and things that you can pick up in supermarkets, such as pots and pans, crockery, cutlery etc. I concentrated purely on food.

Here are the shocking results of the price difference between branded foods, ASDA foods, and SmartPrice foods:



If you haven't quite digested that, take a look at this summary:


And if you need any more help working out what this means, these charts may help you:


Now, I know that sometimes only Coca Cola will do, or you'd rather a tub of Ben and Jerry's than ASDA's own offering, but to be honest in the past I've bought branded foods, ASDA's own foods, and SmartPrice foods, and sometimes you just can't taste the difference.

So why, people, do we need to be so fashion conscious, and spend exorbitant amounts of money on brand name foods, when we could be saving hundreds - yes - hundreds - of pounds each year on something so simple as food.

Please feel free to discuss.

The Dieting Man

Tuesday 16 October 2007

GeekyNerdy Bumper Stickers

Alrighty There People!

These are hilarious bumper stickers (I love bumper stickers, hence the link over there on the right), and these are bumper stickers that are ideal for geeks and nerds.













My fave has to be the n00b driver one, but I think that the HTML colour ones are perfect for any geek or nerd.

At only $3.00, these bumper stickers are well worth it, IMHO.

Here's all the links:

n00b driver
http://www.cafepress.com/n00bdriver

Black HTML
http://www.cafepress.com/000000black

Blue HTML
http://www.cafepress.com/0000ffblue

Red HTML
http://www.cafepress.com/ff0000red

Yellow HTML
http://www.cafepress.com/ffff00yellow

White HTML
http://www.cafepress.com/ffffffwhite

I'll keep you up to date with the diet soon.

Until... later...

Adios!

The Dieting Man

DIGG THIS!

Friday 12 October 2007

The Dieting Man: Wii Boxing and The Special K Diet: 11th October 2007

Alrighty There People!

I had my choleseterol taken today. I don’t know anything about cholesterol, but mine was 5.95. Apparently, if it was 6, I would have been sent to the doctors. Fantastic. So, I was told that I mustn’t eat any junk – biscuits, cakes, etc etc. I was weighed in at 13.5 stone, and my waist measured an enormous 38.5inches. So I was not best pleased. I’m going back in December to see if I have improved at all, and meantime I’m really going to work hard. I think that now I’ve seen numbers down in writing, it’s hit hard that I need to do something about it.

So. Last night, I went to ASDA to do the shopping. The only thing I bought that I shouldn’t was a tub of Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream – it was on offer for £2.00, and I couldn’t resist. But I steered clear of chocolate bars, biscuits, cakes, muffins, the lot. Instead, I headed for the fruit section, and got a bunch of bananas, five apples, five oranges, and a mango. I don’t even know what to do with a mango, but I thought it might be interesting.

Then, I got in (at quarter past eleven), and after putting the shopping away, climbed onto the exercise bike for ten minutes. After that, I hooked up the Wii, and started to do battle. Results below:

I went on the Fitness first: A round on the bags, a round of Power bowling, and a round of accuracy golf. My age? 22. Nice.

Then on to my 3 rounds on the bags:

Round 1: 19 bags
Round 2: 18 bags
Round 3: 35 bags

Yeah, that’s right – rounds one and two, I was just warming up. Check out the results on round 3. Rock on.

Confidently, I stepped into the ring, wondering who I would be facing first.

Fight One:
I was up against Eva. This was someone new, someone flexing their 1399 points against my 1289. I was raring to go. It had been a while since I had been in the ring, so was slightly apprehensive, but the adrenaline was coursing through my body. I started lashing out, hurtful blows that pulverised Eva. She only got about two jabs in to me. She was down, out cold – to the count of ten. Rock on! An easy victory, and 56 points to add to my belt.

Fight Two:
Now I was up against Jake, another n00b to me. He wielded his 1409 points with pride as he swaggered into the ring.

We started boxing. I knocked him down. He got up. He knocked me down. I boxed him to within an inch of going down, and the first round was over.

The second round started, and I flew in, a flurry of furious fists. He was down, out cold. He succumbed to my fists, and I gained another 68 points. End of the evening, and I was on 1413 points. Nice.

And thus I start with renewed vigour – exercise, diet, a whole new me.

Keep up!

Until tomorrow,
Adios!

The Dieting Man.

Thursday 11 October 2007

The Dieting Man: Wii Boxing and The Special K Diet: Thursday 11th October 2007

Alrighty There People!

Thought I’d update you with the latest.

First of all, bad news. No milk and no Special K means that this morning’s breakfast was jam on toast.

More bad news: I didn’t go on the Wii last night – I’ve just been so shattered recently, that I’ve been going to bed mega early. Well, mega early for me, anyway.

I’ve just read this article on getting better sleep, so I’m going to put these into practice and see what happens…

Okay, onto the good news: I went on the exercise bike last night! Ten minutes. It’s been ages since I was last on it, so I took it easy – only just breaking a sweat. But I was checking out the ‘on board computer’ – sounds snazzy, but it’s not – and according to that I only burnt 7 calories. So how long would I need to go on to burn off an entire chocolate bar? Hours or days?!

More good news: I was talking to my wife last night about my weight, and saying that I want to go back down to 9 stone, which is what I was when we met. She wasn’t happy – she said that I was ‘a rake’ when we met, and the lowest she wants me to go is 11.5 stone. So that’s my goal: To lose 2.5 stone. Which doesn’t sound that bad really. Not compared to what some of these guys did in a short space of time…

So. From today, Thursday October 11th 2007, it’s no more junk food AT ALL. It’s going to be healthy food. No more coffee, hot chocolates, chocolate milkshakes or coffee mochas - it’s going to be lots of water and lots of smoothies. I’m going to try and eat 5 pieces of fruit and/or veg each day. I’m going to go on the exercise bike for at least ten minutes each day, no matter how wrecked I am, and I’m going to do Wii Boxing every day, again, regardless of how tired or exhausted I am. Nobody said that losing weight was going to be easy, and until now I’ve been just messing around. But I intend to get fit, keep fit, and lose some of this flab. Yeah!

And, of course, I’ll keep you posted.

Until tomorrow,

Adios!

The Dieting Man

Wednesday 10 October 2007

Alton Towers: The Day I Stopped Oblivion

It was cold and wet when we got up at 5am. I ran downstairs like an excited kid about to go on holiday – on an aeroplane for the first time. I grabbed myself a bowl of Special K, and hungrily wolfed it down. I filled the kettle, and set about making a cup of tea for the other half – she won’t even get out of bed without one. Checked my email, checked some web stats, got washed, got ready.

I then set about organising the food bag, and in the back of my mind, a warning went off: Don’t forget about the diet. Hmmm. Diet. Stuff the diet, this is a day of fun!!!

So I crammed lots of nice stuff into the bag: Yazoo, Chocolate, M&Ms, crisps, and, of course, sandwiches.

Then we waited for our ride. The plan was to be picked up at the house at 6am, then go on to our second point to pick up the others at 6.15. We got to the second point at twenty past six, and waited patiently. For ages. The other car didn’t show up. I phoned. They were running late. I wasn’t pleased. So we went to McDonalds for the rest of the people in the car to get breakfast. I just got a coffee.

We went back to our waiting point, and waited. Finally, the others show up – at seven o’clock. So now we’re running 45 minutes late. Alton Towers opens at 9.30 – there was no way we were going to make it for then. So we blast along the motorway, making good time. We hit a bit of traffic, but it wasn’t bad. We got through that, and barrelled along towards our destination. Then we hit trouble. The road was closed. There had been an accident, and the police had shut the road. So our driver (who had refused my offer to bring SatNav), then tried to renavigate the route. He took a different road, but that took us to another part of the road that was still closed.

Then, the driver of the second car needed a pee. For crying out loud, we’d already stopped twice for him! Strengthen your bladder mate. Alton Towers was gonna start filling up!!!!

So we pulled over, he peed, we carried on. This detour had added an extra half an hour to our journey. I was seething.

We pulled into the car park. It was pretty busy. Great. THEN, there was great debates as to what to take in. Would it get colder? Do I need a coat? Hat? Gloves? Scarf? Should I bring all the food? Should we move the cars? For Pete’s sake people, if you stop deliberating we could be queuing for Oblivion by now!

FINALLY, at twenty past eleven (that’s right: 11:20) we were on the monorail. We paid and entered the park, and headed for the rides.

The first one that we went on was the Spinball. That was great. Me and two others went on it, but as our carriage came into the ‘station’, the ride broke down. Unbelievably. For ten minutes, I was stuck on this ride, as all around I could hear the screams of terror and delight of others, who were on rides that were still working. Aaaargh!

After being released, we rushed over to Oblivion. Man, was I looking forward to this. We only had to queue for ten minutes or so, which was great. It wasn’t as busy as I thought it would have been. We finally got onto the ride, and I was sitting front row, far seat. I slyly took out my Nokia 3250, twist and shoot camera/video phone. I was going to video this beast!

The ride started, and immediately you are on a 45 degree ascent. Clang clang clang clang clang, as you are being drawn up by the machine. Suddenly, the machine stopped.

Now, I’ve been on Oblivion before, and I knew that it was not supposed to stop at this point. A vague warning bell sounded in my mind – again.

Suddenly, a pre-recorded message was blasted from invisible speakers:

“Please be aware that video recording equipment, cameras, and mobile phones are not permitted on this ride.”

Oh cak.

The girl sitting next to me said, “They’ve caught you!”

Looking directly in front of me, I could see CCTV cameras, but I thought, “Surely not!”

Anyway, I very slowly folded the phone back into normal position, and wedged it back in my pocket – hard to do when strapped in and at a 45 degree angle.

I carried on smiling like someone who is enjoying the ride, hoping against hope that they hadn’t seen me. I was wrong. They had.

We waited for what seemed an eternity. Then the unthinkable happened.

They had sent a staff member to CLIMB up the side of Oblivion, complete with rock climbing harness gear and everything.

She called along “Row 1, Seat 1 – please pass your phone along.”

I had no choice. I dug it back out of my pocket, and handed it along the row.

Then my mate called out to the woman “Do you want my phone too?”

“Are you planning on taking it out on the ride?”

“No.”

“Then no thank you.”

She then radioed down to the control centre that the phone had been confiscated, and the ride continued to climb.

Now I was worried. Would they keep my phone all day? Maybe send it back to me the next day? Would I get thrown out? Would security be throwing me? Would I be forced to wear some kind of ‘Naughty Boy’ clothing so that crew at other rides could keep an eye on me?

Anyway, the ride carried on – it was fantastic.

I got off the ride, and the woman that had had to climb Oblivion came over to me. I couldn’t believe that she was smiling. She handed me my phone, and that was that. You have no idea how relieved I was!

Anyway, we then had lunch – I couldn’t believe it, but then again, I was quite hungry.

After that, we went on the Willy Wonka Chocolate Factory ride – if you’ve got kids, they’ll enjoy it, if you haven’t, give it a miss.

Then Rita – Queen of Speed. Oh my word. It totally blew me away. Words cannot describe the speed or the rush that that ride delivers. Just go on it.

The Corkscrew – that was the ride I queued the longest for. It was good, but not fantastic, but I would definitely ride it again.

From there, it was the Runaway Mine Train – good, but it hurt my ribs because you slide around in the seats.

Nemesis – fantastic. Apparently, you experience the same G’s as a space shuttle launch. In other words, its bone crushingly great.

The Ghost Train is okay, you have to shoot loads of baddies all the way around, which gave me hand strain.

We then went on the River Rapids – large yellow inflatables that get you soaked if you’re not careful.

Then I went on the Teacups, because they’re just fun.

We finished off with Spinball again, using our Priority pass that we had gotten for our inconvenience earlier.

I’m gutted that I didn’t get to go on Air, and I would’ve loved to have done Oblivion, Rita and Nemesis again.

Anyway, from there we went to the new Crazy Golf course, which costs a fiver, but was really good and took about an hour, and then we headed home.

So Alton Towers was great – but don’t try to video any of the rides. They just don’t like it.

Tuesday 9 October 2007

The Dieting Man: Wii Boxing and The Special K Diet

Alrighty There People!

Apologies for not keeping up with this - I think it's been nearly two weeks!

Alton Towers rocked - I managed to stop Oblivion by trying to video the ride - more on that later. I haven't actually done any Wii boxing since then, as my back has been playing me up, and my asthma too, so need to take it steady, but I will be getting back into that and giving you all an update soon.

Actually eating a bowl of Special K whilst writing this, so somethings are still the same ;)

Check back later for the full Alton Towers story!

Later!

The Dieting Man

Tuesday 25 September 2007

The Dieting Man: Monday 24 September 2007: Wii Boxing and The Special K Diet

Alrighty There People!

Well, today was disastrous.

Firstly, I ran out of Special K. So it was Weetabix for breakfast, toast for lunch. But I nipped across to Sainsbury's and got some more Special K.

Then, because I was ABSOLUTELY WRECKED I didn't go on the Wii.

Tomorrow, I want a really early night, so not sure if I'll fit the Wii in - because on Wednesday I'm going to Alton Towers!

Cue lots of photos and video's being uploaded!

So I apologise in advance for not doing my fitness much this week!

If you're still reading this, or have just stumbled across it, just give me a shout below, let me know what you think of it all.

Cheers!

Until.... later!

Adios,

The Dieting Man

Monday 24 September 2007

The Dieting Man: The Weekend: Wii Boxing

Alrighty There People!

I know I don't usually put my weekend habits up, but I thought I would just give you an insight into my Nintendo Wii activities over the weekend:

Saturday:

Wii Fitness: Age: 30
The Bags - Round 1: 28
The Bags - Round 2: 32
The Bags - Round 3: 25

The Fights:

Fight One:
Starting Points: 1082
Opponnent: Tyrone
Opponnent's Points: 1142
Fight Outcome: Win
Points: 57 gained

Fight Two:
Starting Points: 1139
Opponent: Rachel
Opponent's Points: 1253
Fight Outcome: Win
Points: 9 gained

End of activity points status: 1148

Sunday:

Wii Fitness: Age: 45
The Bags - Round 1: 38
The Bags - Round 2: 17
The Bags - Round 3: 29

The Fights:

Fight One:
Starting Points: 1148
Opponnent: Theo
Opponnent's Points: 1222
Fight Outcome: Lose
Points: 7 lost

Fight Two:
Starting Points: 1141
Opponent: Rachel
Opponent's Points: 1197
Fight Outcome: Lose
Points: 7 lost

End of activity points status: 1134

I can't believe that I lost both fights on Sunday! Maybe I need more training. Maybe it's because I'd been playing on the Wii for about an hour beforehand. Maybe it's because I'd had some wine. Maybe it's because I played rubbish.

I need to work on this.

Until tomorrow,

Adios!

The Dieting Man

The Dieting Man: Friday 21 September: Wii Boxing and The Special K Diet

Alrighty There People!

Still going strong with this, although at times I find it a bit bland just eating Special K. Mind you, I've started adding banana chips to it - makes a lot of difference, very nice indeed.

I think I'm losing it a bit with the boxing though - I've reached a point where I can't seem to progress - in fact, whether I win or lose I seem to lose a few points - not many, but points are slowly chipping away... which is always a bad thing.

Anyway, on to today's Nintendo Wii Boxing:

The Bags:
Round 1: 28 bags
Round 2: 25 bags
Round 3: 30 bags

That wasn't a bad effort really, 25 is a bit low, but 28 and 30 is good - that is the kind of score I want to be getting every round. With my confidence boosted a tad, it was time to enter the ring...

Fight 1:
So here I am, in my corner, wielding 1127 points, when who should enter the ring - Rachel! Now, I know that this is only a game, but I still felt a slight twinge of guilt to be in the ring with a female opponent. But, she had 1211 points, she was there ready and willing, so I decided to go in fists flying. It wasn't a great match - I did win, but I lost 6 points. That made me angry. That meant that I was on 1121 to enter Fight 2...

Fight 2:
Rachel again! Okay, well, this time I had no qualms - a fight is a fight, and I was going to win. I went in, arms flailing, sweat pouring, heart pumping. I was defeated. It was awful. To see my Mii lying motionless on the floor, as the numbers ascended, was heartbreaking. To see the letters KO illuminate the screen, as my Mii lay in a deathlike state on the ring, was emotionally wrenching. To see Rachel steal 42 points from my score was the icing on the cake, the feather that broke the camel's back, the point where grief turned to rage. I would be back in the ring. I would fight again. I would smash any opponent I would meet.

And, I would lose weight.

Until Monday,

Adios!

The Dieting Man

Thursday 20 September 2007

The Dieting Man: Wii Boxing and The Special K Diet: 18th September 2007

Alrighty There People!

Well, after the shambles that dominated last night's Wii activity, I'm determined to do better today...

After a long and busy day (in which, yes, of course, I ate two bowls of Special K and not a great deal else), it was time to don the gloves (actually, pick up the Wii Mote and Nunchuk...) and enter the ring.

The Bags:
Round 1: 38
Round 2: 22
Round 3: 21

After an astonishingly flukey first round, I settled into a comfortable rhythm of doing really badly. I think I should be aiming for about 27+ for each round. Oh and I had done my Wii Fitness - and scored the ugly age of 45. Not good.

Grimly, I started the fights...

Fight One:
Saburo? Who on earth is Saburo? I thought I was entering the ring with a rally car.. With 1279 points against my 1198, the odds were again stacked up against me. I entered the ring, fists flying faster than than Bruce Lee's. He was an easy opponent, unworthy of 1279 points, and unworthy of my time and enemy. But for crying out loud why did the Powers that Wii take away seven points from me? I won the fight!

Angrily, I engaged Fight Two...

Fight Two:
Theo. Great, from bad to worse. I was against Theo and his 1285 points. I couldn't understand why, although I had LOST points, I was fighting an apparently stronger opponent. Who knows. Another reckless bout of desperately flailing arms, and I won again! But again, for some reason best left to microprocessors, I lost seven points.

So I ended the evening sweaty, having done rubbish at the bags, winning two fights but losing 14 points, and ending up with 1184.

Until tomorrow,

Adios!

The Dieting Man

Tuesday 18 September 2007

The Dieting Man: Wii Boxing and The Special K Diet: 17th September 2007

Alrighty There People!

Oh. My. Word.


I can't believe it!

Let me start at the beginning. I was wrecked this morning, having had only 5 hours sleep. When I got into the kitchen, I realised that there was no milk. So no Special K for me today - not unless I wanted it dry. Or with water. Neither option appealed, so it was a slice of toast. With Nutella. Groan...

I got to work and was met with a banging headache. So I decided to work straight through lunch, and finish early. I was home at 3.15, with the intention of going straight to bed. Unfortunately, the cupboards were bare, so it was ASDA that I ended up going to. But I was in bed for 5.30. Having a wonderful, long awaited 90 minute snooze, it was up for dinner - a decent meal of bangers and mash, peas and sweet corn. Nice. Very nice.

I gave it a few hours, and decided that it was time to battle. I turned the Wii on, and started with the exercise program. My previous Age score glared at me. 62. Yeah, right. I battled through a series of Home Runs, Punch the Bag, and Golfing Accuracy skill sets, and hammered my age down to 25. Better. Considering I'm 26 :)

Then I tried my hand at the bags. Here's what happened:
The Bags - Round 1: 25 Bags
The Bags - Round 2: 18 Bags
The Bags - Round 3: 25 Bags

What on earth happened? I couldn't work it out. Somehow, I had lost my groove. 18 bags? That was criminal. I gave myself a severe talking to before entering the ring. I had to win!

Fight 1:
I entered the ring with 1149 points backing me up - but whimpered almost audibly when I faced Theo, a skinhead with 1227 points. Gulp. He was fast, ducking and diving my blows. But I was also ducking and diving his, and getting some fantastic punches in. He gave up the fight in round 2, giving me a glorious 29 points. I had a feeling, though, that I would be meeting up with Theo again in Fight 2...

Fight 2:
Theo. Staring me out from the far side. Bring it on. I raced towards him, face shielded, left arm packing powerful punches to his face and ribcage. Down. Like a sack of potatoes. Mouldy, squishy potatoes. He got up again. Silly. He knocked me down. Really silly. I ploughed into him like an express train hitting a cow at 140 mph. He didn't stand a chance. Down he went - permanently. His 1252 points were no match against The Dieting Man. He succumbed, passing 20 points onto me, which I quietly added to the 1178 around my belt already. with 1198 points, I look forward to meeting tomorrow's opponent. I wonder if it will be Theo...

The Nintendo Wii is great. Wii Boxing is not just hilarious to watch, it's great to participate in. By the end of my three bag rounds and two fights, I was sweating like a pig - it was literally running down my face. Plunging into the shower, I refreshed myself.

This dieting malarkey - it's getting more and more fun. If I can control my eating, do more exercise - including using the Nintendo Wii - I'll be slim in no time at all. Rock on!

Until tomorrow,

Adios!

The Dieting Man

The Dieting Man: Wii Boxing and The Special K Diet: The Weekend Away

Alrighty There People!

Well, I was away for the weekend. In Scotland. Drove up on Friday, left mid morning. We had a 93 year old passenger in the car, so had to take it carefully. Up the A1, past Newcastle Airport, through Ponteland (I think that sounds so funny - pronounced pon-tee-land), and on and on until we hit the border crossing of England/Scotland. We didn't stop, because we had stopped there last year.
Soon after the border crossing, we took a fantastically windy, hilly road to Hawick (pronounced Hoick). We stopped in a brand new cafe called Beanscene, which had an unnerving glass floor which overlooked an old mill wheel. Interesting.

From there, we continued on to our destination, the McDonald Cardrona hotel. It was great. We bedded down, and got ready for the next day...

On Saturday, after a fabulous breakfast, we headed off to visit relatives... *yawn*... then we went to Loch Mary, or Mary's Loch, then on to the Grey Mare's Tail, a fantastic waterfall near Moffatt, then on to Moffatt for dinner (lasagne... mmm).

Then back to the hotel for a well earned sleep. But before bed I found out about Colin McRae... A terrible tragedy, and condolences to his wife, daughter, and the family of the other two deceased.

The following morning, Sunday, we were up and enjoyed another sumptuous breakfast (I think my waistline expanded rapidly over this weekend), and then on to Abbotsford House - the home of Walter Scott. Not fantastic, but the weather was atrocious. I suppose if you managed to work your way around the gardens too, the £6.00 entry fee is worth it. Be warned though - it's not exactly wheelchair friendly.

From there, we headed home - wrecked but happy. I didn't get to bed until 2am, as I had lots to catch up on, and unfortunately Wii Boxing was not one of them... So tomorrow I'll have to fight with vigour...

Until tomorrow,

Adios!

The Dieting Man

The Dieting Man: Wii Boxing and The Special K Diet: 13th September 2007

Alrighty There People!

The Diet and Exercise regime continues, with, I feel, renewed vigour. I wish so much that I had gotten a Wii earlier, and that I had started to use it to it's full potential sooner.

In the bedroom, we've got built in mirrored wardrobes. I keep looking at myself in the mirror - it's not a fantastic sight, but I've gotta tell you - it's improving!

If you want to get fit, I would definitely recommend getting a Nintendo Wii. It's fun, it's healthy, and it'll save you a fortune in gym membership fees.

So let's get onto last night's results:

Wii Boxing - The Bags:
Round 1 - 27 Bags
Round 2 - 30 Bags
Round 3 - 32 Bags

I thought that was fantastic! Rather than getting worse, I was getting better. I can get into a fantastic rhythm when doing the bags - the brown ones just go in two punches. You know, it's also quite stress relieving too...

On to the fights:

Fight One:
Fight one began with The Dieting Man on 1094, taking on Pierre and all of his 1164 points. Come on! The fight began, and it was a ferocious one. I find the opponents much tougher since going Pro - I get them down, then they get me down, then I get them down, then it's round two. But it makes for a lot of flailing of the arms, a lot of sweat, and a lot of exercise. So it's all a good thing. Anyway, I finally got the better of Pierre, but it did cost me 6 points. I walked out of the ring battered, bruised, and lacking 6 points - but ultimately victorious! Yes! I looked forward to meeting my new opponent in Fight Two...

Fight Two:
I was gutted to see Pierre still in the opposite corner. This was going to be the third time in a row that I was facing him. He obviously hadn't learnt his lesson. He was going to hit the deck, he was going to stay there, and he was not going to come back for more...

The fight began - Pierre on 1194 points, The Dieting Man on 1088. The odds were against me. But I pummelled him - the victory was so great, so decisive that the Wii awarded me 61 points - shooting me up to 1149 points, further away from that fine line between Pro and ... not Pro. Fantastic!

Anyway, I'm away for the weekend, but I'll be back on Monday.

Have a good one!

Until Monday,

Adios!

The Dieting Man

Thursday 13 September 2007

The Dieting Man: Wii Boxing and The Special K Diet: 12th September 2007

Alrighty There People!

I continue munching through my Special K twice daily. I find it really filling - a bowl first thing keeps me going right through until lunchtime, and my lunchtime bowl keeps my going right through until I finish work. Maybe that means that I should be eating smaller bowls though... Never mind!
I'm still endeavouring to drink lots of water too, averaging six during the working day, and I usually have a pint... of water... on an evening too.

Last night I was out in the garden for a good hour, wrestling with the trees that are trying to dominate our minimal space of greenery. That worked up a good sweat, not least because I was wielding a hefty hedge trimmer that had the capacity to decapitate me.

And then I worked myself up for the big events: Nintendo Wii Boxing.

I was determined not to lose my Pro status - that was a title that I was literally fighting to defend.
So, to work myself up to the fights, I began, as usual, with Bag Training, which went as follows:

The Bags - Round 1: 26 bags
The Bags - Round 2: 27 bags
The Bags - Round 3: 29 bags

I don't know what happened tonight, some of the bags I just couldn't seem to annihilate. The problem is when the bags are slightly off centre, I find it really hard to hit them - maybe I need to lean a little? I guess I'll work it out.

Anyway, on to the main events:

Fight 1:
I swaggered into the ring a champion looking for a weasel to eat up and spit out. I was faced with Tyrone, a Pro with 1193 points against my 1053. We fought. It was great. I got him down. He got me down. I floored him again. Round 1. Round 2 came. I defeated him, gaining 46 points, launching me to 1099. Nothing can take my Pro status now!

Fight 2:
Pierre joined me in the ring, a rough looking fellow with scars on his face, and a really scary mole. On his face, that is. He was there to pitch his 1149 points against mine. Peirre, bring it on. Again, we fought. I got downed, he got downed, but I claimed the victory. Alas, I lost 5 points, dropping me to 1094, and allowing me time to nurse my wounds until tomorrow's fight...

I must say, I love Wii Boxing. I think I enjoy documenting the fights just as much!

I may even begin videoing them, and uploading them to Metacafe or something. Cool!

Until tomorrow,

Adios!

The Dieting Man

The Dieting Man: Wii Boxing and The Special K Diet: 11th September 2007

Alrighty There People!

Well, the diet seems to be going well, at long last. I've decided to stop cataloguing what I eat, as I find it quite a pointless feat, unless you disagree. I think that the important thing is to be careful with what I eat and to do plenty of exercise every day.

I'm loving incorporating the Nintendo Wii into my diet, and I wish that I had done this earlier. Although I use the Wii Sports Fitness, I don't think that it is ideal, because some of the activities don't even break a sweat. However, sticking my my Wii Sports Boxing Tracker is great for me, I carefully document my daily activity and it's a really intensive workout.

So here is what happened today on Wii Boxing:
The Bags - Round 1: 39 bags (New Record!)
The Bags - Round 2: 30 bags
The Bags - Round 3: 35 bags

I doubt very much that I'll be able to beat 39 bags!

On, then, to Fight 1:
I entered the fight with 997 points, Pro status just out of my grasp. I was facing Ren, an opponent with 1071 points - a Pro. We fought. It was vicious. I lost. And then 13 points were subtracted from me. My hopes of re-attaining Pro status were fast diminishing. I was down to 984 points.

Mortified, I entered Fight 2:
My opponent, the same as yesterday, was Michael, a Pro with 1060 points. With trepidation, I pushed Button A, certain only of a profound whopping. To my absolute delight, I downed him with ease. He didn't get back up. An easy victory - an easy 69 points - and - ROCK ON! - an easy transition back to Pro Status!

This keep fit malarkey is fun. Not only am I going to lose Weight, I'm going to conquer the world of Wii Boxing!

Until tomorrow,

Adios!

The Dieting Man

Wednesday 12 September 2007

The Top 5 Signs Someone Is Driving A Company Car

We've all seen them. BMW. Mercedes. Audi. Volkswagen. Ford. Vauxhall. Renault. Nissan. Whatever marque there is, someone, somewhere, right now, out there, is driving a company car.

You know, you've gotta love the irony of it. They're the ones that are brining in £50k+ per year. They're rolling in it. And what does the boss say to them? "Hey, why don't I buy you a car? I'll tax it, insure - I'll even fuel it for you."

Wait a minute. So us who work at the bottom of the corporate ladder - the ones that are scrimping and scrounging, counting the pennies - not only do we have to BUY our own car - but we have to tax it, insure it, and fuel it too - whereas the top dogs, earning the big bucks, get their's paid for! Cheesh!

And then there's the way they drive their cars. You see, we know that our car costs money to run. We bump it, we pay for it. We scratch it, we've got to get it sorted. Them? Nah. Tell the boss the car needs a service, get it done.

Well here's the top five signs somebody is driving a company car:

1. Road Humps
I don't know about where you live, but 'traffic calming measures' seem to be getting more and more extreme. Personally, I like the chicanes. You're forced to slow down for them, reducing your speed. However, the council seems to prefer abnormally angled road humps. Maybe they're in league with the local car mechanics... You can either slow to a stop, then crawl over them (increasing wear and tear on brakes, clutch and gearbox), or you can take them at full speed and fracture your suspension. Well guess what company car drivers do? Well, who is gonna pay for that suspension? Certainly not them. So they cruise along, quite happily sticking to the speed limit, quite happily blasting over the speed humps, quite happily destroying their company car's suspension.

2. It's Dirty
Now, we may take pride in our vehicle. It's cost a massive chunk of our own personal cash, and we intend to make it look good. Not so with company car drivers. No, why should they waste time and money on something that they're not even paying for? The car will get cleaned when it rains. Or the garage will clean it when it's due for a service. Washing the car? That's for those low lifes that buy their own car!


3. They Fill The Tank
So you're waiting patiently at the petrol station behind the BMW X5. The bloke at the pump isn't even watching the guage - he's casually looking around to see how many people are watching him. After an inordinate amount of time, the guage clicks - the tank is full. The guy saunters over to the cash desk, pays up, and leaves. You drive to the pump that he was at, and your eye register disbelief. £78.25. That's the bill that he just paid to fill his beast. Well, that's not technically true. Let me restate that last line. That's the bill that HIS BOSS HAS just paid to fill his beast. As you start to fill your car, you carefully watch the guage, and stop it when it hits £20. That's all you can afford until payday...

4. They Drive Like Maniacs
It's not their car. Who cares if they bump it? Roundabouts, junctions, traffic lights - they don't care. If it results in a bump, it'll go to the garage. They'll get a courtesy car. Then their one will come back nice and shiney and new. Oh, that's right - it's been washed and waxed. And it's probably got a full tank too...

5. It's Brand New
So here I am driving my 2004 Fiesta. I've just got it. I didn't break the bank to get it, but I must admit I would have like to be driven something newer, better, faster, sportier. And just yesterday someone behind me was in a brand spanking new Audi S3. Black paintwork gleaming under the midday sun. Probably just driven off of the forecourt. With only 2.0 miles on the clock. Probably didn't pay a penny for it.

So remember, next time you see a brand new, but slightly dirty, and maybe even slightly damaged car getting it's tank filled at the petrol station, don't envy the guy or gal at the pump. It's not even their car.

Tuesday 11 September 2007

The Dieting Man - Wii Boxing and Losing Weight

Alrighty There People!

I've got it. And this time, I'm gonna crack it. Okay, okay, I'll go back to the beginning - right back to January 2007.

I'd gotten sick of family saying how fat I was, how much weight I'd put on, asking my wife what she was feeding me - you get the drift.

So I went on a diet. Thing is, I didn't go on a proper diet. I was watching what I was eating, certainly, but not really doing anything about it. So I was watching myself eat chocolate, McDonalds, pizza, chips, etc etc etc. And guess what? I hadn't lost any weight.

But for the past three weeks, I've been on the Special K diet. That's a bowl of Special K for breakfast, a bowl for lunch, and a normal evening meal. I've been eating more fruit, cutting down on chocolate - and - I think most importantly - doing more exercise.

Now, my exercise has ranged from walking, cycling... and playing on the Wii. I know, I know, people have lost weight on the Wii before, and if you're not bothered, fine. But if you are, you may be inclined to know how I've done this - how I can now tighten my belt to the last hole, whereas before it was on the second hole.

Just using Wii Sports, I think that the most energetic ones to play are (in energetic order) Boxing, Tennis and Baseball. Personally, I think that Golf and Bowling are not really exertive sports, not on the Wii anyway.

So everynight for the past week, I've been doing the Wii fitness. When I first did it, the Wii gave me the fitness age of 80. I managed to get that down to 27, but it's gone back up to 34 as of last night. But to be honest, I wasn't that impressed with it - sometimes it made me do bowling and golf, which I didn't really want to do.

So I've set up my own regime, which I started last night, and I think it's great.

Basically, it entails starting with Boxing Training. So go to that, and do the bag training. Do three rounds. My best score on that is 37 - I believe you get a minute. After that, go onto normal boxing, and have two fights. Now, if you're really good, you may get it over with in the first round. But, if like me, you're not that good, both fights may be the full three rounds.

I started last night with a score of 1009 - giving me 'Pro' status. I won both my fights, but surprisingly lost 6 points in each - meaning that I've lost my Pro status. However, tonight I intend to win it back.

But here is the pièce de résistance: My tracker. On here I will keep a record of how many bags I knock down in each of the three rounds of Wii Boxing training. Then, I will keep track of my Boxing points, my opponent, their points, and my final points. I'll do that for a month and post the results here.

And, just because I can and I want to, I've uploaded the tracker here - so if you want to join in and compare, get the tracker (below - click here for the full tracker), and post your results here.


Until tomorrow,

Adios!

The Dieting Man!

DIGG THIS!

Friday 31 August 2007

Why Shaving Is A Lose Lose Process

I hate shaving. I think that shaving is a lose/lose game. When it comes to shaving, I think that the following is generally true:

1. You're running late, but need to shave.
2. You've got plenty of time, but need to shave.
3. You have a beard, so should shave.

Let's look at those in a bit more detail.

1. You're running late, but need to shave.
Okay, so you should already be out the door, but you really need to shave. So you rush into the bathroom, fill the basin, and splash water on your face. You put whatever product you use on your face, grab your razor, and slash your face quickly. But then you cut yourself. Which is really annoying, because it then will go on your shirt. And now you're still in a rush, but your face is bleeding and you've got blood on your shirt. Fantastic.

2. You've got plenty of time, but need to shave.
This is the best sitation to be in, but it takes time. I read recently what the best way to shave is, and I try to follow it. Here's what I do. Take a shower. Put some face cleansing stuff on, and leave that to 'soak'. Finish my shower, wash the face cleansing stuff off. (That, combined with the hot water, apparently helps the pores open and whatever, making it easier to shave). Then, apply the shaving stuff (personally, I use gel, but some may use oil or foam.) Then I shave, going down the face first. Wash off the gel, apply some more, then shave up the face. This gives a great smooth shave. Wash the gel off, splash the face with cold water (closes the pores), DAB the face dry (not rub), apply aftershave balm. When I do it like that, I have a great shave, and rarely cut myself. But it does take ages.

3. You have a beard, so should shave.
Personally, having a beard is not an option for me. One, I don't want the hassle of having to trim a beard, two, I don't want food bits stuck in my face. Three, my wife would freak out big time.

So, in conclusion, there's nothing that can be done. I need to shave. It's annoying. If you rush it, it generally causes more problems. If you take your time, then it takes up time. And if you don't shave, you've got a beard.

Lose, lose, lose.


DIGG THIS

Tuesday 28 August 2007

The Man Diet - Day 20 - Friday 25th August 2007

Alrighty There People!

Today was fantastic. After a stressful day at work, I decided to go out on the bike. So I pedalled down to the running track, and did 5 laps of the track. Now, that may not seem like a lot to you, and from leaving the house to getting back only half an hour elapsed, but I felt overjoyed. I really felt as though I had accomplished something, and I would like to do this more often. I'm definitely going to be getting out on my exercise bike more frequently, and I may even make the running track a regular Friday night thing.

Also, I started The Special K diet today. So, one bowl for breakfast, one for lunch, and normal dinner. Can it work for me? I can but try...

On, then, to today's incomings:

07:00 - Special K with semi skimmed milk

09:00 - 1 glass of water

10:10 - 1 banana

11:20 - 1 Snack a jack

11:50 - 1 Snack a jack

12:20 - Special K with semi skimmed milk

14:10 - 1 glass of water

14:20 - 1 McFlurry

15:20 - 1 glass of water

15:30 - 1 apple

21:00 - Baked potato and pasta

Okay, so, apart from the McFlurry (which I had to do, because it was Friday...) I think that today went really well. I was absolutely STARVING by the time I had my dinner, because it was so late, but I was determined not to snack. I drank plenty of water today, including when I was on my bike ride.

If I keep this up, I could get slim - at last!

Until tomorrow,

Adios!

The Dieting Man

The Man Diet - Day 19 - Thursday 24th August 2007

Alrighty There People!

Well, let me tell you this - it's Thursday. Anyone who reads this regularly knows what Thursday means... gulp...

Another eventless day at work. I'll not bore you with the details.

On to today's incomings:

07:00 - 2 Weetabix with semi skimmed milk

09:00 - 1 glass of water

11:00 - 1 glass of water

12:20 - Two white bread rolls with tuna

13:00 - 1 glass of water

13:45 - 1 glass of water

13:50 - 1 breakaway (chocolate...)

15:05 - 1 glass of water

15:45 - 1 glass of water

17:00 - Pizza and chips

21:00 - Macaroni cheese

So that was that. Fortunately, no chocolate at the Grandmother-in-law's tonight, so I was saved. But I did have to have some Mac Cheese. I'll try to resist that next week...

Until tomorrow,

Adios!

The Dieting Man

The Man Diet - Day 18 - Wednesday 22nd August 2007

Alrighty There People!

Not much to report again today. When I look in the mirror, I still look fat. But I don't know how I look compared to when I first started this, way back in January. Granted, I haven't kept to it the way that I should have, but it would be nice to think that I may have lost *some* weight...

Anyway, on to today's incomings:

07:00 - Weetabix x 2 and semi skimmed milk

08:30 - 1 glass of water

10:25 - 1 glass of water

12:30 - Ham and cheese baguette

13:55 - 1 glass of water

16:10 - 1 glass of water

18:00 - Lamb, potatoes, turnip

18:30 - Cadbury's Button yogurt

21:30 - Hot chocolate

22:20 - KitKat

I don't think that today was too bad, really. I think, on a scale of 1 to 10, I give myself... 6.5 Not bad! But there's always room for improvement...

Until tomorrow,

Adios!

The Dieting Man

The Man Diet - Day 17 - Tuesday 21st August 2007

Alrighty There People!

Not a lot to report today, so I'll do it nice and quick...

07:00 - 2 Weetabix with semi skimmed milk

09:15 - 1 glass of water

10:30 - 1 glass of water

12:30 - Potatoe and leek soup (really filling)

13:20 - 1 glass of water

16:00 - 1 glass of water

Can't remember what I had for dinner. I don't think I had much. In fact, I didn't eat much all day today. Not much water, no fruit, no snacks - fantastic! Apart from not eating fruit, that is...

I reckon I might try the Special K diet...

Until tomorrow,

Adios!

The Dieting Man

The Man Diet - Day 16 - Monday 20th August 2007

Alrighty There People!

Well, the diet was weird today. It started really well, then ended with me buying a car, buying a leather sofa, then going to Pizza Hut. For some extremely un-dieting food.

So here's how the day unfolded:

07:20 - Weetabix with semi skimmed milk

08:50 - 1 glass of water

10:45 - 1 glass of water

11:15 - Mars bar (where did that come from?)

12:10 - Two white bread rolls, with tuna

13:00 - 1 glass of water

14:00 - 2 tangerines (yay, healthy food!)

14:10 - 1 glass of water

17:00 - 2 cokes, ham and pineapple pizza (deep pan), garlic bread and profiteroles. Noooooo!

21:00 - Mocha and a bit of brownie

So, it wasn't too bad, apart from the fact that I had a Mars bar and then went to Pizza Hut. But let me tell you about my purchases! New car (Ford Fiesta, 1.4TDCi Zetec), to be picked up on Saturday. (BTW, anyone wanna buy my Nissan Almera? 2.2SDi Turbo - nice car...) Then I bought a sofa, chocolate leather, from Harveys, they had a sale on. Fantastic. Pay rise please!

Anyway, I'll keep you posted with my dieting results. I didn't take any pics today, you'll have to wait - I'm keeping off the scales for a bit, maybe the next time I get on them I will feel better...

Until tomorrow,

Adios!

The Dieting Man

Wednesday 22 August 2007

Apple Ipod - Evolution of a Species

The Apple Ipod. Have you got one? To many, it's the best thing since sliced bread, and definitely to be included in your 'must have' accessories.

And yet I haven't got one. I don't know why - I think they're great, and I think that perhaps I would like one - but I just haven't got around to getting one.

So whilst browsing the internet looking for one, I realised that there are, in fact, more than just one to choose from. In fact since the Ipod was released in 2001, there have been at least 16 variations produced.

So, ladies and gentleman, boys and girls - I present you with The Apple Ipod:

The 1st Generation Apple Ipod, produced from October 2001 until April 2003, was available in white with either 5 or 10Gb capacity.
The 2nd Generation Ipod didn't vary much. It was still only available in White, still available with 5Gb or 10Gb, but was also availalble with a 20Gb harddrive. Yeah, more songs! This was available from March 2002 until April 2003.
Then, in April 2003, and until September 2003, the 3rd Generation was available. Looking better, but still only available in white, the 3rd Gen was now available with a whopping 30Gb harddrive. Nice. Very nice.
In July 2004 (and until June 2005) the Apple Ipod 4th Generation was available. Looking better, and with a 40Gb hard drive, I think that perhaps I would happily accept one of these. But, there are far more to choose from...
The 4th Generation U2 Edition looks fantastic. With a 20Gb harddrive, it was available from October 2004 until June 2005. In black, with a red dial, it looks absolutely amazing. I think I'll have that one.
Wait! February 2005 saw the birth of something truly fascinating: The Ipod Photo. In white, with a 30Gb harddrive. Music and photos? Marvellous!
But check this out: June 2005 made way for the Ipod Colour, with a gigantic 60Gb harddrive. Hmm, have I even got enough songs to fill one of these...???
The Ipod 5th Generation (With Video) made it's first appearance in October of 2005. Available in a fresh white (well who would have guessed?) or fiendish black, it too could be purchased with either a 30Gb or 60Gb harddrive.
The Ipod 5th Generation Advanced was made available from September 2006. This edition was available with an 80Gb harddrive. Hmm, I think that I would have to get one of these... in black...
September 2006 also saw the released of the Ipod 5th Generation U2 Special Edition. Looking much better than the original, I must say...
And let us not forget the Ipod Mini's. Now, I don't really know what to make of these. First made available in January 2004, in five fresh colours, the Ipod Mini had a 4Gb harddrive.
It was improved in February 2005, when the Ipod Mini 2nd Generation was made available with the option of a 6Gb harddrive.
In September 2005, the Ipod Nano 1st Generation was released. Available with a 1, 2, or 4Gb harddrive, it could be purchased in either white or black.
Then came the Ipod Nano 2nd Generation, available in Silver, Green, Blue, Pink or Black. This was available with an 8Gb harddrive.
I really like this. Produced to raise money for Charity, the Ipod Nano Red is available with either a 4Gb or 8Gb harddrive. I think it looks awesome...
In January 2005, the Ipod Shuffle 1st Generation was released. With either a 512Mb or 1Gb harddrive, available in white, I have no idea how it works. I mean, how do you select your tracks? Weird...
Then, as if it couldn't get any stranger, Apple released this: The Ipod Shuffle 2nd Generation, with 1Gb capacity. But when you actually see it in the flesh, you can't help think, "But it's so small!"

After perusing these, and thinking very hard, I think that I will go for the Apple Ipod Video, Black Edition. Plenty of storage, fantastic looks. Now to find a great deal....

Tell me though, which Ipod's have you had? What have you got now? What would YOU recommend?

Cheers!

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