Mr Daz

Now before I start complaining about this, I should first point out that I have been quad biking. It was an immense amount of fun, and was very exciting. However, due to my height (and particularly long thighs) every time I hit a hard right my leg would nudge the throttle and I would shoot off at full speed towards the apex of the bend… most exciting indeed.

However, this was at Centre Parcs, on a quad biking course and under tuition. Quad bikes, by their very nature, are for driving around on uneven surfaces, over fields and up steep slopes. They are not for driving around the roads of Manchester – which is where a lot of second hand quad bikes, bought cheaply, seem to be driven.

For some reason, the road outside my house (which is relatively long and containing a few speed bumps, or ‘hazards’) is very popular with local quad bikers. They derive immense pleasure from driving up and down the road, at full pelt, past my window when I’m trying to work, and it does nothing for the concentration.

I’m all for quad biking, and would love to do it again. Heck, if I lived in a house with a lot of land, or near some fields (as I did in Wales) I might even consider buying a used quad bike myself, but I don’t… I live in Manchester, near the M56. This is not prime quad biking territory, but someone should tell that to the locals.

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I must confess I’ve never been something of an Apple lover. I’ve shied away from Macs my whole life and never really wanted to get an iPhone, but having seen one recently I have to admit, it does look pretty cool.

However, I currently use a HTC Touch HD and have an application called Vito Audio Notes that I use to record my phone calls (in my line of work, recording calls is important). Whenever I make, or receive, a call the Audio Notes program kicks in and automatically switches the phone to speakerphone, then it begins recording.

It’s also useful for makeshift conference calls, as I had to do last week, or for recording telephone interviews as I also did last week when I appeared on local radio on a talk show.

While I do like the HTC, it’s not the best for the Internet – and having seen the iPhone 4 and the way it accesses the Internet, I’m feeling sorely tempted to finally make the switch when my contract expires in under 3 months. But… if I can’t record calls with the iPhone, it’s of no use to me, and I’ve had a look for available apps and can’t seem to find anything that does it without first jailbreaking the phone.

It appears that the Americans are very coy on recording phone calls (something to do with different laws in different states) so there’s no call recording app in the App Store.

Does anyone know of any way to record phone calls with the iPhone 4?

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Those who know me will know that I can be fairly superficial, but I choose to look upon that as having good taste. For example, I’ve wanted to own a decent desk from which to work for years, as I’ve always made do with cheaper, flat-pack rubbish (usually from Argos). There’s nothing worse than your entire desk shaking when the printer is running, knowing that the screws are working themselves loose with every pass of the printer cartridge.

I have looked for a decent pedestal desk a few times, trying new furniture shops mainly, but haven’t found anything that I like. It has to be old, preferably Victorian, and come with a suitably regal captain’s chair – although I know from trying them out that captains’ chairs aren’t that comfortable.

I’m going to start looking again soon, so that I can get rid of my latest flat-pack job from Argos, and will be starting with eBay and antique dealers around my local area, such as Manchester and Lancashire.

Hopefully, thanks to the power of the Internet, I won’t have to look for long before I find the perfect antique desk in Lancashire, close enough to have one delivered and cheap enough that it doesn’t break the bank. Quality is important, but as I’ve seen them online for well over £4,000 I may yet end up disappointed.

This is the type of antique desk that I’m looking for, so hopefully I’ll find one within budget. I can just see myself sat at this, sipping wine while annoying people online in a professional capacity.

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I dug out this old photo recently and had to upload it here. It was taken somewhere around 2004 and shows a 1987 Ford Capri that I bought, unseen, on eBay for £1,100. It was in excellent condition when I bought it, but alas due to daily commuting from Cwmbran to Bristol (around a 70 mile round trip) it didn’t last too long before it needed repairs that were too much compared to its value.

It’s still a great looking car though and maybe one day I’ll get one again. Though, if I do buy another Capri it will be a 3ltr rather than the 1.6ltr that I had here. I might also go for Professionals silver, instead of white… or maybe one of each.

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It’s a little late this year, but I thought it time to tie up my New Year’s Resolutions for 2009 to see how well I did. Here are the resolutions in case you want catch up, and here’s the success, or lack of it.

1. Buy a house
This one’s a check! Bought a house in Manchester in March and have been living there since then.

2. Clear my bank loan
Another score. Cleared this loan around the same that I bought my house, so now I don’t have any more debts draining my finances each month.

3. Don’t buy a new car (unless it’s a DB9)
Another success. I have managed to avoid buying a new car, or a second hand one, and am driving the same Z3 that I’ve had since 2004 (even though it has been stolen once).

4. Be more outspoken on MrDaz.com
Things have been quiet on here lately, but due to content on other websites I have managed to garner another two solicitor’s letters for different incidents. Good stuff!

5. Invest more
I did buy some shares at the beginning of the year. They haven’t done too well, but I still have them and hope that this particular bank makes an upward turn before too long.

6. Don’t have any fault (or non fault) accidents
Success! I didn’t crash once in 2009. I made it a whole year without hitting another car, inanimate object or pedestrian. Go me!

7. Go to the premiere of Transformers Revenge of the Fallen
This one was another big check. I attended the premier and the press conference with Megan Fox and Michael Bay. That was pretty damn good.

8. Get my back sorted
This was sort of a success. I saw a surgeon and found that I also have a slipped disc, but an operation would mean going through my stomach due to my steel spine. The surgeon advised I leave it as most slipped discs get better, and it has slightly. I still can’t walk very far, but it’s better than it was in March.

9. Get in shaped (at least try)
The key word here is ‘try’. No, I didn’t get back in shape, but I did ‘some’ exercise. I’m chalking this one down as a success too, but there’s more to come in 2010.

10. Cook more
The final resolution was also a success. I pretty much cooked something from scratch every month, which is about 12 times more than the previous year, so I’m happy with that.

That’s 10 successful resolutions. I have another 10 for 2010, and I’ll reveal those shortly.

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As my sale of the bed and dining room table went so well (and they did!) I’m now flogging this American style bar table on eBay. This table again has the starting price of 99p, only this time it’s located in Manchester for anyone who wants to pick it up.

You can bid on it now, and maybe get a real bargain.

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I’m having a final sell off of items from my house in Cwmbran, which includes a sleigh bed and a marble table. These two items represent the two most expensive things I’ve ever bought, not counting houses and cars, which is kinda sad really.

The bed cost around £1,100 in 2005 and the table was £1,600 with six chairs. Anyone interested in buying these two bargains can bid on them on eBay, as they have a 99p starting price and no reserve, so I could sell them both for less than £2!

Hope not though.

Have a look on eBay and see what you think. The bed can be found here, and the table and chairs can be found here.

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As I mentioned this week, I’ve been looking through some old photos lately and have come across some pictures from a few years ago. This particular one was when I, and my little boy Robbie, met Dean Stockwell from Quantum Leap. As you can see, the presence of Al forced Robbie into a leap, though I’m not sure where or when he ended up!

I have more photos like this but due to the crash, burn and refusal to turn back on of my PC last year, I may not be able to recover them all. Therefore the ones I do have I’m adding here, so I won’t lose them in another PC related crash-fest.

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