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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As I wrote recently, I’ve been looking at getting a new TV or a home theatre projector to replace the TV that currently resides in my home (it’s an eyesore).

Anyhow, I was looking at getting a data projector because they’re fairly cheap now compared to the few grand they used to cost and they’re available from pretty much any retailer. The problem is though that they’re actually quite expensive to replace the bulbs, which have a limited life. When your projector bulb breaks you need to replace it, and not just the bulb, the whole housing.

Naturally, they’re not the 99p bulbs you get in Asda either. Epson projector lamps for example can cost hundreds of pounds each. Not something I want to be buying regularly.

Luckily, I went to the Sony Centre this week and found a deal on a 40” widescreen TV (W model) better than that found on Amazon. Yeah, Amazon was cheaper, but listen to this:

• Sony offer £100 cash back when you take in any old TV
• Sony offer a free Blu-Ray player (which I’ve been meaning to get anyway as I have two Blu-Ray movies already and no player)
• Sony offer 9 months interest free credit

That beats Amazon’s price hands down, and dispels any ideas of getting a projector. I’ll be getting a new TV at the start of September now.

Wicked!

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