[ t h e f r a g g l e . c o m ]

Friday, July 6th, 2007

Berlin ist schöne

So Berlin was awesome. I was only there for a week, but it really is one of the best places I have ever visited. So much so that it has strengthened my want to move over to Germany in the next few years.

I wish I had bothered to write a diary of some sorts, but here’s a little taster of what I did:

• walked lots and lots. So much to see in Berlin, and what better way to walk around the city getting a feeling not for the normal tourist haunts, but what the suburbs are like too.
• took lots of pictures of random things [1]
• visited the Jewish history museum (stunning architecture, as well as an incredible insight to the torments the followers of this faith have had in the past few thousand years in Europe)
• visited the communications museum
• visited the old point where checkpoint Charlie stood, and the museum that overlooks it
• visited countless other museums giving quite an extensive history into what Berlin and Germany as a whole has looked like in the past, the present and plans for the future.
• more walking
• Drank beer (Berlin wießbier is now my favourite beer, lets see what I think when I get round to visiting Bavaria

I didn’t really get chance to see everything I wanted to in one short week, so probably will want to go back some time in the future (probably a few times) and try and plan more constructive plans to actually do things. What will prove invaluable in this endeavour will definitely be my “rough guide to Berlin” which proved to be a brilliant source of information whilst I was out there, along with my handy map of Berlin, purchased from WH Smiths, and my BVG rail system map).

Not being a travel writer, or writer of any kind, it is difficult for me to attempt to put into words how good I thought Berlin was, the German people and just how polite and helpful they are (as long as you at least attempt to be polite yourself!) the excellent public transport in Berlin, basically the entire city is great!!

Anyway, expect more posts when I have time, going into specifics

[1] http://thefraggle.com/germany/

Thursday, June 21st, 2007

cheap portable hard disks a go go

I decided to buy a portable hard disk this week for my trip to germany, so that I can ensure I don’t run out of CF space.

It’s a vosonic vp2160, and at £109 for a 60gb model I’m pretty happy. It happily reads my CF card fresh from the camera, and copies over all the images pretty speedily.

The interface is super simple and easy to use, it doesn’t play music or anything like that, but all I wanted it for was to store pictures on till I get home and can process the images.

The USB2.0 interface is speedy enough to copy over files i’ve copied to the disk, and also allows you to use the device as a CF/MMC/whatever reader for your PC, which is handy. It’s pretty handy too how you can charge the Li-ion battery via USB too (you have to plug two usb connectors into your pc, but that’s no biggie really)

What really impressed me the most, however, is how it actually seems to suggest you should be fine upgrading the hard disk at some point. They include (amongst the power adapter to charge it up and the install cd for win98 drivers etc) a mini screwdriver to uncouple the back off it, which reveals a bog standard fujitsu 2.5″ hard disk. So if I decide 60gb isn’t enough in this little device I will be able to have a good go at upgrading the hard disk!.

I also purchased a Creative Zen Vision:M 30gb today too today to tide me for my trip to germany, but will druel more at that when it arrives tomorrow

Friday, March 23rd, 2007

get(ting) lost

Soooo I have until next month off work, what else can I do with myself other than go for random drives and walks.

Today was a pretty nice day, so I decided to go to the Trough of Bowland, had a wander around and decided to head on and go for a bit of a drive. Not sure how good an idea this was, but I ended up in North Yorkshire, and having to follow signs to find Clithroe, to head back to Preston.

Well worth it though, was a beautiful day, and even though I diddn’t get any really good pics, It was nice to get out of the house on my own and have some quiet time thinking

See deviantart for any pics I put up :).

Thursday, January 25th, 2007

My life is an on-going saga

So the car’s not broke beacause of the immobiliser, it’s something (probably more serious) to do with the wiring that the fuel injectors rely on to communicate with my ECU. Woopy bloody Doo.

DSG Morcombe have had the car for two days now and haven’t figured it out, so god knows how much this is going to cost me

I was thinking of getting a new car, possibly a 2005(ish) civic CDTi, but if I keep the clio for three years, I should be in a position after that to get the 350z GT I really want (at the moment).

God I don’t know what to do, I think I’ll end up keeping the clio for now and hoping it’s ok till I’ve run it into the ground and am ready for the new car.

Another odd thing I’ve been thinking about is growing my hair, which I’ve been attempting the past two months. My hair is getting to that point now where it’s annoying me, and i should go get a light trim to try and make it look a bit interesting/tidy. I reckon maybe four months of growing it will do, and should mean I can go to a proper stylist and get a decent hair cut. Hoo-bloody-raaa to getting rid of boring hair!

Anyway, sleep for now, gotta bitch to DSG about my car not being sorted yet, in the morning!!