This Ordinary Life

A wise man once said "It's not the size that counts, but what you do with it that does."

That certainly is true for the X-mini Max portable speaker system. Who would have though that speakers so small could deliver a sound quality so grunty and presence announcing? I have just bought a pair and can only praise them.

For £22, they are by far not the cheapest speakers you can buy (I have seen a set of speakers going for £4 on ebay), but they are definitely worth every penny. They are ultra-portable, the USB charging battery are a god send and the sound quality doesn't disappoint.

While researching portable speaker systems I noticed that X-MI are really pushing the boundaries of design. Although the X-MI Max II speakers look like a Star Wars Clone knock-off, the originals look slick and black. There's something to say about "Once you've gone black, you can't go back!"

I have yet to fully challenge the 10 hour battery life, but based on the build and sound quality, I am confident that they won't disappoint in this respect either. I've tried them with my Ipod, internet radio over my netbook and as external speakers for my speakerphone on the Blackberry. Sound quality was great, although my brother did compalin about some echos when using it with the speakerphone.

My verdict:

If you can get these speakers under £30, they will are the perfect solution for:

• pimping up your laptop audio when listening to music or watching movies;
• sharing your Ipod's music collection with others when on the go;
• and they might even help the next time you have a conference call to close that mega-important deal with only your BlackBerry X-mini Max speakers to hand.

These speakers get's 10 out of 10 from me!

Posted by this ordinary life at 10:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well, it's tough out on the streets of London at the moment.  The London Plane trees are at their fluffiest and the air is filled with torturous little fibers.  

Now if you are an hayfever sufferer like I am, you will hate days like these.  Particularly because they are usually accompanied by glorious sunshine and cloudless skies.  However, let me share with you a little secret of what not to do when you forget your sunglasses at home...

Don't resort to wearing your swimming goggles! 

My advice is to turn around as soon as you notice you've forgetten them and never make a poor substitute.  By the way, when it's hot the goggles steam up faster than you can blink. 

Posted by this ordinary life at 8:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here in London we are under attack again.  The RMT, one of the Tube Worker’s unions, has decided to picket for better pay…. again.  This is bringing travel chaos to thousands and normality is unlikely to return to normality until Friday. To add insult to injury, I found out the following with regards to Tube workers terribly unjust starting salaries: 

·         Button Pushing Tube Drivers:                     £40,000

·         Chair Warming Station Supervisors:          £35,000

Posted by this ordinary life at 12:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I have been cycling in London for over 7 years now. With one crash under my belt and numerous near misses, I consider myself a veteran.

I've always considered the cycle infrastructure more than inferior to on the Continent. If you have ever been to Amsterdam, most German cities and most of Switzerland, you could have helped but notice cycle lanes everywhere. They really put a lot of thought into how to get people on bicycles safely.

Boris Johnson has finally unveiled Transport for London's concept for London. This consists of 12 new Cycle Highways that will serve to transport people from up to 15km from the centre in quickly and safely. Given that there is little or no infrastructure in place at present and a May 2010 deadline for the first 2 Cycle Highways (Wimbledon to Bank and Barking to Tower), I will wait with baited breath to see how they do it.

Sadly, I imagine it will be a token effort more than anything and given the fact that motorcycles already feel that they can use cycle paths since they were allowed to use bus lanes (introduced early 2009 and "no" they are not allowed to also use cycle lanes), it will be interesting to see what they do.

If you'd like to find out more about what could by a London Cycle Revolution, here's a link to the press release and the conceptual cycle map...

Posted by this ordinary life at 10:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I wake up each morning and ask myself,

"What am I getting up for?"

I then brush my teeth and ask myself,

"What am I making myself presentable for?"

I then cycle to work and ask myself,

"What am I risking my life for?"

Finally, I arrive at my desk and ask myself,

"What am I working for?"

The answer is..

"I don't know, but it's what I've always done."

Posted by this ordinary life at 7:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here's a frugality tip for the day.

If you are in the UK and suffer from hayfever, the next time you are in a Boots make sure you go to the Pharmacy counter to get your hayfever tablets. They sell most of the "over the counter drugs" like Clarytyn in packs of 30 there which are much better value for money than the 7 day packs. They also usually have the same 2 for 1 deals they have for standard packs saving you even more money.

Sniffle less and enjoy your money more!

Posted by this ordinary life at 11:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Our garden is finally taking shape.  Like a pheonix from the ashes, something beautiful is emerging.  The garden is almost unrecognisable from where we began 6 weeks ago.  There is still a long way to go, but the transformation is already dramatic.

So what have we achieved thus far?  Well, the decking has been laid creating an extension of the kitchen.  Although we don't have any garden furniture yet, the area is already being used extensively for bbqs and breakfasts.  The space is designed to break up the garden with and will lead out into a working vegetable garden beyond.

With regards to things you can do yourself, it's is well worth looking at building the decking yourself as you can make significantly savings.  A tip is to make sure that you have a car as I had to make 3 journeys on foot to my local DIY store to pick up additional timber when I realised I was short.  I carried two loads on my shoulder and one time had to rig up a make-shift "on foot" trailer to move 3 joists and a bag of cement.  A car would have made life much simpler and saved me a mild case of tendonitis!

Over the course of the next months, I'll share with you the development of our garden and share some tips of how to make the most of what you have on a budget. 

Posted by this ordinary life at 4:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)