Wednesday, September 5, 2007

Whitley Bay

Although I sustained an injury from training I thought a trip to the beach was in order.

I normally use the metro system but decided on a bus from the Haymarket which was a big mistake. I thought it would be a better view and more sights for me to stare at and although that was right it was probably the most sickening journey I have had.

The bus takes over 1 hour to get there and goes through a full estate time after time, you start getting bored after the third estate and the continous up and down motion gets you very sick.

After we got there it was a miracle I did not vomit all over the bus stop, I had to sit down for a few minutes which is very strange for me.

The shops were packed into 1 place which is very good and the shops were also the good old shops that are cheap and cheerful, none of that posh gear the town sells with inflated prices.

After a march around I thought I would go to the beach, I have a thing about the sea that interests me and I could stare at it for hours and hours without getting bored (weird you may say!). What struck me is that the waves were massive and the sea was rough as you like but they still had the flags out for a swimming zone, I am a good swimmer but would not have been able to do it in the sea that day.

I saw a massive ferry obviously leaving from North Shields going to Amsterdam or the Nordic areas no doubt, the ship seemed so steady and very slow but the sheer size of it was overwhelming. As I looked across I saw a small trawler, it seemed like it was being thrown all over the sea and its size was so small I thought they would never make it and for a while it seemed like they had gone under, the boat was going up and down and that made me sick.

The sea air really knocks you out which is a good thing so my day out ended early as being tired and feelsick wasnt too good, I thought get a bus with a more direct journey so I did!

The bus I got on took off but it seemed like it was bobbing up and down, the bus driver then said that the hydrolics were on the blink so be careful getting off. The motion of going up and down reminded me of the boat I saw, I could feel with every downward motion a bulk in my stomach so I had to get off 5 stops early.

To sum up, Whitley Bay is beautiful and a real old fashioned place which I like and the sea view is out of this world. Definately a great place to spend the day.

Monday, August 27, 2007

Credit Cards

Like most people I use my credit card online to purchase goods and services, normally I have a bet on a saturday online for around £10.

The past few weeks I have been depositing £10 without any problems but in the space of 3 days I was charged

£7.50 for 3 different transactions with WilliamHill.
£5.00 for buying 2 items with my card through John Lewis.
£2.50 for my eBay fees for selling goods.
£2.50 for buying an item through Amazon.

So I went into the Lloyds Haymarket branch and was told all the businesses I have mentioned must have moved their offices to Southern Ireland between the 3 days I was getting charged and then moved the offices back after those 3 days! I decided to get a second opinion and was told the exact same by her manager, if it had not of been for money I would have laughed.

I then thought try another branch, so I walked over to the branch across from it and they checked it out and said it was because I was buying virtual goods and currency! They contacted Credit Card services who said the same, so in 3 days the rules have changed and then changed back.

Here is a tip, avoid Lloyds across from the Civic Centre in Newcastle and when you buy a fridge freezer from John Lewis remember its virtual and you cannot really put anything in (according to Lloyds anyway).

Friday, August 24, 2007

Domain name prices

Bit upset today after finding out that FastHosts have charged me £10.45 for a renewal of a domain name I have, I was about to transfer to Godaddy for the sum of £2.59.

The price difference is astounding as are all of FastHosts prices, I find them to be very deceptful with their method of business and have complained many times about their service but get the normal idiot who was only hired because he wasn't that bright and came cheaply. Godaddy have far better prices and much better support, their drop service where expired names are fought over is pathetic and I have tried to catch over 300 names with them and some were disgraceful names but still no joy.

If your on the look out for domain names avoid UKReg at all costs.

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

First Post

Decided to start my blogging up again after a 1 year absence.

I currently run a network of websites for the North East England and provide users with a North East Forum to air their views and discuss a wide range of topics.

In the past 3 months I have been working on consolidating all the websites into 1 megasite that will give the North East people everything they could possibly need. So far I have completed 65% of it and I am currently waiting on funding to complete the next part of it which will increase the Search Engine position with a bit of luck.

Well thats all my rambling for now.