Tag: rant

Argh, stupid hackers with too much free time in their hands…

Manuel Marques April 17, 2013 No Comments Uncategorized , ,

Since a few days ago I’ve been unable to access the admin section of my blog – apparently there has been a coordinated DDoS attack to most self hosted wordpress installations, and my provider blocked the access to the wp-login script, hence I’m locked out!

I could only post this through the WordPress app for Android, which apparently can go around the wp-login script.
Hopefully this will be sorted in the next few days!
Some people definitely have too much free time on their hands…

On the filthiness of my bicycle…

Manuel Marques March 24, 2013 No Comments Uncategorized , , ,

I was hoping for weather conditions that at least would let me wash my bike outside, with cold water, without freezing my hands to death. Apparently that will not come soon… and meanwhile I’m getting even more mud in the frame 🙁 .

(in comparison, I’ve managed to wash my car while in Portugal in the last days of December ! It was quite sunny and nice outside…)

As I drew my curtains open this morning…

Manuel Marques March 23, 2013 No Comments Uncategorized , , ,

Via Flickr:
… I was presented with this familiar sight. Apparently Mr Winter does not want to go away just yet…

But instead of just moaning about the fact that the Ergathon got cancelled for today (and the outings for tomorrow, as well!) I decided to take out my bicycle and do some proper photographing of my wintry surroundings.

Cycled up the hill and ventured beyond the campus (this was actually the first time I took the Raleigh on the Crab & Winkle way!), armed with my digital SLR and a good coat. The snow wasn’t that bad… apart from some bits which were quite muddy (and the “muddiness” was hidden by the layer of snow on top) I had no issues today, either cycling on- and off-road.

Funnily enough, I discovered that I had a photo from last year (around this very same time) in one of the spots I stopped at today. Can you tell which one is 2012 and which one is 2013? 🙂

IMGP2681imgp5103

See more images in my Flickr photostream (they are all geotagged, in case you’re around here and want to check it out – this cycle route and its surrounding woods are definitely worth a visit!).

Spot the purple!

Manuel Marques March 16, 2013 1 Comment Uncategorized ,

windguru-whitstableFunny, isn’t it? The bad, windy and rainy weather eagerly waits for the weekend to show all of its potential (and to ruin my outings and make my shopping trips to the city centre quite miserable…).

More strange things about Britain…

Manuel Marques March 10, 2013 No Comments Uncategorized , , , ,

I was just checking car insurance quotes and I was amazed to find that, for the very same car (a cheap, smallish Fiat which sits in a very low insurance group), if I declare its value to be less than £500 the premium will actually rise!

And quite significantly, too – if I declare its value to be around the £700 mark they’ll quote me a premium of £480 (fully comprehensive), but if I lower that figure the premium will rise at least £300!

Seriously, why? I mean, if I wreck the car and they have to pay me back its declared value, they’d have to pay me less… makes no sense!

I really can’t wake up late…

Manuel Marques February 17, 2013 No Comments Uncategorized ,

… today I woke up at 10:30 and spent the rest of the day with a massive headache. It happens every the time I oversleep! :/

(but yeah, after waking up yesterday at 6 AM for my morning practice, followed by a birthday party in the evening, I really needed the rest, even though it shouldn’t have been this much! 😛 )

Location update: Porto, Portugal!

Manuel Marques December 21, 2012 No Comments Uncategorized , ,

Hardly a surprise now, especially when considering my previous post. 🙂

Anyway, yes, I’m back home for a couple of weeks – not that I enjoy a month-long holiday in Portugal in the middle of winter (even though it is quite warmer than England, it is a lot better during the summer months!), but as you’d probably guessed by now from my previous rants I am stuck at home, recovering from my nose surgery which happened last weekend. Apparently everything is OK and I am returning back to normal as expected… it is only a terrible nuisance, that’s all! 😛

Fortunately, the weather is helping – it is so miserable and damp outside that I cannot feel sorry for not being out there. And I’m trying to keep myself busy – a truckload of lab reports to mark were electronically delivered to me this Wednesday, and alongside a lot of reading and TV series I think I won’t grow bored.

Now, the biggest expectation is that I can get back on a boat before heading back to the UK… nose, I’m counting on you! 😀

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