Graduation Ceremony

We went to the Ramkhanhaeng University graduation ceremony this morning: outside, not in the congregation.

Here are just a few snaps from the dozens we took.

The young man on his own is the lad we went to see: graduating in mass communications. The other people I do not know, they are random snaps. The nodding dog ... I can assure you all that i did not buy that!!!

DW

MArvellous News

Daughter Fran has just got news that her MA degree dissertation has been awarded a distinction. So once the congregation has been held, it'll be Fran Williamson MA.

Very happy for the young lady!

DW

The Plot ... That's it, The Plot!

Watch the video here of the Tamarind tree being felled to make way for a new house ... then see the photo of the plot 24 hours or so later!

DW

Rattus Cowardum

They are clearing the plot of land where my house is going to be built. They found a rat and despatched it. The young girl's mother thought it would be a hoot if they brought it for me to hold!

No thanks! Rats alive are bad enough .,.

DW

Deadly!

This is probably the deadliest thing i have come across ... this evening. With no photo to show, it beats the very large frog in the toilet this morning .., and i mean IN the toilet!!

UPDATE

So the Scorpion might not be so deadly after all!! I think it's an Asian Forest Scorpion. Rest assured, it was jet black and big! Scary to look at!

DW

Land Registry ... Land Fantasy!

I went to the UK Land Registry site to check a couple of things. I foubd

A) they had got the buying price of my house wrong by a factor of 55%. Two other houses in my street were equally wrongly recorded.
B) i downloaded house prices for Calderdale for all types of property for the period Jan 1995 to Dec 2012 and found the prices all correlated with each other PERFECTLY.

I wrote to them on both counts!

UPDATE

Here is their response to the perfect correlation issue:

Dear Mr Williamson,

Thank you for your query.

There are natural limitations, due to sample size, in the provision of local indices. Unfortunately it is not possible to create a reliable quality adjusted monthly price index at a level of granularity much beyond London Borough level. Indeed, the Land Registry HPI is the only index that provides quality adjusted price appreciation data beyond the ten Government Office Regions. Land Registry are able to achieve this because of Land Registry's comprehensive datasets and the application of the repeat-sales regression method.

The household type breakdown on London Borough/County/Regional level is provided to enable reference to absolute levels rather than to explore differential movements. The absolute values simply represents an indexation of the initial geometric mean (a type of average) price by the appropriate London Borough/County/Regional index because a more granular index would lack sufficient sample size to provide meaningful results.

I hope this helps answer your question as to why, as you rightly noted, the appreciation rates are identical for all types of properties within the granular indices.

Kind Regards

CK

I have to say, i got very little from that response!


DW

Fiennes' not Fine!

I read the Ranulph Fiennes has had to abandon some escapade in Antarctica because of frostbite.

If ever i were to trek across and around Antarctica i would ask the Eskimo how they keep dry and frost free!

Simple really

DW

All Aboard the Skylark!

I posted the following comment in response to an article in today’s Financial Times on the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer saying he will not change course in spite of just about everything going against him.

I am very far from being a Tory but the spend it now and spend it again policies of Messrs Blair and Brown left me flabbergasted. How they got away with it for so long is a mystery but they did. I like the idea of politicians being made truly accountable for their actions: rather than being appointed to major world positions of influence and/or authority. Blair and Brown are both doing rather nicely now aren't they?
There are still Stocks in various villages around the country that could be brought back into use.
If only there were mechanisms that could tell us which of the policies and procedures a Chancellor and his team are taking are hurting rather than helping us then it would make my quest more simple. The reality is, of course, that at any time Mr Osborne can leave or be ejected and all he needs to say, as he dons his Ermine, is that he did his best under difficult conditions. He could even utter that awful phrase, that he was making tough choices and taking tough decisions. As if!
When one lives in the cloudless atmosphere of Government, no choice is tough, no decision is tough. One just takes a decision and some minion will write a speech to smooth it all away.
Yes, our debt is far too high and yes it has to come down. Yes, there has to be a major reorganisation of the economy to put all of that into effect. Yes, someone has to go through the pain barrier. Our real tragedy is the 9% industry gap: that's the difference between the GDP of Germany that comes from manufacturing and the GDP of the UK that comes from manufacturing ... please correct the figures but I know I am probably not far away. Germany makes and sells real, tangible things that the rest of the world wants to buy. We used to.
It was a long time ago when we were the cradle of the industrial revolution but Thatcher engineered (pun intended) the demolition of much of our manufacturing base with no thought of a replacement except through the service side of the economy. We all know where that went and the UK is constantly being sniped at by the USA, Singapore and others who wish to poach one or more elements of our service and banking sectors.
The current economic crisis is not one of debt levels alone it requires much more of a holistic approach to managing the country. The current crop of Tory politicians, inably assisted by the wettest Lib Dems there are, is probably the worst Administration in my lifetime. I see no spark in any of them. I see no competence in any of them. I see the same mistakes being made over and over again. Health: the NHS is a mess, let's reform it! Education: the exams system is a mess, let's reform it!! Foreign policy: human rights are our focus now, let's take on China!! Same sex marriage is of interest to just a tiny minority of people, let's have a major policy thrust on that!! la la la la la la la laa.
It's mind boggling! But then again, we ought to be grateful that many of these senior politicians were able to study PPE at Oxbridge so that they could help us to face these tough choices and decisions that are eating away at us and that the rest of us probably don't understand anyway. There, there, everyone!

DW

MacBook Woes

My MacBook Pro has been giving me grief over the last few days.

The mouse buttons on the trackpad refused to work and even an external mouse refused to work.

I rebooted the thing but still no mouse available. I was able to find a solution on a discussion forum: press Command, Options, Shift and then the Power button all at the same time: this shuts down the computer and when you start it again the trackpad and external mouse are restored. I lost and regained the mouse a few more times over the next two days!

I then tried to upload some photos from my DSLR camera to be faced with the warning that i had not previously removed the drive properly and that my iPhoto library was no longer available.

This went backwards and forwards for a while and then the thing stabilised. At the moment it is stable but now i believe my MacBook is in GATES! or is that JOBS! mode.

So far i have not tried to open iPhoto again to try to repair it. I daren't, yet!

DW

Fantastic Microsoft

Gates left MS a long time ago do i suppose it's time to accept that the latest snafus are not his fault.

I was just setting up a simple spreadsheet when it closed. Then i was logged off. Then Windows rebooted.

Was i ready for that? Was i warned about that? Did i agree to that?

No!

No!

No!

I hadn't saved the file but NORMALLY even MS products recover such work. I am using my old HP Tablet and that takes at least 10 minutes to crank itself back to life. I wish i needed a tea or coffee to while away the time!

At the time that this happened Java was being updated in the background. What's the name of the man in charge if Java so that i can exclaim the equivalent of ... GATES!

DW

They Come in Two by Two

A major revelation by Marks and Spencer ... t*tties come in pairs ... in 2 packs!!

DW

Bangkok Taxi Stickers

Bangkok taxis can be a hoot! Ordinary Taxi Meter taxis. Look at any stickers on the rear door windows and you might be amused by what you see.

Here are the latest from two taxis i took over the last 24 hours.

DW

Snow!

It snowed this morning and then stopped. However, I fell asleep in the chair this evening and woke up to much more snow ...

UPDATE: I walked around 4 miles through the snowy streets yesterday and even though i was wearing my walking boots and using a walking stick, it was a good workout!


DW

Bangkok Bound

Here i am ready to trade the winter for the summer ... in reality, English winter for Thailand winter!

DW

Snowdrops then Snow!

I saw snowdrops last night then this morning there is snow!

DW

British Museum

It's been a very long time since i was last there but i got there today: the British Museum.

Firstly, take a look at the roof ... 3,312 uniquely sized pieces of glass ... I was instantly attracted to it.

A myriad exhibits, too: here are snaps of just some of them.

DW

London Evening Photos

Just a few snaps of the Covent Garden area of London.

DW

The Train

The train arrived almost on time and i decided to sit near the front to make it easier on arrival.

Horror! Every seat was reserved in the first carriage i went into. I dumped my suitcase and carried on. The next carriage had no reserved seats and there was only one other passenger in there so i sat exactly where i wanted.

I did some chatting online and a lot of work then decided it was coffee time. I threaded my way to the buffet car and bought a good cup of coffee and a slice of lemon drizzle cake. £2.50, not bad.

I threaded my way back to my seat and as i did so, one chap looked at me in that, what are you doing going backwards and forwards through MY carriage kind of way? I carried on.

That carriage between my carriage and the buffet car was the only carriage i had to go through and it was full!

My carriage, on the other hand, has only one passenger in it ... me! So there's no need for anyone to look askance at anyone is there!

DW

Save Costs? Lock 'em out!

I am at Halifax Railway Station and have just bought a ticket costing almost £200. As usual i am early and the temperature is sub zero.

I thought i'd sit in the waiting room to keep warm. Good idea! Forget it though, it's locked.

This is the age of the train but not the the age of passenger comfort and convenience.

DW

DXB Concourse A ... The A380 Terminal

I used the new concourse at Dubai International Airport yesterday. That's the new concourse for their A380s ... up to 20 of them at a time.

Here are some snaps i took hurriedly!

DW

The Great and the, erm, Burger Cooks

I read somewhere yesterday that the USA relies on an army of Chinese, Russian. Indian and other nationalities for a lot of the work and progress in maths, computer software and hardware development.

The report went on to say, however, that all major burger cooks are American.

DW

Old Camera New Setting =)

I just read a review of my Lumix camera and tried a couple of the suggestions they discussed. For example, I tried the iA setting, intelligent Auto ... I can hardly believe the results ... truly outstanding.

When i get home to my adaptor i will upload some photos here to show what i mean.

UPDATE here are two photos that demonstrate what i was on about above. And how about the subject??

DW

Khao Yai National Park my Dear!

It rained all of the way into the National Park but then brightened up for our journey back out. At a human watering hole some deer appeared and the photo below is memorable.

Then some other tourists arrived, about 20 of them; and because of their lack of animal empathy the deer scattered. I won't mention whether those tourists were German or not!!

DW

Crying wee, wee, wee all the way home!

I have seen a similar sign before but i liked this version too.

DW

O2 Customer [Couldn't] Care [Less]

Here is the text of a message i left for O2 on Facebook today:

You wanted stories, here's mine. Loyal customer since 2001. NEVER missed a payment. I travel abroad a lot so I often spend 100 pounds a month. For a while it was regularly 300 pounds a month. I became a platinum member. Of late i have been spending 120+ per month. But this month is more than doubled because i was busy and made lots of calls on my O2 phone from countries in the far east and middle east. O2 told me, out of the blue, you are using your phone a lot so pay us £185 NOW or we cut you off. I was flying to Thailand when that message arrived and there was no way i could arrange the payment. So you cut me off. No phone. No sms. No apps. Nothing. I chatted online to you and rather than apologise in any way said, leave us then and we'll happily give you the PAC number you need to take your number with you. Then he said i would be transferred to sales who would organise things for me. I waited. I waited. Then an advert for an iphone appeared ... I've already got one! From platinum to, close the door on your way out shows stunning customer care doesn't it!

I noticed that prople who have posted complaints at about the same tome as me have received responses: not me, so far!

UPDATE: after three hours i got an apology from O2 and they asked how they could help. I responded as follows:

No, nothing sorted except that your payday arrived and, without let or hindrance as usual, my direct debit paid you in full so the phone is back on again now. I told your chat person, too, that i travel to some risky places so for me to be without a phone leaves me without my first line of defence. I told your chat person, too, that rather than just chop me off, someone could have called and asked if i still had control of my phone since he said you were probably worried that someone might be abusing it. He said you couldn't do that but my bank does it all the time. I can't risk being exposed by you in this way. I return home on 31st Jan and will take all necessary action then. By the way, i think i am a gold customer of yours ... or its equivalent ... so this treatment is doubly rubbish.

DW

Another Country, Another Post Box

I don't know how many of these i can report but here is the second in my series of post boxes from around the world: Nakhon Ratchasima in Thailand this time.

I posted one from Singapore a year ago i think, too!

DW

Phone cut off!

Well done O2, you have cut me off after being with you for over 11 years because you suddenly don't like that i need to use my phone more than average.

Fantastic rewards: heavy users ... eff off! Well I will.

UPDATE: i entered into an online chat with O2 and far from being apologetic they said, if you want to leave but keep your number we will give you the PAC number you need. Then he said i will hand you over to the sales team so you can leave us. I waited a few minutes only to be faced with an advert for an iPhone 4, 4S or 5 and no one from the sales team.

Loyalty means absolutely sod all these days and staff are so badly trained, aren't they Christo of O2?

DW

Hire a Car ... Passport; use your credit card ... Passport

I went organise hiring a car for a long weekend. International driving licence nit good enough he said ... but you can't get one without having a full licence ... sorry. I said i'd left my full licence at home.

Then he said, i need your passport ... gulp. I was brought ip in England and in spite of working and living abroad since 1988 i've nrver got into the hanit of carrying ID. I said, i'll bring it tomorrow without fail. IK he said!

Then i went to buy something with s credit card. No passport, no can do! Grrr!

Not complaining, just reporting.

Finally, the driving licence i thought i'd left at home turned up in my suit jacket pocket. Praise be!

UPDATE: Saturday morning and we went to collect the car, armed with passport and full driving licence. The main man wasn't there so we drove away no bother!

DW

Eye op 2

After 9 days my operated eye looks much better...

DW

Dubai Fountain

It looks to me as if there are some new moves in the Dubai Fountain. These photos hardly do it justice.

DW

Dubai Mall is Heaving

Ivam in Dubai Mall for a while and it is FULL if people. Peak tourist season.

Last time I was here they were half way through building the walkway from the Metro to the Mall ... three months later it's finished and open!

Just eaten at Just Falafel ... apart from serving chips with meals, their food is excellent. Four quid for a good, healthy meal. Dubai Mall Food Court.

DW

Someone's in a bad Mood!

Take a look

DW

Post Box

I think i've never taken a photo of a post box before just because it's there although I might be wrong!

Here's one in the hotel though that caught my eye!

DW