The Geeky Brit

So over the past year I have shelled out a lot of moola on my trusty old Toyota Corolla. It seemed to be going through a phase where everything needed fixing at some point or another. After the last visit to the service center and a quote for $500 to fix a few things, I decided to get a second and third opinion – yet these opinions matched the original. I worked it out that I was spending $350 a month on maintenance, as well as my car payment. I spoke to Toyota about this a few months ago, and they said this car will last me a long time… When I pointed out my exuberant payments on maintenance, they assured me this was a passing phase. Well, $2000 later, I feel like a sucker.

I drive 30000 miles per year, and I cannot afford the type of maintenance schedule my Corolla seems to need. I asked Toyota if it was best to buy a new car… And they said no. I did the math, and figured out it would be, as I had some additional very expensive maintenance items due (Breaks and Strut replacement). Toyota lost out on a car sale because they were too kean to take my money for maintenance. Now I know the dealerships make more money in the service centers than selling a car but still…

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Fraud Costs Bank $7.1 Billion – New York Times:
I have had 3 people come up to me this morning, and ask me what I am doing with the 7.1 Billion I have defrauded out of the bank. Apparently the perpetrator, Jerome Kerviel, looks very much like me.
Usually when something like this happens, you check it out, and end up thinking that there is not really any similarity at all. In this case, I was like wow. It almost is me:

My lovely wife and I had a lovely time this weekend in Disneyland. Our plan was to hit the usual stuff if we could, California Screamin’, Space Mountain, Indy etc. But we also wanted to go on a few rides and see some shows that we have done before…

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I have found the UK Government department that really deserves recognizing for their speed and efficiency.

My lovely wife and I are planning a wonderful trip to Australia and New Zealand later this year. My UK passport was due to expire in early 2008, but it was advised that we have at least 6 months left on a passport from date of entry into Australia.

So last Monday I sent my application second day air to the British Embassy in Washington DC. Yesterday, I received a phone call from UPS saying I needed to be at home to take delivery of a “sign on delivery” package, on Monday morning. I could not believe, that they had processed my package so fast. So I was expecting a nice (blunt) letter that told me how I had filled in my application wrong, and how to re-apply. I even joked with my lovely wife how amazing it would be if it was actually my completed passport.

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