The Grax Domain

31 Jan 2010 Spanish Curse Words Death Metal

And now a quick, distracting thought for the day...

18 Jan 2010 Back from Argentina 2009

Hola chicos y chicas!

I'm back from my 5 weeks vacation in Argentina. I had a pretty awesome time.

Expect that my suitcase got lost during the flight.

Twice.

I'm still waiting for it now.

I'll make a vlog in the near future once I get my case back and sort out the photo loot I got from Argentina.

In the meantime, here's a little video Thought Of The Day that I did whilst trekking through one of the mature trails in Cataratas.

22 Sep 2009 I can't smoke

5 Feb 2009 The sound of snow

There's nothing quite like the satisfying crunching sound of a foot stepping onto freshly laid thick snow.

23 Sep 2008 Life skills worth having: Car mechanics

Boy I've had a very expensive week.

My car (Nissan Primera) has had a loose exhaust for nearly half a year now (or it had a hole in it, I have no idea to be honest). I didn't get it fixed immediately because I couldn't afford to and it wasn't greatly affecting my driving performance, so I thought I'd put of off for a while. Well that off-putting attitude finally caught up with me. Two weekends ago my car pretty much packed up. It wouldn't accelerate when you put your foot down on the accelerator, it actually decelerated.

So I took it to a Nissan garage, they told me there were various problems with the exhaust system, they fixed it, and then raped me for £570. It did sting and pretty much means I won't be able to afford to do anything fun for a month, but at least the car got fixed and it felt like it did when I first got the car. So all is well.

Actually no, all is not well.

A few days of driving later the "Malfunction Indicator" warning light turn on in my car. I despise the Malfunction Indicator light. It doesn't tell you anything except to take the vehicle to a Nissan garage. It pretty much says that in the car manual, word for word. So I took it back to the same Nissan garage and asked them to take alook at my car again to see if they'd missed anything.

Later that same afternoon I get a phonecall from the garage and they inform me that the exhaust catalyst part has to be replaced (or something like that). And that it'll cost me £590 to replace.

...

So I've just spent under £1,100 getting my car operational again.... I'm still pissed off about it as I write this entry.

...

If anyone tells me that I could have bought a car with that money I will slap them.

But I'm not writing here just to vent out. Here's a few tips for life that I feel the urge to speak out to everyone to try and avoid my pain.

1. If you spot that there is something wrong with your car don't put off getting it repaired. The sooner it's done, the cheaper it may be.
2. If you can avoid it, don't immediate give the garage the go-ahead to fix your vehicle. Ask around for a better quote.
3. Befriend a mechanic. That way they'll be able to fix your car cheaper and give you a more honest opinion. Even if you have to do them a favour yourself.
4. Learn some car mechanic skills. Even the basic skills would save you money and heart ache as you do it yourself.
5. While your at it, encourage your children to learn car mechanic skills. They'll thank you in the long run.

Now please excuse me while I go fume for a bit.

28 Aug 2008 What if God was a Scientist?

13 Aug 2008 Parenting thought: Be strict or they grow up stupid

I was visiting my mum last weekend for a family barbecue. There were also babies and kids there due to my brother and step sister having kids of their own. I made a comment to my brother regarding how hard it must be being strict to kids and laying down the rules for them. His reply was:

"You've got to be strict with kids. Otherwise they grow up stupid and they won't know why."

I thought about what he said and it made sense. It was a good quote I thought.

What are your thoughts on the subject? Discuss!

3 Jul 2008 Why should picture frames be plugged into the wall?

I was thinking about those picture frame that display pictures from a SD card. Initially I think they are a great idea and I would like to get one myself. Hell I even contemplated getting them as presents for my family. But there's one design flaw which really, really bugs me about them. Most picture frame models you have to plug them into the wall to keep them powered up.

Why should they be plugged into the wall sockets?

It doesn't make much sense to me. Because they have to be plugged into the wall there are only a limited number of places you can put the picture frame. And the wires are just bloody inconvenient.

Also If you keep the frame switched on all the time you're constantly draining electricity. This is not only bad for the environment but, more importantly, is costing you money to maintain.

I mean, how much power do these things need? Surely it can't be that much. I've seen models where you can charge them up via a USB cable, but that doesn't cut it for me because you still need to take the frame to some power source and plug it in.

I was thinking of another alternative source of power for SD picture frames; solar power.

Surely you can dedicate some picture frame real estate for adding solar panels. Most SD frames I've seen have a thick border, around 3 inch's. Fill up that space with solar panels, gets constant energy from a light source to keep the display going. Now you can put the SD picture frame wherever you like. Hell, why not throw in a spare USB charger for when there really is no sunlight.

Surely it can't be that hard to design and make a solar powered SD picture frame.

... Wait a second.... I've just had a brainstorm whilst writing this blog entry out...

Get a USB charging SD picture frame, get a solar panel charger that connects with a USB connector, plug one to the other and switch both on. That sounds like a good idea to me.

It's a bit of a work-around hack idea but it might do the job well enough until somebody creates a SD card picture frame with built-in solar panels. The only flaw in that plan is if the USB charging process puts the picture frame in 'sleep/charging mode and you don't actually see the picture, which would defeat the whole point of the solar power-ness of it all.

Who wants to give that hack idea a try?

22 Apr 2008 Questionable horoscope

I just so happened to noticed what my Horoscope says for the day on me iGoogle:



I may be reading too much into this but... Is it me or does today's horoscope for Cancerians sound a bit... homo-erotic?

15 Mar 2008 The most useful technique for the dancefloor

Last night I was taught one of the most incredible techniques that one can do on the dance floor to improve one's hearing and I want to share this knowledge with everyone.

I went out with some friends last night. One of them is an Austrailian girl who has done a lot of traveling in her life. Seen lots of different place around the world. Anyway we all ended up going to a random nightclub and we ended up dancing. I love the dancing part of the dance floor but when I comes to talk I find it next to impossible to hear any words due to the loud music. So when the Aussie girl was talking to (shouting at) me all I could do was the usual "What?" and grin and nod politely after not hearing a single word she said.

After a few attempts of communication the Aussie girl beckoned me close with her index finger. She took my finger and plugged my ear with with. Then she repeated herself into my plugged ear.

I could hear every word that she spoke.

The experience blew my mind.

She gave an explanation along the lines of the finger in ear blocks out the white noise and you hear the bass of the voice. Or something like that. Afterward we carried on talking on the dance floor practically next to the speakers and I was able to understand everything. It was the best conversation on the dance floor I have ever had. It doesn't matter that I don't remember what we talked about as I write this entry, the important thing is now I can enjoy stupidly loud music and a conversation.

I must test this out more. Obviously I'll have to find another way to block my ears. It doesn't look good on your part if you say "WHAT'S THAT LUV? I CAN'T HEAR YOU! HOLD ON, LET ME STICK MY FINGERS IN MY EARS!" I'm wondering if ear plugs are the way to go.

2 Feb 2008 You know you've been doing too much XML when...

13 Jan 2008 Smelly smoothie

Last week I bought myself a smoothie maker. Taking my healthy living New year's Resolution a bit too seriously I figured that I could get my 5-a-day intake by blitzing some fruit and stuff into a drink and quaff daily. Purely in the name of vitamins and minerals.

So far this week I have had a 5-a-day smoothie every day and it has been a tasty way to get my fix.

My question is despite using only fresh ingredients and the drink tasting great in the end, why does it smell bad in the smoothie maker just after the blitz? It doesn't make sense to me.

...

Yes I wash the smoothie maker before every blitz, so don't get smart with me! *points his finger*

23 Dec 2007 Is there a hair length limit for old women?

I think I've noticed a trend that's been going on with older women, particularly women over 60. It seems to be that old women hair tends to be short. Very short. As in almost as short as men's hair short (and sometimes just as masculine). It's almost as if there's a limit to how long women's hair are allowed to be when you reached 60 or more. I'm finding it more difficult to find a woman over 60 that has long grey locks of hair.

It must be from the same set of unwritten rules that state that all men over 60 must wear old McDonald style Cashmere Flat Caps.

Of course this could all be in my head and I'm just reading far too much into this like a nutter.

.... Personally I can't wait until I'm allowed to wear Cashmere Flat Caps. But I'm too young to wear them right now. Just imagine it, old man Grax wearing one of these:




Oh yush.

21 Oct 2007 Thought of the Day #7: Pimples and Self Harm?

Does it count as self harm if you squeeze a spot and it hurt but you got satisfaction from it?

26 Sep 2007 Thought of the Day #6: Not liking what you see

Could one reason why we hate our fellow man is because we see a part of ourselves that we don't like inside them?

For example, an alcoholic hates himself for drinking himself to death and becoming an asshole when drunk. So he stops drinking and is happy with himself. He then sees a stumbling drunk down the street. He instantly despises and looks down on the drunk because it reminds him of when he was just like him and he hated it. Therefore he hates him.

It makes logical sense in a unfair kind of way. Does that instantly make him a bad person for thinking such bad things?

I have moments like that sometimes. I see a certain kind of person on the street and I look down upon them automatically, without thinking. It's towards fat men, people who could be thin but are heavily padded with fat. I see myself in them. I see how fat I use to be and I get disgusted with myself. I think "Why do you choose to be this way? It's simple to be thinner. It's better to be thinner. If I can do it, then anyone can do it. God I looked hideous."

I feel bad for reacting this way. I like to think I'm being helpful but at the end of the day I'm judging them by the way they look.

I know there are other people out there in the world that look down upon others because they see negative aspects of themselves. I sometimes wonder how many there are out there and what about.

15 Jun 2007 Thought of the Day #5: Talking faster than you think.

I've started to noticed that sometimes my mouth tends to start talking before my mind has a chance to process what I actually want to say. It gets to the point where I'm correcting myself midway through my sentance. Out loud. To myself. In front of the person I'm talking to.

For example one such conversation...

"No you can't do that action this way because... Well actually maybe you could do that. All you need to do is... but wait, you still need to consider... yeah... no... yeah but no but yeah but..."

I can't be getting senile in my old age. I'm not even 25 yet.

Another thing I find annoying is thinking about something so fast that when you try to react to it by doing something you've forgotten what it was you thought about.

For example:

Me: Wow, that a great website. I should go to it right away.
Opens up a web browser and highlights address bar
Me: Right... What was it I wanted to look at again?
Mentally struggles to try and remember the web address

I think I should start writing everything I do down on paper.

6 Mar 2007 Thought of the day #4: Do fish get thirsty?

I was walking to work this morning and I saw a duck standing in a muddy puddle, taking a drink in it. I thought to myself "That's not very hygienic. it'd be better if he took a drink from the clear running river". Then a though popped into my head like a bubble:

Do fish get thirsty? In fact does any marine life get thirsty?

The reason why land lubbers become thirsty is to replenish the lost liquid levels in their bodies. Indeed sometimes there's nothing more satisfying that drinking a whole pint of cool water. However fish are constantly surrounded by water. So do they ever get the desire to down a pint? Do they ever get thirsty?

.....

No I suppose they don't.

12 Oct 2006 Thought of the day #3: Would you rather...

Would you rather have premature ejaculation or impotence?

And if you had to have them neither of them would be curable (even though it's quite possible to cure both in real life).

This question goes out to women as well as men, seeing as they have to deal with either of these situation as well.

Two extremes of the sexual frustration spectrum, yet both can be as equally devastating in a relationship.

If I had to choose one and had to keep the condition I think I'd rather have impotence. Because even if it means you can't stick it in her and the women may end up feeling 'unsexy' (I never understood why, if I didn't find them attractive in anyway I wouldn't want to see them naked let alone drop my anchor in their lagoon) the man could always redeem himself with his masterful use of his hands, fingers and tongue.

What about you lot?

Would you rather have premature ejaculation or impotence?

17 Sep 2006 Thought of the day #2: Love is...

Love is the feeling you have when your hugging the one your partner in your arms, laying in bed, and it feels so good that you don't want to possibly ruin the moment with sex.

7 Apr 2006 Thought of the day #1

It's always nice to hear from someone that you are a better and valuable person and the person who says it actually means it. It can really help turn a crappy day/week/month into something a lot more tolerable and generally puts a smile on your face. ^_^

Don't forget to say it. And don't forget to mean it.