I once dumped a girl via text message, and I'm shamed to admit it, with just a full stop.  Yes, the content consisted of the text, "." and it was pretty much the point, "full stop", "no more", "end of", "over", "period".  This was 10 years ago, I was young and this was not a long term relationship, and I know of a friend who ended a female commitment in this fashion also.  It's quick and simple way of dumping someone, and does release that built up emotion and frustration.  It also requires a period of silence thereafter, as you'd expect responses of "er, what?", "did you mean to send me a full stop", etc.  They eventually get the point.

I can imagine the media have certainly fueled the fire in which Ashley's dirty washing has been exposed on a global scale.  Read today that the 5 women who've been outed as bed conquests of the Chelsea and England International player spanning a number of years, do feel some regret about coming clean.  More than can be said for those bed sheets then.

In 2002 I worked in a bar in Chiswick with a girl who'd slept with Kian Egan from Westlife and sold story to the newspapers.  It was something that she openly said she regretted in conversation with me, and for whatever level of peer stature this brought her, I'm sure she felt that the money received didn't outweigh the long term association she had with this kiss and tell story.  Anyway, back to a more attractive celebrity, Cheryl Cole or soon to be Cheryl Tweedy perhaps.  Ashley, WTF?  Friends of mine have said that out of 10, they'd give Cheryl 1.

Why would someone earning £120,000 a week, seem to have almost everything (a working week consisting of 5 half days during the week and a full day at the weekend, involves some travel that is paid for, a lovely house and a stunning wife), stray off with women on many occasions?  Maybe there are more high profile sportsmen than just Ashley, John Terry and Tiger Woods?  It would seem that only Avram is paying for it, yet the others are paying for it with their relationships and going to rehab.

I wonder if celebrities get a discount when attending rehabilitation clinics, e.g. a celebrity referal programme.  There must be a lot of money spent in rehab.  The Bettty Ford Center may have been the popular hang out for those caught up with a narcotics addiction in Beverly Hills, whilst the sex-addiction clinics such as the exclusive Montrose Place in South Africa must be loving it.

It seems to me that most people, and I'm talking about my social media contacts who have profiles on different sites, commonly use the same photo. Now whether that's the abstract one that people wouldn't recognise you from or a media headshot in soft focus or black and white, they tend to become your web identity in its own right.

When it comes to image management of yourself, have you ever searched your name in Google Images? You can easily waste an hour searching for yourself, friends, family and colleagues, usually with an entertaining outcome. Try it now and see how you fair.

People might be concerned about high up the search results their own website is, but you need to do some SEIO, Search Engine Image Optimisation to get your good looking self up the rankings and the embarassing images down the pages.  

Actually, Google Image Search for SEIO and you can keep abreast of all the action, and SEIO Agencies could be the next big thing if you are interested in not making a right tit of yourself online.  Hope you like my made up acronym, you read it here first.

Anyway, I'm sure people search for other people before meeting them, interviewing them or even dating them. I've done it many times, even for a colleague who I was meeting once on a crowded place.

I once saw a t-shirt being sold, and guess they are all over the place now, with "you looked prettier on your MySpace [replace with social network site] page".  How true!  We're not going to put a fugly picture up now, are we.

Most tend to be (from my limited research) from; weddings, Xmas parties, birthday parties, holidays, social gatherings with friends or professional photos taken as a result of work related activities.  Notice how many have that awkwardly placed face to the edge if the photo where the ex-boyfriend/girlfriend/husband/wife once was, and has been cropped as harshly as the breakup.  Lots are of toned or tanned photos of ourselves in exotic locations and on holiday, parading our beauty in a peacock fashion.  As for those media headshots that are touched up and make people look as glamorous or as important as any CEO of a company, well, sign me up for one please. Haha.

When discussing this question with a colleague thus week, they mentioned a hillarious story of a co-worker. This employee had over a couple of years taken the 1st photo that was shot for their security pass and photoshoped their heads to be 15% larger. Over the years as people renewed their passes, people had grown bobbleheads without them even realising.

Now getting back on track abd the point of this blog post. My stock photo is of one from a holiday in Thailand, looking fresh faced, slightly tanned and a cheeky smile. Nothing wrong with that, but occasionally I get people say I look younger than I am. I best not ask the 'Guess your age to the nearest 5 years' man on Bournemouth beach to try his luck.

Challenge

So here's my challange to you, dear reader of this blog post.

1. Go to the About page on this site and take a look at the photo.
2. Now come back to this post and submit a comment of how many (whole) years difference you think there is between that photo and a recent one on this site.

Tip, the photo was taken in the month of December, so take a look at blog posts from last November 2009.

Good luck. I'm bit going to expose my true age, so your answer may offend or flatter me.  Either way, let me know what your social media profile photo age discrepancy is... and leave a comment below.

After some pre-dinner drinks and bumping into people I know and have worked with, it was time to take our front section seats for a top notch meal and a deafening mix of entertainment. Now wish I had custom earplugs made after all.

Sitting in the A section (the front 5 or 6 rows of tables) for Platinum Guests, around me sat stars of music past, present and future. As Craig David brushed past me, each direction you looked, a star or celeb sat tucking into the nosh and drinking champagne, wine and bottles of beer.

Being the only one on the table not drinking, the jug of orange juice and bottles of mineral water was just a tease. Yes, I managed the entire night not to drink alcohol, and polished off that OJ too. The MasterCard beermats were a touch and a shame I could only slip half a dozen into the jacket pocket for a future flipping video. Would have loved to have carted out a box of them for a record breaking attempt.

As the cheese board diminished around the table, the lights dimmed, and the countdown began. The 30th Brit Awards was about to start.

Check out the video below of the opening with Lily Allen making her entrance on a rocket!

Peter Kay was brilliant and I can't wait to watch the show again having taped it on Sky+ Remote Record. Unquestionably his best line quipped "What a knobhead" was after Liam Gallagher through the microphone and award into the crowd. Now apparently there was a live delay for the broadcast and the "best fucking fans in the world" was bleeped out, so producers were prepared...

However, not prepared with a spare microphone. What you didn't see was during the commercial break; the begging over the speakers for the thrown microphone to be handed back. Yes, we appreciate they are expensive, but to say that keeping it will prevent artists performing seemed a bit ill planned. Would love to have seen that and the award up on eBay.

Earls Court is pretty massive and this video below, taken during an ad break, shows the size of the place and the thousands of people up in the top tiers.

The Brits ended with Robbie Williams singing 9 songs in total, including the Take That classic 'Everything Changes'.  At 10pm with the TV cameras were no longer broadcasting, and the crowd screamed and begged for more. And Robbie responded with a fitting ending for his Outstanding Contribution award.

The Brit Awards 2010 Winners

• Brits Performance Of The Last 30 Years: Spice Girls for Wannabe/Who Do You Think You Are? (1997)
• British Male Solo Artist: Dizzee Rascal
• International Male Solo Artist: Jay-Z
• Brits Album Of The Last 30 Years: Oasis for (What's The Story) Morning Glory?
• British Breakthrough Act: JLS
• British Group: Kasabian
• International Breakthrough Act: Lady GaGa
• International Female Solo Artist: Lady GaGa
• British Female Solo Artist: Lily Allen
• International Album: Lady GaGa for The Fame
• British Single: JLS for Beat Again
• The MasterCard British Album: Florence and the Machine for Lungs
• British Producer: Paul Epworth
• Critics Choice Ellie Goulding
• Outstanding Contribution to Music: Robbie Williams

The Brit Awards 2010 Aftershow Parties

The major record labels pulled out all the stops to celebrate the night for their artists, staff and guests by hosting aftershow parties across London.

Whilst the Gold & Platinum Guests who were seated and dined during the night, could attend the aftershow party upstairs in Earls Court, the real glamour and exclusivity was to be had in venues in central and west London hosted by the labels themselves.

The dailies and evening papers on Wednesday were full of photos and gossip of who went where. It was like a roll call of A-lister music stars and TV celebs.

Universal Music seemed to pull off the biggest, and no bias just because I was there. There was in no particular order; Lady GaGa, Lily Allen, Florence Welch, Liam Gallagher, Suggsy, Courtney Love, Sting's daughter and possibly Sting himself, Ellie Goulding, Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh from Girls Aloud, Meatloaf, Sugababes, Holly Valance, Lee Ryan, Pixie Lott, Frankie Sandford And Mollie King from The Saturdays, Pixie Geldoff, Rachel Stevens and even Leigh Francis who does Bo' Selecta!  I didn't see Craaaaiiiiiiig David there though.

The venue was the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Hyde Park, Knightsbridge. The party was held in the Ballroom and Carlyle Room.  The Ballroom oozed of 24-carat gilding, breathtaking chandeliers and dramatic floor to ceiling windows.  Apparently this is where HM Queen Elizabeth II learned to dance here with her sister, the late Princess Margaret.  Click on the link and you'll see photos of the regal staircase you'd walk up after entering the exclusive red carpet entrance from Knightsbridge.

Now it was this entrance that I was almost squashed under a frenzy of paparazzi as I arrived. Seconds from stepping onto the red carpet, a car literally crossed my path and pulled up kerbside. The paps went nuts. Shouts of "it's becks" rang out, assuming it was Posh they meant. Hardly, Victoria was most likey in Milan watching David lose to Man Utd at the San Siro.

Anyway, regardless of this, the silver car door swung out and two lovely ladies stepped out, Nicola Roberts from Girls Aloud and Kimberley Walsh.  My camera was to hand anyway and whipped it out at took my own contributing flash.  Below shows that very moment.

In fact, once inside the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, I walked past the two of them having their photo taken inside.  This is the photo at that very moment, if the camerman zoomed out just 1 foot, you'd see me walking past Kimberly.

Other parties that were reported included Warner Music's Chinawhite bash which apparently had Jay-Z, but others say he was at the West End club Merah Long with JLS.

EMI entertained at the Supperclub in Notting Hill with Robbie Williams making a brief visit with girlfriend Ayda Field, and others including James Corden, Freddie Flintoff and Jamie Redknapp.

Sony BMG were at the Kensington Hotel where Alexandra Burke and apparently JLS were seen. Those JLS boys must have done rounds that night. Why not, being a Brit winner is something to show off!

Kasabian were hosting a War Child charity concert at the O2 Sheperds Bush Empire where appearances from Noel Gallagher, Cat Deeley, Jamie Winstone, Alfie Allen and Gemma Anderton showed face.

More Videos

A video summary of the night can be seen on Sky News footage.

Or watch some of the videos of the Brit Awards on the ITV website.

The Morning After

With very little sleep and residing in a budget hotel for just over 4 hours, I walked past Earls Court to jump on the tube.   The clear blue sky, near silence and crisp air was a complete contrast to the production held the night before, as seen below.

It's ironic that it was the heavy snow that had disrupted the training, and put a stop to it. The video below was my first and currently last run of the year, until further notice.

Absolutely gutted. Having lost over a stone in weight from the other 'itis illnesses before Xmas, another knocks me six. Doctor diagnosed with a confident nod before I fully explained the incident and symptoms. At the injunction of the Achilles tendon and the bone, on the heel, the inflamation was causing every footstep to send those pain receptors a nudge. Worse of all, every morning was made worse as the tendon stiffened up overnight.

Faced with another month of rest days, the options were, 1) nothing, let it heal over next 4 to 6 weeks, 2) magic gel, 3) antiflamatory drugs, 4) physiotherapy, and 5) surgery with an injection and risk of rupture and 3 months in plaster. Well the options were obvious, drugs and physio. Question is how long will this all take? One to ask Liz on Friday afternoon.

Will have to make a judgement call in March on whether to run or not. But it leaves 2 months left of training, and a sponsorship target of nearly £500 to raise. Wonder if people will sponsor me regardless at my fundraising page on Justgiving.com. Or if I make it a sponsored walk.

Part of me doesn't want this second year of injury to mean deferrment. Not even sure if you can defer your place 2 years on the trot? This is a guaranteed place and not a Gold Bond place, but raising money for the NCT charity anyway.

Any marathon runners out there with the answers, please leave a comment. I've the parents telling me I don't have to do it, and shouldn't. Any of my friends or colleagues reading this, bloody sponsor me. I'll give you a signed beermat in return.

Now for the spoiler. If you've seen the movie Ocean's Eleven, you'll have some idea of what Cirque du Soleil is. It's a musical and theatrical performance with stunning acrobatics and choreography. Without opening the complimentary programme, it's basically a love story. There's plenty of grease men if you know what I mean, but the performers were everything from small children to the most agile athletes I've seen.

After a lovely meal on the 6th floor we made our way down the Gallery level and into our private box. Behind the curtains sat an array of drinks and a bag with the programme and what appears to be a CD. We were sat up in the tiers overlooking the centre stage, and as the music started you could feel the antipication from other guests. This is going to be quite unlike any other show.

Speeding past each act, highlights included an Andy Murray lookalike get wrapped up in a fishermans net, some tiny blue kids throw some rope and cups into the air (and onto the floor, bless), the yellow dragonlike girl scurry around the floor, blokes in muscle sprayed lycra jump about a bit and throwing each other over in circles and a really wierd topless tramp wandering the stage in his grass topped trousers mumbling to himself.

The interval passes, the bloke on crutches impress us all, as does the juggler, whilst we still laugh at the comedy duo who performed earlier in the show a sketch which was much better than Tommy Cooper, but not as good as Paul Daniels. Painfully funny to watch. 

Anyway, a bit more jumping about by the red suited guys, plenty of hoolahoop spinning and flying about by the girls on a trapeze and blokes getting tangled up and almost having a smooch. Topped off by the red and gold men showing all dads in the audience how to make trips to the park so much more fun if they've got some swings.

I might not be selling it to you with this drivell, but the purpose is not to tell you every detail. Trust me, it might be a bit of a mash up of Avatar and Alice in Wonderland (as someone quoted) and on speed, but its such an aural and visual spectical that I wouldn't want to spoil it. The two singers throughout add to the atmosphere of randomness and fantasy.

As I write this on my journey home, I'm happy to say that I will now start to work on my abs. Talk about a show that gives you a guilt trip on our levels of fitness. I may have clenched the abs once or twice during the show, but it does demonstrate these performers are incredibly talented.

Highly recommended and it's worth seeing Cirque du Soleil whilst it is still running at the Royal Albert Hall in London during 2010, a perfect venue for this. I've been told that if you're in Las Vegas, then this is an absolute must see, so search for Cirque du Soleil tickets now, and treat your loved one on Valentine's day.

Now I'm very brand conscious and loyal. A colleague recently said, "Jim, you're all about the brand aren't you?" or words to that affect. Looking down at my desk, I shuffled the Apple iPhone to one side, stretched out my D&G denim legs, nudged the Prada glasses up my nose, and calmly replied, "of course". I don't deny enjoying the finer things in life, and whilst I am an early adopter for some digital gadgets, I do like to suss out the options, do my mansearch and read reviews, before paying the full premium in day or week one.

Now I have owned an Apple 20GB iPod early generation and 16GB iPod Touch. One was a present and was thrown into a bath by my son, the second a prize a won at a clients Xmas party in 2007 and sold for a £100 profit this month. With these out the way, I've gone out this month and bought a 16GB iPod Nano and got an Apple iPhone 3GS 16GB. The Nano to run with and the iPhone to play with.

But will I be rushing out to pre-order the Apple iPad touch-screen handheld computer? No. Did I end up buying the MacBook or iMac last week, as per my blog post in search of a laptop and desktop replacement? No. I actually bought a silver Sony Vaio FW51MF/H instead with a whopping 16.4 inch full HD screen. Oops, another brand purchase.

Looking at the iPad and asking myself, do I actually need it or do iWant it? The answer is neither. When you access the web, email, and Apple's apps on the iPhone or a laptop, is there really any need for a 9.7 inch screen that weighs 1.5lb and fork out another £499 for a non mobile SIM enabled iPad. I'd like to see Belkin and Exspect come up with some giant leather and clear crystal cases and accessories for a tablet that size!

Apple are pretty smart people. I mean, they've called their online music store iTunes. Some bright Californian spark must have stood up at a company meeting and said "let's call this eBook reader an iPad which users turn the pages of their purchased iBooks from the iBookstore". What a genius.

With Google launching the Nexus and trying to get books online, you can see that if you cannot beat them with one thing, join them instead. It will be interesting to see how this technology warfare pans out over the next few years between the likes of Apple, Microsoft and Google. It won't be long before Google launch a netbook or laptop to compete, offer free broadband or mobile broadband, and do your ironing.

Consumer brands like Sony, who have already an ebook reader in the market, must be shitting themselves. All that money spent on R&D, brand marketing and PR, only to see a fluffed audience be sold on a book tablet idea and then buy from the competition. Retailers like Waterstones must be rubbing their hands.

I was tempted by the Sony eBook Digital Book Reader. Slim, lightweight and sexy to look at. Everything I aspire to be. But I just don't read enough books to warrant coughing up a few hundred notes for me and worry about another bloody thing to charge up. The electric companies must be loving this cyclical power surge.

I don't know anyone who has a Kindle from Amazon nor a Sony eBook. People I know who love reading, actually love a good book. I take it that means a physical paperback. Millions of books are bought each year, but is there any point to bring out another gadget which the existing ones could potentially do?

You should be able to get the iBooks app on the Apple iPhone. Let me download digital books to my mobile and let me read them at my convenience without lugging around piece of technology in the pocket. I do that with movies and TV programmes. Then I can buy my books, movies and music in one place... not iTunes, but the Apple iStore. I'm sure it's only a matter of time.

Apple have enough money to buy iStore.com from The Information Store, Inc, and let them get on and improve asset performance, reduce cycle time and maximize return on investment for petroleum companies with their digital oilfield solutions.

Apple Store is offline retail, Apple iStore is online retail. Mr Jobs, this is a no brainer, so sort it out and let me have share of the buy out for aligning your brand identities. Invoice will be put in the post in due course or alternatively I will happily accept a lifetime of your products.

Click here to view all InterContinental Hotels & Resorts eBay Charity Auctions 

During January 2010, the largest collection of Presidential Suites and luxury suites from InterContinental Hotels & Resorts are up for auction on eBay for charity, raising money for youth charity The Prince's Trust in the UK.

Ever wanted to know what it's like to stay in the most prestigious hotels around the world?  Bid for any one of these unique offers, and lap up the luxury lifestyle in suites overlooking crystal waters, royal parks, major cities and even a mountain range.

With the bids starting at £0.99 and with no reserve, this is an amazing opportunity for two people to spend two nights accommodation and grab a Presidential Suite without the Presidential price!  These exclusive rooms are rarely on sale to the general public and normally reserved for the rich and famous.

Below is a map of the 35 suites on offer, being sold by Octopus Travel. Because the auctions are exclusive, you must become a pre-approved bidder, before you can place a bid.  Go to the auction listing you are interested in, click the link 'Email the Seller', that's octopus-travel-shop and they will send you an email once you've been approved to bid.  These auctions are already showing signs that they will raise a lot of money for The Prince's Trust.

Interactive Google Map of all the InterContinental locations

Zoom in or double click to see the locations in more detail

Click the red marker to see the name of the hotel and a link to the charity auction listing

Note, some of these locations are pretty remote, so I've used my best endeavours to locate them using the address of the hotel or cross referencing the ICH website.  Thse hotels in fantastic locations, cities and countries around the world, and to my knowledge the first map to show all the locations of these charity auctions.

Below are a list of the hotels by region, with a link to their hotel details page on the InterContinental Hotels & Resorts website.  Take a look, they have some unbelievable photos of the rooms and hotels.  Also a video conceierge which  really sells you the destination.  There is also a link to the charity auction on eBay, so make sure you take a look.

Click here to view the Octopus Travel Presidential Charity Campaign

Full list of eBay charity auctions by Name, City and Country;

ENGLAND:

• LONDON PARK LANE - Click here to bid

ITALY:

• DE LA VILLE ROME - Click here to bid

AUSTRIA:

• VIENNA - Click here to bid

FRANCE:

• PARIS LE GRAND - Click here to bid
• CANNES (CARLTON CANNES) - Click here to bid

SPAIN:

• MADRID - Click here to bid

ISRAEL:

• DAVID TEL AVIV - Click here to bid

OMAN:

• AL BUSTAN PALACE MUSCAT - Click here to bid

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES (UAE):

• ABU DHABI - Click here to bid
• DUBAI FESTIVAL CITY - Click here to bid

EGYPT:

• THE PALACE PORT GHALIB RESORT - Click here to bid
• CAIRO SEMIRAMIS - Click here to bid

LEBANON:

• MZAAR (MOUNTAIN RESORT & SPA) - Click here to bid

MAURITIUS:

• MAURITIUS RES.  BALACLAVA FORT - Click here to bid

CANADA:

• MONTREAL - Click here to bid
• TORONTO YORKVILLE - Click here to bid
• TORONTO CENTRE - Click here to bid

MEXICO:

• PRESIDENTE GUADALAJARA - Click here to bid
• PRESIDENTE COZUMEL RESORT SPA - Click here to bid

CHINA:

• SHANGHAI - Click here to bid

UNITED STATES:

• BUCKHEAD ATLANTA - Click here to bid
• HARBOR COURT BALTIMORE - Click here to bid
• NEW YORK TIMES SQUARE - Click here to bid   (Due to open July 2010)
• NEW YORK BARCLAY - Click here to bid
• MIAMI - Click here to bid
• MONTELUCIA RESORT & SPA - Click here to bid
• MARK HOPKINS SAN FRANCISCO - Click here to bid
• SAN FRANCISCO - Click here to bid
• TAMPA - Click here to bid
• THE CLEMENT MONTEREY - Click here to bid
• CHICAGO - Click here to bid
• CHICAGO O'HARE - Click here to bid
• BOSTON - Click here to bid
• THE WILLARD WASHINGTON D.C. - Click here to bid
• CLEVELAND - Click here to bid

_________________________

For more great hotel deals, click here to view over 50,000 hotel offers from Octopus Travel

But with a little deeper searching, I noticed that trusty John Lewis don't have it in stock.  On Sony Style they have some ready made FW Series models, but trying to customise one with some really decent gubbins I get a pop-up saying I can't do it.

This made me start wondering and back to Google trying to hunt for the answer.

Looking for reviews of a laptop is really hard work.  There's far too many sites quaffing a load of copy/paste shite, sorry I mean just a paragraph and the standard spec.  Not enough people who are experienced laptop and computer people giving their professional and subjective opinions.  Also there is a load of old reviews and all I want is something recent.

I found one!  Hooray, and it's with PC Pro (somewhat the name of the website implies they fit the bill).  Their Sony VAIO VGN-FW51MF/H review.  The first user comment struck me down, "Another review of an obsolete Laptop".  Thank god I didn't buy at love at first sight.  The user andyrs1 seems to know what's going down, and says that Sony are dropping this laptop.  Other people chip in saying that Sony haven't pulled their socks up and launched laptops with the new Intel Core i7 processor.

News Flash

Well they have, albeit in the US.  Website LAPTOPiNG say that  "Sony has unveiled at the ongoing 2010 CES Show three new laptops: the VAIO F multimedia notebook, and VAIO Y and Z series ultraportables." The laptops will have the new Intel Core i7 and i5 processors.

I found on the Sony Style website in the US, you can now buy the Sony VAIO F Series with Intel® Core™ i7-720QM (1.60GHz) for $1529.99 which works out at a stupidly low price of £938.50 with a US plug.

Question is, how long will it take until they launch the new Sony VAIO F Series in the UK?  This US version has Blu-Ray player and burner, something that the current FW Series doesn't have, just a player.

I could get say "what the hell, let's have a blow out and get the new Apple iMac from the Apple Store UK".  But before clicking the link, you must watch the video below, an entertaining review of the Apple iMac.

Or, if that's not your cuppa tea and more of a techie geek, then you'll enjoy this video below of Tom's Hardware managing editor Chris Angelini talking about the Intel Core i5 and i7 quad processors.  Riveting.

Well I splashed out royally once I got my email from the National Lottery, and given that I am the generous type, I wanted to make sure all my family got what they asked for in my pre-Christmas text message.

There was the responses of gloves, a book voucher, DVD, chocolate, etc, but there is always one who thinks they are funny and clever.  Well, dearest brother, touché.  He'd asked for a flatscreen TV or a corner sofa.  Normally out of the reach for most people, and myself included before the festivities peaked.

But coming into the new year, it's a different world winning on the lottery.  You can almost have anything you want, money is no object.  Therefore I set out to fulfil the wishes of my loved sibling.  Bro', I hope you enjoy.

The corner sofa was out of the question, I just can't buy that easily online and have it delivered, re-wrap it in xmas paper, etc, and post down to your country retreat.  Therefore I took the liberty of going out and buying you a flatscreen TV.

I know, you got a TV in the sales at John Lewis, but I recommend you take back that Toshiba Regza 32AV633D LCD HD Ready Digital Television, 32 Inch.  We discussed the outrageous brand premium you'd pay for a Sony television, but it's worth every penny for others to admire and compliment, as experienced with my 40" KDL-40W3000 Bravia.

Above is the TV that is coming down to you in the post.  I do expect an update on whether that HDMI cable you were thinking of buying works okay.  I've left it tuned in to the Discovery channel and some programme on tropical fish.  It comes complete with remote control, so feel free to channel hop, but don't lose it down the back of the sofa.  I can't guarantee it will be easy to find.  Rather than a thank you card, a comment below will be more than acceptable.

8 years on, I can frankly say with conviction, commuting is a bitch, no doubt about it.  Sometime last year whilst sat on a train pondering just how long I'd spent travelling to and from work.  After graduating, my life was my work, and my work was my life.  As an entrepreneur in the dotcom boom and bust, you lived for the day.  You'd never really think what was round the corner, nor how much time was eating into that precious "Me Time".

Today it's a different story.  I've grown up and have to now respect the things I'm fortunate to have; my health, my house, but most important of all, a beautiful wife and a gorgeous son.  'Me Time' has become 'Us Time' with a bit of 'Me Time' , and this year I'm going to make a resolution to get the life balance back on track.  That means leaving work on time so I can avoid the commuting nightmares on my journey home.

I once thought of keeping a diary of just how often the trains are delayed, but given that they were frequently delayed coming in and out of London, I'd lost interest due to the sheer depression it was bringing on.  If you were to consider the delays when there is snow, then you are in for a proper hiding.  It's not a pretty story.

This week, a bit of snow came down midweek.  Okay, the country had suffered from a snow battering the week before and people were thinking that things were finally getting back to normal.  But it was a only a couple of centimetres in Sussex, and looked to be about the same as I headed towards London. 

Having got to work at 8am, I'd been lucky to miss the carnage that was happening behind me.  There was a lot of annoyed and bemused people wandering Clapham Junction when I passed through.  Yet the evidence was seen in the hours to follow as people arrived late into the office or were sending emails and texts that they were still waiting at a bus stop or train station and had decided to head back home.

Now with Gatwick and City Airport cancelling flights during the day, it was clear that people had not been warned of this by the Met Office.  I was fortunate to be at Clapham Junction shortly after 6pm later that day and thought that having only 1 direct train to my local station meant I could finally get home at that earlier time promised. 

Below is the photo taken above the ticket gates at Clapham at around 6.10pm.  You'd think that you'd be in luck if you were heading to Milton Keynes with the train showing to be on time, but even that train was 30 minutes delayed as it was still on the boards.  Almost every train was delayed.  More of my precious time wasted at a train station.  To be honest, these nightmares mean that I don't get to spend more time doing stuff I want to, like seeing my family and watching my son grow up.

It makes you think that all the money invested into the train networks, why on earth are we seeing annual train fare increases?  I did some digging on the web, and found that there was news stories EVERY year talking about fare rises on the trains for the year ahead;

• 2004 "Rail fares set to increase by 9%" BBC
• 2005 'A bad day' for rail passengers BBC
• 2006 Rail fares to increase up to 9% BBC (Notice the news headline regurgitation)
• 2007 Train fare rises draw criticism BBC
• 2008 Fare increases of up to 15% anger rail passengers Guardian
• 2009 Train fares to go up in new year BBC
• 2010 Rail fares set to increase by 15 per cent in 2010 Daily Mail
• 2011 Train fare increase of ██ % is just ███████ ████████ (TBC)

I'm sure this misery is also taking days if not weeks or months off my life.  And it always seems to be Clapham Junction, 'Britain's busiest train station', that is the bane of my life.

If you about to leave work and have come to this story or have found it by browsing the web in search of why your train is delayed, I hope you get home on time.  Here is a link to the live departure board by National Rail for Clapham Junction train station.