Pointless rant corner

Last week NASA released the Columbia Crew Survival Investigation Report, a comprehensive document detailing the Columbia shuttle tragedy of 2003 and ultimately concluding it was ‘not survivable’. At 400 pages it’s pretty beefy but I ran through it last weekend.

The wife and I have a problem. We just don't like the same kind of films. I like a good Mafia film such as Casino and Goodfellas as they tend to be based on true events, have some brutal moments without being over the top on gore like in a horror, and they hold a level of suspense that keeps you on the edge of your seat while you wait to see who's next for getting plugged in the back of the head.

The wife however likes a chick-flick rom-com and cannot tolerate any level of suspense or violence. Herein lies the dilemma as neither of us can generally abide being in the same room while the other watches their film of choice.

Christmas huh?

Well thank phook that's over for another year.

It's no secret that the older you get the more of a pain in the trousers the whole thing actually is....

Well, it appears to be that time of year when, for some strange reason, we place the dying top two metres of a fir tree in one corner of the living room, string a hundred white LED lights around it and cover it in glittery tat.

It always seems to be a strange thing to do and I'm not entirely sure why it's done although there is a long winded Wikipedia article here that I can't be bothered to read fully, but it looks like there's a load of argument from various religious corners as to why a Christmas tree is wrong.

Religious people sure suck all the fun out of Christmas.

I don't know where these guys got my address from but I like their style. If you're gonna send junk mail, you may as well make it humorous...

I hate eBay.

I never used to – in fact, when I ran my business it was a handy outlet for shifting unsold stock, part exchanged hardware and faulty goods for spares or repairs that would otherwise have been thrown away. It was also a useful resource for picking up obsolete parts. In fact, over several years I traded a few thousand pounds worth of goods. It's not a massive amount and I was certainly no power seller, but it was a profitable partnership between me and eBay that worked out for all concerned.

But then the rot started....