Floody's Place

Reading FC - WTF!

2009-10-21T00:07:00.003+01:00

Not really blogged since the end of last season as it took a while to get over being so near and yet so far.

At the time it seemed that Steve Coppell leaving might be the best for all concerned, how wrong that was!

Brendan Rodgers seemed a good fit and worth the money on paper, how wrong that seems to be also?

A lot of fingers were pointed at the Chairman when the "clear out" began, wrongly in fact as these players wanted to go and with the exception of Doyle (not setting the world on fire either BTW:-)) were not worth what we got for them!

Steve Coppell had these guys punching well above their weight and it just ran out of steam.

Rodgers still had enough players at the club to at least have a run at the playoffs, it would appear that certain faces didn't fit :

Tabb

Harper

Rosenior

All superior to the replacements but were sent out on loan, others such as Marek, Gunnar etc appear to have been buried and we paid 2m for Mills (what's that about?) and then dropped him?

The experiment with the youngsters didn't last long either, more tolerance and allowances would have been given had that continued perhaps?

But no, we now have a team that appears to be unfit, confused and now utterly devoid of confidence, due to the constant changes and tactical masturbation!!

If I hear one more press conference about one up front etc etc, I'll scream!!

I'm sure Brendan Rodgers is a good guy and is a good coach, he cannot however make the team play.

Options are:

Say goodbye now before it's too late

Bring in an experienced assistant to steady the ship and keep Rodgers in place

Get relegated

Pick one and soon Mr Hammond please?

BTW taking of Mr Hammond, Mea Culpa ???

Watch this space!

Vern has had a valet !

2009-05-21T18:25:00.004+01:00

Looks a lot better !

The Royals Anti Climatic End to the Season and an Era

2009-05-20T23:32:00.007+01:00

Well it all went horribly wrong:

Reading

Matejovsky 61

1 - 2

Birmingham

Fahey 19 Phillips 60

Birmingham are promoted

3rd May 2009
KO 13:15
Ground: The Madejski Stadium
Att: 23,879

Birmingham clinched automatic promotion and confined Reading to the play-offs with a 2-1 victory at the Madejski Stadium.

Championship play-off: Reading v Burnley

Burnley 1-0 Reading

Graham Alexander sent Turf Moor wild with a 84th-minute winner from the penalty spot to give his side a precious 1-0 a dvantage in the first leg of their Coca-Cola Championship play-off semi-final against Reading.

The veteran Scot, 37, has pro ved a key figure for the Clarets during their marathon campaign and registered his 11th goal of the season after Andre Bikey had pulled back substitute Steve Thompson.

Bikey was booked for his indiscretion but was shown a straight red card in the closing stages after kicking out at Ro bbie Blake and throwin g his shirt to the gr ound in disgust as he walked off the field.

Reading 0 Burnley 2; Agg 0-3:

It has been quite a season for Burnley, who have become rather specialist when it comes to the knock-out match. Semi-finals in the Carling Cup and fifth round of the FA Cup are not bad, but this surely beats them all. Burnley haven’t been in top flight since 1976, but they are one step closer to the Premier League, goals from Martin Paterson and Steven Thompson setting up a play-off final with Sheffield United at Wembley a week on Monday.

Coppell's departure mourned by Reading

Goodbye Steve and Thanks!

Steve Coppell on Reading's current financial state: 'We've made money this year,' he said. 'We might have gambled more but this club works within its budget. There is no credit crunch here'

Reading, the football club known to older supporters as the Biscuitmen rather than the more modish Royals, were looking for crumbs of comfort yesterday after defeat in the Championship play-off semi-final by Burnley prompted the resignation of Steve Coppell as manager.

Coppell offered one reason for optimism in pointing to the club's solid financial position, which will be improved by a second and final Premier League parachute payment of £11.2m this summer. "We've made money this year," he said. "We might have gambled more but this club works within its budget. There is no credit crunch here."

Now, however, Reading face the problem familiar to all clubs relegated from the Premier League who do not make an immediate return: whether to spend the parachute money on new players or keep it for the rainy days that will surely follow if they fail again next season. The club will also have to decide whether to cash in on some of their key players such as Kevin Doyle, Stephen Hunt and Noel Hunt or try to retain their services for another push at the Premier League.

Sir John Madejski has proved a supportive owner, and although he wishes to sell the club to an even richer entrepreneur who can invest serious money, he knows that the chances of obtaining the right price are much lower as a Championship club.

For once a chairman's tribute to a departing manager sounded genuine when Madejski said yesterday: "I'd like to thank Steve sincerely for everything he has done for Reading over the last five and a half years, which has been the most successful period in the club's history." Coppell added: "I feel it's the best thing for both the club and myself for me to leave. I've thoroughly enjoyed my time as Reading manager."

The frustration for everyone at Reading has been the number of automatic promotion chances they have wasted. Always among the favourites to go up, they were second at the end of January after completing a double over eventual champions Wolves at the Madejski Stadium. That proved to be the last home win of the season, however, nine further games passing without one. Even then, victory in the final league match over Birmingham would have sufficed but Birmingham won 2-1 to return to the Premier League at the first attempt instead.

Coppell is expected to take a break rather than retire. He may have more than 1,000 games as a manager under his belt, but is still only 53, having started when Ron Noades appointed him at Crystal Palace in 1984 aged only 28 for the first of his four spells at the club. He subsequently managed Manchester City, for only 33 days, and later Brentford and Brighton, before joining Reading in October 2003 when Alan Pardew left for West Ham.

They were promoted as champions in 2006 with 106 points and then finished eighth in the Premier League, missing a place in Europe by a point. But last year they were relegated as "second season syndrome" set in.

Bookmakers have made Watford's Brendan Rodgers, a former Reading player and academy director, favourite to take over as manager, although a local newspaper poll did not mention him and had Alan Curbishley and Glenn Hoddle far ahead of the field.

One difficulty concerning the appointment is that Coppell was one of few managers to work successfully with a director of football, in Reading's case their former goalkeeper Nicky Hammond. Much will depend on whether candidates are prepared to accept him, or want to make a change.

Whoever takes over will find that the Cameroonian centre-half Andre Bikey will be unavailable for the first three games of next season and possibly more. He was yesterday charged by the Football Association with improper conduct after a wild display of dissent when sent off in the final minute of the semi-final first leg on Saturday.

Meet Vern

2009-05-17T02:35:00.006+01:00

Meet Vern the Ford Ranger Truck!

Had a small water leak to cure around the third brake light

Made a nasty mess of the headlining

Sealed around the lamp with some silicone

and now it's all good (so far:))

Down Ilinois Way

2009-04-27T23:26:00.015+01:00

President Lincoln's Neighbourhood in Springfield Illinois

On a recent trip to the States we visited the capital Springfield and the restored neighbourhood where Lincoln used to live.

As you can see his wife had quite garish taste in furnishings!!

Very interesting and free of charge !!

A lifeline for the Royals!

2009-04-27T23:16:00.004+01:00

After a run of really good away form it all comes down to the last day of the season.

It would be ironic if after last seasons relegation via goal difference, we were to be promoted the same way!!

You never know...

April form

A Coventry City D 0-0
H Sheffield Utd L 0-1
A Blackpool D 2-2
H Barnsley D 0-0
A Derby County W 2-0
A Norwich City W 2-0

Two smart headers and a very professional performance saw us beat Norwich at Carrow Rd.

This sets us up with a glimmer of hope of automatic promotion on Sunday.

Any chance of a decent player surface?

Palace 0 Reading 0 and Run of Results

2009-03-22T22:54:00.005Z

Crystal Palace 0 Reading FC 0

March 21, 2009

Steve Coppell's men had to settle for a draw away at Selhurst Park this afternoon.

Reading looked the more composed side during the first half but it was Palace who had three shots on target while their own keeper was untroubled.

The Royals started the second half brightly but failed to make the most of their chances.

Liam Rosenior was send off 27 minutes into the half for a second bookable offence leaving Reading with their backs against the wall for the last 15 minutes.

Palace threw everything into a frantic last five minutes but Reading held on and will have been glad in the end to pick up the point.

Wolves extended their lead at the top of the Championship beating Nottingham Forest 1 - 0 while Birmingham City could only manage a draw at home to Norwich.

Liam Rosenior sent off and now will be suspended for a game

7 Mar Plymouth A 2-2

10 Mar Charlton H 2-2

14 Mar Ipswich H 0-1

17 Mar Doncaster A 1-0

21 Mar Crystal Palace A 0-0

Away form good, home form causing us to blow it!

Luckily Birmingham also making a mess of things

Good to see Andy D'Urso is keeping up his standard of refereeing!

List of shocking decisions

Chris Armstrong should have gone
Clear pen for foul on David Kitson
Stephen Hunt kicked all over the place and then gets booked
Moses should have been booked for a blatant dive....
Liam Rosenior's first yellow

All in a days work for Mr D!

Championship Table

2009-03-04T10:16:00.002Z

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1	Wolverhampton	36	11	4	3	37	20	9	3	6	30	26	21	67
2	Reading	34	12	3	3	37	11	6	5	5	23	19	30	62

3	Birmingham	35	11	3	3	23	13	6	7	5	18	18	10	61
4	Cardiff	33	10	4	2	26	12	4	10	3	20	18	16	56
5	Preston	36	13	2	3	28	16	3	6	9	21	30	3	56
6	Sheff Utd	34	8	4	5	24	17	7	6	4	23	15	15	55

7	Burnley	36	9	5	4	27	21	6	5	7	23	29	0	55
8	Bristol City	35	6	9	3	24	19	8	3	6	20	18	7	54

But wait !!! Sheff Wed 1 Reading 2

2009-03-04T10:11:00.002Z

Kevin Doyle and Shane Long finally ended Reading’s depressing goal drought as Steve Coppell’s men returned to winning ways last night.

Up until Doyle popped up with his 18th goal of the season on 56 minutes, no Royals player had managed to find the net in nearly 10 hours of action.

Then with nine minutes to go, fellow Irishman Long added a second to seal victory.

Reading 0 Notts Forest 1 the last game was not as bad as it gets, this was worse!!

2009-03-04T10:02:00.003Z

Steve Coppell made three changes to Reading’s starting line-up but his side continue to falter in their push for promotion.

Apart from the first 20 mins, this was a truly awful performance.

The promotion dream is slipping, luckily all the rest of the contenders are also choking!

Wally Downes said: “There are still 13 games to go. It is a matter for us to turn things around.

“There has been no damage in the league as the other sides haven’t won, so the Forest game is just another one chalked off.

“It is a 13-game league now and if we win that league then we will be fine.”

Reading 0 Bristol City 2, as bad as it gets

2009-02-21T18:35:00.003Z

We were awful, suprised? No!

We have not actually put in a decent performance since before Christmas despite the excuses.

Today it was :

The Pitch

The Ref

The two week break

The fact that we are playing like the Wimbledon of old and we have players that are chosen regardless of how they perform of course has nothing to do with it!

The time has come to try and win a game instead of trying not to lose, use the midfield as a midfield not just an extra layer of defence(even when 2-0 down) The time has also come for the stubborn loyalty shown to certain players to end. Please remember that this type of loyalty got us relegated last season!

My thoughts on the team for Notts Forest

Goalkeeper

Marcus Hahnemann

Has his faults, but can organise and chastise the defence when required.
We also need to stop being reliant on Adam's big thumping kicks forward.

Defence

Julian Kelly

Liam Rosenior is just way off form.

Chris Armstrong

Only player to emerge from the Bristol debacle with any credit.

Michael Duberry

Playing well enough

Stefan Andre Bikey

Just play him, gives us an extra set piece threat, more experience than Alex Pearce who has done well.

Midfield

Kalifa Cisse

Will be OK if James Harper is out of his way, also carries a goal threat.

Marek Matejovsky

We need a play maker not a back passer, take the risk!

Steven Hunt

Will be OK if Marek in the side to provide service

James Henry

Adds some youth and fire, also can score goals

Forwards

Kevin Doyle

Start with him as he plays well with Noel Hunt, however if his apparent interest level does not improve...

Noel Hunt

Has some craft and plays well with Kevin Doyle

Spring and (congestion) is in the air!

2009-02-21T08:10:00.004Z

This morning is a lovely morning!

However look at the amount of trails from the air traffic, and we have another runway on the way!

Is this a good idea?

I'll send this to my MP

Food for thought

2009-02-14T09:31:00.003Z

"If the bank called in our overdraft we would be in severe difficulties."

Sir John Madejski

Reading FC BBC Article

2009-02-11T11:28:00.004Z

You can find an excellent article here on Reading's adjustment after relegation from the Premier League, and the push to get back again.

Kevin Doyle OK after head injury scare

2009-02-08T18:08:00.006Z

Kevin Doyle Ok after nasty collision with the Preston goalkeeper on Saturday in the 0 - 0 draw

Bore Draw 269 minutes without scoring!

2009-02-07T17:55:00.004Z

Reading 0-0 Preston

Reading again failed to find the net as they were held to a goalless draw at home to play-off hopefuls Preston.

After a great first half of the season, where they averaged two goals a game, the Royals have now gone 269 minutes without scoring.

Despite dominating they could not score and were denied a penalty when Youl Mawene appeared to clear Jimmy Kebe's cross-shot off the line with his hand.

John Parkin had a chance to win it for Preston he blasted his shot wide.

This is starting to look horribly like a few seasons back, no Christmas refresh, ran out of steam!

Luckily the Wolves and Brum results have not damaged us too much (so far)

I hope I'm wrong?

Herald Alternator Update, Good old eBay!

2009-02-07T13:12:00.007Z

I had been keeping an eye out for the correct alternator bracket for the Herald as I wasn't happy with the bodged up dynamo bracket.

A Dolomite 1500 was being broken for spares and I managed to buy the alternator mounting and adjusting brackets.

These as expected fitted well, and the belt adjusted correctly.

The belt pulley run also looks straight and the original belt can still be used,

Herald Next Update 8 Track!

2009-02-06T16:38:00.015Z

I have dug out an old Blaupunkt that I was given in Canada during the seventies!

It's not quite period but I think it will look quite good in the Herald :-)

I have about ten cartridges,not sure if they work or not??

Bye Bye Bobby and Graham ???

2009-02-06T16:21:00.006Z

Sad news today

Bobby Convey has left the club by mutal consent, I would like to wish him good luck for the future.

He was a major part of our initial Premier promotion team and in his pomp was an excellent player!

Still a young man, perhaps moving back to the States and becoming a major star in the MLS and rebuild his confidence for another go in Europe?

On another interesting note, Graham Murty has extended his loan at Charlton.

Liam Rosenior has looked very shaky over the past few week, and it was thought that Murty may return to the side when fit?

Perhaps there is a coaching job going at Charlton:-)

C'mon you Royals!

2009-02-06T15:56:00.007Z

After a hard fought physical battle with Wolves at the Mad Stad and then a tough 0 - 0 draw at Loftus Rd with QPR, we are still occupying second place in the Championship table.

Both games were marred by rough weather conditions and absolutely awful pitches particularly at the Mad Stad, How long can we continue to watch the level of winter football imposed on us due to the damage caused by the egg chasers? It could well cost us promotion, pay them and get them "off our land" :-)

Now, Loftus Road for our £30 ticket we got an absolutely awful restricted view seat on the left of the top tier. When booking or on the ticket the words "restricted view" of course fail to appear!!

We had a youngster with us who was very disappointed to be unable to see most of one goal...

The stewarding was some of the most ineffective and aggressive that I have experienced in some years, that's when they are not standing in the way of an already restricted view!

Beer was being consumed in plain sight of the pitch, but the stewards ands particularly the "Response Team" (bouncers??) were more interested in throwing out fans who were standing to try and watch the game from their restricted view seats and very aggressive with it!

This was not confined to Reading fans however, as we could see the same happening to QPR fans in various parts of the stadium. "Customers" are obviously not too important at Loftus Rd?

Ah well at least we didn't lose, QPR look a pretty good side and I think will be there or there abouts come the end of the season.

Current Cost Meter and Other Power Savings

2009-01-24T19:47:00.006Z

We have one of the current cost meters that are either available from e-on or for purchase direct from Current Cost or eBay.

The meter monitors domestic electricity use via a wireless connection to an inductive clamp attached to the mains cable near the electricity meter.

The unit is very easy to set up and a USB cable can be purchased for connection to your PC. Free software written by Dale Lane The software is here The cables can be purchased here

You can export the data and manipulate it however you want and even connect to the web to compare data with similar situations to your own. It really does make you think about your power usage!!

I am also using one of the e-on powerdown plugs.

This unit offers surge protection and also shuts down connected peripherals once it senses that your PC has shutdown, thus saving standby power. These are also available cheaply on eBay.

Triumph Herald Steering Wheel Change

2009-01-24T19:31:00.003Z

I managed to pick up a really nice period Mountney Steering wheel for the Herald. I found the car a little difficult to drive with the original "big" wheel. I'm currently battling with getting the horn push working. I think it looks quite snazzy!!

Reading Hanging In!

2009-01-24T19:23:00.004Z

After a disappointing 2-0 FA Cup loss away at Cardiff and then an easy 4-0 home win against Watford, followed by a 2-0 loss at Swansea it has been a mixed few weeks for the Royals.

The signing of Jay Tabb I think is a positive step, a bustling, strong and hard working player is a good addition to the squad.

Now let's get ready for what could be a season defining game against Wolves on Tuesday at the (Sir) Mad Stad!

Triumph Herald Screen Washer Conversion

2009-01-24T18:15:00.003Z

The old fashioned push screen washer pump failed on the old girl, so I spent £12 or so on eBay and converted it to electric screen washers.

The pump fits very nicely above the washer bottle and I installed a nice little switch where the old pump went. The switch almost matches the heater blower switch, so looks OK!

Reading draw at Southampton but still in second place

2008-12-29T00:25:00.008Z

Reading played out a tired draw at Southampton today, but showed great character in coming from behind late in the game to draw 1-1 with a goal from Shane Long.

Other results went our way with Birmingham drawing and Burnley losing.

A haul of 17 points out of a possible 21 over the Christmas period and retaining second place is not at all bad.

Manager Steve Coppell was disapointed with the first half performance, but pleased with the resolve that Reading showed in coming to earn the draw.

Team P Pts
Wolves 25 57
Reading 26 51
Birmingham 26 51
Cardiff 26 44
Burnley 26 43

Triumph Herald Alternator Conversion Costs So Far

2008-12-28T20:15:00.005Z

Alternator
eBay 10.00

Earth block
Screwfix 1.75

Electrical connectors
Halfords 3.00

Nuts/Bolts/Washers
Halfords 5.00

Misc (solder/metal)

5.00

Fan Belt

Total

24.75

Triumph Herald Alternator Conversion Progress(3)

2008-12-28T19:39:00.005Z

The wiring solution

I have seen various suggestions regarding the wiring for this conversion.

Here is how I have dealt with it, as mentioned previously I have used an earth block from Screwfix.

This has been mounted in a small plastic box for insulation and the ends of the wires soldered before inserting into the block.

I know it doesn't look too original, but once mounted it will be quite hard to see.

Still have to tidy up the spare black wire from the regulator box, the warning light wire.

Reading v Cardiff and Andy Hall!

2008-12-26T20:14:00.015Z

Adam Federici comes to Reading's rescue!

Was going to be the title of this post as the Reading goalkeeper scored an equaliser deep in extra time to earn Reading a draw against a well organised and very physical Cardiff City side.

However due to some questionable refereeing by Mr Andy Hall the game took on a very sinister undercurrent from the earliest few minutes.

I believe Mr Hall used to be on the Premier list :-)???

A clash beween Reading's Noel Hunt and the Cardiff right back resulted in the afore mentioned Mr Hall pushing players and sprinting into the situation as if there was a full scale brawl in place!
Cardiff sensing the referees weakness of course took full advantage for the rest of the game (who could blame them).

Mr Hall of course was not really interested in this as he had to be sure that the throw ins were taken from the right place(far more important!!)

The worst challenge of the game (please check the video Mr Hall) was the horrendous challenge by Chopra on Adam Federeci the Reading goalkeeper, makes you think a little about what Stephen Hunt was vilified for a couple pf seasons ago, as this was far worse !

Guess who score Cardiff's goal in the 89th minute?????

However a draw was probably the right result as Carfdiff had Reading pretty much worked out from the start. Perhaps Steve Coppell might have introduced Jimmy Kebe a little earlier as he caused Cardiff problems from the moment he came on.

Ah well, a draw is better than nothing and it might not look as bad later in the season, as I think Cardiff will be there or thereabouts.

There appeared to be some nasty scenes at the end between some Reading player and the Cardiff fans, but not too sure what went on..

Reading remain in second place behind Wolves and above Birmingham.

1	Wolves	25	24	57
2	Reading	25	29	50
3	Birmingham	25	11	50
4	Burnley	25	6	43
5	Cardiff City	25	10	41
6	Palace	25	11	40

Triumph Herald Alternator Conversion Progress(2)

2008-12-24T18:55:00.010Z

Alternator now in place with home made fan belt adjusting arm extension. not pretty but it works.

I also need to find a slightly longer fan belt, no luck as yet however.

All well after a test start and run without the wiring connected.

The wiring was interesting to say the least!

Most of the instructions and wiring colours on the net and various other sources do not apply to our car.

The brown and various brown variants were all to be found at the regulator box as expected.

Additionally our car had a thick yellow and a thin yellow and green coming from the alternator.

The thick yellow is to be joined to all the browns as per the usual instructions, the thin yellow and green is to be joined to the thin yellow at the regulator for the warning light.

A lot of instructions suggest either soldering the various wires or adapting the regulator as a junction box.(all good ideas BTW)

I have taken a different approach, I got an earth bar from Screwfix and joined all the wires up that way.

Something like this:

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/11385/Electrical-Supplies/Earthing/8-Way-Earth-Block

This will then be insulated by placing in a project box from Maplin:

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=1677

This will then be mounted in the space where the regulator used to live :-)

WARNING !!!

If you want to try this be very careful that the earth bar does not earth out at any point.

If it does you will be needing a fire extinguisher on the non fused Herald, be very careful!

I'm also considering the fitting of some inline fuses or maybe a small fuse box.

Triumph Herald Alternator Conversion Progress

2008-12-22T16:33:00.008Z

Right, on we go!!

Now have the bolts, spacer and washers and have managed to (bodge) fit the alternator into place.

Not the most asthetic piece of engineering I'm afraid, however the Spitfire alternator brackets or quite hard to source and as a result quite expensive!

Everything is nice and tight and the belt run is pretty straight

Could probably do with a slightly longer belt I think, had a look in Halford's today and the only ones available were either the same length or the 1500mm (a bit too long). I'll go with the original for the time being.

I now need to fashion a little piece of aluminum or steel into an extension for the fan belt adjusting bracket, and then I will then complete the wiring.

Watch this space!!

Reading Move On Up!

2008-12-20T22:58:00.006Z

Reading strolled to an easy win against Birmingham at St Andrews at lunchtime today, with goals from Noel Hunt, Kevin Doyle and Kalifa Cisse.

Birmingham's goal came from Kevin Phillips after a loss of possession on halfway.

The result was never really in doubt, Noel Hunt was suffering from concussion after an early clash of heads. The clash however didn't stop him from opening the scoring with an excellent free kick.

One of the other highlights of the performance was the distribution of Adam Federici in the Reading goal.

1	Wolves	24	24	56
2	Reading	24	29	49
3	Birmingham	24	10	47
4	Burnley	24	7	43
5	Cardiff City	24	10	40
6	Sheffield Utd	24	10	37
7	Palace	24	9	37

Triumph Herald Alternator Conversion

2008-12-18T22:18:00.010Z

So it begins, out with the old and in with the new(er)

Started with removing the dynamo (strangely enough:-))

Please note that the dynamo may foul the distributor.

Got around this by loosening it off and turning it away from the dynamo.

Be sure to mark the position of the dynamo before loosening so as not too put the timing too far out.

I put a small felt tip pen mark on an HT lead to line up with the LT lead of the distributor.

The dynamo was then removed.

Tried a few test fits of the altenator with the various parts of the existing dynamo bracket.

It would appear the best way to do this is to remove all the existing bolts etc (including the large one in the alternator and dynamo picture above) and replace them with two different size bolts and a large amount of washers to ensure all the pulleys line up.

The Herald fan belt will also now be too short, I'll pick up an new one when I get the bolts.

Triumph Herald Positive to Negative Earth Conversion

2008-12-14T13:17:00.012Z

This is how I converted my Herald to negative earth.

1. Disconnect the battery

2. Remove the battery from the tray
3. Refit the battery around the "other" way

4. Connect the terminals in the correct
configuration for negative earth

5. Swop the LT connections on the ignition coil
to also reflect negative earth configuration
(you may have starting problems if you don't)

Please go to this link where there is a basic
but very clever way of testing if the polarity
is correct. here is the test

6. Remove the large terminal from the dynamo

7. Take a piece of wire connected to the live
terminal of the battery and "flash" it on the
dynamo terminal a couple of times(it will spark)
The dynamo should now be repolarised
Refit the large terminal to the dynamo

8. Start the engine and check the charge rate
of the dynamo

In my case the dynamo charged prefectly first time, you may however need to flash it again if the charge rate is not sufficient.

My fuel gauge and wiper motor appear to work OK, I will therefore be leaving them alone!

The heater blower also appears OK, however I will swop the wiring over in the near future to see if there is any difference in the operation pos to neg.

Please don't take this method as the same in all cases, follow these steps at your own risk :-)

Coming soon "The Alternator"

Check Out Steve's Twitters

2008-12-13T23:32:00.003Z

Check this out !

2008-12-13T23:29:00.001Z

Steve Dahl poll

Herald Update

2008-12-13T23:20:00.006Z

I have purchased an alternator for the old girl, and will shortly be fitting it and converting to negative earth at the same time.

Got a very good deal on the alternator, eBay of course!

I'll publish the trials and tribulations of the conversion here in the future.

It looks as if only the heater blower, tank sender, battery and ignition coil will need reversing during the process, I think???

Try Your Luck?

2008-12-13T23:16:00.003Z

A $1m house for $50?

Try your luck at

Win a million dollar custom home for $50.00!!

Reading Now Within One Point!

2008-12-13T23:06:00.005Z

Stephen Hunt after scoring Reading's first from the spot, making up for his miss on Tuesday :-)

A fine headed second goal came from Shane Long after a cross from James Henry.

After a 2-0 win over Norwich on a really poor playing surface, Reading are now one point behind Birmingham and play them at St Andrews next week!

After also scrapping a 1-0 win over Blackpool on Tuesday it has been a pretty good week.

The quality of the last few games however shows that the number of games in the Championship ensures that the quality is not great.

Table

Table - December 13 2008
Pos	Team	P	Pts
1	Wolverhampton Wanderers	23	53
2	Birmingham City	23	47
3	Reading	23	46
4	Burnley	23	40
5	Cardiff City	23	37

Herald Update

2008-12-07T22:47:00.003Z

Did a bit more work on the Herald before the winter:

Changed leaking rocker cover gasket

Replaced the throttle cable and fitted a clip to the throttle pedal to stop the cable falling out !

Replaced the bulkhead bonnet shut weatherstrip.

Woodrow Landfair

2008-12-07T22:35:00.003Z

Here's a link to a very interesting guy and an amazing trip click here for photos

Click on the image for his homepage

And on, and on and on

2008-12-07T21:40:00.004Z

Despite yest another strange sending off, Reading gain a 1-0 away victory at Barnsley.

Steve Coppell's side dispatched Coventry City on Monday night and made it six points from six at Oakwell thanks to Brynjar Gunnarsson's winner.

A defensive howler from Dennis Souza gifted the goal to Reading, although the visitors had to battle it out a man light in the second half following Jimmy Kebe's dismissal.

The visitors did take the lead in the 64th minute after a defensive mistake from Souza left Gunnarsson to knock into the empty net.

Despite some late pressure from the hosts, Reading held on for a deserved victory.

Barnsley: Muller, Hassell, Foster, Guedes, Van Homoet (El Haimour 78), Campbell-Ryce, Colace, De Silva, Whaley (Odejayi 67), Macken (Rigters 87), Cureton.
Subs Not Used: Mostto, Coulson.

Booked: Foster, Macken.

Reading: Hahnemann, Rosenior, Duberry, Ingimarsson, Armstrong, Kebe, Cisse, Harper, Stephen Hunt, Doyle, Noel Hunt (Gunnarsson 56).
Subs Not Used: Federici, Matejovsky, Long, Henry.

Sent Off: Kebe (35).

Booked: Cisse.

Goals: Gunnarsson 64.

Att: 11,938

Ref: Clive Oliver (Northumberland).

Let's just wait for the normal Wolves implosion and see what happens !!

Keeping the pressure on them and Birmingham...

Reading FC March On!

2008-12-07T21:36:00.001Z

15 Nov	Sheff Utd	A	Championship	2-0	25,065	3	Cisse, Doyle
22 Nov	Southampton	H	Championship	1-2	23,121	3	Kebe
25 Nov	Cardiff	A	Championship	2-2	17,154	3	Doyle, Gunnarsson
1 Dec	Coventry	H	Championship	3-1	16,803	3	N. Hunt(2), Cisse

Steve Dahl

2008-12-07T18:39:00.006Z

I was very disapointed to see that Steve has been fired from his morning show on Jack FM in Chicago. I have been listening to Steve for a couple of years now, and it was one of the most entertaining shows around. Steve still has a contract with CBS for another 21/2 years, so if they don't find a proper vehicle for him, i.e. A TALK SHOW ON A TALK STATION, not the only human on a robot MOR music channel. As Steve rightly says "music is cheap"

The full story can be found here

I hope you and the team can make it back as soon as possible!

Here is a little tribute from me!

Keep checking in at www.dahl.com

Perhaps we can get him back soon....?

Barack Obama

2008-11-09T01:18:00.009Z

Pretty glad he got elected, just hope that the crap "W" leaves behind won't be insurmountable?

The $76 Billion cheque that he has to write as soon as he arrives could be the tip pf the "W" iceberg!

Here is his victory speech.

The British politicians are falling over themselves to be his buddy :-) BBC Report

Video

Good luck to him, having spent quite a bit of time in the Chicago area over the past few year, I can tell you that he was very popular locally.

More chance of a bit of peace in the world hopefully?

Reading FC and so it goes on!

2008-11-09T00:45:00.008Z

Despite the pre season loss of a number of key players, we are doing very well and are sitting a comfortable third with a great goal difference.

Kevin Doyle has kept on banging them in and has signed a new contract, he is being ably supported up front by Noel Hunt.

Jimmy Kebe is now striking fear into the hearts of fullbacks, despite being s figure of ridicule last year.

Jem Karacan is proving to be a real find, although he is being rested at the moment.

At least if/when he goes we should get a decent fee!

The match away to Bristol City last week was one of the best performances for a number of years. BBC Report

I haven't seen us control a game like that for some time, cracking goal from Cisse also.

Today's game wasn't as good a performance, but as they say it's the results that count.

Great 20 yard effort from Doyle was a highlight of the performance, a downside was the really poor performance of the officials, particularly the yellow flag assistant who could have cost us the game. Two what looked like perfectly good goals disallowed and some phantom offsides ...

I'm really starting to worry about the general level of officiating in the English game, inconsistent and gutless are just two thoughts that come to mind :-(

Derby were really awful, they look as bad if not worse than last season!

Just looking at the report on Sky's web page, and apparently John Oster came on as sub in the 60th min !!!

http://www.skysports.com/football/match_facts/0,19762,11065_2861226,00.html

BBC report

Lets keep it up!

NFL in London San Diego Chargers v New Orleans Saints

2008-10-27T00:07:00.009Z

Had a great day out at the NFL Game in London at Wembley Stadium, despite the heavy rain early in the day. We set off quite early and also attended the NFL tailgate party outside the stadium. The party had some really good New Orleans Jazz and some various NFL themed items.

The game itself was very hard fought as was expected due to the fact that whichever team lost was effectively out of contention this year.

It was my first visit to the new Wembley and we sat at one end behind the in zone, my only real criticism was the quality of the PA system, which was pretty poor, this made it hard to hear the refereeing calls etc.

The atmosphere however was fantastic!!

A good day all round with New Orleans coming out close winners 37 - 32.

Looking forward to next year!!

US Presidential Survey

2008-10-13T20:56:00.004+01:00

Come and take my survey, just a bit of fun:-)

Bottom of the page.

Kinda Worrying!!

2008-10-13T02:16:00.008+01:00

I was a little concerned at how quiet things on the investigation of the January BA Boeing 777 crash seemed, so I looked up the report after hearing the recent few mishaps with BA planes.

It would appear the crash was caused by ice in the fuel according to the report, which is kind of a worry.

Also some reports can be found here and here in regards to recent BA 777 matters and emergency landings.

NBA in the UK

2008-10-13T01:39:00.007+01:00

Popped up to London's O2 Arena to see an NBA pre-season game between, the New Jersey Nets and the Miami Heat. A very good crowd watched a pretty tame game that came to life in the fourth quarter, leading to a narrow win for the Nets 94-92 after a number of turnovers from Miami.

The atmosphere was a little lukewarm as the audience were fans of basketball rather that either of the teams. Both fairly ordinary by NBA standard, kind of a Bolton v Villa type of thing, two good teams but not world beaters.

Dom Joly however was not impressed

A highlight of the evening was a wheelchair basketball match between members of the GB Paralympic wheelchair basketball tea which was played at high speed and with no little skill.

The O2 has come a long way from being the former dome white elephant, however concessions as it seems everywhere these days were horribly expensive.

May I suggest that you frequent the Starbucks inside the main entrance to the right as they are charging their normal high street prices and not £7 for a hot dog as in some places within the venue.

There also appears to be a massive shortage of toilets, this leads to 1970's third division football ground style long queues outside the few facilities that are available.

As long as you take steps on the food and drink situation a good night out can be had at the O2.

Our new lodger :-)

2008-10-11T13:10:00.002+01:00

New inmate :-)

Saugatuck and Lake Michigan

2008-10-11T11:50:00.011+01:00

Civilised Drive Through!

Uncommon Grounds Indeed.

A Souvenir :-)

Oval Beach

The Keetwatin Martime Museum
The Suite

Main Street
The River

Deer in the Garden

Whilst we were on the last trip we took a trip up to Saugatuck, a lovely area on Lake Michigan.

We stayed at a very nice place called Bella Vita Spa and Suites, which is just off the pretty main street.

There are lovely beaches and the river is very pretty, particularly Oval Beach.

We found a brilliant little coffee shop called Uncommon Grounds, excellent coffee(roasted on site) really nice food, books and free wi-fi. What more would you need!!

There is another small town nearby called Douglas where we had an excellent dinner at The Everyday People Cafe

Auburn Cord Dusenberg Museum

2008-10-03T22:14:00.019+01:00

The Art Deco Showroom

A picture from the stairs showing an excellent view of the car and the original showroom floor.

Original Clay Model From The Thirties!

Displays of other vehicles that used to be built in the area, such as Studebaker
The preserved building sign outside the showroom in Auburn

As part of our road trip we visited the fantastic Auburn Cord Dusenberg Museum in Auburn IL

http://www.acdmuseum.org/

The museum has a fantastic display of all three marques (and other cars), and is sited at the old factory and showroom. The showroom is particularly interesting, it has been restored to it's former art deco glory. The entrance fee is very low and the whole thing is maintained by enthusiasts.

The original offices of E.L.Cord and the design offices have been restored.

There is an excellent Gordon Buehrig http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_Buehrig exhibit and also his clay models and drawings are on display along with those of the various designers of the three marques.

An excellent museum, well worth a visit!

Whilst we were there we watched the Ben Stiller film "Tropic Thunder" which was really funny.
Strange thing was there were only four people in the cinema including us, during the show the weather was so bad there was a power cut. The reason it was so quiet was that the cinema had only been open for a few days. We stayed at an any excellent Hampton Inn (also brand new) and ate at a Buffalo Wild Wings (very frendly, good food, again brand new) All three were next to each other on a new development just outsise Auburn.

Downtown Indy

2008-09-29T12:45:00.008+01:00

We stayed in downtown Indianapolis which was very nice, especially the Monument Circle area.

Stayed at the Hampton Inn Downtown, however this hotel was not up to Hampton's normal standard.

The parking guys in the area are a little over zealous, so watch out!

Indianapolis

2008-09-29T12:30:00.005+01:00

We were in the States recently and had a vew road trips out of Chicago.
One of the places we visited was Indianapolis and the Motor Speedway

Graham Hill and Jim Clark are mentioned in quite a lot of the exhibits as you would expect.

The museum is pretty good, however I would not make a special trip to see it!

Looking a lot better...

2008-09-29T12:24:00.002+01:00

Well, it's looking a lot better for Reading (at least at home:-)

Lots of goals and the football's not too bad, however we are not great away from home still.

The games at Notts Forest, Ipswich, and freak goal Watford were painful to watch!

Off we go then !!

2008-08-11T11:27:00.004+01:00

Off we went to see Reading v Notts Forest in the Championship yesterday.

As expected we were terrible!

Forest were by far the better team, thankfully they had no clue where the goal was:-)

As you would assume we have leaked several of the quality players that we had from last season and it appears that several of those left behind don't want to stay based on this performance.

Considering the complete absence of a midfield during the game, the fact that we almost snatched a result speaks volumes for the division we find ourselves in

If we don't deal with the physical nature of the championship and quickly forget the premiership we will be here a long time, added to the fact we need players and now Messers Coppell and Hammond!

Please unload players such as Cisse and Matějovský as they appear to be little use at this level, stop wasting Hunt and get a left back! You knew Shorey was going as you did with Sidwell, please don't repeat the same misplaced loyalty that cost us last season.

BTW are we ever going to see any payback from our much vaunted youth system?

You hear tell of Henry's, Karacans etc etc and and never see them in the first team, next you read that they are either out on loan or gone....

In fact if you don't want to change before it's too late why don't you both consider your positions and let someone else have a go who is not scared to fail?

A little strong maybe, but you had to be there and see how bad it was, it looked like they picked the team in the car park and had never met before!

Onto the Plymouth game and hopefully a turning point:-)

Interesting Radio Stations and Personalities

2008-07-19T23:49:00.004+01:00

I listen to a few US radio stations that are available on the net, very entertaining:

The Steve Dahl Show on Jack FM Chicago

Steve is the guy back in the 70's that was responsible for "Disco Demolition"

The David Stein Show, Syndicated but can be found on WSCR The Score Chicago, David is an interesting guy

WBBM780 News Radio Chicago

I picked these shows up during my visits to Chicago, enjoy :-)

Terminal 5 update

2008-07-19T18:33:00.002+01:00

After writing a very strong letter to BA I received a pop up letter of apology, and this was all I was expecting.

To my surprise I also got a call from a very nice lady from Willie Walsh's office (apparently), the result was that I got an apology and a voucher.

I was offered Air Miles, however as everyone knows BA miles are about as much use as a chocolate fireguard!

Has a chance to vent about BA, which was probably more value than the voucher:-)

At least they did something I guess, still don't like them however...

Herald Update

2008-07-19T17:49:00.011+01:00

Finished sorting out the tiny bit of surface rust under the front footwell carpets.

Only reason it was actually there was that the floor grommets has been pushed through into the car. These were refitted and sealed with silicon sealer, the floor treated with Kurust and a little matt black paint appled to seal it all up.

Made some temporary repairs to the seats and had a go at putting the carpet in a little more tidily.

The kick panels however are not right for the car, fitted them in temporarily until we can either make or buy some replacements.

As you can see the seats are still leaking foam, once again another job for after the MOT.

My Dad popped up and supervised proceedings:-)

We took her on a run of about 25 miles, performance was very good.

Small oil leak from the rocker cover gasket, needs sorting after the pre-MOT.

Fingers crossed!

Triumph Herald

2008-06-27T19:11:00.005+01:00

We have a 1966 Triumph Herald which we are currently working on as the MOT is due soon.

Things to do:

Sort out ignition switch

Attend to very slight surface rust on floors

Replace seatbelts

Fit electric washer pump

Sort out perished foam on fron seats

Will keep you posted on the progess

Some information on the Herald

Freesat and HD

2008-06-27T14:24:00.000+01:00

Got one of the new Freesat HD boxes the BFSAT01HD from Bush a handy tip, most people who have Sky+ and multiroom will have a quad LNB fitted to their satellite dish.

Sky+ and multiroom only take up three of the LNB outputs, this leaves one to be used for freesat

The Bush box states in the specification that it has an LNB passthrough meaning that you can use both the Bush and Sky boxes from the same LNB output, beware opf this as it didn't work me and others.

If you don't want to go to the trouble of running an extra cable from your dish, you can use one of the switchable satellite switches from somewhere like Maplin.

The most satisfactory way is however to run an extra cable and is well worth the trouble.

Cable lengths can be purchased on eBay, I bought mine via a particularly good vendor there called uksatellitecompanyltd very fast delivery and good communication and advice.

The box itself is more or less the same as the Grundig model (same manufacturer) a little basic but functional, EPG good and esy to use. I would recommend this box, my only criticism is that it runs a little hot.

Not a great deal of HD as yet, but if this is a sign of things to come and with the economy heading the way it is, this could be an alternative to the high cost of Sky.

Tevion Internet Radio and Media Streamer

2008-06-26T18:45:00.001+01:00

Bought one of these a few months ago from Aldi and have been very happy with until about a week ago when the Internet part of the radio failed.

I must say I was very impressed with the level of support, it was agreed to replace the radio straight away, I'm now waiting for the replacement to arrive. I must say I miss the little gadget and will be pleased when it comes back:-)

The Internet portion of the radio works via the Reciva portal, the portal is very efficient and easy to use, as is the radio.

The streaming media portion of the radio is very flexible, the radio will also use WPA with a firmware upgrade.

Day on a boat

2008-06-16T23:47:00.004+01:00

We had an excellent day on our friends boat on Sunday.

Travelled up the Thames from Staines to Kingston.

Lovely weather, great food, good company.

Terminal 5 Revisited

2008-06-06T20:34:00.003+01:00

Well !

I had to give to give T5 another spin on a trip to Budapest.

A bit better but:

Miles to get to the departure gate

Still 20 mins waiting for the jetty to get off

Miles to get back from the arrival gate

Lifts still not working

Still not great :-(

I have now written to Mr Walsh about the whole thing, being as BA have no interest in their customers, I don't expect to hear back!

Tivo and Comcast in the States

2008-05-26T19:12:00.003+01:00

Wouldn't it be nice if Tivo and NTL could get together?

I think we all know why they can't, or do we?

Comcast are happy to do a deal in the States

A poll can be found here to show that an appetite for a Tivo return to the UK

For those of you that are still messing about with UK series 1 Thomson Tivo boxes!

2008-05-26T18:36:00.010+01:00

As you probably know if you remove the drive from one of these units and attach it your PC via USB it will normally lock you out.

This means you are unable to copy the drive with e.g. winmfs.

I know you can attach the drive to an IDE channel on your PC, however I can't be bothered to take my PC apart each time to use qunlock.

The following worked for me:

Remove the top from your Tivo, reconnect the machine to the power connection with the lid off and power the machine up. Once it is fully powered up, diconnect the IDE connection and substitute your IDE to USB adaptor without powering down the Tivo.

By using this method, the Tivo unlocked the drive for me and as it was not powered down it connected to my PC in an unlocked state. I could then use winmfs to copy the drive.

The drive I was copying was a Quantum Fireball 40GB, however this should work with may drive?

A note of caution:

Working on the Tivo with the lid off is very dangerous and not recommended, this post is not suggesting that you do this. Any use of these suggestions are at you own risk and responsibility, In other words, DON'T DO IT !!

Very Funny ! (beware swear word)

2008-05-18T22:03:00.004+01:00

Tommy Burns RIP

2008-05-18T21:50:00.004+01:00

Very sad to see the passing of Celtic and Scotland legend Tommy Burns.

Tommy had a spell as Reading FC Manager, always struck me as a good honest guy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mMORSrr-sg

Finally, on a sad note

2008-05-18T11:56:00.007+01:00

Off we went to Derby last week full of optimism that we might make an undeserved escape from the Premier League trap door. In the end a header from that towering powerhouse Danny Murphy kept "Woy's" Fulham up by outjumping the supposed giant Pompey defence(cheers Harry!) and down we went :-(

A real shame really because I'm pretty sure we would have stayed up next season due to the quaulity of what is coming up!

Where do you start:

Lack of investment in players

The ones we did buy were awful and a real waste of money

Tactical errors and conservatism when a gamble was required

Players signing lucrative contracts and then not performing once the money was in the bank

Players once gaining a little recognition than thinking they are too big for the club!

Others also refusing to play for the reserves when requested by a manager who basically created one of said player from scratch!!

A forward being loaned out when we needed goals!

However when it comes down to it, the players just didn't perform.

Lets see how many of the "loyal" players jump ship

The manager should stay and correct the situation

But what do I know :-)

Trump That

2008-05-18T11:38:00.006+01:00

We spent a few days in Chicago, some of the time was spent down a the lakefront in Grant Park which offers great views of the city.

Since our last visit the new Trump building is now very visible on the skyline

.

Things of Beauty

2008-05-18T11:33:00.003+01:00

The next day we were walking in Naperville and spotted these beauties!

Starved Rock

2008-05-18T11:23:00.006+01:00

Whist I'm catching up on a few things, here are a few pictures from our visit to Starved Rock National Park in Utica IL.

Had a really nice walk and lunch, Starved Rock really is a lovely place to visit and relax

The End

2008-05-18T11:07:00.009+01:00

I just noticed the news that the car spindle/kebab made famous by the "Wayne's World" film has been demolished.

Stories can be found here and
here

It was for sale on eBay at one point, listing can be found here

Karen and I visited it recently on our trip just in time it would appear :-)

New Paint Scheme Suggestion For BA?

2008-05-17T03:12:00.002+01:00

See title :-)

United Airlines

2008-05-17T03:09:00.002+01:00

Here's what you get on a quality airline, didn't lose my luggage and great service, including being on time!

BBC and Terminal 5 Interviews

2008-05-17T02:09:00.010+01:00

A busy day BA announced their huge profit, and Mr Willy Walsh announced that due to the T5 disaster he will not be taking his £700K bonus.

The BBC called on yours truly for comments and I did three radio interviews, two on BBC Radio Five Live (Breakfast and Victoria Derbyshire) and one on Radio Wales Breakfast Show. I think I'm going to need an agent :-)

No contact as yet from BA in regards to compensation or even an apology however :-(

Here are the interviews if you are really bored!

2008-04-30T04:41:00.004+01:00

A Radio Four documentary regarding the T5 debacle in which a colleague and took part can be found here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/mainframe.shtml?http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/radio4_aod.shtml?radio4/fileon4

Terminal 5

2008-04-14T18:53:00.006+01:00

I was a victim of the opening day at T5 !

They lost my luggage and I had to spend six days working in Istanbul with practically nothing.

Do BA care ?

Here's the story:

I travelled from Terminal 5 on Thursday 27th March(opening day)

From the moment I arrived at the terminal it was chaos. I checked my bag at around 13:15 for my flight to Istanbul at 16:00 and was given no indication of any problems.

After passing through security where no one appeared to know if they should be using the finger print and camera equipment.

I found the design of the terminal from a passenger point of view to be terrible. Unless you are in a food franchise or a shop there is hardly any room to sit and a lack of flight boards in sensible places. The toilet facilities are tiny.

After getting some food and drink we arrived at the gate (nowhere to sit)in good time and found more chaos. Our plane was at the gate but the passengers from the previous flight were unable to get off due to the guidance system being broken and no steps for the passengers to deplane.

I overheard the BA staff say that the passengers hads been stuck on the plane for over an hour. We were told to come back to the gate at for a departure at 17:00.

The staff were having to refer to instruction manuals to use the gate equipment etc, apparently due training being too early prior to occupation of the terminal.

The sames issues were happening to other flights, this resulted in hundreds of people queuing at the BA customer service desk, BA staff all around the terminal had no information to provide to passengers.

We returned to the gate to board our flight and were still left waiting for some time.

Once we passed through the gate(escalators and lifts not working) with the staff still unsure how to work the equipment and also trying to accommodate wheelchair and disabled passengers with the all the facilities problems.

As we boarded we were assured that our luggage waqs on the flight by the gate staff despite n ot seeing it actually being loaded.

The flight left the gate considerably late and joined the usual Heathrow traffic jam prior to take off. Whilst we were waiting to take off the Captain also confirmed that the baggage was indeed loaded.

Upon arrival at Istanbul it was found that no luggage was loaded on the flight, apparently the earlier BA flight from Heathrow also had no luggage, so we were lied to on a couple of occasions!

No BA staff were to be found at Istanbul,it was left to three ladies in the baggage claim to deal with an entire flight of angry and tired BA passengers for the second time in one day.

The passengers included the Brazilian swimming team who had lost all their equipment in the fiasco. We eventually left the airport 2 hours after landing with no luggage.

I was working an important ICT project over the weekend and had to take time to go and buy some replacement clothes.

I am now back in the UK and my luggage arrived after a nine day trip, looking at the labels attached it would appear that it also has been to Istanbul and back!

On my return to Heathrow once again the lifts were not working!

Turkey

2008-03-23T16:07:00.004Z

Not posted anything for quite a while, I have been working in Turkey for the last six months.

The job has been an interesting experience on a lot of levels.

Home again (eventually)

2007-09-29T23:59:00.001+01:00

We are now back after having a spent two hours plus on the runway at O'Hare due to weather radar failure. Its wet and cold here :-(

Its been a wonderful adventure and I will be creating a web site to bore everyone with :-)

Karen killed some time having a look in the cockpit whilst we waited for the radar to be fixed !!

Some pictures of Captain Willy and his co pilot of the 777 can be seen above.

The Last Night Down Under ????!!!

2007-09-28T03:20:00.001+01:00

Our last evening in the States and we went to an Australian Steak House !!

Lovely sunset the last two nights as you can see, back home tomorrow sigh...

Downtown Chicago and the end of 66 !

2007-09-24T22:48:00.000+01:00

We (well Karen) drove into downtown Chicago today, the weather was great and we managed to officially finish the Route 66 wrong way round trip !!

Since our last visit Trump towers is nearing completion and we had some fun at Millenium Park, along with window shopping in Michigan Ave where I had a play with an IPhone (very impressive !!)

MSL Sunday

2007-09-24T03:08:00.001+01:00

I went to see the Chicago Fire V DC United in the MSL today.

Really nice new stadium, great atmosphere, Chicago should have won !!

Me and Jim Belushi have something in common, it was his first MSL game as well :-)

Showtime !!

2007-09-21T23:11:00.001+01:00

We went back to Chicagoland Raceway today to the Good Guys national hot rod and custom show. Fantastic line up of cars as you can see by the photos.

Vroom !!

2007-09-21T01:33:00.001+01:00

Karen had her Nascar "Rookie Day" at Chicagoland Speedway which was fantastic and very professionally run.

Outdoor World

2007-09-21T01:23:00.001+01:00

Been taking it easy for a few days, had a look at a giant new shopping mall in the local area and had a long walk at the lovely Naperville Riverside.

Particularly interesting was the Bass Pro outdoor world shop, which has everything you need for any outdoor pursuit on a giant scale !!

P.S we have changed the car for a smaller model now we are not travelling such large distances.

"Take Me Out to the Ball Game"

2007-09-16T15:52:00.001+01:00

We were very kindly invited and taken to see the Chicago White Sox play Baseball at US Cellular Park. We were hoping to be lucky and see Jim Thome hit his 500th home run, however it wasn't to be his night !

It was a very close game which the White Sox lost 2-1 to the Angels. the evening concluded with a superb firework display

A most enjoyable evening all round :-)

The end of the road :-)

2007-09-15T05:46:00.001+01:00

We spent quite a lot of time in St Louis this morning particularly at the riverfront and the arch. Afterwards we set off on Route 66 at the Chain of Rocks bridge from both the Missouri and Illinois ends, we also visited the famous Ted Drewe frozen custard stand. We alternated between Route 66 and the Interstate and ended up in Naperville at around 9:30pm, tired but happy. We will calculate how many miles we have covered over the past two weeks, a rough estimate at this point is around 2,800 !!! Going to have a rest for the next few days :-)

Now you go through St. Louie

2007-09-14T02:46:00.001+01:00

Made our way up from Memphis to St Louis today, really nice weather all the way along with some very odd place names :-)

We saw a mileage sign post when we stopped for lunch which brought home how far we have actually travelled !!

Our Hotel in St Louis is near the Ballpark, Riverfront and the Arch, we had a nice meal down on the Riverfront.

Last leg into Chicago tomorrow...

And finally

2007-09-13T05:12:00.001+01:00

We have just had a great evening, nice dinner and watched the amazing Beale St bike night.

The most amazing sight, we didn't take any pictures but I borrowed one from here http://www.pbase.com/bpowell/image/64960291 that gives you the idea, fantastic !!

Night !!

Walking in Memphis

2007-09-13T01:37:00.001+01:00

We had another really great day today !

Our travels today covered Graceland, Sun Studios and the Lorraine Motel amongst others.

The weather was very good once again, we will go out for a meal and listen to some music in Beale Street, which is already busy and full of Harleys as it is "bike night"

Off to St Louis tomorrow.

(PLEASE CLICK PICTURES FOR LARGE SIZE VIEW)

What a great day !!

2007-09-12T00:44:00.001+01:00

We drove down from Springfield through the Ozarks and arrived at Memphis at around 14:30 local time, a drive of around five hours as no interstate was involved. The weather was glorious all the way and we had a Wal Mart on the move lunch at 65mph or so :-)

Quite sad over here today as all the flags were at half mast for 911.

Memphis so far is brilliant, we have seen the march of the ducks at the Peabody (see the video) and we had a good look around Beale St. Yes we are off to Graceland tomorrow for the VIP tour (got to really :-)) We will then try and fit in Sun Studios and the Lorraine Motel as we are here for two days.

More tomorrow !!

P.S. I have adjusted the time of the blog to US time as things were appearing a day early under UK time.

Nothing Too Exciting

2007-09-11T02:43:00.001+01:00

We travelled through Oklahoma, Kansas and part of Missouri today.

Not the most exciting day of the trip, but it didn't rain :-)

Bit of car trouble, looks like we have a slow puncture :-(

Off to Memphis tomorrow :-)

Wet Wet Wet

2007-09-10T04:35:00.001+01:00

Very rainy trip on the run between Amarillo and Oklahoma City, managed to take a look at a couple of the towns and museums along the way. We also met a couple of fellow Brit 66ers as soon as we arrived in Oklahoma it stopped raining !!

Show Me The Way To Amarillo

2007-09-09T00:56:00.003+01:00

Today's little jaunt took us from Santa Fe to Amarillo via Santa Rosa, Adrian (1/2 way), Tucumcari.

We were concerned about the bad weather but it appears we are following it so far :-)

The Route 66 museum and the Cadillac Ranch were the main items of note today.

Once again the scenery changed from state to state and the plains coming into Texas stretch as far as the eye can see.

Fiesta !!

2007-09-08T00:19:00.001+01:00

We have spent the day in Santa Fe old town where it is the annual festival, it has been a riot of music, colour and food
A really enjoyable and relaxing day :-)
We may however need to change our plans as there is severe weather in Oklahoma and the Texas panhandle. More to follow !!

Down (New) Mexico Way !

2007-09-07T06:16:00.001+01:00

We left Holbrook and the Wigwams behind and via the Petrified Forest, the Painted Desert and Gallup amongst others we are now in Santa Fe. The Painted Desert is absolutely wonderful and one of the most unusual things we have ever seen !

The Pictures

1/ Shows the bed of the original Route 66 that has now returned to nature, you can see where it used to be by using the line of telegraph poles as a guide.

2 and 3/ Show the painted desert but don't do it justice !!

Now in Santa Fe for a couple of days.

Inside the Wigwam Village

2007-09-06T17:03:00.003+01:00

Just a few shots of the inside of the Wigwam Motel and surroundings.

Small Town USA

2007-09-06T05:03:00.001+01:00

Making our way from Flagstaff Arizona along Route 66 to Holbrook and the Wigwam Motel via Walnut Canyon National Monument. The Canyon was fantastic but involved a two mile walk and a climb of a few thousand feet out of the Canyon. We also passed the famous Jack Rabbit trading post and the meteor crater on the way to Winslow. Winslow still retains a lot of the old Route 66 charm. We ended the day at Holbrook and the Wigwam Motel. Tomorrow Santa Fe !!

And finally

2007-09-05T07:45:00.001+01:00

We are getting used to driving the Yukon beast !!

The fuel consumption is really horrible, I don't event want to mention figures at this point.

Off to Holbrook and the Wigwam Motel for the night tomorrow.