Posted in September 2009

Ipods And Other Christmas Ideas

Source: hazel eyes
Friday 25th September 2009, 5:12pm

More present ideas for the Christmas season.

Now the PS3 has settled in, we turn our attention to other christmas present ideas. We have already discussed food hampers, so this time it will be more technology orientated thoughts.

Pink Ipod

I have never got around to owning an ipod so far. Now prices have come down and specs have gone up, it might be just the thing for warding off those winter chills when out and about. Simply download a bunch of tunes to the ipod and voila, portable entertainment.

Assassins Creed 2

With our current range of PS3 games slightly limited, this could be just the game to inject a bit of variety. Assassins Creed 2 has a better write up than its predecessor and should keep the PS3 in use for days on end.

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Cheap September and October Car Hire

Source: hazel eyes
Tuesday 22nd September 2009, 3:37pm

Its not too late to grab a car hire bargain in the UK, Europe and long haul.

Car Hire Bargains

There's still time to grab a cheap getaway deal in September and October. If you subscribe to the EasyCar newsletter for example, you can gain access to special discount offers not available anywhere else - even on their website.

Presently, if you're going on holiday in September or October, enter the promo code 'Autumn' to receive up to 10% discounts on car hire in the UK, Europe and further afield.

Don't Forget The Ipod Touch

Driving hundreds of miles can get a bit boring, especially for the little ones, so its imprtant to be able to have a little entertainment tucked away for when I Spy doesn't cut it any more. The ipod touch has a host of features and games to keep you entertained during the journey.

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Savings Account Plans

Source: hazel eyes
Thursday 17th September 2009, 4:56pm

In these days of recession and unemployment, its more important than ever to live within your means.

Unemployment is rising, there seems to be no apparent end to the recession yet and house repossessions are up too.

Planning your finances and ensuring that the amount of money coming in is greater than what is going out is pretty crucial at the moment.

Savings Account Plans

My financial advisor has been telling me for years that it is important to have at least 3 months worth of income put aside in a savings account. I have never quite managed it yet, every time I get close I buy something - a PS3, new telly and a motorbike in this case.

I am fortunate to be in a job where there is no immediate threat of redundancy, which is why I felt confident enough to buy those things, there was no loans taken out, everything is paid for. Over the next year or so I am planning to have replaced all of the money in the savings account, ready for the next big expense - probably a new boiler.

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New Internets

Source: hazel eyes
Tuesday 15th September 2009, 3:24pm

After years of faithful service with my ISP, the relationship has finally come to an end.

Its all change in the Hazel household. We bought a PS3 at the weekend and the router for the new internet has arrived. There is a slight delay in connecting up as the router doesn't like the phone extension socket - something to do with too much cable, and I have no wireless card in my PC to be able to connect to it when its downstairs in the primary phone socket.

My neighbour suggested Powerline as a solution. With Powerline, you plug it into a power socket and connect an ethernet cable to the device. Do this for each device you want to be on the network. It then uses the power cables in the house to connect them up in the same way as a wired network. Brilliant! And if you want to move a device, just plug it into the nearest socket. Shimples!

We still have to see if it actually works, but as my neighbour has got some of his devices on it, I've got high hopes.

The PS3 is amazing. We got Little Big Planet with it. A game for all the family. My other half is a much better gamer than me so is flitting through the levels much faster, but its still enjoyable for me to plog through, the mini levels are especially fun. Highly recommended.

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What Do You Want For Christmas?

Source: hazel eyes
Friday 11th September 2009, 4:51pm

Its nearly half way through September. Soon the Christmas decorations will be displayed in the shops and various E List celebs will be switching on 'the lights' up and down the country.

Christmas Hampers?

What do you do when someone asks the inevitable question, What do you want for Christmas? Personally I usually put off answering for as long as possible. It might be an age thing, but it's getting increasingly difficult to think of gift ideas, either for friends or for myself.

Food Hampers are one of the main contenders this year for gifts. Everyone likes food after all. The best thing about them is it's really easy to make them from scratch and customise according to each individual's taste.

No Rideout South West

As I'm not in Rideout South West any more, I won't have to worry about the Christmas party and thinking what gifts to give out. Its quite difficult to carry much on a bike.

However, doing the rounds with some nice square shaped hampers in the boot of the car sounds pretty sensible. Hampers can come in many forms. There is the traditional food & drink hamper with some nice choccies or maybe cheese with a bottle of wine, port or similar or put together your own collection of family favourites for the special occasion.

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New PS3 Purchase?

Source: hazel eyes
Tuesday 8th September 2009, 12:57pm

It looks like a PS3 purchase may be imminent, its quite exciting!

I have been gathering opinions from people at work, the internet and also discussions with my other half about getting a PS3, primarily because of its ability to function as a Blu Ray player to complement the new LCD TV.

Of course, the PS3 is first and foremost a pretty amazing bit of gaming technology. It connects wirelessly to the internet and through the Play Station Network, games and updates can be downloaded for free. You can also download photos and stuff on it through its USB port.

I'm not really much of a gamer, simple puzzle games and Suduko are about my limit, but my hubby has enjoyed games such as Grand Turismo and Lara Croft Tomb Raider in their many forms. These days, Modern Warfare 2 and Assassins Creed 2 are the games to own I'm told.

There are other blu ray players around which are cheaper, but with all its extra features, it does seem like a good option until blu ray recorders come down in price.

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Formula 1 Finale in New Abu Dhabi Circuit

Source: hazel eyes
Friday 4th September 2009, 5:10pm

The exciting climax to the Formula 1 season is to be held on a track currently under construction in Abu Dhabi.

As the Pasty Muncher has said, Abu Dhabi is hosting the last round of the Formula 1 season this year.

Many people are saying the championship will go right down to the wire this year so it should be an exciting one! The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is going to be the first ever day/night race as it starts at 5pm local time and sunset is at around 545. They already have a night race in Singapore which starts at 8pm local time, I'm not really sure why that is - think it might have something to do with European TV timings.

If you're lucky enough to be going over there, flights to Abu Dhabi take just a few hours, but they are 3hours in front of us, so it'll seem like an extremely early start for the first couple of days!

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Playstation 3 Purchase

Source: hazel eyes
Tuesday 1st September 2009, 5:03pm

Is it finally time to chuck out the old PS2 and invest in a shiny PS3?

After the purchase of the Samsung LCD TV, we now need to upgrade everything else to make the most of the hi-def splendidness.

Our DVD player is a bit old and doesn't really like playing dvd's, plus the fact its not 1080p leads me to think that maybe its time to invest. As I mentioned before the PS2 is decidedly out of date now and I'm fairly sure my hubby wouldn't object to an upgrade.

The solution to both of these problems could be a PS3. It has an integrated BluRay player, obviously a games machine, connects to the internet wirelessly and all sorts of clever features, what's not to like?Time to have a peek on a price comparison website and grab a bargain.... don't forget the HDMI leads!

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