News that seems to escape us

As we are part of the EU you would think that news such as this: EU Carbon Price Collapse. I came across it rather by chance, like most things in the news. I’ve never been a fan of carbon trading, something I did start to deal a little bit with in my time in the City. I feel it’s wrong to trade on projected figures and certain basis of well how much we pollute the planet and how much projected damage we do.

Since 2008 the price of carbon has fallen probably in line with the banking crisis to which we can attribute many drops in trading including currency. However the interesting thing with carbon trading is that in theory you are trading on thin air, to the apparent end of reducing carbon emissions. But in essence you don’t. Those countries with high carbon emissions trade with low producing countries to reduce their carbon output. So on paper they don’t produce as much carbon, but in reality they still are it just costs them to do so. But all in all it doesn’t dramatically reduce pollution. It just makes money for speculators.

I feel the same about the whole carbon foot print bollocks, I leave quite a large footprint with the mass consumer based products which I purchase, holidays I take and activities I enjoy and the number of times I fart a day. But costs and effort of me, just me reducing my carbon foot print won’t stop the ice caps melting and the polar bears losing their icy homes. Like carbon trading it’s a money making scheme, because if your quite a big polluter then you can pay to offset your carbon. Again PAY money, and where you ask does all this money go, into reducing pollution and carbon emissions well no, speculators again and the pockets of those in charge. You can’t use money to stop carbon, unless you completely restructure the way we collect and produce energy. And that, well, it won’t change anytime soon, well not when countries won’t work together and people can make huge sums from this.

Currently the EU is unable to prop up their carbon price, hence the collapse, but this will also have an effect to us here in the UK and our carbon floor tax. Introduced at the beginning of this year, this tax will leave us uncompetitive compare to other EU countries especially as the EU Carbon Price collapses. As the EU is currently refusing to prop up the EU carbon market, this means prices in the UK will be kept higher and UK companies who produce energy will face much higher tax bills than their EU counterparts. Talk about under productivity; it’s like our government like setting us up to fail on a global scale.

Anyway, rant over, for now. I have some football to go listen to and some holiday stuff to sort out. I will update you on how the holiday went next week as I have only just got back, and well I got angry by the news I saw! And the rest………

Image courtesy of gynti_46

Holiday Shopping

I very kindly took the wife to Leeds so she could buy some holiday clothes, Trinity shopping centre has only just opened and it was stupidly busy, I hated it, but obviously the wife loved it. My credit card got a right thrashing, but I did get some stuff for myself.

I must say I did much prefer shopping undercover now in Leeds, although it wasn’t raining it was a lot more sheltered although a breeze still runs through. But I did feel really crowded I don’t know whether that was because it was the weekend and so busy or because the walkways are narrower.

Because I was busy shopping in Leeds, I didn’t see Leeds get beat away by Charlton, they now go above us as we slide further down. We are currently still managerless and the fact that Warnock left still smarts many of the fans who feel like he just abandoned us because he couldn’t get us into the playoffs and promoted. I know he said he would leave if he didn’t achieve that but he could have stayed till the end of the season.

We are now floundering and we could go into the relegation area if we don’t win any more games. And judging by our past runs when we had a manager, it is quite possible. Next Saturday we are at home hosting Sheffield Wednesday another team below us and not a team we can afford to lose points to at this stage.

Just one last note, tomorrow night sees a Manchester Derby, as a Leeds fan I don’t really care who wins as I don’t like either of those teams. But Currently Manure are sat 15 points clear of Citeh and if Manure win that will take them 18 points clear. That been said even if Citeh beat Manure, they won’t catch them in the remaining games.

Booked – Holiday

We bit the bullet booked a holiday, sort of last minute, for the middle of this month to Barbados. I knew the Caribbean would be our choice and the wife chose one of the most expensive places. We are going for ten nights and got a good price, probably because its last minute. We are going next Friday so only have just over a week to get organised, fine for me, not so much my better half.

We got a great all inclusive hotel right on the beach with all the amenities you would need. The wife originally want to stay at Sandy Lane Barbados resort, you know where all the celebs go, but unfortunately it’s very expensive and although I like luxury, the tight Yorkshire man in me had to put his foot down. However our hotel is just right. I may try and get us into one of the restaurants there although they can be a bit picky on who they let in, best wear my best clothes.

Barbados, jealous much?

Barbados, jealous much?

Ten days is just about enough, I felt fourteen would just be too long, however if we get back and it’s still cold I may be rueing that decision. It’s not going to be an action packed holiday, I really am looking forward to just relaxing. The hotel has a couple of pools a swim up bar and a couple of Jacuzzis, there is also Wi-Fi throughout the hotel so I can still keep up with news and Leeds probably dismal results. The wife has already checked out to see what spa treatments are available, so I have the credit card at the ready for that and me, well I’m a simple man and the all-inclusive drinks aspect is all I need. Either a refreshing rum based cocktail or beers on tap. Oh and food, lots and lots of food as well the diet don’t count when your away.

Although it’s sunny today it’s still pretty cold and that wind is nippy, I don’t like going out in it and like many am getting tired of it all. There still could be a chance we get more snow yet so a couple of weeks away is defiantly needed.

Image of Cobblers Cove, Barbados courtesy of ITC Classics

The End Is Nigh

I’m sure you can all guess what I going to talk about today, not what I got up to this bank holiday weekend, who wants to hear about that when we have the news that Neil Warnock has left Leeds!! From the title of this post the end is nigh for Leeds this season, no chance of getting into the playoffs, now only the possibility of falling down the table unless the players pull their fingers out.

It took a whole two hours for Warnock to leave the club after our 2-1 defeat by Derby, he always said, that if he couldn’t get the club promoted he would leave which I suppose is fine, I just thought he would stick it out till the last game. Currently we are five points away from the relegation zone with only six games left we could fall into that zone.

Our next game is against Charlton, they sit below us in 16th place, two points behind with a game in hand, and then we play Sheffield Wed who are just out of the relegation zone on 47 points another club with a game in hand. We also have Burnley, who are currently a point behind and the Birmingham who are on the same points as us. The penultimate game sees us play Brighton who are currently in the playoff zone and then the final game of the season is against Watford another team in the playoff zone. Both the final games will be tough, but so will the games against Birmingham and Burnley because neither of those clubs will want to drop points so close to the end. Plus The Sheff Wed game will be another toughie if they are trying to distance themselves from the relegation zone.

I think it will be a struggle for us; we haven’t been on form recently, losing the last three games. I doubt anyone new will come in until next season, Leeds academy manager Neil Redfearn will take charge for now, until they find a successor but I just can’t see that happening until we can see where we will finish this season, hopefully not in the relegation zone.

To be fair, this finished off my bank holiday on a sour note, other than enjoying the great outdoors and a decent Sunday lunch at a nice village pub I had to do without Easter Eggs as the wife stopped me from gorging on chocolate, in an attempt to keep me healthy. However as its now Tuesday we are into a new week and month, and apparently we are now into a new healthy living phase too, which means I will be getting back on my (exercise) bike!

Practicalities of moving house

I don’t know how I get roped into this stuff, especially over a bank holiday weekend, the longest weekend we have. One of my mates has finally been able to pick up his keys for his new house; it actually went through this time, after a couple of sales had already fallen through with him. He and his wife had been living in rented accommodation, as they sold their house last year.

The house they originally wanted fell through, then another but finally they have their dream home. There was no chain on the latest property as they lady they bought of went into a home, so the house was prime to sell. A large portion of their furniture has been in storage, so on Friday I will be going with my mate to pick that up and take it to the new house. And Saturday will be spent moving the remaining furniture from their rented property.

We have arranged truck hire, which you will all be glad, I won’t be driving! Even the largest van would struggle with all the furniture, including large wardrobes, dining tables and other items. Their original house was a Victorian property with high ceilings, so their furniture was never on the small size and they had to use a truck last time, not a massive one, just one which has the height. Their new property again has lovely high ceilings so at least they know their furniture will fit. There will four of us in total moving the furniture, well guys; the girls will be ‘supervising’ their words!

When they are finally moved in and settled, we can go back to visiting their house for evenings. When they had to move into rental property, it was a lot smaller, so social events were moved here and as you know I’m not a great host so it will be good not to have that hassle any more.

Image courtesy of oldmancu

F1 Fisticuffs (Well Sort of)

The winner’s podium after Sundays F1 in Malaysian GP looked about as cheerful as someone being sent down. Well the winner and second placed anyway. It all started, at the end of the race, world champion Sebastian Vettel ignored team orders not to overtake team-mate Mark Webber who was on his way to victory.

Team orders do have a habit of fracturing teams, on Sundays F1 Mercedes also had some bad blood, when Nico Rosberg was told to back off and allow Lewis Hamilton to finish in third place. Team orders are normally strategic, depending on where team mates are in ranking and towards the end of the game. Those further back than their team mate, can be used to slow down other teams rather than concentrating about finishing further ahead.

In fact Webber normally gets shoved into those roles so that Vettel can cruise to victory. But this time Webber was ahead so perhaps the team thought that it was better for Webber to stay forward and Vettel, to ‘guard’ his position. Unfortunate Vettel does not diligently follow orders like his team mate does.

There was already a pretty frosty relationship their between both team mates, which has been on-going since they crashed into each other back in 2010 Turkish Grand Prix whilst they were both battling for pole.

I think it’s a shame that his decision to be ultimate selfish had such a negative impact on the race. I do think though, however that team orders have made the game, tamer, well from a viewer’s point of view. The team orders tend to fall on the side of safety rather than competitive racing which we have seen in the past.

One amusing highlight from the race was when Lewis Hamilton drove into the wrong pit, obviously thinking he was still at McLaren.

New Star Trek Film

I am a bit of a Star Trek geek, been watching the various guises since I was a kid, including all the films, yes I have the box sets. Anyway I am pretty excited for the latest Star Trek movie from JJ Abrams. A trailer was released last year, and another one was released this week. The release date has been moved forward for the release of Into Darkness to May 9th a whole 8 days earlier. I don’t often go to the cinema, only for films I am really excited to see, and this will be one this year.

The first reboot of Star Trek from JJ Abrams, came back in 2009, the original crew will be back for this including Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto and Simon Pegg. Staring in this latest film is Benedict Cumberbatch, from Sherlock Holmes fame, (a favourite of my other half).

Storyline from Paramount Pictures:

Anyway I am pretty excited and so will you, once you see this great trailer:

It’s that Time of Year Again – Budget Time!

I hate the budget, price of beer always goes us as does petrol the two things I use a lot of, so I wasn’t that arsed about watching the Chancellor announce this year’s budget. But as I had nothing better to do, I watched it.

Anyway for me I was glad to see that there will be some good news from this year’s budget, a 1p cut in beer and the rise in fuel duty planned for the autumn has been cancelled.I didn’t see anything about fags not that that matters to me anymore, as I am purely an herbal man only using bongs and vaporizers, which I think only have VAT on them!

As I don’t work anymore, nor do I receive benefits there really isn’t anything else which affects me per say. Well other than a rise in the overall annual limit for Individual Savings Accounts which I have. The limit will rise from £11,280 to £11,520.

Luckily I do not work anymore, I would be in the higher rate income tax bracket, which will be increasing, bringing more people into that threshold, which will be frustrating for many, especially when many aren’t getting wage rises! Inheritance tax will be from £325,000 now, it was meant to be from £329,000 from April 2015, but that has been cancelled now. Good job house prices aren’t rising at the moment.

Benefits aren’t changing much, many of the frozen or subject to a 1% rise, which to me is fair, others may not agree. However when you consider wages haven’t risen, then benefits shouldn’t go up either. Pensions will also be moving onto a flat rate as well a year earlier than originally planned, £144 a week and also a cap on social care confirmed.

One thing I am not sure about is the scheme where the government will be offering interest free loans for home buyers up to 20% of the value of new build property. The loans are only interest free for five years though and payable when the house is sold. I think it also covers property that needs restoring such as Kensington in Liverpool, where people are helped to re do abandoned houses from failed Pathfinder schemes, as long as they live in the for a certain number of years.

I think the government is hoping to boot the house building industry, but I still don’t think it will work as houses are still too expensive. Plus a lot of people I know would never buy a new build because the quality is so poor. The government should be looking at reducing house prices, I am not sure how they could do that, but they shouldn’t be artificially propping it up with these loans.

One good thing I see is that they are cutting National Insurance for businesses, this is to improve job creation, I just hope companies create jobs which are fairly paid and not cream it off for profits. I think minimum wage should be increased at the same time as this, and then it gives everyone an opportunity to have a bit more in their pockets.

There is a lot more in there, but alas I am too tired to read up on any more, time for some Xbox I think.

Thinking of Getting Away

This weather is really starting to get me down, I am really sick of the cold; wet and murkiness we have had for what seems like an eternity. Thought maybe I would just book a five day trip to Vegas, but not all the guys could afford it at the moment. We were talking in the pub on sat, but things like heating bills, food bills and the cost of fuel are hitting those who still work.

To be fair the heating bills are hitting us too, usage is creeping back up again as I check my online account. Having accesses online is great, you can keep track of what you use and how much it will cost you a lot more. But it does want me to turn down my heating to save money. I wear about three layers already at home as does the wife, can’t wait till summer when I get to see her back in the skimpy outfits. Even in bed there is no sexy lingerie plaid pj’s at the moment instead.

Anyway with the guys out for a winter break I may just treat the wife. I planned on booking a transatlantic cruise for her birthday, which is what she wanted, but she wants to take that in November, not April when her birthday is. This is because she wants to do some Christmas shopping. Anyway maybe this get away could be a birthday treat, which would be good as I haven’t got a bloody clue what to get the woman who has everything.

Just not sure where to go? Caribbean perhaps?

To be honest I can’t be arsed to follow Leeds anymore this season, all they do is fill me with disappointment. They are particularly shite at the moment, losing against Huddersfield on Saturday. We were looking at a draw after equalising, but our slow defence let them get ahead in the 86th minute which didn’t give us much time to make it up. So we are still in 10th, with the grasp of playoffs slipping further and further away. Our next game is away at Ipswich on the 30th March so we have a bit of time to recoup whilst Internationals are on.

In the Premier League it looks like Citeh are losing their grip on keeping the title, not that I doubted it. They were lucky last season to win against Manure, who in my opinion after catching the weekends game highlights against Reading was also pretty poor. Such a boring game there Manure played pretty poorly no real passion at the moment. But when the title win is pretty much tied up why would you do anything spectacular. Boring this season if you ask me. Glad Leeds isn’t in it, mainly because we’d probably get relegated again!

New Samsung Launch for the S4

There seems to be so much hype and fanfare when a new major handset is launched, I blame Apple, new handsets never got so much coverage since they started making mobile phones. Now the likes of Samsung, Nokia and HTC are also vying for the same media coverage.

Anyway last night the new Samsung Galaxy S4 was launched at New York’s Radio City (long gone are the days where a press release would suffice). The new handset doesn’t offer anything ground breaking, but does improve on the last edition and so much more on Apples iPhone 5. However there will be a new iPhone out this year, so that could surpass this one.

The Samsung Galaxy S4: The handset is 136.1 x 69.8mm x 7.9mm and weighs 130g and it has a Super OLED 441ppi, full HD 5-inch display. It is made out of polycarbonate and has metallic banding around the side. There is a 13-megapixel camera which shoots high-res shots and also records Full 1080p video. The Dual Shot camera shoots pics from the front and back and there also is updated image software and a new on board camera setup (which mimics the menu system on Samsung’s Galaxy Camera).

Inside you will find a 1.6 GHz Octa-Core Processor which is eight cores, however some territories there will be a Qualcomm Snapdragon in the S4’s. It also has 2GB of RAM, which is twice the amount you get in the iPhone 5. There are two storage size options; 16, 32 and 64GB. The S4 will run on Android Jelly Bean 4.2.1 alongside Samsung’s TouchWiz user interface, which has also been given a update. It has Wi-Fi connectivity, GPS and Bluetooth connectivity as well as an IR LED (Remote Control), MHL 2.0, Sensor Accelerometer, RGB light, Proximity, Gyro, Barometer, Temperature & Humidity sensors.

The Samsung Galaxy S4 will go on sale on 26 April and you can buy it free on the top-level contracts. Three and EE have already stated that they will stock the new handset. It will come in ‘White Frost’ and ‘Black Mist’ with additional colour options available later this year.

This will be another phone I add to my list, as I am due an upgrade. I just want to make sure the best have come out before I decide, however I just can’t see myself getting an iPhone.