As you may already know, I met the queen earlier this year. It was such a great experience that last weekend I took the opportunity to spend a day at the races in her presence at Royal Ascot!

An article in the Sunday Times described the socio-economic demographic of Ascot visitors as a blend of the 'Haves' and the 'Chavs'. Although not obviously belonging to either of these groups, I can see what the Times was getting at.

Ascot is no longer the place to take Eliza Doolittle in pursuit of good grammar. Pursuit of a good gram a' coke is more like it. Most of the patrons of the "Silver Paddock", where we spent the day, had their tickets tattooed on their arms…

But I digress - the experience was brilliant fun and a great day out no matter whether you're a "Have" or a "Chav" or somewhere in between (and to my mind the two groups aren't mutually exclusive). A flutter at the races, in the presence of the queen, is the quintessential 'English' experience.

Here's the good, the bad and the ugly…

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Just returned form another cycling trip - this time in Poland around the Tatra mountain range and border with Slovakia.

We flew into Krakow and stayed in the city for one night at the beginning and at the end of our 1 week stay. It's a pretty city; not too dissimilar from other Eastern European cities in so much as the city-centre squares that, over the years have witnessed such political, economic, social and religious turmoil, now fall victim to Britain's latest export - "The Stag-do." And whilst the purpose of this blog was not to rant, can I just say that it's bad enough that "booze-britain" is a recognised anti-social phenomenon in this country; so let's not take a perverse pride in turning that into a global reputation. "Stag dos should stay in Britain!", subject for a future blog no doubt.

Krakow, was interesting, but the remote Tatra Mountains and their surrounding countryside were worlds apart.The countryside at this time of year is simply breath-taking - and the strip farming regime using horse drawn ploughs and carts, transports you to a time a century or so ago when cars, electricity, and cycling helmets weren't even dreamed-of. It was strange to think that although I felt I was looking at scenes from a past era, this sustainable, environmentally friendly, self-sufficient approach to life could also, quite easily, be a glimpse of our future.

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Whilst my gorgeous wife Michelle was away in Milan this weekend visiting a friend, I decided to take the opportunity to spend some time at Dusk Till Dawn, the new poker club in Nottingham (I've written about the idea behind DTD, but that was before it was finished and opened).  I've been a few times before, but as I was home alone, I decided I'd become nocturnal for the weekend and play a couple of decent sessions on the cash tables.

Dusk Till Dawn - The Club 

The Dusk Till Dawn poker club (DTD) was the brainchild of Rob Yong, and many poker players agree that it's the best poker room in Europe.  I don't have a great deal of experience playing live, so I'm not the best judge - but it's certainly a step up from any card room at any casino I've been to. 

Fortunately for me, DTD is in Rob's hometown of Nottingham, and so only half an hour from me.  Rob not only ploughed in millions of his own money into the club, he had to spend several years fighting the opposition to the club from several of the large casino chains.  You can read the story of how DTD came to be on Rob's thread on the blonde poker forum.  It's well worth a read.

But anyway, back to the card room itself. 

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Ever since I read about the Power of Munty I have been very aware of the potential for evil that lurks in all toys. In a Galway toyshop I came across a toy that's equally as disturbing as Munty, but in a very different way.

Maude doesn't get inside your head, the way I imagine Munty would. Maude's the type that hops off the bed-side chair in the middle of the night, crawls up inside the the duvet, and cackles in your ear as you desperately hope the nail scissors are locked inside the bathroom the cabinet…

Erm… anyway, millions of kids will be spared that fate this Christmas as I bought Maude and dropped her over the side of the boat into Irish channel on my way home. Must go, lots to do before bed… and I think a pipe may be leaking 'cos there's a small pool of water on the floor… that's funny, tastes like salt water… [evil cackle]

Stephen King - you have nothing to fear

I've had a few issues with my wireless internet connection at home.  I tell a lie, I've had a lot of issues with it.  

Problems setting up my wireless connection

First of all, it took me ages to get the thing to work.  My laptop could see all the other wireless connections in the street, and some from a few streets down as well probably - but couldn't see the one a few feet away from it.

After playing around with it (when I say play, there was no fun element involved) for what must total up to be quite a few hours of my valuable time (I could have been playing poker instead) - it eventually worked.  For a few moments anyway, before dropping the connection and refusing to pick it back up again.  This seemed to be the pattern, and it didn't look as though it would ever be a good long-term solution.

Wireless interference

There was another problem.  We use a digisender system to send the Sky signal from the box in the living room to other TVs around the house.  The wireless router interfered with the digisender signal.  That wasn't good.

So it was a choice.  Either lose the digisender (which works absolutely brilliantly, and the quality of the picture and sound on the other TVs is as good as that on our main telly), or give up completely on the wireless connection.

I decided that the wireless connection was the loser, and it didn't take me long to come to that conclusion.

But now I had another problem.  I want to access the internet around the house on my laptop.  Other than laying lots of CAT5 cable throughout the house (Michelle would have loved that), how else was I going to be able to play poker and update the blog anywhere except for via the desktop in the spare room?

Then I found the solution.  HomePlug. 

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If you get the chance to visit the Tate Modern in London (alight at Southwark tube station to avoid the free paper vendors!) I promise there has never been a better time. If you have ever imagined sliding down 180ft of aluminium ventilation pipes then the Tate is not to be missed this Winter. And it's all free!

Now I remember seeing about 5 slides in total – but you can do a virtual slide on them here. What I love about these slides - as witnessed first hand – is that usually, just before a person flies out, any loose change that has been liberated from the slider's pockets showers off the bottom of the slide.

It made me think of the slides as vending machines, where some great hand puts in a fiver and makes a selection. In return, it gets £3.25 change - swiftly followed by Trevor!

Occasionally I get a bit of a pain, actually more of an ache in my right arm.  It's from using a computer mouse too much.

I had a look around to see what other options I had, as I don't fancy developing RSI.  Looking around, and speaking to a few knowledgable people, I discovered the concept of a vertical, or 'handshake' mouse.

The idea is simple.  When you use a normal mouse, your arm is twisted from its natural postion - and doing this repeatedly over a long period of time is going to cause problems.  With a vertical mouse, your arm isnt twisted, and so the problem is averted.

This is easier to show in a picture than it is to describe in words. 

Try it.  Hold your mouse, and over-exaggerate the arm twist to get an immediate sense of what is happening when you use a normal mouse over a long period.

It's probably not a problem for most people, but there are a significant minority who like me spend over 10 hours a day on a computer using a mouse.

Which vertical mouse to choose?

Like I said, I did some research, and found a few alternatives.  The best-looking one out of all of these was the Evoluent Vertical Mouse 2.  

Unfortunately, I couldn't find it anywhere in the UK for under £70. But with a bit of further research, and a quick look on ebay - I found a shop in the US that could ship it to the UK for £40 (including delivery - the lot).  It was delivered in pretty much the same time it would have taken if I'd ordered it from a company in the UK.

What's it like to use? 

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