GetYoshi - Yoshi's Blog

The new Aristo rocks....

2008-06-04T07:48:00.000-07:00

I'm fairly happy with my new Aristo. It's now fully modified to replace the old one....and the blue colour is growing on me.

Smooth at low speeds, and brutally fast at higher speeds thanks to the Tein/Daizen suspension with Cusco 2-way differential. It truly does two jobs - comfortable, luxurious ride and frightening fast through corners and on the straights. Still have a boost creep problem, but only rears it head at 100mph+. The old car had the same problem, but it's more profound on this one and boosts generally 10-15% more with the Garett turbos.

I'm going to do the final air/fuel checking and run the TOMS ecu full time - if the boost looks off at 1.15/1.20 and creeps then it's OK setup until I mod the exhaust with a small plate for restriction. Either that or I have to change my actuators.

Nintendo WII fitted with ARGON chip

2008-03-26T08:42:00.000-07:00

At last I've joined the WII revolution.

But it was a long haul - firstly, I wanted a WII fitted with ARGON chip for playing of backups.

Secondly, I wanted a WII that was compatible with the NTSC downloads I was getting. Sadly, you need an NTSC or American WII. That mean $$$$ to import.

OK, so once I'd shelled out £300 for an NTSC WII, on with the ARGON chip. That cost me a further £35 and fitting by a friend for £50. It's a tricky job, only the best solder-master techs should be used. We actually found soldering to the bottom of the board was easier than onto the pins.

OK, we're in for £385. Plus an additional controller brought the grand total to £410....! Considering a standard WII is £180 I found this to be a helluva chunk to pay.

But here's the good bit...

All the WII backups work. A lot of them are crap right enough, and almost a crime to charge £30-50 for.

Now for the next good bit - Gamecube backups play also! Having missed around 5 years of gamecube games, this is a great bonus.

So far the best game is Mario Strikers Charged. Just wicked. And I'm just downloading the latest Defender game for the Gamecube also. Groovey!

The new ride....

2007-12-12T02:06:00.001-08:00

4x4 is the way forward...no more potholes, parking on pavements is no problem, deep puddles are a joy to drive through.

Ride quality supreme but cornering speed sucks. Well, it's OK but a bit roly poly. 200hp under the hood keeps it swift.

So far, so good apart from annoying oxygen sensor issue and the over-sensitive alarm.

Aaargh...PC crash...I need my data recovered....fast!

2007-10-22T03:49:00.000-07:00

My laptop went down.

No booting when I turned it on in the morning.

Turns out the hard drive had failed. We found this out from seeing the prompt on bootup.

After much trawling, I found several data recovery companies, but finally decided to take my laptop hard disk to 123 Data Recovery.

Price was OK, £117.50 and the company was local so I dropped the drive off and cross my fingers. Next day, 123 Data Recovery called me and told me they had restored all the data onto DVDs. Great, my data was recovered! They could also transfer all the data onto a new laptop hard drive and re-install into the laptop, even better. This cost me a further £100 but it was worth it to get up and running with all my data recovered.

I was most happy with the data recovery service from 123 Data Recovery - it's not often I recommend a company but these guys really saved my bacon.

Better make backups in future!

Weather soooo grim...

2007-07-12T06:13:00.001-07:00

It's gone sooo cloudy and wet....that means basically I've given up on such things like motorsport circuit racing, barbeques, mountain biking and kite flying.

It reminds me of the summer of 1986 - 1990...just wet and wonderful...

The heat, the heat

2007-06-22T08:34:00.000-07:00

The weather has gone tropical warm this week...unusual for Scotland.

It's warm and clamy, my jeans are sticking to ma bawz as they say.

Last week it was freezin'. I just don't understand this weather....

Dry roads = fast driving = danger

2007-06-06T07:19:00.001-07:00

Today I did my usual overtake at the hairpin onto the straight, I got in before the kink/bend....then on the next straight I was pretty much full throttle - only to see an Audi overtaking...!

Fortunately, Audi got in, I had the anchors on big stylee also.

Pretty much good driving from both me and the Audi, I didn't even think when I hit the brakes, it was instant.

But of course, it's worth noting that the roads are busier and faster in the warm weather and even if you're doing everything correctly, another fast car could arrive round the corner....

Where the f*ck has the summer gone?

2007-05-30T06:42:00.000-07:00

It's 1 day till the end of May....weather is just a baltic 12C, cloudy with wind. You'd freeze in a t-shirt for sure....reminds me I need to check Insane T Shirts for a new t-shirt for the maybe-coming-soon summer....

Wireless...wireless...wireless

2007-05-23T07:35:00.001-07:00

It's just occured to me how many devices I have wireless....

- internet..WIFI
- mobile phone GPRS/cellular
- bluetooth for mobile phone
- corded phone digital wireless
- wireless headset for business calls

Is any of this doing damage to our skulls? WIFI operates on microwaves and we all know cell phones can contribute to cancer if you believe some sources.

Just hope the WIFI doesn't kill us all...

Battery dead

2007-05-14T02:20:00.000-07:00

My battery died in the Mondeo....surprisingly it started when I used jump-leads, but sadly after disconnecting the leads, it died. I was bemused, but people tell me that it's short circuited completely, so when I disconnect the jump leads, the circuit is broken. EG the battery is totally dead.

Will buy a new one from Halfrauds shortly...hopefully fix the problem. Seem to have broken my inflata-pump also so Halfrauds will be getting all my dollars...bah!

The weather is unusually excellent

2007-04-05T01:29:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure what's going on, maybe the Equinox and change of seasons but the skies are clear blue and the sun is out.

It's almost the perfect scenario - clear skies, sunshine and NO insects. Reminds me of Arizona in the winter time.

Long may it continue....

Sex toys?!??!?!

2007-03-29T05:25:00.000-07:00

My friend asked me to put a post up about his new sex toy website... aptly called British Sex Toys.

Not that sex toys are my thing.....I think the stigma of owning a sex toy might be my downfall. Although those butplugs look tempting....

The Internet According to me

2006-07-23T10:25:00.001-07:00

I've set up a sub-blog with my internet review websites.

The Internet According To Me

It's all about the best websites (or worst) I come across on my daily travels.

The Internet According to me

2006-07-23T10:25:00.000-07:00

I've set up a sub-blog with my internet review websites.

The Internet According To Me

It's all about the best websites (or worst) I come across on my daily travels.

Use the internet to find somebody

2006-06-08T07:58:00.000-07:00

I had a memory jolt from the past and thought I'd look up someone from yesteryear. I tried searching on some websites like Friends Reunited but no luck. Tried 192.com but they wanted some ridiculous 'archive fee' of 180 quid.

So anyway, I searched further and found UK Online Detective - 'no search results, no fee'....sounds good to me.

Placed my order, gave the data and asked them to search the uk for the person I was looking for. Whammo, 5 minutes later the address and phone number!

All for 20 quid, that web site rocks man! No one is safe anymore (as long as you've got 20 quid)...

Ma new t shirt

2006-06-07T08:54:00.000-07:00

After much trawling the internet for a decent t-shirt for this summer, eventually got a new t shirt delivered today (or is it tee shirt or t-shirt?)

Anywayz, it basically sums everything up and reads

The best t-shirt I've seen in ages. Make mine an XL.

For those who want to impersonate me, I got it from
Insane T Shirts Their range of t shirts is pretty good and I wiz impressed with the Fruit of the Loom tee shirts they used...real good quality t shirts.

Well, it's been sometime....

2005-07-21T07:08:00.000-07:00

Yup, I've been lazy with this blog - busy-ness has intruded.

News

- Booked Toronto & Florida trip - wheeehay, Niagra here we come!
- Mondeo has died again, I think it's the cooling system. Bummer!
- More bills arrived to further depress my life..

On the health front, I'm still not smoking (10 months now) and doing 3-4 cardio + 2 weight sessions a week at the gym.

Today's funny downloads

2005-05-18T06:37:00.000-07:00

What does a Jedi do in his spare time ?

http://www.withlouis.com/film/yoda/

Keep your eyes on the road at all times :

http://www.boreme.com/bm/APR05/a/testofcharacter/jump_fr.htm

Aaargh - it's May!

2005-05-18T06:30:00.000-07:00

There's been some lameness with this blog since April.

So, the news :

- Ryu & Jew girl split, but got back together-ish. Mostly Jew Girls fault.

- Outback gas barbeque arrived! Kicks ass, but nearly kicked my ass during assembly. Finger now healed.

- Car tuning parts arrived - yup, that is LSD 2.0, Tein Flex suspension + electronic damping, TRD anti-roll bars, TRD poly-bushes, VSC off switch. Vroom!

- Gran Turismo 4 & Driving Force Pro steering wheel installed. 900 degree rotation on the wheel presents some problems with my small table coming unstuck during major drifting maneovres.

- www.standrewsbay.com for a weekend - expensive, but not bad apart from the duff weather. Definitely put on a few pounds that weekend.

- just had almost 10 days of sunshine - amazing for Scotland. The smell of cigarette smoke in the air is piss-awful however (being an ex-smoker).

2 weekends of hell

2005-04-13T02:53:00.000-07:00

Not had much time to update the Getyoshi blog - no surprising with the last 2 weekends.

Weekend 1

Saturday
--------
- supervise demolition of 2 sheds in garden
- similar with plasterer buddy prepping my video games room. No more artex!

Sunday
-------
- 2 hour workout in gym
- 4 hours of clearing all the debris of the sheds into a skip - 130 bricks to be moved without a wheel-barrow - my lower back and triceps were cramping.

Weekend 2

Saturday
--------
- move all of snota's stuff into Yoshi's house. 2 van loads moved from 4th floor of flat to 1st floor of house - not pleasant

Sunday
------
- work on sorting the remaining stuff
- managed a quick fish'n'chippy at Calendar.

It is no wonder I haven't trained for 5 days in the gym and work has been lame. This weekend I will sleep.....

The end of March

2005-03-31T04:57:00.000-08:00

MArch ends...I can just about smell summer in the air.

It doesn't really signify the end of anything....the legal case against my former accountants continues, as does the IRS investigation (a side affect from having corrupt accountants). With any luck we'll clear it up without huge expense.

Latest update on Ryu & Jew Girl is she's gone back to London (Jew Girl), Ryu's stuck at home without his dad or bro and only 10 quid. He phoned on Wednesday to let me know he was cashing in all his copper coins to get some cigarettes. At 32, Ryu is really showing his independence. His dad/bro won't be back till the weekend so no doubt he'll need to ponce some meals from somewhere...the gas is already cut off and there's no food in the fridge.

Anyway, here's to barbeques, sunshine, car waxing and chillin' oot over the summer...may it be a good one!

Punctures!

2005-03-24T06:15:00.000-08:00

After a cross headed screw worked it's way into my rear tyre on the Lex, I got another one today on the Mondy. Same cross headed screw. Having found a 6-inch nail on my driveway only yesterday, I was somewhat suspicous of foul play.

It could be bad luck....the theory is the front wheel goes over the screw and it stands it 'upright' then the rear tyres goes over it and voila - une puncture monsieur!

In any case, had to go see the wanker/cocksucker with the mohekan at National tyres, what a knob cheese. Beat him down from 98 quid to 90 quid for some non-descript tyre, but I didn't have time to fanny around. Normally would've fitted the spare then shopped around, but the jack in the Mondy doesn't exist. Had to drive on the flat and there was smoke pouring off it in the end.

Now checking my driveway daily for screws...

GTA Bud-a Gets Fired

2005-03-24T06:05:00.000-08:00

Yup, it's happened. GTA Bud-a is gone, mutually laid-off from any more Grand Theft Auto work, no longer a Rockstar employee. 3 months on full pay however ain't bad, but he's got no reference from the company. Hopefully he'll get another job soon, but it's not gonna be in computer games.

Life is a journey....

Racetrack @ Crail

2005-03-24T06:01:00.000-08:00

Another racetrack day...round smelly Crail airfield. Although it's bumpy, some of the stones were swept up this time. Still ended up with a puncture (think it was
a screw I picked up before then).

Great day, went round 4-deep in the Lex...only fat boy in the E30 Beamer spoiled it by not letting me by safely even though I was way faster. Pulled 1.0G on the drift ring.

Dropped Blurry off, then back out on the M74 only to find it closed...had to forfeit my dinner due to being late back, not happy!

Till the next one....

Cuntdown

2005-03-17T06:28:00.000-08:00

Carol Vorderman made a bit of an arse of this one :

http://www.geekgifts.co.uk/countdown/

Work, work work!

2005-03-16T09:17:00.000-08:00

Its true to say that I have the 'eye of the tiger' crap going on just now. A new drive to work my ass off - I need my 6-figure salary back like a pregnant woman needs her figure back. Worse.

Having finally made a list of all the compu-work I have to do, its not a daunting task, more a pain in the ass. Maybe as you get older the cynicism gives you that confidence to tackle big tasks head on with a depression rather than a fear. No seriously, I know how good it will feel when I've got everything clicking, it's just I'd like it all done yesterday.

Pah! Well, I'm about to order tuning parts for my car so that should give me some motivation to work harder. Fortunately, I've gone off my PS2 just a bit. Probably a good thing.

Gym Bull-shit

2005-03-15T07:31:00.000-08:00

It's amazing the crap you hear in the gym. In fact the whole culture attracts male idiots.

One guy was talking about shaggin' on Viagra

"Aye man, I wiz shaggin' on that fuckin' viagra, fuckin' frenzied wiv the bird I hud at the time, we were so fucked up on the viagra I said 'whit hole do I stick it in' and she said 'any wan'."

It gets more complicated.

The conversation in the gym can sometimes go 'see that fuckin' thing, whit the fuck is it called, fuck, I've forgotten the fuckin' name of that. fuck!' - the gym talk can be that deep.

The usual hoodlums were there - Tiny the Steroid abuser , ex-steroid user (now fat) and our Asian/Pakistani brothers who join in the white man 'fuckin', fuck-fuck' talk also. Skippin' rope man was there also, making a nusciance of himself by skipping in the central weight lifting area.

Till the next workout...

Jobi Traffic jam

2005-03-13T12:12:00.000-08:00

A jobi due at 9AM didn't arrive till 9PM - not exactly an efficent bowel movement service.

It's true to say fellow companions (Snota) did in fact complain of the sewer-type smells eminating from my butt prior to launch.

The traffic jam in my intestine is clear now, just thought I'd share that with everyone.

Ryu & Jew Girl Part II

2005-03-10T05:18:00.000-08:00

Turns out Jew Girl wasn't all that sick - she was out at the supermarket Sat nite, then skiing Sunday - Tuesday in Glencoe with Ryu. Hmmm....in any case she is 'riled' that I commented she wasn't coming over to see the posse infected with germs. Well, would you want to catch cold/flu/SARS?

The proposal was for Wednesday nite (yesterday), but hey, that was Snota's birthday (29th) so I don't think it was appropriate. And besides, it was Ryu 'if I can persuade Jew Girl to drive over'...yeah, yeah, more ifs and maybes. If someone said to Ryu 'MAYBE we'll post your social security cheque out', 'IF you're a good boy' then the whole definition of 'ifs and maybes' would become apparently to our Streetfighter II character.

They are maybe departing from Scotland today (Thursday), but hey, they don't seem to have any definites in their sked-ule...it's more of : 'maybe', 'we'll see how we feel'. Sadly life has to be a little more organised than that for Yoshi and definitely for Snota.

Mothers Day

2005-03-10T05:10:00.000-08:00

Well, it's taken me till Thursday to write about Mothering Sunday.

The normal affair, talked to death by my mother, sister sits quietly enjoying the flak being taken by Yoshi.

Still, the food at the Shenaz restaurant in Glasgow is probably the best in the world. Having ate at http://www.papingo.co.uk/ (Glasgow) , Yen (Glasgow) and Le Palais du Jardin in London, two very good restaurants, I still say Shenaz is No.1. Special beef & vegetable pakora rate as the best in the world at Shenaz. Sorry no web site, look them up in the Yella pages.

Gym Exodus

2005-03-03T05:21:00.000-08:00

All the New Year resolution gym-goers were absent today...it looks like the fitness centres population is becoming normal once again. Absent also were the lazy housewives who don't have much to do except waste their days away at the sports centre and spend their husbands money. Don't get me wrong, not all women are wasters, just the ones that appear at the gym at 10.00AMish in their 4x4s after dropping their brats off at school and the rest of their day free....what a lovely life.

WHat was I doing there at that time? I'm on flexi-time, so I go to the gym when I want but will work till 8/9PM tonite to make up for it.

I feel so much better now thatz done - I'm writing this down so I can remember when I feel lazy. Bis/Tris/shoulders/abs + 11KM on the bike - a narley 90 minutes of sweat. The endorphin rush is sweet.

Yesterdays visit from Bud-a revealed he's been suspended from work for gross misconduct till Friday. Wether he'll get fired shortly is evens odds at the bookies.

The imminent arrival of Ryu and Jew Girl is upon us....supposedly invading Scotland on March 1st, no doubt there has been some delay as the reliability of Ryu is sub-zero, if not -10 at best. Why Ryu? Well, imagine 'Ryu' from Streetfighter the video game with glasses and a alcohol problem and you have the right picture.

More on those trumpets when/if they arrive....

Crazy car driving

2005-03-02T12:32:00.000-08:00

Todays movie links to insaneness :

http://www.big-boys.com/articles/badcorner.html

http://www.big-boys.com/articles/bmwdrift.html

Grand Theft Auto Bud-a Visits

2005-03-02T05:43:00.000-08:00

The Bud-a has just called to interrupt my work schedule.

He'll be here in 30 minutes, lock up your daughters.

Bud-a works on Grand Theft Auto video game. Not that he has a good word to say about GTA or Rockstar games...I don't mind as I have the t-shirts, baseball caps and now the GTA jacket.

GTA is mindless crap at best. But mindless crap is what people want. I'm still waiting on Gran Turismo 4 like the rest of the planet....

120MPH isn't fast enough

2005-03-02T05:31:00.000-08:00

Turns out my Blitz Speed Jumper for my Aristo V300 car (otherwise known as a Lexus GS to others) is incompatible. Having bought it 3 years ago, I can't pursue a refund. It looks like it'll end up on Ebay.

So I'm stuck at 120mph speed limit...the car can do 175mph. Was embarrassed by a 2004 model BMW M3 convertible last week which had no more power but pushed ahead of me to 150MPH+, therefore prompting my action to figure out the fitting of the speed jumper (poor instructions and thick mechanics delayed the whole thing originally).

Too fast? When you don't (a) drink (b) smoke (c) do drugs, you need some sort of buzz otherwise (d) you will kill someone. Obviously I could go back to doing (a), (b) and (c) but then I'd just be like everyone else.

GetYoshi is born

2005-03-02T04:53:00.000-08:00

It's time. Time for this crud on the Internet to be banished. Time for spam to be obliterated. Time for GetYoshi blog.