One Year Back In UK
Back in September 2018 I posted about our decision to base ourselves back in the UK, a decision we had made earlier that summer, but held off telling anyone until …
Importing Spanish Vehicle Into UK
When we first bought our apartment in Spain (2000) we were inundated with helpful advice from ‘established expats’ as to who to go and see to get various things set …
Our Christmas Traditions
As we head towards our first Christmas in our new home, and the first in the UK since 1999, we will be introducing some new “traditions” to our established ones, …
Six Months Back In The UK
Six (6) months today we walked through the doors of The Cottage. I wrote before about the reasons for basing ourselves back in the UK so I wont repeat them …
Expat: Adjusting To Life Back In UK
In March my wife, Sandra, and I along with our three (3) dogs and eight (8) cats moved back to Staffordshire after fifteen (15) years of ‘expat life’ in Almerimar, …
2019: The Year Ahead
As we leave 2018 behind: our 18th consecutive Christmas and New Year in Almerimar, Spain, and start to look forward to 2019, in what at least must be described as …
Basing Ourselves Back In The UK
To explain why we are going to be basing ourselves back in the UK for the next chapter of our lives, it will probably help if I explain how it …
Tell the UK Government to Prioritise Policing of Dog Fighting!
Dog fighting has been banned for 180 years, but it still exists as a taboo “sport”. Innocent puppies are raised in incredibly harsh conditions, and endure cruel and inhumane treatment …
Make it a legal requirement to stop and report it if you run over a cat!
In the UK you are required by law to report it to the police if you run over a dog. However, a cat does not fall within the remit of …
Stop the sale of fur
Real fur can still be bought in many shops throughout the UK. The irony is that it’s illegal to farm fur in this country because it is so horrendously cruel. …
Leaving Dogs Locked in Hot Cars Should Be a Crime
It can take only 20 minutes for a dog left in a hot car to die. Doing so should be a criminal act in the UK. Most people who leave …
Stop Putting Our Dogs in Danger
The recent amendments to the Dangerous Dog Act put animals — and their humans — in unnecessary peril. Even the world’s most good-natured dog might react snappishly if he thought …
Don’t Destroy Wildlife Habitat in Bassetlaw!
The woodlands around Bassetlaw in Nottinghamshire are home to badgers, woodpeckers and foxes, along with other native animals. But those creatures are being put in danger by a new development. …
Save Robins from Massacre in England!
The English government is weighing plans that would allow people to kill robins and destroy their nests. We can’t let that happen. Robins have been a part of the British …
UK is not European
I am interested as to how European the ‘typical Brit’ feels, because as far as I can tell the UK is remarkably un-European. Most months our ALStrays Pet Transport business …
UK unemployment total reaches 17-year high
Really is hard to see how this ‘United Europe’ vision will work when patently individual countries would be better off concentrating on their own issues first. UK unemployment rose by …
Hard To Find Any Sympathy
So 18 million Brits aren’t able to afford a holiday this year and I have to say I find it hard to get too excited about the fact, or to …
Romanian workers in Britain send home £500,000 every day.
It is no secret that the Eastern Europeans have a great work ethic, and are more then willing to ‘go without’ themselves in order to send money back home, and …
O2 to start unlocking iPhones
Apple’s original UK iPhone partner O2 will start to unlock customers’ phones. Rival provider Orange started selling the iPhone Tuesday, while Vodafone is expected to offer the iPhone from the …
U.S. Mac Sales Up 7% Year-Over-Year in July and August, iPod Sales Down 16%
Silicon Alley Insider reports on data from research firm NPD showing that U.S. Mac sales were up 7% year-over-year during the months of July and August, ahead of most analysts’ …
UK.gov revives net cut-off threat for illegal downloaders
The government has today unexpectedly revived plans for laws to disconnect persistent illegal filesharers, in a move to delight the entertainment industry and anger ISPs. ShareTweetShare0 Shares
T-Mobile UK starts shifting iPhones on the quiet
T-Mobile UK has started supplying iPhone 3G handsets to selected customers, while O2 UK continues to believe it has a UK exclusive on Apple’s last-generation handset. ShareTweetShare0 Shares
VAT ‘idiocy’ will cost businesses at least £300 million
The administrative burden of repricing millions of goods, changing software and accounting systems will total £125 million when VAT returns to 17.5 per cent on January 1. ShareTweetShare0 Shares
UK ATMs set to offer WiFi access, free for BT and iPhone users
BT Broadband customers and O2 iPhone owners, rejoice — some 2,500 ATM machines near you will soon be converted to serve as free WiFi hotspots, courtesy of BT Openzone and …
Tony Blair is the most highly paid speaker on the planet, and his wife is not doing too badly, either.
As Tony Blair soaked up the applause of an adoring Filipino audience at the end of his latest paid speaking engagement last month, a startling statistic must surely have popped …
BT chief: People don’t need fibre to the home
Ford not Ferrari for you Just tread in the Register that BT chief executive Ian Livingstone defended his firm’s limited plans for faster broadband today, arguing there is not enough …
Pimping The Road King Classic
I am heading back to the UK in May to pick up the Road King Classic and bring it back to Almerimar. Apart from the fact that I miss it, …
Unlocked iPhones in the UK
I was wondering if anybody had taken advantage of the play.com offer of LEGALLY unlocked iPhones in the UK. I am sort of thinking that my parents may like one, …
Quick Trip To The UK
I am off to the UK tomorrow for a meeting. I will be catching the 1015 flight out of Almeria that gets into Gatwick at 1200. I have a meeting …
MI6 seeks Mac-using spook
What a great job!!! Just picked this up off Macworld UK MI6 is searching for a Mac user to help the secret service in its work. The UK spy agency …
Mobile Broadband
Last time I was in the UK I got fed up with having no WiFi, or having to pay stupid prices (£5 an hour in the hotel), or waiting for …