Flooding in Warwickshire

Several places in Warwickshire nearby, has been hit by severe flood after rivers broke their banks at several places. The flood is said to be one of the worst in years. Several houses have been evacuated in the area and forced to spend the night in emergency centres. Thousands of cars were stranded on the M5 and drivers as well as passengers had to spend the night in the cars.

Much of Stratford-upon-Avon town centre (birthplace of William Shakespeare) in now under water as the river Avon overflowed. Performances at the Royal Shakespeare Company's (RSC) Swan Theatre were canceled as well.

Was listening to BBC radio today morning and one caller reported that she could see people canoing on what used to be the main road outside her house.

The River Leam also burst its banks and flooded parts of the town centre in Leamington Spa.

My copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Oops! I should make that OUR COPY of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (my wife wants to read it first). Drove down to the nearby Morrisons and grabbed a copy. I was quite surprised because there was so many copies left. I had expected the shelves to be half empty at least. Read my post "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows price war".



There was an elderly couple in front of me at the payment counter and they were really surprised when I told them it cost only £4.99. The husband quickly ran to the display near the entrance to grab a copy for their grandchild.

"People were queuing up for it at midnight", the lady told me. "Yeah!" I replied, "they didn't need to".

Tags: harry potter harry potter and the deathly hallows morrisons

High defnition video communication

A few years ago, only a few companies considered video conferencing. However, due to innovations in technology and faster net connections, it is something very viable. There are several advantages - you can save on travel costs (and of course the environment by reducing your carbon footprint), hotel cots and of course no jet lag.

Companies are not the only ones that can benefit from video conferencing systems. For example if you organistion is involved in the education sector and you are thinking of installing such a system, you might want to consider LifeSize's Video Conference Equipment, which delivers high definition video resolution (1280 x 720) at 1Mbps

This high definition video communications company was founded in 2003 and has it's headquarters in Austin, Texas.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows price war

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7) is $17.99 on Amazon.com. On the other hand, it is £8.99 on the Amazon UK site.

Compare that with what UK supermarket chain Morrisons is offering. The last Harry Potter book is only £4.99 here. No! I won't be queuing up anywhere when the clock strikes midnight. However, I will be rushing there tomorrow morning and hope that there are still some copies left. If not, my next choice will be Asda where it is going for £5.

It is still £8.87 at Tesco and Sainsbury's.

Waterstone's and Woolworths are sellingit at £8.99 per copy while it is £10.99 at WH Smith.

The price war is on in Malaysia too. According to a news report, bookstores here are protesting against hypermarkets Carrefour and Tesco, slashing the price of the book from the recommended retail price of RM109.90 to RM69.90. The four major bookstores there, namely MPH, Popular, Harris and Times announced at a press conference, that they would not sell the last Harry Potter book. Cry babies!

Updated: 22 July 2007

Tags: harry potter harry potter and the deathly hallows morrisons

Drink your vegetables

I have been a vegetarian (ovo-lacto) for most of my life and I have no regrets even though a lot of people always say "Pity, you are missing out on all the tasty food". Actually I am not missing out on anything.

I find it quite strange that some people hate vegetables. This natural food contains different vitamins, minerals and others, which has so many health benefits. There are so many studies that have shown that a regular vegetable intake can prevent diseases and help in controlling your weight.

If you are one of those guys who hate eating vegetables but want the good benefits of vegetables, why not try drinking them. That's the idea behind a daily dietary supplement called "My Daily Veggies" brought out by a company called Lane Labs, LLC. This company is giving away thousands of free trial packets to promote this daily nutritional supplement. You can also get 7 day My Daily Veggies Free Sample containing a total of 14 USDA servings of whole vegetables($10.00 value). They will only charge $1.00 on your credit card for shipping and handling.

If you don't want to drink it, you can easily incorporate it into one of the recipes given on the site or your own. I might try it out too.

The first interview

Just came back after attending an interview. It is the first since we moved to the UK. Technically it is the second because I was once interviewed over the phone.

It's raining cats and dogs here today and I had to walk a bit to the place where the interview was conducted. Was able to find free parking and thankfully I had my wife's umbrella.

The interviewer was nice and we had a nice discussion about online shopping and some issues before we got down to actually talking about the job. Am a bit apprehensive as he mentioned the dreaded words I hear a lot now - "You are a bit overqualified for the job but it should be OK."

I really hope I get it as I am itching to getting out to work again. The salary is nothing to shout about but would be a welcome addition to my PhD fund.

Bowling shirts made in the USA

Most cloth manufacturers in the developed countries have now moved production to China, India and other countries where the cost of production is cheaper. It's simple economics. This is true of many American brands. However, there are a few survivors who still produce their clothes in America and proudly carry the 'Made in the US' label.

There are still many American customers who will buy these American-made products even though they are slightly costlier than those available in the local hypermarkets, for patriotic reasons. I guess the brand names have something to do with it too. People trusts the quality of the brands. A good example are the American-made retro bowling shirts and rockabilly shirts. they have loads of designs but the most popular shirts on the site happen to be the retro bowling shirts.