Brettnet

Todays supposition: Flippant timetravel

This may become a series or just a one off, sometimes I have odd thoughts that I think through a little further than is useful sometimes and could do with a way of sharing them and seeing if it makes anyone else think or if everyone else has enough thoughts of their own to be going on with.

Todays thought was started from a throwaway exchange between my brother and I. I remarked that we can’t be in two places at once, he then pointed out that you could with a time machine but my argument was that the traveller still has to follow a linear path so you would still have to do each task in turn, just that for observers you would be doing both tasks at the same time. I visualised this by thinking of a loop of rope viewed side on, you get to the end of one process, loop back a way and then begin again, covering the same ground twice, the other notion was more of a single rope being split, covering different paths and then converging again.

Anyway, from that brief ramble I ended up wondering what a world where people could time travel at will would be like, starting off with the basics like people popping back a little way to before the shops close etc, then I realised to keep the thought vaguely coherent there would need to be some boundaries, so jumps could only be done for an hour either way to help limit the paradoxes and shifts that happen due to past events.

Would you then end up with 3 groups of people, those who habitually jump forward, eager to see more and more new things while eventually racing ahead of the people around them. The second group the ones who amble along in the flow of time but only jump out of convenience sometimes, perhaps even for mundane things such as shops as mentioned above (although that would throw out the notion of opening times I’d imagine) and then the people who primarily jump backwards, this brought up the question of could you make your way back in time with jump after jump or should it be that it takes time to “recharge” so to speak so you can never jump more than an hour backwards, but you could go back and relive an hour or part of it as the jump would always take place from slightly further into the future so you would gradually be dragged onward in time.

Salmon jumping up waterfalls sprung to mind, jumping against a current that cannot be defeated (obviously salmon do make it and eventually swim further up river) I’d imagine if that were the case some people would obsess over moments passed and try to cling on to them.

I think that was the extend of my thought, as I then got the opportunity to overtake. Being forced to sit behind slow traffic will make the mind wander.

If anyone else is still reading and has any thoughts or comments (hopefully non abusive) I’d be interested to hear, tweet me @brettnet.

AmericanSoda.co.uk Purchases

Last weekend I was looking to order from americansoda.co.uk because I had a hankering for some Mountain Dew after trying some whilst over in Germany earlier in the year. Just before checkout though I noticed the store was in Manchester, not too far away… and so a plan was hatched, to visit on a Saturday and today was that day. And it was glorious!

I knew I was going to run up quite a bill as I wanted quite a lot of things just from browsing the website! My wife and I arrived at the store mid morning, not too long after breakfast because shopping whilst hungry isn’t a smart thing to do! I immediately homed in on the cans that I wanted and ended up with a selection more besides, some bottles of Stewart’s drinks, a couple of bottle of Bawls, a selection of chocolates and candies too. The total bill ended up more than our usual weekly shop! but it is stuff you just can’t find and it would cost a heck of a lot more to go get it from source

I’ll create and extend the list as I go, trying and giving a very uninitiated opinion of the things I try. I mostly got things that sounded like I’d like them so don’t expect too much variation, this is more about explaining what those “familiar” brands are that we as UK people hear so much about on US shows or news or word of mouth etc.

First up was Stewart’s Orange and Cream.

I loved the sound of this when I was perusing the shelves and it was the first one I stuck in the chiller when I got home.

The name sums it up perfectly, both flavours come through well and it may well be my new favourite orange drink. Much more palatable than Tango or Fanta, quite noticeably softer somehow. UK drinks makers take note, its not necessarily the tangiest drink we want.

 

I’d no knowledge of this brand before my visit but I’m happy to make its acquaintance. My wife picked up their “Black Cherry Wishniak” so we will hear a little more later on.

 

Next item: Pepsi Wild Cherry.

I’m a big fan of Cherry Coke so this was a no brainer. Although a mainstream well known UK brand I thought it worth mentioning as it is a The cherry is nice and subtle, not overpowering but because Pepsi is mainly sweetness it lacks the body of Cherry Coke, I like Coke’s caramel and cherry mix personally. Pepsi Wild Cherry is a nice alternative though, sweeter than coke and not overtly cherried. Give it a try, it might be right up your street. Especially if in the cola wars, your allegiances lie with Pepsico.

 

Note: Personally I’m cola agnostic, I’ll drink (almost) anything, but I do have a hatred of the diet and zero varieties so you won’t be seeing any of them in this list.

 

Bawls to it all… Bawls, caffeinated drink

Apart from this drink having the coolest bottle I’ve seen, I quite like high caffeine drinks.

After a long Monday at work I’d got the idea in my head to give this drink a try as I needed a pick-me-up. Just what the doctor ordered!

The taste is quite mellow, most energy drinks seem to taste like I’d imagine distilled camel piss might taste like in my humble opinion, mainly the taurine ones. Bawls is subtle and enjoyable, easy to down quite quickly if you aren’t careful! It almost tastes like a diet soda with the tingly absence of a strong flavour (in this case, that is a good thing!)

I picked up two bottles and I’m glad I did, I have an inkling the next one will mix well with some Kraken Rum   But alas, that is for another time.

 

WTF is…..Stewart’s Black Cherry Wishniak

So far from my experiences in browsing American goods, they don’t make chocolate without peanut butter and they barely make drinks without cherry. Not that I’m complaining, I happen to be quite partial to cherry drinks!

We browsed the website and saw this product and thought what the hell is a wishniak?! Well it turns out Wisnia is polish for cherry, the name is commonly used for liquers but is used for sodas too. As one website termed it, “a linguistic redundancy”

Anyway, that’s the name out of the way. The soda itself is a nice and mild cherry drink, not too sweet, not too fizzy, just right as goldilocks said. I’m rapidly becoming a fan of Stewart’s brand, I foresee some more bottles in our future

 

They call him it Mello Yello

This was billed as CocaCola’s answer to Mountain Dew, and seeing as MD was my main reason for discovering americansoda.co.uk I thought I had to try this one. This is a citrus drink with a real bite to it, if you like your flavours overt and tangy then this is your drink.

It’s like a mixed lemonade with potent flavours, thoroughly enjoyable but not sure it would make my top 10 as yet. I’ve still got the MD range to review though.

 

I’m sure most will have heard of… Milk Duds

But like me, few will have any idea what they are. In a nutshell, they are small caramel pebbles coated in Hersheys chocolate. This is my first food item from my spending spree and I’ve heard some brits complain about hersheys chocolate so I wasn’t too sure when first tasting but I have to say my concerns were unfounded!

They are awesome, perhaps one of my new favourite chocolates, I love caramel and this is nice and chewy, galaxy released something similar recently but the caramel is too soft and runny, this is my ideal. not quite as dense and resistive as the caramel in Cadburys Roses as that is a little too hard I find. Definitely on my repeat buy list!

 

A familiar flavour, lost to us. Vanilla Coke

I LOVED vanilla coke when they released it over in the UK a couple of years ago, but since then it has disappeared from sale. I couldn’t resist when I saw this, definitely a familiar taste. I can’t elaborate much on the taste as it is just vanilla and coca cola for anyone that didn’t try it over here. I still stand by my adage of “vanilla makes everything better”

This isn’t however identical to the vanilla coca cola that was released over here, it has the American sweetener “high fructose corn syrup” also found in coca cola classic. I still like it but it does taste more “artificial” than I remember it and I only have the sweetener to blame. Nice to bring back the memories though.

 

I’m sure I remember these, Nerds

I opted for the Wild Cherry and Watermelon combination of these granular candies. I’m 90% sure these were released in the UK but the ones I remember were chewy, these are crunchy and tangy. Not quite what I was expecting but still tasty. Really well flavoured too, can’t accuse these of being mild!

 

Another brand I’d heard of…Lifesaver gummies

I’m quite partial to gummies so thought these would be an ideal foray into the US world of them. As soon as I opened the pack I knew these were going to be potent! Not too sweet, nice and chewy and flavour packed! 5 different flavours in this pack, there are other varieties but this seemed the most general one. Cherry, green apple, watermelon, blackberry’s and raspberry’s I think they are (the label is obscured, I’m not completely simple)

 

OK, it’s time… Mountain Dew!

I’d been holding off on this one, I’m just on my 4th can now. I didn’t want to rush into giving an opinion that then changes over the course of more cans. Most of the other items on here I’d only got 1 of, but I knew I liked Mountain Dew already so went all in. I had to get my Mountain Dew original from another supplier as americansoda don’t seem to carry it. As usual the interwebs are awash with contradicting reasons why, ranging from its not legal to sell it in the UK to only approved dealers etc or even shortages in the US. Whatever the reason, I managed to procure some to go with my code red and voltage varieties that americansoda DO stock. I felt reviewing those flavours without the comparison of the original wouldn’t be true somehow, missing a key reference point.

MD Original is a carbonated citrus drink, but a finely blended one, no one flavour overpowers the rest (a la mello yello) its so smooth, like a lemonade but with other flavours to take the edge off the lemon bite. I’d had a can of each of the other flavours before my original arrived, I was pleased to find that the original didn’t seem to be lacking anything, just had its own flavour. Some products that get other versions or flavours seem to lose their original identity somehow as the others are more popular or are the original with extras.

I think I’m going to struggle to pick a favourite flavour between these three, there are also a host more flavours I’ve yet to get my hands on, I’m most keen to try the LiveWire version which is orange flavoured, given my penchant for orangeyness! (Maybe its a ginger thing!)

 

And now for something…. fruity! Fanta Grape

I haven’t had time to embrace many new soda tastes recently so I’d decided to make the effort tonight.

Fanta orange that I’m familiar with is always very fizzy and tangy, the grape is nicely mellowed. Not too sweet and not too fizzy. I’m not a huge grape fan as there aren’t really many grape soda drinks but I wanted to try this and I’m glad I did.

I’ll definitely be picking up some more of this. Much nicer than the Orange variety I think, which is odd as I really like Orange

 

Another familiar but lost….Tab Cola

I remember Tab clear making its way to the UK, a clear cola. I remember it being interesting but not as nice as coca cola. I assumed the subbrand died a death but then I saw this and it piqued my interest.

First off, this isn’t clear (I wasn’t quite sure with the background I knew) I’m not quite sure why it exists in all honesty as it is pretty much UK diet coke I think, I tried it without checking ingredients and was hit by the taste of aspartame. I’m not keen on that at the best of times, this doesn’t seem to have any redeeming features for me though. I’m sure there are a band of people out there who swear loyalty to this above all others and I don’t mean to offend anyone who has tried and liked it. It just isn’t for me.

Pushing the envelope…. A&W Root Beer

This is one drink I bought with no idea if I was going to like it, most of the others were familiar but with a twist so a pretty safe bet. I must point out I got the root beet as it was on clearance so I can’t honestly say if that was the cause of my disappointment in the taste but unlike the Tab Cola I couldn’t finish the whole can. The overpowering flavour wasn’t to my taste and the main thought coming to mind from the taste was germolene! I cannot get away from that fact and this has now become etched in my psyche as “GermoleneSoda” (for the record fizzy germolene is NOT a nice concoction!) I’d probably still be tempted to try some again if someone can vouch for it being a problem with an old tin rather than the actual intended taste!

A throwback from a bygone era… Mountain Dew Throwback

I had high expectations of this from the start, being a definite fan of original MD and the two flavours I’ve managed to get my hands on (Voltage and Code Red) I expected the throwback version which is made with real sugar to be above and beyond the others but somehow it feels a tad lacklustre, I’m not sure if this was my unreasonable expectations or if my tastebuds are so used to High Fructose Corn Syrup and the like that real sugar just seems “alien”. A nice enough drink but I think I prefer Original MD I’m afraid.

What’s the worst that could happen? Cherry Dr Pepper

I don’t drink Dr Pepper currently so my view on this may be a little uninformed as I don’t have an “original” flavour to compare it to etc. but here goes:

Another bit of a risk with this one as it was unknown to me but I liked the cherry angle so went with it, I rather like it, sort of like a fuller bodied cherry coke. There is more underlying flavour with this, the cherry is obvious and familiar but what I assume is the the Dr Pepper flavour is interesting. This turned out to be just what this little experiment was about, finding new variations of drink that I’d like and this hits the spot perfectly. Compliments my mountain Dew flavours perfectly. Definitely on my repeat buy list!

gotta try em all: Diet Pepsi with lime

I’m now on my third visit to American Soda and what started off as an interest has evolved into a challenge, to try as many canned sodas (and some bottled) as I can get my hands on. with that in mind, this time I broke my previous rule of not trying diet sodas on principle.

That said, the diet Pepsi with lime was quite nice, I struggled to taste the lime as it was overpowered by the sweetener for me but for those that drink diet most of the time will really like the addition. Compliments the original drink well.

looks interesting: IBC Cream Soda

For some reason I’d shied away from cream soda, perhaps imagining I’d tried it before and didn’t like it. I opted for a couple of bottles of this and after trying it wished I’d got more! Such a soft creamy taste, delicate vanilla and less bubbles than some sodas make this a very refreshing and smooth drink!

Will have to try the Stewart’s variety for comparison I think.

Nissan Leaf – Test Drive

Hello and welcome to another one of my self indulgent rambles (you never know, someone might find them interesting)
Today I finally got around to test driving a Nissan Leaf! I hope you are sitting comfortably? Then I’ll begin….

I’d wanted to try an electric vehicle for a while after following Robert Llewellyn on twitter (twitter.com/bobbyllew) he is big into his green motoring and such and has tried and reported on lots. Finally the Nissan leaf was released to the unwashed masses and people could get a test drive, well not really, you could get a 90 second spin around a car park with a rep. I’ll pass thank you.

I checked last week and they had a second round of “roadshow” events but also had another link to test drive it at your local dealer. Put my name down and got one booked, a guy from the garage called me back and arranged it, all I had to do was wait (curses, I don’t do waiting very well).

Our nearest dealer was Stockport, a bit of a trek but I fancied giving it a go. Headed out there today with driving license in hand, expected the place to be empty given that it was for an hour before the FA Cup kicked off but apparently not lurked around for a few minutes and perused the other models then the guy I’d spoken to came over and after a few questions and a copy of my driving license we were off!

Playing it cool on the outside asking the right (geeky) questions but inside like a kid at Christmas getting a go on someone else’s coveted toy.
The guy reversed the car out and gave me a quick guide as he did so, I was glad he got it off the car park as it seemed pretty mountainous! built on a bumpy hill but off we went, my wife and stepdaughter in the back.

The car gets powered on and is somewhat reminiscent of a nokia phone, it makes a welcome noise to tell you its done and the screens display things and at that point its ready, simple as that, no juddering as the engine settles to idle, no noise from any components. OK so here we go then…

There is no gearbox or gear lever but it’s not an automatic, automatic means it changes gear automatically, there is no gear to change in this of course. This makes power delivery unbelievably smooth, almost unimaginably so, it takes some getting used to. By the end of our 10 mile(ish) drive I was still marveling at it.
I had mercifully driven a colleagues automatic A3 sportback back from Bristol yesterday so my left leg was primed to do nothing. Foot on the brake and move the “joystick dooberry” across and forward to put it into reverse. The reversing camera comes on and shows you where you are going to end up, quite nice. Push the joystick dooberry across and backwards and you are in drive, but take your foot off the brake and nothing happens. (in an automatic it would idle forwards)
I tentatively pressed the accelerator, feeling like a learner all over again. Expecting at any moment to get kangaroo juice or something but nope, nothing like, it was so smooth and silky to pull away, there was no dead zone on the throttle like in either auto or manual cars where you rev and feel for the bite etc. It is just there right from the first millimeter of movement, it sounds a little odd but its quite reassuring.

Once you are in motion the next thing you notice is the absence of any noise from the engine or vibration that you expect and subconsciously gauge speed from, it glided down the streets and I pulled out onto a main road with an oncoming car without any qualms that it might be slow or lag when I pressed the go pedal. (I’d have been apprehensive in some auto cars I’d driven and even in some cases engages sport mode heh)

Right, I’ve settled down with how it performs I don’t need to pay too much attention to it so I can look around the dash, there are displays for your battery level and its expected range from this. The range is useful but less so if someone else has been driving it as it estimates based on their habits so in a test car it isn’t so handy but the battery meter is fine, 3/4 charged, I barely used any despite my heavy footed, ham fisted approach to it today. There is a display of a tree to indicate how well you are driving, the tree fills up and then gets added to a small forest you can accumulate to the side. Now I realise how cheesy that sounds but it is actually a very good tactic and idea, it makes you aware of how you are driving and it makes you want to complete the tree and better yourself. Definitely designed for the Nintendo generation, conditioned for digital rewards. You can even go online and contribute your trees and compare I’m told.

I didn’t get chance to test the “turbo” section of the go pedal as it was on city roads and I was accompanied, but I’m told if you press the pedal down and it feels like it stops, press it some more and it sort of clunks into the final section which drains the batteries fast but really shifts!

It feels (and is) a real car, It doesn’t feel like a toy or anything different as you drive it around. Size wise, it’s not too dissimilar from our current Peugeot 307, perhaps a tad roomier but the boot is smaller. The headlights are LED looking at the specs, not sure how they perform as it was the middle of the day but I’d imagine they are sufficient if not better then normal bulbs.

Audio and IT kit.
The Leaf is choc full of gadgety goodness, it has iphone/mp3 integration built in, bluetooth, satnav, reversing camera and air con all as standard. The navigation also shows nearest charging points and will update the list from satellite as this is an ever changing list. Along with this there is also a feature called CARWINGS, this lets you connect and interact with the car remotely. (sadly not like knightrider but thankfully it also doesn’t have a camp voice either) You can use your iPhone (probably other smart phones) or PC to check on the charge level, start or stop charging, initiate AC to get the correct temperature before you start depleting your batteries or plan your route and upload it to the satnav in the car (how cool is that, google maps integration and I’d be sorted!)

The price is £25k after a £5k government grant. I was looking at the price on the way to drive it as a lot of money but typical fare for early adopters, and that’s what this car is, the first generation. But still, £25k will get you a good deal of car, I was checking around the show room, a 2.0 Qashqai
was 22k, a Nissan Note was 13k, almost half that of the Leaf and not significantly smaller. The Leaf was starting to look like an increasingly bad financial proposition at this point, compounding my preconceived opinion.
But after testing it and the sales guy mentioning one startling revelation that you will never need to visit a petrol station again, it starts to look a little better, hmm maybe its not just for carbon abhorrent hippies then….

Charging.
A normal charge using a home installed “power pod” I think they call it, will take 8 hours, so you could drive 100 miles in a day, come back and charge it while you sleep, simples.
If you take it to work or visit a friend you can use a typical 3 pin plug lead and it will charge in 12 hours.
Or, call at your local Nissan dealer and charge it on their fast charge point in 30 minutes. (this gives an 80% charge)
The advice is the same as most batteries, charge it, use it till almost flat then recharge. If you drove only a few miles a day and put it on charge every night you would shoot yourself in the foot with regards to the battery longevity.

Personally I don’t see charging as too much of an issue, its like anything else, if you plan for it, it isn’t a problem. Charging points are becoming more common and lets face it, electricity is everywhere already, its just a matter of getting the hardware in place to plug in. I can see Nissan or other car dealers partnering with a major coffee shop chain to get a small coffee bar in their dealerships (where there isn’t one within 100ft already!) so that customers can park up and take a quick charge and have a coffee.
Also NCP could install 5-6 bays in their car parks (they already have lights in there so just take a feed) and charge a small surcharge on the existing parking fee, you are likely to be there for some time anyway, thats my prediction anyway. Hotel chains will be announcing deals with charging point installers soon too I suspect, some small private ones already provide this.

Some quick ponderings on the way back and I came to the conclusion that its a 15k car with a 10k upfront fuel charge. That is the best way I can find of looking at it, and doing so, it makes sense, even for normal people, right now. If you spent that £25k on a 2.0l Qashqai, you would then spend 5-6k on a drip feed to keep it running that year, its an accepted cost and we are conditioned to it. Like a loan that has been running for years you expect to have this chunk of your monthly income gone so you work around it. If you could pre-pay £10k to fix your tank fill up cost to £5 for the life of your vehicle I bet you would jump at the chance looking at the current fuel prices. Incidentally, filling the batteries on the leaf should cost less than that on most electric tariffs.

OK, back down to earth, when all said and done, this isn’t the savior on four wheels, it’s the first generation iPod, expensive and uncommon. But this will fund the second generation which was better, cheaper and more usable. It’s the first step, it won’t be taken by many but I find it very interesting.

I’m not driven (no pun intended) by the need to be green, I don’t even mind that my electricity to fuel one would come from the usual coal fired station. The argument is moot as petrol requires the same electricity to refine it, coming from the same source so the way I see it, they cancel each other out. When EVs really take off, we will be looking for better ways of getting the electricity so it will naturally come about, people will come up with cheaper ways in the inevitable price war that drives most industries and technological advancement. My main attraction to EVs (2 or 4 wheeled) is that of a geek, they interest me in a technological way. Electric seems to make the most sense for getting around, its just the charging and storage of that electricity that is holding us back at the moment.

Anyway, if anyone still is, thank you for reading. I don’t mean to sound like an electrical zealot but I’m very enthused by trying this out today. I know it isn’t for everyone, but even me as a rural located driver could make use of one as I have a short commute (15 miles) and our shopping/family visits are all less than the 109 miles quoted range by quite some margin (even factoring in getting back before being able to charging it) After trying this today I’d be very interested in trying one of the Brammo electric bikes or similar!

Feeling rather good about my riding

I’ve had my bike just over 3 years now. I get better on it all the time, I’ve still got loads to learn but after getting back from a ride in early spring weather I noticed my tyre looking rather well worn, still plenty of tread but I’d been using much more of the tyre. I know there are people that use every bit of the tyre but for so early in the year I was impressed with myself and thought it was worth noting

Thursdays ride

Well, after the advice from the org and a bit of cunning streetview research I was on my way! What a day! The work at my destination was insignificant when compared with the joy imparted by the journey! The weather was so good I decided to chance going in my leathers. I’m glad I did too, much more comfortable and streamlined for the motorway sections. I’ll post the route from my PC later but I was really impressed how good the roads were so early on, 2 miles north of Bolton I was heading up and over rolling hills on clear, meandering roads. The views were getting better all the time too! I stopped and took a few pictures of the mist in the distance and when I rounded the next bend I saw the cause of the mist, the valley I was about to descend into was filled with cloud, it looked amazing, a short run through it and I emerged the other side and was almost at the M65! It only got better from there. The weather improved whilst I was doing my thing at the users house and I took a northern loop when I left despite ultimately being southbound. I was on more awesome B roads with views like the picture! Then found a hairpin bend on the uphill section! That was fun! Anyhow, that has set the bar pretty high for the rest of the season of rideouts now

Ride

Up late plotting my day tomorrow. I have to visit a user in Clitheroe. Looking at the weather I’ll take the SV, I’ve enquired on the mighty sv650.org as to which way would be most interesting. Had some good suggestions, plotted a route and memorised it as best as possible. I’ve got tom-tom on the iPhone but it doesn’t do multipoint routing and by it’s logic my scenic route is nothing short of lunacy

I’m heading up the A49, quick 3 motorway hop to Bolton, north from there past some reservoirs, under the M65, through some small towns and out onto some more enjoyable looking roads heading east! Will hopefully get some pictures to post for tomorrows blog entry. Wish me luck!

Bike landmark

Here’s the first real posting, I passed 30k on my SV today, almost 3.5 years old.

Second post

Testing some more

First picture

Let’s see if the picture appears…

New server!

With a huge thank you to my very generous host, I am now on a shiny new server! upgraded PHP, storage, mysql, the lot. (gimme an “ooooh”)

The intention is to create brettnet anew, as a photoblog this time. I attempted a project 365 last year and made it 2/3rds through February before falling off the wagon. This should be a less formal version of that, more ad hoc but with more regular updates than the site has been used to. So, as the well worn adage goes… Watch this space!