Fandango’s Flashback Friday 17 October

From 2016, a diatribe about the limits of technology. I love a good rant, me… Brainless Stupidity #3: GPS (‘Brainless Stupidity’ is a – very – occasional series of diatribes against state-of-the-art manifestations of bovine idiocy masquerading as aids to modern life. Previous targets have included been the Belgian way of buying fuel and Paypal’s…

Fandango’s Friday Flashback 12 September 2025

From 2013, a meditation on my love/hate relationship with technology… Kit Despite my well-documented inability to get to grips with technology (defined as basically anything invented since the Stone Age), I still have the inherent Y-chromosome marker for ‘kit’. Sadly, though, this thing I have going on with technology is a classic love/hate relationship. I…

Fandango’s Flashback Friday 11 July 2025

This was originally published on 7 July 2015 and is another example of me trying to reconcile myself to the fact that I am getting older. Never mind my generation, what about yours? I got on a bus recently. Let me tell you, my life is one long party. I had a suitcase, so, wanting to…

Don’t Panic

Most people who know me would agree that I’m of a generally calm, nay taciturn, mien. In Dad’s Army terms, I’m more Sergeant Wilson than Corporal Jones: So this latest offering in WordPress’ 365 Days of Writing Prompts held few fears for me when I first approached it: “In a crisis. Honestly evaluate the way…

Brainless Stupidity #3: GPS

(‘Brainless Stupidity’ is a – very – occasional series of diatribes against state-of-the-art manifestations of bovine idiocy masquerading as aids to moden life. Previous targets have included been the Belgian way of buying fuel and Paypal’s bizarre procedures for identity verification.) This time, though, our egregiously cretinous example is the in-car navigation system more or…

Conspiracy Theory

Joseph Heller got it right: Last Tuesday lunchtime, much to my chagrin, my iPad wouldn’t open the BBC iPlayer page, thereby depriving Madame and me of the possibility of listening to the News Quiz while chowing down on our baguettes. Disappointing. Madame didn’t seem to have a problem with her iPad so, following my iron…

Excuses? No sirree. Reasons, reasons

‘Where have you been?’ you’re almost certainly not wondering. Look, I know it’s been over a month since my last post, but it’s not for the want of trying. Let me assure you, I haven’t been idle. Although not for the want of trying. So here are ten perfectly good reasons – not excuses, oh dear…

Be (t)here now

I do like the occasional idle flight of fancy (to be fair, you had me at ‘idle’) and today’s Daily Prompt sent me off on one, since it involves two subjects close to my heart: technology and travel. I’ve written about both before but – as far as I can recall – never the two together.…

Never mind my generation, what about yours?

I got on a bus recently. Let me tell you, my life is one long party. I had a suitcase with me so, wanting to stay close to the luggage rack, I flopped down in the nearest seat, only noticing a couple of minutes later that it was one prioritised for the elderly and infirm. My…