atomicvindaloo.com – the occasionally drunken ramblings of an urban philosopher

Jules Rocks!

Ξ January 18th, 2009 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Jules |

SPAM SPAM SPAM – UKFIS Ltd and the Ukraine

Ξ January 16th, 2009 | → 2 Comments | ∇ Atomic, Life, Me |

What a wonderful day! First off, I’ve been getting a vast amount of “SEO” hits on the site from some sites spamming the sales of blue pills. After a bit of digging around in the logs, I found that they were all coming from *.pool.ukrtel.net

A bit more digging around reveals that this is a notorious Ukrainian spam host so, courtesy of the fine folks at Hostgator, I’ve blocked the IP range 92.112.0.0 – 92.112.255.255 and the spam is no more.

I’ll give it a few days and remove the block to see if they’ve given up.

Not only, but also. I need to renew Atomic’s insurance so have been getting quotes off t’internet. The only place that I hadn’t tried was Confused.com, so gave them a try. Within minutes of the quotes coming back, I got a call from

0800 8401009

If you answer the call, you are cut off immediately. This carried on throughout the day till I got so hacked off with it I called them back. Well, surprise, surprise, it’s a premium rate number for UKFIS Limited – whoever the hell they are.

A bit of digging around reveals that UKIFS are, in fact, AutoDirect Car Insurance (and a whole bunch more). A quick call to 118118 and I had another number for them

0800 0280112

I called that and got through to a nice young lady who I asked to remove my number from their system.

Two minutes later I got a call from 0800 8401009 again. This time, though, there was some cocky twat on the other end of the line.

“FARK OFF YOU ANNOYING LITTLE KNOB END” I advised him.

I haven’t been called back since.

The power of cheese (or how to train an adult dog with psychotic tendencies)

Ξ January 14th, 2009 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Shelby |

Well, first off, the fine folks at dogchat.co.uk have identified what Shelby is composed of and, as previously thought, she has absolutely nothing to do with a Jack Russell. She is, in fact, mainly Patterdale Terrier with a chunk of Hunt Terrier thrown in for good measure. Good to know – as it certainly explains her “exuberance”.

Next in line is a concerted effort to try and get her to calm down a little around other dogs and to see just how obedient she is in general.

It seems that we’ve been doing things wrong with regards to other dogs by shortening the lead etc. as this can lead Shelby to think that we’re getting anxious about them and promoting her “defend the family” instincts (which, when added to her “destroy that dog” instinct is a recipe for disaster).

Instead, we should be chilling out at the sight of another dog, laughing gaily and employing cheese!

…… and the cheese is working.

I now carry a zip-loc bag of tiny cheese pieces with me when I take Shelby anywhere, and this is how it works;

At home, move away from her – to one side or behind – and call her name. When she looks round, magically present a piece of cheese to her but held in such a way that she has to look into your eyes to see the cheese. Rinse and repeat four or five times. Do this pretty frequently throughout the day.

Now, when out and about, whenever she does anything good sneakily take out a piece of cheese and call her name. Same thing applies – hold it so that she has to look into your eyes to see it and then let her have it.

If she does anything bad, then simply ignore it and then reward her when she comes back/ stops destoying etc.

Ultimately, she will expect a piece of cheese when you call her name and look directly at you – when outside. This means that, when you spot an alien dog, call her name and she will look at you. You then distract her with a piece of cheese.

Ultimately, ultimately – she will see an alien dog and then look straight at you, expecting the cheese.

The main things here are perserverance and ensuring that she doesn’t know that you have a bag of cheese in your pocket.

Early days yet, but I’ve got her to sit, stay, look and cross the road to order.

Daily Digest for 2009-01-12

Ξ January 12th, 2009 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Life |

	10:43am	A “Jules-ism”
	1:17pm	RagingAardvark posted 3 photos on Flickr. (Show Details)

Daily Digest for 2009-01-12

Ξ January 12th, 2009 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Life |

	4:43am	A “Jules-ism”
	7:17am	RagingAardvark posted 3 photos on Flickr. (Show Details)

A “Jules-ism”

Ξ January 12th, 2009 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Jules, Life |

For reasons known only to ourselves, Jules and I were discussing how to give Shelby mouth-to-mouth resuscitation the other night. I explained that you need to do gentle nose to mouth resuscitation.

“Do you need to put your fingers in her ears?” Jules asked.

That’s a Jules-ism

Daily Digest for 2009-01-10

Ξ January 10th, 2009 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Life |

5:07pm

RagingAardvark updated their status on Facebook. Kevin is on a mission.

Daily Digest for 2009-01-10

Ξ January 10th, 2009 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Life |

11:07am

RagingAardvark updated their status on Facebook. Kevin is on a mission.

Daily Digest for 2009-01-09

Ξ January 9th, 2009 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Life |

	3:50am	Wolf Eyes Storm Q5
	7:50am	A shout out to Amazon.co.uk
	12:59pm	RagingAardvark posted 3 videos on YouTube. (Show Details)

Daily Digest for 2009-01-09

Ξ January 9th, 2009 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Life |

	9:50pm	Wolf Eyes Storm Q5
	1:50am	A shout out to Amazon.co.uk
	6:59am	RagingAardvark posted 3 videos on YouTube. (Show Details)