The two offer very similar setups, and rides.  The Trek has the Shimano 105 gear, but the Specialized brand is what I know (and love.  Or used too.)  On Saturday I took the 1.5 for a test ride, and I have to admit, even with jeans and trainers on it felt good.  I now just need to get my hands on the Allez for a test spin.

Oh, why oh why does it have to be so hard?

Is this the same for anyone else and their partner?  Or am I just applying geek thinking methodology to normal life?

I have to say though, I really do like it. I am slowly working my way through all the new things to play with [1]. There are so many apps you can download and use, some of the ones I am keen to try are free which is an added bonus.

I decided several weeks ago that I wanted to get a personal phone again after ditching my last one several years ago in favour of my company Blackberry, which has been a loyal servant, I just wanted the freedom of having a device that doesn’t mean I am always on call anymore.

I have done a liitle research, but combined with the fact that I still had v1 iPod mini (4gb) which has been dying a lot of late, the iPhone was the only real contender.

I have noticed that I have been more active on twitter since installing twiterific. Goodness more time online

[1] for example I am writing this blog article using the wordpress client for the iPhone.

in the past I have always bought premier, or tama kits. I know these names and their kits well.  But, a lot folks seem to pushing kits made by Mapex.  I have never heard of them, nor played on one.  Has anyone else played, or better yet owned one of these?  I have found some interesting looking kits on ebay, here and here. Yes I know, ebay is not the best of places to buy stuff these days, but you can get a feel for what’s what in the market.

What I am after is a recommendation as to whether or not Mapex is a brand worth investing in.

Right, for the past few weeks I have been trying to get my hands on a 17″ MBP. Not the standard retail model, I want the smaller but faster disk, more RAM, and a few other tweaks.

In the UK (apple.com/uk) retail price for this unit is about £2,200. However in the US the same spec will typically retail for about $2,150. That is near as damn it half the price of the UK model. Now I know that the UK (and EU) has steep import taxes for goods, but this does not justify the 100% difference in price.

So, Apple. Why oh why, are you so expensive over here? I mean your pricing is so exhorbantly high that drive people to look for alternate methods of getting their grubby little mits on the toy that they want.

The price for me is so vast, I could probably take a week long trip to the US, buy it locally there, and bring it back with me. With enough change for a cup of tea at LHR.

Does anyone have any ideas? The wife is struggling to see how a £2k+ laptop is value for money, unless it can clean the house, and cook.

This is by no means the only tale of Apple hiking up prices as soon as their products hit the shelves ok UK resellers. In fact Apple are not the only US brand to do this. Levi jeans are another good example. But these are not just 100% more expensive, during my last visit stateside they were near enough 350% more expensive.

It’s things like these that make you wonder if your future lies in the Country in which you were born. Don’t even get me started on the state of the UK political climate, it is worse than feeding time at the Zoo of late.