Yes, would you Adam & Eve it, you can now buy a gizmo to test if you pet is diabetic. Diabetic Pets
Whatever next…
April 2006
Monthly Archive
Wed 5 Apr 2006
Tue 4 Apr 2006
I read today that the passport office has made a small (but significant) change to the small print for passport renewals.You could (and still can) renew your passport anytime in the last 9 months of its validity period (UK passports are valid for 10 years) which would effectively give your new passport a length of upto 10 years 9 months.
However you could also renew it at any other time if you wanted to - maybe you didnt like that old photo or whatever. They have now scrapped this bit which means if you already have a passport you CANNOT renew it until the last 9 months of its term. Now your inital reaction may be ’so what’, we’re only talking about a photo aren’t we?
There may be more to this. You have probably heard about the on-going debate about ID cards, what they should contain, and how compulsary they will be (or in reality which guise are they going to be under to make it technically not compulsary, but actually you pretty much don’t have a choice). One of the most likely suggestions is to link them to your passport ie if you have a passport (80% of people do) then you will need to submit all the information, biometrics, and other personal details as part of your passport application/renewal. Now a lot of people are against this level of intrusion into their personal details, so having a passport without all the extra biometrics etc along with it is appealing.
In reality then, by preventing people from renewing passports until they have finalised how to implement ID cards, they are preventing people from renewing now to delay giving up their personal details to ID cards for 10 years. In effect this is making the ID cards compulsory without phrasing it as clearly and honestly as that.
Furthermore, if you do not have a passport now might be a good time to get one before it becomes an even longer process than it already is.
Tue 4 Apr 2006
..who you won’t hear from in ages.and then their computer / video / microwave / radio / lawnmower / toaster etc stops working and you receive the ‘hi. how you doing. listen i have a problem with..’ and so it begins.
Having said that, if it wasn’t for all the electronic stuff breaking we’d probably lose contact altogether. And when I do go round to fix things (as i often do being the helpful kinda guy i am) it often turns into a 5 minute job and a 3 hour catch-up chat - which is always good.
Tue 4 Apr 2006
Following my first article on HMO regulations i thought it would be good to describe exactly what the new regulations entail and share some tips to make the transistion easier. This article has a friendlier feel to it too 
Remember the new HMO regulations come into play on April 6th…
Tue 4 Apr 2006
The HMO regulations are changing on April 6th so i figured it was time to write an article about the penalties for non-compliance with the new rules.