Satellite dish for sale?

Had popped out for lunch and was on my way back when I passed the open door to one of the workshops. In fact, it's the one the other side of the wall from my desk in the office next door.

These aren't your usual Sky type dish - they are for serious professional use - receiving tv and radio programs for retransmission from terrestrial transmitters. There are various sizes up to 1.6m, and, at least one with a dish heater installed. The heater is not to keep the birds warm but to melt snow and ice in winter, or, in our case, summer too. Its not the radiator behind the right most dish either - that is a, well, a radiator. Used for keeping technicians warm.

At least I know what they are doing when I hear power tools and what sounds like inelegant construction techniques using a manchester spanner.

My hearing has recovered after Bruce Springsteen at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry last night,

What a fabulous concert. Every review and comment has been the same. A fabulous show - one of the must see concerts, even if you don't know his music (but you will some of course). He and the E-Street Band we truly fantastic. Bruce's legendary energy was on show, as was his clear joy of performing and entertaining.

Three and a quarter hours of non-stop music. A great chunk of the show was done by taking requests written on cardboard by those at the front of the crowd. A couple of boys would have had difficulty sleeping last night after getting up on stage in front of a massive crowd. One girl put on a card, "I'd look great playing your guitar". She was duly invited up onto stage near the end to do just that. She didn't get to keep it though.

We expected it to take ages to get out after the finish of the concert. Luckily, I noticed an exit that takes you out through the hotel attached to the stadium so we didn't have to fight the hoards trying to funnel through the stand exits. Out in not much more than a minute!

Having parked about a mile away in a car-park that is easy for us to get to without using the motorway route, I expected it to be easy to get home again once we'd got out onto to the road and to the left turn a short way distance away.

But, plans were turned to dust after all roads except one taking you back into the city - completely the opposite direction to where we wanted to go and towards where the worst of the traffic was going to be. Thankfully, having driven around here for many years, I knew most of the route back around to the north through the country lanes and guessed the bits I didn't know. Apart from the first half mile, we didn't see more than half a dozen other moving cars. Back home in thirty minutes. It takes twenty minimum at the best of times. Think I'll stand outside at the next event and sell the route details Think I'd make more than the rip-off T-shirt salesman at the side of the road :-)