Carl's Journal

Couldn't believe it when I walked past this car the other day. Offsets white paintwork and red scratch perfectly. Where do we buy decals like these?

As the winter months settle in I've been using an exercise bike to stay trim, riding the equivalent of 50km per day with varying terrain set randomly by the bike's program. What I miss though is the ability to check my pulse at different levels of intensity, and because I'm asthmatic, to make sure my blood remains oxygenated.

My training coach at the gym recommended I buy a pulse oximeter because it can be worn easily while spinning and would give me the information I require at a glance, and without having straps around my chest that are uncomfortable like normal cycling meters use.

An Oximeter uses two LEDs with red light and infrared light and a couple of sensors to measure percentages of oxygen in the blood, and at the same time can accurately count pulse. Being asthmatic I need to know if oxygen levels are falling to critical levels while I train.

Having the oximeter gives immediate peace of mind because if blood oxygen levels drop too quickly I can stop straight away and rest or take medication to stabilise my blood oxygen. My trainer is a guy who knows his stuff and works with a lot of people who experience the same low oxygen, not just asthma, but also people with allergies or acute stress. It's not a game, this is why I make sure I don't train without one now.

I've just finished reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. That's it, I've read the entire series, and now I have a confession to make. I didn't like the ending.

We all knew Harry Potter wasn't a real wizard, the way his life unfolded it was clear Hermione and the other students at Hogwarts were way better at magic or potions than him, but I still don't like the final scene of Harry standing on the train platform with his own kids.

Everyone has a right to grow up and get married if they want, and even have kids, but really, to make Harry a regular ordinary guy with a job? Harry Potter didn't grow up to be the Minister of Magic, or better yet, the headmaster of Hogwarts?

After enduring several years fighting the strongest wizard who ever lived, who nobody else could defeat, and then he just settles into mundanity?

That's just not the happy ending I was hoping for. A wonderful wife, yes, definitely, kids, sure why not? But what happened to the rest? I guess that's just life.

Sometimes I look around the web for types of cars, mostly for information for other people to do comparisons, help them with insurance policies that sort of thing, and a friend of mine asked me to take a look at one his newest web projects, a site dedicated to Japanese automobiles.

The Japanese automotive industry has been a global giant for several decades yet outside of Japan few would realize how many brands and models have been produced. For example, have you ever heard of Dome or Mitsuoka? Car enthusiasts might have done but I hadn't.

Have you ever seen a Japanese vehicle styled like a Jaguar (Mitsuoka Nouera), or were you aware Autobacs the maker of parts and accessories have their own in-house built racers for the Japanese grand prix circuit? Neither did I.

Even with the financial crisis around the world Japanese vehicles still seem to sell, I think in part because their maintenance and parts costs are often much lower than similar priced US or European brands.

In Spain where I live we don't see too many Japanese cars, they've never managed to get much traction in a market dominated by SEAT and Citroen, but with immigration from Northern areas the coastal areas see a lot more Japanese vehicles, especially Nissan and Toyota.

Interestingly Mitsubishi has never seemed to be popular, I think they target other markets that are easier to get into, like the US and Canada, Australia, Africa etc where they can out-compete more expensive US and European brands.

My friend is quite passionate about his cars, his bookshelves are filled with owners manuals, so it's nice to see him putting some of that knowledge to good use. I think he'll do well.

Babies are something I don't have much experience of, especially at the very early stages, but a friend of mine has been asked to be a godparent to a child, and apparently there are books that teach how to help be a part of a young child's life, or so I'm told.

Parents naturally get a lot of help, not just from their own parents, but from doctors and nurses, child care centres etc, but friends who take on a godparent role get no help, I guess society doesn't see the need for it or assumes that if they need to help raise kids that they'll get the help they need at that point.

We were talking about this the other night over dinner, a group of us, and the subject how to look after a new born came up, what to feed them, how to change nappies, their learning.

I think we all agreed we didn't understand how our own parents coped. And Wikipedia doesn't help very much, just look at how sparse their information is.

My friends feel it's a responsibility that shouldn't be taken lightly, whether as parent or godparent, actually Janet said she thought it's a great idea for a godparent to learn something about new born babies, after all the parents wouldn't choose someone they thought couldn't be trusted.

The first 9 months of a baby's life are critically important to their health and development, and at that age they change so much, learning how to recognize good and bad sounds, touch, letting their little minds grapple with the reality of the world around them, it's not a task to be undertaken lightly.