Mad Eejits

Finally Cycling to Work - 15 Jun 09

So, its Bike Week apparently, which suggests that it might be a good time to mention that I am finally cycling to work. Yes, I know it was over a year ago that I first mentioned the idea but to cut a long-story short, it took over 10 months for my bike to arrive.

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Cycle Northern Ireland - 13 Jan 09

Spotted on BikeRadar:

“A new guide to cycling in Northern Ireland has been launched. The 51-page ‘Cycle Northern Ireland’ brochure focuses mainly on the County Antrim area, which boasts stunning glens and a rugged coastline.”

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Summer's Almost Gone - 22 Aug 08

Nearly three months without an update? Must be a new record even by my poor standards. Yet here we are at the end of August, mostly still wondering if the summer ever started at all as its been one of the wettest for many years.

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Cycle to Work - 29 May 08

Back in January, when I was still very new to my current company, I sent an email to our local Human Resources representative, Sonya, asking if the company ran a Cycle to Work scheme or if they’d consider setting one up. (I briefly mentioned this in February). Well, at the start of May came the announcement that a Cycle to Work scheme was now available for all permanent UK employees of the company!

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What? May? Where? - 29 May 08

The month of May just seems to have flown by, but the lack of posts on here hasn’t meant we’ve been doing nothing. Far from it, in fact.

The major highlights of the month (some of which I’ll cover in more detail later) were my company’s announcement of a Cycle to Work scheme, my 31st birthday and the start of the work to fit a wood-burning stove in our living room.

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The Woman Who Stops Traffic - 05 Mar 08

I’ve been following, with great interest, the mini-series on Channel 4 called The Woman Who Stops Traffic, in which professional ‘trouble-shooter’ Kris Murrin tries to help 3 towns which are suffering from severe traffic congestion.

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An Unexpected Bonus - 27 Feb 08

Isn’t a great feeling when you put on a coat or jacket that you haven’t worn in a while and find some money in one of the pockets? It might be £5, £10 or even £20, but the amount doesn’t really matter. What’s more important is that you didn’t know you’d lost the money, so when you find it, its like getting something for nothing.

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Going Green - One Year On - 10 Feb 08

On the eve of Mad Eejits hosting the Carnival of the Green for the first time, I thought it might be worthwhile to look back on our first year of trying to be more eco-friendly to see what we’ve achieved.

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WANTED - Dinosaurs - Holywood area - 20 Nov 07

Best.Freecycle.Post.Ever!

It was, of course, a request for toy dinosaurs, not the real thing and the missing ‘L’ tells you its Holywood, Northern Ireland, not Hollywood, Los Angeles. Still, it made me laugh when I read it.

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Going Green - 6 Month Review - 19 Jul 07

Its just over 6 months now since we brought this site to life and, as hoped, we do feel more accountable for our plans and intentions that have been posted online, than if we’d simply kept them to ourselves. So, it seems like a good time for a review of how we’re getting on with our plan to become more eco-friendly.

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RecycleBank Dollars - 05 Jun 07

When I read about RecycleBank over on WorldChanging, I was struck by what a great idea it is for encouraging people to recycle. The basic idea is that the amount of waste that you recycle is measured and you are then rewarded with a related number of ‘RecycleBank Dollars’ which can be used at a good number of participating stores and websites

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Yahoo Mail Plugs Freecycle - 11 May 07

I did a double-take on spotting the above advert in my Yahoo Mail this morning. Freecycle, a recycling network, is run through Yahoo Groups, an advert supported service, so its not like Yahoo don’t have an interest in increasing the numbers of people signing up to the groups. However, its still great publicity for Freecycle.

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A Greener Apple - 03 May 07

With the appearance of an statement entitled ‘A Greener Apple’ on Apple’s website, Greenpeace is celebrating the apparent success of their I love my Apple, I just wish it came in Green campaign.

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Fortnightly Bin Collections - 26 Apr 07

Who knew that something as simple as how often rubbish bins are collected could be blown up into such a large issue that the Daily Mail would start a campaign to save weekly rubbish collections and it’s being speculated that the issue could affect local council elections in England and Wales. The whole debate revolves around whether normal rubbish bins should be collected every week or if fortnightly collections would be sufficient.

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