Author: Olly

  • Seeing more of the world

    Gemma and I love travelling – its definitely our favorite thing to do! Our latest trip was to the coast of Alicante in Spain, and as per our other holidays i figured i would do a little report and recommend the place we went and services we used.

    We normally fly with EasyJet, but recently they have gone shit and stopped flying from the airports near me – so this time we opted for RyanAir and despite the planes being scruffy (they didn’t clean the floors between flights) it was exactly what you expect – cheap and cheerful!

    They did a good job of getting us there and back in one piece, and on time too – the cabin crew (or “salesmen” as i like to cal them) were great but you get a bit sick of them CONSTANTLY trying to sell you shit from the second you take off to the second you land. I’m gonna pretend I’m asleep next time! 🙂

    In regards flights tho, you get what you pay for – i didn’t expect anything more than what we got! Had a wing isle on the way back which meant lots of legroom and as the flight was only about 2 hours it seemed to be over quickly enough 🙂

    Once we landed we were taken to a car hire depot where our car was waiting for us – a 1.2 brand new Nissan Micra in black. the company was called Drivalia Car Rental, and they were literally 5 ins from alicante airport. The lady was lovely, the car was brand new and awesome (and upgraded from the bottom class to the next one up as they had run out of group A cars! :)) – we do think they put on an extra insurance charge as we Had bought something when we signed up for it – but it was still cost effective, full tank of juice and a spanking clean car so we let it slide!

    It was my first experience driving a left hand drive car, on the wrong side of the road! At first it was a SPIN OUT, but after a few hours i was used to it (well, apart from pedestrian crossings!) and the only real part of driving abroad (well in Spain anyway) is the mopeds! There is always 2 people on then, helmets but shorts and tshirts – and they squeeze through any gap they can find!

    The hotel was very easy to find, it was one of the first left hand turns off the main road to alicante, once the main road was running along side the coast. We got settled in to our (freely upgraded to a family sized room from a double) room quickly and headed out to get some food and drinks for the apartment.

    We stayed at Alicante Hills Apartments, and they were bang on – our room was massive, we had 2 bathrooms and could have slept 6 people in it if we wanted! It had a pool, jacuzzis, a restaurant (which was VERY reasonably priced!) and you had air con and a TV in the rooms etc – everything you need.

    My onyl gripe with the apartment was there was a spot of crap splattered on the wall when we got there, and the cleaners missed it all week and it was still there when we left – i think the place was clean, but mainly because its so new – if they are not careful they will star slipping if the cleaners are not more concise. Also above the oven was a drawer, that got VERY hot when using the oven – badly planned out kitchen methinks!

    Apart from that, the apartment served its purpose, we even went back to the hotel towards the end of the last day, after we had checked out and driven down to Santa Pola and Torrevieja and back again – just so i could have a swim and a shower! 🙂

    Alicante itself is a nice place, but we did notice a lot of closed down and derelict buildings – the recession is obvious! It was more obvious the further out of central alicante, lots of random derelict buildings and villas along the N-332 – a shame really as many of the buildings that were screwed looked like they were beautiful at one point.

    We will visit spain again, but we’re not bothered about staying in alicante again.

    • Flights 7/10
    • Car Hire 8/10
    • Apartments 8/10
    • Value for Money 10/10

    We’re off to Gran Canaria next i think – cant wait woo!

  • The Devils in the Detail…

    We’re been mucking about with various motorcycle related web shops, but to be honest despite getting great results with our single product sites – we had a nightmare managing things, so we decided to put all our eggs in one basket and attack things properly.

    Introducting, Moto666!

    Our aim is to have as many product lines from as many brands as physically possible. We want to become the latest and greatest motorcycle accessory store online! Thanks to our awesome contacts in the industry, our experience and knowledge of everything online – we are sure to make a dent in the motorcycle parts and accessories trade in the UK and Europe.

    We have started off on the right foot, all product options are properly thought through and all shipping has been researched to be the best price for the UK and Europe – we’ve applied a level of detail to this site already that we have never been able to do before.

    If you are after a helmet, paddock stand, indicators or anything else for you motorcycle – if we aint got it we can get it, so call now!

  • Been there done that…

    It sometimes feels like ive been doing this internet stuff for far too long now. I remember being 13 and creating skins for mIRC, and making websites with frames using a very old version of Macromedia Dreamweaver.

    Its all changed so much since then, the speed of the net, the quality of the websites, the amount of websites…

    Even what the internet is used for has changed.

    Back in the day people didnt even trust Amazon when buying online – now they will put their details in any site that wears a padlock despite it potentially being dodgy.

    The pace in which the internet has grown has increased massivly since social networking websites started to crop up, and websites like YouTube mean that you can stream videos and music, instantly, and totally free.

    I often wonder what the internet will become as technology and peoples ideas continue to grow.

    Its all crazy shit really.

     

  • Day number 10,028

    Its quite scary when you take time out to think back at how many people you have met, how many places you have been and how many things you have seen during your life – im only 27 and it feels like i have a million years worth of memories in my head already!

    Its during these moments of reflection when we remember the people, places and things that have positively (and negatively) influenced our lives, and feel grateful for meeting them and experiencing all the things life throws at you.

    I cant speak for everyone, but i seemed to get myself involved in lots of things when i was growing up, whether it was starting a mobile disco business with a loan from my aunty when i was 13, or being a founding member of what is one of the most well known modified car clubs in the UK – right through to being the founder of the greatest forum, and worlds only adidas superstar forum – the SSDB. And along the way i have met some awesome people who have helped me grow and have had an amazing positive influence on my life.

    One thing i find myself doing is taking little snippets of advice from the people i meet while im living my life, sometimes its something they say, sometimes its a physical action, but whatever it is it stays with me for life.

    For example, an amazing influence on my business life was a man called John Leaver, he worked for LEO and was probably the best business advisor i have ever encountered. He sat me and Dave down one day in an meeting he rented just for this occasion at the ICentre in mansfield – all at his own expense – as we were struggling to run make our business profitable enough. He spent a good few hours going over every detail, and gave us advice in many areas of our business, but the main thing that stuck with me was this single quote;

    “Guys, you are spending too much time doing what you want to do – and not enough time on the stuff you need to do. “

    Now that may not hit home with you like it did with me, but at the time we were working on a few projects that were consuming our time entirely, and not making anywhere near enough return for the amount of work we were putting in – and, we were neglecting things we could have been doing that would have brought in more money.

    Its so easy to miss something that is right in front of your face.

    Needless to say, we walked out that room and the next day was the first day of our new, successful business.

    That quote has stuck with me, and is never far from my thoughts when we start thinking of new projects, ideas, and discuss things that could quite easily distract us from our main core business.

    I keep these memories with me at all times, and the people i have met and created these memories with are never far from my thoughts even if i dont see them from one year to the next.

    Live your life with your eyes and ears wide open 🙂