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    Pictures from Berlin.....

    Just a few of my snaps from a little city break in Berlin
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    The Amazing TV Tower - a great view and a great place for a special meal 
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    Willkommen Berlin

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    One or two snaps from my City Break to Berlin :)

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    Blooming Marvellous

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    After the boom of the washing machine, the bloom in the garden ...... Happy Summertime Everyone :)

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    WATCHDOG BOOMING WASHING MACHINEĀ 

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    MMMMM - interesting.  Not every day you're walking down the stairs to hear 'BOOM'.  Rushing into the kitchen, it was difficult to tell at first what had exploded!!  It soon became apparent that is was the washing machine.  On turning off the power and opening the door, I soon discovered the carnage you see to the left.  The whole drum had dropped, ripped and trapped clothes in.  Odd, you think - most washing machines just die slowly.  Not this one - out with a bang.   
    Well, this tale has a happy ending.  This washer was a Hotpoint, which along with Indesit models made between 2007 and 2009 had a know fault on a small batch.  This had featured on the BBC's 'Watchdog' show.  A number of my facebook friends told me to check out whether it was one of the ones affected.  I used the web link to see - and bingo!!  It was one of the models.  So, straight onto Indesit (you know that they and Hotpoint are as one - no, I didn't either before this.  Well...........
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    ..... the engineers came to visit - with two tooboxes!!  I did wonder what they would do.  Well, just one screwdriver required to open the top.  The carnage you see to the left is what we found.  They did what I did, which was grab my phone to take a picture.

    This tale does have a happy ending - as Indesit have agreed that they will have to 'carry out further investigation'.  MMM - long time I thought, and nearly two weeks without a washer by now.  All calm when they agreed to replace the machine with it's 2013 equivalent.   A massive thanks to my Facebook friends and social networking for making a booming mess a happy ending.  Thank you friends, and Thank you Indesit :)

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    Derek talks Shopping Channels with the BBC

    After the shopping channel group sit-up ltd (bid tv, price drop and bid extra which Derek has never been connected with) was this week referred by the Advertising Standards Authority to the broadcasting regulator Ofcom after a high number of breaches of their codes and regulations - Simon Hoban, BBC Merseyside's teatime presenter asks Derek about the industry and how it is regulated.  Courtesy: BBC Radio Merseyside
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    22/5/13 - BBC RADIO MERSEYSIDE

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    NAME THAT STARTER!!

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    Look very carefully!
    Clue - well, I was lucky enough to be invited on board Royal Caribbean's "Brilliance of the Seas" for a taster of the $60m revitalisation of the ship.  We did plenty of filming, so you'll see that all on telly soon on sky 284.
    In the restaurant, on a cruise - you've got to try new things, haven't you?
    This was my brave new starter.
    AY