flamedot lives here » text http://www.flamedot.com flamedot lives here Wed, 14 Jul 2010 23:00:41 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 How to pay your National Insurance contributions via internet banking http://www.flamedot.com/how-to-pay-your-national-insurance-contributions-via-internet-banking/ http://www.flamedot.com/how-to-pay-your-national-insurance-contributions-via-internet-banking/#comments Wed, 19 May 2010 13:47:27 +0000 flamedot http://www.flamedot.com/?p=1433 I went online to pay my National Insurance contributions and HSBC require I use the predefined organisation list but I ended up calling the helpline as HSBC present you with a confusing list of options and I didn’t want to pay it into the wrong account.

So, in simple steps which doesn’t state the obvious:

  1. Make a payment
  2. Pay a bill or organisation
  3. HM REVENUE & CUSTOMS
  4. Select a payee: HMRC NIC QUARTERLY
  5. Payee’s reference: 18 digit number on your NIC bill

The part I got stuck on was choosing a payee and there were two NIC options. A quick call to the hotline (I waited longer on hold longer than I spent on the call) confirmed that I should use “HMRC NIC QUARTERLY”.

Clear as mud?

]]> http://www.flamedot.com/how-to-pay-your-national-insurance-contributions-via-internet-banking/feed/ 0 neglected http://www.flamedot.com/neglected/ http://www.flamedot.com/neglected/#comments Fri, 07 May 2010 12:48:22 +0000 flamedot http://www.flamedot.com/?p=1428 Once again I’ve neglected this blog for way too long. New effort #43 has been instigated. Hopefully I’ll be able to visit here more often.

]]> http://www.flamedot.com/neglected/feed/ 0 criminals, the lot of ya http://www.flamedot.com/criminals-the-lot-of-ya/ http://www.flamedot.com/criminals-the-lot-of-ya/#comments Fri, 19 Mar 2010 17:00:12 +0000 flamedot http://www.flamedot.com/?p=1412 Shows like Prison Break and movies like The Bourne Identity make me empathise with criminals/assassins. Why the face?!

Not to mention the dreams of being chased after watching five episodes of Prison Break before bed.

Onwards and upwards… bring on season three!

]]> http://www.flamedot.com/criminals-the-lot-of-ya/feed/ 0 Where to find annatto seeds & achiote powder in London http://www.flamedot.com/where-to-find-annatto-seeds-achiote-powder-in-london/ http://www.flamedot.com/where-to-find-annatto-seeds-achiote-powder-in-london/#comments Sun, 14 Mar 2010 12:44:47 +0000 flamedot http://www.flamedot.com/?p=1407 Up until this week the only place I could find annatto seeds and achiote powder in London was Cool Chile. Then I was wandering around New Loon Moon in Chinatown looking for some staples and stumbled across them in the back room. 50p for a 10g packet of achiote powder or 55p for a packet of annatto seeds (can’t remember the weight of this bag).

New Loon Moon
9a Gerrard Street

]]> http://www.flamedot.com/where-to-find-annatto-seeds-achiote-powder-in-london/feed/ 0 Stephen Lynch can’t whistle http://www.flamedot.com/stephen-lynch/ http://www.flamedot.com/stephen-lynch/#comments Sun, 07 Mar 2010 17:14:24 +0000 flamedot http://www.flamedot.com/?p=1403 Me and Tom when to see Stephen Lynch at the Brixton Academy on Friday. Funniest shit ever!

He started over 15 minutes late but opened with a song about AIDS so who couldn’t forgive him?! And he played Special Ed early on and encouraged a sing-a-long.

He also gave specific instructions to “download my music illegally. I don’t give a shit.”

It wasn’t quite a concert and wasn’t quite a comedy act. But he sang Don’t Stop Believin’, Free Bird and Purple Rain so who cares!!

]]> http://www.flamedot.com/stephen-lynch/feed/ 0 weekends & photos http://www.flamedot.com/weekends-photos/ http://www.flamedot.com/weekends-photos/#comments Sat, 27 Feb 2010 17:07:24 +0000 flamedot http://www.flamedot.com/?p=1400 Last weekend was spent up in March and Cambridge with the family introducing Tom to the crowd. Sunday in Cambridge was probably the highlight of my weekend coz I managed to snap two awesome photos.

making music

making music

This weekend has so far been spent having work drinks, Googling geeky things and watching Dharma & Greg. Tonight, it’s Nando’s in South Wimbledon.

]]> http://www.flamedot.com/weekends-photos/feed/ 0 laminated list http://www.flamedot.com/laminated-list/ http://www.flamedot.com/laminated-list/#comments Thu, 18 Feb 2010 08:31:27 +0000 flamedot http://www.flamedot.com/?p=1381 In no particular order:

Billie Joe Armstrong
Pierre Bouvier
Ryan Reynolds
Mark Paul Gosselaar
Paul Rudd

]]> http://www.flamedot.com/laminated-list/feed/ 0 sometimes I have good days http://www.flamedot.com/sometimes-i-have-good-days/ http://www.flamedot.com/sometimes-i-have-good-days/#comments Wed, 17 Feb 2010 21:08:24 +0000 flamedot http://www.flamedot.com/?p=1384 On the tube I’m your regular old grumpy bum. I have an urge to staple things to people’s heads when they:

  • don’t get their Oyster card out before they get to the barriers
  • don’t know how to touch in and out properly
  • stand in front of the barriers for no good reason
  • don’t move down inside the carriage
  • wear a backpack on their back/wear their massive handbag on their shoulder
  • during rush hour
  • knock me into the gap (it’s happened before)…

The list goes on.

And yet today I found myself being nice to someone.

It’s half-term, the time when I am at my grumpiest on the tube because I just don’t understand why families insist on travelling during peak time when I just want to get home. As I started to watch Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs on my iPod Touch I noticed a little person peering rounding a pole at my iPod. So I gave him an earphone and tilted the screen so he could watch with me. It only lasted a stop before he had to get off with his family but it was still my little touch of niceness in an otherwise grumpy world where you don’t talk to strangers.

]]> http://www.flamedot.com/sometimes-i-have-good-days/feed/ 0 brighton http://www.flamedot.com/brighton/ http://www.flamedot.com/brighton/#comments Sun, 14 Feb 2010 13:38:34 +0000 flamedot http://www.flamedot.com/?p=1377 Went out to Brighton yesterday on some cheapo tickets we got ahead of time. Only £3 each way! Only problem it was freezing all day so my sniffle and sore throat turned into a lovely cough.

We met up with Meg and Colin and had a yummy lunch at Bill’s. Sadly missed out on Choccywoccydoodah. Maybe next time.

My initial excitement for taking photos was thwarted by the cold. Stupid cold.

]]> http://www.flamedot.com/brighton/feed/ 0 food, food and more food http://www.flamedot.com/food-food-and-more-food-2/ http://www.flamedot.com/food-food-and-more-food-2/#comments Tue, 19 Jan 2010 21:50:36 +0000 flamedot http://www.flamedot.com/?p=1420 El Mundo enticed us in for dinner again. Oriental kofta and fata beef. With complimentary bread and dips, Bedouin tea and dessert. All for the very doable price of 120 LE!

Up early tomorrow for snorkeling the Blue Hole.

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