Welcome

In April 2025 I took UK Parking Control (UKPC) to court. They’re one of the private parking companies that are famous for aggressively pursuing consumers for large payments for the most trivial breach of their parking terms. In my case, there was no breach - the mistake was theirs and they inexplicably failed to accept this, forcing me to put together a detailed appeal to the independent POPLA appeals service. I filed a claim against them for my time and their breach of the Data Protection Act for unlawfully processing my personal data and won the case on the data protection breach.

None of this would have been possible without the excellent work of the members of the MSE Parking Forum and the huge amount of information there.

Here’s what happened in my case, and what to expect from a small claims court case. I’m just some idiot on the internet, none of this should be considered legal advice.

Takata?

Starting in 2013, many vehicle manufacturers recalled vehicles fitted with faulty airbag inflators made by Takata Corporation. Over 100 million airbags have been affected, so this is a pretty common issue, with most manufacturers issuing safety recalls to arrange for the replacement of the faulty airbags.

This is my variation on Kenji López-Alt’s recipe for Texas-style Chilli adjusted for someone who has very limited tolerance to spicy heat and issues with most vegetable textures but loves the flavour of chilli.

I finally got round to updating from my old 2006-era DIY static site generator Meek to hugo, which is much more flexible and has far nicer support for image handling. It’s also given me the opportunity to update to a design that’s properly responsive.

Last September we visited the West India Dock Impounding Station as part of the London Open House Festival.

Carrot and Coriander Soup. This makes a thick and carroty soup. I recommend using a decent blender for smoothness, but a stick blender works well enough.

With thanks to Kelduum for this recipe. I make this in a Panasonic bread maker, and prefer it to the standard recipe which is too sweet.

I was lucky enough to attend Electromagnetic Field this year, a camping festival for those with an inquisitive mind or an interest in making things: hackers, artists, geeks, crafters, scientists, and engineers. I had an amazing time.

Back in 2021 I bought the very cheap Aldi Kamado ceramic BBQ/smoker. It’s more basic than some of the competitors but excellent value for money. I’ve upgraded some parts over the years and I thought it worth posting about them for anyone else considering upgrading theirs.