I just got my new car today – a Ford Mondeo 1.8TDCi Zetec. It was actually delivered on Friday 27th February, but as it’s on a “09″ plate and was registered from 1st March I wasn’t able to collect it until today.

I got up early and drove through to Darlington with Katie. (It’s the first time Katie has seen where I work). She loved the ride to work, especially the country lane between Bradbury and Darlington – we passed three farms and saw a field full of sheep! We left the Ford Fiesta that I’d borrowed in the company car park and got in my new vehicle. I spent a few minutes finding all the little cubby holes, my favourite being the overhead glasses case! I also messed around with the stereo and paired my Bluetooth phone.

We drove home via the A19 and put the cruise control to the test. It’s a much nicer drive than my old car and I think it will be a pleasure to drive to work, for a while at least!

Here’s the details of the model I went for:

• Ford Mondeo
• 5 Door
• Zetec
• 1.8 Duratorq TDCi 125ps
• Durashift 6-Speed Manual
• Panther Black Metallic

(N.b. Thanks to Northgate, the vehicle hire company that I work for, without whom I would still be driving around in my T-reg Citroën Xsara!)

Tags: car,Ford Mondeo,Northgate
Categories: General, Work
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A quick post to say a big “Happy Birthday” to my brother Jay who is 27 years old today. All the best little brother

Tags: birthday,Jay
Categories: Friends & Family
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You can now follow me on social networking and micro-blogging site, Twitter.

Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?

You can read my latest updates or follow me – my username is danmullen.

Tags: Twitter
Categories: Computing, Friends & Family, General
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A quick “Happy Birthday” to my sister’s fiancé, Steven. The head of Team Brown is 20 today – hope you have a good day matey

Tags: birthday,Steven
Categories: Friends & Family
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Looking for a gift for that special someone? Need a novelty item for a friend’s birthday? Look no further – Urban Jumble is here!

Thought I better give a quick plug for my brother’s online shop, Urban Jumble. It’s a gift shop with a focus on fun, novelty items such as lighters, mugs and T-shirts. He’s adding more stock each week so why not have a look and see if there’s anything takes your fancy? If you’re looking for a particular item but having trouble finding it, get in touch with him as there’s a good chance he’ll be able to track it down for you.

Tags: Jay,shop,Urban Jumble
Categories: Friends & Family, General
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How many more times are Sunderland going to be on the receiving end of some absolutely appalling refereeing decisions? Yesterday we beat Stoke 2-0 at the Stadium of Light, although it wasn’t until the last quarter of an hour that we took the lead. We should have been ahead at half time but thanks to what I can describe at best as “incompetent”, Rob Styles and his assistant failed to spot one of the most blatant handballs you are ever likely to see!

Luckily we went on to win the game, but these poor decisions are costing us points almost every week now. Considering the Premier League is supposed to be “the best league in the world”, surely it’s about time the standard of refereeing was closely examined?

Tags: football,SAFC,Sunderland
Categories: Sport
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Just a quick post to wish my niece Nadene a very happy 1st birthday

She’s having a little tea party later so I’ll be picking Katie up after work and taking her there. Hope you have a great day Nadene!

Tags: birthday,Nadene
Categories: Friends & Family
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Playing Texas Hold’em on Ladbrokes Poker recently, I got lucky on the flop and hit a full house. Wanting to maximise my profit, here is how I started off slowly to lull my opponents into a false sense of security…

(My online poker name is “Stunshot”).

Stunshot: T♣ 8♣
Stunshot posted small blind (10)
Nixo posted big blind (20)
Game #522,858,739 starting
Dealing Hole Cards
julien22 called for 20
Hoken66 folded
kudu_kid called for 20
Stunshot called for 10
Nixo checked

No-one had raised, I had posted the small blind and it would only cost me another 10 to see the flop, so I decided to stay in the hand.

Dealing the Flop: T♥ T♦ 8♦

Fantastic! I had hit a full house on the flop Now, how should I play it…?

Stunshot checked
Nixo bet for 20
julien22 called for 20
kudu_kid called for 20
Stunshot raised for 80
Nixo called for 60
julien22 raised for 120
kudu_kid folded
Stunshot raised for 360
Nixo called for 360
julien22 called for 300

I’d managed to get two players to put a few hundred chips in each – hopefully enough to convince them to stay in the hand ’til the end.

Dealing the turn: K♠
Stunshot bet for 540
Nixo folded
julien22 went all-in for 1,040
Stunshot went all-in for 460
Extra chips returned to julien22, 40

I bet a hefty amount, but not enough to make my hand seem totally convincing. Just enough to coax my opponent into “calling my bluff”. Of course, I wasn’t bluffing!

Dealing the river: 9♥
Stunshot wins 3,420 with a Full House, Tens full of Eights

I’d have usually folded a 10/8 suited, but on this occasion it paid off

Tags: poker,Texas Hold'em
Categories: General
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Hello again everyone. Similar to this post from March last year, I’m back again after a number of months without posting. No excuses this time other than the fact that I’ve been extremely busy with work and moving home (again). I intend to post more regularly on here from now on, although who knows… the best laid plans of mice and men, and all that!

Tags: Mullen.tv
Categories: General
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Woohoo! Congratulations to Roy Keane, all the players, Niall Quinn, the Drumaville consortium and all the backroom staff – Sunderland AFC secured their Premiership status today with a 3-2 win over Middlesbrough.

As Birmingham only managed a draw at home to Liverpool, we are now seven points clear of the relegation zone with only six points to play for. Let’s hope we can bring in some quality players in the summer that will help take us to the next level. (Top ten finish?).

Good luck for next season lads!

Tags: football,Niall Quinn,Roy Keane,SAFC,Sunderland
Categories: Sport
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