Life in Wales

Turning 39

noreply@blogger.com (Mark) — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 08:32:00 +0000

Dydd Gwyl Dewi hapus! Or happy Saint David's day to those who don't understand Welsh.

Well I reached another birthday, yes folks I'm now 39...... feels no different to 38 mind you so all you Young one's not yet there don't worry you don't turn green or bald over night.

Listening to Chris Evans on Radio 2 the other evening he was talking about the 80's more specifically TV show 'fame' and listening to 'Star Maker' well if you want to well up and cry buckets then this is the song for you. Although I did not actually cry it did bring back many memories and has triggered something in my dark grey matter, so at the moment I am back in the 70's and 80's and will be sharing some TV shows, music and other things from that era over the coming weeks that I loved and grew up with.

Okay back to 'fame' ran from 1982-1987 the show was based on the movie with the same name. that tells the stories of the students and faculty at the "New York City High School for the Performing Arts." I was not a huge fan by any means and probably didn't watch many episodes but growing up as a teenager this was the big hit of the 80's and all the girls wearing leg warmers yes that's where it came from. And this being the culprit for my 80's re visit.

More later....

BT update.......

noreply@blogger.com (Mark) — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 07:32:00 +0000

Okay, I was all ready to have my phone fixed April 3rd. Last night whilst eating my evening meal the door bell went and two BT men were standing there. "Just here to survey the job we are doing tomorrow" urmm but you are not supposed to be here until 3rd April I reply. Lets just say they gave me the strangest look and said nope here's our job sheet will be here tomorrow morning to do the job.

YEE HA I get my phone back and broadband without interruption.

Very funny....

noreply@blogger.com (Mark) — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 09:53:00 +0000

What standard of service levels would you expect?

noreply@blogger.com (Mark) — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 08:14:00 +0000

Day 36.

The BT (British Telecom for those not from our shores) saga continues. Decided that I needed to ring them to chase up progress as the two engineers who came out last week said 2-7 days and it will be all sorted. Bless them they done a sterling job, marked up the road, fitted the junction box to the house, fitted the internal box for my phone to plug into all ready for the other team to lay a new telephone line from the box to the house, here's where it all goes wrong AGAIN!.

Spoke to a lovely lady (Lorraine) at BT who advised me that she would would look into and call me back, promptly she did only to be a bit bemused, I asked her what the problem was, to be told that due to the technicality of the phone problem it will not be completed until 3rd April.

Big pause..... Excuse me, I say, 3rd of April but it's only 14th February?

I then precede in telling Lorraine at BT the whole saga; well you have to do these things each and every time so they understand that I have been without a phone service since Friday 11th January. Also the two Engineers and what they have done and what the solution will be. Simple really, they cannot locate the junction out in the road so rather than dig three holes they have opted to install a brand new line, job done, simple!

No say BT Openreach "firstly the Engineers should not discuss jobs with customers and secondly it's a very technical fault that is why it will take so long". Hmm question BT Openreach do you actually talk with your engineers? If so you would know that the Surveyor/Engineer decided to lay a new line rather than waste man power digging up lots of holes to locate the junction, 50% of the job is already complete.

So come on BT and BT Openreach this is getting a little silly now I just want my little white phone to start talking again it can't be that hard now can it!! (Idiots)

And that's why people you should think again why NOT to return to BT. unless you fancy a bit of really bad service.

I wish Virgin Media were here, 15 years of faultless cable and fibre optics.

BT or no BT that's the question

noreply@blogger.com (Mark) — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 21:16:00 +0000

Well over a week on from my last post and you guessed it, still no phone. Although they have concided that they will not be able to fix the old line without digging up a lot of road so they have elected to install a new line, they fitted a new box ready, now I await the road crew to dig up my lovley front garden to install the line.

This weekend proved to be fantastic, played golf with a load of freinds on Saturday morning, glorious sunshine and my game was pretty good as well, even though I have not played since last summer. I want to play again now!! oh dear id 'J' about to become a golfing widow!?!?!?

MSM is currently over in spain with her Gran & Gramps for the week, although it look like we could have the better weather, not checked yet but normally if we have it good they have it bad!

I joined face book, I know I'm mad, however it's not for pleaseure I assure you, I have clients who are getting fed up of paying google thousands of pounds each month to generate business and so I am looking in to alternative ways of marketing, read in the Sunday Times recently that this type of thing is the new way to generate business, and who argues with the sunday times.

Oh, went out exploring yesterday around the street only to find a little alley way that takes us out on to the common and all you can see for miles are fields & hills how excited was I less than a two minute walk and I was out in the wilds of South Wales. Love it, so much so I ran back grabed my mountain bike and went off for an hour up hills over mud fields generally making a fool of myself. Who cares!!

I'll post some pics up soon I promise.

BT Saga continues

noreply@blogger.com (Mark) — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 08:25:00 +0000

Week 3. And we still await our phone to start ringing again, yes folks our phone went down three weeks ago and no one at BT gives a shit. We have had two engineers to the house and both confirmed that the fault is outside, between the box and the house, no problems I thought should only take a few days.....

Morale dilemma. Before we moved we sold our nearly new wadrobes to our old next door neighbour, me not being a pushy gitt told her to pay me next week (14th December 07) well it's now 2nd Feb 08 and still no dosh. What do I do? continue to call her weekly until I get the money or go through the small claims court? any ideas.

Last Saturday Justine and I went out looking for floor tiles and came back in a shiny new car... eh did I type that right.. Yup went out for tiles came home with a new car. Justine had a Deawoo Matiz as a little rub around but where we now live we have to drive down the motorway which as you can imagine is not much fun in a 998cc Matiz, so we bought a Citroen C2 Furio, nice little sporty number 1.4i. the next bit is for you petrol heads:

The Citroen C2 model range lies within the price bracket of £8,280 - £12,285. The C2 has been awarded a four star NCAP crash test rating by the European New Car Assessment Programme out of a possible five stars. Based on this NCAP rating the C2 fairs fairly well in an accident having been given a high result. Citroen C2 insurance groups start at group 1 and rise to group 8. Base models are (group 1 and 2 cars are the cheapest to insure) very cheap to insure, whilst the higher specification cars are below average to insure.

Engine Capacity : 1360 cc

Cylinders 4

Valves 8v

Power 75@5400 bhp/rpm

Torque 87@3300 lb/ft

Performance

Maximum Speed

105 mph - (Man)
0 - 62 mph 12.2 seconds - (Man)

Fuel

Fuel Type

- Unleaded Petrol

Fuel Capacity 41 litres / 9.0 gallons

Fuel Consumption:: (Manual)

Combined 47 mpg

Theoretical Range to Empty423.9 miles

Fuel cost per 12,000 miles£1,174.63 or £0.098 per mile

Cost of Fuel used above

£1.012 - Unleaded Petrol

Have a good weekend people...

Hey it's 2008 already.......

noreply@blogger.com (Mark) — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 08:37:00 +0000

Happy New Year, well a belated one anyway. Okay I’m alive (I think), I’ve moved and un packed, got over Christmas and we are now settling down to a new year in a new place. I’m sure that over the months I will bore the pants off everyone with the house and what I’m up to so today I’m not really going to discuss it.

BT on the other hand, well lets just say they must be the WORST telecommunication company in the world, I have been without a telephone for over two weeks now with no sign of it being repaired.

Controversial….. well this year I think a little discussions on what is getting to me will go down well, yes you will get to read topics that I’m sure you will feel compelled to respond too (I hope so anyway.)

So 2008 what’s happened so far even though we are ¾ of the way through January lots has happened mostly bad so not sure how 08 is going to pan out.

1/ Telephone busted.

2/ www.librautomotive.co.uk went off line for 10 days due to 1&1 Hosting (Long story very stressful)

3/ Broadband becomes intermittent due to telephone issues.

4/ Gave up smoking (3 days in).

Ah that’s a good topic, giving up smoking, after many years fagging it I decided last week that enough was enough, I was not enjoying it anymore and Justine had given up a few months ago and was doing extremely well. So I got my trusty Allen Carr’s Easy Way back out and started reading, the last time I gave up was a few years ago using his method and managed it for nine months, until I gave in to self pity and alcohol another story not for here.

So my last cigarette was Tuesday 22^nd January now I could put a counter up to show how many days in I am but to be honest I’m a non smoker and I don’t want to be reminded that I used to smoke, for some unknown reason I am really not interested in smoking, yes I had two days of hell, well withdrawal pangs at certain key times of the day but by yesterday they had diminished to the odd thought then the counter thought of the taste, smell and the shity feeling I get after a cigarette which was why I wanted to quit in the first place.

My work colleagues are well impressed so much so that the late Allen Carr’s estate is getting a boost with a few more sales of his great book. If you have had enough of those sticks and don’t want to get addicted to gum or any other replacement then this book is for you. It works, it’s painless, not addictive, and cheap and well it’s bloody easy.

Anyway a busy Saturday planned today so I must get up shower, young Toby (our dog) is due at the groomers back in Barry at 10am and Megan is going to friends later for a sleep over so busy day in store at least for the first half of the day.

Latest musings here in taff land

noreply@blogger.com (Mark) — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 18:58:00 +0000

Well we are about to move house, we are all set for Friday 7th December. I'm hoping that the new place will bring new beginnings and one being that I start to blog again.. I hope to start taking photos and putting them here. This past year has been a blurrrrr really, concentrating on work work oh and more work and realising that life is not all about work work and more work.

Thought: If I died tomorrow what would happen to the world and work. Well the world would continue to rotate and life would continue pretty much as it is today and work, well that would continue they would get some sad bastard to carry on what I was doing and that would continue as well. So why do we work so damn hard get stressed only to see our maker a lot quicker. Well that is the big question and one which I am about to change. You see moving house is not just having new surroundings but for me is a chance to change my priorities in life, work well that will be my 2nd thing in life, living will be my first.

It's time to get out more, walk the hills start a new hobby and well just experience more. You see my dream from leaving school was to have a nice house and a nice car and be happy. Well 2007 has brought me a nice new car and touch wood a nice new home which is exactly what I set out to do all those years ago. Not bad 20 years to get there.

Now it's time to set new goals ones that don't involve work and money and all things that grind you down, my new set of goals are going to be helping those less fortunate, travel, meet new people. how am I going to ac hive this I don't know it's new to me and very exciting.

So sorry for not blogging this year but that's about to change in 2008, and Dan you can un cross your link to me from January 2008 as I'll be back.....

So for the moment it's good bye until we meet in a little welsh town called Pencoed Nr Bridgend where my new life begins (As long as BT get's me broadband sorted in time).

Hmm what time is it!!!!!!!!!!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Mark) — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 20:57:00 +0000

Well umm, what can I say...... I'm alive and kicking lots has happened over the past five months, shit five months since my last post. I'm way off the mark at the moment. Well in a nut shell we have sold our house back in August and we are still waiting to move, I have been told that we should be signing early next week. If I get chance I'll put a full post on what's been going on in my life this year.

Where the hell has 2007 gone, only yesterday it felt like Christmas!!! Argggghhhhhh

Hey Dan hope you are okay, I have tried to catch up on your blog but it'll take me a while.

It's been a while

noreply@blogger.com (Mark) — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 19:22:00 +0000

Hey BLOG it's been a while since I've left a message, to be honest I've been away from all my freinds blogs as well.

So what's the latest in my life... well I got my new car and it's great best car I have ever had, smooth, full of gadgets and 6 gears it's great.

And now I'm looking to move away from the sea up in to the Welsh hills and country side, yup the house is up for sale click here if you want a nose at my house. We have had an offer and hopefully within a few days we will place an offer on a house we like click here for a nose.

But and there has to be a BUT today the agents put another house up which has the BEST garden I have ever seen for this size house take a look.

So people which one do you like ???

I'm not sure how long it will be before I return it could be tomorrow or next month but for now byeeee ;o)

Bit of a rant

noreply@blogger.com (Mark) — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 15:59:00 +0000

Nissan and the long waiting Qashqui. Well it's been over 4 weeks since I paid my deposit and sat waiting for delivery, 1st they would not give me a delivery date, three weeks on I here nothing then along comes the insurance quote which had the registration number etc. on it, I rang Nissan Cardiff for an update only to find that the salesman had no idea what the registration was also when the car was due for delivery, I mentioned that I had the insurance quote and that it starts on the 6th April, so am I coming to collect my Qashqui on the 6th, no it's due in on the 11th and will be available a few days after. Okay. Well then comes the V5 with all the car details on, umm I ring Nissan Cardiff AGAIN this time to be told that the car has arrived (3rd April) but not ready o collect until a weeks time (10th April) great Qashqui here ready to drive away on the 10th!!!!

Phone call Thursday 5th Mr Baker about your Qashqui, the car is here but the tow bar will not be fitted until the 11th but that's after collection date, yeah we thought we would delay collection until Thursday?? NO WAY I have meetings and a schedule done for the next two weeks. Oh Mr Baker your cycle rack will not be available until 26th April. WOT...

So I made a decision which I hope does not back fire but I told Nissan that I would collect my Qashqui as promised on Tuesday 10th and I will take the car back in a month to have the usual service and at the same time I'll get the tow bar and cycle rack fitted.

I do hope that this plan does not backfire as at the moment Nissan Qashqui has been a bit of a nightmare and to cap it all Nissan are saying that the time scale now is 8 - 10 weeks for delivery. I think that have been caught out by the demand. I just hope mine is trouble free!! we'll see. Next post when I collect the car to let you know what happens. So far I give Nissan Cardiff 4/10 for customer service, I think there is a communication problem between Nissan and their garages.

I am Dr Who

noreply@blogger.com (Mark) — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 20:44:00 +0000

Time travels so fast, my blog is feeling a little neglected and my visitors have dropped through the floor. Well I did say I was not a writer.

I see Dan the man has been a little lacking on his blog and reading Joansy's blog and watching her YouTube feature which is great there is a big man hunt.

Here in Wales the weather has been well RAIN and lots of it and with more snow due this weekend. Still working hard at the office and on my business which is as normal very busy.

The family are well and looking forward to our trips later in the year, Spain to the house and Ireland which will be a first, drive, Ferry and cottage, ummm sounds good.

The new car.... well still waiting for the delivery date, I have been told it's going to be the end of March.

Health... much better than this time last year so here's hoping for a better year.

Latest on my Freelance business is that I have been asked to re-start work on an old favourite www.librautomotive.co.uk

I built this site way back in 2004 and I have just signed a 5 year contract to maintain and develop it so watch this space. Yes I know I have signed to many contracts now and I have not got time to.... well you know what I mean.

So that's enough for now I suppose. byeeee ;o)

Well, ummmm, ooooo

noreply@blogger.com (Mark) — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 20:40:00 +0000

Well 29th Jan was my last visit, so what happened to February? to be honest I ran out of things to say apart from the usual stuff which after a while gets a bit boring so decided to take a break. However I may still get that urge to drop out for a while.

Anyway what have I been up to well......

I turned 38 now that was a lot easier than previous years no long suffering hangover or depression due to rapidly approaching 40 and wondering what I have done with my life. (Not much). The family are all fit and healthy (Thank god). The weather here is 'CRAP' wet wet and more wet.

The inlaws came over from Spain last weekend for a few days but we didn't see much of them for one reason or another, but what time we spent with them was okay although we have told them that we will only spend a week with them in the summer rather than the full two weeks more on that later.

So what's new........ well I've/we've decided to trade in my car for a new one, not a used car but a brand new one. Do you know that I have never bought a new car in my life they have always been used, although the last two or three have been under six months old. Anyway I'm going to the garage tomorrow for a second test drive and place my order which should take about 4.5 weeks. So what Am I getting I here you ask well here's a picture for you to dribble over.

And for the anoraks here is the vehicle specs:

Power	78/4000 (106/4000) kW / rpm (PS / rpm)
Maximum speed	174 km/h 108 mph
Fuel consumption (Urban cycle)	6.2 l/100 km 45.6 mpg
Fuel consumption (Extra-urban)	5.0 l/100 km 56.5 mpg
Combined cycle fuel consumption	5.4 l/100 km 52.3 mpg
CO2 Emissions	145 g/km

QASHQAI Acenta adds a further touch of elegance and a host of technology. Body coloured door handles and mirrors and a leather bound steering wheel and gearknob are joined by hi-tec features like Rain-sensing wipers, automatic lighting, cruise control, an ultrasonic rear park system and dual zone air conditioning to make driving even more relaxing.

And here is the interior seat covers.

Finally here is the actual colour that I'm going for
which is called faded denim.

Well hi there!!

noreply@blogger.com (Mark) — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 20:02:00 +0000

It's been a while but since I was reading some blogs tonight I may as well have a bash myself. So what has changed over the past few weeks, well nothing really, I have not won the lottery so still living in Barry, by the freezing cold sea and working as hard as ever.

I have (MSM Interrupts and I have now lost my train of thought) , where was I..... oh yes I have converted all the computers to wireless which is fab as my home office has only two PC's left and one is just the base as I have software which allows me to use the same keyboard and mouse to operate both systems, that means I now have a half empty office and no one sat behind me.

The wonders of technology eh! I remember a few years ago wishing that we could do things like this not knowing that it would happen so quickly. The other day I used the same software to work on a PC in Scotland and London, the time and money that this bit of kit has saved is huge.

Currently I have a cold (Not ManFlu) just a normal cold, I normally get one at least once a year so this is it the annual cold. I'm still working though although not as fast as I normally do.

Things in the news that have driven me nuts over the past few weeks:

The Home office and all it's failings, I'm not being funny but how come private sector does not run in to this type of problem, if we did the company would go bust. Why do government believe that it's good to have three or four people doing the same job, no one knowing what is the right way or the wrong way and no one being held accountable.

Technology these days should mean that we should know everything we need to know, where a suspect is staying, who is in the country especially if they have come through Airports or Ports. It's not rocket science now is it.

Who authorises these multi billion pound IT contracts? do they know they are getting ripped off!! I would like for the government to come with me on a fact finding mission to see how it's done in the private sector (Real world) and how project managers deal with contracts, ideas and proof of concept and how they are responsible from start to finish, oh and how the contractors end up paying us for the service not the other way around. Yes you did read right, every project we carry out costs the supplier a large sum of money over a period of time. And yes Mr PM they are prepared to pay to work with us.

So come on chaps get with the programme and stop spending our hard earned cash on things that if dealt with properly would cost a fraction of the price.

2. Local council's and collecting rubbish, another mess that is only going to get worse, what's all this collecting different colour bins on separate weeks and if a person fails to put the correct item in the bin they get fined.

Well get stuffed matey, we pay you to do a job, the council is elected by us you listen to us. pfft who the hell do they think they are. I'd rather take the rubbish away myself. I do feel sorry for these people who have idiot council's luckily where I live we are keeping one bin, but can recycle by using other methods.

Me I prefer to take my recycle stuff myself to Tesco each week and place in the correct bins at least I know that I will not get fined, only last week on Radio two a news article came to light about a lady who saw a piece of cardboard blowing in the wind so she picked it up and placed it in a nearby bin only to get stopped by someone and ended up paying a £50 fine and being told that she could face prison. OMG what is this country coming too!

I must admit the thought of leaving these shores is becoming more attractive every time I think about it, Great Britain, well not so Great anymore and the name no longer used. United Kingdom well that's a laugh Scotland (Own powers to do stuff) Wales (Limited powers but will get full powers soon) Ireland (well on their way now for power sharing). Poor England left high and dry with a crap NHS, high taxes and laws that just don't make sense anymore so there we are UK no more!

That's enough ranting I have more but can wait another day. Currently looking to buy an island and set up home there as long as it has WiFi for Internet and a poor geezer able to cycle fast enough to produce my electricity I'm interested.

When is a begger a begger

noreply@blogger.com (Mark) — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 21:46:00 +0000

Well certainly not the one I saw today, going back to my car in the local NCP car park there was a young woman wrapped in a blanket asking for spare change, but I caught her out, yes I walked in the foyer only to see her texting on her mobile. Hmm I said to her and her look was priceless the oh shit I've been busted! now I don't give to beggars as here in Cardiff we have a problem where people like her are all over the place and probably all work together, the media here covered this particular topic a few months ago and they reported that these people can earn up to £300 a week just by asking for spare change.

Well people there you have it your spare change buys a HOMLESS person a top of the range mobile phone, designer clothes all hidden by a tatty blanket. Next time I'll try and get a picture to shame the person.

Still not sure where to go with my blog so watch this space.

My week, well lets just say a good start to 2007 and long may it continue......

Monday news that bosses wanted a word this week. (Oops what have I done wrong?)
Tuesday people in my team being pulled in the office for chats, my turn at 11.45am sat down and my manager tells me that I have been requested to move over to our Team of Engineers as Project Manager. Hmm not bad, and makes sense as all my projects involve them.

10 mins after that meeting I'm called in to another meeting this time with the Chief Motor Engineer, he runs through stuff and then says, you will report to me and the Claims Director no one else, you will get a pay rise and will you come back full time.... (me long pause) "No" oh, he says, no problem you have home connection don't you.... "Yup" great then we will put you back on a 40hr Salary and you do 4 hours in the office and the rest from home all on trust. Hmmm well... Ummm... Okay that sounds fair!

So Tuesday I went from Part Time pay to Full Time pay with no change to my lifestyle what's next.

Wednesday, new job takes hold and I get my head in to new stuff. Phone does not stop, emails flood in need I say more.

Thursday. My diary is rapidly filling up with meeting requests about this that and his brother.

Friday. Diary now full up, next space for a meeting MARCH now if your reading this your probably thinking so if your booked up in meetings until March how are you going to get any work done? well that one has passed me by also.

Also Friday due to the amount of meeting requests I was getting I ended up selling my time, yes I was a time auction, started from a Madison Coffee, to Coffee and Muffin right through to Lunch in a restaurant. Well you can guess which one won over.

So that was my week, really has to go down as one of the most surreal I've ever had.

Happy New Year to you all ...

noreply@blogger.com (Mark) — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 21:08:00 +0000

Well it's been a while but I'm back after a great few weeks relaxing and doing very very little, not sure what to do with this blog I'm not very good at writting and to tell you the truth it no longer rings my bell, I love reading other peoples blogs but I don't see the need to keep this going.

Plans for 2007 well at the moment I don't have any but who knows in a few weeks/months things may change.

Went to a local park with the family & Toby today, now we have never taken the dog to this park and it was an after thought but it was nice and quiet and we could let Toby of his lead which is great for a dog so young, when there are no other dogs around he'll come when called and generally be very well behaved but on site of another dog puppy instincts kick in and he runs away to play and will not listen to anyone, well it happened today, he met a Jack Russell and off he went sprinting around this park like a bat out of hell, I was pretty impressed with his speed for such a small dog. Anyway we could not see who this dog belonged to so continued walking and shouting for him to come back but to no avail.

We walked around the corner and I heard my name being called I turned only to see Suzanne who we were really close Friends with for many years and have lost touch, we had a card from her over Christmas with a message to call around her new house, I noted the address and left it at that. Well there she was standing there lead in hand and youngest daughter talking to MSM, oh my god I shouted and went over to her noticing that this Jack Russell was running between her legs, yes it was hers and there was Toby stood next to them tongue hanging out.

After the usual pleasantries and catch up I asked her how often she comes down to this park only to find out that this is the first time she has brought the dog here for a walk. Oh my, what sign is this, both families turn up at a park that neither of us ever go to and the dogs begin playing then MSN is spotted talking to her daughter. Is this a sign that it's time to reignite our friendship and resume where we left off?

I now have her mobile number but do I make a move and go around for coffee or should I just let it be, we'll see but a good start to 2007.

Holidays nearly over so is 2006!!

noreply@blogger.com (Mark) — Sat, 30 Dec 2006 20:08:00 +0000

Spose this is the time to look back on 2006 and look forward to 2007.... hmmm!! well reading some of my early posts for the year it looks like not a lot has changed, my life is still in a rut and just moving day to day, I really need to move on and get some new interests to focus on. Maybe 2007 will be different we'll see.

TV what do we pay our licence fee for? this Christmas was shocking no good programmes, the same old rubbish and far to many reality programmes. The X Factor well that was pretty well sewn up half way through. Sat here tonight to watch some good TV and there is nothing on total rubbish, time to down a glass of red wine and read Dan Brown 'Angels & Demons' what a great book and although near the end I would deffinately re read this one as the story is soooo good. I can't wait to start one of his next books probably 'Digital Fortress' and yes 'J' bought me the whole lot for Christmas so first half of 2007 will be a Dan Brown session.

I watched the Crocodile Hunter tonight or should I say the tribute programme to Steve Irwin and what a great show clearly the best TV this Christmas. Respect to his wife & two Children the guy was a legend and really knew how to talk about animals and really get the children captivated, MSM loved his programmes and cried her eyes out when she heard the news.

In classical mythology. Psyche is the personification of what? 'SOUL' sorry but I was listening to Celebrity Who Wants to be a Millionaire and that the question they are struggling with. Oh and they just quit!!

Anyway what's going to happen in 2007..... well we are talking about selling up and moving on had a quick look online for a new pad but neither of us liked any of the ones currently on offer which means that this could well go in to 2008 as I want a house we fall in love with not just a house that we like. You know what I mean.

A new car yes 2007 will be the year that I buy a new car not sure when though but probably first half of the year I'm sure I will keep you informed on the progress.

There's more but it can wait till next year..... Happy new year to all my readers.

It's Christmas time and.......

noreply@blogger.com (Mark) — Sat, 23 Dec 2006 20:24:00 +0000

It's bloody freezing outside, all of us headed down the beach for an hour with Toby and although the fog has lifted it was very very cold, but the fresh air was invigorating.

All our Christmas shopping was completed yesterday, shops packed to bursting everyone on a mission and bargains to be had, well lets jusy say I found items £20 more expensive in shops, here is an example my brother wants WWF for his Xbox 360 so I start in Virgin price £34.99 okay maybe I'll get it cheaper in HMV £39.99 umm nope, then Game, wow £44.99 are they serious!! so back to Virgin for £34.99. Okay now the worst bit went to Tesco last night to avoid the rush this weekend and there it was sat on a shelf price £24.99 yes people same game for the same system and I thought I got a good deal obviously not. So there it is shop around and you will get the bargains although I missed out this time round.

This weekend is set aside for relaxing and wrapping presents, nothing is a rush but can't wait for the big day, just to see MSM face, kids are made for Christmas aren't they!

Dashing through the crowds in a one horse.......

noreply@blogger.com (Mark) — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 21:35:00 +0000

Planet earth, well I love David attenborough's Planet Earth whilst doing today's blog I watching a pre recorded episode on the Tiger forest in the Antarctic, this forest houses 1/3rd of the total tree population so much trees that it replenishes the worlds oxygen. Well there we have it today's natural world lesson.

Had a cappuccino bought for me today by my big boss, but as with anything it was not a free coffee but a bribe to produce a written report on an event that took place in the office regarding a colleague, although I don't work directly with this person it still felt awful writing this report as I know it's for a disciplinary, I just hope the bosses have some Christmas spirit in them as it knocked a fair bit out of me and if I go in tomorrow to see an empty chair I will not be happy.

I'm officially now on holiday but have contracts to do so will have to pop in tomorrow after my Christmas shopping, not looking forward to going in though for the above reasons although the team involved have asked me to join them for a pint later on, I'll probably pop in for one.

Had bad news tonight, my brother will be working boxing day which is when we are going down for the day, my older sister and her boyfriend are coming up from London, lets just say I tolerate them and the thought of sitting with them all day boxing day does not fill me with joy, now I wish I got tickets to go to Spain as requested by the in laws.

I know this post is all over the place today but I need to get things off my chest, like the visa statement I had this month, I pay over the minimum amount and don't have a huge debt with them but reading it tonight I have realised that I'm a bloody mug, the interest they are charging is obscene and I have rung them every month for the past 6 moths to get the bloody payment protection removed which again appears on my statement.

Lets just say that after paying about £50 over the minimum with the Interest and payment protection taken out I'm actually paying off no more than £50 off the balance, yes that's right folks they calculate it now so that if you pay the minimum amount which most of us do then only a £ or two is actually taken off the balance which means it takes centuries to pay the bloody thing off. So 2008 is going to be Money management year, I am going to shop around for the best credit card and take it out to transfer the balance over giving me 6 mths interest free or at least a reduced rate so that I can be rid of the dreaded thing, a few years back we survived on the bloody things and it came to a head when we were paying one with another but all that is for another time possibly next year when I start the financial onslaught and my free financial advice service he, he.

That's enough off my chest tonight I'm sure more news on some of the above will be forth coming tomorrow.

Rat pack Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (Mark) — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 19:32:00 +0000

Yup secret Santa day today and I got 'It's a RAT PACK Christmas' packed with over 70 tracks from some of the best singers ever Frank, Nat, Dean, Mario and Bing currently blasting out of my laptop speakers. Violins, Piano classic, makes you want to put your feet up close your eyes and be transported back to my childhood.

Christmas has never been my favourite time of year I suppose it brings back so many memories of who I lost, but this year I'm getting in to the spirit of it carols, decorations, mince pies (two this morning). I'm looking forward to putting my feet up and not doing much at all, a bit of this and surfing, catching up on Friends blogs.

Now Frank is singing 'over the rainbow' oh now I want to watch Wizard of OZ no it can wait for Christmas proper. My passion for cooking is growing I felt guilty tonight as I cooked pasta just plain ordinary pasta and used a ready made tomato sauce this is not me, only because I didn't have enough time to do what I had planned which was Pork casserole which would have taken over an hour to cook and with MSM starving I could not let her wait that long so pasta it was. 'J' is talking about doing the Christmas dinner which I have hinted that we all muck in I do the veg, MSM lays the table and 'J' taking care of the rest. Umm we'll see will all this end in disaster well watch this space after Christmas for the gossip.

Weather here is thick fog and living on the coast we get freezing fog which is not nice, you can see the little droplets in front of your face it's that thick, street lamps are nothing but a dim orange glow so it's darker than normal and you cannot see anything past my neighbours house apart from a bank of BLACKNESS and it's bloody freezing bone crunching freezing it cuts through you like a knife.

It looks like no white Christmas this year although there have only been 4 since 1901 so all the wishing for a blanket of snow at Christmas is a little wishful thinking. Not sure I agree how this white Christmas thing is measured, the records state that if one flake of snow is seen on Christmas Day then they record it as a white Christmas, my way of thinking is if there is a dusting of the white stuff then that's a white Christmas not one single snow flake, just hope the person looking out for that single elusive flake has not got dandruff.

Family tree

noreply@blogger.com (Mark) — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 21:54:00 +0000

I love history and family stuff is even better, today I had an email, yes I take all that back what I was saying yesterday well some of it anyway. A lady asked if certain names were on my tree which cross checking they were, although I cannot confirm 100% at this stage that we are related it certainly looks that way, I had another earlier in the month as well so my family history is growing by the hundreds, last count it was exceeding 1,300.

What I would really like is to see some pictures of them alas this is in short supply but one day I may get a glimpse of some of my distant relatives.

Local history is just as good, I have a picture of my street in 1895 little children playing in a dirt covered street, two playing with a metal hoop. I find this stuff fascinating and it really hits home that you are only on this earth for a short space of time and then you disappear without trace.

Thinking back to my childhood, what ever happened to the freedom that we had, going out on bikes all day with not a care in the world, big adventures, exploring finding new things to do building dens in the local woods. I can remember when I was MSM's age doing comic sales out in the street on a Sunday afternoon.

Talking about Sunday afternoons, last Sunday I watched Waterloo road (1940 BW) with Vivien Leigh what a great film very moving and such a sad end. But that's what Sundays are for Roast dinner and chilling on the sofa watching an old movie but it has to be Black & White, I remember I hated BW films when I was a child now as I get older I appreciate BW even more, probably because it is no longer used.

In contrast

noreply@blogger.com (Mark) — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 16:41:00 +0000

Well back to the rush, noise, stress and work, yup it's Monday again, no rest for the wicked as they say, Mark can you do this, Mark can you look at that, Mark don't forget the meeting, Mark can you show me this!! arggghhhh.

First thing I did this morning was... I'm pulling out of a meeting as I have nothing to say and it's really not related to anything I'm currently doing. Response fine no problem, woohoo!!

Next change voice mail: " I am currently away from my desk I'll be back at 2pm" guess what no voicemails woohoo!!

I think after 13 years working there I am getting the hang of either saying NO or turning things off when I need to get stuff done.

MSM has her Brownie party tonight and she has to take sandwiches with her, although we went shopping yesterday I forgot, and so will be packing her with plenty of Jam sandwiches I'm sure the Brownies will enjoy them better than Ham or cheese, if not well who cares it's the thought that counts.

I finally set rules in my outlook to stop the crap emails coming through and also stop a forward email which has been hacked so from tonight I hope to reduce the crap I get, which should mean ZERO emails as I'm billy no mates and it's either work related or junk, I seldom get an email just to say hi, it's suprising how quickly email turns in to snail mail isn't it years ago people wrote letters asking how you are , giving family updates etc. then junk took over and now email is the same I remember years back when people emailed to say Hi and general chit chat well no more all I seem to get is CRAP well no more CRAP for me.

That's my rant over with today, oh yeah my Archives are working again go BET BLOG it's working!! I may take a little time over the Christmas break to re-read this year to see how I've changed (Grown up)!! he he ;o)

Pause for thought

noreply@blogger.com (Mark) — Sun, 17 Dec 2006 21:59:00 +0000

Out alone today with Toby walking through the country, MSM was playing SIMS and 'J' was cleaning her bedroom so I was delegated to take Toby out for his weekend adventure walks. It was late this afternoon started around 3pm strolled along the bridal path thinking about nothing just taking in the cold air and watching people walking by, couples young and old smiling, children wandering and talking to Toby and giving him a hug. It's the first time in nearly three years I didn't have any anxiety no feelings of panic didn't even cross my mind.

The paths were wet with mud puddles and rotting leaves you could smell the decay of the foliage lying on the ground what a wonderful smell, walking along the path through the rushes and all I could here was the rustling of the dry stalks and the swans flapping their wings on the lake, nothing else pure nature.

The mind is clear the soul is cleansed just for a few minutes of my life I was walking with nature nothing on my mind no thinking, no tasks to do, just walking with a young dog who loves to be with us no questions asked, silence pure silence. What Sundays are made for.

MSM puts up a good front

noreply@blogger.com (Mark) — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 22:51:00 +0000

Well MSM woke up this morning early, running around getting ready for school, quite a contrast from yesterday morning, I had suspisions that this was a front as her class was going to the theatre today to watch Hands Christian Anderson and she really wants to go, I ask her if she is up to the daily grind of school? "Yes dad I feel great" (Sniff) okay princess you can go to school but you must take some medicine first "okay dad" now I smell a rat MSM never agrees to take that stuff it's a running battle normally but not this morning, well I wrap her up and pack her off to school thinking she will be fine and I'll pick her up at 5.15pm

Get in the office early and complete yesterday's project reports only one to do as I spent hours yesterday doing the others, passed it to my boss for her meeting with the directors, she came back beaming and looked at me and thanked me for the reports they were great and the directors loved them and will be moving ahead with all of them! Wow I just spent millions in a few reports.

I then had a meeting with auditors to run through some projects and expalining the processes involved to enable the firm to place audit trails in place but my desk phone started ringing being polite I ignored it, well this went on for about ten minutes I just thought I was popular for the day but then my mobile rings, this I always answer and it was the sister inlaw telling me tha MSM's school are trying to get hold of me as MSM is not very well at all, so I look at the auditors and say "Meeting over I have to leave" I get up and head out the door. On the way I ring 'J's extension and inform her I'm outa there and will see her later.

I arrive at the school to find MSM sat on the sofa outside the office, I have words with the office staff asking why they did not ring my mobile, they inform me that they did and left a message, I proceeded to show her my phone and telling her no message here!! I ask to see the contact details they hold for us and low and behold they have an extra digit arrrgghhhh!! this time I stood there and watched her change the numbers so from now on I should be the first they ring when there are problems.

Anyway..... MSM sat in the car and appologised for getting me out of work, well what could you say to a nine year old apart from a HUGE HUG and a whisper in the ear your far more important than work. ah bless.

So back home and true to form MSM has a hot bath, sits with me on the sofa chilling reading watching tv and not complaining at all. What a rock she follows her DAD!!

Only for a laugh!

noreply@blogger.com (Mark) — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 20:40:00 +0000

Well I did it another thing in my life done, Check! last night was my departments office Christmas party, and we went to jongleurs comedy night, well lets just say the food was bad, really bad and the prices for the drinks was as bad, however the 3 comedy acts we saw were great. although the first act died towards the end the other two were really good.

Today I was house doctor for MSM as she has come down with a bad cold, bless her she didn't complain at all just chilled out fell asleep for a hour and played bamzookie on the laptop whilst I worked from home for 8 hours instead of my usual 4

'J' is going through hell at the moment as her parents leave for Spain in the morning for ever well until February anyway so she is not much fun at the moment and is taking it out on yours truly basically I cannot do anything right at the moment but hey ho been there so many times it's water of a ducks back. I'll go on strike and see who does the cooking, cleaning, washing etc.etc.etc.

Lifes to bloody short for that shit, just get on with it girl !