The life and times of the Mountain Goat

Im a lumber jack and im all right...

2011-02-14T10:22:00.000-08:00

I have been working in offices for the last 10 years, some of it good when the people are a laugh but some times depressing when your surounded by utter PC Corporate drone wankers....as it was in my last employment - When there I spent as much time doing my work as I did staring out the window wishing I was doing something more outdoorsy....

I'd stare outside regardless of the weather and ponder doing something more satisfying than just staring at these fucking screens in my office breathing the stuffy shitty air con air....

I have just completed two Courses CS30 and CS31, there will be more in the future but these courses have taken me outside, in the end I was cutting down 70ft Scotch Pine trees in a private woodland to learn the cuts. My assessment is due soon, as well as this i have been given a job contracted to at least 3 days a week, although I will get more i am sure as time goes on.

After a few months, I will get into the trees and do the courses which allow me to cut within the canopy and I intend to do an arial rescue course. all in the future of course.

Now the comeddy of it all, its hard fucking work, I am so unfit that its embarrising they at 42 i need to get runing again or this will kill me within a year or two.

I will be handing my notice in, in due course at my current employer taking a massive pay cut, but its the only way to take on a new career. I like it at present but its hard so so hard...

Cheers.

New Year 2011.

2011-01-01T08:26:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year to all....

I have not posted for some time, but as FB is depressing me a tad and I thought id return to the old blog.

Alot has happened in 2010 mostly good if honest, travels have taken me back to Tignes (Summer) this trip allowed me to try paragliding and I also climbed the highest peak so far Mnt Pourrie 3779M and i did some via ferrata a trip to remember for sure - and we have also been to Paris, saving has gifted me with an stunning camera a Canon EOS 7D, which will satisfy my photographic desire well into this year i am sure. I have also had a horrible job which has nearly damaged me due to hours and shifts worked but it has paid me so well that I have been able to pay off all debts some long term for the first time in years. I don't expect to be in that job long though as I have been off sick with stress for the last two months and expect to be unemployed in February. I hope that 2011 will allow me to do something more satisfying but much lower paid, possibly working outside with trees either in a nursery or with some tree surgeons, but jobs in the UK at present are very thin on the ground so i may end up being unemployed for some time.

2011 also made me a home owner me a Steph now both own the house So 2011 has the potential to be great. ....I own a new car, well a year old...and the opportunity to find a more satisfying role work wise allowing me a steph to grow more in our free time as a couple. I may even ask for her hand on her birthday of this year....if i can afford the ring, well shall see.

Here she is....

So I walk into 2011 with a car a home and a solid loving partner now all i need is a job....one I enjoy.

How I look as a 42 year old man

So roll on 2011...I am ready...paragliding here I come.

New Garden project 'complete'

2010-05-03T06:23:00.000-07:00

OK this is the story.

These pictures are what we started with....what a crap hole of a garden...and it was unlevel by about a foot from left to right.

The shed got covered in a nicer wood, its not a new shed just the old one covered over and the roof improved.

Then the Garden makeover really started in October of last year with a delivery of 36 sleepers and finally come to fruition. We created a blank slate and then raised the ground to create this.

In the foreground was to be some decking and a sitting area, in the sqaure in the middle would be boxed in or boredered grass area, and in the sleeper raised beds dwarf trees and flower (Steph did all that ) along the garage/shed wall was a cotswold gravel walkway. or that was the plan....did it work? lets see.

You could say we are over the moon, it has killed me though doing this in my free time with working shifts over the long winter and with no experience at all most instruction was gleamed from the internet and freinds. But every time i step outside and relax on the decking it all seems worth it, now i just need some sun.

So thats my garden project finished with i just need to sit back and watch it all grow hopefuly.

hope you like it..

Laterz.

Brand new car....lush...

2009-12-23T18:49:00.001-08:00

Yep the title is correct at the grand old age of 41 I have bought a brand new car, no one else has driven at all, only me ....just little me, all miles are mine....ahhhh...

Why? - well I have been a fan of old bangers all my life and still regard them as good value for money, but ya know I was making the work car park look really bad of late and my cul-de-sac where I live, well they werent to happy with my car lowering the neighbourhood and the value of there houses to boot.....I looked like the local scum in the local getaway car etc etc....

But oh how I loved my Brava, shes was a good old girl took me all over she did...dirty bitch...mind you of late she had a bald tyre - tracking was well out by about a metre a slow puncture as well as dents all over it and a smashed front light it wasnt pretty near the end really......but she was still awesome and never let me down ever...I owe her....

Bye Bye Brava.......

Anyway she has now been crushed into a cube bless ........ oh well.... and on my drive now stands a new all black and very shiney car.

Now we are not rich and had a limited budget oh and the car has not been paid for yet....anyway this is the story.....

The scrappage scheme valued my old brava at £3000...? fair enough I thought considering it worth less than zero....(i.e I would need to pay to have it removed) and the car we bought was £9000 (retail £12,000 then minus my £3,000). I bought it with my OH so we both own it and have shared the cost (£4,500 each) We paid out right for the car using cheaper credit than could be offered allowing us to pay back the amount when and how we want.

The car was the best deal I could find for our money and we bought what we liked the look of the drive of and the feel of when inside the cockpit. We tried the new Ibiza, the Focus and others and some we simply could not afford and some were crap and felt very over valued.

We bought da da da -

A Hyundai i30 1.4 ES edition in black .... it has alot of stuff for the money honest...

1.4 whys that? well its cheaper and we want to save money in the long run, we plan albeit things can always change to keep the car for a long time, we also plan to pay off the vehicle within 6 months costing us about £300 in credit costs much cheaper than the £3000 in interest that would have earned by the credit company offering us a loan...

heres some pictures of her new before we get hit by some foreign twat somewhere.

It feels weird if honest, ive only had it 16hours and it just feels like I have hired a new car, but this one it will soon dawn on me I DO NOT HAVE TO GIVE BACK....but then the bank balance will remind me of something else every month as well eh.

So no more bangers, id worked out that my old banger had actually cost me more than this car will in reapairs and costs if averaged out, we have used my scarppage discount to buy the car and i will use Stephanies years of no claims to get good insurance and well thats job done....

were happy... and thats my new car story...

Cheers G.

Paris Marathon 2010

2009-12-03T09:04:00.000-08:00

I am now 41 years old...and to be honest I feel it, you do feel it ya know, I used to hear older people say that to me when I was younger, faster, stronger...and id say not me ill be fine...

But....Sorry when your old your body has a way of letting you know, mine did just the other day by tapping me on the shoulder and saying your screwed bud relax let the fat bulid up and relax into Middle age...have apint or two... I sat there drinking my 2nd pint...

NO I said - No way....and booked myself into the Paris Marathon in 2010, when I run it I will be 41 and a half.

This will be my 4th marathon but to be really honest I have only ever ran 1 with gusto, the first in Edinburgh the second was done 27 minutes slower as a jog for the fun of it in Loch Ness and the third with Stephanie and so I cruised at a her pace...crawling home.

Edinburugh was - 3:50:00

Now I want to beat this time which will not be easy but it is possible.....in the knowledge that the Boston Marathon requires me to beat a time of 3:20 to get a place in the Marathon at my age.

Training has started in the drizzle and piss poor weather of this years UK winter, it was freezing the other night let me assure you...freezing sleet is not fun to run in, training is going well albeit slow and i have a slighht metatarsol injury....getting old ay see.

More laterz.

Facebook Vs Blogging...?

2009-12-02T08:08:00.000-08:00

Hi there,

I have been a blogger for about 4 years I like blogging as it reminds me of the best bits of my own life etc etc, but last year I went along and tried facebook its been an interesting year and in facebooks defense I have found alot of old freinds or in some cases some of them have found me, even so all in all its been a fun and interesting experience - but im not so sure if the attraction is starting to wane on me a bit...I may decide to return to my blog and then posting 'if ever' my ramblings as a link from my blog on facebook.

Some of the people on facebook who have found me, are without a doubt a tad boring and some of the people I hoped I would delight in catching back up with, never write a thing to me and have ignored me ever-since finding me - a friend - I doubt it...really eh. I have even e mailed them to no avail, its weird this can mean that they only really gave a shit breifly had a nose through your pics laughed at your now sad older hairstyle and then moved on forgetting you very quickly, but hey you increase there number of friends so they leave you on there to add to the numbers as if your a pawn on there popularity list....

Some or most of the people on there are lets say aquintances and nice ones too, people I have come across in my life and shared a cool mutual experience with which is all good, but do I actually have to keep tabs on thered daily lives ????? If i am honest I am getting to the point where I dont care about any of the crap on there anymore....call it age if you will, but im getting a feeling that facebook is making me a bit sick and un-human...I mean do I actually prefer my facebook freinds to real human interaction and the answer is no a big NO!!!

I was staring into the screen just the other day and I realised I had nothing of real interest to type (Point is i still felt obligated to visit the site...why!!!) thats not to say I dont have anything of interest to say but that it would not have suited the audience of facebook, and it seems there are many others who also dont have much to say either - but guess what... they still bore the shit out of us with there constant drivvle 'because they also feel the almost adictive need to post something - anything.....' ......yawn.....

Now dont get me wrong some of the links and stuff are hilarious and some of my freinds I truly value but it's the human schrapnel gets that getting me down, they post about how they feel today and just utter, utter crap, and how there little one looks cute in this and that....mums they must be the bloody worst....

In the olden days id get e mails, whats wrong with those now? you can send pictures etc and you can send one e mail to hundreds of your freinds if you so wish....is this not a better way to say hello to someone you actually care about??

Have you looked through your e mail inbox of late all of mine is buisness related, trying to make me spend more money on more shit, or internet purchase receipts etc...or porn.......hardly any if any freinds e mail me....what does this say?

Maybe just maybe - I dont have many or any, and the most important person in my life is being ignored as I sit here staring at this fucking screen - expecting that my life will come to me from the screen...

I mean I can be in my lounge on one settee and my girlfreind Stephanie on the other on the other side of the room both of us on facebook, both looking at each other thinking what the FUCK!!! - why are we not going out doing something for christs sake.....nurturing our own existence instead of being sucked into this empty void of internet crap.....

The truth is I used to be much more er .... interesting.....no thats wrong I am still interesting but in a older way (slowing down a tad) I think, anyway the point is I think some people on facebook need to get out more, much more, in fact all of us do me included and popping back in to facebook every month or so to catch up with loads of new stuff to tell hopefully of interest...to the rest of world...

Anyway - any which way I try to write about this I lose as I have enjoyed seeing other peoples lives but I have also been rejected by those I thought would care, its my life thats been affected as i sit there wondering some days why no one has said something to me or commented on a picture or two I may have posted, sad I know but it's got me by the balls and im out of here, back to my blog and I will be posting links and nothing more from now on.

And oh let the friend culling begin.....get out you lot and do stuff, stop staring at the screen life has just flown past the window........didnt you see it oh and by the way its yours....

G

By the way some of you on facebook I value highly some I really dont give a toss about...sorry.

New tree for Garden makeover.

2009-10-12T13:01:00.000-07:00

The garden Maker-over has begun with the shed convertion and a new tree or two actually, we went to Majestic trees near the M1 J9, they sell mature trees, ranging from £200 - £20,000, and in varying sizes from 6 Metres to 20 Metres....

Its a lush place to go if you love trees and I love trees, of course what i hate about trees is there slow growth so we bought somthing already 5 years old, it was hard to choose in such a place as they all looked suitable, and when your out of your garden you forget the scale when somewhere else, some of the trees we liked would have drowned our little house.

The one we bought....happy daze...

we actually bought one that was £260 pounds look at picture below,it is a Indian Bean Tree with big leaves and sweet smelling flowers during summer, it has won awards etc but well have to wait a year or two for it to fully show its self, but to be fair others that had been trimmed and were older were costing over £1000 each...we grabbed at the chance and bought it, a short walk through the nursery later we came across the buyer and he was walking around checking prices...we spoke with him and he said that one had been missed out and would be re priced later, but if we wanted it today it would hold the price as shown he said it was there error and one which he regretted...he said we should take our chance and we did.

The shed has been converted too as in we are trying to make it a bit nicer by cladding it, making it all wooden looking instead of all asbestos looking...

Looks better than before

So weve been busy and of course it will continue through the winter, ya gotta have a project or two going right...

Tree Arrival...

It arrives on Thursday the 12.11.09...on that day i had a skip on the drive - what a pratt, only a mini skip but still what a pratt, the guy were just laughing at me, anyway the loory pulled up and the neighbours nets started to twitch, whats this hes having a bloody tree now eh...nosey sods. The side of the lorry was pulled back to reveal two very dead looking tress with no greenery at all on them, a sadness roled over me, when in the tree nursery they were full of life and leaves and now in the winter they looked well sad and dead to be fair, the driver noticed my expression and explained that the trees all look like this at this time of year (unless evergreen) and that Nov is the best time when the tree is dormant to place in a new home, he said within the year the difference will be very obvious, to add to the dead look the trees were strapped down and all the branches are group and tied down.

Anyway they had to move the Skip a bit and then put the tree on a roller trolley, which had go over Brian the neighbours drive, he was out making sure nothing was damaged ha ha lol...bless him., the tree was so heavy but only at the base, we rolled it into the garden and the guys plonked it in the hole....

.....now the hole, i dug it right in fact perfect, but then in my panic thinking it was to deep, i filled it in a bit - TOO MUCH - and now the tree is to high, shit shit!!!! now all the gardens levels have to work to the tree base height....

The guys from the company - Majestic Trees - were not even supposed to help me get in the hole the delivery price was for dropping at the side of the road so i was very lucky in deed.

So its in the hole and it looks a bit well crap really, youll see form the picture at the top that it will be all green etc..but for now it looks a bit as said crap.

27 - 12 - 2009....

Things have changed some what in the garden, over the last few weeks we ordered the sleepers from a local company called 'Gemstone' who were very competitive on price as long as we paid cash,

I bought 36 sleepers...measuring 250mm x 125mm x 2.4M. you can buy longer but they only did that length, they cost £20 each...yeh work it out is costs....anyway what did we do with all...well take a look..........Not bad.

Cutting sleepers is a major pain in the arse you can do it with hand saw and a chainsaw and other types of saw, but if you want them dead straight for a nice finish you need to use a mitre saw and hire one that can do the depth, we did whislt cutting we still had to turn the sleeper over to get completely through it but for the straight edges finish it was required......

The plan is put some grass in there and the garden will hold small trees and ground cover stuff, all to be bought when we have filled the raised beds.

The area with the tubes will all be decking and we plan at present to get some cool deck chairs as garden furniture is so over priced.

Anyway thats it for now. laterz.

where the pipes are will be decking and there is about 1.5 metres of land from the house to the edge of the picture which cannot be seen so the decking will be about 4M x 3M plus the side bit. lush...

New Zealand Trip...2009

2009-09-08T18:38:00.000-07:00

During August of 2009 we ventured to NZ to holiday but also as a test bed to see if emigration was all it was cracked up to be, we had been considering emigrating for some time but were concerned about some key issues. One being Housing and the quality of and wages. The trip I am glad to say answered all needed questions and has given us so much to consider.

This is about NZ in realation to emigration not as a holiday, I mean just to list a few things we did whilst there -

Freefall Skydive over Mount Cook
Helicopter trip and landing on volcano
The Aybss, caverns waitamo
Canyon swing
Shotover Jet
wild camping
Full day kayacking in the Milford sound
Full day Glacier trip
Driving all over both islands
slept in a bomber
slept in train
private Horse riding session - waitamo (dont ask)....etc etc etc.

there was so muh done and so much missed as we had no time left...we need to go back and we will...but this review is in relation to the emigration possibilities not NZ as a tourist destination. So to start....

Landscape....

I will start with best bit regarding NZ, it is stunning as in the landscape, the reason why so many millions of people tour around the country is because it is breathtaking, you feel you want to stop the van at every turn for a picture and just when you get back in to the van a better view shows itself forcing on you another stop, this does get irritating but is testimount to the scenery and you just cant help yourself...It is as if a proffesional award winning landscape gardener has personaly created the country side. NZ by its nature is very hilly and a tourist map lies to you constantly with its straight roads...yeh whatever.....it is constantly undulating and so the roads are constantly winding through this hilly and mountainous country, the hills are mowed to perfection by the millions of sheep so it looks like the country side has had a hover mower over it, gorgeous, the trees and the variety is just delightful and leaves you stunned as you drive passed, Palms mixed with giant ferns mixed with british and american classics. We were there in the winter but the weather was stunning but what this meant was that the low sunlight casting shadows through the valleys and hills just makes your mouth water, the camera needed to give this place justification was not on my person, my point and shot did not stand a chance bless, but we tried ohh we tried we clicked and clicked...but what the camera saw and what the eye saw were so so so different...

Of course when you drive through the Islands you move through all its seasonal areas and micro climates these changing for you as you go, the types of trees and foliage change the hills change the mountains enter, its a constant feast of scenery it seems to never end, your eyes most of time dont seem wide enough as you struggle to get it all in one view neck stretching out of van windows becomes the norm. Its a rustic untamed country some ares have never been stood on by man, the bush at the side of road is thick, not like english forests, you would struggle to get more than 30 metres into it and you would get lost in a heartbeat and many people have.

The roads are empty most of the time although not completely vacant of vehicles, even in the winter there were people on the roads even on the wilds of the West Coast, but when you drive off the Highways and onto rural roads as we did (unsealed roads) you did feel rather alone for hours on end...

The beaches were golden and mostly empty, we strolled along so many alone and they were un-managed so full of drift wood, so lush.

The montainous areas are fascinating and so suddenly upon you, not as high as the Alps but stunning in the way they just raise up on you like a wall of rock and the fact that in the south Island you can get a peak of them as a constant backdrop is lush, we had a flyby of Mount Cook and on the way back they threw us out of the plane a free fall with a stunning view..

Money talk...

Average housing costs are about NZ$300,000 - $500,000 the exchange rate when we were there was 2.4, so if you have £100,000 youll get $240,000 in NZ, we dont have that money.

We earn as a houshold approximatly £55,000 a year gross here in UK, from what we saw in NZ and we asked alot of people as well as approaching the unemployment bureau and asking everyone we met what they earned including kids in petrol stations (minimum wage mostly $12.50 P/hour)we saw crap wages....really really poor and a high lack of non full time hours being offered, and more often than not very bad contracts being negotiated, our income converts to $124,000 per year gross but in NZ wed earn no more than $80,000 between us...a tough call to consider. We understand you cant compare like for like that but it helps. It seems unfair maybe to mention this but we found of all the Brits (and tourists) making money through buisness ideas that were all linked to getting money out of Brits like us either coming on holiday or throught the emigration process, this spells trouble to me as it means that most people cant earn a good wage working for NZ companies, for example we stayed in Hostal in the South Island where this British guy had basically given up his home and called it a hostal, he with his wife stayed at the back of the garden in a shed type out house, and they made there money from US tourists (non taxable as well)...as it was the winter there were workers staying in the hostal who were getting up at 5am to go and work in a fish factory!! earning shitte money, one irish guy said he could not earn enough to get out of the country, he couldnt wait to leave to tell everyone he could what a rip off NZ wages were.

Even the owner told us of how when he arrived in NZ he to got a job and got screwed, he knew the law and had to take the company to court through a long winded process which tainted his rosy view of NZ, and now he makes cash in hand money (nontaxable) from US the rich Europeans and Brits... - he claims hed never go back to the UK, but I would hazard at a guess and say he couldnt afford it now, hes stuck, trapped in a highly taxed lowly populated badly paid country miles from anywhere, it makes you think eh.

Lifestyle basics...

But as everyone seemed to tell us its not about the money its the lifestyle, but if you cant afford to ski and surf and take long tramping holidays.....? is it so good? - but then its not about the poverty or the struggle neither is it, from all the success stories weve come across it seems that there are two camps - either people already have serious amounts of money in the bank before they go and set themselves up nicely on the exchange rate or people go before having set up in the UK, i.e they marry someone or go there when they are young with nothing and know no different building a life in NZ on its terms and accepting them, but if you have something to lose, is it worth it? in our opinion at present NO.

NZ is only a better life if you have money, i.e enough money to buy a house outright in NZ, due to the housing boom over the last few years alot of people in the UK have been able to do just that and if you can do it its worth it, as youll get alot more for your money in NZ. At present we cannot do that and we do not have the spare equity that would allow us to do it, we have some but not enough to buy outright and this means we would be burdening ourselves with debt (Mortgage) and in NZ we dont think this is a good move, the salaries are very questionable and in no way would we earn as we do here in the UK. To add to that the cost of living in relation to earnings is higher than in the uk, but of course it depends on where you live and how much you earn, but to use averages you would lose out.

The People

Nearly all people we met were very freindly, especially when your paying them for something, but if i am really honest, some of the politest people were the Briish that we met over there, the Kiwis can be a bit dry and blunt and abrubt in a way that can seem say unessary and cold, of course I understand it to be a different culture and thats all good but sometimes you felt like a walking wallet as the whole country is praying on your tourist dollars, sad to say but thats how it felt sometimes. The people are very hardy and are by there very nature harder working, they have to be and they have it seems to be more resourcful in regard to all aspects of there daily lives something we have kind of forgotten here in the consumer capital of the world...so i liked there authenicity and rawness. The Maori people we only ever saw when managing very dodgy roadworks, we never met any, but the ones we saw in poor areas just looked like very poor scum, chavs with shell suits adults looking the same, it simply didnt impress, in the poor areas in shops and stuff it was obvious that education was lacking throughout...the culture and history was interesting, and it was clear there was a divide between the Maoris and the whites.

We did meet some great people though and were treted very well in most situations.

Houses....(swanky sheds sorry)

Some of the houses are shitte in no uncertain terms, all the swanky places you see and visit are well out of most peoples price ranges, but down in the back roads of most towns you get to see the real NZ not shown in the brochures, down trodden and very very poor looking, some of the smaller towns reminded me of the inner states, middle america redneck country and did not impress in the slightest if honest, some of the areas outside of brochure country looked dead as, unless you wanted to work in a cheese factory or a dairy youd be unemployed, skint and bored. sorry but thats the truth.

We approached a new house bulider just up the hill from Lake Taupo, we went into the show house and he was happy to chat to us and explain how they build in NZ new and what the differences are, it was great as he had worked in Reading in the uk and was honest with us, he said compared to the UK the houses in NZ were way way behind (his words), he said improvments are being made but they are slow and expensive, we both agreed that it was the land that was of attraction to many who come over and that is nice, most houses in NZ are single story which at first is odd, but then when youve been in a few i became a fan of them and they are built like that due to the available land around them.

Some of the farmstays we stayed in had back boiler systems set up, and of course the wood burner in the main lounge, now dont get me wrong the heat off those babies is intense albiet hard to control the tempreture - we had this sytem in place in the 70's... mostly wood built homes as well. To be honest did we feel the cold?, mmm only in one or two places if honest so the houses are not that cold, we were never chilly in bed or anything so not a major concern. Most of the homes you will like if you visit are the swanky ones between $400,000 to 1 million dollars, all the others are questionable for sure.

If we had £100,000 equity in our home we would move there yes, but we dont...that for us is the bottom line and the one thing that forces us at present to stay put.

To summerise -

We would if we could afford it move to any of the tourist places, as they are stunning Queenstown, Wanaka, Arrowtown, Picton, Turuanga, Mount Manganui, Christchurch, plus many more then we would, but we cant so we wont be....

We had a great holiday and we wholeheartedly recommend anyone to visit we are even planning on returning over the next few years so please go and check it out its lush, but with the reccession and the limited equity in our home we will not be emigrating for the next few years, the situation may be very different then so well never say never but not at present, itsa shame but thats the reality, we felt that the lower population, one of the main attractions was also one of the main problems as well, sometimes in some places it seemed too quite, and with being so far from the culture and fascination of Europe it seems silly to leave our own country when we are doing very well here.

We think NZ has a long way to go and it needs at least another 10 million people to get its economy going, and another thing that puts us off is the cos of the emigration its all money money money, take take take and no give back...if they wanted skilled people so bad why the high costs involved...

And so thats that............

Just before I go though I will leave the address of the website thats helped us most along the way, its not a popular sight as it tells the truth something thats rare these days.

http://www.expatexposed.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=19

Pictures to follow...

Skoda Rally - Sherwood Pines....

2009-06-22T05:34:00.000-07:00

The Skoda Rally - June 2009

I work near Sherwood Forest and found out about this weekend Rally from Matt at work, seemed a good idea at the time and so we headed out hoping to get close to the cars...

we were not dissapointed, we walked a part of the course along its edge, cars screaming past at minute intervals, we saw the action from different view points, straights, corners, and jumps...

there were some old cars, classics and up-to-date World class rally cars...

the starngest thing was that you could get within inches of the cars, there were no barriers at all and within the woods MTB'ers were still riding across the track sometimes without any what seemed self interest...

Health and safty was definatly lacking...

But that made it more exciting for us.

I tried so hard to get some good shots, but my little click and shoot wasnt really up to the challenege but i tried.....

Crib Goch....with the Terrified Other Half..heh heh

2009-05-26T09:04:00.000-07:00

The Victim

Well, It's bank Holiday isnt it, you gotta get out in the country on a BH Monday, so we decided, well I decided actually that we would do Snowdon via Crib Goch, something I had done 4 times previous in various conditions but wanted to test the other halfs nerves....silly really as the most testing place that Stephanie has walked before was Dovedale in Derbyshire, oh and a tad in Aviemore and Galway.

Holy F**K....no way...

Anyway if my memory would serve me right shed be fine on Crib Goch it was easy wasnt it!!...my memory did not serve me right, it was hell on legs, and half the time Stephanie struggled to stay on the two she owned to be honest, all the more entertaining for me though as she crawled along like a crab... the butress as you raise up was the first problem, she had already lost her nerve at this point and the ridge wasnt even in sight, the weather was stunning though and the only other main risk was sunburn at this stage, in the end we managed the butress and she crawled up to the top to then see the way forward across the ridge...

Come on...'' I think I have wet myself...''

Its interesting because at this point I was put in a weird situation (as she refused to go on) because going back down may of been worse for her than going forward she didnt want to do it and I didnt know what to do, either way it was awkward and it was a lesson to me in other peoples ability in regard to your own.

In the end we met another couple in the same situation, one fine with it and the other bricking it...Steph and Moa (the brickers) stayed together and made it across the first part by which time some confidence and understanding had been gained about the routes technical elements.

In fact for a brief moment I even saw her smile as she moved forward, straight after she'd stuck her finger up at me of course. The drive home wasnt going to be too much fun I could see it now.

By the time wed got to the first summit, she was beaming I guess because there was no more ridges to scramble across and because she was alive and had done it. The final stroll up to Snowdon was all the more enjoyable (lunch at last) and the stroll down was a pleasure in itself.

She learned about assumed fear and its affects on your performance when in a sticky situation - I learned to respect other peoples ability on what for most is a technical peice of rock....

The drive home was fine and from the amount of texts and e mails shes been sending out she is so proud of her scramble, even so I think well stroll around the Peaks for this summer and break her in a tad gentler...

But then there is Sharp Edge to consider...heh heh

Enjoy the pictures...Ma..

Making Bread.....and stuff.

2009-04-22T04:49:00.000-07:00

I feel so sad...or do I, I must be getting old and sad...

But recently as we have had a new kitchen we decided instead of using it for cheese on toast we'd actually learn something useful in it, over the last few weeks I am happy to (sad I know) say I have learnt how to make bread!!! Yes bread....

It happened because one day I went to the local ASDA to get some basics including bread and due to the traffic it actually took me 45 minutes to get home....I thought sod this I could of made my own bread in that time.

So when I got back me and Steph looked into a kids book (we are kids) to find out how to make a loaf, and my god its easy so so so easy (except for the dam kneeding)...since that day we have made about 9 loaves, learnt about the history of wheat and the methods used over the centuries, Im not going to give you a recipe but I will tell of a few mini secrets that helped us -

1) kneed for at least 10 minutes twice (wholemeal needs more) and then kneed a third time while you proof the shape, let it rise before you put in the oven...

2) Put the salt in the mixture last..

3) And let the water and yeast react alone before entering the rest of the ingredients...

4) Put the water in warm water alone first, or if mixed with the floor use warm water to mix with...

We have also been making soups and stews which are stunning as well as cakes....

God I feel so sad coming out with this crap, not to mention the fact that we are growing our own herbs (basil and Coriander) in the garden..as well...

But let me tell ya I have never tasted bread so good, even the fruit cakes are better than the shops...sod the shops for the 3o minutes of effort its well worth it.

This lasted about 20 minutes..with lashings of tea..

weve worked out that our loaves cost us £0.42p but we were buying loaves for £1.30..

And here is the last batch look at the size of that baby...lets eat !!!

cheers all....munch munch...

Connermarathon completed...Ireland 2009

2009-03-27T14:40:00.000-07:00

Stunning running location without doubt....

Last week in the stunning location of Galway in Ireland we attempted to run the Connermarathon, the third marathon within 10 months for me but more importantly the very first for my girlfriend Stephanie, who would end up being the true star in the end...

We were based in leenane on the edge of Ireland's only Fjord, famous for clams and the harvesting of them, Leenane its self is tiny, having 3 pubs a shop and not much else to be fair... But surrounded by stunning mountains and fells reaching heights of up to 700m rising steeply up from the waters edge.

The weather was awesome not usual at this time of year or for this area so we were lucky, and it held through for the Marathon thankfully.

We drove the Marathon route as always and realised how long drawn out and hilly it was, as our training had been limited (as in close to none) I was concerned that Steph may not finish, I mean people in the know say that you should add 40min to your standard marathon time when running the hills of Connermarathon, I Could see why and we were a tad concerned. I worried that she may not be able to complete her dream..

Registration and chip pick up was in Galway, we headed off and got that sorted on the Saturday before and found out that we could met the buses at Cliften which also offered us free parking - sweet.

There we were as always, the first to arrive at the Cliften station hotel trying to find a public toilet. there was one, but it didn't matter how desperate you were, you wouldn't have wanted to do it in there...

The crowds slowly gathered and I could see the fear on Stephanie's face grow, or was she still desperate for the loo, not sure... even so she was getting nervous....its funny at moments like this when your there at the start of a big challenge and you realise how lazy you've been sat on your fat arse at home for the last 4 months not training when you should have been out there giving it some....but here and now that realisation for both of us was becoming very very apparent....everyone else looked so thin and fit, sounded ready and up for it, excited even, chatting about times and PB's whilst we were contemplating nothing but survival..... we had nothing but fear and concern blatantly confirmed by the look of dread on our faces why hadn't we trained properly... ha ha ha .....

We got on a bus where we met some great people, got off in the middle of nowhere, on a tiny road full of runners and sheep a couple of portaloos and a truck with our bags in, the road itself was struggling with the size of the buses it was single lane to be fair. The organisation at this point seemed all over the place...even so we got to see the leader of the Ultra Marathon come through, man he looked like a machine...making me feel more like a sloath...why didnt we train...

It became apparent that most of the high numbers of runners entering this years event were not marathon runners they were half marathon runners as there wasn't that many of us about 1400 I'd say at a guess. It was also at this point that I wondered where all my 70 Euros entry fee had gone, there was no start gate just an old van, and some bloke shouting down an old microphone, pretty crap really..I mean my mate could have done that for a tenner....in his old pimped ford escort van....!!

Anyway after freezing my arse off for 30 minutes we gathered to the front and started well wishers called on Stephanie and hoped she enjoyed her first and then preceded to vanish off at speed into the distance, and let me assure you that was some distance within minutes they were dots...the open valley allowing you to be constanly reminded of how far back you are and how far youve got to go as well as how few are behind you......heh heh...

The weather was good and the location was awesome, there were no crowds just sheep and other runners this turned out to be a very unique event for sure in the world of Marathon running purely by its awesome and isolated location, you event felt isolated especially when the runners thinned out a bit.

I was OK for the first 15 miles as we were running at Stephs pace (11 min mile) so a cruise for me but she looked sort of OK i guess, but the distance was now taking a hold.....

All pictures on here I took on route, I actually took food with me this time as well due the lack of corner shops and the isolation factor...Steph completed the Half Marathon distance in 2:15:40 so not bad at all, but then the second stage was the actual official Half route, and it was a killer the hills started straight away and there were 4 nasty hills on this second part which was too much at times for Steph, we stopped a fair few times to take on food etc...and the infamous 26.2 Miles was taking its toll, but would it get another victim.....?

I'm proud to say not, Stephanie just kept going showing such determination and human spirit, even though she was clearly in pain, I was stunned and at some points she was unable to run at all..but her dream since childhood of completing a Marathon and the 20 mile marker sign approaching helped here move through into the final stages, oh by the way if anyone wants there black cap back that we took off the fence about mile 17 we have it...we needed it as in parts the sun was high and hot and we ere exposed in the valley.

And to think we even asked an Ambulance man whether he had 1)suntan lotion or 2)Vaseline...the answer was no??? once again in the run i wondered where my 70 Euros had actually gone...what incompetence...

The right turn at mile 22, was the finishing straight if you like, what we did not need at this stage was exactly what we got given a mighty hill ... oh bless the look on Stephs face, brought a tear and smirk to me eye....she was paying now, running no faster than I'd walk in bits...I was a bit worried at this point but I knew and she knew that somehow it was in the bag!!! To be fair this belief she had was all she had to crawl home with...

The hill was completed and the final flat straight to the finish line beckoned, it was even downhill at the start but by this stage that meant nothing to Stephanie the pain she was in hurt whether you were running up down or flat...it made no difference now...

We crossed the line together I held her hand as we approached the line, cameras clicking, nice comments about us from the man on the speaker system and then over the line she had done it....!!!!

Stephanie Jukes - First Marathon in 05:15:30....

Well done Steph, there was a tear, a Medal, a photo, the pasta, the bus then car and lastly hostel....where we sat in silence, licking out wounds...trying to figure why we had attempted one of the hardest Marathons in the Marathon Calender with no training...!!!!!

Oh and I have just realised where our 70 Euros money went, .... on all the organisers swanky Apple Macs at the registration Bloody B**tards....

This Marathon is stunning, but the organisation is rubbish and it is extremely over priced as is the whole of Ireland and Galway (Pint of Guinness 3.90 Euros (£3.54)

Enough Said....

Real snow like the 70's in 2009 - Lush !!

2009-02-20T13:01:00.000-08:00

The snow of 2009 loved it, I travel to work in Mansfeild and because of the shift work I do and the shifts i was on during the worst periods, my drive to work turned from 40 minutes, to two and half hours...with traffic crawling at 10mph speeds, in my opinion people were over compensating for the weather and driving so much slower than really needed, but that is another subject. here are some pics of Derby where i live and the area on the drive to work.

Nice - I'm sure others had it alot worse though.

First ever car crash !!!!

2009-01-31T15:04:00.000-08:00

Yep im forty and i have never had a car crash nop well not until today and to be fair i didnt hit anyone someone slammed into me....but and I stuggle to say this it may have been slightly my fault but of course I will do my utmost to deny it..when the insurance companies get involved...

For the record it was at the A5111 and A6 Junction as you leave Alvaston, I was inthe furthest left lane of 3 intending to take the 2nd exit off, but some one flew onto the roundabout on my outside in the middle available lane and as i went straight on they turned left, slamming into me and forcing me to take the left turn and knocking out my R/Lamp set, well the glass anyway, its still all works etc but has no glass.

I was the one in the middle.....

Even so worth mentioning as I have never had one before. I blame her of course and she will blame me....i may lose but i will fight as she was doing well over the speed limit for a junction of that kind and she made no, ill say it again no attempt to stop, its as if she didnt even see me...no screeching brakes no skiiding no horn nothing ....just SLAM!!!!....

Oblivious to other roads users, also she is the 2nd driver so wont be fully insured, her husband is the fully insured driver he was not in the car...

No-one was hurt, funny thing though is that I work for a contractor that manages the road i crashed on so they would have designed the junction and built it, i will when next in work establish if the lane i was in was only for left turners if so I may concede and accept that i was wrong even so....a major pain in the butt for me at the moment.

Ho hum.

laterz.

Gloss Black kitchen completed...love it...

2009-01-25T14:57:00.001-08:00

Here it is at last.....

Yes the kitchen has finally been finished, stuck up the last of the shelves tonight and the fitter left this afternoon, so we opened the champagne and had a sip after all the hard work, tears frustration and worry, its a big deal i mean weve been without water for alot of it and going up and down the stairs to get water from the bathroom loses its appeal real quick let me tell ya.

It is lush compared to what we had before it is stunning, we were lucky today someone came around who was interested in the old cooker we were selling and they took all 3 items for £150 notes....none of it had been cleaned or anything...amazing...but i guess it saved em a penny or two.

Anyway our fitter was Chris Pether and his son, they have done a fantastic job and we will use there services again if we get the chance thats for sure, the kitchen was from magnet and it has to be said they were fanatstic right from the atart although to be fair we got a £12,000 kitchen for £6000 as we were able to use someones trade account......

We have been very lucky throughout the kitchen fiasco as we nearly went with and paid MFI, just before they went bust there kitchen was going to be £7500, we even got our deposit back from them £1,500 after waiting a month....

All in all, we are over the moon....im starving lets eat!!!!!

I promise no more pictures ever....bored now...

Tickets to New Zealand. AArrgggghhh!!!!

2009-01-22T09:22:00.000-08:00

Well, there we were just sitting there chatting about our dreams of moving to NZ (which I have another blog for) and then as if by majic we had just splashed out and spent -

£2223.20 on two return tickets to Auckland from London via Hong kong with Air new Zealand...Jesus christ dont ya just love life...when you act in the moment....

More detail is on my NZ Blog, but it was done because we need to see the place first, it is expensive but our justification comes in the form of lines like -

''well it will be our only holiday of the year'' or
''well well save up before we go so it will be paid for before we leave'' and
'' well eat sandwiches at work and saved like bitches....'' which is all bollocks really...

The reality is we panicked and clicked the mouse button (looked silently at each other for about 3 seconds.... ooops...oh dear...er no refunds oh...ha ha yehhaa..yes lets do it...wahhhooo....

life just lovin at mo..

Laterz..

The Kitchen completion thunders forward....

2009-01-14T07:15:00.000-08:00

And to think its my design too, if ever I fancied myself as a house makeover artists then I reckon I've got talent in that area....here are a few pics from day 3....of the fitters being here.

its even better than I imagined but also slightly different than had imagined as well, things don't fir as you expected them to and more often than not you find that you have over compensated for sizes so when its up it seems more roomy than you expected. anyway anyway...

Oh just for the record, this is a Magnet kitchen designed by me, it was bought on trade account from another company called Pegasus they did our boiler, the discount we got being a trade customer was on average %66 across the board on all items required even the appliances...the kitchen would have cost at retail prices £12,500 but we got it for £6000 excluding fitting.

I cannot recommend Magnet enough they were by far the best company we approached even in the early days of kitchen dreaming...there service has been exceptional and we do recommend them...although they are more expensive...in this case you get what you pay for....

Magnet have been superb.

Pics.

Oak Tops of course...

Cant wait for the end of the week...

In for the long run.....(relationship)

2009-01-13T00:32:00.000-08:00

No not running, women.....

I have moved in with one, something I have been terrified of doing for years if im honest, I have met Stephanie Jukes in December 2007...I have been dating her since then but we have lived seperatly I was living in Radcliffe Nottingham and she in Alvaston Derby.

We have had a great year and as 2008 came to a close we started dreaming of emigrating to NZ this application (as we are not married) means we have to live together and have proof of doing so for at least a year.

The emigration asperations were not the reason it was also the cost of driving back and forth to Derby constantly costing me in me old car about an extra £150 a month...

So I have moved in with her December 2008..and as said not something I accepted easily being so dammed independant.

As it has turned out im loving it, and for the record living with someone else is so much cheaper as well, again not the reason...for the record I am so much happier settling in with someone and not fighting out there alone....

So weve been together for a year or so now and it feels like it could be for a while....

Its just not as bad as expected.

Kitchen gets an oven...no more fast food....!!

2009-01-07T06:50:00.000-08:00

On with the house makeover, which to be fair is getting a tad boring and ardous..but atleast the kitchen has a new cooker and it even came with a new cook as well, so no more microwave meals for me or take aways the cook will sort it...heh heh..

The Cook...

The removed doorway and colur scheme...

The cook.....looks shifty...

The lights? why this sort, Stephanie is in to theatre and they were going cheap...

Loving this glow from the back wall in the evenings...the £6000 kitchen due on the 10th of Jan, completed hopefully by the end of next week....hope it all goes to plan...

Laterz.

Connemarathon March 2009

2008-12-30T19:24:00.000-08:00

This will be my third and absolutely I promise final marathon, why my last? Well their to long .... 26.2 miles is simply to long really ha ha...

I prefer the Half Marathon distance if honest, and the last year could be classed as my Marathon period of running done only to see if I could really achieve it within only two years of starting running... and I can I've done it twice in fact .. and one more to add to that...legendary really...

Also I want to start a new sport of Long Distance Road Cycling, similar in my view but you get to sit down for a bit...seems a better deal in my view with my older (post 40) age coming along swiftly ha ha... but I will keep me running going on the side lines...

The best way to learn about the Connermarathon is to look at the web page -

http://www.connemarathon.com/

The Marathon for 2009 is full and you can only run at the time of writing, for a charity, the location is stunning in the challenging mountain wilderness of Galway in the west of Ireland. The course meanders past bogs, hills, lakes, and the Twelve Pin mountains rising up over the great expanse of Killary Lough, through the quiet village of Leenane, around the Maam Turk Mountains and all the way back up to Maam Cross.

Its a stunning location and as we did with the Loch Ness Marathon weekend, we (me and Stephanie) will be making a mini holiday out of it but as money is being saved for other more exciting things were only going over for the long weekend, we as usual have done it on the cheap, were booked into a cheap hostel and we have got cheap flights from EMA (East Mid Airport) to Knock. When were there we will get a small rental car and have a blast rallying through the lanes of Ireland as we did in Loch Ness...which was a blast...

Anyway I hope as its my last Marathon to get my best time my previous best time is
03:50:11 secs...and this is the target. I hope to get -

Sub - 3:40:00 (8:30 mile pace)....

The race is on the 22ND of March and my training has been limited so far but as the new year comes along so does the new training regime which will assist in losing all of those Xmas calories...today I have weighed myself and I am the heaviest I have been for 2 years...15.1 stone...when I ran 3:50 I was 14.2 stone...so I am looking forward to losing weight as well...

I have to mention that Stephanie my OH is also going and the event is even bigger for her as it is her very first Marathon which will be a tremendous and possibly tearful experience for her as she crosses the line...I wish her all the best...

Its an awesome area of Ireland here's some pics..

Looks like an awesome run....they actually ban ipods at this event...I reckon that's a good policy...

I am looking forward to the weekend for more than just the race as it's our first visit to Ireland. Hopefully at some point well make it to the bars of Galway to get involved with a sing along somewhere.....where's me dam guitar...

There are some that regard this event as over priced, it was £50 to enter this event and I do feel that's a little steep but I will hold back until after the event and then comment on the wether it was good value or not, but on side note I do think that private companies are cashing in by over pricing entrance fee's in a essentially free and basic sport of late, under the illusion of high organisational costs and charitable schemes, but are always unwilling to show where the money has gone....I have started to get more interested in Fell running for this reason alone its back to basics again as it should be...and cheaper with just as much fun if not more..

So training starts for real in the new year...sod it ill start tomorrow, yep that's it, those scales have frightened the hell out of me.... over 15 stone are you sure!!!

Let the training begin...

When I was 14.1 stone (May 2008) not 15.1....!!!! shocking really...fat sod..

Stephanies House Makeover.....cont...

2008-12-22T05:51:00.000-08:00

My oh my, doing an old house up is tough eh, after all the shows you watch on TV don't believe for one second its a breeze its not.

Anyway we have done the lounge and we have created an office as seen in a previous post now the kitchen and hall way, for the record the best way to show this is to do before and after pics so here does, oh its not finished yet by any means but this will be a good record for us to remember the pain by....

Boiler before (now Combi in bedroom) £2400 full cost.

before -

After -

Essentially we have had to strip back the whole kitchen, strip off the tiles and remove the dark blue wall paper, re locate the boiler in the upstairs bedroom (changed to a combi), stud wall the piped areas, remove the mains around the corner of the wall and re move the water meter outside the property, all at cost, but these changes were required to bring the house up to standard as she would have never been able to sell or rent the property as it was. There has been an injection of cash from family for her otherwise she would have not afforded some of the finer details and she would have had to fully finance the kitchen £7000 has been lent to assist.

In a sense it is the first ever house make over me and Stephanie have ever done and as the completion of the hall and kitchen approaches (20th Jan 2009) we are delighted with the results, and it has been a stress full experience but we have learned so much along the way.

Here is the colour of th wall paper and the wall that we removed, before ...

And now after we have plastered and removed the wall and the tiles...that made me sick.

The sink unit area, that was put when the house was built!!! has been removed and the mains have been placed on the back wall to accomidate the new sink location...what a mess.

And now after -

So the kitchens been plastered with 12mm boards to cover the damaged walls and skimmed cost £600 for cash, the plasterer also did some other areas around the stairs and two seperate walls.

The walls and roof have been painted and now for the floor tiles which are grey slate, which again we ahve never done in our lives but were going to give it a bash as well its cheaper. The kicthen is due to arrive on the 10th of January and be fitted week comencingthe 12th of Jan, so we need to have the complete floor ready by then...fo a novice no easy task.

Kitchen plastered and painted - Some pics......

Choosing the backwall colours? tough one....she picked it is she sure?!!!

And now the tiling has started, we have no experience of this so er here goes....the slate is going down..

So tired and I have only done the first third of the area needed to be covered. anyway looks good for my first attempt.

carrying on tomorrow....we need a kitchen so badley now doing plates and stuff in the bathroom sink loses its appeal after a while.

Laterz.

Dreams of Emigration to NZ. (Part1)

2008-11-25T13:58:00.001-08:00

I'll have to guess at the date but lets say sometime in September 2008 me and Stephanie some how considered emigrating, why were not really sure to be honest, the bottom line could simply be the adventure of it all and nothing more.

In reality there are hundreds of reasons for trying to get over to NZ, some of which are political others more social and some just based on the sprirt of adventure and trying something new without the risk of having to learn a new language well, in order to get similer jobs to the ones we currently have in the UK.

I myself could not go to NZ I do not have enough points and my age of 40 would work against me, but Stephanie being 37 and an expereinced head of Secondry Drama Education would be able to apply under the skilled migrant catergory and I would be able to apply as her De facto partner requiring only that we both prove that we have been living together for more than a year with alot of evidence to show for it.

We have over the last few weeks have been scowering the internet for information and have just got back from an Imigration Expo in Leeds at the infamous Elland Road ground. The Expo itself was ok and only cost us a tenner, but most of what we saw we already knew, but not all, and the few sticking points we were concerned about were erradicated very quickly, it was now just a case of supporting Stephanie through the application process leaving no stone unturned.

One of the most useful things we have done is looked on peoples blogs who have already made the transition as these people have kept a warts an all record of the move and talk about the issues they came across as they happened, these people will also asnswer your questions and not charge you for doing so and we have even made freinds with them before we arrive if we arrive?....these sites and the information on them is more useful than any imigartion services company can offer these companies must hate the internet now as all there tricks have been revealed...to be fair though moving over there will cost us about £7000 in total.

We need to be sure its what we want........

Essentially we have not even sent off our EOI (Expression of interest) form yet as she is a teacher and she needs all of her qaulifications verified before she can complete the online form and that is where we are at now.

This blog will provide me with a log as the tough process takes its toll on us, weve heard it can be expensive and draining.....

we intend to have the form filled in and sent off by the end of the year and we realistically expect an invitation to apply to come back within 3 months, then the real work will start.

In the mean time we will be taking as many pictures of each other in interesting locations and getting references to confirm we have been together for the duration that we claim and that we live together...

Thats all for now. Wannaka here we come.

Although to be fair we have at present although this could change have our hearts set on Dunedin..in the south 4 hours from Wannaka...

Halloween....love it..

2008-11-02T15:00:00.000-08:00

Halloween

...I just love it if only for the fact that i can go cut a spooky face out of a Pumpkin.

Short blog I know but love me Pumkin now sitting outside me house.

Happy Halloween...

Named - Flap and chiller... whooaaaa hhaaaoao

Sherwood Pines (Duathlon, my first)

2008-10-19T07:32:00.000-07:00

I entered my first Duathlon today it was called the 'Evil sheriff of Nottingham Duathlon' and was at Sherwood Pines Forest, it started near to the 'Go Ape' if you know where that is and was run by Pacesetter Events.

I entered at a cost of £25 as road running was getting a tad boring and I'd had me bike fixed of late.

I was up at the crack of dawn and off the Sherwood in the dark, we arrived in good time and registered, let it be done i had done no training for this event since my last poor marathon in Loch Ness less than two weeks previous....it could get messy er and it did.

It was a 6K run followed by triple the same distance (x3 laps of running route) on bike and then a short 4K run to finish, I was of the assumption that it would not be too hilly, and I was of the asumption that I was a good biker and would catch people on the biking sections.

The reality was that I pegged it at the start in the top 30 runners, but this soon faded as my lack of training kicked in, i really must stop trying to blag these events expecting a good time or position when I have not trained at all....I will learn.

The running section was longer than expected and alot hillier and this was to be ridden 3 times and that meant taking on 3 uphill sections which was so hard...

the transition was fun, you had to run the bike through and run the bike out, I undid my helmet strap and got warned to put it on, f**king H&S.... I could see from the Bikes left that I wasnt doing to well really but then what did expect, i hit the track and took about 6 people but then hit the hill, which in no uncerain terms killed me, i soon realised that any post Winterberg training was not going to save me as the run ahd nailed me, this was a slog and that was all I had to do, some of the biking was excellent through trees and crossing in between over a few jumps and had some fast downhills but also painfull up hills as well.

Stephanie was helping direct riders on the course and so saw me suffer 3 times...i must have looked a state ha ha.

The last part was a small run, but when you get off your bike, i found i could hardly run at all, and of course I was spent, i struggled but pulled away from my competitors near me on the hills.

I finished in 109 place (43rd of my age group 35-45)

To be honest its a bad result for me and its all due to being lazy and not geting the training in, but it was great fun and id definatly do another one....

I then went back to the car and in my tired state locked me keys in the boot...thats another story.

Cheers.

Shakespeare Exposure - 'Love's labours Lost'

2008-10-18T12:44:00.000-07:00

Last night I have been so lucky to be introduced to the RSC company and got to see the Shakespear comedy above, in Stratford upon Avon.

Now im not a Shakespear fan at all, in fact I have never seen any of his stuff live, and have never really given theatre in general much thought at all, but my OH is really into it and so I gave it ago, I didnt really know what to expect, I was asked by my OH what I expected - I thought about it and I expected to be bored, and didnt think it would be funny, I thought it would be dull and long winded.

I arrived at the temp stage of the Courtyard in Stratford, it was a thrust stage as the audience are close and surround all 3 sides of the stage, and were viewing from high into the roof sitting steep. we were in good seats in the stalls.

The stage had a tree on it with leaves as glistening pieces og glass, the stage was designed in such a way that all the stars would have to pass close by the audience to get onto and leave the stage, this meant that we got to see them at close hand, in fact these stars of stage were just behind the back seats behind a wall getting ready for the next scene which I found brilliant.

The Royal Shakespear Company

The show started in a relaxed and informal way with the stars already lounging about on the stage as if waiting for us to settle, no big announcements or anything.

The show lasted 3 hours approx, and was fantastic, I would recomend you try it its not as expected at all, and I look forward to the next chance I may get. The show had David Pennant (Dr Who) who was brilliant.

In fact I now want to hit the stage.... I could do that..couldnt I?

Fare thee well my fellow players.......

Vertigo with Ian Parnell (Everest Mountaineer)

2008-10-18T12:23:00.000-07:00

Months ago Stephanie had seen this presentation from the 6 times Everest Mountaineer, the night was brilliant and in simple terms was about climbing the great mountain as well as others, it was at the Derby assembly rooms and it was packed, it was to be fair also to promote the services of the Guides under their company name...

Dream Guides

Have a look, the galleries are exceptional, the views and exposure they suffered at times were ridiculous we were lucky being on the front row as we god to see all the clips at close range. I got to see what the views were like from the summit of not only Everest but also the Matterhorn which I really want to summit before i get to old...

just look at her...wouldn't you just love to be on the top of that...ha ha

I spoke with Ian at the bar briefly at the interval, he said that the Matterhorn was OK you just needed to be fit enough and regarded it as a Grade 2 Scramble, he admited that locally a guide would cost about £500, be he and his colleagues charge £1500 for the weeks experience based out of Chamonix. Pricey but for that moment of glory it may be worth it....

Yes I'm thinking about it....

It reminded me of when I read Mountaineering books like 'Into thin air' by John Kraukuar and reminded me agin of the beauty of it all....mmmm, getting wander lust again NZ may help big hills there eh.

loved it though and was inspired and educated, off to save for the Matterhorn....

Scotland - Aviemore trip..

2008-10-08T14:58:00.000-07:00

I have just returned from a holiday in Scotland, we were there me and Steph to run at the Baxters Festival of running, but that aside that we got to see some awesome sights on our trip there in between all the marathon and 10K running.....

We based ourselves at the Aviemore Bunkhouse by the River Spey. It was a good central location to explore the Cairngorm Mountain range and skiing resort.

Would we recomend the bunk house? if honest no, why well it was freezing and there was no lounge to socialise in, it had a kitchen (small) and was probably the worst hostel ever stayed in.

They were freindly and very helpful but it was not the best place to stay for 6 days, that being said the pub next door was awesome and the Caledonian Ale was exceptional.... Hic....

We ventured up to the ski station and hiked up the Cairngorm above the top ski station, normally this would be a standard jaunt but the weather was with us as in sun and against us as in a snow storm, which gave us a true Scottish experience, and some nice photos.

We also got to sit and chill at Loch Morlich which has in essence a beach where you can sit and admire your days sunset, and the mountains you have just descended as the backdrop. It was also out of season and so we were alone on the mountain and alone on the beach which always adds to natures theatre show.

The pictures say it all so enjoy, as a ski station it is limited and on our day looked like a closed russian ski resort of sorts, it doesnt have the Va Va Voom of Europe or Tignes in the Alps but it does have its own natural rustic charm. We enjoyed it and even got to see some reindeer in their natural environment.

It was also nice to see it with snow and the contrast with the lower greener slopes was a sight to enjoy, until the oncoming snow storm arrived and slammed us in the face with winds that had travelled all the way form Alaska. ha ha ... it got nasty and we got off the hill ASAP.

We also travelled the full length of Loch Ness stopping at the Urquart castle the weather was not good but this just added to the mystery of the Loch and the surrounding areas, we drove through the towns of Fort Augustus and Inverlochy and Invergarry, some of the areas were stunning.

We made our way to Fort William where if we had got up slightly earlier than midday we may have attempted Ben Nevis - but to be fair we were still aching from the marathon and the weather was exceptionally shitte....good quality scottish drizzle.

So we ended that day with a classic munch at the (to me) infamous Ben Nevis Inn at the foot of the Ben....including hefty sweet in the form of Sticky toffe pudding.

We also found an awesome rally track in the woods, shown here I will be doing a small video of the trip which will include the rallying route, we were given the racey Fiat 500 1.4i as our hire car....and this little car is awesome in this terrain and I spanked it big style around this single lane woodland track that we had checked out earlier in the day, in the high season im sure there would have been lots of cars coming through but not for us, I nailed it and nearly lost a few times. the other arf - just screamed as they all do. women !!....

We had a great trip and saw the rustic side of Scotland without the heavy tourist numbers ruining the day and the views, id recommend to go at this time of year to anyone.....

Scotland the brave....!!!

Loch Ness Marathon Completed.

2008-10-08T12:32:00.000-07:00

Sunday 05/10/08

I made it just, I had not trained for this one and knew I would suffer big style..

I collected my race number on the Saturday which meant I got to see the finishing line in the stadium, it reminded me of my school running days when I was er fitter... The set up was good and the organisation seemed well up to par...

I met Karen an friend from the runners world forum and we arranged to meet at the mini Expo to run with a 10 min mile group (finishing in 4:20), to be fair this is a slow pace for me but due to the lack of training I was concerned that when I got to about 18 miles the lack of training would cause me real issues if I went out with at my normal pace, the plan was set.

We were based in Aviemore and so on the way home from Inverness we went on a mini adventure heading towards Fort Augustus and we accidentally came across the start line in the middle of no where on some small country lane, a couple of portaloos and the start sign. We then followed the route to the end back to near Inverness so I knew what was coming it was stunning and a bloody long way if I'm honest....I was nervous and wasn't convinced that id make it through the full distance.

We were up at 5am as we were based in Aviemore and the drive was about 50 minutes to Inverness stadium, we arrived and we were all put on a bus which would take us to the start which id seen last night about an hour away.

The atmosphere was good on the bus and I felt good, I felt for the first time in weeks that I could do this if I went slow, I was going to take my camera on route to take some pictures as when I did my first one in Edinburgh it all seemed a bit time based and I nearly forgot to enjoy the day and the event for what it was...this time I would stop and take a few pics and record the event. So I would remember it for the stunning and picturess event it is supposed to be and was not let down.

I finished the race in a respectable 4:17:07 secs. this is a good time for someone who had only trained up to 8 miles and had not committed in anyway to the training.

A Video of the race....good if you want an insite and plan to run it one year..

During the race I suffered severe cramps after 18 miles, it felt as though I had no cartilage at all, but some how I struggled home with the base fitness I had from earlier in the year, I do not recommend blagging a marathon ever !!! it hurt real bad near the end.

Even so I had a sprint finish in which I over took 3 people, ohh how the youthful competitive spirit seems to still remain even though I am now 40 years old....yes -

I AM NOW A VET RUNNER AT 40....

The goodybag was awesome full of, well Baxters stuff really, and the medal was cool.

So my second Marathon has been completed in Loch Ness. I have already booked a third in Connemara in Ireland near Galway, but that's in 6 months time, plenty of time to train..

......... 4:17:07 at Loch Ness.

Cheers all........

Winterberg .... August 2008 (Mal's 30th)

2008-09-22T11:04:00.000-07:00

I was invited to Mals 30th B'day bash in Amsterdam and during the weekend we went off to Winterberg in Germany to the epic Bike Park they have there.

This weekend was part of a road trip for me also seeing some friends from the GR20 on-route, but I have poasted about that seperatly.

I took the S Reg Brava, risky shes an old girl, but as it turns out she was legendry and even took on the might of Mals beast cometh the race day...in total running smooth for 1200 miles this tour...

There have been some awesome things happening to me this year but this trip has to be one of the highlights and I am going to struggle to find the words to authenticate the trip but for me it was mind blowing.

Whilst in Dam we also did the flow boarding at the 'Dutch Water Dreams' centre, what a name...one marketing slip and it would have been Dutch wet dreams ha ha ha..

This was awesome albeit hard, when you bailed you bailed hard well did anyway, whiplash comes as standard and I had the whiplash standard for sure, you need to practice this at least 3 or 4 times, but what a laugh its so wobbly, the smallest error is exagerated fully....but what a trip...we were in a small group of goofy people so we got more runs...a choice day, the we relaxed in the sun at the beach bar with real sand, but we knew the whiplash would revisite us in the morning and it did. Just in time for Winterberg NICE....!!!

Anyway as always the best way to show these things is through picture and video and there is all of that below.

But the thing id like to remember about the Bike trip to Winterberg is the sheer balls I had over the weekend in fact the balls we all had on the day, we basically arrived after a late night out on the beers and whiplah from hell from flow boarding an early start and a 300 mile drive (race), we then had to get the bikes sorted, I had an awesome downhill machine when we were ready we hit the practice jumps which to be fair were to me huge enough on there own.

After a wobbly start Mal then just took us off to the downhill berm run, you cant see anything from the top you have no idea whats coming if you did you just wouldnt bother!!!! but fuck me by the time you hit the bottom and youve emptied your pants out I was awake alright let me tell ya.......the fucking smile on my face was hurting it was that big....and my heart was in my arse....lost and confused but happy to be alive and still beating....

Struth the best safty measure they have there is by default the chair lift to get you back up as that gives you the break you need...seriously after the first run I was on the chairlift thinking what the fuck have I just done, coupled with the fact that when your a group of male buddies your all competing and looking to impress...its a mind blower let me tell ya. Just dont forget lots of spare pairs of pants, and that you have a brake....I was getting air before id even seen the fucking jumps....not good but woooooohhooooooo....awesome..

If that wasnt enough and Mal wanting us not to miss a trick, he sent us all down the bloody race track a at full pelt, what you forget though is that this is winterberg and whilst your trying your hardest to stay ahead of your buddies over the whoops you forget that they stick motherfucking massive table top or 4 in your way immediatly after the berms with no time to react, but you soon wake up mid flight normally way to late IMHO....using the brakes middair doesnt work??? !!!....but my word after a few runs your in the ZONE...and my riding days from back in the day came in to play...time to get serious, then he takes us to the park as if I hadnt had enough...my poor heart was thumping...drops? me, eh what...your having a laugh..your not, your serious....oh ok then....ride ride wobble....fall off drop land...scream!!! - Im 40 surely this will end in tears.....

Thats basically how it worked. by now id got to grips with it and that was only after 3 runs, then to make sure we'd not miss anything he took us down the World Class Black downhill run me what...im old..!!! I dont really remember much about this route except...that once your in your in for good come what may...and the drops and the slamming your wrists get as you drop thud thud thud down drop after drop again again and again...I mean you have a brake so you could use them, but I tried that and I didnt stop at all well not enough anyway...i was just whispering fuck fuck fuck...im gonna die fuck fuck....really im dead...and then you make it and flow out of the end off a little jump and after you check all your limbs work you sail to the back of the lift line, to lick your wounds and to empty and change your underpants for the 3rd time that day (and its not even 2pm yet)...phew...see its hard to put into words...but this is how I remember it.

we carried on untill the last run I even then got a cheeky last run on the practice jumps as they were calling for our bikes back....just couldnt let go could I, Nope guess not...

We all went out for a meal at the local hotel and we were alone, we ate well and drank well, too much for me I think. It was really nice to see James as well...

We camped on site and I slept under me Tarp by me car, I actually got a good nights sleep even though me inflatable mat went flat on me, and the french man had issues... but all good.

The next day we rose early (due to french man again)and knew a more mature approach was needed as injuries my be coming to hunt someone down, well that what I was thinking anyway, we headed off and did some nice Northshore stuff on wooden bars and see-saws, loved this stuff but some of it was high and tricky, but it was all a bit slower, we did do all the same stuff again and I went off many more drops on routes and went faster on things my speed on the berm runs was matching Mals which was a bum twitcher for an old boy for sure but I was there on his arse, next time Mal..next time..

Theres not really more to say except that its something that must be done again and again and again...as Mal siad he was amazed but so happy that we had all -

'STEPPED UP TO THE MARK' on the day.

But then so did he as he went off the highest drop, I guess giving himself a Private Birthday present...awesome Mal.

lastly Thanks for inviting me.....what a memory. TC...

I think I need a Labotomy after that....

Video to come....TC style.

Trans Peak challenge...(Completed)

2008-09-22T07:57:00.000-07:00

On Sunday the 21st of September 2008 I was amoungst a team of 6 athletes from Amscott hoping to complete and even compete for the first 3 places in the Trans Peak Challenge. This event was for the British Heart Foundation who work in the office below us. The event covered no less than 30 miles approximatly and 8 miles of that would on bike on tarmac roads (albeit very hilly) and ending with steeplchase of sorts at the finish at Chatsworth House.

Am I awake....not sure, but somethings glowing..!!!

We (I) awoke at 3am, to get ready and pick up Liza at 4:50am...simply wrong..just too early..we drove to meet the rest of the team at heath and headed off to the start location. it was still dark at this point but we would get to see the sunrise as we ran on the first stage, an awesome sight and experience. it was all very exciting I thought and couldnt wait to get going...we were Team 8 out of 13 and started each stage in that position 8th...

The team getting ready at the start....

Off we went and within 2 miles were huffing and puffing as expected on these hills well I was anyway.....we then went the wrong way, but not as bad as team (1) as they were never seen again ha ha...we readjusted and did a very respectful first stage all ran well and we cruised passed one team...the veiws and the exposure added to the experience but as always only the pictures will show it as it was. I landed in some deep bog at times and the going underfoot was the main challenge.

On our way Stage (1)

The funniest things was the team back at the office hoped theyd do this section in 45 minutes...oh how I laughed at that ha ha ...we did it in 1:30 min...not the same on that terrain.

We finished the stage to mini applause and then in the truck sort the bikes out we were off. for stage two....this was the operation stage after stage, i did all stages except the ride through Ladybower which was stunning this time in the morning with the steam rising off the waters as it was...really stunning.

The Machinery.....

Belted around this corner and just like the shot...

Suffice to say the best way to see this challenge is through the lens and the video and so you should take a look below at the pics and the video. The challenge was tough and although I escaped having to run at full pelt as the girls were slower and only the slowest persons time counted it was still tough....the most enjoyable thing for me was the veiws which were stunning with that hot sun on our backs all day and the water run at the very end of the steeplechase...loved that.

The competition, it was close...he looks a bit serious though eh..

Liza catching him up...

If im honest it was a team event, a style of event I was not used to and I had to control or real in my competitive spirit for the good of the team, I tried to help and give tit bits of advice and felt that i did my bit....but at times I felt like whizzing off...thats me though...

As challenges go this was a good one, in the end we finished 5th, in a time of 2:54:00 if we had had a stronger bike section we would have competed for the 2nd or 3rd place, as it was it was a team event and thus making it all about the slowest person in the team not the fastest, the winning team were all men....probably with small penises as they seemed to be the type that needed to win, every team should have to enter a girl at every stage to make it slightly fairer.

Navigation needed near the end....

I didnt use the camera on the bike sections which was a real shame as the veiws were exceptional but you cant win em all, also at the end but i am sure i will post them if I can get hold of them.

A great day out though and one of which I am duly proud of. There will some aches and pains...and we were gifted by an exceptinaly rare blistering sunny day....a day I will remember.

Well done Team Athletico Amscott. !!!!

Video of the day...

Loch Ness Marathon

2008-09-09T05:50:00.000-07:00

Why oh why am i doing this?????

I enetered this whilst doing the training for the Edinburugh Marathon which i completed in May of this year it has its own blog, but i was told that after a marathon you need a new challenge and the best way was to book another one....so i did.

I am regretting this now, as i have done little or no trainingat all, i am knackered when i get to about 8 or 9 miles and struggle to do a half marathon.... this is going to be murder and even if i finish it i will be in alot of pain....why do it?

A good Q - my only answer is i have paid and the entry fee is non refundable or exchangable and i want the medal ive heard its very nice....not really the best reasons to put yourself through such a trauma but even so flights and accomidation is booked so im going now.

I ran Edinburugh in 3:50....respectable first attempt, this one could be alot slower possible an hour slower coming in with the old ladies in about 4:50....3 min a mile slower....mmm

i'll post on completion its in 4 weeks and i havent ran for about 3.....what have i done.

laterz.

Trans Peak challenge...

2008-09-09T05:24:00.000-07:00

On the 21st of September we will be running a team event for the british heart foundation, I have done other events for this great charity but this time its going to be tough, its about 27 miles across the Dark peak in Derbyshire and will involve 9 stages involving cycling running and a steeple chase at the end, as if we wont be tired enough....

I work for Amscott (Scott Wilson) and we have a team of 6 people but only 4 need to be doing anystage at any one time, so others can rest. there are 4 blokes and two girls, the sections are timed and your team only has the slowest persons time recorded for positions, which i am hoping is a good thing as it means i only have to keep pace with the slowest person in the group on my stages,

We have a charity (Just giving page) here, if you wanted more info ....

http://www.justgiving.com/amscott

Now i am supposed to be fit as i have ran a marathon this year and have another one in 4 weeks, but i have been very lazy and have not trained at all, and the other day a few of us went out to check the terrain out and we came across Bolt hill....mmm, well lets just say i never bolted up it...this was a son of a bitch of a hill, a steep long and drawn out beast which stings on the legs whatever your choosen position on the bike and it never seems to end, only two of us made it to the top....and we had suffered.

By the end of the day i was really tired, and we had achieved only a 5th of what will be expected of us on the day....this is not going to be pretty or easy....i think all of us will be caught of gaurd by this challenge, i will post again on completion.

laterz, im off for a run...!!!!

Cornwall trip 2008

2008-09-09T02:58:00.000-07:00

I used to live down there in Cornwall, I used to surf the breaks of Perranporth and Newquay as well as many others, and I thought as I approach me 40th I would get me old surf board out and Id try to reclaim some of that surfing and cornish majic of old, with stephanie in tow. We were also going because we had Jack Johnson tickets he was playing at Watergate Bay on the cliff there.....nicely exposed.....NOT GOOD eh Jack..

I remember from back in the day as do most of us, such rare things as long days of sunny weather, sunset surfs and sweet bright blue dawn patrols....ahh awesome, with that in mind surely a bit of camping in the middle of summer would be a delight, surely....what fun, lets get packed and dont forget the frisby - er cos well be using that on the beach wont we. NOT.

We decided to stay in a campsite i knew from the old days, as i used to work there and knew it would be quiet, we got there we set up camp (in the dry) and then we got in brewed a cup of tea and BA BOOM !!!!!!! crash thunder .....wind... etc etc,....the rain started and with some force as well, i looked at the camp site and with its exposed area and open fields and with the wind and rain having a 20 mile run up before slamming into the side of me tent we were in for a hiding and we got one, for 9 days solid.....9 fucking days.....!!!!!!!!!!!

Not looking to happy eh after another night in the car!!!

yes yes i know it rains, but as it turned out it rained for 9 days solid, with howling winds slamming at us all day and all night....we had to sleep in the car as the tent was not standing up to this incessant rain and we could not sleep in there, even a few hours to dry would have done but no it kept going. The Jack Concert up there on the hill was destroyed and cancelled and im sure from looking at it nearly blown away into the sea....what a fucking joke..

with the concert canceled we were struggling to put a good face on it all....we did surf, Stephanie did enjoy it, we did go to the Eden Centre which i can highly recommend as awesome site if anything, we did make it to Perran sands infamous waterhole on the beach and watched a rowdy grung band do there stuff, and we saw as many sites aswe could from within our now stinking car...looking out as the rain dribbled down the windows, after a while it gets to ya let me tell ya.

We also went to the Minnack Theatre which again is so impressive, and to be fair to the weather we got a slight restbite allowing us to chill on the beach for a while, but come show time we go nailed, we lasted to the end of the show but many did not they could not see the point, the theatre which is outdoors of a cliff edge is famous for not stopping a show regardless of the weather, but even these hardy actors were suffering a tad, there was ven one bit where a guy had to strip off to his underpants for a bit....he must have been frozen...a crazy night...but we got lashed on there as well for the whole show....!!!! bloody weather....

what a performance..!!

yeh yeh we could of gone into a pub and got wasted but hey were not big drinkers and i wasnt with the lads.

suffice to say that when it rains down in Cornwall its a shite hole to be avoided at all costs.....do not do it....i have spend nearly £1500 on British holidays this year and got pissed on everyone...i am sick and tired of this piss poor grey rainy dam Island.....ahh fell better now....

next year im off to Europe or the states.....

Eden Centre

To be fair though id thought the Eden Centre was superb, there is so much you can learna bout the plants oround the world and what they produce, it is very interesting, they have two main areas one really humid and tropical and one cooler witha more European tempreture, inside when the rain fell on the bubbles the noise was incredible, it really is an architecs wet dream, and a great succes story in my veiw.

Highly educational and very entertaining.

some pics, sorry theres alot....

Stephanie with the ''Seed''

The show must go on.....really?!!

Hoping next summer will be better....

Greenman Festival 2008

2008-09-08T15:33:00.001-07:00

I have always wanted to go to this festival after having heard such wonderful things about it, i first heard about it in 2005 and it has taken me this long to get organised. I took my now special freind Stephanie expecting warm days lazing in the sun tanning ourselves to the tunes of some cool folky dolky band.....and generally chillin. the event this year was in the Brecon Beacons at Glanusk park Wales, an aweosme natural ampitheatre.

with tickets bought well in advance we were so excited cometh the day, we packed whilst eagerly watching the weather and although there could be rain and we packed for that it looked like a reasonable clear weekend.

for this festival we set off on the Thursday night, tight as we are to get the most out of the weekend tickets, and we arrived as the sun was setting, it was along walk from the carpark but it was dry and grassy, i point that out for a reason as it was nearly the last time we see green grass again.

we camped bought program and went for a stroll around the quietish areas, no-one on stage but the lighting rig was being tested, the trees were all lit up and the smell of different food was all around. we ate we romanced at it all and slept.

The Duke of Yuke.....

we awoke to new neighbours? hi there....a bit close (as in using each others pegs) but even so its a festival, it was still dry and we headed out to lay on the grass at the main stage. To be fair the music was okish, in the early part of the day we thought some of it was filler, not that good at all, the cider was good and going down well and then crash BA BOOM....!!!! the rain came and it came down hard real hard.....a quick dash back to get water proofs on and out weekend was already getting a dampner....

within 6 hours the site was looking worse for wear, and within 12 it was muddy chocolate soup about 6 inches deep with lakes of crappy stew to contend with, the look on peoples faces said it all, check the video to see...the organisers did nothing and even though some of the music was alright and i did get to see my fav - Iron and Wine plus others no-one wants to watch there fav band in a pool of shitte....

ha ha we survived the weekend, gettinga s much out of it as possible but in the end the weather destroyed it completely, i posted a thread on the Greenman Forum called - ''brownman not greenman'' it got alot of hits form people expressing there thoughts and concerns a funny read and can be seen here.

''Brownman not Greenman''

Anyway the food was good-ish evn though we both got a dodgy tummy, the film tent was awesome with some weird porn late at night and science rock classes in the day ha ha but no generally the weekend was destroyed by the weather.

will I go again, not without getting a weather degree first.....and then watching it like a hawk.

Mini video below.

Interior Design - Jukson badboy style....

2008-06-23T07:40:00.000-07:00

My other half Stephanie Jukes, is in need of a house makeover, and well being complete amatuers i am proud to say we have together done something very special with a room that was once - er well a shithole really....she was living in the 50's with borrowed this and that furniture, and all and sundry of mixed bits and bobs given away free by all and sundry... we looked at her budget and decided it was time to bring her back up to date....to be honest we knicked a few ideas from a few others but hey dont we all.

You would not believe how different this is....

This is only one room done so far, the office is next then hall then the kitchen.....(a big job)...then upstairs.

The room used to be white or lemon as she puts it, and considering Steph didnt even know how to use a roller before this is what weve done...we like it, and she loves it...

And here she is the lady lounging herself....get up and finish the dishes !!!

Sorry Karen we copied your lampshades....?

And here is the office completed....nice huh, magnum badboy style..

GR20 Trek Corsica Completed (Jarvain)

2008-06-17T14:14:00.000-07:00

I have just returned from one of the hardest and most famous of treks across the mountain ranges of Corsica, it is a 200 mile (approx) hike across extreme raw mountainous terrain (un-pathed) and in no way should it's difficulty be underestimated. It travels from Calenzana in the north to Conca in the south, it normlly takes 15 days, we took 13 by doubling up on the stages twice in a row.....not to be recommended.

Accomidation is in mountain refuges or camping. I started on the 31st of May....The gaurdians vary in there characters but at the end of the day they are French and with that said they seem moody and rude but in general they are good hardworking people....respect them and learn a tad of french....!!!

http://corsica.forhikers.com/gr20 - for more information

We experienced severe weather of all kinds, extreme cold, deep snow, white outs, sleet, howling winds, slashing rain as well as stunning sunshine all at altitude. I say we, although I travelled alone I met up with some fantastic people all mentioned in the video at the bottom.

I could go on and on about this trek, but you can do your own research online, and there is no real need for me to repeat the information already available online but.....heres my imput....fresh from my return.

The guide books say its easy - bollocks, none of this is easy, every sodding day its hell, and I was carrying a light sack too 18Kg with 3 litres of water, and I am fit, if your not fit, forget it, this route will chew you up and spit you out big style, it will play with your head and will exhaust you on a daily basis....never believe anyone that tells you its easy....this route will stay in your mind for a long time....the pain will not be forgotten....but then neither will the rewards and the stunning beauty and sights you will see.

To be fair you dont even need a guide book and you dont need maps and this is from someone who took both and hardly used them, anyway someone else will have one so you could ask to look at theirs....

One a lighter note, the refuges turn into the worst male slumber party you can imagine with the snoring and farting champions from all of the countries present.

I would recomend a tent I took one and the nights I slept in it were way better than nights in the refuges.....and when its been raining you can imagine the carnage with all ensundry trying to vi for drying space for there gear....its comedy alright but when you need to sleep not so funny....

I am English and in the UK I would eat a substantial breakfast before taking on a days hiking the French, eat a peice of bread and jam, with coffee.....what madness!!!....theres is no porridge anywhere and I asked everywhere...bring your own. So within days of this you are starving, dont buy western foods at the refuges the prices have been tripled...do as the french do, buy the pork sausages and the bread and local cheese, buy nougat and choc for energy....copy the french diet albiet a tad different it will get you through the worst days and when your starving youll be amazed at what you'll eat......

Do bring chlorine tablets for the water just to be on the safe side the day after I did not use them, I sprayed all over some tree, I do not want the same to happen to you.....you have been warned. !!!!

But hey lets be honest here, I have seen some of the most stunning sights and my memories are strong colourful and vivid the people I have met were fantastic and legendry there were tears and there was fear amoungst all at certain points, but by pulling together we all made it through the tougher northern sections together considering there was alot of snow at key points.

There were - 2 Belgians (Jan & Rea), 2 Kiwis (Stuart & Juanita), 2 French (Francios & Harvey) and me the Scotsman....but alas after Vizzavona I was alone for a while until me and Eric the Flying Dutchman completed the trek in true style with the Mexican and sons close behind......the GR20 route it seems had taken some early scalps already....as others were never seen again....

The hardest thing for me on the trek was the incessant and unrelenting slog that seem to start most days it is steeper and harder than any photo shows, you must spend at least 30% of your day looking at your feet ha ha - try not of course, and then when you think relief will be offered in the form of some downhill - forget it thats even worse....all you want after 3 days is a flat world....but you dont get what you want......I have no regrets and I have had some awesome experiences but I will never allow the term 'easy' to be used in this treks description....its a killer.

Let the pictures do the talking and please watch the video to get a better feel for what the GR20 can do to you....and for you....

Thanks to all the fantastic people I met on the tour you know who you are and you will always be in my thoughts -I am truly grateful for all of your help and kindness.....

The final summit before dropping down to Bavella, no we didnt push over the cross..

By the way this is what it did to me....it will be no different for you..heh heh..

This is the North section video - south will follow...south will be funnier !!!!

White Peaks Swift half Mararthon (new record)

2008-05-18T10:01:00.000-07:00

On the 17th of May 2008 i was to attempt this half marathon PB which i had had hanging over me for about 2 years, i knew i could beat it and what a race to choose to do it on.

This race is held on the Tissington Path (the old railway) and started high up at the highest point and made its way down to the canal, the last 4 miles had 3 very steep downhill sections, for anyone that knows the trail, imagine pelting down it at breakneck speed after 9 miles.....wooohoooooo..awesome...

It was a cool drizzly day which is perfect for running in, they gave us a lift to the start in coaches on the coach a guy named James started chatting to me, he was the eventual winner in a time of 1:15, I'm sure some of his speed rubbed off on me. heh heh.

I considered hopping all the way at first....

The coaches drop you off 3/4 of a mile from the start and we walked back along the trail to the start, on my walk i got talking to 'Onion' he was about 65, and had run umpteen marathons and half's and was legend in these parts i reckon, he was a lovely character and i was glad to of chatted for the 20 minutes we had before the start.

At the start we were all huddled on the single track and on the grass edging, you had to haggle for a good starting spot as i didn't want to get blocked in again like my last race, it was freezing but i had me black bin liner on until the last second, then the horn went and we were off.

The Garmin 305 was on and ready and within 30 sec i knew it was fast for me as i was running 7:30 min mile pace, in training i run 8:20 min mile pace, i knew if carried this on i would suffer big style later on....

But hey its a race, the day you throw it all in with the kitchen sink, the group spread out quickly and i was at the back of the leading group, normal for me and slowly slipping back ha ha....but i was holding the pace well and keeping within a good distance of a sweet youthful female arse, another one i could not quite catch....

Girl on left is the arse I could not catch, man on the right I also could not catch....

At 6, 7 and 8 miles and after a toilet break, i was still running at 7:32 min mile pace, and the pain was coming my legs were tiring the reality of that pace was kicking in and it hurt like hell. But this is the crux of the race the part that if you fight through the finish will be within site....i fought and gritted me teeth, it stung i could feel the cramps building, it was pain...it was PB time...

But then a break, the steepest of hills, one of 3 and i am good on the downhills, i pegged it slamming my feet as i went, passing so many.....flying i was, mind you when i hit the flat i nearly seized with pain and the people that id overtaken crawled back to get me, but then another hill, and i sped down that too, talking more scalps on the way, and the same thing happened a third time....the last mile was along a canal it was flat and my legs did not want to know...that last mile felt like 5 from hell itself.....the finish did not want to show itself.....

It was at this point that i knew i had smashed my PB which before was 1:51:00 (Nottingham) I was about to enter the exceptional group of people at my age who go sub 1:40...i could not believe it....

......round the last gate over a muddy field into the finish line and through the finish tunnel.....i was dead....that really really hurt...but wow..........

I finished in 1:37:33 (Official time) - 62th Place (out of 263)

I was so tired i just collapsed and fell into the arms of me girlie...who is also the cruel person who took the awful shots of me....heh heh...

An awesome day and i would recommend this race to any one.

Well maybe I shouldnt recommend it to anyone.........thats a PB for ya...pain..

Thorney 10K record attempt...

2008-04-06T15:44:00.000-07:00

Hi all, I'm still running and last week I went down to Thorney near Peterborough t attempt to beat my 10K record of 45:43....a tough challenge for a 39 year old...going sub 45.

Me and Stephanie got there in good time and it was a lush morning the best conditions for a PB, we could not have asked for better conditions, this course was flat a great PB route but that would mean it would be exposed to the elements especially wind which can destroy a PB attempt in a flash or gust...

we eyed up the competition and the Field looked fast very fast actually so we hid away heh heh...i chose to run in me tights which was a mistake and I wish i had haggled and pushed for a better start position as i got blocked in for at least 30 sec at the start.

Anyway when going for PB at any distance its never fun as your taking the very best last attempt of you at the distance and you know that last attempt was a bitch, so to beat it your gonna pay.

BANG!!!! the gun went and I got stuck behind the starting bunch which really pissed me off, I was wearing me garmin set on the virtual runner setting for 44mins, within 3K I was way ahead of me garmin, which only meant trouble ahead, I had gone out way too fast, I was just off the leading bunch but falling away rapidly if honest.....I needed to settle into a good pace and by 5K I was panting like a rapist, I was dying on my arse no doubt but hey that's what PB's feel like I said to me self trying to console....

someone once said that pain is for leaving the body....really well I had plenty to get rid of, at 7K i was in a race with two other guys they would lead I would get it back they would re take it etc etc, it was good it helped me keep my pace up, the only depressing thing was that the guy in front of me was in his 60's....sod..

8K we were in open farmers Fields on a track and I was in pain, but i knew it was now or never i had to push regardless and I put all i had into it....it was not pretty and it was painful, this was close to my maxVO2 and I was feeling it....9K and I could see the final corner....the 60 year old was pulling away and I tried a mini sprint as we came back into the finishing straight but it was hard....he had me beat....how humbling..

Finished...that line never looked so good....really i hadn't even stopped me watch as i was blinded by the final effort to cross the line, but a PB it was -

New record - 44:41

I dont think i could beat that i think that was the on the edge of all i had on the day...very proud though, the drive home from Thorney to Notts via the sat navs option on bike was stunning the country side around there is stunning...

Cheers all.

Edinburgh Marathon (Part 1)

2008-03-26T15:15:00.000-07:00

Hi all, over the last two years I have started running, I have completed a Half Marathon in each of those years and its those events that have given me the running bug. My times were mediocre but I achieved what I had set out to do, in the early days even stepping out of the door was hard enough let alone running 13 Miles.. I had to learn to run in the first few months....but that seems a long time ago now...

So we are now in 2008 and I felt like another stupid challenge and let me assure you I have picked one hell of a bloody stupid one, this year which I have my 39th and 40th Birthdays, I have decided to do two Marathons - Why, I don't bloody know do I why does anyone? a challenge I guess? to say I can or have, to say I know what the experience involves from start to finish, not just ponder about it....which is what too many do nowadays..

I have entered the Edinburgh Marathon first and the second is also in Scotland in October at Loch Ness..anyway back to Edin... I have taken on an 18 week training schedule which I have ignored to the letter as you cant do this shcedule and have a normal job and a normal life, but I have acheived the mileage and increased my pace...to assist me in this I have bought a Garmin Forerunner 305 which I can highly recommend. This device has assited me in knowing my exact pace and also has the invaluable HR monitor.

I am at present half way through the training and have done a little video as expressing how bloody hard this is with some pictures and views of the routes i run.

The thing I would really like to express here is that a Marathon is like no other competitve race, in fact for mere mortals its not even a race, just an event a indurance event and the only person most of us will be competing against (me included) is our selves and our stupidly set over optimistic time we wish to complete it in....mine is 3:45:00 - you may ask where did i get this well stupid optimisim and arrogance came into it but also the simple calculation of adding my two best HM times together, seemed fair enough to me.

The training has brought its own great results though, for example I have beaten my HM time in training and got a 1:47:00 I have also just beaten my 10K time in a run on sunday at Thorney near Peterborough and gor a time of 44:41 and a sub 45 min 10K for an old boy appraoching his Vet Catergory real soon is very good indeed. So the benefits are beginning to show and i am sure over the next year or so things will only get better.

One of the main downsides to high mileage training constantly is that injuries are going to hapen, it is nearly impossible to avoid, and as Marathon training forces high mileage training on you it will happen to you...its happened to me and i had an ankle injury linked to the inside of my calf....the funny thing is you know your hooked on running and your not just the casual jogger when an injury causes you to rest and you get irratable as you want to get out there again.....anyway watch the video and i will be back in next month just before the race itself .....

PS Marathon runners are crazy, thats for sure......

Well peeps, heres the result this Video says it all, did very well I think for my first attempt...but its a strange distance and it really does test you listen on...

Crib Goch Via Snowden with a newbie....

2007-12-13T15:13:00.000-08:00

Late November 2007 I decided I needed to get out in to the country again and Pixie an old friend from down south decided to join me for the first time, we could have done the tourist route but hey its me were talking about here...so crib goch it was hope he is ok with heights. we stayed at the hostal on the pass at the start gate and we got a lush room with a front veiw, weird actually as that hostal is not highly rated but I loved it....a klush place with bar...and good food.

Pxie was really excited about it which was cool some arent ha ha, I had been watching the weather for a few days and it looked like good photo potential and as it turned out it was one of the best days I have ever seen on Crib Goch.

Blue clear skies lush...

we arrived about 11am, booked in got the key ordered dinner and breakfast for later on arrival god dam ha ha, parked car in only spot near hostal very lucky up here ya know... packed bags and headed off, up up and away......what a day it was awesome. Pixie was gonna love this. Mind you after about 20 minutes i nearly had to call an ambulance i wanst sure if he was gonna make it....does Michelle know he smokes - well I wonder mmmmm......a fag on Crib Goch....not looking to healhy there eh fella.

Heres a few pics.....

He looks in pain eh ...but hasnt he done well 2 thirds to go mate..

Here i go playing with Death...why not heh heh.

Simply a nice shot....he didnt like it...

we made it across....what next ahh yes the mighty summit.

Love this shot at the top......yh bring it on well done Pixie....harder than you thought eh...

OOoohhhhh mooody....wethers can change within 2 min at summit....

Me me me me me me....yes..ha ha....kinf of mountain....

Video coming soon....

The best U Tube video.....

2007-12-13T11:11:00.000-08:00

I am sorry but I cannot stop watching this it really is so funny, it's the expressions on the guys faces ha ha lol....to die for....

This is exactly what U Tube is all about. an so they get the best video award for 2008 for me.

Ulveston 10K Race 2nd December 2007

2007-12-13T09:50:00.000-08:00

Well yes folks the running addiction continues as I have now not only joined the Holme Peirrpoint Running club and got myself a confimed place in the Edinburgh Marathon but I am also a forum ranter on Runners world and hence am always scanning the events diary to see where and when I can enter a run - budget allowing.

This made me do the Ulveston 10K a local race to be fair, but with a good following... I went up there with a new female freind that I found somewhere and as she (Stephanie) was driving I was on my best behaviour, we were both running and from the start of our journey at 6am it had been raining all day and all across the UK, we got there and yes it was still peeing down the only difference was that is was now really cold and the rain to me was getting very close to sleet, this reminded me of the days when I was at school and forced out for a run with the athletics class. hated it ha ha..

You must remember that we had had no sleep and were not in the best shape...even so this was a first for me so i was going for it hoping for sub 50min.

I ran it in 45.55 which is fantastic !!!!!!!

I am so proud of that....and in those conditions, I am now training for the Ediburgh Marathon through the winter....this is going to be tough.

This is similar to the real thing just add the rain.

North Tenerife in November

2007-12-13T07:22:00.000-08:00

In November I went back to Tenerife to check out the north of the Island to see what it had to offer compared to the dry humid south and of course Teide, this journey involved yet again awesome treacherous roads, more sweet switch backs and also revelled the North east shorlines surf breaks, but my word what a long way to go for a surf...easier to get to Perranporth heh heh. I did reviset La Masca to see the results of the fire below and as expected its never as bad as you first think, the area is green and nature is happily recovering form the fire as you would expect, but to be fair fire at night can seem a horrendous thing even if the effects come daylight are limited. For the locals it must have been terrifiying.

This was the side that got the most damage from the fire and it got pretty close to the town on the right and out of picture.

I didnt stay with family this time, I decided to stay in some dodgy San Marino apartments ha ha they were alright except the lack of a lock on the balcony door, but hey you get what you pay for and I did....This caused a problem, as it was very hot about 80+ and I was up for a tan and as the apartments had a good pool and a cheap and cheerful bar below I found myself losing my adventurous side and and deciding to just flop by the pool with me book.....it became very addictive and well after a few days I couldnt be bothered to do anything...

Evetually I got to see these sites....and things...another side of Tenerife alot of you probably have never seen....

Surfers on the north coast there were a few good breaks, what a dramtic sky line though this side of the Island really does have a dark and volcanic fell to it and by all acounts a very local one as well.

A different angle of the Volcano on the ridge drive approaching the north..I was up there in April heh heh....

Lunar Landscape abound near to the base of Teide it was so silent and peacful here and so warm....a film set for the Planet of the Apes...

All of Tenerifes beaches are black sand except one...this one where is it? I'm not telling you....really nice though only downside and clue oif wherebouts - on the horizon you get all the liners and tankers waiting to dock....

Switch back heaven in the north...love it so I do - should have been a rally driver for sure...

Love the coast line around La Masca, this is the view of old burning lava flows frozen in time 2000 year ago....just love those colours....awesome.

just like this shot...It's weird in Tenerife one minute you can be on the beach and half an hour later in thick pine woods and the smell is reminiscent of the Alps.....

La Masca from the boat again fom a distance, so moody so angry and twisted looking....

And of course I spent many a day just meandering on these beaches, amazing how hot it was even in Novemeber the beaches were full....

And yes Teverife has some sculpture along the beach between Americas and Los Christianos...nice...

Well yes there you have it a picture showing on me trip better than me just tyoing stuff. It was also Gordons birthday he was 41 this year and i boughthim a gift that well he seemed to like wearing, he even made a trip to the footiee in it crazy sod. Take a look for your self and if you want check out the video as well.

OK and the video........

Thats it folks.....until next holiday.....

Be aware the Mankini may apear in your town some time soon...

Dreaming of leaving the UK

2007-10-12T06:03:00.000-07:00

Over the last few years I have been getting more and more convinced that the UK is not a good place to live and simply not good value for money, I am a 39 year old man with no children and I am at present unmarried and I earn an below average wage and I am unable to buy a house on my own in the UK, I live in a shared house with 2 other poeple although the house is affordable and we can survive ok, not much else is really ever going to be on offer.

I struggle to save money as the bills are constant, they never seem to end, and just when you think youve sorted out your finances, you get a speeding fine for doing 35mph accelerating safley off a round about, its all bollocks and I am convinced as said that it may be worth throwing the towel in and going on the road again...? I just seem to think that the UK is simply relly bad value for money and have had these thoughts for some time - years in fact.

I pay my bills and I am always legal on the road etc, but most of the costs I have to obsorb as a single guy are from people ripping the system off, I am also convinced that single healthy men with no children are the group that get screwed over by the system the most, yes they have there freedon etc, but they will never get anyhelp at all from the government and buying a house....your having a laugh.

On the buying a house note alone, I missed the boat and I look forward to the day all of you people start losing false value on your property, bringing the prices down to the correct level, the man on the street level, the countrys average wage level. !!!!

But I am getting old 39 now, is it too late to go on the road?......oh what to do.

I used to do the Ski seasons years ago and I was never happier when doing them, yes of course you earn shit money and its not a career but i've been thinking about just taking a risk and moving out to Chamonix and let fate take a hand in what happens after that.....

What do you think....

I am also well travelled and I think this is part of the issue, if you know what else is out there it becomes so easy to slag of the UK, even in america when I stayed there in Sun Valley Ketchum Idaho, i could afford to live and rent a nice place and afford to eat out alot and go out all of the time all on an labourers wage...exactly as it should be i never got the feeling that someone was after me for that spare cash i may of had....in the UK, people are constantly trying to get your disposable income always....you can feel the greed coming for ya some days - Greed is killing the UK and peoples desire to want more stuff over more love and experience in their lives....

This country is FINE....as in the financial kind....

Rant over for now .....TBC.....

TBC

Bupa Great North Run - Half Marathon (Newcastle)

2007-10-10T12:09:00.000-07:00

I have been training for the GNR for about 6 months now as i attempt to do my second half marathon, my first being the Nottingham Half Marathon in 2006 ran in 1:51.

The training went well, and I had booked a weekend away in the Albatross Backpackers to make the most of the experience. The Saturday before the race they had on the banks of the Tyne some world class mile and 3 mile athlets all competiting as there seasons comes to a close, the likes of Motram from Australia was running and I had a great view from the front, a really good experience to see the speed these guys can get up to over this distance. They also had the running Expo and the lots of childrens fun runs and I enjoyed spending the day of rest watching everyone else getting tired. As a small bonus I bimped into steve cram and said a very quick hello, nothing to really shout home about you understand it was so brief....

So after a really bad nights sleep (snorers and party goers) I got up to realise I was so unprepared I had no breakfast and I was about to run 13.1 miles!!!! I cant run on an empty stomach I thought so off i went out to search for fooda nd the only place I could find was Macdonalds, so yep ordered everything I could and that was what I ran 13.1 miles on a Maccy D's.

I went down to the start with a girl from the hostal Fay she was from Nottingham and a seasoned runner by all accounts, we made our way slowly with the thousands of people along the streets to the start line and the buses which take your bags, they mark your number with a stamp so you dont forget which bus your bag is on, then we headed for the starting pens we said our farewells as she was much nearer the front than me and was on the other side, we said out farewells - I could have lined up for a wee but what was the point, everyman and his dog was doing it in the bushes and so I joined them I was sooo aaahhhhh peeeeee.....

I was in pen J, they start at A I was at the back there was only one other pen behind me, the pens hold about 7000 people each and you are fenced in. I went in and chatted to 2 40 year old Geordie fairies who were in great spirits and we joined together to do the pre arranged exercises with 60,000 people at the same time - think about it a sight I have never seen, the helicopters roamed above our heads and the Red arrows flew over the start. And the gun was fired and we were off !!!!

Well when I say off I mean we waited about ten minutes before we started to walk and then 15 later we were strolling over the start line, I started running and set me watch I was off behing 50,000 people - looking for PB.....yeh what ever.

The strangest thing though, as we went over the line the noise of the DJ's the Bobby Robson Chants the the thumping music all the hype suddenly disappeared and was replaced with the eery sound of a million rubber feet tippy tapping there way along the motorway the heaving chests of all around, then the realisation that not only had it all been a laugh at the start you were actually now gong to try and run 13.1 miles, never easy, I accepted the reality and started in my attempt to overtake 45,000 people ha ha.

The race was fantastic an as before I did not stop so I ran the full distance, I ran the race in -

1:54. and I started at the back (overtaking 42,000 people as I came 8045th)

Highlights were -

Children offering oranges and ice pops & sweets.
People calling my name (had it on me front shoulder)
The wall of sound - I had Queen 'we will rock you' - it worked
The atmosphere and the support of fellow runners.
The crowds always so supportive
The showers on route - Human car wash.......
The free lucozade always nice.
Sense of achievement at finishing
Free sweets and grub in the Yorkshire Cancer Charity tent lush for sure.

The bad part was runing with a bad back which I had sprained few days before lugging cement around on site so annoyed but stil made in anyway.

I would highly recomend it and may do it again but my goa now is to get a place in the Edinburugh Marathon next May, I am in the ballot at present, and during the training for that Marathon I want to do another small scale half marathon event to see if i can really get my 1:40 time that I am sure I can get with clear run.

Lastly I would like to thank all of my sponsors who donated money in the end I got over my target of £500, and I am very gratful for that.

Well thats it, here is proof in case your not convinced I did complete the Bupa Great Northern Run.

Computer crash....AArrgghh

2007-08-24T04:56:00.000-07:00

OK folks, my computer is down down down, it has crashed well it simply wont turn on...so until I sort I am unable to post anything as well computer sufing is not as much fun as you might think.

It is a such a pain in the arse when you go and trust your life to Microsoft and then blip....all gone sorry.

The Laptop is out of warranty so I have let someone take it apart and try to fix it at the capacitor level....sounds fun if not a new one will be bought and the information from the hard drive will have to be sucked out of it as i have some sweet tunes on there...

Well I have bought a new one - A Sony vaio N38Z model in white, i like it but lets face it a my old brick had more power then this new vista powersucking baby has. It is nice and i like it, but i kinda still want me old one back. It is at present waiting for a new motherboard to become available, i will be keeping it, in the mean time i have had my hard drive returned to me in a caddy case, but i cant open files due to administrator rights.....what a pain. Anyway it great on the road as its so quiet, beter than the Amilo D brick that fanned people and made the lights flicker as it went. anyway here is the new laptop....

The new Toy 'Tom Tom'

2007-08-04T16:18:00.000-07:00

I took a long time before I laid my cash out for this new toy, I went on to as many review sites as I could to be sure that it was worth the dosh, next came the game of researching in stores as well as online and checking the prices in those areas.

My experience was that the shops were rubbish the staff simply did not know what the devices did, they just knew that they could be in for a good sale and tried the pathetic sales patter on me, they would not open one up, they could not locate the details or the specifics from the box of the display model, and then in one shop where I nearly bought one they didnt have any in stock after all and there would be a waiting list.

DO NOT BUY FROM A BLOODY SHOP !!!!! DYOR online.

In the end I bought on online from Currys and got it for £20 cheaper with a discount code, the same model was in the store for £95 more, yep no shit. What did I buy, well I bought the -

Tom Tom One XL with the full UK & European Maps. £209.98 free delivery.

External Antenna - £9.99 Amazon

1GB memory card - £6.90 Amazon

Carry Case £14.20 - Amazon (It will be filthy in a week if you dont)

''you dont need a mains charger, plug it into your computer or car....!! really you dont.''.

Why did I buy one? Well I get lost alot, not where I live of course but anywhere else always... not only that I am without doubt one of those people who drive passed the turning they think they need all the time only to get lost on the way back looking for it again, and I get really pissed off & stressed with this whilst driving if I am honest....so yep hand on heart I have wasted hundreds of pounds worth of fuel going nowhere special. Also though it can be used on me push bike as well when walking through towns or in the countryside as it works with Long and Lat readings as well...

Does it work? thats the Q, when I did my reasearch some people said it loses a signal fair play I thought hence I bought the external antenna which sits on me roof, I have a full signal everywhere I go now, but yes it does work to coin a phrase 'It does exactly what it says on the tin' it is though not an autopilot and it does put you off your driving a bit at first but it is an invaluable resource for finding your way in a new City. I have tested it for three days so far and it has always got me to the destination I have asked of it. It also slows you down a bit in town centres as you are trying to follow its intructions good for me, as I have a heavy right foot sometimes.

It doesnt always take the route you would take in your own area, but thats not what its for, when you turn up in a town you have never been to before it is a God send.

I wont bore with you what it can do (DYOR), but it can do alot more than you think.

Would I recommend one - Yes I would.......Cant wait to test this baby on my Trip to the Alps and my Trip to Tenerife.

Sardinia June 2007

2007-07-14T09:34:00.000-07:00

I was searching through Ryans Air's destinations at work searching for the elusive 1p flights and found a return flight to Sardinia (Alghero) from my home airport of East midlands. Total cost with taxes and with one bag £50.

Now I've never been or ever expected to go to Sardinia, simply because other places were a priority, but where Ryan Air goes I go, so after a bit of research it began to look like a secret little Gem and I was not let down, I can assure you I will be visiting sardinia again real soon.....if you make the effort the rewards are all over the Island.

I arrived at 4pm hired a car £235 (7 Days unlimited full Insurance)I got the full insurance, now I know I know I can drive safely but I'ts the dam Italians (Sardinians) that cant period !! As well as the road signs being beyond ridicule, they are a joke, the Italians have no idea how to manage a road system, I got stuck in one mountain village (Nouro) for 45 minutes!!

I had a rough intenery but essentially was as free as a bird - I stayed on the beach in my Bivvy for two nights, I stayed in 2 different mountain ranches (Refugios)and a swanky Hotel for two nights in Cala Gonone, my first night after bit of haggling was in Alghero.

My Itenary was -

Algero - one night
Lido Orri - 2 nights on the beach....awesome
Chiesa San Pietro / (Hike 1) Cala Goloritze - Staying in the Refugio...
Cala Gonone - (Hike 2) Cala Luna return on foot... - Hotel Luna 2 nights.
Oliena - (Hike 3) Summit of Nidos 1348M - Cooperative ENIS Hotel
Stintino / Cappo Caccia (hiked to the bottom and back up!!!) return car/airport.

I had a great time adventuring around as always and have to say that it is a beautiful Island it was blistering heat the whole week while you lot were getting soaked ha ha...and I have never swam in water so transparent in all my life.....take a look.

Above Cala luna and below Cala Goloritz - Hours of swimming and diving..

These places were hiked to, and although you can get to some of the beaches by car most are only accessable on foot or by boat, making them feel more personal.

OK I am having a nightmare with FlickR and passwords so go to the link and when the picks change to Tenerife just close the window other wise it will show you every dam picture in my account, luckily the first ones to come up are of Sardinia, the video will show you more...

Go here for the pictures on FlickR -

Sardinian Slide show

Colonic Irrigation

2007-07-05T14:07:00.000-07:00

On Sat 7th of July @ 9:00am!!!

To be honest I have considered having one of these for years, why well mmmm good question I guess its due to the claimed health benefits especially if you know you been eating to much sugary food for years like I have, I am on a health kick of late and one of my concerns is that I may have Candida and so I am hoping this will help with clearing some of the bad toxins out of my system.

That aside though I cant wait to see what comes out through the tube that they place in front of you, it'll be like a crap Generation Game, ya know the bit at the end where all the items passed by quickly.

It might go somthing like this -

Kids toy
Set of marbles
An oily (marble)
set of teaspoons
Toy Soldier
balloon

Etc Etc you get the picture. To be fair there are not alot of places that do it in what would look like a proffessional clinic but I've found one in Retford, north of Mansfield, the cost is £80 and that was a concern for me initially, but she said that she would make sure I was as clear as possible for one sitting !!! ....

Joking aside .. my other concern is that on the website she looks a big woman ya know with strength about her, I do hope shes not to forceful as I kind a like my bottom just the way it is, woudnt want any slip ups now would we... and for those who know me well - I am a little concern that I may loose my windy talents that have brought happiness and delight to many for years, that would be sad day for sure.....

Woud'nt it be a blast if her name happened to be Peace, as to book you would have to ringpiece...ha ha mmph...god I must grow up.....

Check the video out here -

In the end and being serious I think it has done me good, you do feel better as well as a little lighter, also they can see if you have any conditions and I was clear - I was actually given a clean bill of health which was the reason I went -

Would I do it again ? - mmmm Yes I would about every 3 years or so.

Labour Pains....

2007-07-05T13:53:00.000-07:00

Have to mention this, for about the last 3 weeks now I have helping a buddy (Terry Towelling and Trevor the rockstar) rebuild a house as a labourer, I have not done this type of work for about 17 years, but I'm pretty fit and so I thought I'll be ok....

Leave it out ... this work is a killer, I have been working in an office for about 5 years at least and still do as my other job, but this labouring is killing me, god its making me fit but struth as I approaching 40 things arent the same ya know, the body has the will but well heh simply not the interest !! ha ha.

The first day (I remember it well) there I was all macho and ready for it, bring it on lads this will be a breeze Ihought COME ON!! - they made me rip all the carpets up from the ground floor and the rails of spikes that hold the carpet in place..this entailed constantly bending down at awkward angles and after about 2 hours I was in F**king Traction let me tell ya...it was agony....ha ha...of course I kept stum....being a bloke an all that....mmmph (big mistake)

...Keeping a brave face and getting on with it I made it through the day and ventured home thinking of what I do with my free evening, I sat down for about 5 mins and zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...woke up at 4am on the living room sofa - still in Traction...

Ha Ha the upside is it makes you fit and me old muscles are coming back look at that body ...

This work hurts let me assure you - hope the sexy Spanish Teacher next door has seen me....Ola Como esta?....heh heh..

The long Eaton 5 Mile Challenge...

2007-06-08T12:23:00.000-07:00

Hey Hey as part of my training for the Great northern Run 2007 I have stupidly entered into a 5 mile official race. It's on Sunday the 10th of June 2007 and starts at 10am. Now im not a morning runner (Come to think of it i'm not a competitive runner at all) but best get used to it as most races start early, I am dearly hoping to beat 40 minutes and as a heavy set 38 year old that would be good. But im not getting my hopes up, my main concern is that I will not end up at the back ..... God I would hate that - how embarrising....

Anyway look at me go....ha ha anyway will post time after race....come on 40 minutes....

OK I have acheived the unexpected, I was concerned about coming last but my dear friends I came in the top third of the competitors on the day 135th out of 370 to be exact !! I had to push myself though and it was not easy, but I even managed to squeeze a Seb Coe sprint at the end to overtake a club runner heh heh.

To be honest I went off too fast and got two miles in under 14 minutes scary for me, I then knew that I would be paying for that fast start indulgence later on and I did, I was in the norm form ya know grunting and talking to me self and swearing as I struggled round and through the pack but came into the last straight and looked up the glorious digital clock telling me I had achieved the impossible - a time of -

I then preceded to have a coupe of beers down by the river....bring on the next race....

happy Days.

The Goat gets new wheels...

2007-05-14T13:18:00.000-07:00

Hey hey, I have been a fan of old motors for years due to the fact that I have never been able to afford a new one....heh

Anyway as I hike around I need wheels as well as me hoofs and would die a death if I didnt have them, so the Ford escort that has taken me to John O'groats and back twice, to the lakes loads all over Wales and up and through all of the UK's highest mountain passes including Applecross in Torridon Scotland and Rhinos Pass...yeh that was a pant shifter for sure....and remember it is a 16 year old boy with 129,000 miles on the clock, but the MOT of 2007 has stopped it in it's rusty tracks so I have had to say a tearful farewell to it....but it was a bag of sh*t so I dont feel that bad about it....bring on the new posh banger !!!

Here it is though being loaded up on to the death truck.....2 hours left before crusher time baby...

Bye Bye....old freind it was good eh......

But now I can look forward to trashing my new (Posh banger) in the form of a 1998 1.6 Fiat Brava with only 61,000 on the clock and with a full MOT Thats a first for a start...at a snip at £500 notes none to shabby i'd say....

Take a look at those feminine lines and the growling undertone.....oh bolllocks to all that at least it has brakes the Escort didnt......

£500 notes no more....awesome...

Anyway after driving this gliding sensual beast of a car for about a fortnight I am truly convinced I have got myself a bargain and so have invested in it.

I have had the Cambelt and tensioners done on the car to hopefully secure me another safe 50,000 miles of driving, at a cost of £200 notes mind you - shocking these mechanics eh....

Whats that noise.....ka clunk ka clunk........shit !!!!

Trip To Tenerife - April 2007

2007-05-03T11:59:00.000-07:00

Hi all I have decided to join this crazy world due to the having to many pictures and videos to send via e mail.

Anyway I will keep it short - I went to Tenerife to see my brother and his family who live in a rural spanish village called Chio, and as I like hiking I decided to get a car and head out of the resorts only to find that this Island is more magical than I had ever imagined, always worth getting off your arse and making the effort I say.

From the world class ravene of La Masca to the heights of Mnt Teide and the surf breaks at Medano this Island has it all - but only if you have a car !!!

Take a look

Mt Teidi - Yes you can get the cable car, if you want to join the twats, but if you like hiking the way to do it is to walk up, I did and will be joining the twats on the chair lift next time as it nearly killed me - But what views.

Here is a video which shows some of the 200 pictures taken, it is mostly of the trek up Teide which I have to say was so difficult, altitude sickness or effects can kick in about 3000M and it did with me, my heart was pumping so hard as it struggled to supply my wobbly legs. I felt punch drunk and was a tad emotional on the top as it was the hardest challenge I had ever taken on, and of course I had done it alone and so had no-one to spur me on when the going got tough. I did at one point nearly turn back. I was the first on the route and did not see anyone behind me until I was 2 hours in or up. I started in the dark carrying 3 litres of water and supplies, the refuge Altavista was not open due to construction work, I did have a permit for the summit but only just made the alotted time by 5 mins!!!! The route up had taken me 4 Hours 40 Mins.

Mt Teide Ascent Video Record...

The most upsetting thing is when you get to the cablecar your surrounded by twaty tourists who have no idea what you have just been through...dam tourists, anyway you then have to struggle up the last 300M to the summit to get your award - the views, and they were stunning.

Did I catch the cable car down? to dam right I was destroyed...ha ha..

Mnt Teide -
Mnt Teide Slideshow

Anyway hope the videos give you some insight as well as make you smile, but tenerife isnt just about the volcano as a driver I was in heaven when it came to some of the roads around the mountains, roads that have 40/50 switch backs, some inverted, alot of roads are thin even one lane especially on the way to La Masca - which is where I went next....if you have not done the Masca Gorge you have missed an awesome sight. .....

The La Masca Video with Led Zeppelin....

Look at those roads, the terrain was awesome and a switchback heaven.....sweet

La Masca-
La Masca Slideshow

I made me brother Gordon an exceptional chain smoker (World Class) .... climb a peak called Roque De Conde at a height of 1001M it over looks Playa De la Americas and if you are in resort and look inland it's the famous flat topped peak that stands out a mile.....bless him he made in good time and i think enjoyed the experience....here he is (half dead), his girls Alexandra and Elena should be proud of daddy.

Wont be doing that again in a rush will ya Don Don.....mmmph.....

And heres the Goat.....

The most beautiful area of Tenerife though is not the coastline or the peak of the Volcano but in between as the contrasting greenery and the harsh rock ironically go so well together and converge....and with the Inversion playing wonders 300 meters below you, you are in a truly magical place for sure - if you make the effort that is. There are so many marked trails and BBQ spots and the Mountain biking is awesome, you can if you so wish loose yourself here......

The contrasting colours.....love it.....