....but that is exactly what the Echo arena tried to do this weekend, when they decided to pull the plug on their scheduled pantomime, Sleeping Beauty.
The Friday performance was billed as a preview, so while the cancellation of that performance was bad, there is always a risk that there could be teething problems. To cancel the Saturday matinee with 40 minutes notice was, however, scandalous. It was our grand daughter, Ava's, first ever panto and she was inconsolable as was her mother. Ava had on her Princess Aurora dress and tiara and had really been looking forward to going. We were just one of hundreds of families who were in the same boat. Just what do you tell the little ones.
The panto had been rocked earlier in its build up, by the news that its star Andrew Lancel had been arrested for alleged child sex abuse claims. He stepped down to be replaced by Charlotte Milchard.
One line of reasoning for the cancellations was that she had not got up to speed with the part.
The setting for the performances is the riverside big top, and the technical difficulties for which the cancellation was blamed relate to the Christmas market and festival component of the tented village. It may be, of course, that they just hadn't sold enough tickets!!
So, off to the box office to get a refund, and I knew as I approached the window that it was not going to go well. Sure enough, as my name was not on the bottom of the tickets, I could not have a refund, 'they may have been stolen sir'. Liverpool really does let itself down sometimes, and it tries so hard to cast of the chains of its past.
The tickets are now in the post with a serious letter of complaint and claims for the £15 of parking charges which my party paid expecting to stay for 3 hours, not 30 minutes.
Santa was able to work his magic, however, and we managed to pick up tickets for the evening performance of Cinderella, at the Liverpool Empire. Ava changed into her Cinderella ball gown, the production was spectacular and at the end of the day we all lived happily ever after. Ho ho ho!
Monday 17 December 2012
Tuesday 11 December 2012
Hoo wants a Hooch
Its strange when a bit of your past comes back to haunt you, but that's what happened on Sunday.
I had had a very productive morning at the golf club. My partner, Frank, and I had come second in the annual turkey trot which meant the Christmas dinner was taken care of. As the name implies, the prizes were turkeys, so just the beef and ham to worry about now, which is useful.
I then decided I would join number 2 son in the local pub, and that's where I had deja vu all over again. The bar staff were all wearing t-shirts to promote the relaunch of the alcho pop 'Hooch'. Now when I was in the last years of my rugby career the older members of the team would assemble on a Sunday in The Prince Blucher on Twickenham Green, and play spoof in Holty corner.
For those not familiar with spoof there is a wikipedia explanation which summarises it better than I could here. In essence, the first person to successfully leave the game goes to the bar and orders the drinks, the last person remaining then has to pay for them!! In every case our nominated drink was a bottle of orange Hooch with a shot of vodka poured into it. We may well have had five or six rounds of spoof on a particularly well attended Sunday session, which meant the first part of Monday morning could be particularly fuzzy.
I wonder if it will make a comeback?
I had had a very productive morning at the golf club. My partner, Frank, and I had come second in the annual turkey trot which meant the Christmas dinner was taken care of. As the name implies, the prizes were turkeys, so just the beef and ham to worry about now, which is useful.
I then decided I would join number 2 son in the local pub, and that's where I had deja vu all over again. The bar staff were all wearing t-shirts to promote the relaunch of the alcho pop 'Hooch'. Now when I was in the last years of my rugby career the older members of the team would assemble on a Sunday in The Prince Blucher on Twickenham Green, and play spoof in Holty corner.
For those not familiar with spoof there is a wikipedia explanation which summarises it better than I could here. In essence, the first person to successfully leave the game goes to the bar and orders the drinks, the last person remaining then has to pay for them!! In every case our nominated drink was a bottle of orange Hooch with a shot of vodka poured into it. We may well have had five or six rounds of spoof on a particularly well attended Sunday session, which meant the first part of Monday morning could be particularly fuzzy.
I wonder if it will make a comeback?
Tuesday 4 December 2012
My day in Court
I have already alluded to my dislike of speed camera's. I see them as a money making vehicle much more than an accident prevention measure. I am also proud of my clean driving license.
So imagine my frustration when a fixed penalty notice came through my letter box indicating i had been caught speeding on the M62 motorway. Now the speed I was doing ironically was 62mph in a designated 50mph area designed to encourage cars to slow down as they approach the Rocket intersection at the end of the motorway. Clearly I was decelerating, but not fast enough for Councillor Merseyside and his chums!
My period of grumpiness did not, however, cloud my thought process, and on further investigation of the summons, I noticed the time was inconsistent with the actual time I had been driving on the M62. As things would have it I had been travelling from London via the M6 toll road and had a toll booth receipt timed for exactly the same time as the alleged speeding offence. It was impossible for me to be in two places at once.
Further research confirmed what I had suspected. That morning the clocks had gone back an hour, and while the toll booth technology had coped, the speed camera had not. My initial representations to the Merseyside speed enforcement team met with a party line response. Apparently there is case law to allow the operatives to adjust the speed camera when next the film is changed. I was in impish mood however and indicated to them that it should be tested again in court as the fact the clock was incorrect could sow seeds of doubt that the speed gun calibration was also inaccurate. Time to mobilise my in-house legal team.
The case was initially adjourned to allow the CPS to assess whether they wished to progress it. At the next hearing they indicated they did, but would apply to re-issue the summons with the correct time on it. Come the third hearing my solicitor argued that they were out of time to do such a thing. They have six months from date of offence apparently. The prosecutor offered no counter argument so reluctantly the magistrate presiding had to throw the case out. As a bit of a bonus, he awarded us costs.
What goes round comes round, however, and I have just got another notification of prosecution, this time 37mph in a 30mph zone. Might not be able to wriggle out of this one.
So imagine my frustration when a fixed penalty notice came through my letter box indicating i had been caught speeding on the M62 motorway. Now the speed I was doing ironically was 62mph in a designated 50mph area designed to encourage cars to slow down as they approach the Rocket intersection at the end of the motorway. Clearly I was decelerating, but not fast enough for Councillor Merseyside and his chums!
My period of grumpiness did not, however, cloud my thought process, and on further investigation of the summons, I noticed the time was inconsistent with the actual time I had been driving on the M62. As things would have it I had been travelling from London via the M6 toll road and had a toll booth receipt timed for exactly the same time as the alleged speeding offence. It was impossible for me to be in two places at once.
Further research confirmed what I had suspected. That morning the clocks had gone back an hour, and while the toll booth technology had coped, the speed camera had not. My initial representations to the Merseyside speed enforcement team met with a party line response. Apparently there is case law to allow the operatives to adjust the speed camera when next the film is changed. I was in impish mood however and indicated to them that it should be tested again in court as the fact the clock was incorrect could sow seeds of doubt that the speed gun calibration was also inaccurate. Time to mobilise my in-house legal team.
The case was initially adjourned to allow the CPS to assess whether they wished to progress it. At the next hearing they indicated they did, but would apply to re-issue the summons with the correct time on it. Come the third hearing my solicitor argued that they were out of time to do such a thing. They have six months from date of offence apparently. The prosecutor offered no counter argument so reluctantly the magistrate presiding had to throw the case out. As a bit of a bonus, he awarded us costs.
What goes round comes round, however, and I have just got another notification of prosecution, this time 37mph in a 30mph zone. Might not be able to wriggle out of this one.
Monday 3 December 2012
We were there
The S Club 5, namely me, Stu, Seamus, Stanley and Scoop, have a brick at Twickenham on the path of legends....it says quite simply, we were there. Never has it been more poignant than on Saturday when England crushed the All Black it what many regard as the greatest game played at Twickenham.
The national press has handed out all the plaudits to the players, coaches and supporters, and already set the expectation that this England side can now build on this result and go places. I won't add to them here, but will explore the greatest game argument.
The S Club and friends have been going to rugby internationals in part or as a whole since 1972. We have seen many memorable games standing on the old South terrace or sitting in the rickety stands of the original stadium, but as the stadium got redeveloped, and the game turned professional, the glory days at Twickenham have become fewer and fewer. Indeed we have regularly highlighted the fact that the game had become the low point of the weekend. Saturday's game most certainly was not, and I would suggest it is the greatest game played at Twickenham in the modern era.
As we are now in our 40th season as supporters it is interesting to imagine which other games we would class as memorable, if not great. Certainly the first ever game in 1972 which was against Wales has to be up there. It was the mighty John Dawes side which had populated the 1971 British Lions which ironically won the series in New Zealand the previous Summer.
Beating Wales is always sweet, and none more so than the Bill Beaumont grand slam year when Paul Ringer was sent off and Dusty Hare kicked a last minute penalty to keep the slam dream alive. Ireland have lit up Twickenham on several occasion's with Mike Gibson and Fergus Slattery providing memorable moments, and Serge Blanco used to deliver with his French side on a regular basis.
I have seen England beat New Zealand three times now, and draw with them 26-26 at Twickenham and they are all up there with the game on Saturday, and the Ella brothers Australia side which did the grand slam on tour provided another highlight. I had already seen them play for Australia schools a few years earlier. As the memory fades, and the record books are referred to more and more my most memorable game at Twickenham will remain that first one. The irony of that is tied into the fact that we watched the first half of the England v New Zealand ladies game after the main event, and they played rugby which was refreshingly open and hugely entertaining, reminding me very much of the seventies and eighties, when there was room on a rugby field to be creative and expressive. In those days route one was a rarely used tactic, indeed, Manu Tuilagi could be the new Charles Kent!!
The national press has handed out all the plaudits to the players, coaches and supporters, and already set the expectation that this England side can now build on this result and go places. I won't add to them here, but will explore the greatest game argument.
The S Club and friends have been going to rugby internationals in part or as a whole since 1972. We have seen many memorable games standing on the old South terrace or sitting in the rickety stands of the original stadium, but as the stadium got redeveloped, and the game turned professional, the glory days at Twickenham have become fewer and fewer. Indeed we have regularly highlighted the fact that the game had become the low point of the weekend. Saturday's game most certainly was not, and I would suggest it is the greatest game played at Twickenham in the modern era.
As we are now in our 40th season as supporters it is interesting to imagine which other games we would class as memorable, if not great. Certainly the first ever game in 1972 which was against Wales has to be up there. It was the mighty John Dawes side which had populated the 1971 British Lions which ironically won the series in New Zealand the previous Summer.
Beating Wales is always sweet, and none more so than the Bill Beaumont grand slam year when Paul Ringer was sent off and Dusty Hare kicked a last minute penalty to keep the slam dream alive. Ireland have lit up Twickenham on several occasion's with Mike Gibson and Fergus Slattery providing memorable moments, and Serge Blanco used to deliver with his French side on a regular basis.
I have seen England beat New Zealand three times now, and draw with them 26-26 at Twickenham and they are all up there with the game on Saturday, and the Ella brothers Australia side which did the grand slam on tour provided another highlight. I had already seen them play for Australia schools a few years earlier. As the memory fades, and the record books are referred to more and more my most memorable game at Twickenham will remain that first one. The irony of that is tied into the fact that we watched the first half of the England v New Zealand ladies game after the main event, and they played rugby which was refreshingly open and hugely entertaining, reminding me very much of the seventies and eighties, when there was room on a rugby field to be creative and expressive. In those days route one was a rarely used tactic, indeed, Manu Tuilagi could be the new Charles Kent!!
Wednesday 28 November 2012
Time flies when you're having fun
The first few weeks of retirement have been strange. I really have not had any time to do anything as random people make requests on me to do things for them, thinking that I must have time to fill.
How wrong would they be. The first activity was to try to get insurance for the car. This is not as straight forward as I would have expected due to the fact that I had been driving a Company car for over twelve years and the no claims position was, therefore, somewhat vague. Add to that that the policy was third party and I would have expected a full discount. No, its not as easy as that, they considered all the cosmetic repairs I got done before buying as an 'incident' for goodness sake.
Then there is the 'convictions'. For goodness sake, they are minor traffic offences captured by speed camera's and which make the council a fortune. They don't make somebody a high risk driver just because they have 3 points on their license, and why should insurers count them for five years, when they stay on the license for only three. Somebody is having a giraffe!
I have also read somewhere that they are now going to use the defensive driving course against you in future insurance renewals despite the fact that the police indicate they will not affect your car insurance, when offering them as an option!
Next thing is to sort out new bank accounts and other financial requirements. I did like the look of the Santander 123 account so we have started the ball rolling there. That was complicated by the Council renaming our house from 19 to 21. Proving they are the same property has stretched us too.
Investment rates are also a bit pants, with rates around 3% rapidly being withdrawn. One from Intelligent Finance which is 2.47% came with a note saying it was going down to 1.8% in February. Really not worth the trouble.
I am still working on the Job Seekers allowance but not holding out too much hope, and may have to wedge up with Zopa to get any sort of investment return In the foreseeable future.
Then there is always the ironing, cooking and cleaning to fill in the spare time!!
How wrong would they be. The first activity was to try to get insurance for the car. This is not as straight forward as I would have expected due to the fact that I had been driving a Company car for over twelve years and the no claims position was, therefore, somewhat vague. Add to that that the policy was third party and I would have expected a full discount. No, its not as easy as that, they considered all the cosmetic repairs I got done before buying as an 'incident' for goodness sake.
Then there is the 'convictions'. For goodness sake, they are minor traffic offences captured by speed camera's and which make the council a fortune. They don't make somebody a high risk driver just because they have 3 points on their license, and why should insurers count them for five years, when they stay on the license for only three. Somebody is having a giraffe!
I have also read somewhere that they are now going to use the defensive driving course against you in future insurance renewals despite the fact that the police indicate they will not affect your car insurance, when offering them as an option!
Next thing is to sort out new bank accounts and other financial requirements. I did like the look of the Santander 123 account so we have started the ball rolling there. That was complicated by the Council renaming our house from 19 to 21. Proving they are the same property has stretched us too.
Investment rates are also a bit pants, with rates around 3% rapidly being withdrawn. One from Intelligent Finance which is 2.47% came with a note saying it was going down to 1.8% in February. Really not worth the trouble.
I am still working on the Job Seekers allowance but not holding out too much hope, and may have to wedge up with Zopa to get any sort of investment return In the foreseeable future.
Then there is always the ironing, cooking and cleaning to fill in the spare time!!
Friday 16 November 2012
On the dole
The things one gets to do as a result of being made redundant. Today I spent a few hours in the Birkenhead JobCentre+ offices trying to see what benefits I could get for providing the government of the day with national insurance contributions for the best part of 40 years.
The answer I got was that they don't know!
Initially I filled the online form relating to job seekers allowance in incorrectly, but only, they informed me, to the detriment of myself. That was very considerate of them, so I did not feel hugely frustrated to then fill out the equivalent hardcopy, or some of it.
I should have filled it in as a contribution based claim whereas I had filled it in as an income based claim. With SWMBO working, I was never going to pass that. The first six months contribution based benefits I was told are not means tested.
So the claim was assessed by my new mate Samantha who guided me through the process until she saw that I was already drawing a pension. This was the next problem they indicated I would face when the form went to head office ( well the DWP). They may deem my pension sufficient and consequently exclude me from contribution based job seekers allowance. So when they say it's not means tested, actually it is.
Next problem I faced was the fact that I was out of the Country next week on vacation. They can't pay job seekers allowance while I am not available for work, so, wait for it, the claim will need to be shut down on Sunday and I will have to reapply when I return to the UK, via a rapid reclaim process.
So, getting the allowance may or may not happen, and I should know by the end of the month. If it does, then the hoops I have to jump through are quite extensive. I have to visit the gov.uk website every day looking for opportunities, and write to at least one employer a week. I have to be willing to travel 90 minutes each way to work, and search commercial websites for at least 2 hours a day. Every two weeks I have to go back to the job centre to assess my progress, and sign on.
In one sense I hope they say I can't have it!!!
The answer I got was that they don't know!
Initially I filled the online form relating to job seekers allowance in incorrectly, but only, they informed me, to the detriment of myself. That was very considerate of them, so I did not feel hugely frustrated to then fill out the equivalent hardcopy, or some of it.
I should have filled it in as a contribution based claim whereas I had filled it in as an income based claim. With SWMBO working, I was never going to pass that. The first six months contribution based benefits I was told are not means tested.
So the claim was assessed by my new mate Samantha who guided me through the process until she saw that I was already drawing a pension. This was the next problem they indicated I would face when the form went to head office ( well the DWP). They may deem my pension sufficient and consequently exclude me from contribution based job seekers allowance. So when they say it's not means tested, actually it is.
Next problem I faced was the fact that I was out of the Country next week on vacation. They can't pay job seekers allowance while I am not available for work, so, wait for it, the claim will need to be shut down on Sunday and I will have to reapply when I return to the UK, via a rapid reclaim process.
So, getting the allowance may or may not happen, and I should know by the end of the month. If it does, then the hoops I have to jump through are quite extensive. I have to visit the gov.uk website every day looking for opportunities, and write to at least one employer a week. I have to be willing to travel 90 minutes each way to work, and search commercial websites for at least 2 hours a day. Every two weeks I have to go back to the job centre to assess my progress, and sign on.
In one sense I hope they say I can't have it!!!
Wednesday 14 November 2012
Mud hut medicine
SWMBO has the sound of Swahili about it don't you think?
You may be wondering that is a strange phase with which to open a blog post, however, when you appreciate that SWMBO has just returned from two weeks in Tanzania working for the relief organisation, Bridge2Aid, you will begin to see the relevance.
Twenty two dentists and support staff left London on a torturous journey to Mwanza via Dar Es Salaam. There they stayed in a very pleasant hotel on the banks of Lake Victoria, much like the contestants do before entering the campsite on I'm a Celebrity. The next morning it was off in a truck for three hours to Gita which was to be their home for the next ten days.
Each morning they would get bused to their place of work, and there supervise the extraction of teeth from Tanzanian residents, be they business people, Masi tribesmen or villagers, some of whom had travelled on foot, over 100 kilometres to see the white doctor.
Poverty was endemic, and with Tanzania being one of the poorest African nations, the chances of regular dental treatment rest with the Bridge2 Aid teams providing not only a service, but on the job training for the nationals. Over 800 people were treated while the team was there, all under local anesthetic, on a dining room chair in a mud hut. Some dedication.
The hotel ran out of toilet paper, the power failed regularly and the water supply was intermittent, but the job got done and the volunteers were able to face the return trip, via Kilimanjaro in good spirits knowing that treacle toffee was back on the menu in Tanzania.
You may be wondering that is a strange phase with which to open a blog post, however, when you appreciate that SWMBO has just returned from two weeks in Tanzania working for the relief organisation, Bridge2Aid, you will begin to see the relevance.
Twenty two dentists and support staff left London on a torturous journey to Mwanza via Dar Es Salaam. There they stayed in a very pleasant hotel on the banks of Lake Victoria, much like the contestants do before entering the campsite on I'm a Celebrity. The next morning it was off in a truck for three hours to Gita which was to be their home for the next ten days.
Each morning they would get bused to their place of work, and there supervise the extraction of teeth from Tanzanian residents, be they business people, Masi tribesmen or villagers, some of whom had travelled on foot, over 100 kilometres to see the white doctor.
Poverty was endemic, and with Tanzania being one of the poorest African nations, the chances of regular dental treatment rest with the Bridge2 Aid teams providing not only a service, but on the job training for the nationals. Over 800 people were treated while the team was there, all under local anesthetic, on a dining room chair in a mud hut. Some dedication.
The hotel ran out of toilet paper, the power failed regularly and the water supply was intermittent, but the job got done and the volunteers were able to face the return trip, via Kilimanjaro in good spirits knowing that treacle toffee was back on the menu in Tanzania.
Tuesday 6 November 2012
IBM....eh
I started this blog a few years ago to track my house selling process, and my move up to Scouserland. Today the blog takes on a whole new life, as indeed do I.
Tuesday 6th November is the first day of my non-working life as I formally retire from full time employment. My pension cheque landed in my bank account, I have bought a car and booked a holiday. What more else is there to do?
Well, I think I should document the past 40 years (almost) that I have been working for IBM in the UK.
I got kicked out of college in March 1973. It was one of those Polytechnic places which the labour government were quick to change into new age universities. Ted Heath was Prime Minister, and the World Trade Centre in New York was officially opened. Watergate spelt the end of President Nixon in the USA. After hunting around for a while, I was offered a job with IBM and started on 23rd March. the next day Pink Floyd released Dark Side of the Moon. I was hoping to stay with IBM until 24th March 2013 to get my 40 years in, but unfortunately they had other plans so here I am in leisure land.
So what did I do, and where? I started in the Croydon location as a computer operator, a job I would not get today unless I had 11 A* at GCSE, 4 A's or better at A level, and a 2.1 degree in anything other than Information Technology!! So for me with my 6 'O' levels and two grade E A levels it was a case of right place right time. Indeed had I graduated in 1975 it is likely I would have struggled to get a job in the computer industry, and with Maggie Thatcher becoming Prime Minister the whole environment was about to be a whole lot tougher. A fellow operator, referred to only as 'Figs' to protect his identity, is still a regular drinking mate as is his wife Marian who was also a Croydonian.
Anyway, I pushed on through the ranks as an operator and with another great friend of mine, Mike McBride, we became the pioneers of problem and change management systems and subsequently were at the forefront of service management and ITIL evolution, something which today is a seriously recognised IT qualification.
I then moved to Sudbury Towers to become a lecturer in service management operations and disaster recovery planning, and still have my PA Joyce as a chum to this day. I remember going to her 21st birthday party in The Rising Sun, and she and I went to Hyde Park the night before Charles and Di got married, for the free pop concert.
I then moved to the City of London and Basinghall Street where I was a systems engineering specialist, wow! I transferred with the job when it moved to the spanking new South Bank building next to the Festival Hall in 1985.
It was soon after that that I had the type of move everybody can only dream of. I moved into the Chiswick office, right across the road from where I lived. Oh, the joy of running home to get the washing in when it started to rain!!
When Chiswick closed the staff were moved to Bedfont Lakes, another new location. Michael Heseltine opened it 1995. I remember being there the evening they filmed a scene from Tomorrow Never Dies. I, however went on to manage a group of UNIX nutters in Welwyn Garden City for a number of years, a job I was offered on the beach in Lisbon. If we had only had the vision, E-Bay, Lastminute and Expedia could have all been ours. Trouble was they were so focused on being techie's, growing their beards and comparing sandals, that the opportunity was lost. They were good times in Welwyn, and I must have done something right as one day I was summons to Bedfont.
That summons resulted in a chance to manage the systems management consulting group, a group which included some of the sharpest minds in the Country, and who almost without fail, enjoyed a drink. They have elevated themselves to the high points of the Company, and many remain in regular contact. Our Manchester Christmas party is still one of the highlights of the year.
At the beginning of the 2000's IBM started to rationalise its real estate portfolio, and diminish the community spirit office work generated. I was luck enough, however, to be posted to Knutsford near Manchester, now as a project manager, for a three year project which maintained that community spirit for a bit longer, and also qualified me for the Global Golden Circle award in 2001, an award which took me and SWMBO to Bali for a few days on the Company. That was a real experience.
That project followed on from a stint working for Logica on IBM's behalf and saw me work on-site at GCHQ for 18 months. Other projects took me to Saudi, Turkey and Brazil during a time when it was becoming evident that IBM and I had run our course. That feeling was cemented when a project in Scotland , involving travel to Chicago, went a bit pear shaped and saw me relieved of duties earlier than planned.
I did manage to find a role in the business recovery division at Samspon House, back on South Bank, which got me to where I am today, the irony being that the business director was one of the team I recruited all those years ago in Bedfont Lakes. He did me a good deal and allowed for an honourable exit. After nearly 40 years one would hope for nothing less, but times change and some of my colleagues have not been treated with the dignity they deserved, when they were shown the door.
Undoubtedly the first ten years were the best, parties, after shift booze-up's, 5am tee off times on the golf course after night shift, page 3 girl's and the Youngs 135 Club. The next twenty years can tell a few stories too. Family dinners were riotous, the Christmas dinners were legendary and the work was pretty good too. As for the last ten years, well best forgotten really, after Bali it all went down hill. Remote working, travel restrictions, expense clampdowns and the pension debacle have all lead to the Company being absorbed into the pack. When I first joined it was the leader, and by some way.
Tuesday 6th November is the first day of my non-working life as I formally retire from full time employment. My pension cheque landed in my bank account, I have bought a car and booked a holiday. What more else is there to do?
Well, I think I should document the past 40 years (almost) that I have been working for IBM in the UK.
I got kicked out of college in March 1973. It was one of those Polytechnic places which the labour government were quick to change into new age universities. Ted Heath was Prime Minister, and the World Trade Centre in New York was officially opened. Watergate spelt the end of President Nixon in the USA. After hunting around for a while, I was offered a job with IBM and started on 23rd March. the next day Pink Floyd released Dark Side of the Moon. I was hoping to stay with IBM until 24th March 2013 to get my 40 years in, but unfortunately they had other plans so here I am in leisure land.
So what did I do, and where? I started in the Croydon location as a computer operator, a job I would not get today unless I had 11 A* at GCSE, 4 A's or better at A level, and a 2.1 degree in anything other than Information Technology!! So for me with my 6 'O' levels and two grade E A levels it was a case of right place right time. Indeed had I graduated in 1975 it is likely I would have struggled to get a job in the computer industry, and with Maggie Thatcher becoming Prime Minister the whole environment was about to be a whole lot tougher. A fellow operator, referred to only as 'Figs' to protect his identity, is still a regular drinking mate as is his wife Marian who was also a Croydonian.
Anyway, I pushed on through the ranks as an operator and with another great friend of mine, Mike McBride, we became the pioneers of problem and change management systems and subsequently were at the forefront of service management and ITIL evolution, something which today is a seriously recognised IT qualification.
I then moved to Sudbury Towers to become a lecturer in service management operations and disaster recovery planning, and still have my PA Joyce as a chum to this day. I remember going to her 21st birthday party in The Rising Sun, and she and I went to Hyde Park the night before Charles and Di got married, for the free pop concert.
I then moved to the City of London and Basinghall Street where I was a systems engineering specialist, wow! I transferred with the job when it moved to the spanking new South Bank building next to the Festival Hall in 1985.
It was soon after that that I had the type of move everybody can only dream of. I moved into the Chiswick office, right across the road from where I lived. Oh, the joy of running home to get the washing in when it started to rain!!
When Chiswick closed the staff were moved to Bedfont Lakes, another new location. Michael Heseltine opened it 1995. I remember being there the evening they filmed a scene from Tomorrow Never Dies. I, however went on to manage a group of UNIX nutters in Welwyn Garden City for a number of years, a job I was offered on the beach in Lisbon. If we had only had the vision, E-Bay, Lastminute and Expedia could have all been ours. Trouble was they were so focused on being techie's, growing their beards and comparing sandals, that the opportunity was lost. They were good times in Welwyn, and I must have done something right as one day I was summons to Bedfont.
That summons resulted in a chance to manage the systems management consulting group, a group which included some of the sharpest minds in the Country, and who almost without fail, enjoyed a drink. They have elevated themselves to the high points of the Company, and many remain in regular contact. Our Manchester Christmas party is still one of the highlights of the year.
At the beginning of the 2000's IBM started to rationalise its real estate portfolio, and diminish the community spirit office work generated. I was luck enough, however, to be posted to Knutsford near Manchester, now as a project manager, for a three year project which maintained that community spirit for a bit longer, and also qualified me for the Global Golden Circle award in 2001, an award which took me and SWMBO to Bali for a few days on the Company. That was a real experience.
That project followed on from a stint working for Logica on IBM's behalf and saw me work on-site at GCHQ for 18 months. Other projects took me to Saudi, Turkey and Brazil during a time when it was becoming evident that IBM and I had run our course. That feeling was cemented when a project in Scotland , involving travel to Chicago, went a bit pear shaped and saw me relieved of duties earlier than planned.
I did manage to find a role in the business recovery division at Samspon House, back on South Bank, which got me to where I am today, the irony being that the business director was one of the team I recruited all those years ago in Bedfont Lakes. He did me a good deal and allowed for an honourable exit. After nearly 40 years one would hope for nothing less, but times change and some of my colleagues have not been treated with the dignity they deserved, when they were shown the door.
Undoubtedly the first ten years were the best, parties, after shift booze-up's, 5am tee off times on the golf course after night shift, page 3 girl's and the Youngs 135 Club. The next twenty years can tell a few stories too. Family dinners were riotous, the Christmas dinners were legendary and the work was pretty good too. As for the last ten years, well best forgotten really, after Bali it all went down hill. Remote working, travel restrictions, expense clampdowns and the pension debacle have all lead to the Company being absorbed into the pack. When I first joined it was the leader, and by some way.
Tuesday 23 October 2012
Welsh rarebit
I am not sure what overcame me last weekend, but on Thursday evening I found myself in Newport, Gwent, as part of a golf party. I guess the need for a few rounds overcame the lifelong aversion to Wales and all things Welsh, family members and long term friends excluded.
So there we were, twelve of us, staying at the Celtic Manor resort, preparing to contest the Dai Pedro golf championship on the greens of the Montgomerie and Roman Road courses, before sliding back into England to finish the contest at the Players Club near Bristol.
Things started off fairly sensibly the first evening, with a few gallons of Brains SA and a nosh in a Beefeater restaurant, followed by a trip into the centre of Newport to visit a Lloyds Bar. This one used to be the Queens Hotel and was probably a magnificent place in its day. On a Thursday night in Newport, it was virtually empty , and a fairly soulless place. Still there was golf in the morning so the hangover damage was limited.
Friday dawned bright and clear so we wandered onto the first tee wanting to see just what the courses had to offer. It soon became apparent that the drainage systems were just not up to the job of clearing the amount of water which had fallen recently, and that was strange, as Celtic Manor commands a position high on the hills overlooking the town. Sadly that had an effect on the day, and the scoring was high as a result. Still there was always the night in Cardiff to look forward to!!!
Cardiff has re-invented itself recently with pedestrian areas, restaurants and new plush bars, and this did seem to attract a fine selection of ladies out onto the street. There were very few fights, with limited ,but spectacular, examples of projectile vomiting remain the stand out memories, it put the Welsh lads to shame.
After more golf on Saturday, we donned our fancy dress attire to hit the town in. This year it was Pub Signs' and followed on from our previous attempts at famous Englishmen, and countries of the World. My effort as The Kings Arms was not very well received so I was forced to be a duplicate of the Blue Blazer, a famous drinking establishment in Edinburgh. Given Newport is the most common place name in the British Isles, I was disappointed nobody went as the Red lion, the most popular pub name.
The evening was highlighted by the twelve of us taking over a gourmet curry house and turning it into a typical Saturday night East End tandoori. The clientele and owners all took it in good spirits and a boozy time was had by all.
Now back to Celtic Manor. It was the venue of the 2010 Ryder Cup, which people may remember ran over into the Monday due to the terrible weather on Sunday. UK and Ireland triumphed there as they did recently at Medina in Illinois. It was played on the 2010 course which we did not play this year as it was considerably more expensive and lay at the bottom of the valley.
Celtic Manor has aspirations to be the Turnberry of Wales but from our experience, it has little hope of being able to emulate that venue. The courses are well laid out although very similar to those found in Portugal and Spain. The weather is a major inhibitor and the surrounding area does not offer too much of a distraction. Still, you need to try these places to find out whether they are worth a repeat visit. It is really a glorified municipal pay and play, so I won't be putting this one on my returns list.
Oh, yes, I came third and The Count and I won the pairs competition, the third year running he has won, each time with a different partner, and it went down to the last putt on the last green on the last day.
So there we were, twelve of us, staying at the Celtic Manor resort, preparing to contest the Dai Pedro golf championship on the greens of the Montgomerie and Roman Road courses, before sliding back into England to finish the contest at the Players Club near Bristol.
Things started off fairly sensibly the first evening, with a few gallons of Brains SA and a nosh in a Beefeater restaurant, followed by a trip into the centre of Newport to visit a Lloyds Bar. This one used to be the Queens Hotel and was probably a magnificent place in its day. On a Thursday night in Newport, it was virtually empty , and a fairly soulless place. Still there was golf in the morning so the hangover damage was limited.
Friday dawned bright and clear so we wandered onto the first tee wanting to see just what the courses had to offer. It soon became apparent that the drainage systems were just not up to the job of clearing the amount of water which had fallen recently, and that was strange, as Celtic Manor commands a position high on the hills overlooking the town. Sadly that had an effect on the day, and the scoring was high as a result. Still there was always the night in Cardiff to look forward to!!!
Cardiff has re-invented itself recently with pedestrian areas, restaurants and new plush bars, and this did seem to attract a fine selection of ladies out onto the street. There were very few fights, with limited ,but spectacular, examples of projectile vomiting remain the stand out memories, it put the Welsh lads to shame.
After more golf on Saturday, we donned our fancy dress attire to hit the town in. This year it was Pub Signs' and followed on from our previous attempts at famous Englishmen, and countries of the World. My effort as The Kings Arms was not very well received so I was forced to be a duplicate of the Blue Blazer, a famous drinking establishment in Edinburgh. Given Newport is the most common place name in the British Isles, I was disappointed nobody went as the Red lion, the most popular pub name.
The evening was highlighted by the twelve of us taking over a gourmet curry house and turning it into a typical Saturday night East End tandoori. The clientele and owners all took it in good spirits and a boozy time was had by all.
Now back to Celtic Manor. It was the venue of the 2010 Ryder Cup, which people may remember ran over into the Monday due to the terrible weather on Sunday. UK and Ireland triumphed there as they did recently at Medina in Illinois. It was played on the 2010 course which we did not play this year as it was considerably more expensive and lay at the bottom of the valley.
Celtic Manor has aspirations to be the Turnberry of Wales but from our experience, it has little hope of being able to emulate that venue. The courses are well laid out although very similar to those found in Portugal and Spain. The weather is a major inhibitor and the surrounding area does not offer too much of a distraction. Still, you need to try these places to find out whether they are worth a repeat visit. It is really a glorified municipal pay and play, so I won't be putting this one on my returns list.
Oh, yes, I came third and The Count and I won the pairs competition, the third year running he has won, each time with a different partner, and it went down to the last putt on the last green on the last day.
Tuesday 16 October 2012
Windjammer Landing
I was reminded that today is the 25th anniversary of the 1987 hurricane that hit South East England during that particular evening.
I lived in Chiswick in West London at the time, and was fortunate enough to work in the office over the road. I was often to be seen rushing over the road at the slightest hint of rain, to get my washing in from the line. I was also fortunate enough to go home for lunch when the fancy took me and on some occasions I would be accompanied. Those were the days.
On the night of the hurricane, I have no recollection of the famous weather forecast presented by Michael Fish when he assured everybody there would only be strong winds and it would be nothing to worry about. I sleep through most things, although I do recall waking in the night to the rattle of the window in the bedroom.
For some reason I was sleeping in the spare room that night. Now whether that was because I was decorating I really cannot recall, but when the alarm went off, and the radio came on I do remember the radio announcer saying there was wide spread devastation over South East England. I got washed and dressed and then looked out of the window to see somebody else's shed roof in the garden, and a couple of fences down further up the road, but it was not until i got outside that I saw there had, indeed, been some stormy weather.
One tree down the road was leaning against the front of a house, and there were branches and boughs strewn all over the place. Car bonnets had been caved in, and tiles lay all over the road. I was lucky to avoid any property damage and after a brief inspection I walked over the road to work.
This is where the fun started. 'How did you get here?' asked the security guard. 'I don't know how I am going to get home , or when' he said, as it was apparent already that his relief was marooned at home.
Two or three other people who lived local made it in over the next hour or so, and we spent the rest of the day listening to tales of woe from people who had been badly affected or stranded away from home.
Two stories stick in my head. The first involved a work colleague who left addington near Croydon at 6am to drive to our office in Warwick. He drove around a fallen tree at the end of his road but thought nothing of it. He arrived in Warwick at 08:30 to be greeted by incredulity from his work colleagues that he had arrived there at all. He was totally unaware of what had happened. It took him nine hours to drive home that evening.
The second concerned the cross channel ferry chaos. A friend of mine was on a Calais to Dover ship which was diverted to Folkstone as they could not navigate the harbour entrance at Dover. They arrived outside Folkstone to see another ship already tied to the quay and unloading. There was a queue of ambulances waiting to ferry the injured to hospital as people were flying across the decks with the size of the swell, breaking limbs and knocking themselves out.
Eventually the ship finished unloading, and she was then cut from her moorings and allowed to drift away from the quay, that being the only way they could quickly free up the space for my friends ship to dock. Apparently they could not unload any cars from either ferry as they too had been tossed around in the hold, and blocked the exit ramps. Ouch!
It's a bit breezy here on the Wirral today, but nothing has compared since. 25 years eh!, a lot has happened in that time.
I lived in Chiswick in West London at the time, and was fortunate enough to work in the office over the road. I was often to be seen rushing over the road at the slightest hint of rain, to get my washing in from the line. I was also fortunate enough to go home for lunch when the fancy took me and on some occasions I would be accompanied. Those were the days.
On the night of the hurricane, I have no recollection of the famous weather forecast presented by Michael Fish when he assured everybody there would only be strong winds and it would be nothing to worry about. I sleep through most things, although I do recall waking in the night to the rattle of the window in the bedroom.
For some reason I was sleeping in the spare room that night. Now whether that was because I was decorating I really cannot recall, but when the alarm went off, and the radio came on I do remember the radio announcer saying there was wide spread devastation over South East England. I got washed and dressed and then looked out of the window to see somebody else's shed roof in the garden, and a couple of fences down further up the road, but it was not until i got outside that I saw there had, indeed, been some stormy weather.
One tree down the road was leaning against the front of a house, and there were branches and boughs strewn all over the place. Car bonnets had been caved in, and tiles lay all over the road. I was lucky to avoid any property damage and after a brief inspection I walked over the road to work.
This is where the fun started. 'How did you get here?' asked the security guard. 'I don't know how I am going to get home , or when' he said, as it was apparent already that his relief was marooned at home.
Two or three other people who lived local made it in over the next hour or so, and we spent the rest of the day listening to tales of woe from people who had been badly affected or stranded away from home.
Two stories stick in my head. The first involved a work colleague who left addington near Croydon at 6am to drive to our office in Warwick. He drove around a fallen tree at the end of his road but thought nothing of it. He arrived in Warwick at 08:30 to be greeted by incredulity from his work colleagues that he had arrived there at all. He was totally unaware of what had happened. It took him nine hours to drive home that evening.
The second concerned the cross channel ferry chaos. A friend of mine was on a Calais to Dover ship which was diverted to Folkstone as they could not navigate the harbour entrance at Dover. They arrived outside Folkstone to see another ship already tied to the quay and unloading. There was a queue of ambulances waiting to ferry the injured to hospital as people were flying across the decks with the size of the swell, breaking limbs and knocking themselves out.
Eventually the ship finished unloading, and she was then cut from her moorings and allowed to drift away from the quay, that being the only way they could quickly free up the space for my friends ship to dock. Apparently they could not unload any cars from either ferry as they too had been tossed around in the hold, and blocked the exit ramps. Ouch!
It's a bit breezy here on the Wirral today, but nothing has compared since. 25 years eh!, a lot has happened in that time.
Wednesday 19 September 2012
Dip stick
I had my mobile telephone stolen last night. It was taken from my jacket pocket as I took wine with a number of friends in a bar near Liverpool Street station in London. Liverpool Street is one of the four stations on the Monopoly board. On the bespoke board I have at home, the stations have been replaced by bars, so there is some sort of symmetry here.
My jacket was hanging over the back of my chair, and early in the evening I had used it to text one of my daughters. The perpetrator must have seen me place it back in my blazer pocket, and dipped me sometime later as he or she was leaving. The ease of the crime was increased by the fact that I was sitting on a bar stool type chair, which made the pocket more accessible without any need for an average height person to bend down.
It's only a phone, and I was not mugged for it, so its no big deal really. It's just the fag of having to recreate all the records and reload the apps and synchronise the diary entries that really bug me. It took me over an hour today just to go through the crime report and the insurance claim to allow another phone to be sent out to me. The joy of recreation starts on Friday, wish me luck
If I had been smarter at the time ( it was late and as already mentioned, alcohol was involved) I could have logged into my laptop and done a GPS search for the phone and tried to track it down. There is a facility on the Windows phone home page to do just that. It would have been a bit 'Jennings and Derbyshire'.
As it is, I am now phoneless and will face the four hour drive back to Scouse without the urge to phone anybody and tell them I am still on the M6......the car does have a link to the BMW control centre though, I could always ring them up for a chat I suppose!!!
My jacket was hanging over the back of my chair, and early in the evening I had used it to text one of my daughters. The perpetrator must have seen me place it back in my blazer pocket, and dipped me sometime later as he or she was leaving. The ease of the crime was increased by the fact that I was sitting on a bar stool type chair, which made the pocket more accessible without any need for an average height person to bend down.
It's only a phone, and I was not mugged for it, so its no big deal really. It's just the fag of having to recreate all the records and reload the apps and synchronise the diary entries that really bug me. It took me over an hour today just to go through the crime report and the insurance claim to allow another phone to be sent out to me. The joy of recreation starts on Friday, wish me luck
If I had been smarter at the time ( it was late and as already mentioned, alcohol was involved) I could have logged into my laptop and done a GPS search for the phone and tried to track it down. There is a facility on the Windows phone home page to do just that. It would have been a bit 'Jennings and Derbyshire'.
As it is, I am now phoneless and will face the four hour drive back to Scouse without the urge to phone anybody and tell them I am still on the M6......the car does have a link to the BMW control centre though, I could always ring them up for a chat I suppose!!!
Tuesday 11 September 2012
Cardinal sin
Strange things afoot at England Rugby 2015, as new Chairman, Andy Cosslett, dispenses with the services of Paul Vaughan, the CEO and my sometime golfing companion.
Andy considered that Paul had taken the organisation of the Rugby World Cup as far as he could, and wished to move the planning onto a different plain. With everything involving the organisation of the tournament, the venue selection process and schedule planning all on track, Paul may well feel a bit put out.
He is being replaced by Debbie Jevons, a key player in the London 2012 Olympics process and one of Seb Coe's inner sanctum. Andy's wish is for Debbie to create the sort of feel good factor which surrounded the Olympics, and transfer it to the Rugby World Cup.
I do wonder, though whether he has taken sufficient counsel on the whole matter. Andy's CV lists his previous roles with Cadbury Schweppes and InterContinental Hotels. This indicates a well honed background in leisure and retail, a background which Paul shared through his time with GrandMet and Whitbreads. Any previous exposure to Rugby which Andy may have does seem to be absent from much of his biographical data.
The appointment of somebody with such fresh experiences from London 2012 into the rugby environment is certainly a forward thinking initiative, however, I worry that the image and enthusiasm of one, may not necessarily be suitable to the other .
Lets look at some specifics:
The Olympic Games runs full on for two weeks, there are events morning, noon and night all over London, and save for the football, only in London ( sorry Weymouth, you too!). The Rugby World Cup will be a three or four week event, with matches primarily at the weekends, and with dead periods through the week. Matches, like the football will be distributed to the main conurbations of England and Wales. Developing a new approach to rugby support for that length of time, across the Country will be challenging.
The Olympic Games events had British and Irish participants in one or more events so giving a constant support focus for the fans so that when one star got eliminated, there were others to fill the void. The rugby World Cup has four national teams competing in an overall population of 16. Some of them may not make the knockout stages, and if one of those is England, then a huge percentage of potential spectators will lose interest. Yes the stadia will still be full, but the need for fan zones will greatly diminish.
Now lets consider the fan zone concept. Rugby supporters are a very predictable lot. They will have a few beers before the game, watch it and adjourn back to the bar afterwards. Those who do not have a ticket will either watch at home , in their local rugby club or watch in their local pub, I can't see swathes of casual fans sitting on Twickenham Green, in Princes Street or at Cardiff Castle on a damp and cold Autumnal afternoon watching Italy take on Namibia.
Finally, what of the travelling fans? The Olympics has hundreds of different Countries to support, and London is an attractive City to visit. Its straightforward to focus all your attention in one place. I did not notice a huge number of Olympic visitors in Scouseland, and the trouble that LOCOG had selling the football tickets is a warning sign for Debbie and her team.
So all in all, it will be interesting to see what new initiatives Debbie does come up with, and how they add to the success of the tournament. Nothing will contribute more than another England victory, and that is something that is out of her hands.
Andy considered that Paul had taken the organisation of the Rugby World Cup as far as he could, and wished to move the planning onto a different plain. With everything involving the organisation of the tournament, the venue selection process and schedule planning all on track, Paul may well feel a bit put out.
He is being replaced by Debbie Jevons, a key player in the London 2012 Olympics process and one of Seb Coe's inner sanctum. Andy's wish is for Debbie to create the sort of feel good factor which surrounded the Olympics, and transfer it to the Rugby World Cup.
I do wonder, though whether he has taken sufficient counsel on the whole matter. Andy's CV lists his previous roles with Cadbury Schweppes and InterContinental Hotels. This indicates a well honed background in leisure and retail, a background which Paul shared through his time with GrandMet and Whitbreads. Any previous exposure to Rugby which Andy may have does seem to be absent from much of his biographical data.
The appointment of somebody with such fresh experiences from London 2012 into the rugby environment is certainly a forward thinking initiative, however, I worry that the image and enthusiasm of one, may not necessarily be suitable to the other .
Lets look at some specifics:
The Olympic Games runs full on for two weeks, there are events morning, noon and night all over London, and save for the football, only in London ( sorry Weymouth, you too!). The Rugby World Cup will be a three or four week event, with matches primarily at the weekends, and with dead periods through the week. Matches, like the football will be distributed to the main conurbations of England and Wales. Developing a new approach to rugby support for that length of time, across the Country will be challenging.
The Olympic Games events had British and Irish participants in one or more events so giving a constant support focus for the fans so that when one star got eliminated, there were others to fill the void. The rugby World Cup has four national teams competing in an overall population of 16. Some of them may not make the knockout stages, and if one of those is England, then a huge percentage of potential spectators will lose interest. Yes the stadia will still be full, but the need for fan zones will greatly diminish.
Now lets consider the fan zone concept. Rugby supporters are a very predictable lot. They will have a few beers before the game, watch it and adjourn back to the bar afterwards. Those who do not have a ticket will either watch at home , in their local rugby club or watch in their local pub, I can't see swathes of casual fans sitting on Twickenham Green, in Princes Street or at Cardiff Castle on a damp and cold Autumnal afternoon watching Italy take on Namibia.
Finally, what of the travelling fans? The Olympics has hundreds of different Countries to support, and London is an attractive City to visit. Its straightforward to focus all your attention in one place. I did not notice a huge number of Olympic visitors in Scouseland, and the trouble that LOCOG had selling the football tickets is a warning sign for Debbie and her team.
So all in all, it will be interesting to see what new initiatives Debbie does come up with, and how they add to the success of the tournament. Nothing will contribute more than another England victory, and that is something that is out of her hands.
Tuesday 28 August 2012
4 men on a raft
Another August Bank Holiday, another raft race. Yes, the S Club 5, have once more paddled their way into the record books at the Bampton raft race.
We arrived on the Sunday morning this year, as number one son travelled up to visit his grandmother on the Saturday, and SWMBO's dad had to go into hospital for a heart beat synchronisation operation. The heart seems to be OK now, and the excess fluid in his lung appears to be dissipating.
So it was all a bit hectic getting to the raft race start, but our spirits were lifted as the rain had stopped but the river remained fast flowing and full. This last attribute is vital to us heavyweights, as usually the raft can get grounded five or six times during the race and we have to get off and pull it over the shallows, while lighter and rubber ring based rafts can sail on by.
Not so this year. Not only did we do a personal best, breaking the 30 minute barrier, but we overtook four other vessels, something which is unheard of for us. Couple that with only 4 of the S Club participating, and two paddles breaking and it was a cracking good show.
We were dressed as Olympians this year, but failed to win the most entertaining craft award. In fact we have not won the award for several years, when we were dressed as pirates. Our Viking attire deserved it but we were denied on a stewards enquiry. our Hawaii Five 0 came nowhere nor did our grumbies, although we did get the tele coverage for that one last year.
This year the award went to two lads dressed in DJ's who punted a raft all the way down with a couple of tree branches as poles. The raft full of Bruce's and the newly weds on a raft bed also got a mention in dispatches.
We are considering dressing as Missus Mop's next year and going for the 'all girl crew' prize!!
We arrived on the Sunday morning this year, as number one son travelled up to visit his grandmother on the Saturday, and SWMBO's dad had to go into hospital for a heart beat synchronisation operation. The heart seems to be OK now, and the excess fluid in his lung appears to be dissipating.
So it was all a bit hectic getting to the raft race start, but our spirits were lifted as the rain had stopped but the river remained fast flowing and full. This last attribute is vital to us heavyweights, as usually the raft can get grounded five or six times during the race and we have to get off and pull it over the shallows, while lighter and rubber ring based rafts can sail on by.
Not so this year. Not only did we do a personal best, breaking the 30 minute barrier, but we overtook four other vessels, something which is unheard of for us. Couple that with only 4 of the S Club participating, and two paddles breaking and it was a cracking good show.
We were dressed as Olympians this year, but failed to win the most entertaining craft award. In fact we have not won the award for several years, when we were dressed as pirates. Our Viking attire deserved it but we were denied on a stewards enquiry. our Hawaii Five 0 came nowhere nor did our grumbies, although we did get the tele coverage for that one last year.
This year the award went to two lads dressed in DJ's who punted a raft all the way down with a couple of tree branches as poles. The raft full of Bruce's and the newly weds on a raft bed also got a mention in dispatches.
We are considering dressing as Missus Mop's next year and going for the 'all girl crew' prize!!
Wednesday 22 August 2012
Gold......
We are in the lull between the Olympic Games and the Paraolympic Games. The gap has been filled by a riveting final test match between England and South Africa.We were fortunate to be at Lords on the Saturday as is our tradition, and its fair to say that the Safa's just played the better cricket and deserved to win.
I suspect the Kevin Petersen saga will run and run, and it must have had an affect on the England camp and the way they performed, however, I would like to congratulate Vernon Philander for winning man of the match, and almost putting this web site on the map big style, a cricketer and a philanderer, now he would not have been the first!
The whole success of Team GB has once more focused the political radar on sports fields and physical exercise in schools. We all know there are too many fat kids about, but in many cases they take the lead from their parents. It is they who buy them playstations, x-boxes and Nintendos and are happy to leave little JoHannie to become a coach potato. I wonder if we will now see more and more children being attracted to social clubs to try to emulate the recent stars we have all see strut their stuff very impressively on the biggest sporting stage.
Rory McIlroy must have felt a bit miffed that not too many people were watching when he won his second major, the US PGA Championship, which concluded during the closing ceremony of the Olympics. The lure of the Spice Girls reunion was just too much for some people.
They tied in the themes quite well in the ceremony, just missing the opportunity to have Duran Duran perform Rio as the link up to the 2016 Games. We are already making plans to go, principally to watch the rugby 7's. it will certainly not be as ferocious as the Paraolympics version aka Murderball.
So as the footie season kicks off again with the usual petulance and cheating lets see if some of the Olympian fair play and sportsmanship is able to filter through society and make everybody strive to do that little bit better, but always within the spirit of the game.
I suspect the Kevin Petersen saga will run and run, and it must have had an affect on the England camp and the way they performed, however, I would like to congratulate Vernon Philander for winning man of the match, and almost putting this web site on the map big style, a cricketer and a philanderer, now he would not have been the first!
The whole success of Team GB has once more focused the political radar on sports fields and physical exercise in schools. We all know there are too many fat kids about, but in many cases they take the lead from their parents. It is they who buy them playstations, x-boxes and Nintendos and are happy to leave little JoHannie to become a coach potato. I wonder if we will now see more and more children being attracted to social clubs to try to emulate the recent stars we have all see strut their stuff very impressively on the biggest sporting stage.
Rory McIlroy must have felt a bit miffed that not too many people were watching when he won his second major, the US PGA Championship, which concluded during the closing ceremony of the Olympics. The lure of the Spice Girls reunion was just too much for some people.
They tied in the themes quite well in the ceremony, just missing the opportunity to have Duran Duran perform Rio as the link up to the 2016 Games. We are already making plans to go, principally to watch the rugby 7's. it will certainly not be as ferocious as the Paraolympics version aka Murderball.
So as the footie season kicks off again with the usual petulance and cheating lets see if some of the Olympian fair play and sportsmanship is able to filter through society and make everybody strive to do that little bit better, but always within the spirit of the game.
Friday 27 July 2012
It's the taking part....
Tonight's, the night. The Olympic Games opening ceremony signifies the start of the London 2012 event. The question on everybodies lips is, of course, who will light the torch in the stadium?
Tradition dictates that it is an Olympian, so thet rules out Davis Beckham, although Ryan Giggs now qualifies after the game last night. Don't worry though it won't be him.
For what it's worth here is my take on how tonight will unfold.........
The stadium goes black, by design, not due to non-payment of leckie bill.....a single spotlight pierces the darkness and picks out a solitary figure riding a trandem. ( a three person bicycle made famous by The Goodies ). Zoom in and it becomes evident that riding the trandem is the recently crowned winner of the Tour de France, Bradley Wiggins.
Bradley waves to the crowd, then thinks better of it as the bicycle careers all over the track. He pedals on for another few seconds before another spotlight picks out a bus stop at which stands another solitary figure. Bradley stops, and picks up his first passenger, no less a person than Daley Thompson, the 1980 and 1984 Olympic Decathlon gold medalist.
They then wobble round the track to the final bus stop and there waiting for them is the Olympic torch being carried by Sir Steve Redgrave, Olympic gold medalist at five different games, and to many people the greatest ever Olympian. He jumps on and they all pedal to the top of the stadium where they all hold the torch as the flame is lit.
Everybody cheers and the games begin.....you read it here first!!!
Tradition dictates that it is an Olympian, so thet rules out Davis Beckham, although Ryan Giggs now qualifies after the game last night. Don't worry though it won't be him.
For what it's worth here is my take on how tonight will unfold.........
The stadium goes black, by design, not due to non-payment of leckie bill.....a single spotlight pierces the darkness and picks out a solitary figure riding a trandem. ( a three person bicycle made famous by The Goodies ). Zoom in and it becomes evident that riding the trandem is the recently crowned winner of the Tour de France, Bradley Wiggins.
Bradley waves to the crowd, then thinks better of it as the bicycle careers all over the track. He pedals on for another few seconds before another spotlight picks out a bus stop at which stands another solitary figure. Bradley stops, and picks up his first passenger, no less a person than Daley Thompson, the 1980 and 1984 Olympic Decathlon gold medalist.
They then wobble round the track to the final bus stop and there waiting for them is the Olympic torch being carried by Sir Steve Redgrave, Olympic gold medalist at five different games, and to many people the greatest ever Olympian. He jumps on and they all pedal to the top of the stadium where they all hold the torch as the flame is lit.
Everybody cheers and the games begin.....you read it here first!!!
Thursday 26 July 2012
And they're off....
It's Olympic Games time, and I am trying to be positive about them, albeit they have done me no favours over the last few years. Indeed they have done me no favours next week as I have had to change my hotel in West London as it is slap bang in the middle of the cycle road race and I would have no access to my car for most of the day. let's hope Bradley Wiggins does the business in that one and then BBC sports personality of the year 2012 should be a nailed on certainty.
The Games kicked off yesterday with a spot of ladies footie. the standard is certainly improving, and isn't it great that they don't fall over at the slightest touch, or scream at the ref all the time, the male professional game should look and learn. They won't of course.
I played golf last night with a gentlemen who was at the opening ceremony of the 1948 games in London, as a seven year old, and he has moved heaven and earth to get tickets for the opening ceremony on Friday, that must be a great feeling for him. he said he could remember the 1948 event like it was yesterday, so I hope he has a really enjoyable experience in Stratford, regardless of the fact hotel prices in the area are 400% higher than normal.
I have not given up hope of getting to the stadium for the athletics. Usually sponsors tickets get returned last minute so I am looking daily to see what's around. It might need to be a day trip, but at least we can say ' we were there!'
The Games kicked off yesterday with a spot of ladies footie. the standard is certainly improving, and isn't it great that they don't fall over at the slightest touch, or scream at the ref all the time, the male professional game should look and learn. They won't of course.
I played golf last night with a gentlemen who was at the opening ceremony of the 1948 games in London, as a seven year old, and he has moved heaven and earth to get tickets for the opening ceremony on Friday, that must be a great feeling for him. he said he could remember the 1948 event like it was yesterday, so I hope he has a really enjoyable experience in Stratford, regardless of the fact hotel prices in the area are 400% higher than normal.
I have not given up hope of getting to the stadium for the athletics. Usually sponsors tickets get returned last minute so I am looking daily to see what's around. It might need to be a day trip, but at least we can say ' we were there!'
Wednesday 25 July 2012
No woman, no cry.....
Well we have just returned from two glorious weeks holiday in our idyllic hideaway, St Lucia, in the Caribbean. I understand it was a tad damp here in Blighty while we were away, but I am pleased to report St Lucia were experiencing the driest July for some while.
Its the rainy season at this time of year, and its not a time we would normally visit, however, with such hectic schedules at our usual, and preferred, times, March and September, it was a matter of going in July or not going at all.
The resort we visit, Le Sport, has just had a multimillion pound makeover paid for in part by the insurance claims from recent hurricane damage. Hurricanes are fairly rare in St Lucia, but the ones in 20009 and 2010 certainly left their mark on the island. There are still roads which are single passage only, and the mud slides in Soufiere buried a number of people in their homes.
On the whole, though, the hotel has done a good job. There is a new clubhouse with pizza oven and permanent kitchen which takes the catering outlets up to three. There is a new infinity pool for the water volleyball and new instruction areas for Scuba and water aerobics. The boardwalk has been extended and there are new boutiques and bars as well. The price has gone up, but on the whole the benefits have justified it.
The manager did indicate to us that food costs are their biggest recent price increase, and that was reflected across the resort where the selection was less varied than previously. that said, while we were there the house white, part of the all inclusive deal, was Napa Valley Chardonnay which retails at £17 a bottle in UK. we must have drunk £500 worth!! It had just run out as we left to be replaced by a South Australian which was not in the same league. I guess that's the luck of the draw.
I got in a few golf lessons when I played some holes with Edwin the pro. He made a couple of swing changes which provided instant reward and he jokingly said were $50 a pop. all i need to do now is try them out in the Wallasey wind.....fore!
Its the rainy season at this time of year, and its not a time we would normally visit, however, with such hectic schedules at our usual, and preferred, times, March and September, it was a matter of going in July or not going at all.
The resort we visit, Le Sport, has just had a multimillion pound makeover paid for in part by the insurance claims from recent hurricane damage. Hurricanes are fairly rare in St Lucia, but the ones in 20009 and 2010 certainly left their mark on the island. There are still roads which are single passage only, and the mud slides in Soufiere buried a number of people in their homes.
On the whole, though, the hotel has done a good job. There is a new clubhouse with pizza oven and permanent kitchen which takes the catering outlets up to three. There is a new infinity pool for the water volleyball and new instruction areas for Scuba and water aerobics. The boardwalk has been extended and there are new boutiques and bars as well. The price has gone up, but on the whole the benefits have justified it.
The manager did indicate to us that food costs are their biggest recent price increase, and that was reflected across the resort where the selection was less varied than previously. that said, while we were there the house white, part of the all inclusive deal, was Napa Valley Chardonnay which retails at £17 a bottle in UK. we must have drunk £500 worth!! It had just run out as we left to be replaced by a South Australian which was not in the same league. I guess that's the luck of the draw.
I got in a few golf lessons when I played some holes with Edwin the pro. He made a couple of swing changes which provided instant reward and he jokingly said were $50 a pop. all i need to do now is try them out in the Wallasey wind.....fore!
Monday 25 June 2012
Greenwood and Gazza revisited?
This weekend we witnessed the final games for the England football and rugby teams. Both groups of players have been away from home testing themselves against some of the best players in the World. As far as the rugby team is concerned they lost a three test series 2-0, gaining some comfort for a 14-14 draw in the final game against South Africa.
For the football team it was defeat in the quarter-finals of the European Cup, to Italy.
The similarities of the two national sides are worth considering. Both have relatively new coaches trying to impress their own styles on their side. Both, sadly lack creative and dominant players, the like of which is vital to be able to compete on a world stage.
Lets look at the football team first. Two banks of four players protecting the goal, with two isolated strikers is not the best recipe for attractive football. What alternatives are there, however? If you were to name the three most creative players in the top English premiership teams you would struggle to find too many English qualified players. Tottenham have Modric, Bale and Adebayor, or even Van der Vaart. Chelsea have Drogba, Torres and a host of others, Manchester City have Alonso, Balotelli and Nasri. Its only when you include Wayne Rooney in the Manchester United trio that you can select a player who starts regularly for his club, as a key international.
Mirror that process with the rugby team and you consistently see the core players in the top teams, fly half, centre, fullback, scrum half, number 8, flanker and hooker more often than not being sourced from other countries, and, at a point in their career when they are looking for a source of money and a gentle passage into retirement.
While the rugby team are trying to redress the balance by introducing a salary cap and we are seeing English fullbacks coming through, it will be a few seasons yet before they can have the right young talent to choose from. They need to be clever as well as muscle bound and the professional game is not doing much to aid that process.
So we have to be realistic at the moment and not expect our sides to be world beaters, although with the Rugby World Cup in England in 2015 it would be good to see a semi-final place as a realistic target. At that stage anything can happen.
Friday 22 June 2012
Alright my lover?
This week I have been down in Plymouth with the sole purpose of moving my aged mother up to a flat in Hoylake on the Wirral. My mother is 86 years old, and by the look of some photographs we found, was a bit of a looker all those years ago. No wonder she caught my father's eye.
We moved down to Plymouth as a family in 1959 from Isleworth in West London. My dad worked for National Benzole, a petrol company, in those days and was posted to Devon and Cornwall a year or so earlier. He supervised the completion of our house which was part of a Costain development in Plymstock and my mum and I moved down when it was ready.
I went to school in Plymstock from 1959 until 1964 when I moved to a grammer school in Beacon Park, Plymouth. The area was notarised by the folk singer, Cyril Tawney, in his ballad of the same name, and there I stayed until 1971 when I upped sticks and moved back to London to go to college.
My mum and dad stayed in Plymouth. My dad retired in 1975 and my mum set up and ran a pre-school playgroup in a local church hall, with one of her closest friends. There are many Plymouthians who went through that facility at a time when play groups were relatively new and certainly not as regulated as they are now.
When my dad died in 1980, my mum stayed in the family home for a few years, before deciding to try to settle back in her family town of Wisbech. Sadly her family never really embraced her and after a few years she abandoned the exercise and returned to Devon. An inappropriate house purchase in Oreston soon found her back in Plymstock, living less than 100yards from the original family home.
Yesterday she said goodbye to Plymstock and that house, her home for twenty years, for the last time. We spent the week filling a skip with 'stuff' that people of all ages collect over time, and which has little or no value, either sentimental or monetary. We then labeled the furniture which was to be collected and distributed to the poor and needy, as mum's new flat is fully furnished and brand new. We then sat back and waited for the removal people.
As I write this, they are moving my mum into her new home, having earlier delivered all the unwanted car bootie from her house to Oxton. We will probably need two or three sales to clear it all.
The new home is about 20 minutes away from us, no longer a 5 hour journey if emergencies call. It has an in-house warden and is populated by about 25 other like minded souls looking for companionship, security and a bit of sea air.
So ends her 50 year relationship with Plymstock. Many of her good friends did not last as long, and those that are still there popped in to say goodbye, knowing they would never see her again, but would stay in touch by phone or letter, a trait still very common with the older generation.
She did not seem sad to go, and being blessed still with a sharp mind , she sees the move as a new adventure to be embraced as enthusiastically as that train journey on Brunel's mighty GWR all those years ago.
Will I miss Plymouth? No not really, its not been my home for almost 40 years, Although I made many of my strongest and longest lasting friendships there, those friends no longer live there. I expect I will find myself down there again, not least when I have to reunite my mum and dad for the final time, but for now it's up the Argyle and continue to try to master the golf course which is Wallasey.
Proper job.
We moved down to Plymouth as a family in 1959 from Isleworth in West London. My dad worked for National Benzole, a petrol company, in those days and was posted to Devon and Cornwall a year or so earlier. He supervised the completion of our house which was part of a Costain development in Plymstock and my mum and I moved down when it was ready.
I went to school in Plymstock from 1959 until 1964 when I moved to a grammer school in Beacon Park, Plymouth. The area was notarised by the folk singer, Cyril Tawney, in his ballad of the same name, and there I stayed until 1971 when I upped sticks and moved back to London to go to college.
My mum and dad stayed in Plymouth. My dad retired in 1975 and my mum set up and ran a pre-school playgroup in a local church hall, with one of her closest friends. There are many Plymouthians who went through that facility at a time when play groups were relatively new and certainly not as regulated as they are now.
When my dad died in 1980, my mum stayed in the family home for a few years, before deciding to try to settle back in her family town of Wisbech. Sadly her family never really embraced her and after a few years she abandoned the exercise and returned to Devon. An inappropriate house purchase in Oreston soon found her back in Plymstock, living less than 100yards from the original family home.
Yesterday she said goodbye to Plymstock and that house, her home for twenty years, for the last time. We spent the week filling a skip with 'stuff' that people of all ages collect over time, and which has little or no value, either sentimental or monetary. We then labeled the furniture which was to be collected and distributed to the poor and needy, as mum's new flat is fully furnished and brand new. We then sat back and waited for the removal people.
As I write this, they are moving my mum into her new home, having earlier delivered all the unwanted car bootie from her house to Oxton. We will probably need two or three sales to clear it all.
The new home is about 20 minutes away from us, no longer a 5 hour journey if emergencies call. It has an in-house warden and is populated by about 25 other like minded souls looking for companionship, security and a bit of sea air.
So ends her 50 year relationship with Plymstock. Many of her good friends did not last as long, and those that are still there popped in to say goodbye, knowing they would never see her again, but would stay in touch by phone or letter, a trait still very common with the older generation.
She did not seem sad to go, and being blessed still with a sharp mind , she sees the move as a new adventure to be embraced as enthusiastically as that train journey on Brunel's mighty GWR all those years ago.
Will I miss Plymouth? No not really, its not been my home for almost 40 years, Although I made many of my strongest and longest lasting friendships there, those friends no longer live there. I expect I will find myself down there again, not least when I have to reunite my mum and dad for the final time, but for now it's up the Argyle and continue to try to master the golf course which is Wallasey.
Proper job.
Friday 15 June 2012
NeverSeconds
Every now and then there is a story in the papers or on the internet which makes you wonder where the genetic malfunction of the human race began. Today we have been treated to the news that Martha Payne , a nine year old from Scotland, has been banned from photographing her school dinner, because she then uses it on her blog here.
Her headmistress acted on orders from her superiors at Argyll and Bute council who were concerned that press publicity was having a stressful effect on their dinner ladies, albeit the web site was set up with the blessing of the school as a way to raise money for a charity called Mary's Meals.
There has been uproar, and the good burgers ( no pun intended) of Argyll and Bute have conceeded they acted hastily and have allowed the young girl to carry on.
In the meantime the charity donations have gone from £2,000 to well over £20,000 indicating once again that there is no such thing as bad publicity.
Its good to encourage youngsters to start blogging. I look back over the five years of this blog and remind myself of things which are a distant memory, imagine when people can look back 50 years.
Her headmistress acted on orders from her superiors at Argyll and Bute council who were concerned that press publicity was having a stressful effect on their dinner ladies, albeit the web site was set up with the blessing of the school as a way to raise money for a charity called Mary's Meals.
There has been uproar, and the good burgers ( no pun intended) of Argyll and Bute have conceeded they acted hastily and have allowed the young girl to carry on.
In the meantime the charity donations have gone from £2,000 to well over £20,000 indicating once again that there is no such thing as bad publicity.
Its good to encourage youngsters to start blogging. I look back over the five years of this blog and remind myself of things which are a distant memory, imagine when people can look back 50 years.
Sunday 3 June 2012
Light at the end of the tunnel
We embraced the start of the Olympic Games on Friday evening when the torch relay arrived on the Wirral. It came through the Mersey tunnel into Birkenhead Park at about 6pm and was carried by various runners with compelling reasons to make the short trip from one end of their section to the other. The standard celeb was sporty Spice, Melanie Chisholm, who carried the torch on part of the 'Race for Life' route. Here she is partly obscured by the torch, no bad thing eh!!This is not the first time we have been in the company of the Olympic torch, as we were in Atlanta for the 1996 Games, and spent several hours in Buckhead on the outskirts of the City, the day before the event started. I must admit the controls in America were very lax, and the poor runner had to eventually be bundled into a van to complete his leg of the journey. We were on that trip with Dave Jones, sadly now the subject of the sad entry I wrote last month, and I recall we were very brazen in 'acquiring' a Olympic torch relay banner form outside one of the bars. It went on the wall in Twickenham RFC but has long since been lost to redevelopment.
I have had a very mixed relationship with the London Olympics. I have tried on numerous occasions to get interviews for salaried positions with them, and failed miserably. I am particularly grumpy as they have always advocated the uniqueness of the event and that people with previous experience would be well placed to assist.
I was also disillusioned at the whole ticketing situation and have now resigned myself to watching on TV. I am still available at short notice for seriously boozy corporate invites but I can't see it myself.
We were fortunate to be in the Olympic stadium in Atlanta when Carl Lewis won the last of his 9 Olympics Gold medals when he retained the long jump title. It was, however, eclipsed by Michael Johnson winning the 400m in his golden running shoes, which he then threw into the crowd. I wonder where they are now?
Thursday 17 May 2012
Three seconds of fame
The Bampton raft race is an event the S-Club 5 have supported for a number of years. It has featured in this blog on several occasions, here and here. We always try to dress up and this year we were Grumbies of Monty Python fame. Yes my brain does hurt.
Imagine my surprise then when we were featured briefly on ITV this week. ITV have been following a group of children from when they were seven years old up to the present time, and they put together a programme charting their life, every subsequent seven years. The current series is called 56 UP.
One of the featured people is now a lay preacher and Bampton is one of the villages he frequents. I do remember a film crew being there last year but assumed it was for the local news. Instead, there we are singing merrily as we paddle towards the finishing line, all grumbied up.
I do hope the ITV exposure does not alert the health and safety jobsworths from Kendal to the raft race.It exists in the sort of environment the 56 UP participants will have been familiar with when they were growing up as seven year olds all those years ago. We in the S-Club do feel that our involvement has seen the event grow into the thirty raft event which it is at the moment, and it would be tragic if it is canned as a result of over planning. Long may it continue unencumbered and de-regulated........aaaargh!
Imagine my surprise then when we were featured briefly on ITV this week. ITV have been following a group of children from when they were seven years old up to the present time, and they put together a programme charting their life, every subsequent seven years. The current series is called 56 UP.
One of the featured people is now a lay preacher and Bampton is one of the villages he frequents. I do remember a film crew being there last year but assumed it was for the local news. Instead, there we are singing merrily as we paddle towards the finishing line, all grumbied up.
I do hope the ITV exposure does not alert the health and safety jobsworths from Kendal to the raft race.It exists in the sort of environment the 56 UP participants will have been familiar with when they were growing up as seven year olds all those years ago. We in the S-Club do feel that our involvement has seen the event grow into the thirty raft event which it is at the moment, and it would be tragic if it is canned as a result of over planning. Long may it continue unencumbered and de-regulated........aaaargh!
Wednesday 9 May 2012
Hall of Fame
I noticed today that the old buffer from the world of golf, Peter Alliss, had been inducted to the Golf Hall of Fame yesterday in America. I am sure the word is induced but that's just me getting my physics and formal reception terminology mixed up. Peter did use the finger during his acceptance speech when gesturing about his old headmistress. It is a pity he does have senile moments occasionally.
Famous people do have the pleasure of being recognised by their peers and voted into these Hall's of Fame, and it got me thinking about whether there should be a series of these places for ordinary folk. One might argue that the Queen's honours process announced at New Year and at her birthday does now recognise Joe Bloggs and the good work they do, and the Guinness Book of Records motivates some people to take part in the excessive and ridiculous, but I wonder if there should be something more.
Cadbury's chocolate launched the CDM awards in the Seventies when people could nominate their friends and relatives for the award. I always thought that if you got two you could indicate you had a CDM and bar but it never caught on.
So what might I qualify for through longevity or talent? 40 years with the same Company never used to be a rarity, but there will be very few people achieving that in the future, and 40 years ( and we hope a few more) of attending England rugby internationals may also be a record to be proud of. The singing certainly has not improved but it has lasted the test of time....
Nothing else really springs to mind, I doubt I am anywhere near the top of the tree for downing pints of London Pride. I am member of the Young's 135 Club though, and did complete the Fullers passport. Both of these entailed drinking in every establishment in their estate at the time. I have no reputation for eating remarkably hot curries. I have never broken 80 playing golf so have twenty years to go before I have any change of shooting below my age. I do have a hole in one although there is no Hall of Fame for that, its membership would be exhaustive.
I won first dividend on the pools in November 1989 and collected £351.85. There must have been loads of draws that day!! I still have an uncashed cheque for 66p from a previous 6th dividend win, It would have cost more than that to print the cheque.
So I will just settle for what I am and what I have got, a brick in the wall at Twickenham Stadium, another in the Olympic Park in Atlanta and a copy of the Daily Telegraph from 6th June 1992 showing me as the joint fourth fastest 200m runner in the Country, same PB as Linford Christie: that must have been some typo!!
Famous people do have the pleasure of being recognised by their peers and voted into these Hall's of Fame, and it got me thinking about whether there should be a series of these places for ordinary folk. One might argue that the Queen's honours process announced at New Year and at her birthday does now recognise Joe Bloggs and the good work they do, and the Guinness Book of Records motivates some people to take part in the excessive and ridiculous, but I wonder if there should be something more.
Cadbury's chocolate launched the CDM awards in the Seventies when people could nominate their friends and relatives for the award. I always thought that if you got two you could indicate you had a CDM and bar but it never caught on.
So what might I qualify for through longevity or talent? 40 years with the same Company never used to be a rarity, but there will be very few people achieving that in the future, and 40 years ( and we hope a few more) of attending England rugby internationals may also be a record to be proud of. The singing certainly has not improved but it has lasted the test of time....
Nothing else really springs to mind, I doubt I am anywhere near the top of the tree for downing pints of London Pride. I am member of the Young's 135 Club though, and did complete the Fullers passport. Both of these entailed drinking in every establishment in their estate at the time. I have no reputation for eating remarkably hot curries. I have never broken 80 playing golf so have twenty years to go before I have any change of shooting below my age. I do have a hole in one although there is no Hall of Fame for that, its membership would be exhaustive.
I won first dividend on the pools in November 1989 and collected £351.85. There must have been loads of draws that day!! I still have an uncashed cheque for 66p from a previous 6th dividend win, It would have cost more than that to print the cheque.
So I will just settle for what I am and what I have got, a brick in the wall at Twickenham Stadium, another in the Olympic Park in Atlanta and a copy of the Daily Telegraph from 6th June 1992 showing me as the joint fourth fastest 200m runner in the Country, same PB as Linford Christie: that must have been some typo!!
Tuesday 8 May 2012
Bonking Boris bounces back
The old boy has bucked a trend in the recent council elections, and been re-elected as Mayor of London. As the Conservative party took a fair old pounding across the Country, the female pro-Boris vote held strong and he was able to fend off Ken 'the con' Livingstone and remain firmly entrenched in County Hall.
It's nothing out of the ordinary for the incumbent Government to get roasted in the mid-term elections, so I suspect Dave and his crew will be fairly relaxed about the wider political picture. He might, however, be looking over his shoulder from time to time to check that Boris is still maintaining that he has no presumptions about being PM. That could all change though.
In the last term we had the introduction of the Boris bikes into London, and he is now well placed to see through the Olympic Games in a few weeks time. I suspect his major focus, and legacy, though will be to try to force through the plans for an estuary airport at the mouth of the Thames.
The four runway airport will reputedly cost between £40-£70 billion and would be built on to artificial islands near Whitstable. Bet the oysters aren't too happy! Norman Foster favours a land side airport on the Isle of Grain and there are alternative options for Gatwick and Stanstead, although Heathrow does now seem to be out of the running. With Gatwick and Heathrow likely to be close to meltdown during the upcoming Olympics, there will certainly be a ground swell for a new facility near London. Link it somehow to the Eurostar and fast trains to the North of England and we could see the Boris Island Airport gather some momentum.
At the moment there are minimal UK flights to China, India and Brazil that the UK are missing out on very lucrative deals with these rising industrial giants. Guangzhou, the main industrial centre in China has no direct flights from Heathrow. Amsterdam, Paris and Frankfurt have 800 a year between them. So clearly something must be done. Will the finance be there, can the nature and ecology problems be overcome, and would it really take 20 years from conception to delivery. If that's the case Boris better get bonking!!!
It's nothing out of the ordinary for the incumbent Government to get roasted in the mid-term elections, so I suspect Dave and his crew will be fairly relaxed about the wider political picture. He might, however, be looking over his shoulder from time to time to check that Boris is still maintaining that he has no presumptions about being PM. That could all change though.
In the last term we had the introduction of the Boris bikes into London, and he is now well placed to see through the Olympic Games in a few weeks time. I suspect his major focus, and legacy, though will be to try to force through the plans for an estuary airport at the mouth of the Thames.
The four runway airport will reputedly cost between £40-£70 billion and would be built on to artificial islands near Whitstable. Bet the oysters aren't too happy! Norman Foster favours a land side airport on the Isle of Grain and there are alternative options for Gatwick and Stanstead, although Heathrow does now seem to be out of the running. With Gatwick and Heathrow likely to be close to meltdown during the upcoming Olympics, there will certainly be a ground swell for a new facility near London. Link it somehow to the Eurostar and fast trains to the North of England and we could see the Boris Island Airport gather some momentum.
At the moment there are minimal UK flights to China, India and Brazil that the UK are missing out on very lucrative deals with these rising industrial giants. Guangzhou, the main industrial centre in China has no direct flights from Heathrow. Amsterdam, Paris and Frankfurt have 800 a year between them. So clearly something must be done. Will the finance be there, can the nature and ecology problems be overcome, and would it really take 20 years from conception to delivery. If that's the case Boris better get bonking!!!
Wednesday 2 May 2012
Swiss gnome takes charge
The Football Association yesterday announced Roy Hodgson as the new England football manager. The appointment of Roy surprised a large number of people who had expected Harry Rednapp to be given the job.
There is, however, huge and previous baggage with Harry which remains from his days at West Ham. It concerns his relationship with the players and staff when he was there at the same time as Trevor Brooking. Allegedly Brooking was of the view that Harry would be the England manager while he remained at the FA 'over his dead body'. This view may well have prevailed. Trevor taking a moment to ease off the fence is a monumental event for English football.
The RFU hase recently announced a new head coach in Stuart Lancaster. Many people were surprised by his appointment as well. That stemmed, though, from his limited international experience compared with a number of other candidates.
The RFU were aware of this limitation so they gave Stuart Lancaster control of the 2012 Six Nations championship to see what he was made of. He and his team were a whisker away from winning the title and associated grand slam, and this performance was enough to nudge him over the line, and he was duly appointed.
The FA have appointed somebody with International experience, and success at the World Cup instead of a very successful club manager. The main candidates have contrasting personalities which reflect in the way their teams play football, and the FA could have appointed one or other only for the duration of the up coming European Championships. They have, however, ignored that option and given Roy a four year contract.
Time will tell whether the FA or RFU approach was the right one. Hopefully they will both be successful, and can carry the England name to the top of the World rankings again.
There is, however, huge and previous baggage with Harry which remains from his days at West Ham. It concerns his relationship with the players and staff when he was there at the same time as Trevor Brooking. Allegedly Brooking was of the view that Harry would be the England manager while he remained at the FA 'over his dead body'. This view may well have prevailed. Trevor taking a moment to ease off the fence is a monumental event for English football.
The RFU hase recently announced a new head coach in Stuart Lancaster. Many people were surprised by his appointment as well. That stemmed, though, from his limited international experience compared with a number of other candidates.
The RFU were aware of this limitation so they gave Stuart Lancaster control of the 2012 Six Nations championship to see what he was made of. He and his team were a whisker away from winning the title and associated grand slam, and this performance was enough to nudge him over the line, and he was duly appointed.
The FA have appointed somebody with International experience, and success at the World Cup instead of a very successful club manager. The main candidates have contrasting personalities which reflect in the way their teams play football, and the FA could have appointed one or other only for the duration of the up coming European Championships. They have, however, ignored that option and given Roy a four year contract.
Time will tell whether the FA or RFU approach was the right one. Hopefully they will both be successful, and can carry the England name to the top of the World rankings again.
Friday 30 March 2012
Gene Genie
As part of our initiative to spend a long weekend away somewhere in the UK each month, SWMBO and I have just spent some time in North Devon. I have to come clean and admit it was tied in with me having the opportunity to play the Saunton golf club, a course considered to be one of the top links in the Country.
The only reason it is not on the Open Championship rota would be the inaccessibility of the course and the lack of hotel accommodation. The course is just on the edge of Exmoor, in the prime surfing area which encompasses Saunton Sands, Croyde and Woolacombe. i won't go into the merits of each bay in terms of long board or short, but the locals are pretty passionate about which is best.
So, having found a location for the golf it was necessary to find somewhere to stay, and I decided Ilfracombe would hit the spot. 'Oh dear', said my mate Ray, an expert on the coast-line of Devon and Cornwall having yomped most of the footpath in his time. 'It's like a time warp, a screen set from the TV series life on Mars'.
Well no problem, I thought, I can cope with that, and it will give us a bit of us time.
We first went to Clovelly, a heritage site and almost a living museum village. we walked down to the harbour on the narrow cobbled stone walkways, and looked back at the distance we had travelled, and the drop we had negotiated. Fortified with a pasty and a cup of tea we set off back up again. It was at this point that I recalled getting back up by Land Rover the last time I was there. I must have been about 10, and my Dad could not face the climb and so we all returned to the top by car. Sadly that service does not operate off season, so a walk back it was.
We took in the history of the place, the fact that until recently all deliveries were done using donkey powered sledges, and that it was the favoured place of Charles Kingsley who spent his childhood in Clovelly before moving on. he always maintained a cottage and returned most Summers to write. He was part of the Ruskin, Dickens, Tennyson crowd and his best known novels are Hereward the Wake and Westward Ho!.
Westward Ho is not far from Clovelly and also has a well thought of links course, considered one of the oldest in England.
Now back to Ilfracombe, where we arrived to find a very pleasant room waiting for us, with one of these open plan bathrooms as part of the accommodation. I find this sort of design quite strange. Anyway, the proprietors were very pleasant and had not long purchased the place, moving down from Birmingham in the process.
We quickly changed and went out to the restaurant SWMBO had booked as a birthday treat. And indeed treat it was. We had the place to ourselves, our own private chef and waiter, and failed to realise it was a sign of things to come.
On Sunday, we got up and found to our horror that Ilfracombe was closed.......nowhere to have a decent Sunday lunch, nowhere to eat in the evening, the tunnels beaches which are one of Ilfracombe's main tourist features were also closed, so we were stuffed. We ended up in the local 7/11 getting a feast of stuff to take back to the room, popped on a film and slobbed out there!
As a tribute the the open plan accommodation, we did take ourselves to a village in Exmoor called Simonsbath and in due course I will add a photoshop picture to this article as a record of events.
We have now done Christchurch in Dorset, Edinburgh and Clovelly in our weekend schedule, April we look forward to going to Cambridge, we are hopeful of a few more things to do there!!
The only reason it is not on the Open Championship rota would be the inaccessibility of the course and the lack of hotel accommodation. The course is just on the edge of Exmoor, in the prime surfing area which encompasses Saunton Sands, Croyde and Woolacombe. i won't go into the merits of each bay in terms of long board or short, but the locals are pretty passionate about which is best.
So, having found a location for the golf it was necessary to find somewhere to stay, and I decided Ilfracombe would hit the spot. 'Oh dear', said my mate Ray, an expert on the coast-line of Devon and Cornwall having yomped most of the footpath in his time. 'It's like a time warp, a screen set from the TV series life on Mars'.
Well no problem, I thought, I can cope with that, and it will give us a bit of us time.
We first went to Clovelly, a heritage site and almost a living museum village. we walked down to the harbour on the narrow cobbled stone walkways, and looked back at the distance we had travelled, and the drop we had negotiated. Fortified with a pasty and a cup of tea we set off back up again. It was at this point that I recalled getting back up by Land Rover the last time I was there. I must have been about 10, and my Dad could not face the climb and so we all returned to the top by car. Sadly that service does not operate off season, so a walk back it was.
We took in the history of the place, the fact that until recently all deliveries were done using donkey powered sledges, and that it was the favoured place of Charles Kingsley who spent his childhood in Clovelly before moving on. he always maintained a cottage and returned most Summers to write. He was part of the Ruskin, Dickens, Tennyson crowd and his best known novels are Hereward the Wake and Westward Ho!.
Westward Ho is not far from Clovelly and also has a well thought of links course, considered one of the oldest in England.
Now back to Ilfracombe, where we arrived to find a very pleasant room waiting for us, with one of these open plan bathrooms as part of the accommodation. I find this sort of design quite strange. Anyway, the proprietors were very pleasant and had not long purchased the place, moving down from Birmingham in the process.
We quickly changed and went out to the restaurant SWMBO had booked as a birthday treat. And indeed treat it was. We had the place to ourselves, our own private chef and waiter, and failed to realise it was a sign of things to come.
On Sunday, we got up and found to our horror that Ilfracombe was closed.......nowhere to have a decent Sunday lunch, nowhere to eat in the evening, the tunnels beaches which are one of Ilfracombe's main tourist features were also closed, so we were stuffed. We ended up in the local 7/11 getting a feast of stuff to take back to the room, popped on a film and slobbed out there!
As a tribute the the open plan accommodation, we did take ourselves to a village in Exmoor called Simonsbath and in due course I will add a photoshop picture to this article as a record of events.
We have now done Christchurch in Dorset, Edinburgh and Clovelly in our weekend schedule, April we look forward to going to Cambridge, we are hopeful of a few more things to do there!!
Tuesday 27 March 2012
Lights are on, but nobody is home
I am told that giving a eulogy with a friend or loved one lying in the casket next to you, is a very hard thing to do. It is particularly tough when the person involved has been cut down in the prime of their life.
I experienced the closest thing to it at the weekend when I visited my mate Dave in Queen Mary's hospital in Roehampton. Dave, also known as 'Cellnet' Dave or Dodgy, has been diagnosed with early onset dementia and last year was sectioned. he remains in a secure unit at the hospital while they try to find a suitable care home for him. The implications are that he will remain institutionalised for the rest of his life, eight to ten years in a living casket if you will.
Dave was a bit of a lad as we spent our 30 and 40 somethings together alot of the time. A founder member of the Tuesday club, he was regularly looking for a deal, or chasing a party. We played rugby together, and embraced the social side of the game, all around the World. His times in Cannes at the telecommunications gala's and his reputation, unfair though it was, as a short arms, deep pockets merchant were legendary and it was this latter trait which indicated to me that things were not all good in his world.
During my infrequent visits to London it became evident that people were bad mouthing Dave in a way that was not good. He was becoming nomadic and hermit like, and his behaviour in company was getting him into trouble. It is sad that only when his wife sought help to get him into a medical facility that could give him some help that the true nature of his change became evident.
When SWMBO and I visited him it was like walking into a scene from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Initially he would not see us, but we stuck it out and some time later the nurse returned with him. He spent twenty minutes or so in the room with us, but it was obvious that he was really somewhere else. his recall of irrelevant facts was accurate, and his awareness of time and local events associated with it meant he left when the evening meal trolley was due. His wife has since indicated that he was aware who we were, which was a comfort.
I suspect he has days when the lights are off and nobody is home, or they are on and somebody is home. This weekend it was a combination of both. I hope I catch him in a better place next time.
I experienced the closest thing to it at the weekend when I visited my mate Dave in Queen Mary's hospital in Roehampton. Dave, also known as 'Cellnet' Dave or Dodgy, has been diagnosed with early onset dementia and last year was sectioned. he remains in a secure unit at the hospital while they try to find a suitable care home for him. The implications are that he will remain institutionalised for the rest of his life, eight to ten years in a living casket if you will.
Dave was a bit of a lad as we spent our 30 and 40 somethings together alot of the time. A founder member of the Tuesday club, he was regularly looking for a deal, or chasing a party. We played rugby together, and embraced the social side of the game, all around the World. His times in Cannes at the telecommunications gala's and his reputation, unfair though it was, as a short arms, deep pockets merchant were legendary and it was this latter trait which indicated to me that things were not all good in his world.
During my infrequent visits to London it became evident that people were bad mouthing Dave in a way that was not good. He was becoming nomadic and hermit like, and his behaviour in company was getting him into trouble. It is sad that only when his wife sought help to get him into a medical facility that could give him some help that the true nature of his change became evident.
When SWMBO and I visited him it was like walking into a scene from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Initially he would not see us, but we stuck it out and some time later the nurse returned with him. He spent twenty minutes or so in the room with us, but it was obvious that he was really somewhere else. his recall of irrelevant facts was accurate, and his awareness of time and local events associated with it meant he left when the evening meal trolley was due. His wife has since indicated that he was aware who we were, which was a comfort.
I suspect he has days when the lights are off and nobody is home, or they are on and somebody is home. This weekend it was a combination of both. I hope I catch him in a better place next time.
Monday 26 March 2012
Sofia so good....
Chiswicks best kept secret, our youngest grandaughter, Sofia, is now at the crawling stage, so we took a trip over to the flat on Friday to see her in motion.
She seems happy with herself and ambles around in a very contented way smiling at anybody whose eye she can catch. She is about eight months old now and I suspect she will soon be climbing the furniture to strengthen her legs prior to taking those first unstable steps.
At that stage, all the artifacts at floor level and probably up to about three feet of the ground will need to be moved out of reach as the wrecking ball into which babies transform, will be more than able to search and destroy.
It will be interesting what her first words will be. With a Bulgarian mother and grandmother in residence it may be something Eastern European which will probably sound like mamma or pappa any which way and no doubt she will be multi-lingual like her parents are.
It is strange that number one son has found his home in Chiswick at a time when I have vacated, but at least we know our way round when we visit.
Sofia was baptised in the local Russian Orthodox church whose vibrant powder blue spire can be viewed from the M4. The inside of the church did not have the same finish although the standard icons did cover the back wall of the church.
The dunking took place downstairs in a giant plunge bath and I am not surprised Sofia came out screaming her head off, the water was icy cold.
We hope she will soon be able to visit Scouseland and meet the human dynamo who is Ava. Give them both eighteen years (max) and they will be taking the pubs and clubs of England by storm....lock up your son's time!
She seems happy with herself and ambles around in a very contented way smiling at anybody whose eye she can catch. She is about eight months old now and I suspect she will soon be climbing the furniture to strengthen her legs prior to taking those first unstable steps.
At that stage, all the artifacts at floor level and probably up to about three feet of the ground will need to be moved out of reach as the wrecking ball into which babies transform, will be more than able to search and destroy.
It will be interesting what her first words will be. With a Bulgarian mother and grandmother in residence it may be something Eastern European which will probably sound like mamma or pappa any which way and no doubt she will be multi-lingual like her parents are.
It is strange that number one son has found his home in Chiswick at a time when I have vacated, but at least we know our way round when we visit.
Sofia was baptised in the local Russian Orthodox church whose vibrant powder blue spire can be viewed from the M4. The inside of the church did not have the same finish although the standard icons did cover the back wall of the church.
The dunking took place downstairs in a giant plunge bath and I am not surprised Sofia came out screaming her head off, the water was icy cold.
We hope she will soon be able to visit Scouseland and meet the human dynamo who is Ava. Give them both eighteen years (max) and they will be taking the pubs and clubs of England by storm....lock up your son's time!
Monday 19 March 2012
CPR - know how to do it.
I am indebted to the Reverend Brian D'Arcy for the inspiration, and plagiarism, of today's blog. Brian presents 'food for thought' on a regular basis on BBC Radio 2, and I feel today's message needs a wider audience. ( As if my blog gets more hits that Radio 2 gets listeners, but you know what I mean!)
While my mate's and I were cheering England to victory this weekend at Twickenham, tragic events were unfolding at White Hart Lane, less than ten miles away. There, a young footballer collapsed, and in a moment the immortal words of Liverpool manager Bill Shankley were turned on their face.
Shankley famously stated: Some people believe football is a matter of life and death, I am very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that
Saturdays incident clearly indicated that life and death take precedence over all, yes, even football . A family sit at the bedside of Fabrice Muamba praying for the full recovery of their son, father, fiancee and friend. Sadly our recent family experience does not bode well for him. Brain damage sets in very quickly, with CPR needed within the first few minutes of a cardiac arrest. If, as reported, his heart did not start pumping again until he reached hospital, then his family may find they are faced with the worst decision anybody can ever face, as brain activity examinations will prove to be more vital than those on his heart.
These decisions were not necessary in the case of Liam Kelly and his family. Liam played in the Scottish League Cup final at the same time as the drama unfolded in London. After helping his side Kilmarnock to one of their greatest ever victories, he was informed his father, Jack, had suffered a heart attack at the end of the match, and died shortly afterwards.
Tragedy engulfs the World at every turn in these turbulent times. In these two incidents, however, the poignancy of Vinny Jones and his 'Staying Alive' advert becomes all the more relevant.
While my mate's and I were cheering England to victory this weekend at Twickenham, tragic events were unfolding at White Hart Lane, less than ten miles away. There, a young footballer collapsed, and in a moment the immortal words of Liverpool manager Bill Shankley were turned on their face.
Shankley famously stated: Some people believe football is a matter of life and death, I am very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that
Saturdays incident clearly indicated that life and death take precedence over all, yes, even football . A family sit at the bedside of Fabrice Muamba praying for the full recovery of their son, father, fiancee and friend. Sadly our recent family experience does not bode well for him. Brain damage sets in very quickly, with CPR needed within the first few minutes of a cardiac arrest. If, as reported, his heart did not start pumping again until he reached hospital, then his family may find they are faced with the worst decision anybody can ever face, as brain activity examinations will prove to be more vital than those on his heart.
These decisions were not necessary in the case of Liam Kelly and his family. Liam played in the Scottish League Cup final at the same time as the drama unfolded in London. After helping his side Kilmarnock to one of their greatest ever victories, he was informed his father, Jack, had suffered a heart attack at the end of the match, and died shortly afterwards.
Tragedy engulfs the World at every turn in these turbulent times. In these two incidents, however, the poignancy of Vinny Jones and his 'Staying Alive' advert becomes all the more relevant.
Saturday 18 February 2012
Gee up Neddy
If Carlsberg ran auctions on e-bay then I would have probably purchased the best item I ever could.
I have a vivid childhood memory of playing Totoploy at my friends house when I was about 9 or 10. Totopoly was made by Waddingtons, and was the companion game for their greatest hit, Monopoly. For those of you not familiar with Totopoly, its a horse racing board game. There are two tracks, on each side of the board. You play the training track first to gain credits and chance cards to help you during the race, which takes place on the other side of the board.
There are twelve horses, all names after previous winners of the Lincolnshire handicap, and they are colour coded to represent the four training stables.
Now I remember these horses to be die cast lead horses with four legs, a tail and a jockey, proper three dimensional playing pieces.
When I purchased a set a few years ago, the horses had morphed into one dimensional plastic, supported on a plastic base. I was devastated, and set about trying to obtain an original set on e-bay.
Now this search has taught me many things; firstly the set I was searching for is a 1939/40 first edition set, and the only one which had horses as described, secondly it is as rare as hens teeth, as the set I have purchased is the first I have found in the three years I have been monitoring e-bay, and lastly, there is a social history lesson interwoven with the horse manufacturing process.
The set I have was manufactured for maybe a year tops. At the outbreak of World War II, while production continued, metal was at a premium. The horses were, therefore, made out of pressed cardboard and came with small wooden blocks in which to support them on the track.
This was the style of horse which was used into the 1950's. Suddenly metal horses returned to the stables so to speak, they remained the one dimensional style of the cardboard, albeit with integrated metal support bases. Then in the 1970's came the horrific plastic versions which I had purchased previously.
So I now own a very sought after game which I have covetted for years, but , sadly, I am too scared to play with it, and have nothing with the same sentimental attraction to search for e-bay at the moment. Oh well, it will have to be back to spare parts for the Dyson!!
I have a vivid childhood memory of playing Totoploy at my friends house when I was about 9 or 10. Totopoly was made by Waddingtons, and was the companion game for their greatest hit, Monopoly. For those of you not familiar with Totopoly, its a horse racing board game. There are two tracks, on each side of the board. You play the training track first to gain credits and chance cards to help you during the race, which takes place on the other side of the board.
There are twelve horses, all names after previous winners of the Lincolnshire handicap, and they are colour coded to represent the four training stables.
Now I remember these horses to be die cast lead horses with four legs, a tail and a jockey, proper three dimensional playing pieces.
When I purchased a set a few years ago, the horses had morphed into one dimensional plastic, supported on a plastic base. I was devastated, and set about trying to obtain an original set on e-bay.
Now this search has taught me many things; firstly the set I was searching for is a 1939/40 first edition set, and the only one which had horses as described, secondly it is as rare as hens teeth, as the set I have purchased is the first I have found in the three years I have been monitoring e-bay, and lastly, there is a social history lesson interwoven with the horse manufacturing process.
The set I have was manufactured for maybe a year tops. At the outbreak of World War II, while production continued, metal was at a premium. The horses were, therefore, made out of pressed cardboard and came with small wooden blocks in which to support them on the track.
This was the style of horse which was used into the 1950's. Suddenly metal horses returned to the stables so to speak, they remained the one dimensional style of the cardboard, albeit with integrated metal support bases. Then in the 1970's came the horrific plastic versions which I had purchased previously.
So I now own a very sought after game which I have covetted for years, but , sadly, I am too scared to play with it, and have nothing with the same sentimental attraction to search for e-bay at the moment. Oh well, it will have to be back to spare parts for the Dyson!!
Tuesday 14 February 2012
Arrivederci Roma
We were in Rome at the weekend for the Italy v England rugby game. The previous weekend had seen Rome carpeted in snow for the first time for about 25 years, so we were not surprised when the skies went dark on the Friday night, and about three inches of the stuff deposited itself on us.
We were in the rooftop bar of the hotel at the time, so the sights were very spectacular. Our need to eat got the better of us though, and as there were no taxi hires available we cancelled our first choice venue and walked, or more likely slide, down the hill to a nearby pizzeria.
We had a tolerable meal, however the highlight was watching the Roman equivalent of a grit waggon in operation. Coming slowly up the hill was a builders truck of the type you would expect your jobbing roofer to have. Open at the back it housed several bags of grit and two men with garden trowels. These two individuals then sprayed the salt onto the road before a bulldozer followed along behind and picked it all up again!! Priceless.
The game this year was played at the stadium built for the 1960 Olympic Games, and a very fine stadium it is too. There was no under soil heating though so the game went ahead on a partially snow covered surface, and suffered a bit for that, but a win is a win and England move on to face Wales in a potential grand slam decider.
The stadium was my sixth Olympic stadium, although I have no particular wish to tick the rest off.
So all in all Rome was extremely cold and extremely expensive. Most meals worked out at about £50 per head and our top bar bill was £157.00 for 12 drinks. The Euro zone needs to get itself under control before I think about going there again.
Still at least we got a match in, pity the poor Irish supporters in Paris who had to travel from the centre to Stade France only to be told the game was off, so having to travel back into town only to find somebody had nicked their seats, they have to do it all over again on 4th March, c'est la vie.
Interestingly the reason it was built without under soil heating is because it was build on a rubbish tip and there are, therefore, pockets of potentially explosive methane still underneath which the heating pipes could ignite.
We were in the rooftop bar of the hotel at the time, so the sights were very spectacular. Our need to eat got the better of us though, and as there were no taxi hires available we cancelled our first choice venue and walked, or more likely slide, down the hill to a nearby pizzeria.
We had a tolerable meal, however the highlight was watching the Roman equivalent of a grit waggon in operation. Coming slowly up the hill was a builders truck of the type you would expect your jobbing roofer to have. Open at the back it housed several bags of grit and two men with garden trowels. These two individuals then sprayed the salt onto the road before a bulldozer followed along behind and picked it all up again!! Priceless.
The game this year was played at the stadium built for the 1960 Olympic Games, and a very fine stadium it is too. There was no under soil heating though so the game went ahead on a partially snow covered surface, and suffered a bit for that, but a win is a win and England move on to face Wales in a potential grand slam decider.
The stadium was my sixth Olympic stadium, although I have no particular wish to tick the rest off.
So all in all Rome was extremely cold and extremely expensive. Most meals worked out at about £50 per head and our top bar bill was £157.00 for 12 drinks. The Euro zone needs to get itself under control before I think about going there again.
Still at least we got a match in, pity the poor Irish supporters in Paris who had to travel from the centre to Stade France only to be told the game was off, so having to travel back into town only to find somebody had nicked their seats, they have to do it all over again on 4th March, c'est la vie.
Interestingly the reason it was built without under soil heating is because it was build on a rubbish tip and there are, therefore, pockets of potentially explosive methane still underneath which the heating pipes could ignite.
Thursday 26 January 2012
Kung Fu Panda
The panda's were not the only reason we were in Edinburgh, but it would have been churlish to miss the opportunity to go and see them. It has been about 17 years since panda's were last in a British zoo, although they were a major attraction at London Zoo in the seventies. Chi Chi and An An were a star attaction although their discussions about Uganda came to nothing which was a disappointment for the zoo. Chi Chi is now stuffed and displayed in the national History Museum in London.
Anyway, back to Edinburgh and Tian Tian and Yang Guang. The zoo sell tickets to see the panda's in 15 minute slots throughout the day. It's included in the zoo entry fee which is a reasonable way to go about it. Unfortunately Yang Guang, the male, has got colic at the moment so he is resting up and is out of sight in his panda den.
If that's the case, Edinburgh zoo will not know whats happened to them as visitor numbers will go through the roof. So if you find yourself in Edinburgh do go and see them, but do bear in mind there is not a lot else to see in the zoo, although the penguins are always good value.
Anyway, back to Edinburgh and Tian Tian and Yang Guang. The zoo sell tickets to see the panda's in 15 minute slots throughout the day. It's included in the zoo entry fee which is a reasonable way to go about it. Unfortunately Yang Guang, the male, has got colic at the moment so he is resting up and is out of sight in his panda den.
Tian Tian, however, was happy as Larry as she chewed away on her bamboo and allowed us to snap away to her hearts content. Tian Tian has already given birth to twin panda's in a previous life, and Yang Guang himself has fathered a child panda, so the staff at Edinburgh are confident that they will be presented with a baby sometime during the ten years they are in residence.
Wednesday 25 January 2012
Sydney Carton
Yesterday I travelled into Canary Wharf courtesy of the Docklands Light Railway. It is now a tried and tested part of the London transport infrastructure and it links the East End to South London using a series of disused and rebuilt railway tracks as well as some complex interchanges which have been built especially for the job.
It is a very effective way of getting around, the trains are driverless and the system is cashless as it utilises the Oyster card payment system. It links with the Croydon tram system which runs from Wimbledon to New Addington as well as the underground system at Bank, and the overground at Shadwell among other interchanges.
Compare that then with the efforts of Edinburgh to build and operate a tram line through their great city. SWMBO and I went up there this weekend to see the giant panda as well as have a couple of days break. Given it is two years since we were last there, we expected to see the trams buzzing up and down Princes Street crushed with people hanging on the sides like they do in San Francisco.
Lo, not a tram did we see. The engineering work started in 2008 so you would have thought that the route would be finished by now. The project, however, has been blighted by bad management, bad planning and constructor disputes which have several times put the whole project at risk.
For those not familiar with the topology of Edinburgh, the plan was to initially run from Gogar in the West to Leith in the East. A single line would run through Haymarket, Princes Street and St Andrews Square before joining Leith Street on its journey to the Forth and the Royal Yacht Britannia.
Why it did not start at the airport which is only a short hop from Gogar, I have no idea. It had no fans amongst the taxi drivers of the city, and as time went on, amongst the population either.
To save money, the line was modified to go from Gogar to St Andrews Square, where it could link with the mainline station and the bus depot, but now it has been reined back to stop at Haymarket, a projected eleven stops before St Andrews Square, and frankly, in the middle of nowhere.
The lines remain in place along the route, and this weekend the trams were tested at the Gogar marshaling yards. When they will start taking fee paying passengers remains to be seen. The project has over spent by an enormous amount. I just wonder if Scotland are to be trusted with their independence if this is the sort of project they would have control over.
It is a very effective way of getting around, the trains are driverless and the system is cashless as it utilises the Oyster card payment system. It links with the Croydon tram system which runs from Wimbledon to New Addington as well as the underground system at Bank, and the overground at Shadwell among other interchanges.
Compare that then with the efforts of Edinburgh to build and operate a tram line through their great city. SWMBO and I went up there this weekend to see the giant panda as well as have a couple of days break. Given it is two years since we were last there, we expected to see the trams buzzing up and down Princes Street crushed with people hanging on the sides like they do in San Francisco.
Lo, not a tram did we see. The engineering work started in 2008 so you would have thought that the route would be finished by now. The project, however, has been blighted by bad management, bad planning and constructor disputes which have several times put the whole project at risk.
For those not familiar with the topology of Edinburgh, the plan was to initially run from Gogar in the West to Leith in the East. A single line would run through Haymarket, Princes Street and St Andrews Square before joining Leith Street on its journey to the Forth and the Royal Yacht Britannia.
Why it did not start at the airport which is only a short hop from Gogar, I have no idea. It had no fans amongst the taxi drivers of the city, and as time went on, amongst the population either.
To save money, the line was modified to go from Gogar to St Andrews Square, where it could link with the mainline station and the bus depot, but now it has been reined back to stop at Haymarket, a projected eleven stops before St Andrews Square, and frankly, in the middle of nowhere.
The lines remain in place along the route, and this weekend the trams were tested at the Gogar marshaling yards. When they will start taking fee paying passengers remains to be seen. The project has over spent by an enormous amount. I just wonder if Scotland are to be trusted with their independence if this is the sort of project they would have control over.
Wednesday 18 January 2012
Bayko to Lego
The book of maps which I was given for Christmas represents a smartly bound volume of extracts relating to Lorne Road.. It commences with the Landranger series from 2011 before moving through a range of National grid series maps. In this case it shows 1982, 1954, 1938, 1913, 1899 and 1882.
I know from other sources that the house was built during the early 1870's and it is interesting how there was little or no development across the road from the house until 1900. There was then a steady increase in development in the 1960's and 1970's as the Birkenhead conurbation moved towards the newly constructed M53. The M53 now acts as a development barrier and the land to the West of it still remains predominantly green belt.
One thing that did surprise me was the lack of war damage shown on the maps, although there may not have been specific cartography during 1938 and 1954. It is also iinteresting that trams ran past the house from early in 1900 to the late 1950's.
I am now researching The Architect journal which was published between 1869 and 1926 to see if there is any reference to the Shrewsbury Estate development in Oxton, on which we sit. A few days in Collindale at the National newspaper library should sort that out.
I know from other sources that the house was built during the early 1870's and it is interesting how there was little or no development across the road from the house until 1900. There was then a steady increase in development in the 1960's and 1970's as the Birkenhead conurbation moved towards the newly constructed M53. The M53 now acts as a development barrier and the land to the West of it still remains predominantly green belt.
One thing that did surprise me was the lack of war damage shown on the maps, although there may not have been specific cartography during 1938 and 1954. It is also iinteresting that trams ran past the house from early in 1900 to the late 1950's.
I am now researching The Architect journal which was published between 1869 and 1926 to see if there is any reference to the Shrewsbury Estate development in Oxton, on which we sit. A few days in Collindale at the National newspaper library should sort that out.
Thursday 12 January 2012
British standard handful
People have been searching for the ultimate question ever since Douglas Adams, in the Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy, indicated that the ultimate answer was 42. In the minds of dads and lads, however, there has been a search for the answer to a much more fundamental question,'just what is a British standard handful'?
At last we are able to reach a conclusion, and it is all as a result of the unfortunate news that breast implants from the French company PIP have been manufactured with non-medical grade silicone, and many thousands of women will need to have them removed, or replaced..
Clearly displayed on the implant exterior, during all the press coverage they have been getting, is the volume indicator 400cc. So now we all know.
At last we are able to reach a conclusion, and it is all as a result of the unfortunate news that breast implants from the French company PIP have been manufactured with non-medical grade silicone, and many thousands of women will need to have them removed, or replaced..
Clearly displayed on the implant exterior, during all the press coverage they have been getting, is the volume indicator 400cc. So now we all know.
Wednesday 11 January 2012
Tuesday 10 January 2012
Ugandan Discussions
I have finally found time to sort and assess my Christmas presents. Its not a hard task, it just needs a few quiet moments.
I get quite a few golf related presents, balls and clothing mainly, and they are always appreciated. It is a bit bizarre, though, to think that the balls will be in somebody else's pocket by the end of the year, or in a lake or deep in the deepest wood!
I got shirts, and jumpers, most of which were self selected, so they were a good gift. I also got a pair of shoe spikes to save me falling over too much on the ice and snow should it recur, and a pilates mat for my stretching classes!!!
My other gifts were literary in nature. My main gift was a Kindle and I will be experimenting with that shortly. I also got a book of maps relating to the house we live in at the moment. I think that deserves a blog entry of its own. Lastly I got the 50th anniversary book of Private Eye to go with the ten year and 25 year histories I already have.
It did, however, amaze the family when I indicated to them that I had been a contributor to the famous organ sometime in 1987. I also recall receiving a cheque for about £120 for the article.
My contribution all stemmed from plans which Thames Water and a company called Themeworld had for the rugby pitches which were used at the time by Twickenham rugby club. Themeworld were fronted by Rod Hull and Emu and the plan was to develop a theme park much like Alton Towers, on the site of the pitches.
Well there was uproar at the time as the park would have been developed in a fairly residential area of West Middlesex. We, therefore, started a publicity and opposition campaign which embraced the local MP of the time, Toby Jessel. I thought I would be somewhat satirical and using Rod Hull as a taxidermist, I wrote an article which Private Eye considered of sufficient humour and interest to publish in their news section at the rear of the organ.
I really must try to find the original piece as I am sure the kids don't believe me!!
I get quite a few golf related presents, balls and clothing mainly, and they are always appreciated. It is a bit bizarre, though, to think that the balls will be in somebody else's pocket by the end of the year, or in a lake or deep in the deepest wood!
I got shirts, and jumpers, most of which were self selected, so they were a good gift. I also got a pair of shoe spikes to save me falling over too much on the ice and snow should it recur, and a pilates mat for my stretching classes!!!
My other gifts were literary in nature. My main gift was a Kindle and I will be experimenting with that shortly. I also got a book of maps relating to the house we live in at the moment. I think that deserves a blog entry of its own. Lastly I got the 50th anniversary book of Private Eye to go with the ten year and 25 year histories I already have.
It did, however, amaze the family when I indicated to them that I had been a contributor to the famous organ sometime in 1987. I also recall receiving a cheque for about £120 for the article.
My contribution all stemmed from plans which Thames Water and a company called Themeworld had for the rugby pitches which were used at the time by Twickenham rugby club. Themeworld were fronted by Rod Hull and Emu and the plan was to develop a theme park much like Alton Towers, on the site of the pitches.
Well there was uproar at the time as the park would have been developed in a fairly residential area of West Middlesex. We, therefore, started a publicity and opposition campaign which embraced the local MP of the time, Toby Jessel. I thought I would be somewhat satirical and using Rod Hull as a taxidermist, I wrote an article which Private Eye considered of sufficient humour and interest to publish in their news section at the rear of the organ.
I really must try to find the original piece as I am sure the kids don't believe me!!
Wednesday 4 January 2012
Singing in the Rain
SWMBO and I spent New Year away this year, combining my middle god daughters 21st birthday with a chance to escape home life. We had eighteen for Christmas dinner and then 40 odd on Boxing Day as well as Emma's 30th on 23rd Dec. Two big do's back to back will not be repeated.
Anyway, we spent six hours on various parts of the English motorway system, stopping only for petrol and a coffee, trying to get to the 21st birthday. We left Scouseland at 10:00 expecting to be there for lunch, but arrived so late that that was all finished. The motorways in England are a bit like EasyJet, great when they work but the worst of the worst when there is even the slightest problem. The invitation did, however, motivate me to book a New Year's break. The challenge was where to go, as we had never done this sort of thing before.
The first thoughts take one back to tried and trusted locations. The Manor House on Dartmoor , now called Bovey Hall, has a wonderful golf course, and as well as laying on cookery demonstrations, there was ferret racing, organised walks and cream tea's. The price for two nights over New Year was over £2500 so I gave that one a miss. Moving closer to the party location, the New Forest had a certain appeal, so I tried the Lyndhurst Park hotel which I used to use when I was running education classes for IBM in the late 70's and early 80's. The girl on the switchboard was a bit slow and did not really do a good job of selling their gala dinner to me, so it was down to random hits on the internet.
The Christchurch Harbour Hotel won the vote, so tired and hungry we arrived in Mudeford to enjoy four days of unbridled pampering.
The first day we went to Highcliffe to blow away the cobwebs, then hit a Thai restaurant in the local pub. It was quiz night, but no drag queens in sight on this occasion. Next day we went to Burley and surprised ourselves by buying a walking guide and yomping through the New Forest for most of the day. This will shock our walking friends, although they will be reassured by the fact SWMBO had on a full length camel coat and I was in my pea coat!! You can't beat spontaneity
Joy of joys on the way back as we stumbled upon a Fuller's pub not too far from the hotel so a couple of pints of Pride were consumed in no time!
Our final outing was to Poole harbour and Sandbanks. Poole harbour has a most interesting and concentrated array of pub's as well as being home to the SunSeeker motor cruiser industry. Sandbanks is one of the most expensive areas of real estate in the Country. Not sure why exactly as very few properties have much land, and there must be equally impressive sea views elsewhere.
New Year's Eve was very pleasant. 140 people sat down for a black tie event which was relaxed and entertaining all at the same time. We may well do it again.
Anyway, we spent six hours on various parts of the English motorway system, stopping only for petrol and a coffee, trying to get to the 21st birthday. We left Scouseland at 10:00 expecting to be there for lunch, but arrived so late that that was all finished. The motorways in England are a bit like EasyJet, great when they work but the worst of the worst when there is even the slightest problem. The invitation did, however, motivate me to book a New Year's break. The challenge was where to go, as we had never done this sort of thing before.
The first thoughts take one back to tried and trusted locations. The Manor House on Dartmoor , now called Bovey Hall, has a wonderful golf course, and as well as laying on cookery demonstrations, there was ferret racing, organised walks and cream tea's. The price for two nights over New Year was over £2500 so I gave that one a miss. Moving closer to the party location, the New Forest had a certain appeal, so I tried the Lyndhurst Park hotel which I used to use when I was running education classes for IBM in the late 70's and early 80's. The girl on the switchboard was a bit slow and did not really do a good job of selling their gala dinner to me, so it was down to random hits on the internet.
The Christchurch Harbour Hotel won the vote, so tired and hungry we arrived in Mudeford to enjoy four days of unbridled pampering.
The first day we went to Highcliffe to blow away the cobwebs, then hit a Thai restaurant in the local pub. It was quiz night, but no drag queens in sight on this occasion. Next day we went to Burley and surprised ourselves by buying a walking guide and yomping through the New Forest for most of the day. This will shock our walking friends, although they will be reassured by the fact SWMBO had on a full length camel coat and I was in my pea coat!! You can't beat spontaneity
Joy of joys on the way back as we stumbled upon a Fuller's pub not too far from the hotel so a couple of pints of Pride were consumed in no time!
Our final outing was to Poole harbour and Sandbanks. Poole harbour has a most interesting and concentrated array of pub's as well as being home to the SunSeeker motor cruiser industry. Sandbanks is one of the most expensive areas of real estate in the Country. Not sure why exactly as very few properties have much land, and there must be equally impressive sea views elsewhere.
New Year's Eve was very pleasant. 140 people sat down for a black tie event which was relaxed and entertaining all at the same time. We may well do it again.
Tuesday 3 January 2012
2011 and all that
So we enter a new year, and the blog stats are telling me I must do better. I only posted 29 times during 2011 compared with a peak of 88 during 2007, a year which was only 8 months long in blog land. My posts have steadily declined year on year, so one New Year resolution is to post more blogs! I also plan to launch 'The Philanderer, the first four years' as a mobi file, but more of that later in the month.
2011 has been a year of ups and downs for us. Its memory will be dominated by the untimely death of SWMBO's brother Martin in Boston, USA. He was in his forties and having suffered a heart attack and he was unable to be resuscitated in time by the crash team. The family flew to Boston and waited by his bed for good news, but sadly none came.
Similar sad news surrounds my good friend Dave 'Cellnet' Jones who was sectioned earlier in the year and subsequently diagnosed with dementia. He is younger than me and one does wonder whether his extensive work with mobile phones was a contributing factor to his illness. His neighbour Graham Jones lost his wife Judy, after a long battle with cancer. So not a year to be keeping up with the Joneses.
There were good family events though. The wedding of Rebecca and Jon was great and it was foll0wed soon after by the engagement of Kieran and Hannah . The year was topped and tailed by the arrival of more baby girls. My cousin Mike has three girls, and his oldest now also has three girls, so quite how you get a boy to pop out is something I will have to ask my mate Dick about, as he has three of them!!!
Work on the house continued, not always as planned, and while the redesign of the bathrooms ran over estimate, it was the roof expense which was an unfortunate addition to the maintenance budget. Anyway, hopefully we are all done now for a while. The basement is the final area to be subject to a face lift and that can wait a bit longer.
We managed a few trips, most notably to Mauritius, but also to the Lake District twice and Ireland. Golf took me to Portugal twice, and we spent a few days in Christchurch, Dorset over New Year.
So what of 2012, the year of the Diamond Jubilee of QEII and the olympic games?
I have already indicated I will be blogging more (than 2011 at least), I will be taking SWMBO away more and be trying to get back into my running regime. That though will depend on my knees holding out.
I would love to get to a golf championship final, with Turnberry being one such target, however, I am still in the Daily Telegraph knock-out with my 4th round match on the horizon, and a couple more events to come up.
Other than that I will continue to work hard and play as hard as I can manage these days, so hope to have plenty to report on in the coming months.
A Happy New Year to all my readers
2011 has been a year of ups and downs for us. Its memory will be dominated by the untimely death of SWMBO's brother Martin in Boston, USA. He was in his forties and having suffered a heart attack and he was unable to be resuscitated in time by the crash team. The family flew to Boston and waited by his bed for good news, but sadly none came.
Similar sad news surrounds my good friend Dave 'Cellnet' Jones who was sectioned earlier in the year and subsequently diagnosed with dementia. He is younger than me and one does wonder whether his extensive work with mobile phones was a contributing factor to his illness. His neighbour Graham Jones lost his wife Judy, after a long battle with cancer. So not a year to be keeping up with the Joneses.
There were good family events though. The wedding of Rebecca and Jon was great and it was foll0wed soon after by the engagement of Kieran and Hannah . The year was topped and tailed by the arrival of more baby girls. My cousin Mike has three girls, and his oldest now also has three girls, so quite how you get a boy to pop out is something I will have to ask my mate Dick about, as he has three of them!!!
Work on the house continued, not always as planned, and while the redesign of the bathrooms ran over estimate, it was the roof expense which was an unfortunate addition to the maintenance budget. Anyway, hopefully we are all done now for a while. The basement is the final area to be subject to a face lift and that can wait a bit longer.
We managed a few trips, most notably to Mauritius, but also to the Lake District twice and Ireland. Golf took me to Portugal twice, and we spent a few days in Christchurch, Dorset over New Year.
So what of 2012, the year of the Diamond Jubilee of QEII and the olympic games?
I have already indicated I will be blogging more (than 2011 at least), I will be taking SWMBO away more and be trying to get back into my running regime. That though will depend on my knees holding out.
I would love to get to a golf championship final, with Turnberry being one such target, however, I am still in the Daily Telegraph knock-out with my 4th round match on the horizon, and a couple more events to come up.
Other than that I will continue to work hard and play as hard as I can manage these days, so hope to have plenty to report on in the coming months.
A Happy New Year to all my readers
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