After a very alcoholic two days, Maxine and I have booked into The Priory. It's not all it sounds though. Our eldest, Tim, came up from London to help me celebrate my 65th birthday yesterday, so we had a few on Saturday night and carried on through yesterday afternoon and evening. We embraced the Refreshment Rooms for a spot of lunch to break it all up. It was a very enjoyable day, Becky made a fab cake modelled like a golf course which got finished off this morning at the golf club.
Number 2 son, Kieran, joined us later in the pub having been to London to run the BigHalf with Mo Farah and co. He did a commendable time of 1hour 44 minutes and had a very aesthetic medal to show for his efforts. Tim went back this morning so next challenge was a wedding in Inverness in late December!!
That's where the Priory came in. The wedding is on 27th December in Achnegairn Castle for which the wedding party has exclusive use for a couple of nights. We would like to stay a bit longer hence the need to find an alternative hotel. That's sorted now so on to next challenge which is to find somewhere near Perth to stay Boxing Day night. Don't you love weddings.
With all this inclement weather around if it hits Inverness in December there may not be a wedding.
We had drama this week as one of our overflow pipes froze and we had a second swimming pool appear on the kitchen floor. Luckily we are blessed with an excellent plumber so the damage was contained in the end to a bit of water staining to the ceiling. Still some repairs to make to the water tank but they should be fairly routine. What was not funny was trying to de-ice the pipes at 11o'clock at night!!
This entry signals the end of another month of diet change. I managed to weigh in at under 100kg this time which in old money is 15st 9lbs, a weight which I have not been for a long time. SWMBO informs me that I was 14st 8lbs when I met her in 2001. I know I was 12st 8lbs when I left school. Getting under 15st will suit me, although I am already starting to look a bit scrawny so just need to do things gradually.
Another significant milestone was achieved this morning as the car ticked over to 100000 miles. It is probably the first car I have had that has reached that milestone from new. It was born in 2009 so its only 12000 miles a year which is below average. Hopefully it's got a few more years left in it. It needs a service soon so lets see what the garage think about it all.
So on we go now to March, a month of rugby matches, golf dinners and the odd bit of exercise. I will be please to see no weight gain when next I venture onto the scales!
Monday, 5 March 2018
Monday, 29 January 2018
Is there life on Mars?
I wonder if David Bowie had the answer? I hope there is as I might need somewhere else to live soon. This Country is going sterile!
Would you rather be rescued by a hairy arsed male fire fighter or a buxom female fire fighter. Now there you are I am already trapped in the world of political correctness, and to a lesser extent, positive discrimination.
A fireman is now a fire fighter, a linesman is now an assistant referee and a policeman is now a police officer. Chairman is shortened to Chair, a postman has become a postal worker and a sex worker is the new name for a prostitute, or hooker.
That leads me seamlessly onto The President's Club gentlemen's evening at The Dorchester Hotel. As a result of a Financial Times reporter attending as an undercover hostess ( no pun intended) the event has been portrayed as a debauched and lewd occasion with the emphasis on the exploitation of the waitresses and hostess by rich and privileged male attendees. The President's Club has subsequently shut itself down and will be holding enquiries in the behaviour of it's members.
I am perplexed as to why the FT should suddenly want to model itself on the exploits of Fiona Richmond and her colleague in Men Only, who were always following up a juicy sex story before ending their reports as they got to the nitty gritty, with 'I then made my apologies and left', leaving the reader to only imagine what might have happened next.
I am also surprised that after 33 years, this event has been given the focus it has. I suspect the waitresses were paid much more than the minimum wage to be there, at least £150 being reported. The number of them involved indicates that many will have waited on at the event before, and no previous complaints of sexual harassment, or improper behaviour, have hit the press. Why suddenly now has it all come to a head.
Close on the heels of this expose, World darts announced it would stop having walk-on girls making an entrance with the darts players, and there are calls for boxing to stop using scantily clad girls to parade the board in the ring between rounds. Do these initiatives spell the end of the road for the Tiller Girls, the Folies Belgere or the Roxettes.
I do fear for this antiseptic society where every kid is portrayed as being a winner, even when they come last, where the male v female divide is fast becoming blurred or optional. Are we really teaching sex change education to teenage children. Alpha males need to let off steam, be that as part of sports teams, in tough muder challenges or at gentlemen's smoking evenings, to use an old fashioned description. Girls, women, ladies all need to understand that. They, themselves, now play rugby, football and cricket in numbers well in excess of those of their parents and participate in their own kind of horseplay afterwards. They have hen nights attended by buff butlers. Good luck to them.
All I wish is a bit of common sense in the modern world, and some pushback at the vocal minorities who hate to see people enjoying themselves in a way they don't approve of, or using old fashioned language in the way it was designed.
It's not rocket science, but if it is, then can I go to Mars please?
Would you rather be rescued by a hairy arsed male fire fighter or a buxom female fire fighter. Now there you are I am already trapped in the world of political correctness, and to a lesser extent, positive discrimination.
A fireman is now a fire fighter, a linesman is now an assistant referee and a policeman is now a police officer. Chairman is shortened to Chair, a postman has become a postal worker and a sex worker is the new name for a prostitute, or hooker.
That leads me seamlessly onto The President's Club gentlemen's evening at The Dorchester Hotel. As a result of a Financial Times reporter attending as an undercover hostess ( no pun intended) the event has been portrayed as a debauched and lewd occasion with the emphasis on the exploitation of the waitresses and hostess by rich and privileged male attendees. The President's Club has subsequently shut itself down and will be holding enquiries in the behaviour of it's members.
I am perplexed as to why the FT should suddenly want to model itself on the exploits of Fiona Richmond and her colleague in Men Only, who were always following up a juicy sex story before ending their reports as they got to the nitty gritty, with 'I then made my apologies and left', leaving the reader to only imagine what might have happened next.
I am also surprised that after 33 years, this event has been given the focus it has. I suspect the waitresses were paid much more than the minimum wage to be there, at least £150 being reported. The number of them involved indicates that many will have waited on at the event before, and no previous complaints of sexual harassment, or improper behaviour, have hit the press. Why suddenly now has it all come to a head.
Close on the heels of this expose, World darts announced it would stop having walk-on girls making an entrance with the darts players, and there are calls for boxing to stop using scantily clad girls to parade the board in the ring between rounds. Do these initiatives spell the end of the road for the Tiller Girls, the Folies Belgere or the Roxettes.
I do fear for this antiseptic society where every kid is portrayed as being a winner, even when they come last, where the male v female divide is fast becoming blurred or optional. Are we really teaching sex change education to teenage children. Alpha males need to let off steam, be that as part of sports teams, in tough muder challenges or at gentlemen's smoking evenings, to use an old fashioned description. Girls, women, ladies all need to understand that. They, themselves, now play rugby, football and cricket in numbers well in excess of those of their parents and participate in their own kind of horseplay afterwards. They have hen nights attended by buff butlers. Good luck to them.
All I wish is a bit of common sense in the modern world, and some pushback at the vocal minorities who hate to see people enjoying themselves in a way they don't approve of, or using old fashioned language in the way it was designed.
It's not rocket science, but if it is, then can I go to Mars please?
You've lost two pounds?
I won't tell you the punch line from the Peter Kay joke above, but suffice to say that SWMBO and I are trying to lose some weight. 'Are you on a diet?' people say, and it just once again illustrates problems with basic language.
Yes, we are on a diet, but we are always on a diet, and so is the rest of the population. All we have done is modify our existing diet, so it becomes a new diet. Diet, though, seems to be associated with a radical change of eating habits, which is not always the case.
That said, I have not had a pie, chips, cakes, sweets or chocolate now for a month. We have removed white bread and pasta form our diet ( see what I mean) and are eating more fruit, drinking more fresh juices and have cut down our alcohol consumption.
Will it work? Well weighing day is just round the corner and the first time usually indicates some weight loss as the excess fluid is the first thing to go. February and March will be a bit of a tester with rugby trips and such like scheduled, so time will tell.
While I am on my language hobby horse, 'the player has pace' is another expression which annoys me. We all have pace, just some people have a quick pace and others a slow pace. 'The player is quick' or ' he shows a good turn of speed' better describe what people are trying to say.
Whatever you do, don't get me onto 'simplistic' when 'simple' will do, or.........
I think I need a lie down!
Yes, we are on a diet, but we are always on a diet, and so is the rest of the population. All we have done is modify our existing diet, so it becomes a new diet. Diet, though, seems to be associated with a radical change of eating habits, which is not always the case.
That said, I have not had a pie, chips, cakes, sweets or chocolate now for a month. We have removed white bread and pasta form our diet ( see what I mean) and are eating more fruit, drinking more fresh juices and have cut down our alcohol consumption.
Will it work? Well weighing day is just round the corner and the first time usually indicates some weight loss as the excess fluid is the first thing to go. February and March will be a bit of a tester with rugby trips and such like scheduled, so time will tell.
While I am on my language hobby horse, 'the player has pace' is another expression which annoys me. We all have pace, just some people have a quick pace and others a slow pace. 'The player is quick' or ' he shows a good turn of speed' better describe what people are trying to say.
Whatever you do, don't get me onto 'simplistic' when 'simple' will do, or.........
I think I need a lie down!
January monthly review
Christmas has passed and the Hillhouse occupants have eased into the New Year. Both girls, Emma and Becky have new homes to furnish and manage as they seem to have got themselves settled into other areas of the Wirral. Emma's girls have settled into Birkenhead High School Academy so SWMBO only has Emilie to look after during the day, although school pick-up duties are still required.
Wallasey golf club continues to see far more of me than I had planned, but with a relatively mild Winter, the links have stood up well, and the sandy subsoil enables ma and my fellow members to play any day we wish. Neighbouring clubs on clay bases are struggling with courses or sections of courses closed for days on end. As a result, the applications for membership has escalated and there is now a waitlist as well as a sizeable one-off joining fee when looking to become a member.
SWMBO has a significant birthday this year, so I am whisking her off to the Seychelles and Mauritius later in the year. We have never been to the Seychelles, as much because I have always felt it would be a bit too relaxed with little to do, as for any other reason. You will not be surprised when I say that the hotel I have found has the only 18 hole golf course in the Seychelles, so I thought that would be ideal. We stay there a week and then travel to Mauritius for a week for a bit of pampering and, oh yes, more golf!!
As a warm up I have again entered the Sir Gary Sobers golf festival in Barbados in April, and as way of a change we are staying on the West coast so we can sample the delights of The Cliff, Tides, Daphne's and Sandy Lane, as well as Holetown and Ape's Hill.
We might try and schedule some decorating while we are away as SWMBO thinks the paintwork is getting a bit tired!
The London branch did not make it up North for Christmas, so we are trying to fit in trips in both directions to meet up, but with term time commitments it is not easy to get them all together. Tim, though, is hoping to get to Liverpool for my 65th in a few weeks time. I am waiting to see how much the government are going to give me for getting old!!
As we move towards February, and the start of the international rugby season it will be time to meet up with a few old mate's and tell all the stories we have been telling for years. Some things never change!
Wallasey golf club continues to see far more of me than I had planned, but with a relatively mild Winter, the links have stood up well, and the sandy subsoil enables ma and my fellow members to play any day we wish. Neighbouring clubs on clay bases are struggling with courses or sections of courses closed for days on end. As a result, the applications for membership has escalated and there is now a waitlist as well as a sizeable one-off joining fee when looking to become a member.
SWMBO has a significant birthday this year, so I am whisking her off to the Seychelles and Mauritius later in the year. We have never been to the Seychelles, as much because I have always felt it would be a bit too relaxed with little to do, as for any other reason. You will not be surprised when I say that the hotel I have found has the only 18 hole golf course in the Seychelles, so I thought that would be ideal. We stay there a week and then travel to Mauritius for a week for a bit of pampering and, oh yes, more golf!!
As a warm up I have again entered the Sir Gary Sobers golf festival in Barbados in April, and as way of a change we are staying on the West coast so we can sample the delights of The Cliff, Tides, Daphne's and Sandy Lane, as well as Holetown and Ape's Hill.
We might try and schedule some decorating while we are away as SWMBO thinks the paintwork is getting a bit tired!
The London branch did not make it up North for Christmas, so we are trying to fit in trips in both directions to meet up, but with term time commitments it is not easy to get them all together. Tim, though, is hoping to get to Liverpool for my 65th in a few weeks time. I am waiting to see how much the government are going to give me for getting old!!
As we move towards February, and the start of the international rugby season it will be time to meet up with a few old mate's and tell all the stories we have been telling for years. Some things never change!
Tuesday, 19 December 2017
Oh come all ye faithful
The Varsity rugby match has traditionally been the start of my Christmas build-up. It used to be the only game of rugger I could temp my old mate Figs to go and see. We would have a belter of an evening and things kicked on from there.
These days the pre-Christmas alcoholically dominated lunches are few and far between so I have to make extra efforts to find and attend them. There have been a couple of Turkey Trot events at the golf club, and we have just returned from the London branch Christmas party weekend which was very enjoyable.
With only a few days to go though, I might be a little bit too sober for the Christmas festivities, of which I am less and less a fan as I enter my twilight years. I am off to Chester tomorrow to continue an IBM Northern tradition of red wine and lunch with Cookie. We have been doing this sort of thing for years and as neither of us could make the bigger do in Manchester last week we are having a cosy twosome in a suitable establishment.
Last night I went to the Liverpool Anglian cathedral where oldest ankle biter, Ava, was in her school choir. They were very good but most of the other choirs were not, and at times it felt we were in a requiem mass rather than a jolly Christmas event. Come on Radio City, buck your ideas up for next year.
Ava was amazed by the cathedral however, and she had every reason to be. It is the largest cathedral in the UK, and the fifth largest in the World. It was completed only as recently as 1979 and took 74 years to complete. Giles Gilbert Scott, a 22 year old, won a competition to design and build the cathedral, and he had to wait until 1942 before he could lay the final stone on the massive tower, which at its highest point is almost 100 yards above the cathedral floor. He sadly died in 1960 and was unable to see his life's work completed. For a choir of seven and eight year olds to bash out a few carols in such a structure must have been an amazing experience, as it was for us to watch Ava and her class mates do so.
I have one problem with the cathedral, and that is caused only by my warped mind. Above the great entrance there is a neon sign in the handwriting of Tracey Emin. It is therefore a prominent work of art. It reads ' I felt you and I knew you loved me'. Strange words to have in a church, given the current trend for tabloid exposes of the clergy!
These days the pre-Christmas alcoholically dominated lunches are few and far between so I have to make extra efforts to find and attend them. There have been a couple of Turkey Trot events at the golf club, and we have just returned from the London branch Christmas party weekend which was very enjoyable.
With only a few days to go though, I might be a little bit too sober for the Christmas festivities, of which I am less and less a fan as I enter my twilight years. I am off to Chester tomorrow to continue an IBM Northern tradition of red wine and lunch with Cookie. We have been doing this sort of thing for years and as neither of us could make the bigger do in Manchester last week we are having a cosy twosome in a suitable establishment.
Last night I went to the Liverpool Anglian cathedral where oldest ankle biter, Ava, was in her school choir. They were very good but most of the other choirs were not, and at times it felt we were in a requiem mass rather than a jolly Christmas event. Come on Radio City, buck your ideas up for next year.
Ava was amazed by the cathedral however, and she had every reason to be. It is the largest cathedral in the UK, and the fifth largest in the World. It was completed only as recently as 1979 and took 74 years to complete. Giles Gilbert Scott, a 22 year old, won a competition to design and build the cathedral, and he had to wait until 1942 before he could lay the final stone on the massive tower, which at its highest point is almost 100 yards above the cathedral floor. He sadly died in 1960 and was unable to see his life's work completed. For a choir of seven and eight year olds to bash out a few carols in such a structure must have been an amazing experience, as it was for us to watch Ava and her class mates do so.
I have one problem with the cathedral, and that is caused only by my warped mind. Above the great entrance there is a neon sign in the handwriting of Tracey Emin. It is therefore a prominent work of art. It reads ' I felt you and I knew you loved me'. Strange words to have in a church, given the current trend for tabloid exposes of the clergy!
Tuesday, 21 November 2017
Georgia on my mind
In 1996 SWMBO and I were fortunate enough to be volunteers at the Olympic Games in Atlanta USA. Our brief was to help man the Georgia Dome, a multisports venue which, at the time had been purpose built for the Atlanta Games.
We worked some long and hard shifts from 06:00 in the morning to gone midnight some days. venue was split in two and was used for the men and women gymnastics and the men and women basketball events. We were lucky enough to be on duty in both halves of the arena at various times.
We met the world during those two weeks, which nearly became three, as the pre-qualifiers began before the opening ceremony and the finals of the basketball were held in the second official week.
I chatted to the CEO of Delta Airlines who was happy with a bit of man chat while his wife and three daughters became engrossed in the women's gymnastics. SWMBO was vetted for a visit by Bill Clinton, but that never came off which was a pity. Our uniforms were awful, but did get us lifts home in the rain on a couple of occasions.
Today, therefore, marks an end of an era, as the Georgia Dome was detonated and reduced to rubble in the space of very few seconds. It was a 21 storey building and the biggest indoor sporting arena in the World when it was built. There are , no doubt, plans to erect something else in it's place, but a bit of our heritage seems to have disappeared with the building today. Our memorial bricks are still in Centenary Park and some parts of Buckhead remain, like The Five Paces and Mike and Angelo's but progress has no time for sentiment so accept today for what it is and move on! An anniversary tour in 2021 might be a goer though, y'all.
We worked some long and hard shifts from 06:00 in the morning to gone midnight some days. venue was split in two and was used for the men and women gymnastics and the men and women basketball events. We were lucky enough to be on duty in both halves of the arena at various times.
We met the world during those two weeks, which nearly became three, as the pre-qualifiers began before the opening ceremony and the finals of the basketball were held in the second official week.
I chatted to the CEO of Delta Airlines who was happy with a bit of man chat while his wife and three daughters became engrossed in the women's gymnastics. SWMBO was vetted for a visit by Bill Clinton, but that never came off which was a pity. Our uniforms were awful, but did get us lifts home in the rain on a couple of occasions.
Today, therefore, marks an end of an era, as the Georgia Dome was detonated and reduced to rubble in the space of very few seconds. It was a 21 storey building and the biggest indoor sporting arena in the World when it was built. There are , no doubt, plans to erect something else in it's place, but a bit of our heritage seems to have disappeared with the building today. Our memorial bricks are still in Centenary Park and some parts of Buckhead remain, like The Five Paces and Mike and Angelo's but progress has no time for sentiment so accept today for what it is and move on! An anniversary tour in 2021 might be a goer though, y'all.
Thursday, 19 October 2017
Madeira cake
Hey, Wal hope you read this one....
Just back from a golf tour with the Twickenham lads. We do two UK tours followed by an overseas trip and this weekend it was away to Madiera, 8 of us go and that gives us four football matches for the Dom something or other trophy.
Wally and Gino were victorious with Adam snatching the individual in dank and misty conditions on the last day.
The first night was a Sangria sesh with mega pizza and silly drinking games. Somehow I became Original for the evening based on some resemblance to a famous brand of toffee. Others had cricket based nicknames like Freddie and Beefy. The rest of the night is a bit of a blur.
Day one golf was up the top of a mountain. This is not unusually for Madiera as it's volcanic and has limited flat bits. The evening was fancy dress with a nautical theme. I went as a shark and felt a bit underdressed compared with Nelson, Hagar the horrible, Blackbeard and Roger the cabin boy. Seamen Staines also came along.
Day two golf was also up a mountain and was a prelude to cocktail night.
I can remember Majita's, Capeira's, Aperol Spritz and possibly a Jasmine. Campari was defo involved somewhere.
The evening then moved more into my comfort zone with Brandy Alexander and Irish coffee before finishing with Gin and tonic.
I have never drunk G & T and can't quite work out how it is a cocktail.Fines were involved so I just got on with it.
Last day was up the same mountain as day two and was spoilt a bit by low cloud cover, rain and a temperature drop. Still it did not stop the trophies being decided, a bit of scoff being consumed and then an interesting flight home with hurricane Othelia blowing us back quicker than expected.
All in all a great three days but I get home to find SWMBO has disappeared off to Tanzania to see if the rumour are true. Is dental charity work a bridge too far?
Just back from a golf tour with the Twickenham lads. We do two UK tours followed by an overseas trip and this weekend it was away to Madiera, 8 of us go and that gives us four football matches for the Dom something or other trophy.
Wally and Gino were victorious with Adam snatching the individual in dank and misty conditions on the last day.
The first night was a Sangria sesh with mega pizza and silly drinking games. Somehow I became Original for the evening based on some resemblance to a famous brand of toffee. Others had cricket based nicknames like Freddie and Beefy. The rest of the night is a bit of a blur.
Day one golf was up the top of a mountain. This is not unusually for Madiera as it's volcanic and has limited flat bits. The evening was fancy dress with a nautical theme. I went as a shark and felt a bit underdressed compared with Nelson, Hagar the horrible, Blackbeard and Roger the cabin boy. Seamen Staines also came along.
Day two golf was also up a mountain and was a prelude to cocktail night.
I can remember Majita's, Capeira's, Aperol Spritz and possibly a Jasmine. Campari was defo involved somewhere.
The evening then moved more into my comfort zone with Brandy Alexander and Irish coffee before finishing with Gin and tonic.
I have never drunk G & T and can't quite work out how it is a cocktail.Fines were involved so I just got on with it.
Last day was up the same mountain as day two and was spoilt a bit by low cloud cover, rain and a temperature drop. Still it did not stop the trophies being decided, a bit of scoff being consumed and then an interesting flight home with hurricane Othelia blowing us back quicker than expected.
All in all a great three days but I get home to find SWMBO has disappeared off to Tanzania to see if the rumour are true. Is dental charity work a bridge too far?
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