Ok, the end of the working week was approaching fast and all I had to do was swap cars at the office and then I was almost done, well dear bloggee, nothing in life is that easy.
Thursday morning and I arrive at the office ready to swap cars at any minute, 8am comes and goes as does 9 and then, not surprisingly 10. No sign of the new car and no way to contact the appropriate driver to find out where he is, so I do the sensible thing and take someone else's car and leave the keys so it can all be sorted and I can return to the office at the end of the day.
This plan would have worked perfectly if, one, they had dropped the right car off and two, the M11/M25 junction had not come to a standstill just as I got to it at 3.15pm!
I waited in the sunshine, I spoke to my colleague who's car I had borrowed, I waited a bit more and we spoke a bit more. He was going out directly from work and his change of clothes was in the back, not a happy bunny when he looked up the problem and found delays were expected for another couple of hours. He went out without a change of clothes and I didn't get home until 8.30.
I arranged to meet him in the morning on his way to work, I think my face may well have told him the extent of my displeasure when I saw the replacement car, smaller than the one they had picked up and quite frankly not becoming of a man of my standing and stature!!
There followed a prolonged series of discussions between me, the hire arranger and the hire company which resulted in the correct car being delivered to my home at about 11.30am.
Now I had to fit the roof rack, pack the roof box, pack the car, pack the dog in the car which she wasn't that happy about, pack the family and set off, turn around and go back for the vital things forgotten, the bag with the phone chargers in! then get the dog out so she could have a wee and then get going again.
Hip Hip Hurray we're on holiday.
M25 delays
M1 more delays
M6 delays which were expected but made so much worse by the Friday night traffic which if we had left at 10am as the plan we would not have hit!!!!!!!
We arrive at our hotel in Preston just after 8 having arranged to meet family at a restaurant at 7, you can maybe already see the problem!
We finally ended up having a lovely meal and a very enjoyable evening. Ok I had a very enjoyable evening as I proceeded to get drunk. 'Good for you' I can hear you all saying.
Saturday morning came with a glimmer of Sun, which I saw rising majestically into the sky as the dog, who was in our room, wakes up at the Sun rises and greets the day with the enthusiasm that only a hungry Labrador can muster, deep joy.....
The actual holiday will follow shortly.
Monday, 12 August 2013
Wednesday, 31 July 2013
Post 2
Well a better day today with just enough breeze to keep the rain away, how that works I don't know because I have been caught many times in torrential rain and high winds. A storm!
See, this is the problem with getting older, you find yourself repeating inane conversations or sayings as if they had any kind of interest for other people. bit like blogging, 3 people read my first attempt yesterday and I wonder how many will read this one and if I will get any return visits or comments?
Any way moving on, I went back to rugby training last night and really enjoyed it but feel stiff as a board this morning. Not that kind of stiff either, aches and pains stiff!
I'm looking forward to the new season, and as we went to a party on Friday night and my wife, yes my wife agreed no actually encouraged that I should go on tour next year, training has taken on a new meaning. I will have to get on with people which is not one of my many strong points. More on those and the consequences of being a tour virgin at another time.
We got our new strip for the coming season and they are very nice but designed for fit types not 48 year olds who should know better!
I have always been quite broad but now unfortunately my width is more or less in a straight line up and down so whilst the chest has a little space where the lower half comes in to fit the ideal 'Y' shape mine is a little tight. No I am not going on a diet and yes I do get enough exercise.
Modern life is stressful, you may have noticed, with all the juggling of information that is circulated and restricted to some people and open to others, too much can be harmful to home life or work life and who you share it with can have far reaching repercussions but I'm all for as open a world as possible without causing yourself harm. Unfortunately this is not the view of a pip squeak yank who just flooded Wikileaks with stuff he really shouldn't have. The recording of the helicopter gun ship repeatedly firing on civilians and then the help that was coming to their aid should be out in the open and properly dealt with but page after page of secrets and confidential material file after file of information that he cannot of reviewed because of the vast amount and the way it was forwarded can and will have repercussions for some time to come. So no sympathy from me for what ever he gets!
Talking of sympathy, I do feel more than a little sorry for Vicky former wife of Hulmn or what ever the idiot is called, she was forced to take driving point to save his licence and reputation, he then was found to be doing the dirty on her so stupidly she blabs to a journo who tells the world and she ends up in prison. The final nail must be the ranks of privilege and establishment closing ranks around her and telling our beloved Majesty to remove some inconsequential but elite membership from her. Not fair I say, yes she was stupid to have allowed herself to be manoeuvred into the position she was but to have told the papers, what did she think was going to happen.
All about the sharing of information!!!
Well a better day today with just enough breeze to keep the rain away, how that works I don't know because I have been caught many times in torrential rain and high winds. A storm!
See, this is the problem with getting older, you find yourself repeating inane conversations or sayings as if they had any kind of interest for other people. bit like blogging, 3 people read my first attempt yesterday and I wonder how many will read this one and if I will get any return visits or comments?
Any way moving on, I went back to rugby training last night and really enjoyed it but feel stiff as a board this morning. Not that kind of stiff either, aches and pains stiff!
I'm looking forward to the new season, and as we went to a party on Friday night and my wife, yes my wife agreed no actually encouraged that I should go on tour next year, training has taken on a new meaning. I will have to get on with people which is not one of my many strong points. More on those and the consequences of being a tour virgin at another time.
We got our new strip for the coming season and they are very nice but designed for fit types not 48 year olds who should know better!
I have always been quite broad but now unfortunately my width is more or less in a straight line up and down so whilst the chest has a little space where the lower half comes in to fit the ideal 'Y' shape mine is a little tight. No I am not going on a diet and yes I do get enough exercise.
Modern life is stressful, you may have noticed, with all the juggling of information that is circulated and restricted to some people and open to others, too much can be harmful to home life or work life and who you share it with can have far reaching repercussions but I'm all for as open a world as possible without causing yourself harm. Unfortunately this is not the view of a pip squeak yank who just flooded Wikileaks with stuff he really shouldn't have. The recording of the helicopter gun ship repeatedly firing on civilians and then the help that was coming to their aid should be out in the open and properly dealt with but page after page of secrets and confidential material file after file of information that he cannot of reviewed because of the vast amount and the way it was forwarded can and will have repercussions for some time to come. So no sympathy from me for what ever he gets!
Talking of sympathy, I do feel more than a little sorry for Vicky former wife of Hulmn or what ever the idiot is called, she was forced to take driving point to save his licence and reputation, he then was found to be doing the dirty on her so stupidly she blabs to a journo who tells the world and she ends up in prison. The final nail must be the ranks of privilege and establishment closing ranks around her and telling our beloved Majesty to remove some inconsequential but elite membership from her. Not fair I say, yes she was stupid to have allowed herself to be manoeuvred into the position she was but to have told the papers, what did she think was going to happen.
All about the sharing of information!!!
Tuesday, 30 July 2013
A good place to start
Morning all,
Digger, your London builder and general good guy is here to entertain and inform.
It's raining, which has settled the dust but will mean London streets will suddenly become the battle field only umbrellas and bored children being dragged around by already fraught mothers can create.
If you listen carefully you can just hear the moaning majority stating emphatically that 'Summer has ended and it all the fault of' any of the following answers can be added-Global warming, Diesel cars/buses, the Mayor/Tories/Labour/The Unions, immigrants, gays, Muslims, Jews or any other innocent religion that is todays target of hate and of course, dependant upon the moanee's age, the young who have never had it so good (yes you can still hear that phrase being uttered) or the old who have ruined it for the young.
But fear not, I am soon to be on holiday, away from the stresses of site life to the tranquillity of the lakes. Where according to both BBC and Accu weathers it is going to rain every bloody day and be cold at night. Great, just what I have worked all year for, a week of depressing drizzle with a wet dog, bored teenagers and a soggy walk to an inhospitable pub with warm 'lank' bitter, you know what I mean the stuff made by 'Traditional' means from 'Local spring water' which reminds you of the fish tank water when you remembered you have a fish only to discover you HAD a fish and it seeds to have been in the past tense for quite some time. although the 'Lank' pint will have a head and your not very recently departed fish will not have caused much of a froth.
We will go in search of indoor entertainment, the pictures, and watch at least 2 blockbusters which none of us would have intended to see but at least its warm and dry and the smell of popcorn is always an aroma that brings a smile to ones face. Salty enough to make your lips sore and the over priced, ice flooded, drink a wise decision.
Back to the tiny cottage which looked so much bigger in the brochure, past other trapped families who fell into the trap of thinking it would be nice to holiday on home territory. Oh how they weep.
Last Summers sporting exploits made everyone remember how glorious the UK is and rightly so.
Beaches within easy reach, well if you live within reach of a beach they are. Landscapes renowned the world over even to the point of some mad group trying to protect a strip of land at Docklands that was the point where some painter as dead as your fish once painted a sunset or boat on the river or something, not the actual aspect, not the distant shore that is in the picture but the bit of land he stood on whilst her was doodling! Listen if that bit was worth saving he would have been on the other side of the bloody river painting in the opposite direction.
I digress, back to the wonders of Britain, some of the best culinary in the world, Chinese, Thai, Pizza available in even the smallest village throughout the land. Tea. The word stands alone, no-one in the civilised world drinks tea the way we do and in the quantities. Coffee is ok for hangovers when sweet tea is to be delayed in case it make a second appearance! and an Irish coffee is an ideal way to carry on drinking in a restaurant when your beloved has started to give you that 'you've had enough haven't you' look. but tea is the way to go, refreshing, warming and comforting.
Maybe I need to pack more tea bags for next week, I'll make room by leaving the sunscreen at home or maybe the kids.......
Digger, your London builder and general good guy is here to entertain and inform.
It's raining, which has settled the dust but will mean London streets will suddenly become the battle field only umbrellas and bored children being dragged around by already fraught mothers can create.
If you listen carefully you can just hear the moaning majority stating emphatically that 'Summer has ended and it all the fault of' any of the following answers can be added-Global warming, Diesel cars/buses, the Mayor/Tories/Labour/The Unions, immigrants, gays, Muslims, Jews or any other innocent religion that is todays target of hate and of course, dependant upon the moanee's age, the young who have never had it so good (yes you can still hear that phrase being uttered) or the old who have ruined it for the young.
But fear not, I am soon to be on holiday, away from the stresses of site life to the tranquillity of the lakes. Where according to both BBC and Accu weathers it is going to rain every bloody day and be cold at night. Great, just what I have worked all year for, a week of depressing drizzle with a wet dog, bored teenagers and a soggy walk to an inhospitable pub with warm 'lank' bitter, you know what I mean the stuff made by 'Traditional' means from 'Local spring water' which reminds you of the fish tank water when you remembered you have a fish only to discover you HAD a fish and it seeds to have been in the past tense for quite some time. although the 'Lank' pint will have a head and your not very recently departed fish will not have caused much of a froth.
We will go in search of indoor entertainment, the pictures, and watch at least 2 blockbusters which none of us would have intended to see but at least its warm and dry and the smell of popcorn is always an aroma that brings a smile to ones face. Salty enough to make your lips sore and the over priced, ice flooded, drink a wise decision.
Back to the tiny cottage which looked so much bigger in the brochure, past other trapped families who fell into the trap of thinking it would be nice to holiday on home territory. Oh how they weep.
Last Summers sporting exploits made everyone remember how glorious the UK is and rightly so.
Beaches within easy reach, well if you live within reach of a beach they are. Landscapes renowned the world over even to the point of some mad group trying to protect a strip of land at Docklands that was the point where some painter as dead as your fish once painted a sunset or boat on the river or something, not the actual aspect, not the distant shore that is in the picture but the bit of land he stood on whilst her was doodling! Listen if that bit was worth saving he would have been on the other side of the bloody river painting in the opposite direction.
I digress, back to the wonders of Britain, some of the best culinary in the world, Chinese, Thai, Pizza available in even the smallest village throughout the land. Tea. The word stands alone, no-one in the civilised world drinks tea the way we do and in the quantities. Coffee is ok for hangovers when sweet tea is to be delayed in case it make a second appearance! and an Irish coffee is an ideal way to carry on drinking in a restaurant when your beloved has started to give you that 'you've had enough haven't you' look. but tea is the way to go, refreshing, warming and comforting.
Maybe I need to pack more tea bags for next week, I'll make room by leaving the sunscreen at home or maybe the kids.......
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