The joys of winter...

I hate winter for obvious reasons. Namely:

1. the cold..
2. the fact that most are susceptible to catching a cold in the winter.
3. you have to buy more clothes to keep warm.
4. the gas bill sky rockets.
6. the cold...brrrrr

I much prefer spring/summer (apart from the bugs). I feel like I am coming down with a cold. It put it all down to the cold and a bad choice in footwear. I wear converses. They let the cold in real bad and I felt yesterday like my feet were in fact in blocks of ice. I’ve made a mental note now to wear my other trainers when going out. They are made out of the white leather stuff normal trainers are made out of and not material.

My weekend wasn’t bad in all honesty. It all kicked off on Thursday night. I went to a local bands gig and got wasted with friends and had a great time. Friday night came and it was a works night out. It was to be held at Formby Hall, an exclusive spa and golf resort. I enjoyed the night, which mainly consisted of a five course meal, followed by free champagne and a comedy act, which had me in stitches.

Before attending at the works Christmas gathering, I felt my confidence had come on leaps and bounds, but the first sight of mingling with other work colleagues, I went back to shy ole Mal, and just sat off on my own for some of the night. A few drinks later though, I was having good conversations with others. Overall it was a good night. I got back at 2am in the morning, and went straight to bed not before taking a pic of myself in my smart attire.

Later that day I awoke and went to collect my son, but as it was cold out, we stayed in. I had them overnight, as his mum, my ex was going out. She seems to be going out a lot lately and I’ll need to make a mental note to not agree to have them overnight as often. On the plus side though, she is paying me back some of the money she owes me bit by bit every weekend.

Sunday came and I had a great time with the kids through the day waiting for the ex to return to the house. As usual she took her time and I left hers at 3pm. I waited around for a bus for a long time being a Sunday and the cold got to me badly and later on I gradually felt worse for wear and sick. I couldn’t get the sleep properly as I was having violent shivering bouts and because of this my sore back really hurt. It has been hurting for a couple of days now. I’ve never felt anything like that. I was retching in pain and shivering really bad. I managed to get to sleep eventually after breathing deeply and the shivering subsided. This morning though, I have no energy at all and still feel bad, but I’ve made an effort to go into work. If it gets worse, I’ll ask for sick leave. Fingers crossed that I get over this quickly and it doesn’t worsen.

Apart from the doom and gloom I feel lately, the Christmas spirit has eventually caught up with me and I’ve been humming and singing Christmas songs around the house and in work. It’s contagious. I was tormenting my son and step son with repetitive OH OH OH!s and they did likewise. It was fun. I’ve made two Christmassy designs recently and I thought I’d share them with you good people.

Will update you all as to how I feel and what I get up to soon.

Smells Like Xmas Spirit

Me (aged 5?) with my best friend at the time, Old St Nick

The time is almost upon us when we swap presents, reunite with family and friends and everyone seems to be happy. Yet still, I find it increasingly hard to get into the spirit of things.... maybe its because I am single again with no family of my own any more to come home to after work, or put decorations up, to see excitement in their faces every day.. it puts a dampener on things and is like a dark cloud hanging over my heart. As does thinking about those not so fortunate, those who are homeless, have no families, those who suffer from day to day with no jobs or homes. My thoughts go out to them.

I want my son Kallam to get everything I did as a child, plenty of toys and all the sweets he can eat. In many ways I was spoilt and got nearly everything I wanted as a child. I now appreciate the effort my parents put into giving me the latest toy I was into just to make me happy. Now I want to do the same for my son, especially with me not being around as much since me and my ex split up back in March. I've bought him something already, but will buy more just before Christmas when I get paid. On an afterthought though, I definately do not want him to be as spoilt as I was, not taking getting toys for granted and knowing he'll get anything he wishes. It will be something I will work out as time passes, i'm sure.

As for recent events, Its been same old i'm afraid. Not much to report on. This weekend however I was asked to go out on the town by a friend and he said he would give me £10. How could I refuse?! I went out into the misty cold night with my friends going from club to club and had a good night. Can't ask for more then that. The next day I had my son, Kallam and Rhys for the day and minded them over night to give my ex a break, as she has been having a bad time with her relationship and her dad, who is terminally ill. Its the least i could do. It was good to have them, but equally stressfull. We had a great time though and it was good to spend the next morning with them watching childrens cartoons and chilling feeling that I am the luckiest guy around for having just a brilliant son. He means the world to me.

I am approaching the end of a great book series called The Dark Tower by Stephen King. Its been my reader's digest for over a year now and i've been hooked. Its all building to a climax. To explain the story would take forever. Click the link above for a wiki on it though. What is good about it is that its basically a fantasy/western epic story, which is set in the future. It follows the main character's journey to save the universe from evil by reaching The Dark Tower. He is aided along the way by three people, who are from a parallel universe, who he trains up to be gunslingers like himself. I'm totally emmersed in it and I am enjoying it so much. It will be sad to put it down after reading it all. I hope there is not an anti climax at the end... I will write a review on the whole series soon.

That is it for now. I will write another blog in the not so distant future.

Another much anticipated blog entry from me. (>>i created the pic to the leftt. Great innit :¬D)

Recently been feeling the need to move on with my life, get some motion going instead of being stationary at a pit stop with no engineers. The pit stop being my dad’s house. I started my adult life there moving out with my now ex, had a family and it all fell through and then with an emotional car crash of a heart I went back to my dad’s for a pit stop.

It never meant to be a permanent stay and after more than half a year, I think it’s time to move on. To where though? With property prices rising and rising, even property to let prices are sky high, checked one a couple of weeks back and the rent was unaffordable for me. I guess I should keep looking. Then there’s the cold empty loneliness that will be there whenever I go to this new accommodation. That in itself does not seem inviting. With living with my dad and his girlfriend, I at least have the company if needed. I seem to be wanting to move on but with nowhere to move on to. I will have to keep searching. Maybe it isn’t the right time yet. Maybe it will all happen in the new year. This year has not been kind to me at all and I want to leave it behind and start with 09 already. Sheesh lol

On a lighter note, Halloween came and went as fast as a speeding train and with it went memories of a good night with friends. I was invited to a good friend’s house for Halloween and they emphasised that it was fancy dress. So, I got to work on figuring out what to go as. I dismissed going as anything too predictable, e.g. a ghost, a vampire, the devil, Dale Winton and opted to go as something cool but still scary. I decided after a few days of intense pondering, to go as The Punisher. The Marvel character seemed ideal, with a big scary skull on his front, guns, a leather knee length coat and overall just seemed bad ass. I already had the leather coat, thanks to my dad buying one way back when and all I needed was the skull t-shirt.

Being the kind of laid back guy I am I left it to last minute and ordered one through play.com, but with two days to go to Halloween I was panicking. The costume all depended on this t-shirt. I decided to make my own just to be safe. I printed off the skull picture and enlarged it to A3 (twice the size of normal paper, not sure on US size of paper). Then I went and bought some thick white fabric. I cut out the skull logo and pinned it onto the fabric and cut out the skull. It turned out to be quite enjoyable and not as hard as I first thought. I then got my dad’s girlfriend to stitch it onto an old t shirt and the deed was done. The end product looked amazing. I felt accomplished and decided to wear the t-shirt no matter what, even if the t-shirt I ordered came in the post. (which it did yesterday – it looked below average compared to my home made one)

Halloween eventually turned up and I went straight after work to my friends house and chilled there for a bit and got dressed into my Halloween gear. They all commented on how bad ass it looked and I was well proud. The guests turned up one by one, their costumes ranging from The Hulk (painted green and ripped clothes lol I just had to laugh), a guy dressed in girls lingerie, and witches and devils. Unfortunately, my ex and her friend was there, but after a few drinks and staying in a different room I was the life of the party and had a laugh with those around me. I enjoyed it mucho.

The day after I was a bit worse for wear, but I pulled myself together after a few cups of coffee and a few bananas. I went to pick my son up and had a great day at my sisters. Hes getting to be a little cheeky now, grrring and smiling his face off. Gotta love him; he means the world to me and I can’t imagine life now without him. I could write a whole blog about how he makes my life worthwhile, or perhaps how his smile brightens my day, how proud of him I am, or maybe all these things. I however will not write these things, but will let them out occasionally in blog posts, as too much adoration can spoil things.

Sunday was spent going to see my nephew play rugby. (Thats him in black to the right fighting a losing battle of getting the ball past the opposition. I took many photos that day, most of which are in my facebook, so i cannot link to them unfortunately.) He has major potential, with enough encouragement to be a big league rugby star. He carries his team, tackling and scoring more than the others and he is often in the paper. Having effectively brought him up with my sister when she was a single mum, I feel in a way as if he was my own and I am proud of him. He is a bit misguided when out with friends as we all are at that age (13), however I try to give advice where and when I can. Not to mention my niece Jade (16) who I am also proud of. She is doing well at school and is about to go on to college. She’s got a well developed personality and is very mature. I told her the other day how the whole family are proud of her in a heartfelt internet convo and I meant every word. (she probably thought I was drunk or something or off my rocker lol)

That’s about it for an update. Will update when I have some news.

as the world goes round.

A little ditty to start this blog off:

As the world goes round
The worlds in depression
I get the impression
its time to leave this town

As the world goes round
crisis of the financial
the worlds gone mad
its time to keep feet on the ground

As the world goes round
people are thankful
for what they have
frantically cherishing every pound

Hi there, hope you enjoyed my little ode to current events. Felt creative there for some reason.

I've had bloggers block....... yes it sounds painfull, but no its just lack of things to put in this here blog. Somethings better then nothing i've realised. So thoughts and ramblings I am going to share with you from now on as well as what goes on in my life

.
Lately, has been uneventful.... a good start i know, but bare with me. My weeks are routine consisting of going to work and going home and spending the nights watching TV or going online. Its a good life and boredom doesn't bother me. I have a high tollerance for it. Its only when i come to write about my goings on that i get frustrated of being able to share nothing.

Recnently however, things are starting to happen. My dad and his girlfriend are currently en route to Scotland for a trip leaving me by myself for the entire weekend. Good or bad news....hmm, well now i get to not breathe in their smog as they puff ciggarettes every waking second or hear their bickering as they sip their whiskey of a night. So yeah, its excellent news.

I had plans this month. To get my boy's Christmas presents in, to get myself a PS3 or at least put some money away for one and to get some forms sent off for a new Provisional Driving licence. None of these have come to pass due to money restrictions i'm afraid to say. So yet again, they are put on the back burner until next month. Fingers crossed. Instead this month, i've been purchasing the odd piece of clothing that i think would suit me, but at the same time being reasonably priced. I seemed to have done a great job so far. No one will notice that the clothing i wear only cost me about £5 per item. I ain't big on spending loads on brand names. As long as i look good and feel comfy then whats the problem.

I had a deviant spell today. I needed to return some jeans to ASDA (our version of Walmart), but the cashier wouldn't take them back without a receipt. What was i supposed to do, just wear them and suck it in. They wouldn't even zip up when i tried them on at home (serves me right for not trying them on in the store when i bought them). I thus continued to gather the correct jeans from the rack that i wanted, took them into the changing rooms and swapped them there and then with the smaller jeans swapping tags and so on. ( i know, i know, its illegal, but i was fuming). I casually then walked out of the changing rooms, put the used jeans up on the hanger and walked out of the store whilst looking all paranoid, as us non-shoplifters do. I felt real guilty about it, but accomplished. I had visions of laughing in that cashier's face. HA!

anyways. Will leave it at that. Best wishes to my friend Emma who has been feeling under the weather lately. Hope you feel yourself soon.

Update ya later.

Listen up ok? its Blog Action Day!

Its an important present crisis in the world that needs to be recognised and a solution needs to be found for it.

That is the plan for the folks over at http://blogactionday.org/. Today more then 10.000 sites will participate in posting articles about a big global issue , about poverty. Their goal is to assign a DAY in a year when everybody should talk, write, read about a big global issue, about poverty. With even blogs like this we can make a bigger impact in transiting the message: we should act NOW in helping people and countries that are in poverty.

If you own a blog of your own, do your bit and mention poverty and your views. Thank you.

Back to the Past - part 2

Heres the second installment of my blogs from 2005. It seems so long ago now, almost as if looking back through different eyes. If i only knew then what i know now things would be so much different. This blog entry however never got published, the reason why escapes me, but maybe at the time I didn't feel like publishing it on the forum i used to visit. Here it is anyway.

Yet Another Entry (Draft)

Posted by Mal , 22 Mar 2005, 11:36 PM

Hi all, another entry here. Not much happening. My life is non-eventful. The regular occurrences that define boredom. But hey, it will do for now until something exciting comes along.

The divorce petition was sent to my ex in tx. Fair to say she wasn't happy at all with some of the reasons for divorce I put down in it. Mainly it was a list of all her flaws and bad points that she had while we were married. I didn't even know the exact list was going to be sent. I found out when I got messages saying "PHONE ME NOW!" and "WE NEED TO TALK". Fair to say I was a bit hesitant and crapping my pants when worrying about phoning. When I phoned she was in angry/crying mode. I tried to explain and calm her down. I apologised profusely, but nothing seemed to do the trick. Apparently, even though I said what I said, she would still fly over here to be with me, but I am set on the single life and our time in the sun has eclipsed.

That’s the exiting/nervous/sad part done, as for the rest of my time, I have been on the net talking to friends, playing online pool, playing on my new demolition derby game while thrashing out to rock. (rock on).

Life’s hard at home at the moment. Is has been 4 years this month since my mother died. It was her birthday, Mothers day and the date she died all in one month, being March. Safe to say it is not my favourite month. My dad is on a low because of it. He seems too fragile when it comes to do with anything like that. The poison he has chosen is Whisky. Yuck. Whenever I get upset, I just close down and withdraw, I don't drink. It is not even a way out, it is more like a tranquiliser. Anyways, seeing him acomatosed on the floor every night is not good to see and it always gets me upset. In a way I want to move out and get a place on my own, and in a way I don’t because it would upset my dad while he is going though stages like this.

I can say with some certainty that I am not saddened anymore by the passing of my mother, which is weird cause I was the closest to her during the final years, or maybe that is why I am not phased by it. My dad and brother I think took it the worst as they weren’t getting on. Will have to get something good to take to the cemetery for the grave.

Work is good. Got my pace of work set now to a timed perfection, but with a few mistakes, will have to work on it. My wrist has started to hurt when I overuse it, or rotate (like turning a key or pouring something). I bought a support on the net, but it seems it is a weightlifting support and doesn't really help. I think I have carpel tunnel syndrome or something.

Taking driving lessons at the moment. I did take some like two years ago, but I am desperate to get them finished so I can get the test done so I can get a car eventually. It will open opportunities for me. I enjoy driving, but when I make a mistake, I lock up and make more accidentally, I need to work on that.As for relationships - non-existent. I am trying to get out and socialise, but it seems hard to do, as I have no friends. They all left to go and do their own thing. (not my type anyway). The only one I go out for a night out with is Key (Cieran) my sister’s hubby. He is cool. A guitar enthusiast loves to jam with his guitar, and he likes rock music like me. Bit of a neat freak but he is a good laugh. He only seems to go out on a Tuesday for an Acoustic Night at a local pub. A bad day for me as I work the day after, would prefer a Friday or Saturday, but hey I am getting out. Just need to find the courage now to approach people and talk. Is hard to do, when your confidence has been knocked down by bad neighbours and bad arguments with lovers and family. (but I guess I am just making excuses for myself, I shouldn't really). I should make more of an effort.

Need to free up some space on my comp. My song total now is over 1,000 and it is slowing my comp down a lot. Might see about putting them all on disc, or getting more memory. I'm just a music freak. The bands I am listening to recently are Franz Ferdinand, The Killers, Ram Jam, Jet, The Bravery and more. All Rock of course, wouldn't have it any other way. (sorry the bananaman is cool)

Back to the Past - Part 1

Returning to one of my old internet hangouts recently, Halton Forum, a messageboard for the local area in which i live, i stumbled across my old blog dating back to 2005. Theres quite a few, lengthy entries there. I thought it would be a good idea to post some up here over the coming days to give you all a glimpse into my past, a time that was quite a struggle for me.

The backstory before i continue is that i had just come out of a two year marriage and at the time of the blogs, was going through divorce proceedings and getting myself back on track money wise and also trying to get back into dating again. Just thought I'd share them with you. Hope that they add more knowledge to those who want to get to know me more.

So, step into my time machine (a good link to the blog before hand ain't it) because we are going back to..........

13th Jan 2005.

A Quest to Purchase Spectigoggles....
Posted by Mal, 13 Jan 2005, 12:26 PM

Hi there, First Entry on my blog If you were able to decipher my title I today went to get my eyes tested. The results...... my eyes worsened since last time I got them tested.Went with my dad, who needed his doing too. Both going to get new glasses, mine going to be stylish and so are my dads, with free sunglasses.

After that went to make an appointment to get a divorce from my estranged ex. Yes, I am married, and also 22, *shock* *horror* *(add any emotion you want here)* I couldn’t be more happy to do so. She said she never missed me as much as she thought she did and didn't love me throughout the 3 year relationship, saying she always wanted to break up but couldn't bring herself around to it. Her loss I guess. I treated her the best a man could, falling over and bending over backwards to make her happy (literally). It might cost more because it is international but I will just have to get some advice so I know what I am doing and see how it goes from there.

....o0(divorced at 22, damn! give it time and I will catch up with Ross Geller! lol)

Feeling Not To Good
Posted by Mal , 14 Jan 2005, 08:45 PM

"woke up this mornin...(no it isn't a Hermans Hermits song) .... and I felt sooo tired. I got to bed early...ish and just felt so sluggish. With tiredness in my eyes, stumbling over the bomb site I call my room in a rush to turn my alarm off (I had to be a dumbass and place it across the room, or maybe my subconscious did it so I couldn't snooze lol ). Anyways, was really tired and groggy.

With head spinnin' headed downstairs after collecting all my work clothes from my wardrobe, to attempt to wake myself up with some coffee. My morning viewing consists of a documentary of monkeys in a sanctuary I think in the UK called Monkey Business (Channel 4 shoved my fave programs, Friends and Everybody Loves Raymond off the usual spot and instead show Big Brother). I find monkeys amazing so I don't mind watchin them, tis fun. Then after that watch a bit of big brother, which after watchin monkeys and then big bro, you kinda see the similarity. lol Especially with John, the big hairy ape.

Work was slow (always is), with hardly any calls and frequent work to do from my boss. Was stressed out last night as the ATM machine swallowed my card , it seems I never told the bank of my moving house, I can be such a dumbass at times. So I am havin to rely on my dad for money for the time being.

Can't wait to get paid. Going to get new clothes, haircut, and glasses and I am going to start getting out. I am not one for going to clubs and pubs, but I am sick of spending all my time inside. Maybe I might find someone new. Got home earlier on and didn't feel any better. Took paracetamol and felt a bit better now.Going now to tidy up my bomb site of a room in readiness for a lads night in with my nephew watching Hellboy on DVD. bye

As the days go by, i'll post up more entries from back in 2005.

End of the world due to Science test?

During recent years, science has been taking leaps and bounds with discoveries and technology, which in turn is motivating scientists to explore more unchartered territory. What I ask is will these experiments create a devastating chain of events that could somehow be the end of all life as we know it? The answer could probably be yes.

Scientists say that they are going to re-create the Big Bang on a small scale.

“Tests have cleared the way for the start-up next month of an experiment to restage a mini-version underground of the "Big Bang" which created the universe 15 billion years ago, the project chief said on Monday 25th August.”

Holy moly! When I first heard of this, I was thinking how on earth can they possibly do that. Well, scientists have found a way, as they do using a machine they've invented called the Large Hadron Collider. They state that they can stage a new big bang if they smash some protons together. (a million per second, which is way more than god managed).

But what could go wrong with this experiment? As S Peter Davis from Cracked.com so brilliantly puts it:

“Well, first imagine an apocalyptic nuclear holocaust. Multiply that by about one hundred and twenty thousand billion, and then multiply that by around the neighbourhood of infinity. That equals around one eighth of the magnitude of the Big Bang. Nevertheless, scientists are pretty sure they can contain their Big Bang in an Erlenmeyer flask, just so long as they remember to cork it.”

“The problem, of course, is that even the eggheads don't really know what's going to happen, which is sort of why they're doing it in the first place. Scientists on the LHC project insist there is no danger, and predict that the resulting observations could revolutionize science and send us into a golden age of knowledge, in the event that we actually survive.”

So, being blown to smithereens maybe a slight side effect from this experiment. Fantastic.

Another eventuality is the accumulation of strange matter. Strange matter is a hypothetical material made up of quarks, which are one of the building blocks of reality, things so small that you can't even possibly imagine. There are two hypotheses about strange matter. One is that the stuff will simply disappear a fraction of a second after it appears. The other is that it will stabilise and convert every atom it comes in contact with into more strange matter. If the latter happened here on earth, in no time, we’d all be dead. Fantastic x2. Scientists respond to the strange matter problem by saying if it was ever going to happen, it would have happened already (since these kind of reactions happen a zillion times a second in our atmosphere anyway), but if the eventuality that it did happen, everyone would be dead, thus no one to due them. Great.

Another theory is that the LHC might open wormholes with its high-energy collisions that future generations can manipulate for time travelling purposes. This is great news if you don’t think too much into it. If you are willing to delve deeper into the dangers of time travel, there’s the possibility you could meet yourself in the past and cause the universe to collapse, there’s altering something vital in the past causing a chain reaction and thus killing everyone, there’s the possibility that future generations may use the time machine to travel back in time from their dwindling version of earth due to lack of resources to a previous time to live, causing over population and faster consumption of resources, which would be never-ending. The list goes on.

I'm not in anyway a scientific guy, but the facts surrounding this expriment are too obvious to ignore. I hope no side effects happen, they are able to contain the reaction, and that we are all around afterwards. Is that too much to ask. On the lighter side of this scientific broadcast, we may finally be able to explore what made us, the planets, the stars and all life as we know it in the first place.

I hope I've only enlightened you to the possibilities and not scared you into a frenzy building your own bomb shelter or tieing up your noose. Its concerning stuff, but maybe curiosity didn't kill the cat, but only miffed it off a bit.

My next blog will focus back on the main topic....me

Ciao!

the weekend update

Hello all, Nice to see you again.

I really appreciate you coming along to visit my blog. Thank you very much

My weekend went by quite fast. Mostly due to my only waking up yesterday (Sunday) at 2pm lol I must have needed the sleep.

It all started off well. I joined some friends on Saturday in attending a rock gig. Playing at the gig was a band I used to follow, but due to the fact they sounded real bad and tension had formed with them and friendships had turned sour, I left them to their own thing. On Friday however, I was prepared to give them another shot to see if they had improved their performance. They still sucked. Each to their own, but I enjoy good music. I went to the gig with two close friends Kate and Chris, two friends that I don’t really see often enough, but plan to in the future.

The gig went well overall, met up with Chris and Kate a bit early at the venue and had a laugh and a drink and went to get seats outside, as the gig was outside of the club. My ex and her friends arrived shortly afterwards and sat somewhere else. I got occasional looks from her as the night went by, which didn’t really bother me as I was having a laugh. Miss Purple was there (as mentioned in previous blogs), she came over to say hello and tried to make small talk. Asking questions like Why I had left without saying goodbye the previous week (she was off talking to others and I had had enough of tweedle dum (my ex) and her friend tweedle dee). She also asked if I was going to her housewarming. I had already promised Kate and Chris that I’d be sleeping over at theirs, plus it would have been awkward with my ex and her friends going also.

As the night went on, Chris had to leave to go and attend his mate’s party, which left me in Kate’s company. She has a thing of getting quite close and touchy, which confused me at first, but not for long as she spouted out all night long how much she loved Chris. I think she was sat so close to annoy my ex, as my ex had called her some names in the past. It worked. My ex text me if I was seeing her, which made us both laugh. There is no way I’d date a friend’s girlfriend especially one as good as Chris and she definitely isn’t my type. Kate is a rock chick, but dresses real gothic and smokes a bit too much. We have a laugh though and I consider her to be a good friend. It was good to see my ex jealous, even though I hadn’t planned on it. I text her back saying nothing was going on and that I couldn’t believe she had even asked lol

The night went on and I got wasted and had a laugh with kate and then we went back to hers for some more drinks with her and he brother and his mates. Everything was alright apart from the average testosterone show you normally get with teenage boys trying to show off to their female visitors. Quite like how gorillas would fight off new contender’s to keep their place as leader of the pack. Kate’s brother tried in vein to make fun of me, but I gave as good as I got and equally made fun of him, which at one point I thought he was going to start a fight and he was a big and muscly dude, but he just sulked off somewhere. Must have been the beer giving me some courage.

After I had proved that I was in no way one to mess with and my place in the household leader board was set, I settled down for drinks with the other teens and got to know them and had a chat with Kate and one of her next door neighbours outside of the house in the back garden. Chris came back later one and we retired to the living room and watched Silence of the Lambs, which was very surreal.

Later on that day, I woke up in a totally alien place. Their house, unknown to me, had three floors. I got lost easily and walked into a bedroom by mistake. I panicked, but I was alright eventually as I got my bearings and just chillaxed on the couch, where I had been sleeping. I also got lost trying to get out of their neighbourhood and to the local shopping centre to catch a bus. My head was elsewhere and I looked a mess, but after trekking and numerous back tracks, I made it out and caught a bus to my ex’s to collect Kallam.

When I got there, I stayed a bit to see how Rhys (my step son) was doing, but also trying to ascertain why my ex was being so nice. A friend of mine seems to think that she wants me back, but I needed to know for sure. When chatting for a bit with her, I came to the conclusion that she might, but I cannot be sure. I’m more naive then most and probably can’t spot the signs, but everything just seemed friendly (which I must admit is weird, especially for my ex who in the past has treated me like something that was on the sole of her shoe). My conclusion, even if she is being nice to get me back, I wouldn’t even entertain the idea. I’ve moved on and realised that whilst we had some good times when we were together, the love that I felt wasn’t as strong in the last year that we were together. I recall many times when we were together, before Kallam was born contemplating ending the relationship, but put the idea on the backburner when Kallam was born.

The day with Kallam went well anyway, I took him to get his hair trimmed. I wanted it cut short, but the ex wanted it just trimmed. For the rest of the day, we spent most of it at mine just messing about and cherishing the time we had together. Normally, I would hate the bus journeys there and back, as they take in excess of an hour each time, but I was surprisingly alright, mostly due to having a new music player/phone. I recently won on auction a Sony Ericsson W850i for an amazing price of £53 and now have all of my songs on it. It makes the trips a whole lot shorter that for sure. I can’t live without my music.

That’s it for now. Update ya later

Random Questionnaire Day

Random Interesting Questions

What is your favorite memory from your past?:	family holidays to Wales. They were times that i cherish most and also the birth of my son Kallam. That memory will be my most favorite.
What event do you think made the biggest difference in your life?:	My mother's death. Her passing away changed my life for the best and for the worst. It taught me to be more independant, but left me with a void of love that i've needed ever since.
What are you most proud of in your life?:	MY son Kallam, best thing i've made since design and technology class
Has anything tradgic happened to you lately?:	nothing lately to me, but some lady was unfortunatley ran over near to where i live. Very tragic indeed.
If yes, how are you coping?:	I cope well but my thoughts go out to her family and friends.
Who was your role model growing up?:	My dad. His personality has become mine and he has taught me a lot of what not to do through his own faults and shared me his wisdom.
What is your least fav. food?:	onions! urgh!
Are you happy with your career status?:	yeah, its real good. good pay and a constant challenge.
Do you believe you have accomplished all that you want to in life?:	not everything no. I want to drive, but lack the funding and "drive" to get out and do it.
Who are you most proud of at this moment?:	My nephew. Hes going to Wembley to play rugby. Hes that good. :P hes a local star. Only 13 but has a bright future ahead of him.
Has anyone ever said something that truly saved your life?:	not really, but i really should have listened when my mum said "don't do too much of that, you'll go blind". lol
Is there one thing you regret most in your past? If yes, what?:	getting married. It was a low point in my life for sure. There was no love there and it is something i regret very much.
What one thing would you want your kids to know about your life?:	Everything, from my mistakes, i want him/them to be able to learn from them and live a happy and sucessful life.
If you were to die tomorrow would you want to be buried or cremated?:	Cremated. The simple fact that with cematories becoming gradually packed to the brim with coffins, i would like to do my bit and be put in the oven and switched to well done. That way whatever family i have can take me home and i can have pride and place on a mantlepiece or something. Preferably not a toilet or garden shed.
If you could say sorry to anyone in your life who would it be and what would you say sorry for?:	I'd say sorry to my mum. I took her for granted far more then i should have. She catered for my evey whim, cooked meals, cleaned up and asked for nothing in return (well probably did secretly as all women do). Thanks Mum you were a star.
Are you addicted to anything that is not a recreational drug?:	nothing whatsoever. I have strong will power.
What is your favorite TYPE of show?:	Comedy definately.
Where in the world would you love to retire?:	a nice little bungalo would do me, close to everything and with little noise from neighbours and main roads.
How many children do you have?:	one. Kallam. He means the world to me and he will be one at the end of September.
Do you agree with the war stradegy?:	I dont agree with anything that involves war. I tend to keep my nose out.
Who is your fav. politician?:	dont have one. Not into politices even though politics govern what goes on in our everyday life.
What religion are you?:	not religious. With the scientific facts available to us, it is hard to beleive.
What was your fav. cartoon when you were young?:	Thundercats. If you ain't heard of it. check it out on you tube. The theme tune rocked.
Are you a slob, clean freak, or in between?:	in between. I can be messy around the house, but equally when i get going i like to be as tidy as possible. Depends on my mood.
If you could afford a maid, would you have one?:	yes definately. I'd prefer not to tidy at all. :P
What was your first pet? What was its name?:	Sam, a golden retriever
Are you in love? If not, do you want to find someone perfect?:	I wouldn't say i was in love, not just yet, but i foresee someone on the horizon that could well fit into that category, time will be the ultimate test.
How old were you when you had your first "crush"?:	about 13, nothing came of it because she was a couple of years older then me.
What grade was your fav. when you were in school?:	probably year 10 as i wasn't a new student and didnt have the fears of starting somewhere big like high school and neither was i coming towards the end of school and preparing for the big exams.
What one life lesson have you learned so far, and what does it mean to you?:	To stay true to myself. All through life so far i've tried changing myself to fit in with others and in the process losing track of who i am myself. Only now do i realise that i should just be me and that is good enough.

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Thunder in the Jungle....

Hi Folks,

Just another blog from your friendly neighbourhood Brit.

Nothing has happened lately since the last post except my daily routine:

7am - wake up
7 - 8am - watch tv (i call this wake up time)
8 - 8.30am - get prepared for work.

8.30 - 840am - walk to work

8.40 - 5pm - work (with frequent internet breaks)

5pm - 7pm - watch tv and have tea (evening meal)
7pm - 11pm - go on internet / play on games console / watch film or two..

As you can see, my life consists of some riveting stuff there. I hope to break the everlasting circle of doom soon either by taking up a new hobby or maybe getting out more. We'll see what becomes of me very soon.

As for whats been on my mind, many things. For one, why my ex has been so nice to me lately. She has sent me texts saying how great of a father i am and that she is sorry for the way she has treated me in the past. I don't know whether to take this as a sincere apology or just a sneaky way of trying to get something. I would in all honesty take it as being sincere being the kind of person i am, seeing the good in everyone, but theres a side that wants to be safe remembering all the times shes used and been nasty. She is yet again going to a place i am going to at the weekend. Not sure what her game is, but i hope i find out soon.

FILM REVIEW:

TROPIC THUNDER

UK Release date: 13th September 2008

Synopsis: Ben Stiller. Jack Black. Robert Downey Jr. Comedy fans can start drooling immediately at the thought of these three funnymen joining forces in Tropic Thunder. The men star as a trio of actors whose filming experience in southeast Asia gets a little too real as they must become as tough as the... Ben Stiller. Jack Black. Robert Downey Jr. Comedy fans can start drooling immediately at the thought of these three funnymen joining forces in Tropic Thunder. The men star as a trio of actors whose filming experience in southeast Asia gets a little too real as they must become as tough as the characters they play to get out of a crisis.

This film has got to be, in my books, the most funniest comedies this year. For the simple facts, it has three of the best comedians around, Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Robert Downey Jnr and it has a funny storyline.

The movie is a well aimed parody at all big budget war movies that have ever been made and also takes a low blow at Hollywood itself. It seems to do a good job at making fun of them all. One of the biggest sucker punches in the film is Stillers character Tugg Speedman and how he as an actor tried to pull of a film about a mentaly disabled farm boy called Simple Jack. This is making fun of actors who court awards in such ham-handed and obvious ways. In the movie, Simple Jack is a failure, and Speedman is a jackass.

Since this parody came to light however, regardless of its funny intentions, at least 22 disability rights groups such as the Special Olympics and the American Association of People with Disabilities are angry about the use of the “r-word” and the character and have called for a boycott of the film and the theaters that show it. They hold, possibly correctly, that the use of the words “retard” and “retarded” are offensive and hurtful and that some people might see Tropic Thunder and think it clever to fling the words round.

But that ain't enough, Tropic Thunder also makes fun of the actors who try to emerse themselves too much into films, as evidenced by Kirk Lazarus an blonde Australian played by Downey Jnr who undergoes a controversial skin pigmentation operation to make him look african-american so that he can play the part of one of the characters of the movie. He goes so far to not change his accent through most of the movie. Downey Jnr really steals the film and his acting and humour is brilliant to watch. And then there is Jack Black who plays a drug addict actor who has starred in many low budget films before Tropic Tropic thunder, but loses his drugs and goes haywire. Very funny to watch.

All in all, the film is definately one to watch. I'll give it a 9/10.

Long time no read ay?

Hi, I'm back from my bloggin break. To be honest I went off blogging.....aaah shocking i know, but I've not been in the mood to rely a good story to all of you readers, but you'll be happy to know i'm back in "the zone" now and ready to blog.

Before i proceed, check the pics out above the text. They are basically a collection of all the photos i've managed to salvage from my mobile phone now that i'd recently bought a USB lead for it. Some of them date back to March. The ones with the red coat on Kal were took yesterday.

So as to recent events. I turned 26 on Tuesday. I've long since gotten over the fact that I am getting older and I am now just getting on with it. I feel like a spring chicken still and thats what counts. I didn't get anything special for my birthday, except for beer from work, which you have to admit is unusual lol and an extra special gift from someone special. It was an amazing stylophone!! Now i hear you all asking, what on earth is a stylophone. Its a musical instrument.... not a popular one i'll admit, but one that could barely pass for one. The Stylophone was a runaway success in the '70s, not so much within musical circles (although they have been used by such luminaries as David Bowie, Kraftwerk and Pulp) but as a gimmick and a toy. It has a horrible, buzzy pulse wave through a small cheap speaker that sounded like a very butch wasp on steroids, but still you've got to admit it rocks. Seriously, look at the guy with it below. lol

So, Birthday aside, the weeks been a goodun. Was payday this week so bought stuff and paid my rent and maintanence. I got a bargain on ebay when looking for a new cell phone. I bought a Sony Ericsson W850i for only £60, which is great as they are normally worth around £100. Go me! Just waiting for it to come through in the post now. I also bought some cool clothes for my son Kal off ebay all thanks to Emma for the recomendation. Much appreciated. Shes like my shopping advisor lol.

I went out last night to celebrate my birthday. I did invite most of my friends on Facebook, reminding them through the week on and off of my birthday night out....... only one turned up. Plus there was no live band on to liven the night up. To make it even worse, my ex and her friends (my old friends that are my ex's friends) turned up and were in my face the whole night asking me to dance and acting overly happy. It was frustrating and hard to keep a happy face on instead of the disapointed face that i would have put on had they not been there. I drank up and went home to forget about that night. Nuff said about that...

As for today, I've just basically been watching movies. I watched Tropic Thunder. Wow, what an amazing film. After watching for it, its as though Ben Stiller and Robert Downey Jr are asking for lawsuits after portraying a white austrailian acting coloured and Ben Stiller acting as he calls "retarded". Very risky, but it was still an hilarious film. Go see. I also watched the new Star Wars animated film and Get Smart. Both not as good as Tropic Thunder, but still great films. As for how i got to see them coming from the UK, the less i talk about my methods the better

Will leave this blog till next time, and i promise that i won't leave it as long next time.

ciao!

Book Review: Making Money

Title: Making Money

Author: Terry Pratchett

Synopsis (From Amazon.co.uk):

"It's an offer you can't refuse. Who would not to wish to be the man in charge of Ankh-Morpork's Royal Mint and the bank next door? It's a job for life.But, as former con-man Moist von Lipwig is learning, the life is not necessarily for long. The Chief Cashier is almost certainly a vampire. There's something nameless in the cellar (and the cellar itself is pretty nameless), it turns out that the Royal Mint runs at a loss. A 300 year old wizard is after his girlfriend, he's about to be exposed as a fraud, but the Assassins Guild might get him first. In fact lot of people want him dead.Oh. And every day he has to take the Chairman for walkies. Everywhere he looks he's making enemies. What he should be doing is ...Making Money!"

Review:

Making Money is the 34th book in the Discworld series, and seems to be in a whole different league then the first books in the Discworld series altogether. The new line of books take on a more serious approach, tackling indirectly current matters that have happened either present or past in our world, i.e. rock n roll, hollywood, but more recently has gone into the realms of the postal service and now money.When I say serious, that in no way means that Making Money is a boring book full of facts about currency and the history of decimalisation, far from it. It still has the juicy funny bits as all Terry Prachett fans will be familiar with, but they admittantly are more subdued. I for one loved the earlier books, namely the ones featuring the City Watch and Death, which had me laughing out loud at least twice during every chapter. Reading Making Money is more like a nostalgia trip back into Discworld and reading Terry fine tuning the world he built and emphasising on the world he created and loves.

There were some confusing bits regarding a magical contraption made for viewing the economy of the city and allowing someone to control it too. Those bits were hard to follow, but mostly the book had a fluid storyline which had you gripped from the word go. The familiar characters helped this, Lord Vetenari, Moist, the watch and wizards from the Unseen University.

The book contained enough action, comedy and fantasy to keep the average book reader entertained and I eagerly await his next book in the series. Like with most things, I’m not a big fan, but enough of a fan to follow the series and maybe re-read the past books again. Its my kind of humour totally and enjoy getting lost in his books.

I’d give Making Money 8/10

the wrong side of the bed blues

oh, i feel rough. I shouldn't drink so much on a night out. Especially with money being like it is.. The mood of this blog is probably because i'm listening to some depressing songs. Not by choice, as i'm listening to my last.fm player. I typed in beatles, and it gives me artists related to them. totally random.

so yeah, i took last nights drinking quite hard this morning. It didn't seem like i drank much, but i must have got carried away. The contributing factor could be that my ex just happened to be at the same bar i went to. ugh. yeah thats right. Shortly after getting comfortable, i noticed two women lookin quite tweedle dee and tweedle dum, short, fat and a stupid expression on their faces. To make sure i wasn't seeing things, i quickly went to the smoking area to text her asking where she was. I didn't get a chance to as her friend Amy came outside too checking who was out there. She looked at me totally in suprise and as if i was a ghost. I stated quite calmly that i was here to see the band i follow and she was all "oh right". I said tell kay is said hi. Never spoke to her all night but through the night she kept lookin over and acting overly happy talking to people. At this point i just ignored her, but felt her stares digging into the side of my head.

The night went on and the band played an awsome set. Check the bands myspace here: Kessler. After allwas done, i got a lift home and collapsed in bed. I wasn't too happy to be woken up early by a knock at the door by a naughty boy called Daniel.

That brings me onto recent events quite nicely. Since Friday, my dad's girlfriend's daughter, Angie has been staying at our house along with two troublesome kids. I met them on our scotland trip and after meeting them then, i thanked the lord that i didn't have to live in that house with them. She has five in total and they totally run the house. Climbing on counters, jumping on people, always making a mess and general trouble making. Well i got to meet two of them again. Daniel and Kirstin. Daniel, 4 years old, ignoring his angel smile is a little git. He is the devil. He is the chief trouble maker. He knows not what personal space means and goes through anything he can get his hands on and goes places where he should not, mainly my bedroom. I need a lock. Then there is Kirstin, shes 13 i think and shes great. She has Global Development Disorder, which i am not sure what it means, but she is slower then most kids, its not exactly autism i know that for sure. She too has no meaning of personal space. For instance, i was sat there watchin TV and she plonks herself down on my lap. I know i shouldn't complain, but i am not used to it at all and its uncomfortable living with them. She has a thing of walking around the house very quietly, which freaks me out. i'll be happy when they go back up to scotland shortly. :P

As for now, i'll leave you with my all time fave comedian just to add a bit of humour into your lives and to cheer me up. Its Lee Evans, probably the funniest, multi talented, guy i've ever seen. I'd love to meet him one day lol Theres a bit of swearing but its not intense like some 18 rated film or anything. Enjoy

I'm well and truly emodisfunct

I love making new words up. (If you do too, check the new widget I’ve put in the side bar of my blog) Emodisfunct is a word I have just created. It represents that feeling you get when you are confused emotionally and get overly emotional over things. The word can be successfully married up with how I’m feeling right now. The contributing factor, women, as is always the case.

Given the fact that I find it difficult to express emotions due to always locking them up, please bare with me if my explanations and wording is a bit off. This is blog entry that follows suit from a blog I read and enjoy frequently. That is, instead of writing about material things, journeys and work, I’m going to talk about my emotions, feelings and all that stuff.

Firstly, let me take you back three years or so. This was when I met my ex for the first time and as a result, met her friends. Some were good hearted girls and guys but some were just cruel. One of the good ones I made a bond with (lets call her Miss Blue), but a little too late as I’d already made my bed with my ex. She was bubbly and caring, but was at the time infatuated with a local rock star. They broke up a year later, and while out on a bender at a gig I confessed to fancying the pants off her. She took it quite well, but as I was with my ex, she didn’t make any sort of counter move.

We talk frequently online through msn or Facebook again, and I’m glad to say she is happy and content with a guy. What confuses me is that she says that if she was not with him, she’d happily date me. It is safe to say I was quite taken back by it, but why now and what good does it do me? We still talk, but the eventuality that something will happen is not good. It was a crush back but not really had feelings for her for a while, so not sure how I feel about this one. Probably nothing will happen. Miss Blue’s emodisfunct rating: 3

Secondly, this girl was yet another friend I met through my ex. She was quiet and reserved, but caring and mature for her age (lets call her Miss Purple), but I met her a little too late as I’d already made my bed with my ex. On nights out to a local club we got along like a house on fire, we shared music tastes and we could talk for hours. She had a rock look about her, jeans, retro tops, brunette hair and stylish converse shoes. As the years went on I was overjoyed every time she came to visit, well... not overjoyed, but glad to see she was alright.

I found myself gaining an attraction to Miss Purple and I was not able to do anything about it. Now that I am single and noticed she was too after splitting with her boyfriend, I needed to get these feelings off my chest and to see if anything was possible. I expressed my feelings to her over msn chat, as I hardly see her these days but talk infrequently on Facebook or msn. Miss Purple was not really overjoyed herself at the confession and said something along the lines of “but your my friend” and “omg!”. Not quite the response I was looking for. She has been ignoring me since. Miss Purple’s emodisfunct rating: 6 1/2.

And then onto the third “dilemma”, Miss Pink. (she’s probably reading this and in doing so at this point will be paying closer attention). She is the one mostly on my mind, which is evident seeing as though she is last in my list. Miss Pink is one of my blog buddies and I’ve known her for some time now. We’ve helped each other out, given advice and gradually have formed a bond. She is a fabulous friend, one who gives frank advice and listens to my problems. She’s an excellent mother to her two children and takes pride in everything they do. It’s fair to say I’ve never met anyone like her before. She’s really good looking even though she doesn’t like to say so and is also beautiful on the inside (her personality not her intestines) lol. She’s confessed on a number of occasions that she feels the same way. I’d give anything just to have a hug from her. The problem, as she so rightly puts it in her blog, is that there is a very big distance between us. She lives in Leicester and I live near Liverpool, a total distance of 113 miles. That kind of makes the dating thing a problem if we both chose to take things further, which I’d very much like to try. Life’s never fair.

Although, I’d like to just have her attracted to me and only me, the truth is, deep down inside, I know there will be others she will take an interest to while I’m half way across the country. This fact in particular is hard to accept, but one fact I’ll have to accept. I would have expressed these feelings to her in person, but its best she reads them all in one go instead of in little sentences in a chat box. It came as a shock to read about Miss Pink’s other love interests, mostly because I had probably gotten too close to Miss Pink or maybe it was because of the connection we share together. I’m unsure. I hope Miss Pink understands as she reads it. I am not hurt by what she’s written, but have woke up from the dream world where I’m on a pedestal and am the only one she has an interest in, and now understand the truth that I’m not the only one, there are others understandably that she is attracted to. This I should know very well having chosen to write about my interests too. I hope that I’ve made it clear how I feel above. I am in no way hurt or upset, just to make it clear. Miss Pink’s emodisfunct rating: 9 1/2

It is a great way to get things off your chest. I plan to do it more often instead of locking my emotions inside. As for now, i'll leave it at that.

Blog ya later

the promised photos

I still miss my ex.......... but my aims improving

A funny thought just occurred to me, the title of my blog being the thing that triggered it. Others seem to get by in life without any sort of guidance at all, maybe all I need is a wakeup call and write this “instruction book” for myself, make my own guide to how I want my life to be. I need a checklist on what I want to accomplish. To start off with here are the things I want to do within this year:

1. Lower my outgoings (debts and whatnots)

2. After clearing debts, get driving. Not being able to drive is becoming an inconvenience now and I’d love nothing more than to travel the country to see people I’ve met online or just to go to see people in the neighbouring town of a night and not have to worry about catching a bus.

3. Maybe find my own place. This will all depend on my financial situation after clearing debts.

4. Maybe get a new job. Totally bored in my present one. Either get a new job or seek promotion.

It’s going to take some work, but hopefully, I’ll be sorted soon. I’m at a low point and I just need to keep saying to myself “I will be a success in all aspects”. Well, maybe not them words exactly, but something along the lines.

Back to the blog anyway. The recent weeks been a testing one. I had a spat with my ex again, but I’m starting to think I was the unreasonable one. I text her that I couldn’t have Kallam for a full weekend because there wasn’t enough space in my bedroom for the cot. She took this badly as if she wanted desperately for me to mind Kallam. So much so that she even said “have him the weekend or not see him ever again”. This turn of events can be summed up by the saying “hoisted by my own petard”. I actually cried during this argument and at the thought of losing Kallam. She also called me every nasty name under the sun. She also said to watch my back whenever I am out in public. This just goes to show how nasty and manipulative she is. All backed up by her friend, as mentioned in previous posts. Every time I phone she is heard in the background relaying to my ex what she should say to me. That is why I resort to texting. It’s easier and gets the message across without having to shout.

I backed down in the end, as the thought of not seeing Kallam again had me sobbing uncontrollably. We came to a compromise agreement that I was to have him Saturday night only. I set quickly about finding room for the cot. It was hard, in the end I had to totally rearrange my bedroom and get rid of some furniture. It fit, just about, but leaving no access to the other side of the room. It was alright in my view just as long as I got to see Kallam and not having to go through legal proceedings to do so in the future. Seeing Kallam again after all this drama was wonderful. It was like I lost him for a brief moment when I hadn’t. I spent all day indoors with him cherishing ever moment with him. He is my world. His laugh fills me with joy and seeing how he is progressing makes me a very proud father.

Kallam woke up at 5am on Sunday, just like he used to when I lived with my ex and so I was expecting this. We both went downstairs and watched Cbeebies, a children’s channel on TV. It brought back memories of when I would spend time with him for most of the day just watching TV and playing around on the floor. When the time came for Kallam to be collected by my ex and her trusty sidekick, they were late. Three hours late to be exact. They were supposed to pick him up at 2pm, but arrived at 5pm. The supposed reason being that her friend, who has the car, had to walk across town to get her car, but got lost and lost her keys. Whether this is the truth or whether they were doing something else and making up some sort of story is not known. I tend to think that they do this to test me and use me. Either way when they eventually turned up, I was sad to see Kallam go.

It’s fair to say that all this agro that she is putting me though is making my life just that bit harder to live. I’m trying my best not to resort to drinking. It’s no way to go, but I find myself whenever I am out drinking too much, but not so much that I am unable to get home or make a fool of myself. I realise this and I will get out of doing this and will just drink a little socially. I also won’t let her get the best of me, I won’t let her get me down and by golly I will be the better man and not rise to her torment and will not let her use me.

I’ve not yet finished touching up my pictures from Scotland, but after nit picking at them a bit longer I’ll post them all in a slideshow.

In the meantime, I’ll leave you with an excellent advert my good friend Emma did for me. Its excellent and is much appreciated.

While your at it, you can check out her blog by clicking the pic below.

Summarising Events

Now, you may all notice I haven’t updated this blog for a bit. There are good reasons for this. Firstly, the amount of events going on has been overwhelming and secondly, I was off gallivanting around Scotland. I’ll try and fit it all into a short and sweet blog, but I warn you, I may ramble on a bit.

I’ll summarise the events of the past weeks as topics:

Alton Towers

The night prior to our day excursion to Alton Towers I slept at my good friends, who I like to call M&S. It was Shelle’s birthday soon and they had planned the trip well in advance, so I booked into their makeshift hotel to make sure I was up on time and didn’t miss the limo. Yes, you heard me right, we travelled there in a limo. It was cramped, with not enough leg space, but it’s not every day you travel in style, so I made the most of it by fiddling with the onboard gadgets like revolving cocktail stand, radio, air conditioning and TV. It kept me amused for the long ride. The photo to the right is of me and Kev, who was a cool guy and is a new friend.

We got there and for some reason I left my coat in the limo. Bad idea, because as soon as we entered the theme park, the dark clouds came-a-rollin in. I was drenched from head to toe and quickly bought one of those plastic macs. The others quickly followed suit and we all toured the theme park looking like contraceptives. Soon after, seeing as though I was going through the several stages of pneumonia, I bought a hoodie from the store to keep me warm.

And guess what..... I actually enjoyed the rides..... well the ones I kept my eyes open on. Closing my eyes made them go by faster. The scariest one was the nemesis. OMG! Upside down, over and under, at blistering speeds, but only lasted about two minutes. Two minutes of sheer terror. The best was one called Air. It really felt like you were flying.... with screaming people behind you, which spoiled it somewhat, but I enjoyed it the most out of all of them. I had to take my glasses off for all of the rides, because I nearly lost them during the first ride we went on. Without them on, the rides were all a blur, which made me even dizzier and jelly legged at the end of them. Dont ask what is going on in the picture to the right. Its most probably the weirdest picture i've seen. Mike opted for the "fook you pose", Kev chose the "chaotic pose" and I.....well chose the "normal scream for your life pose". lol The girl in the pictures below is Kate, shes a cool chick and was insistant on helping me with my nerves on most of the rides. No chance of a romance there, shes taken and not my type anyway :P

The evening came and we made our way home. I had a nap in the limo because I was so tired. When we got back we had a little get together with some other friends which was a laugh. Met some friends I hadn’t seen in a while and made some new ones. A crazy day but one I’ll remember for a while.

Scotland

Hungover from a all day gig the previous day and not really wanting to move any more then a few inches in any direction and a total fear of having my retnas burned out from too much sunlight it was safe to say I wasn’t in no mood to travel thousands of miles up to Scotland that day, but travel we did. We packed everything up and set off really early. I sat up front due to my travel sickness, which I admit isn’t that bad now that I’m older, but to be on the safe side I did. Soon after we set off, I started to nod off, my head bobbing like the Churchill dog. I made a tactical decision to swap with Andy, who was sleeping in the back on the motor homes couch. I thereafter slept all the way there in bliss.

We got there and quickly settled into the caravan and met my dad’s girlfriend’s dad and brother who resided at the holiday caravan during the summer. Later that day and through the week Andy showed me the beautiful scenery and took me for walks to take photos. A few days later there was a major parade. The village of Innerleithan has an event called Games Week, where everyone gets involved to celebrate Saint Ronan. There were several parades through the little village, which I got plenty of pictures also.

Edinburgh Castle

Later on in the week, Andrew’s brother Graham joined our company and soon after his girlfriend and her friend. The others quickly paired up, which left me with my part time companion Ivory my pet Chiuaua. Safe to say I felt a bit lonely. As the week went on I got over it and decided to make the most of the week by drinking and all things related to what happens when you drink, messing about and general tomfoolery. There was a fair there where I participated in bumping everyone to a pulp on the dodgems and being thrown about on this whirling contraption which made my bottom sore. Good times...

The last day in Scotland, I stated to everyone present “I wanna go up that hill!” (the words that I will regret to this day as the hill turned out to be a mountain). I pointed to the biggest one in view. Andrew offered his services as a Sherpa to guide me up this massive hill. The purpose of this mission was mostly to get really good pictures of the surroundings and of the valley the village was in. We started off fine with confidence in every step, but as soon as we were half way up a steep bit, all confidence deteriorated as my legs started to burn and I breathed heavily for enough oxygen. I also noticed that flies had become attracted to my head, mostly due to my hair gel. Having caught my breath and with a new dire need to escape the flies, we set off again fighting through the pain barrier.

Upon reaching a path near to the top, I collapsed in agony. I’m not sure of the distance we trekked, but it seemed like a mile or so up a steep hill. I fell to the stony ground and lay there as flies constantly buzzed around my head. I hate flies at the best of times when there is only one, but with about 30 buzzing in and out of my ears, I felt the need to quickly solve this problem. Unfortunately, I made the problem worse. I doused my head with a full bottle of freezing water. This not only made my gel more attractive to the flies, but froze me to the bone. So..... we ran. We ran up this path searching to get rid of the flies. Eventually, they died down to just one or two and I took some great pictures.

We eventually reached a path down, which turned out to be a mountain bike trail. It seemed more inviting then Andy’s preferred route down, which was to run down a steep hill. The mountain bike trail was full of hidden holes and bumps, it took its toll on my legs, but was fun to run up and down the side of this mini mountain. We made it to the bottom and walked wearily home to the caravan. The day after we made our way home in our lovely motor home.

I'll leave it at that for now, but promise as soon as I have finished modding the rest of the 159 photos I took. I'll post up a slideshow of all of the best ones. Theres a few vids too.

See ya