I will be away but....

 As you know I am off to Italy, You can still connect with me in many ways and we have reached 700 connections already. But you may wish to look at some of my favourite blogs I read whilst I am away.


http://ropcorn.com/

http://www.somenews.co.uk/

http://mylifejakarta.blogspot.com/

http://anonymouspunchingbag.com/

Manbags........

I am off to get myself a manbag today. I wonder how it gets defined as a man bag? The only other thing I would truly class as a manbag would be a scrotum. (sorry for being rude).

Holidays are coming and I am looking for something to fit everything in but not the size of a small suitcase and not really a rucksack though I may well go for this option. I am thinking of something similar to a satchel with a flap over the main bag with a zip lock across. It will contain the travel documents, passport and things for the trip such as digital radio, DS and a few books.

I did think about taking my big rain coat and filling each pocket with a different electrical item but then we had the travel documents so not really convenient to fold them up and when it gets hot which it is more than likely to do so all items will just get damp from my sweat. (oh what pictures I draw for you) lol.

I worry to much to be honest. where to keep the money? Where to keep passport? Will we be mugged? When we go off and on the coach can you trust the other passengers?

To be honest I hate carrying lots of things around with me, but also don't like things out of sight.

Any suggestions.

I have become a new member of steps.

I have as of yesterday afternoon progressed from step dad to 6 people to step granddad to one little person. I am still to marry our lass and I sometimes feel uncomfortable at the thought because their dad (granddad) (even though he is a shit,) is still around.

Their Dad is also off on holiday spookly enough in Italy and will probably when he here's the news say "Congratulations Son." Then break off to tell him what a great holiday he had. Or how he is doing something new in his life in retirement. Anyway.

You can not wipe the smile from our lasses face it is the first of her grand children to be born, there is another due just before Christmas so no sooner will she have been exhausted from the actions of wide eyed happiness and the sounds of arrrrs and oooooos then she will do it all again for grandchild number two.

The first was a baby boy by the name of Myles the second we know will be a boy but name still to be revealed. It is good when all around you seems like chaos then you have something to focus on which brings such joy. It is truly pleasing to see our lass so happy as she walked around the shops yesterday looking at baby stuff knowing she could spoil her new grandson, saying "I am a granny now" and giggling.

Do you think you should pay for what you get?

You may or may not know but I work for a mobile phone company in the UK talking to mobile phone customers and trying to retain their custom.

I enjoy my job, no matter how much I might moan about it because where else will I get paid to sit on my arse and talk to people all day.

Something which does annoy me is peoples inability to pay the price before them and I feel that the mobile phone companies set up the very problem themselves. When you purchase something from a shop you go in see the price pay for it and then leave with said item. If you don't like the price from one outlet you will shop around to see if you can find it cheaper elsewhere.

You wouldn't think of going to do your weekly shop at a big supermarket chain be told by the checkout operator what the bill is and then refuse to pay it and ask to speak to the manager, as you have shopped at that store for years and so feel you should get a bigger discount than other customers paying for the same items.

But a mobile phone customer does. They don't want to pay for the phone no matter how expensive it is, they dont want to pay full price for their usage of the phone no matter how excessive it is. They feel if they have signed up for a contract of 18 or 24 months and become bored of the phone after 12 months we should exchange it. My most amusing customers are those who manage to use the phone for over 3,000 mins a month and then complain that they have poor coverage and feel they cant use the phone fully. I do feel like saying it is not a coverage issue it is the fact that your battery is dying.

As for customers with poor coverage, they soon forget all about that if you offer them the very latest phone at a dirt cheap price. Once had a raging customer come thru who was going to leave and disgusted how he could never use his phone. I said sorry and advised on differing things we are doing to improve coverage, but did he know he was entitled to the very latest phone out for only £7.50 a month where it should be £30 a month. He snapped my hand off and took the phone. Silly really because if the coverage is so bad he will only have the status of carry a phone which will soon become outdated.

That is another thing, phones become outdated so quickly. Sorry Ropcorn but your I phone 4 will be superseded probably by a few other phones just in time for Christmas and by I phone themselves in the new year. But what does a customer do? You have a phone which you have to sign up for, for two years as it is the only way you can afford it. But it will be out of fashion sometimes after 6 months. Go phone me in retentions and moan about it and make my day LOL....

Moan over and thanks for reading.

A day and a half to Italy

Today is day 1 of my last shift before our holiday to Italy. We are going to Lake Garda because our lass has been there before and wanted to take me. But our lass does not like flying so thought we would never get to go. Due to my love of our lass and in all honesty not knowing what else to buy her last Christmas we find ourselves going on a coach trip to Italy.

The only thing which worries me is that we will nearly spend as much time traveling as we will in Italy. we get picked up at 4.25 am (have I told you we have to be up at 4.25am, actually we will have to be up well before that we have to meet the coach at 4.25AM) We are expected at our destination early afternoon on Saturday that is at least a day and half traveling. We could have gone to Australia and back in the same time by plane!!!

So things to do on a coach for a day and a half? Suggestions please.

It's 4 in the morning and once more the dawning.

Just had word from the holiday company that we have to meet the coach for our trip to Italy at 4.25 AM (A bloody M). This is a Christmas present for our lass (from last year this year I am sticking with perfume), our lass doesn't like to fly so we have had to take a coach trip from the north of England down to Italy.

The tickets were promised to arrive 10 to 14 days before the trip with included schedule. I got a bit worried because we catch the coach next Friday. So I emailed them and have just had a phone call this morning saying said tickets are on their way and we are expected to catch the coach at 4.25AM (A BLOODY M). Have I said that we catch the coach at 4.25 AM.

Considering my inability to sleep properly at the moment I am thinking this is going to be one hell of a road trip.

Any suggestions for games to play or books to read for the trip. My idea is to take the compact DVD player and watch Doctor Who series ONE. Don't think our lass will appreciate that though.

So any suggestions folks.

Any ideas on how to clear your head?

At the moment I am feeling a little bit whey, a little bit woah. Nothing seems to be in balance. I just can't concentrate on anything my head is filled with things I should be doing and all sorts of ideas and just plain daft thoughts. But no ability to simply concentrate on one thing or get anything practical done.

I have not been sleeping well, waking up regularly around 1am if I go to bed early or 3am if I stay up hoping to sleep thru. I wake up usually after an intense dream while I think what is in the dream is real then realise I am awake then it takes around an hour to get back to sleep.

Do we have a doctor in the house?

Any suggestions on cures or reasons?

I am in the mood for dancing.

The end of 2010 is now almost complete for me. The return of http://www.bbc.co.uk/strictlycomedancing/ and I know there is several other variations around the world but this is still the original and the best.

My favourite dance of the last series


I don't have the grace or ability myself but you can but wish, if I could have a superpower, forget all about flying and x ray visionary, I would want the ability to dance to stand full square against an ability of DIY. Can you imagine the adventures of Bob lord of the dance Builder who builds a patio only to dance the night away with fair maiden.

So here is the question for today.

Which superpower would you like ?

Which dancer would you like to emulate ?

I myself would to be like Jamiroquai as you can see from the post below. Thanks for those who have posted in the past and look forward to reading more posts in the future.

Jamiroquai - Little L

You just can't predict the future.

I think a lot of what people worry about, is not what does or doesn't happen but what might happen. Three days ago I would have been bothered about my three days at work and will the schedule come thru for our holiday to Italy. Plus will one of our lasses daughter get the hint about going shopping for dresses is not going shopping for dresses with your mam if you have already chosen one and you just want her to pay for it.

I decided to try and intervene with the daughter and tried to alter what I thought would happen in the future this only resulted in making things worse. I do hate the way people try to put the blame onto you and make you feel bad when ultimately it is their own actions which were wrong and they take some false moral high ground to try and make you feel bad. anyways....

Work continues to stress, no sooner does one bar lower and change and alter what you had planned for that month but several others are raised. So the whole work schedule for the month I had planned is in the bin and a new one is needed.

Finally our lass was sat in her car at a junction waiting for the lights to change when she was hit in the rear by another driver. First concern was our lass, she is OK bumper took the main force. Other lady driver from all accounts was a bit spaced out and not much use. Just kept saying sorry. Our lass is narked as we wanted to get the car MOT'd before going on holiday now needs the back end fixing. Three days off turn into three days of sorting stuff which you didn't think you would be doing.

I am a planner love everything down in detail with a good idea of where I am going and when things will happen. So predicting the future and trying to react and predict peoples reactions is something I do a lot. To be honest I shouldn't even try and just go with the flow.

Tell me about yourself

I start my three days on at work, so will be a little light on posts and thoughts. So the floor is open to you, random person who passes by. Don't just be leaving links to your site, let's read about you. Everyone loves to talk about themselves here is your opportunity leave me a comment it will be good to read them when I come back.

Magpies, cotton buds and wet grass.

Three questions for any readers who pass by and read this post.

Are you superstitious ?
Do you believe there should be a little danger in a childs life ?
What would you use if you needed to leave a trail to get you home?

I would say that I am superstitious to an extent, but what I really do try to do is to find signs in everything. Nature is in the main untempered it has no ulterior motive. So when I am lost myself I look around for answers from nature. Whilst walking the dog yesterday I saw 5 magpies. Quiet a record, normally you see them in ones and twos but yesterday there seem to be the whole family.

Count the magpies to tell the future:

One for sorrow
Two for joy
Three for a girl
Four for a boy
Five for silver
Six for gold
Seven for a secret
Never to be told

So as I wait for my pieces of silver I move on to the next thing I noticed yesterday. Cotton buds!!! I had been walking the dog yesterday and found for about half a mile a trail of cotton buds leading to a bridge which crosses a local beck. I did wonder if a bridge troll had decided to roam the area but needed a method of finding his way back.

But the thing that stuck in my mind most was when I crossed the bridge you get into the earshot of the local school. All the usual noises of school children running around was sharply broken by a screaming teacher "GET OF THE GRASS IT IS TO WET TO PLAY ON!!!"

Had it been raining ? No. It was the morning dew which hadn't quite burnt off the grass yet. I did wonder at the mentality of all this correctness these days. So it is dangerous to run about on the wet grass because you might slip and fall. But we feel much better if you run around on the concrete because if you trip and fall on the it will be much better than falling on the dew laydened grass.

End of my ramblings and look forward to your answers to my questions.

What says Sweden to you?

 My friend at http://ropcorn.com/ is doing well with her site and is going to be adding new pages to her blog the next one will be dedicated to her home country of Sweden.

So what says Sweden to you?

Is it Abba? Is it Henrik Larsson? or is it what I remember from my childhood which I found a video of below.

Don't try and grate cheese with a MR T action figure.

I always seem to choose the wrong words at the right time, and our lass is always very good at picking out a different meaning out of what I have said. Then again I always seem to create trouble out of nowhere seemingly so easily.

Yesterday I forgot what day it was. Working three on three off really throws you, you are then dispatching orders for customers so you talk about different days and then we had a surprise meeting at work I seemed to have lost the plot. I suddenly thought yesterday was Wednesday thus our lass would have been at work and so when I had my break I didn't bother texting due to the fact she wouldn't have been able to read them.

It was only after four hours of silence from myself that our lass sent me a text asking if I was alright as she hadn't heard from me. Now our lass was already down from recent events with her family and now felt I had forgotten about her. My reason must have seemed like one of the lamest excuses imaginable. "Sorry luv I thought it was tomorrow and you were at work"

It didn't go down to well to say the least and it was not until this morning that the incident was finally forgiven. Whilst laying in bed we were talking about various things and I said about the time I grated a large block of cheese for sandwiches my mam were making for a big wedding and I said I got a Mr T figure for it. To which our lass replied must have been a bit difficult grating the cheese with a MR T action figure.

This is what I love about our lass the ability to find the funny thing in all situations. well nearly all apart from when I forget what day it is.

Today is DAY 1 of time off and the connections reached so far has gone past 600 so thank you for those who have connected and a thank you to those who connect in the future, help me get towards the million connections.

Thoughts over dinner

Its been a funny couple of days, This is the first time I have had to catch up with the blog and I am doing that in my dinner break at work. Life is hectic some of which was self inflicted as I enjoyed my time on Saturday a bit too much and came back much the worse for drink. Our lass didn't mind that, but as most males will be aware you can easily found yourself painted into a corner and not even realise you were holding a brush.

I managed this trick on Saturday night and the resulting argument spilled over into Sunday, that is all resolved and now I have work to consider. It is getting busier which at least means my job is secure which is a bonus in itself these days. But bonus is the big issue and it seems my employers are trying their best not to pay us any. I was that wound up last night I was awake for two hours just mulling things over in my head.

But you have to put everything in perspective when I read this article http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-11195393 I love ELO and have a best of CD which will be played on my first day off. But if you read how this bloke died am I the only one who has visions of final destination or the omen as the probabilities of being killed by a rogue bale of hay must be immense.

Anyway back to work for me hope you are all well and thanks for popping by.

Going out to play

I know at 36 to say you are going out to play is a bit childish, but does any of us really lose the child inside of us? I truly hope not.

Me and a former work colleague are going to play pool. He will moan about his new job and how he has to stand up all the time now. I will tell him what good timing he had for leaving, as the job has got much worse. When we have put work to rights we will then start on about our respective partners and then anything else. Once complete we should have consumed sufficient amounts of alcohol not to care about anything and return home just in time for dinner.

On a thoughtful note.

How on earth do you fit in enough time to do everything?

Yesterday I was in because the boiler was being replaced meant I could spend 6 hours on here (here being the Internet) whilst the boiler people got on with the job. I felt guilty as nothing else was being done, and much like today I will go out to play. Yet the jobs around the house mount up. I do , do my share like this morning garage is now cleaned and tidied after the boiler folks had finished and chores around the house. But still there seems so much to do and so little time to do it in. Then tomorrow I am back to my three days on at work. consisting of a 12 hour shift and 2 hours traveling there and back. Once your home and settled you just have enough time to sleep.

Do you find you have enough time? If so how do you manage it?

DAY 2

Since swapping to my new shift pattern, my perception of time and space has drifted into a three day cycle. I have to convince myself as to which day of the week it is. So to me today is not Friday it is DAY 2. midway point of my three days off. I have been looking on at my shift schedule for next year seeing where I can take holidays to extend the three days off especially when work days fall onto Sundays when my lass is off. unfortunately I work 26 Sundays and get 25 days holiday. So a lot of planning needed plus no other separate holidays can be taken. Oh well I will have a cunning plan.

I have been wandering this morning and after looking at http://ropcorn.com/ I remembered it is the Euro Millions tonight so must have myself a go. Well not that I must it isn't a new English law that everyone must take part. But it is the quickest way I will get the money so me and my lass can move to the Shetlands, and I will need plenty of money to convince our lass it is a good move.

If I get chance there is also another bet I will be putting on tomorrow, it is a a lucky 15 correct score bet for four football matches tomorrow. I try and find four games where I think they will fail to score. I then put a minimum of 10 pence per bet if you can put a pound a bet you will get more back. you are covering 15 bets four times singles then the doubles, trebles and the one fourfold. thus lucky 15 times what ever you stake.

Considering all football games start nil nil you at least start off a winner it is just your teams choices to lose. so if only one of the four matches ends nil nil you get your money back, as nil nil correct scores normally offer 8/1 and a lot of bookies will pay out double if you go for lucky 15 bets. if two win you get double your money and if you find four nil nil results and you placed a 15 pound total bet (15 x £1) you could win back around 9 grand.

It makes it a  lot more interesting watching the results as they come in on a Saturday afternoon hoping the games you picked remained goal less.

What do you think ?

Connections have reached 566 and thanks to new found friends on the net I am finding many more places to get connections. Happy days no matter which number it may be.

People you find on your travels

 Was just doing the rounds of mybloglog and a new member joined up that took my eye, Steve N Allen. Who knows he could be the next big thing or never to be heard of again but why not take a look yourself and tell me what you think.

Made me laugh but then again I laugh at rain.

http://www.steveallen.co.nr/