Catch up

Ok so it's been a while again since I posted anything. But besides little things that the wife posts about, nothing much else has been happening. England lost the World Cup final, but no real surprise there. SA were the better team throughout the competition.

As for me well, no refereeing so far this season as I have a hernia. That's what happens when you offer to load the camping trailer up on your own :( and it is going to be some time before a) they operate on it and b) before I recover from the surgery. So at the last society meeting I had what can only be called a "Brainwave". I decided to see about becoming an asssessor so that I could at least remain involved. So consequently this last weekend I get my first time out as an observer while our illustrious Society Chairman went through what really could only be classed as a MOT.

So I join the assessor as he goes through the after match de-brief expecting to just observe. This wasn't quite the case. Suddenly input was expected from me and I was caught like a rabbit in the headlights, totally unprepared, and with no notes to work from. So I joined in the conversation/de-brief with the tiny bits that I remembered. which really, the way the game was reffed, seemed more like nitpicking. Then I am informed that I need to write a report out for the match. so Sunday afternoon/evening is spent trying to figure out how to fill out the said report. It's funny though, when I actually sat down and thought about it, I could find a bit more to write about. Now I just have to wait and get feddback from the other assessor regarding my report.

As for this weekend, the assessor is our Illustrious Chairman. So I will wait with interest to see if he has anything to say about my report.

Scotland 07

We have just returned from a trip to Scotland to visit Len and Amber And what a weekend we had. Len and Amber were great hosts for our weekend and really looked after us, despite the fact that Len is suffering at the moment with Stones in areas that you really wouldn't want stones, and Amber had an accident where her Guardian Angel had to intercede they remained attentive beyond compare. We managed to visit some Castles (Keeps) Tracey was a bit dis-appointed at the size of Dundonald Castle and felt that this wasn't what she considered a Castle. Although the history of the "Castle" was interesting having been owned at one time by the Grandfather of William Wallace and also the Grandson of Robert the Bruce. It was still not quite up to the specifications in Tracey's mind. So we then decided to go and see Dean Castle and Country park. Now this time Tracey had it all worked out. If it was set in a country park then it must be a "proper" castle. Unfortunately this turned out to be a Palace rather than a Castle. The actual tour around the Palcae was very informative and the guide was good with a mixture of Fact fable and humour. It was still not what Tracey was looking for in a castle. So it was off to Loudoun Castle .... Now surely this would be a Castle we could look round and get a real feeling of a Scottish Castle. The signs were all good as we pulled along the driveway into Loudoun Castle ..... We paid Our(What we thought was an extortionate amount)entrance fee and proceeded into the castle grounds. And there it was
Now it looks good at first glance ....but....then you get up close, find that it is actually hollow ....and you can't even get in to take photographs of the inside..... But, on the bright side .... the other side of the castle is a theme park so a couple of hours riding the rides was in order. On our final night there Amber made an amazing meal (not even going to try and spell it) And no I am not saying that the Curry we had Friday night made by Len wasn't a good meal just that Sundays meal was something Tracey and I had never had before. The whole trip ended beautifully with the most amazing Sunset I had seen in a long time.

Dog shows and Camping.

Back in July we had our first camping trip together at Netley Marsh steam Show, which is only a few miles from us. We picked Netley Marsh to camp as Tracey and the dogs were taking part in the Agility display there with K9 K-os. The party consisted of Tracey, Stephanie, Jayde, Tyson, Bruno and myself. We had it all worked out. pitch the tent on the Thursday evening. Come back in 2 cars on the Friday. One consisting of the dogs, the other car carrying everything else.
So to start. We pitched the tent, as the instructions directed. Opened the door to the tent with the 2 zippers put the gazebo in there ready for the next day. Then closed the tent, at which point one of the zippers decided to come apart :(. 45 minutes later we were still unable to fix the zipper and decided that when we returned the following day we would bring some Velcro and needle and thread to at least give it some feeling of security.
So Thursday night it starts to rain (what a surprise)., and continues right through to Friday morning when we return to the site to continue the process of setting up camp. We arrive at the gate just past 08:00 as planned, only to be turned away for an hour and a half. Breakfast at McDonald's then, and back we go.

We were sent to wait in the main arena while arrangements were being made to move us to our camping area, this was by no means a quick turnaround. So after a couple of hours we decided to walk the equipment up to the tent and get ourselves set up for the coming weekend.
Well things got no better through Friday although we did manage to get one of the cars towed up to the camping area. We were joined by 3 other members of the team for Friday night, but, as we could not get the trailer with all the equipment in to the site, there was no display.
Saturday saw little change in the weather and still no equipment so still no display. 1 team member camping changed for another one. and that was the highlight of that day. Rain continued throughout the day and by 17:00 the show had decided to cancel. We stayed in the tent again for that night and Sunday got up bright and early to start packing all the equipment away. Tracey took the dogs on down to my car, which had remained in the main arena throughout the weekend, and managed to get out relatively quickly. Me, on the other hand, had volunteered to drive Tracey's car out from the top field. well after queuing for about 3 hours I finally got her car moving. Oh what great fun it was rally driving her car off the site. But ....what a mess was made.







Stephanie and Jayde sat in the tent

Getting Older

You only realise you're getting older when you start looking at your kids. It was my sons Prom the other week and to see him dressed up the way he was and looking so respectable was a shock. We tried for days to hire a Limo to take him and his friends there but, even though we were calling 3 months in advance, there was not one available. So Dad here comes up with this bright idea. We'll hire a car to take them. Good idea you may think, but, when you hire one car, and then get given a different car you can start to foresee problems arising. Truth be told we arranged to hire a Chrysler 300c, you know, the Bentley look alike, as we figured that no one else would think of going in one. Unfortunately though the hire company had stopped doing them and we had to be satisfied with a Mercedes E200 series. Luckily the lads thought it was great. With the added advantage that they got to be picked up in it as well as dropped off. Which their parents thought was great.!

R U Being served!!!!!

A young man named Gordon bought a donkey from an old farmer for £100.00.The farmer agreed to deliver the donkey the next day, but when the farmer drove up he said, "Sorry son, but I have some bad news... the donkey is on my truck, but unfortunately he's dead. Gordon replied, "Well then, just give me my money back."The farmer said, "I can't do that, because I've spent it already. Gordon said, "OK then, well just unload the donkey anyway. The farmer asked, "What are you going to do with him?" Gordon answered, "I'm going to raffle him off."To which the farmer exclaimed, "Surely you can't raffle off a dead donkey!"But Gordon, with a wicked smile on his face said, "Of course I can, you watch me. I just won't bother to tell anybody that he's dead." A month later the farmer met up with Gordon and asked, "What happened with that dead donkey?"Gordon said, "I raffled him off, sold 500 tickets at two pounds a piece, and made a huge, fat profit!!"Totally amazed, the farmer asked, "Didn't anyone complain that you had stolen their money because you lied about the donkey being dead?"To which Gordon replied, "The only guy who found out about the donkey being dead was the raffle winner when he came to claim his prize.So I gave him his £2 raffle ticket money back plus an extra £200, which as you know is double the going rate for a donkey, so he thought I was great guy!!Gordon grew up and eventually became the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and no matter how many times he lied, or how much money he stole from the British voters, as long as he gave them back some of the stolen money, most of them, unfortunately, still thought he was a great guy.The moral of this story is that, if you think Gordon is about to play fair and do something for the everyday people of the country for once in his miserable, lying life, think again my friend, because you'll be better off flogging a dead donkey.

Weekend Rugby

Let's start with the most contraversial match of the weekend, which must be Italy v Wales. Italy beat Wales ..... Hardly a surprise as Wales have not been on form throughout this tournament. But of course it's someone elses fault. This time it's Chris White the Referee who when asked how much time was left told the Wales team 10 Seconds ..... Then he was asked if they could kick to touch ..... Yes was the answer ...... Now forgive my niavety here but with only 10 seconds to go ...exactly what did the welsh think they were going to achieve ...... thay hadn't really been able to out muscle the Italians throughout the match so the lineout option was the wrong choice. Anyway after a quick discussion the ball was kicked to touch. The time keeper (Who is now in charge of time at these games) then informed CW that time was up ..... Now CW could have overuled him but why should he ... .seems bloody obvious to me that with only 10 seconds left you either run it or take the 3 points ....providing you can get it between the uprights of course. So the pic is for the Welsh team this week ..... who as I predicted earlier are well on their way to the Wooden Spoon.

OK Scotland V Ireland ....... Not really much to say about this one ...... Ireland won (as expected) but not without a rather close scare from the Scots.

Now England V France ....... England haven't beaten France since the Semi final of the world cup and were not expected to win, considering France recent form (Played 3 won 3) including beating the Irish at Croke Park. Add to that the 11 changes to the England team well everything seemed set for a French win ......

Holiday

Well we've booked our short break for this year with John and Wendy. This time we are going to try Rockley Park. This has got to be better than where we went last year ..... A place I couldn't even be bothered to write about as not only was the Entertainment crap ...... the kids had nothing to do ..... and we weren't even allowed to entertain ourselves without someone complaining to security that we were too loud. We had to go and buy our own darts .... the pool table never had any chalk .... and for what was supposed to be a "Lively" camp ...it was closer to Gods waiting room.

So our annual piss up this year will be spent down in poole ......

Tracey and I are also planning a short break away in August up to Scotland to visit an old friend of Tracey's, Len of fasteddies. So that will be 3 nights in Scotland. Hopefully we will find a nice Castle to stay in while we're up there. You never know maybe I can get a Job up there coaching their Rugby team ...... You see even though the English are crap at the moment ....we still know how to beat the Italians.

Crowded House

No not the band ..... but my house at the moment. It's no bodies fault really. Tracey's Mum and Dad are staying with us while he undergoes treatment over here, they actually spend most of the year in Portugal, the weather there being better for them both. Anyway the upshot is that the house has more people staying in it that can be handled for an extended period of time and everyones nerves are getting frayed.

Laying in bed with Tracey the other night (only get to sleep in the bed lately or watch telly) I said enthusiastically that we only had until 8th March and then we get the house back. She replied that they may be staying longer because of some difficulty with her Dads medication. So I said that it didn't matter ....come the 8th either they were gone or I was. The next hour was the most silent I can remember. Finally I said something to Tracey (can't remember what exactly) and she replied with something like " Well you have just told me your leaving me". Well that wasn't exactly what I meant by the statement as I explained to her, there are certain friends who had offered me a bed if I needed to get away.

So here we are again crowded house ... But at least they get to spend time with their grandchildren. That is of course when the kids haven't found a way to escape. Tracey commented once on how her parents have seen more of the kids than my Mum (who lives in Australia) ... I reminded her that my Mum only got over to England once every 5 years ....and at least she had the decency to book herself into a Hotel when she was here ......

Having her mum over isn't really that bad, at least some of the time Tracey gets the help she needs with all the extras that her father requires ..... certain foods ....eating at different times etc.

It feels difficult really ...... considering all the help they have given us over the years ...... It's hard to get angry about certain ways ..... Like her dad saying that he needs to go on the computer the second you turn it on for yourself ....... especially when he has spent 5 hours on it during the day.

Ok ....better stop ranting now otherwise it's gonna become a novel.

6 (or so) Nations

Well after this weekend's Rugby what can I really say. The Italians were very sharp on Saturday and after the first 7 minutes or so it never looked like they were going to lose. Congratulations must go to them for their first away win. Remembering that their first ever win was also against the Scots.

England went over to Croke park ....an occasion more mared by the media's constant referral back to the days of Michael Collins ..... 90% of them not even bothering to mention the 14 people murdered by Collins and his men which led to the attack at Croke park. Before anyone starts going at me .... I do realise that the people Murdered at Croke were not (To any ones knowledge) involved with the preceding events. And I do not agree with the Army going in the way they did. Anyway .....enough of the politics ..... Back to the Rugby.
England were well and truly beaten by a far superior Ireland team with Ireland finally finding their true form in this competition ..... The only bright light, on which was a really cloudy day for England, was the debut by David Strettle ...... Seemed the only player on the pitch not to be phased by the occasion. But then he is a Quin so maybe I'm biased.

As for the Welsh ...... They lost to France ....but that really was expected .... at the present time in the competition the old welsh have been "leek"ing points like a sieve and have the dubious honour of probably claiming the wooden spoon.

Add it up

Over on Lens site he has this little tester below ...... try and figure out how much you would be fined .....but unlike the wife when she done it ...... don't leave the list out with the fine in the same order.

See if you can tell which one's she shouldn't have answered.

Smoked pot — $10
Did acid — $5
Ever had sex at church — $25
Woke up in the morning and did not know the person who was next to you — $40
Had sex with someone on MySpace — $25
Had sex for money — $100
Vandalized something — $20
Had sex on your parents’ bed — $10
Beat up someone — $20
Been jumped — $10
Crossed dressed — $10
Given money to stripper — $25
Been in love with a stripper — $20
Kissed some one who’s name you didn’t know — $0.10
Hit on some one of the same sex while at work — $15
Ever drive drunk — $20
Ever got drunk at work, or went to work while still drunk — $50
Used toys while having sex — $30
Got drunk, passed out and don’t remember the night before — $20
Went skinny dipping — $5
Had sex in a pool — $20
Kissed someone of the same sex — $10
Had sex with someone of the same sex — $20
Cheated on your significant other — $10
Masturbated — $10
Cheated on your significant other with their relative or close friend — $20
Done oral — $5
Got oral — $5
Done / got oral in a car while it was moving — $25
Stole something — $10
Had sex with someone in jail — $25
Made a nasty home video — $15
Had a threesome — $50
ad sex in the wild — $20
Been in the same room while someone was having sex — $25
Stole something worth over more than a hundred dollars — $20
Had sex with someone 10 years older — $20
Had sex with someone under 21 and you are over 27 — $25
Been in love with two people or more at the same time — $50
Said you love someone but didn’t mean it — $25
Went streaking — $5
Went streaking in broad daylight — $15
Been arrested — $5
Spent time in jail — $15
Peed in the pool — $0.50
Played spin the bottle — $5
Done something you regret — $20
Had sex with your best friend — $20
Had sex with someone you work with at work — $25
Had anal sex — $80
Lied to your mate — $5
Lied to your mate about the sex being good — $25

Valentines

Heres one just for Munch

Weekend Rugby

Well another weekend of 6 nations Rugby ....not really much to say about it all this week ....... The Italians put up a fine performance against an England team that seemed devoid of ideas ...... After this match we had the Welsh and Scots commentators telling us all how boring the England Italy match was, and how there was going to be a try fest at Murryfield. Well the murryfield match lacked any tries ....With Paterson kicking 7 from 7 .... and Jones kicking 3 it was a penalty fest :)

So to look forward to Sundays match between Ireland and France. Again not that good a match .... but at least as far as running rugby goes it was more exciting ....... my man of the tournement for this week though is Chris paterson of Scotland ....... It must be remember that on a percentage basis this guy is the best kicker in the world

Youth of today

Just recently down in our little neck of the woods there has been a noticable increase in the activities os some of the local youths. last week we had a young 15 year old stabbed in the heart by a 20 year old ........ from the reports from witnesses the 15 year old was stood with some friends when he was initially accosted by a 17 year old girl with a stick. When he finally fought back and pushed her off she was supposed to have said "I will get my boyfriend down here to stab you!"........ Which is apparently exactly what happened....... So at the moment we have one 15 year old dead ...and one 20 year old on remand.

Then a yesterday I hear that 11 youths have been arrested for attacking 3 youths in another area close to us.

Now my first reaction, I suppose the same as some other "older" peoples is what are the youth of today like ...... but then really .... have they ever been anything different?

During the 1950's we had Teddy Boys (Edwardians) Now these were also young people who hung around the stret corners supposedly carrying knives and fighting mostly with each other ..... This developed into the 60's and the Mods and Rockers .....Rockers being the follow on from Teddy boys ....and Mods being the new "Cult" ........ These two sets of youths were supposed to have ruined Bank Holidays up and down the country when they clashed....... Then there were the Skinheads ...punks ....Teddy boys again ....Mods again ..... The list over the decades is continueous .....

So the question that needs answering is

Have the Youth of today got more aggresive ......... or is the media of today more robust in it's reporting of said incedents ........ you decide?

What a weekend

Well the start of the 6 nations was Saturday ...and what a start. After last year I don't think England could have dropped any further away from the Rankings but you never know do you?
England had the sweatys on Saturday (no offence Len) and without all the crap that was shown before the match last year at Murryfield, i.e. the taunting of the England team by lots of men in kilts and blue faces (Fashion in Scotland obviously not progressed much). The match got under way ...... Classic match it wasn't .... Johny was back and proving why he is probably the first choice fly half in an England shirt. Unfortunately as we all know Johny was awarded a try that clearly wasn't .... but on the balance of things the sweatys first try should not have been given ..... as everybody else in the land, apart from the ref, saw that the England lineout jumpers arm had been pulled down allowing the ball to travel to the back. But then that's life. A good start for the England Team ....not so good for the Scots. Other games saw France beat the Italians and Ireland beat the Welsh. ..... Everything then running to expectations.

Been a while

It's been a while since I've posted .....sorry about that ......But my last post regarded young Jack ...who not long after the post unfortunately passed away.

So What's been happening since ....well so much really .... I changed jobs back to working as a Landfill Administrator ....no more working outside in the cold :)

I've also fitted a new kitchen for my beloved wifey ....... Pic above ...... Not bad for someone who wouldn't hammer a nail in the wall a couple of years back. I've been refereeing some adult games, although the fact that my legs have swollen up again have calmed that down for the moment.

That's all for the moment ..... will post again soon ...and not leave it as long between posts.

Final thought of the day

If someone close to you dies .................... Change seats :)