Moral Dilemma

We've been getting mail that's meant for the house in an adjoining street with the same number. Up until recently we would just drop it in their box but after a spate of letters I explained what had been happening in a note on the envelope and suggested it might be time to get the post office to sort it out.

Fast forward a few days and there's a thank you note telling us it was all sorted and there was a $10 scratchit enclosed.

Nice but unexpected. Carole scratched it and said "hey we won $20". More scratching. "we won another $15". Still more scratching and we ended up with four winning games worth $100.

It's all good until Carole says we should give them half! Now I'm not exactly the pin up boy for gestures like this. There was the time the hobby shop charged me $1.56 for a scale model 67 Lotus that was actually $156 and when they put through an extra unauthorised transaction for the balance I asked for the paperwork with my signature and they had to retract it.

Then there was the time I was walking across the service station forecourt and there was a crisp $100 just lying there and I scooped it up in a smooth motion and kept walking.

Or the time I got to the car with my groceries and realised I had a $24 bag of dog food on the top part that I'd forgotten to put through.

So loyal readers please comment what I should do? Give em $50 or put the whole hundred towards my missionary work helping underpriveledged children learn how to read and write.

Realistically that's just you Tank so think carefully before you deprive those kids from what most of us take for granted.

Farm Life

Carole had booked us into a cottage on a working farm so that Ben could get the whole collect the eggs and feed the animals experience. The one she chose (Little Comfort Farm) in Devon was excellent. The farmer's wife was great with Ben and Roger the farmer didn't mind the 'imposition' of a famaily tagging along on his morning rounds. He was quite happy to chat and explain things as he went along and it was interesting for us as well to find out how much the animals cost and return etc.

The cottage was really comfortable and set right in the heart of the farm.

We stayed 4 nights and used it as a base to explore North Devon which is very scenic and rugged. Everything from rugged coastlines to lonely Moors to waterfalls to surf beaches.

Met up with Vanessa's sister Carol who lives only a few miles from the farm at a place called Croyde which is one of the best surf beaches in England.

We met up for a drink in an excellent pub called the Thatch (T tick) had lunch at her house and went for a walk along the beach and up through the dunes before having a drink in a posh hotel with amazing views (Silverton Sands).

Carole wanted to see wild ponies on the Moors and we were lucky enough to see a few although most aren't out in the open at this time of year.

Did a great walk out to Morte Point as recommended by Vanessa. Amazing views. Had a quick drink in the Ship Aground pub. Easily the worst pint of bitter of this (or any other) trip. Exmoor Ale. It actually stank and I have to say that while there have been a couple of others that weren't flash, this was the only one I couldn't finish.

Blackberry the pig hadn't dropped her piglets by the time we left but Carole (I started out on a farm) informed me she might well have them later in the day. I'll check the farms website to see if she's right. Ben told me she would be having 13 piglets (Blackberry, not Carole).

The cottage at the farm

Forget Astro Boy, We've Got Annoyo Boy

He's the super hero with the secret power of annoyment (legit word, trust me).

Ben's been a bit trying lately..we have to remember he's only 4 and we put him in a lot of different and unusual situations but sometimes he doesn't half know how to push our buttons.

To be fair there's also the issue that sometimes you have to tone down your travel plans and remember that not all the things you would like to do are possible with a 4yo in tow.

The dog sledding was an amazing experience but it might have been a little too much for Ben. He loved it to start with but turned into Annoyo Boy later on.

A team of 9 Alaskan Huskies took us at sometimes breakneck speed along a forest trail and out onto a frozen lake. I got to drive for a while and actually brought us in including crossing the highway.

The last day skiing was a great day for all of us. Ben had his best lesson of the week and put it all together well. He's now confident on the button lift again after some tumbles earlier on.

He got diplomas from Martina his ski instructor and Jessica his crèche lady. Apart from one morning Ben was on his own with Jessica in crèche. Amazing really that the best kids resort in Sweden had no other kids in crèche. It was almost like a kids private cooking clinic. Ben & Jessica made home made walnut & apricot bread, pancakes & popcorn.

We had free skiing on the last day so we caught the bus to the main mountain and the huge gondola lift to the top. We skied down then zigzagged our way back to our resort via various other lifts. Great fun.

Further Reading

This article was in the Daily Telegraph in the UK a week ago talking about Arè in Sweden being voted in the top 10 ski resorts in the world. Has lots of good info about Arè in it. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/snowandski/7241887/Skiing-Is-re-in-Sweden-one-of-the-worlds-top-10-resorts.html

But What About The Skiing?

If I had written this entry after the 1st day skiing I would have sounded disappointed. But after getting to know the layout and which lift goes to which types of slopes; and getting used to the T-Bar lifts we would both give Sweden and Arè the big thumbs up.

The good things?

Staying on the mountain and being able to ski stright away. No 40 min drives up & down the mountain. No putting on chains in the mud with feeezing fingers.

The lack of crowds. There are very few people on the slopes. The lift lines aren't particularly long and everyone queuing is polite and patient.

No snowboarders! Well there are a few but it's basically 99% skiers. As it should be! :)

In the morning the slopes are pristine. It's like we have been dropped by helicopter onto a remote mountain.

You get the same instructor and same people in your lesson every day. There's a consistency and progression to what you are being taught. You get to build on things. I've progressed more this week than I ever have before. Perhaps it's just things finally coming together but it's been awesome.

(In the southern hemispere you get a different instructor most days and each one has their own techniques and exercises.)

We're doing fun stuff like skiing off piste and going through sections of forest. Speed control is bloody hard in narrow windy tracks with consecutive dips and jumps. I saw Carole somersault out of a forest today. Literally. I guess I should point out that I witnessed this from the ground after flying out of the same forest myself and getting a mouthfull of snow :)

They have little huts with fires where you can thaw out or cook sausages.

And well, it's all different and new.

The bad?

Not too much really. We chose the resort we are in because it is great for kids but it doesn't have any chair lifts. We could catch a free bus into the main area (15 min) or it's possible to ski across there via a few T-Bar lifts but we have a tight schedule:-

9.00 drop Ben at crèche.
9.00 - 10.30 ski
10.30 pick Ben up and get him ready for lesson
11.00 - 12.30 Ben's lesson
12.30 - 1.00 have quick lunch
1.00 drop Ben back at crèche.
1.30 - 3.00 our lesson
3.00 - 4.00 free ski
4.00 pick up Ben from crèche.

So it's easier to ski round our part of the mountain. But we've got used to the layout and schedule and it's been great. Tomorrow we don't have a lesson so in the afternoon we'll catch the bus to the main area and check it out and ski our way back.

The T-Bars took a full day to get used to. They are essentially a big anchor and one person sits on each side of it and it drags you up. You ski along. Extacting yourself is a challenge at first but we got the hang of it. Still strikes me as dangerous tho. You drop this anchor shaped t-bar and it gets dragged along through the drop off area before going up into the air. If anybody dawdled out of the the drop off area or falls they better look out out for flying anchors!

It probably sounds like T-Bars only is a bit lame but they go up a bloody long way. Over a kilometre. And the runs down are great with choices on both sides of the lift.

All in all, skiing in Sweden is awesome.

And I should point out that after a couple of cold days down around -30c it's been much warmer at -17c and -6c.

Night Skiing

Children's Apres Ski Fun

Hej From Sweden (Sverige)

Sweden is freakin cold with a capital C. Was -30 this morning when I went out to ski at 9am. So cold they stopped the chairlifts at the main resort. The T-bars near us kept operating tho.

Yesterday Ben had a bit of a bust up in crèche while riding a round toboggan (like a plastic bin lid). Bashed his mouth & teeth and there was a lot of blood apparently but the passing medi ski-mobile checked him out and there was no real damage.

Our lessons are in a class of 6 and we are the only non Swedish speakers but everyone speaks perfect English so they do the class in English for us and it saves the instructor saying things twice.

Ben went on a disc pull lift for the 1st time today. Pretty scary to watch but after one tumble he got the gist. There are 5 in his class.

Just been to a tour of a huge igloo with lots of rooms and huge icy waterfall nearby topped off with waffles and hot chocolate. It cost us 850 kroner for the 3 of us ($130) but the tour operator made a loss since the taxi cost 500 kroner each way.

Saturday we're going dog sledding on a frozen lake which should be good. They are currently testing a bunch of European cars on the lake. Audis, BMWs, even Lamborginis.

The level on English signage is next to zero which makes some basic things a bit difficult as you can't even guess sometimes. Many of the words are completely different.

Swedish people are very polite and also quietly spoken. They aren't into all the latest trendiest snow clothes..it's not a fashion contest like it tends to be in other places.

We were warned that the cost of things was quite horrendous but we've found it reasonable enough. Had a huge pizza for 120 kroner which is about $18.50. Hot chocolate & a danish for about $5.20. Beer costs $7 or $8 a bottle in a bar or restaurant but I can buy a 6 pack of 500ml cans for between $12 &$14at the supermarket.

Hejdå & tack tack for reading this far :)

Hulla Baloo

Went to the West Ham vs. Hull game yesterday and it was another win and another clean sheet with a slashing 3-0 performance.

After the Blackburn game a few weeks back I was kicking myself for not having got my act together to organise Ben's photo be put in the matchday programme for his birthday.

So that night I sent off a photo and a request to get it printed in the Hull or Bolton programmes as Ben would be at both those games as well.

I hadn't heard back from them so I assumed they hadn't been able to do it. The photo I had sent was just a quick snap taken with my iPhone anyway and may not have had enough pixels to be print quality. .

As soon as we got out of the tube station I grabbed a programme and flicked straight to the fan's photos pages. "it's not in" I said to Carole. She looked over my shoulder and said "there it is" and sure enough I'd missed it in my rush.

We didn't show Ben until we were in and seated in the Sir Trevor Brooking Upper stand. He was wrapped (sp?) when he saw himself. It made all of our days.

Hull really are a very average football side and are surely destined to be relegated (like they should have been last year). But who cares how bad they are since those rip roaring hammers got to have a bit of an East End knees up and put 3 past them.

The pubs were all too packed to take a 4yo into so we caught the underground back to where we are staying in Houndslow not far from Heathrow. Another cheap feed at the Jolly Wagoner and it was off to bed before our early morning start to go to Sweden.

Taking a Toll

The toll on the M6 is £4.70. Thanks for coming.

There's a no toll M6 but you get caught in traffic around Birmingham.

At least here they have toll booths. In Brisbane it's bad luck for visitors and tourists. You have to know enough to write the phone number down and phone up to pay the toll afterwards. What a joke.

We're down in London again for a couple of nights. Tonight is the big Eastenders live episode where you can bet at the bookies on who killed Archie Mitchell. Was tempted to put my work punters club bet on Jack Brannon or Tracy the barmaid but Boxy gets the hump when someone bets on ladies tennis so he'd burst a blood vessel if I did.

Tomorrow it's off to West Ham vs Hull for the 3 of us. Hopefully I'll be able to stick it to Squeaky Clean the same way I did to Brummie Damian Roe.

Then on Sunday morning it's the 4.45am shuttle to Heathrow and a flight to Sweden to go skiing. Don't think I'll have mobile service so updates will have to wait until we get back a week later.

J is for Jolly Wagoner

A-Z Pubs & Beers 2010 (UK)

The beers A-Z is much easier with heaps of choices in most pubs

Beers

A B C D F G H J K L M O R S T W X

Amber Ale (Shepherd Neame brewers - Kentish Ale)
Boddingtons
Carling Black Label (lager)
Carlsberg (lager)
Deuchars IPA (brewed by Caledonian)
Flowers Original Ale (Betley)
Gertie Sweet Traditional Ale (Betley)
Heinekin lager
John Smiths Bitter
Kronenburg 1664 (Ilford)
Lancaster Bomber (Thwaites - London Angel & Crown)
Master Brew (Shepherd Neame brewers - Kentish Ale)
Old Leg Over (Daleside, Yorkshire Ale, Alford)
Ruddles Bitter (Barking)
Spring Heeled Jack (Ilford, London)
Sussex Best Bitter (Kent)
Tetley's Smooth Flow
Wagoner's Ale (brewed in Lincolnshire by Tom Woods)
Worthingtons Creamflow (Crewe)
XB Best Bitter (Skendlyby)

The Pub A-Z is not going quite so flash. Sometimes there's been no option than to double up letters. I've got a pub crawl in Nantwich in a few weeks so should plug a few gaps then.

A B C D H J Y

Angel & Crown (London Soho, Shaftsbury Ave)
Barking Dog (Barking. East London)
The Blacksmith Arms (Lincolnshire)
Chapter Arms (Chatham Hatch, Kent)
Crewe Hero (Crewe Station)
The County (Ilford, London)
Duke of Edinburgh (Upton Park. East London)
Hand & Trumpet (Betley)
Half Moon (Alford Lincs)
Jolly Wagoner (Houndslow)
Ye Olde Vaults (Nantwich, Cheshire)
Woodside

And Hodge, Watkins etc can keep their moaning about "the" to themselves.

H is for Hand & Trumpet

Up To Nowt

Yesterday we went for a drive around the surrounding areas. Found a geocache near Spilsby, wandered along the beach front at Sutton on Sea and had tea at the Half Moon in Alford.

Today we've not been up to too much. Relaxing around the cottage watching the rabbits dart from burrow to burrow. We're now having a meal at the Blacksmith's Arms. I get no mobile service at the cottage but the publican let's me use his wifi.

View from the cottage window..look closely for snow flakes

One of the hireable chalets at Sutton Sea - similar to Brighton beach boxes

Butlins at Skegness in Lincolnshire

How to describe Butlins? It's a sort of all inclusive holiday resort particularly popular with families. There are shows and entertainment and amusement arcades and pubs and clubs and pools and water slides and go carts and activities and cinemas bowling alleys and you name it, they've got it.

In our 3 days there we did all of those things. We saw Brainiac on stage, Abba, Elvis & Queen tribute shows, Barney & Dora shows, puppet shows, watched Avatar at the cinema. We swam in the heated pools, walked on the beach (Carole even had a paddle), watched the 6 Nations rugby in the pub, rolled in at 2am one night.

Some people seem to think Butlins is a bit of a joke. I just saw lots of families having a great time.

Vale Dick Francis

Passed away today aged 89. Former jockey to the Queen and the author of many many excellent horse racing novels

R&R

We are spending a few quiet days in a nice little cottage in Lincolnshire. Just arrived and it's now snowing away outside. The fire is crackling away. And we'll wander up the pub for tea later.

Cheap As Chips

Sports Direct & Lillywhites would have to be the cheapest brand names sports clothing shops in the world.

Carole got a good quality pair of Karimore hiking boots for £30 and could have bought a ski jacket and pants for £45

2 Nil To The Cockney Boys

Caught the train down to London on my own to go to the Birmingham game last night. Kick off at 7.45pm so too late for Ben who stayed in Cheshire with Carole.

The Crewe train station had a pub on the platform. Only in England. Didn't stop me having one though.

Just under 2 hours on the train and rolled into London Euston at 3pm.

Had a wander round Soho and the Theatre District. Must say it is very liberating to be on your own in London. No 4yo. No 'museum hating' wife. Do whatever you want. It may be the 1st time I've been on my own in London.

Quick pint in the Angel & Crown on Shaftsbury Ave ("A" tick). Wander round the National Portrait Gallery.

Started to snow so quick dash into McDonalds to put on my long johns (too much information?) then on the underground to Upton Park.

Tea at the renowned Ken's Cafe on Green St (only West Ham fans would have heard of it :)

Seat was in the 2nd row of the West Lower but in the wedge part right beside the rowdy Trevor Brooking Lower.

I always get a tear in my eye when they sing Bubbles before kick off and the music stops and its just the crowd.

Great atmosphere and Zola went with an attacking formation. 4-4-2 but with Diamanti wide left it was effectively 3 up front.

When Diamanti curled in the free kick just before the half time whistle the crowd went mental..I was swamped by people from behind hugging me and lifting me up in the air! Diamanti raced over to celebrate with Zola and a bunch of other players piled on top. Awesome.

Scored a 2nd goal to make sure of the points and it was an East End knees up with everyone going home happy (for a change).

From Stamford Bridge to Upton Park, Stick Ya Blue Flag Up Ya A*se

Got the Chelsea tickets. Seems there weren't 3000 people wanting to pay £48/ticket to see us get flogged.

(The title of the post is from an insulting song chanted at Chelsea)

Martin Mere

Went to Martin Mere which is a wildlife conservation park..mainly birds. Pretty impressive with several hides overlooking a large lake. Literally thousands of Whooper Swans (pronounced hooper) that migrate from Iceland. Ben enjoyed it. He also loved the playground though.

Tea from the fisho down the road. Cod, chips, mushy peas and dabs (potato scallops).

Forgot that it was the day tickets went on sale to members for Chelsea away. Now I have to queue up on the phone with the public at 10p/min :(

Bolton

Watched Dan keep a clean sheet in Nantwich Town's 7-0 defeat of Crewe..more points than Chris's rugby!

Drove up to Bolton to stay with friends Louie & Dorrie in their cottage. Ben loves all the rooms and exploring. Tried to find a geocache in a nearby valley but it hadn't been found since August and we gave up. Louie and I hoofed back up the muddy hill but the girls and Ben went the long flat way. I was getting a bit nervous as it got dark..made a couple of phone calls to make sure they were ok and that we were waiting in the right place. They eventually traipsed out of the darkness beside Kevin Davis's "cottage" (the Bolton striker, smarmy git).

Nice stew for tea.

More Ticks

Spent Friday in grave yards doing family tree research for Carole. Lunch at the Hand & Trumpet (H tick) where I had Flowers Original Ale & Gerties Sweet Traditional Ale (F tick , G tick).

Did a tour of the small Woodlands micro brewery (http://www.woodlandsbrewery.co.uk/) where I had a pint of Old Leaf (O tick).

Left Ben with Joanne & Trev who took him to the park and to watch Big Chris play rugby for the Nomads against Crewe and Nantwich (3 - 3) yes it was Rugby not football despite the scoreline.

We headed up to Burnley' ground Turf Moor, another tick on football grounds life list. The Northern Hammers hosted a bit of a party and nosh up at someone's house before the game. Drinks were provided and they put them outside on a concrete slab in the back yard on the ground to keep cold lol...Hodge would approve although he wouldn't care if it was winter on not.

Atmosphere at away games is always much better than home games as you get all the fanatical supporters in one small area. Was really buzzing. Unfortunately we weren't at the races for the first half hour and our England rep centre back had a clanger to gift them a goal.

Went down further thanks to a peach of a curling free kick. In the last 20 mins we were awesome (needed to play like that for the full 90m) hit the bar and post scored a good goal and were unlucky not to get at least something out of the game. But we need points not excuses or it's gonna be relegation to the fizzy pop for us :(

Thought Mido looked like he will be a good signing from the get go. McCarthy will take several games to get match fit. Didn't see enough of Ilan to judge although he took his goal well and looked like he might be useful.

Gotta get 3 points Wed night against Birmingham.

Y, Y, Y Delilah

Just in enjoying a pint of bitter in a Y pub - Ye Olde Vaults in Nantwich.

Been surprised at how Carole has embraced my A-Z challenge. It's all good!

The M1 connected to the M6

Spent up in the sales at the West Ham club shops. £9.99 for official home and away shirts. The club had 21,000 shirts stockpiled and they are due to be changed next season.

They have a really nice range of Bobby Moore Foundation (http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/bobbymoorefund/) gear with 10% going to cancer research.

Then it was on to the M11 -> M25 -> M1 -> M6 -> A500 to Nantwich in Cheshire where Carole's relatives live. No change out of 3 hours drive. No matter what speed I do I get passed by all & sundry. Ben slept for a lot of it but the last bit got a bit tedious with "we'll never get there" and "are we close now" every few miles from the back seat :)

Canterbury Tales

Had a look around Canterbury and the catherdral. It's massive. Saw the tomb of Edward the Black Prince.

Drove back to London for what should have been the West Ham Wolves game but as I said in an earlier post it was postponed due to Wolves fa cup replay the same night. Accomo was pre paid non refundable or changeable so may as well use it.

Driving north to Nantwich in Cheshire today.

The iPhone is coming in handy for route planning and directions..just using the built in google maps directions function which allos you to specify by road or foot.

Howfield Manor

Into The Countryside

Picked up a hire car and drove to a small village near Canterbury in Kent called Chathem Hatch. Staying in a 12th century manor house. Have to stoop my head about a foot to get through the door of our room.

Nice pub lunch in a small pub called the Chapter Arms (most of the surrounding lands are owned by the church). Publican was into his sports..spoke proper posh but that might be a Kent thing. Tried a couple of Kentish Ales from the oldest brewer in the UK, Shepherd Neame (http://www.shepherd-neame.co.uk/). Keeping an A-Z list of pubs and beers for the trip. Will post details when there's a few more entries.

Did a quick geocache (see www.geocaching.com to find out more about what it is).

Full English next morning. Off to Canterbury today to have a look around.

Chapter Arms Pub, Chatham Hatch, Kent

It's Hammer Time

Took Ben along to his first West Ham game yesterday. Had been concerned it might be too long for him but it all went well. Cute to see him yelling c'mon you irons. Other people around us thought so too but Ben was concerned they were laughing at him. Before the game he met the West Ham kids mascots down beside the pitch - Herbie the Hammer and a Bear. Got a good photo but it's on the normal camera so can't post it on the run.

He liked reading the program and a couple of fanzines which kept him occupied and in the 2nd half when his attention wandered a little we cracked open a present we had held back for that purpose. He chewed the ear off the lady he sat beside in the 2nd half and even told her she had a boys name when she said her name was Jamie lol.

On the pitch things weren't so successful with a 0-0 draw and have to say we got what we deserved after starting 4-5-1 with an 18 year old leading the line. We were at home against an average team so the negative tactics were mystifying with Carlton Cole back fit but left on the bench for an hour. We need to get some points from these next few games as there are some tough games after that.

Had a quick drink in the Duke of Edinburgh before the game. Afterwards we caught the tube 2 stops back to Barking and went to the Barking Dog for tea but they said children had to be off the premises by 6pm :( Shame as it's a nice pub with great value meals and cheap pints (several tradition ales at £1.95).

Ended up at the caff across the road and then home to put Ben to bed after a long day...I think he enjoyed his unusual birthday.

Salute The Judge

My horse Honourable Kind won a race in Adelaide this morning at $5.60.  I'd been expecting him to be around $2.50.  The race started in the early hours over here and when I went to place my bet I was informed by my UK ISP, virgin, that I was not able to access 18+ websites!?! I had to log on and remove the parental filter which didn't work so it told me to ring them which i did and they said it could take up to 2 hours to process!

I was finally able to get the QLD Tab website 3 mins before the race started.  Amazed to find the odds were so generous and requested a $100x$100 bet. Submitted it and just had to wait for the confirm button.  Then bang my phone signal dropped out completely. 

The horse won by 5 lengths and I missed out on a $550 profit.

Some things are sent to test us but this was almost scripted to extract maximum frustration.  At least I still get my small share of the $16300 prizemoney.

Horrible (which is his stable name) has now won $120,000 since we bought him for $35,000 so he's certainly paying for his oats.

Birthday Boy

Ben's 4th birthday today. Bought a bag of balloons at the 99p shop and he wants me to blow them all up. Trouble is there are 90 in the packet!

Had to choose his presents wisely as they have to come home with us in our luggage. We bought them in the sales back in Oz and brought them with us.

Took him to Harrods toy section and also the famous Hamleys toy store. Both very impressive and a kid's dream (and his young at heart Dad :)

We've been walking all over Barking this morning to find the birthday boy a playground. "We'll never find one"...."I promise you we will" I say. And when we do I hit him with one of his own little sayings.."I tell you Ben, I tell you"

Mind The Gap

Arrived in London safely

Won't here me complaining about the cost of the Brisbane Airtrain.  Cost £18 each for the 15 min train to Paddington.  Ouch.  The under ground was a more reasonable £4 each for the longer ride out to Barking.  Peak hour too but got a seat and Ben was well behaved almost falling asleep in Carole's arms.

Have to sort out oyster card top ups tomorrow. Like a Go Card.

The underground can be challenging with suitcases..most stops aren't equipped with lifts, many platforms don't have escalator access (not good for disabled travellers) and the larger stations with rail connections are complicated and massive to navigate.  

Northern Exposure

I didn't realise that flights to London from the southern hemisphere go over Russia/Siberia and then down through Finland & Sweden.

There is a channel on the entertainment unit that shows you a live camera feed of the view below. Lots of snow covered mountains down there!

Have watched a few movies..a Bruce Willis sci fi about robots called surrogates (or surries for short) that are operated by their owners in their own homes using a VR headset that enables them to have daily life experiences without danger to themselves. Love Happens, a Jennifer Aniston love story. Hatchiko: A Dog's Story with Richard Gere based on a true story about a dog whose owner dies and the dog waits outside the train station for him to come home every day for nine years until he too dies - Carole was crying a river. Public Enemy, Johnny Depp plays John Dillinger. An episode of Inside The Actors Studio on Matt Damon who amongst other things reveals that his favourite word is the 'C' word. Mine would be GOAL!

Milky

Our cheap Japan Airlines fare had an enforced overnight stop-over in Narita with free accommodation but it's ideal when travelling with a young child. Breaks the London longhaul up into a 9 hour & a 12 hour segment with a proper sleep in between. Hotel is pretty flash too for a freebie.

The Japanese quarantine inspector was typical of the politeness that Japan is famous for. We had to wait for maybe 2 mins tops but he was apologetic and thanked me for my kindness.

Toilet Paper Pants

We're in the plane and there's a guy sitting on the arm-rest opposite us talking to his friend (and drinking).

He goes to the toilet and comes back to resume the conversation, only now he's got a stream of about 6 sheets of toilet paper caught up in the back of his pants and hanging in the aisle. He's on Carole's side and I said you gotta tell him, but she says no way. I said well tap him and I'll tell him but still no dice.

So I gesture for the stewardess and she comes over. I point at the guy's backside and she thinks I'm pointing at a packet of nuts she' holding and she says in a Japanese accent similar to Hattori Hanzo the sword maker in Kill Bill "narts, you want narts?"

So I point more determinedly at his bottom and she sees the toilet paper and bursts out laughing. Well as bursting as a polite Japanese stewardess can be...more a hand over the mouth giggle.

She taps him on the shoulder and points at his toilet paper tail. "Oh god" he says and then 4 or 5 passengers who had twigged to what was going on start laughing out loud.

The stewardess then asks the guy if he wanted her to take the paper away lol.

She then turns and thanks me which then clues toilet paper guy in that I'm sort of responsible....oh well.

At least it wasn't an unbroken stream of paper going up the ailse and into the toilet. And I know your dying to ask...yes it was clean.

Milky

Our cheap Japan Airlines fare had an enforced overnight stop-over in Narita with free accommodation but it's ideal when travelling with a young child. Breaks the London longhaul up into a 9 hour & a 12 hour segment with a proper sleep in between. Hotel is pretty flash too for a freebie.

The Japanese quarantine inspector was typical of the politeness that Japan is famous for. We had to wait for maybe 2 mins tops but he was apologetic and thanked me for my kindness.

Japanese Friends

At the airport departure gate Ben was speaking to some little Japanese girls named Mi & Yui. Very cute to watch him saying "ohio", "mossi mossi", "ari gato" and "sayanara" and watching them giggle.

They were showing each other their passport photos and the girls shared their pez lollies with him.

Nice cross cultural experience to start the trip.

Waiting, Waiting, Waiting

Are we there yet

Bugger

Wolves draw in the FA Cup overnight means our game against them on Feb 2nd will be resheduled to accommodate their replay :(

Anybody want a night at the Newbury Park Holiday inn going cheap?

Summary of our UK Trip Itinerary

Wed 27/01 Fly to London via Japan

Thu 28th - Sun 31st
London incl West Ham v Blackburn on Ben's birthday (30th)

Mon 1st Feb - Tue 2nd
Cambridge B&B
West Ham v Wolves

Wed 3rd - Fri 5th
Nantwich Cheshire with Carole's relatives

Sat 6th
Burnley v West Ham

Sun 7th - Mon 8th
Bolton with friends Louie & Dorrie

Tue 9th - Thu 11th
Nantwich (Carole & Ben)
London by train West Ham v Birmingham (Tony)

Fri 12th - Sun 14th
Butlins Skegness Lincolnshire

Mon 15th - Wed 17th
Cottage in Skendleby Psalter Lincolnshire

Thu 18th
Nantwich

Fri 19th - Sat 20th
London, West Ham v Hull

Sun 21st - Sun 28th
Skiing in Arè Sweden

Mon 1st Mar - Thu 4th
Farm Stay Little Comfort Braunton, Devon

Fri 5th - Sat 6th
London, West Ham v Bolton

Sun 7th - Thu 11th
Nantwich & somewhere like Llandudno

Fri 12th - Sat 13th
London, Chelsea v West Ham

Sun 14th Fly to Tokyo

Mon 15th - Tue 16th
Tokyo

Wed 17th Fly to Brisbane

Thu 18th Arrive Brisbane 7.15am

Show Me What's Wrong

Another impressive web site especially for those of you like me who get friends and family wanting their computer problems fixed.

http://showmewhatswrong.com

It will generate an URL you can send them and when clicked on it will let them easily create a video of their problem and send it to you. Well actual it gets uploaded to http://showmewhatswrong.com/ who will then notify you. Way cool.

http://showmewhatswrong.com/

PDF My URL!

How cool is this web site -http://www.pdfmyurl.com/ ? Well cool enough to make it to the top of Delicious..try it. Sweet eh.

Test 6

Finally I think

WilliamSt

Pixelpipe Test

Testing an iPhone app called pixelpipe to do blog photo uploads

Southbank Eye

Office Aerobics

My boss's office has a motion detected light. It's a bit slack at detecting movement so when he goes in he has to jump around a bit and even wave an arm in the air.

The other day after he went out I turned the light off at the switch. So when he got back we were treated to a 5 minute aerobics show lol.

Apps on my iPhone

Got an iPhone recently and love it. Been scouting round for apps and here's a quick & nasty list so far. It's not sorted since I don't know that it's possiblewithout finding an app that does it.


BlogWriter Lite, Free
Funny Flash Cards, $2.49
Peekaboo Wild, $2.49
Gorillacam, Free
Foxtel Guide, Free
Glow Hockey FREE, Free
iDragPaper FREE, Free
Tap Tap Revenge 3, Free
Doodle Buddy, Free
SpongeBob Jellyfish Jam, Free
Traffic Rush, Free
Jungle Crash Land, Free
Rat On The Run, Free
Skater Nation FREE, Free
Paper Toss, Free
World Cup Table Tennis™ Lite, Free
3D Rollercoaster Rush FREE, Free
Splash of Color FREE, Free
Unblock Me FREE, Free
Flashlight., Free
Hangman Free, Free
UNO™ - FREE,Free
Lightsaber Unleashed, Free
Geocaching, $12.99
Google Mobile App, Free
SportsTap,Free
Sportacular Premier League, Free
CheckMyTubes - Speed Test,Free
Google Earth,Free
Tower Bloxx Deluxe 3D Free, Free
Photoshop.com Mobile, Free
Qantas, Free
Peekaboo Barn Lite, Free
BubbleWrap, v1.6, Free
RunKeeper Free, Free
Dropbox, Free
eBay Mobile, Free
Epicurious Recipes & Shopping List, Free
LockBox, Free
PanoLab, Free
News Australia Lite, Free
123 Animals Counting Lite Free - Kids / Toddler Voice Flash Cards Games, Free
ABC Phonics Animals Free Lite -Talking & Spelling Alphabet Flashcards Kids Games,Free
Funny Flash Cards - Morphing Animals - Free Version, Free
KidCalc FREE Math Fun, Free
Bathtub Letters, Free
Sheep Launcher Free!, Free
Dictionary.com - Dictionary & Thesaurus, Free
Wikipedia, Free

TV shows on my roster

Quick update of what's on my TV cycle each week when in season :-

- Dexter
- Fringe
- House
- Weeds
- Entourage
- Survivor
- NCiS
- Two & a half men

I watch a lot of one word shows!

The Great Dough Disaster

Carole and I were doing these online mad-libs where you nominate words and then it inserts them into a story. The site is for kids btw. Here's how one turned out...(the words we chose were Dave,fat,kicked,rowed,64000,cindy lauper,gracefully,pakistan,ears,8 million,screwing,teapot,mobiles)


Last summer, my friend Dave got a job at the fat Pastry Shop. For the first few weeks, he kicked the floors, rowed on the shelves, and unloaded 64000-pound sacks of flour from the delivery trucks.

Finally, cindy lauper, the owner, told Dave that she would teach him to make bread. “Now, pay attention, Dave,” she said gracefully. “I'll make the first batch of dough. Then you can make the next batch while I go to pakistan.”

Poor Dave! He had a habit of letting his ears wander. When cindy lauper left for pakistan, he started to mix the ingredients. “Let me see,” he said. “I think she put in 8 million packages of yeast.”

A short while later, the dough started screwing. It kept on screwing. Dave tried to cover it with a(n) teapot, but the dough wouldn't stop screwing. It was everywhere! “What can I do?” thought Dave.

Just then, cindy lauper returned from pakistan. "Dave!" she screamed. “What have you done?”

“It's not my fault,” cried Dave. “The dough just started screwing and wouldn't stop.”

cindy lauper had to let him go. Now Dave has a job making mobiles. I don't think he'll ever eat bread again, let alone make it.

Movie Marathon

Been laid up after an ankle op so I've been catching up on some movies.

The Bucket List - very good. Two great actors who complement each other well.

21 - was still coming out of the anaesthetic when I watched it but was just passable.

88 Minutes - very average...just didn't flow at all

The Bank Job - based on a true story albeit with the story being filled out with speculation in the absence of historical answers. In the style of Lock Stock, well worth it.

Untraceable - very watchable. While some of the science was far fethched much of it was believable. Could have chosen to be gory for the sake of it but didn't fall into that trap.

Vantage Point - concept was to show an assasination attempt from a numbe of different vantage points. Reality was that it was screwed up by sub plots that didn't need to be included. Another movie that didn't flow for me.

The Sound of Silence

Bought myself a set of Sony noise cancelling ear buds (MD-NC22B) and I am very happy so far. Seem to do a great job on both trains and buses.

While it is still possible to hear people and the hum of the train etc if you try, when you pump something through them all the regular din becomes muffled and just seems to fade to the background. Can be kinda eerie when the sound stops cause you can hear your own breathing, like you are scuba diving.

Movies have always been problematic from a volume point of view on my Ipod. I would have the volume maxed out with the standard Ipod ear phones and I'd find myself holding them tightly in my ears to try and hear the dialogue. Not good.

But now it's all good...quite crisp, clear and loud enough with volume to spare. Sound separation and isolated effects are heaps better than the Ipod phones.

Mega comfortable too...I've always struggled with normal ear phones but the soft silicone buds just seem made for my ears.

You can spend a lot more for Bose etc but that isn't something I could justify. $149 is enough of a chunk of change for me for ear buds but at least I'm happy with them.

Birthday Fool's Day

It's my birthday today and while I still went to work I had an excellent day.

I got some nice presents like a leaf blower/mulcher and a West Ham polo & tshirt, but perhaps the best was a book that Ben gave me called My Dad where each page has a fold up flap revealing something that your Dad does for you. Then at the end Carole had helped him paste in actual photos of me doing those exact things..stuff like carrying him round on my shoulders or making sandcastles with him.

After he gave it to me he then climbed up into the chair with me and we read it together.

Left me feeling happy all day.

Here's my full A-Z list

Rules :-

- must be a pub or a tavern, no sporting clubs, nightclubs etc
- must have had a beer in it
- must have been the current name of the pub at the time

Ambassador Hotel (Redcliffe)
Belvedere Hotel (Woody Point)
Coronation Hotel (Ipswich)
Deception Bay Tavern
Erskineville Hotel
Fihelly's Arms (Brisbane)
Grandview Hotel (Cleveland)
Homestead Hotel (Boondall)
Ivanhoe (Manly NSW)
Jindalee Tavern
Kurrajong (Erskineville, Sydney)
Lands Office (Brisbane)
Metropole Hotel (Ipswich)
Norman Hotel (Woolloongabba)
One Mile Hotel (West Ipswich)
Pineapple Hotel (Kangaroo Point)
Queen's Arms (New Farm)
Racehorse Hotel (Bundamba)
Scarborough Hotel
Transcontinental Hotel (Brisbane)
Ulster Hotel (Ipswich)
Victory Hotel (Brisbane)
Woodside (Wistaston, Cheshire UK)
X
Y
Zetland @ Green Square

Z is for Zetland

I have an A-Z life list I keep of pubs I have had a beer in and up until now I had no Z pub.

But I flew to Sydney with a few mates for a pub crawl and to watch the Rabbitohs & Easts game and finally got my Z.

Here's the list of pubs we got to during the day before & after the football Friday night :-

Sydney Park Hotel
Botany View
Erskineville Hotel
Rose of Australia
Kurrajong Hotel
Park View Hotel
Cauliflower Hotel
Zetland Hotel @ Green Square
Royal Hotel Randwick.
Fortune of War (The Rocks - Sydney's oldest pub)
Mercantile (had had a guful by then so didn't actually have a beer in it)

Then on Sat & Sun we also got to :-

Clovelly Hotel
Coodgee Bay Hotel
Coach & Horses
Steyne Hotel (Manly)
Ivanhoe (Manly)
The Orient

How's that for a long weekend of pubbing it!

Now if I can just find an X!

Ben @ the Beach

Couple of quick snaps of Ben 2.0 at the beach the other day. He's a big sandcastle man. I make em, he knocks em down!

Car Sizes

Why is it that families are now smaller but cars are much larger?

Big 4WD's should cost a lot more to register.

Compulsory 3rd party life insurance should cost more.

Driver's should have to pass a competency test before they can drive one.

And these new Chrysler dealerships being rolled out round Australia should have to pay an ugly tax. Let's leave these hideous yank tanks to the Americans & Saudis.