tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-303773482023-11-15T05:39:49.724-08:00It seemed to make sense at the timeLife as I see it from my seat on the sofaMarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09241852596094368096noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30377348.post-68288831279324818662014-02-17T01:45:00.001-08:002014-02-17T09:44:19.646-08:00Half term is here and I need a break!I'm a special school nurse so I get school holidays off. Like most things it's a blessing and a curse. It means more holidays (which I pay for through the way my days are structured- so you can stop sniping about how unfair it is..) However, its in school holidays so the it's much more expensive..<br />
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Part of this is countered by going to non tourist places, and partially by staying in places that most families wouldn't go to. My holidays tend to be in big cities and I stay in hostels and B&B's.<br />
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I'm coming to the end of a very busy half term, going in early and finishing late just to get what needed to be done finished. I'm not disorganised, there is too much to do for one person alone. My job was previously done by 1.5 people and you cannot fill that gap with being more efficient.<br />
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I spent most of my childhood holidays being told how grateful I should be to have a holiday, and having time pass with the aim of spending as little money as possible. When you've spent a day on a beach at Skegness in a arctic gale, wearing coats and gloves and have to stay there because you're on holiday. Even at age 10 I was thinking "This isn't right" and "This is a holiday?"<br />
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I travel a lot now because for most of my life for many reasons I couldn't. Where to next ?<br />
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"New York, London, Paris, Munich..."<br />
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<br />Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09241852596094368096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30377348.post-57365256520280419762014-02-09T15:00:00.000-08:002014-02-09T15:00:19.518-08:00Four seasons in one dayYes its been a while, but will it be worth it?<br />
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Saturday started clear, so I went out for a bike ride. Then off to Villa Park (cold wet and a miserable game) about the less said about the better.<br />
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The evening bought a gathering of the clan (minus two members at work) . My brother came up from Suffolk with his partner and two year old son. We had a chinese takeaway and then he kept us amused playing with cars and making his daddy be a "horsey" I love having grown up children! They may be less cute, but I can watch tv without being bounced on!<br />
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Sunday was a much better day than the forecast suggested. Mostly ok, but with the odd rain and hail stone/ shower.<br />
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I wanted to get ahead for next week, so went to work for a few hours and then went to church. Geoff gave a fantastic sermon, that will take some reviewing and pondering over.<br />
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Ali and I had lunch together. We went for a carvery and had the usual large amount of vegetables and some meat. What was great was we actually talked, rather than dealing with jobs, organising etc. It was brilliant. Then a trip to Aldi. Highlight was boxes of Christmas cards for 25p! I would recommend the (non sale price) Aldi budget lemonade for 17p. <br />
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The rest of the afternoon was trying (and failing) to get Ali's car started, calling out a breakdown man (10 seconds with the right tools) and reorganising the clothes in my wardrobe.<br />
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If all of the above thrills and excitement is too much for you, then you probably need a lie down.Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09241852596094368096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30377348.post-37835765065855203612012-12-09T11:51:00.003-08:002012-12-09T11:51:45.870-08:00Updates and iPhonesYes, its been a long time and a couple of Apple products since I posted in this blog.<br />
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It's been great to review the posts and review what was going on in my life, and how much has changed.<br />
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The children are more grown up, and the house is quieter. One has gone away, come back, and gone again. One has a job, and another is at college. There are some problems, and life is still busy. It's much more positive than 2007<br />
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I'm still a special school nurse, but now have responsibility for two schools. It's busy and challenging, and I'm looking forward to finishing!<br />
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I'm writing this on a Macbook air, after my trusty white Macbook died. It was sold for parts and hopefully recycled. My iPhone vanished one Tuesday morning, and never returned. I could ring it and then it went to answer phone. The only explanation I can give is that it dropped into the bin, and got took out with the rubbish, and then got crushed in the bin lorry. So i went off and bought a shiny new Iphone 4S from the good phone at the Apple Store Solihull. I took a deep breath and paid the price<br />
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Would I upgrade to the IPhone 5? It's a great phone, but like all Apple products it's an incremental improvement on the last one. I also know that there's an Iphone 5S and a 6 on their way. I will get another iPhone, but it would hopefully be in a couple of years time.<br />
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Unless I lose it .....<br />
<br />Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09241852596094368096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30377348.post-73613360432719982972009-03-09T01:23:00.000-07:002009-03-09T02:29:45.616-07:00It been a long, long timeI feel a little <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">explanation</span> is in order. My last post was in November 2007, and you might be wondering why. Have I been struck down by an almost fatal illness, have I been abducted by aliens and just returned last night by the mother ship, or lost my memory and been wandering the world in search of myself? The answer to all of these questions is no, but it would be a very interesting post if any of those were true.<br /><br />Writing here was always in the must do tomorrow pile. A large mound that never seemed to get any smaller. As well as all the normal things of housework, and coping with three adult children, there just seems to be so much to fill the time. A friend of mine successfully managed to blog every day for a month, and she still manages to write a very interesting and entertaining blog about life in Cyprus. Her little corner of cyberspace is well worth visiting at http://cypruslife.blogspot.com/.<br /><br />Perhaps I should see it as a diary, and try and write something at least weekly. So here goes...<br /><br />I have bought an Apple Mac. After years of owning PC's and never being entirely happy with their quirks, a bit like an eccentric uncle, you know what can happen, and you can't change it so you work around them. Then I saw the light and dipped a toe into the mac world and discovered safe reliable computing which is intuitive. It does what I need quickly, efficiently and reliably. I never thought I would join the evangelical Apple church, but I have. If your thinking about buying a mac then do, you won't regret it.<br /><br />The other very useful things is Google Calendar, its not a big thing but it is very useful.<br /><br />Google Calender is an online diary which I use to remind me of all the things I need to do. There are several advantages compared to an online diary. Firstly, you can never lose it, secondly you can always read it (a great advantage where I'm concerned), thirdly you can set up entries to repeat, so you can put family birthdays in without having to put them in the diary each year. It will also send you email reminders every day to help you to remember what you need to do.<br /><br />Google calender is also very useful for those things that you almost remember. For example"Is it 12pm or 1210 that i need to pick up number 1 child from orchestra", and for those things that you do every week, and wouldn't put in an ordinary diary. So today I have set a reminder for my car's service and MOT test (a government mandated safety test for vehicles) that will not only occur in April when it's due, but also in April 2010, when I will be saying is it March or April?<br /><br />I also get it to transfer to my phone, and my computer. All I need to do now is remember to actually do it!<br /><br />If anyone at google want's to say thank you. Please post a 16GB black iphone to the usual address....Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09241852596094368096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30377348.post-44198921733142987192007-11-11T13:27:00.000-08:002007-11-11T14:15:42.695-08:00It been a long timeThe last time I wrote we had just gone off to Cyprus on holiday.<br /><br />All I can say is if you get the chance to go there, then go now! For a Brit its the ideal holiday destination as everyone speaks English, the plug sockets are the same at home, and the weather is warm. There is Sky TV on in many bars, so you don't even have to miss the football!<br /><br />I left thinking I could live here. My friends had a superb house, and I had mentally bought one in the same street. Every morning I used to sit on the terrace drinking coffee, and watch the world go by. I was fascinated by the different characters. As a young man I read the Don Camillo books, with their accounts of village life and characters. This ordinary street in Larnaka seemed filled with similar folk. I used to imagine their stories as I sat and read. Captain Corelli's Mandolin is a similiar book if you've ever read that.<br /><br />Very soon it was back to work.<br /><br />Since January I have been working as a school nurse in a special school in Birmingham. I work 4 days a week, Tuesday to Friday, and have all the school holidays off. It is a fantastic job. I work with a fantastic group of nurses, it is very busy and I often find that the day has flown by.<br /><br />Compared to my situation last year, my life is 100% better!Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09241852596094368096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30377348.post-53275917645086893442007-04-06T10:22:00.000-07:002007-04-06T11:10:59.325-07:00Holidays and StuffSo after an eventful few months, my family and I decamped for a holiday in Cyprus. We had arranged to stop with friends from church, who now live in Cyprus. It was a holiday we had all been looking forward to for ages, even though it was an early start, a 7am flight means getting to the airport for 4am!<br /><br />It didn't work out that way however, a problem with the airport baggage handling system left the airport in chaos. Large queues of people shuffled forward very slowly, like some legion of the damned, and we realised very quickly that the chances of making our flight were slim. Suitcases having eventually being checked in, we went towards passport control, and were greeted by another enormous slow moving line of people. The new security arrangements, designed to stop people holding up planes with bottles of juice or baby paracetamol, slowed things down even more... After a long while and a quick sprint we made it onto the plane, just as our flight was being called. At last we were going to get away! Or not, in this case. There was another half an hour wait, as those people who were now unable to make their connection had their bags taken off. Two and a half hours late we finally left for Frankfurt, to make our connection for Cyprus.<br /><br />It wouldn't be a good story if that was the end of the tale. Another large wait followed, as we had to rearrange our flight (as we had naturally missed our connection), as had a lot of other people. My mother used to say "there's always someone worse off than you" when my brother and I complained, and we always used to mutter under our breath "so what". In this case it was definitely true. Standing next to us was a Taiwanese lady, married to an Englishman, with two small children. The next flight to Taiwan was the next day, and she had to wait in Germany. As she wasn't a EU citizen she couldn't stay without a visa, and they were trying to obtain an emergency visa for her, which on a Saturday would not be easy.<br /><br />After nearly four hours, we had the news that our flight was boarding. Frankfurt airport is HUGE, so after a sprint of nearly a mile we were away! To Athens, as there were no more direct flights that day. Athens is supposed to be a wonderful city, but Athens airport is like any other airport, but the weather was warmer. At Frankfurt we realised that we hadn't got our friends phone number, but I was able to email our friends and let them know, and after a call back to the UK to get their number was obtained, and the bad news communicated. Our friends still came to pick us up at the airport, even though it was nearly 11pm Cyprus time.<br /><br />That was brilliant of them, and was the start of a great week. Some photos and more news next time........Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09241852596094368096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30377348.post-64766391051327683302007-03-27T13:52:00.000-07:002007-04-01T11:49:11.620-07:00January , FebruaryThis is part 2 of a 3 part blog. It continues the theme of having song titles for titles. This time its Barbara Dixon. All together now I can hear you singing along "January, February You don't understand"<br /><br />Hopefully it won't be like Back to the Future 2 and be the worst of a trilogy. So here goes. Our hero starts on the first day of a new job, and completes his manual handling course. He then announces that his teeth are really hurting and might be a little bit late for his first day at work tomorrow, and then disappeared off sick for 5 days. Then back to work for a few days and followed by two and a half weeks off on jury service. I don't want to sound like a wimpy man, but it was the worse pain I have ever experienced. I sat in my living room crying having taken all of the pain relief I could have had. I can now understand why patients clock watch and badger nurses for tablets. My dentist was fantastic, but I did get a little concerned when she was looking in the digger hire section of yellow pages when she was talking about my tooth. Three treatments later, a huge filling and lots of tablets later and I am now pain free and sorted.<br /><br />It is illegal to discuss what happened in the jury deliberating room, so I won't. However, I can tell you about the jury service experience. No, its not a new theme park, its a living hell....<br />In some ways its nice, like being retired. You get up and potter around the house and get into the court for about 10am, sit around until about 1pm reading the paper and doing sudoku, and then go for lunch. After a long lunch break, usually over an hour (I work in the public sector where any lunch break where you sit down counts as an extended one) you come back, and sit around the afternoon paper, and watch TV. At about 3pm if no one is needed you can go home, and come back into the morning. You have an expense account for travel and lunch (not a huge amount but I'm not used to any at all) and time to really do all those things you wanted to do, like look out the window, write letters, or ponder the imponderables of life, like why do I have so many odd socks.<br /><br />Jury service combines the drawbacks of a trip on a budget cruise ship, with being in the Big Brother house. There was a TV in the room, but it seemed permanently tuned to talk shows, which were mostly sub standard Jerry Springer type shows where people acted out their problems in public. I stopped watching or listening after a while, but there seemed to be a lot of paternity claims, DNA testing and polyester on show.<br /><br />Every so often one of the court usher comes and reads a series of names out. If your name isn't one of them you can go back to the paper, but if you are selected as part of the 15 the serious sitting around begins. The jury of 12 is selected from this randomly. I spent a lot of time on the subs bench, not being selected for the jury<br /><br />The speed of justice runs slowly, at an almost glacial pace. There are delays for almost any reason, one case was delayed for over a day to try an get a video link working. Acting as a juror is one of the few times when your decisions really matter, which makes you think. It was a sobering thought holding some one's life in your hands, knowing that what you think can change this persons life forever.<br /><br />I came back to work on Tuesday, and was greeted by a huge hug and a big welcome. They had really missed me and had been very short staffed due to sickness as well as my absence. As I work in a school it was only a week until half term. I worked out that I had done 9 days in my first half term. very, very different from normal.....<br /><br />We went away for half term, but that is a story for another day..............Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09241852596094368096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30377348.post-66187455720112599472007-03-12T12:01:00.000-07:002007-03-26T14:47:24.518-07:00Life is what happens whilst your busy making other plansIts scary that it is already the middle of March and I <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">hav'nt</span> posted anything in 3 months. After the excitement of the Billy Bragg gig, the rest of December was spent preparing for Christmas. Christmas 2006 was unusual. I normally work until very close to the day itself, if not on Christmas day, so arranging the things needed for Christmas has to be fitted around everything else that goes with being a family. However, this year was very different for me, as I had to use up a large amount of annual leave before starting a new job as a school nurse. This meant that I finished my sickness in early December, but my first day was the third of January!<br /><br />It was a good thing I had all that time off, as my wife works for a firm of accountants, and December is normally a very difficult time for her. She works an enormous amount of overtime between October and Christmas, and I have to try and do her jobs at home as well as my own. At least this year i didn't have to work, as the "busy season" started in the middle of October, and she was working 7 days a week just to keep up. It is never easy and she was very, very tired by the time Christmas came.<br /><br />There is normally a grand order of all the presents needed in October, which is now much easier thanks to the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">internet</span>. A day long tread around our local shopping center has been replaced by an hour or two spent ordering on websites. We normally use Amazon, but also order using other websites such as <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Tesco</span> and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Woolworths</span>. The latter has a great facility of allowing you to collect online orders from a store so you don't have to wait in for a delivery man.<br /><br />We had Christmas at home, inviting my mother to join us. We then dropped her home on Boxing day, taking two cars to her house, and then traveling up to the northeast to see my wife's family.<br /><br />There is a grand gathering of the clan every Boxing Day. About 50 people sit down to Boxing day tea, party games and Christmas carols. Its a great day and a good chance to catch up with what's going on in the rest of the family. We stayed until New Years Eve at my sister in law's.<br /><br />And then home to a new year and a new job.... but that's a story for another day!Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09241852596094368096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30377348.post-52039817307634659702006-12-13T15:29:00.000-08:002006-12-13T16:08:53.533-08:00Here we are in our summer years, living on ice cream and chocolate kissesYou will have to forgive me. I'm a little deaf and horse, my throat is dry and full of second hand smoke and sweat, due to singing shouting and having a great time. Yes I've been to a Billy Bragg gig....<br /><br />The music of Billy Bragg is one of my continuing passions. I mentioned in one of my previous Billy Bragg (BB) gigs, the infamous one at Manchester Poly, where I got bounced around like a billiard ball. There have been many other great BB nights, and tonight was one of them. It is a tribal gathering, we share a common heritage, language and usually the same (left wing) world view. We have grown old together, although tonight there were a lot of young people (compared to a middle aged man like me). BB was touring to support anti racist activities, as well as to plug his new book, and to have a great time. I have never left a BB gig feeling dissapointed, and tonight was no exception.<br /><br />Billy Bragg is like Bob Dylan, a fantastically gifted songwriter, with only a fair to middling voice. He is however many many times better as a live performer than Dylan. I have seen Dylan twice and will not see him again. Dylan is variable, the last time he played in my city he sang all of his songs at 150mph as if he wanted the whole evening to be over as fast as possible<br /><br />BB's audience is a bit obsessive. You find yourself surronded by driven men in NHS glasses who know ALL of the words to all of the songs. There is great cudos in being one step ahead of the gang, and thanks to having a broadband connection and the wonder that is google mail, who trawl the world of webs and blogs for BB related material I picked up mp3's from one of his American concerts.<br /><br />As for the minutia of set lists, etc, who played what and when, I'll leave that to truly obsessed. Suffice to say he played all of the popular songs, and a few new ones. The title to this blog is a BB quote from a song called Shirley "here we are in our summer years, living on ice cream and chocolate kisses, and would the leaves fall from the trees, if I was your old man, and you were my missus". You've got to love someone who can write a phrase like that!<br /><br />Which brings me onto my final point. Why do tall guys like to stand at the front at concerts? Its the same at football matches. The guys who consistently stand up at the football (and who are the most vocal and nostalgic about terraces) are usually over 6 feet tall. Answers please to the usual addressMarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09241852596094368096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30377348.post-1165882382665049302006-12-11T16:02:00.000-08:002006-12-13T16:10:07.385-08:00Its been a fun couple of months!I am pleased to say that I’m feeling better.<br /><br />if you've been following the last couple of blogs (and if not why not) you might remember that I have been signed off sick since the start of October with stress, and needed medication to help (diazepam for anxiety and temazepam for insomnia for the medics amongst you). I took them for a while as needed, but haven’t needed any for 2 weeks. I am now on holiday, before starting a new job as a school nurse, in a school with children with physical and learning difficulties. This will mean term time only working for me, which is a first. With the whole family off for the summer holidays we might even get to go to New York, before I'm to old feeble and forgetful to go!<br /><br />I have had two courses of counselling, one funded by my union, and one arranged via work. Both have been valuable, and complimentary, as the two therapists have used different styles of therapy and helping. In the course of two or three sessions I have obtained a lot of insight into myself, my work and other relationships and begun to plan for my future.<br /><br />One is very client centred (where the therapist lets the client set the agenda and offers little or no advice), and the other has a background in psychotherapy, and is much more interventionist. He will offer advice, opinions and direction. One of the first things he said to me was “don’t have other peoples illnesses for them”. He offered the opinion that the system was sick and the situation I was placed into was intolerable, the surprising thing being not that I had failed to cope, but that I had coped for so long.<br /><br />With a difficult home situation at present, with three children all going through puberty, exams and having to live with each other. There is a lot of slamming of doors, shouting and loud music. There have been evenings where I have been very tempted to go to the pub to avoid going home for a while!<br /><br />After 20 years NHS service, without any significant sickness until now I think I am probably due a sabbatical (I certainly won't be using any maternity leave!) As painful as the experiences have been, they have given me the chance to rest, reflect and to take stock of what is going on in my life and to consider the direction that I could go. What is it that makes me smile? What is it that only I can do?<br /><br />The answers to the above questions will take a lot of thought, prayer, reflection and advice from others. Watch this space!Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09241852596094368096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30377348.post-1165881640560171072006-12-11T15:59:00.000-08:002006-12-13T16:10:53.635-08:00Music Then and Now......The start of November saw a first. When I was a teenager the generation gap was marked. Teenagers and their parents were separated by a dislike of each other’s music. How could a generation raised on Glenn Miller, Count Basie and Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby ever appreciate the Clash, the Jam or the Sex Pistols?<br /><br />In our house the generation divide was smaller. My brother and I had full access to my parents Dansette radiogram, and my fathers record collection. This was a solid mahogany model, powered by valves; you turned it on with a solid click. There was a hum and the valves would glow, and fill the house with a distinctive smell of warm dust. The radio dial showed exotic stations such as Bremerharven, Luxembourg and Moscow showing a far away world far away. They don’t seem to make anything as solid and heavy these days. It just gave out the aura of reliability and promised the owner years of service.<br /><br />Which was just as well as my bother and I spent years mistreating it. We spent school holidays finding out how far an Airfix model soldier would fly when placed on a turntable set at 78rpm. The answer was quite far, he would hit the wall opposite with a satisfying thump. We would sometimes fit him with a homemade parachute made from bin bags, rubber bands and string. He would fly up and over the settee before making a daring landing behind enemy territory. My mother never worked out why one her walls was covered in small circular holes. Perhaps she thought there were mice playing tennis?<br /><br />Another holiday activity was finding out how many singles you could fit onto the automatic changer without it slowing down or stopping (about 6). We did sometimes listen to records on it as well. My dad had a lot of great records, classic Sinatra from his golden period (if you have never heard Songs for Swinging lovers you have missed out on a treat), but the ones that I remember are his comedy records. I only have to hear Alan Sherman, Tom Lehrer or Bob Newhart to be instantly transported back to school summer holidays.<br /><br />My dad talked about music, but he never sat down and shared what he liked. It was always a case of me stumbling onto what he had. We never went to concerts, or listened to records together. It was one of the many things that you think that you will do tomorrow, but that day never comes. The closest we ever got was him shouting from downstairs to “to turn that **** music down”. He also had the habit of always coming in at the exact moment that the rude words appeared in the lyric of the song.<br /><br />All of this is a rambling introduction to this week’s blog.<br /><br />My daughter asked me to go to a concert with her. A friend from church was playing drums in a band, and someone she was at school with played lead guitar and sang, with bass being played by the drummer’s girlfriend. They had managed to get their first professional gig in a city centre pub, next to the Carling Academy, as the opening act of a 3 band bill. It was great value for £4.50. It was even better when my daughter managed to grab a complimentary ticket. They played loud derivative guitar based rock, with few unique touches, and indecipherable lyrics. The lead guitarist is a talented musician (grade 8 violin by age 11 and with a classical album behind him) but is no frontman. A few Pete Townsend inspired leaps and a set full of originals do not a rock band make. A better path might be to use some cover versions of better known songs to convince people that you can play, and to learn how to build a song. However for a first gig it was a great start. I saw U2 much further on their career, but before they were famous and they were rubbish!<br /><br />I tried out my new mobiles video feature, managing to get on the front row and avoid the army of teenage boys pogoing violently. It took me back to age 19 when I saw Billy Bragg at Manchester Poly. BB was supported by a band called the Redskins and it was a memorable night! I had got there early and got a prime site right under the microphone stand. The Redskins came out and I discovered that I was surrounded by 200 mad keen die hard Redskins fans. With the first power cord they all started jumping up and down and pogoing frantically with me stuck in the middle. Twenty minutes later after a set full of high speed guitar punk rock the band left the stage and the fans went to the bar. I spent the next two weeks finding new bruises and developing a feeling for what life must be like as a subatomic particle.<br /><br />We stayed for the other two bands, which were not much better. My daughter chatted with her friends and had a soft drink. I stayed in the corner and tried not to be an embarrassing dad. She ended up getting a date, but that’s another story…………Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09241852596094368096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30377348.post-1161731772652077462006-10-24T15:37:00.000-07:002014-02-17T09:45:41.873-08:00Its not what you say............Someone asked me about my expression "after the Lord Mayors show" the other day. I attempted to explain that it means that all things come to an end, sometimes messily. The full saying is ""after the Lord Mayors show, comes the man with the cart and the shovel". Presumably in the days of the horse and carriage, to clean up the manure.... Its one of those family sayings that don't always make sense to outsiders. We have another, that when pouring a drink, we used to say "just up to the duck", based on a child' s drinking glass with a cartoon duck on it that we used to have at home. Please tell me if you have expressions like that in your family.<br />
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My mother was/ is prone to spoonerisms. She will say something and will only realise that she has said something wrong when the giggles start. Her best one was waliking through Skegness and we noted a Hotel called "Alan a Dale". This started a discussion about Robin Hood and his merry men and we started to name them. Mom chipped in with "Friar Tuck", only it came out as "Try a ......."<br />
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One of my my families constant source of amusement was going on holiday. My parents were not good travellers. Like many Brummies we went to Skegness every year. We would set out very early (4-6am) to "avoid the traffic. We would pass through Leicestershire and Lincolnshire in the dark, to arrive in Boston just as the docks were opening. We would come to a roundabout with three junctions, and every year would take the wrong turning without fail, and would have to make an embarrassing tour around the docks to turn round.<br />
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We were used to being embarrassed in the car. My dad had an orange Mark 1 Morris Marina estate, a car that was so bad the motoring press urged British Leyland not to launch it. It was an embarrassing car in a decade of embarrassing cars. Still it means we were never fearful of it being stolen...<br />
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My mothers inability to tell left from right always made map reading difficult. She would often wave her hands in front of my dad's face to indicate the right direction. This used to annoy my father and we would sit in the back of the car and wait for the explosion. I think I learn't most of my swearwords that way. She also used to watch the road whilst passing my dad things, which was slightly inconvenient when he ended up with a boiled sweet up his nose, but more concerning when it was a lit cigarette.<br />
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I was 17 before I even went on a plane. When we graduated to package holidays we still had fun. My dad never smiled on photos, which meant that he ended up looking like an eastern block communist leader at a funeral, or a serial killer. We went into town to have our passport pictures taken at the Woolworth's store. Dad's came out of the machine, and it must have been five minutes before my brother and I could speak after being paralysed with laughter. Every border we went thought it would be passed around the immigration staff with comments and pointing.<br />
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My mother watched "Midnight Express" the night before our first Spanish holiday. Coupled with a bad experience her parents had had when going through customs returning from Spain (my Grandfather attempted to smuggle back lots of cheap Spanish cigarettes and got caught at the airport). She therefore expected to be whisked off to a third world jail at the drop of a hat. She understandably got nervous going through customs, which meant we got stopped...<br />
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One trip back, were were pulled over by customs and our bags opened. The customs officer found a parcel at the bottom of the suitcase, wrapped in plastic bags. He asked my mother what it was and got a panicking " I don't know". It turned out to be 10 days worth of my underwear that I had placed there just before leaving the hotel.<br />
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I wonder if in 30 years time there will be someone blogging about all my little foibles. I only hope that I'm alive to read them, and can post a comment!Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09241852596094368096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30377348.post-1161164301344759532006-10-18T02:34:00.000-07:002006-12-13T16:12:09.181-08:00My life Since July until OctoberI haven't posted anything for a while, so I thought I would give a brief summary of the last 3 months. It might work better if you imagine this as one of those time lapse films eg "London to Brighton in 2 minutes", or a prologue in a 2 part TV drama, where a smooth voice says "Previously on (insert name of program).<br /><br />Since my last post were have enjoyed/ survived the long 6 weeks holiday. My wife has a flexible hours contract so is able to take annual leave/ time owing over the summer so we do not have problems with childcare. I was able to take more time off than normal as I have reduced my hours to four days a week.<br /><br />Highlights of the holiday included a trip to Southampton, where we stopped overnight at a Travel lodge and went exploring in the Hampshire area. We were a family of 4 as my son was stopping with his grandmother, so we fitted easily into a "family room". As a family of 5 we frequently find there is an assumption that families are 2 adults and 2 children and facilities/food stuffs and events price things accordingly. In hotels there is normally a pause and then a comment offering us two rooms or a fold up bed crammed in the corner. Natalie has a friend in the Southampton area so he came along with us.<br /><br />We also went to Stowemarket to see my brother and his partner. We left after work, on the day that the major route to East Anglia from the Midlands had a major hold up and 30 miles of stationary traffic around Cambridge. We ended up driving to Luton and going on a detour from there... We arrived late, tired and hungry. My brothers partner produced a fantastic supper within minutes and a great cooked breakfast the next day. I can only compare it to the fantastic feasts described by Enid Blyton in the famous five books, where they call at a farmhouse and leave with a hamper full of stuff from the farmers wife (always without paying I seem to remember)<br /><br />We went to France as usual for our main summer holiday. We spent nearly two weeks driving down to the Dordogne via Normandy and the Loire valley. We stopped for 4 days in Normandy, an night in the Loire, and then the rest of the time in caravan in the Dordogne.<br /><br />My wife does the majority of the driving (as she is a terrible passenger) which leaves yours truly doing the navigating. This normally involves me sitting in the front seat, surrounded by pieces of paper and a map, trying to work out what "toutes directions" means and being shouted at. There is a scene in a film called the Incredibles which features a family of superheroes. Towards the end of the film Mr and Mrs Incredible have to drive into the city center to save the day, and they end up having an argument about which is the best way to get there. At this point in the film my children all started giggling and pointing saying "that's just like mom and dad!"<br /><br />This year to try and avoid this we invested in a satellite navigation system and paid extra for the detailed map of France which I tried to install at the last minute. This was a mistake as the instillation software defaulted to using the drive with the biggest amount of space and installed the maps onto my portable hard drive at home. The sat nav had basic maps of France built in, so we could navigate between major towns and cities. It certainly helped except when we were directed onto a motorway that was in the process of being built. The unit then sulked for 5 miles, telling us repeatedly to turn around and go back in a school teacher sort of voice. Great I thought, another bossy woman in the car.....<br /><br />My wife has been wanting to go the Dordougne for over 20 years, to explore the prehistoric painted caves of the region. They feature in the Clan of the Cave Bear series by Jean M Auel, and are linked to the religion and beliefs of the people of the books. So we spent 2 days going around painted caves, going to Lascaux and to Font de Gaume as well as exploring the region and relaxing around the pool. A relaxing and almost stress free holiday, apart from a 9 hour drive on the last but one day!<br /><br />So it was home for school and work. I got home to discover that I was expected at work on the Monday. However, I was in France and not home until Tuesday morning so there was a lot of apologising to do oops!!Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09241852596094368096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30377348.post-1161153914851289992006-10-17T23:16:00.000-07:002006-12-13T16:12:50.237-08:00Is it that long?I have always enjoyed reading accounts of peoples lives and their blogs. Here is my bottle thrown into the digital cyber ocean.<br /><br />I have contributed to the one day in history blog, which is a project to create the biggest blog in history for the use of future historians and as a record of life in Britain in 2006 (for further details see http://www.historymatters.org.uk/output/page96.asp) but have repeated it here for my own blog.<br /><br />I noted that I havent posted anything since July, where does the time go? In my case in the normal everyday round of work, family church and stuff.<br /><br />Today was an unusual day as I have been signed of sick for 4 weeks with stress. I have had medication which has helped. I am trying to avoid taking any medication, but managing it myself with relaxation, guided thoughts and prayer. There is no one big reason why I am feeling like this, just a chronic buildup of stress at home and at work. I am planning to spend my time relaxing and catching up on all the things that you usually don't have time for, like writing something in my blog.....<br /><br />So instead of going to work I went driving around doing jobs, went to a first appointment with my counselor. I collected a match ticket for my team Aston Villa, delivered it to a friend, and then treated myself to a fantastic sandwich from the best sandwich shop in Birmingham called Phipott's. I had a coronation chicken sandwich and a prawn and avacado wrap, ate half of each and saved the rest for today.<br /><br />Then did some housework and spent time with the family. Dropped my daughter off at a church children's group and then went to a prayer meeting. My faith is very important to me and is really helping at the moment. A small group of us meet together monthly to pray for two particular people involved in missionary work The group has developed into a support mechanism for the people involved and we have seen prayers answered and God moving in a mighty way<br /><br />Bed at about 1130 without any sleeping pills which was goodMarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09241852596094368096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30377348.post-1153033964877366292006-07-15T23:51:00.000-07:002014-02-17T01:48:43.331-08:00On the busOn Tuesday I caught the bus into town.<br />
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As I tend to commute to work and travel with the family using the car, its not something I do that often. We are fortunate to live on a main road with an excellent service, with a bus coming along every 6 minutes during the day, and a bus stop just a minutes walk.<br />
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One of the attractions/ disadvantages is the other passengers. I enjoy looking out at of the window and watching the world go by, without having to worry about the other traffic on the road for once. I can also listen in to the other passengers conversations.<br />
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There were a couple of middle aged ladies discussing the indiscretions of a neigbour. I'm not sure exacltly what she did but there were lots of sideways glances, whispered confidences, mumbled "you knows". What ever it was was very shocking and very discraceful! I almost considered getting off the bus early to hear the end of the conversation, but didn't. Perhaps thats why I like blogging. Its the enjoyment of hearing other peoples points of view.<br />
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I was going into town to visit the Birmingham Central Libary, so well beloved of Prince Charles, who described it as "looking like a place designed to burn books, rather than store them". It is not a pretty building, being a 1960's era brutalist concrete structure, but its not the worst building in the world, or even in Birmingham (which has more than its share of ugly buildings).<br />
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I am in the process of trying to trace my family tree. So far I have not unearthed any famous relatives (not that I'm expecting to). This involves time spent at the archives doing the leg work to confirm family stories or to put names to memories. I always knew that my granparents had lost three children in infancy (supposedly because they were too poor to see the Doctor (they needed 6 old pence) but never knew their names. I suppose in a way they now have a memorial of sorts.<br />
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The National Trust (http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/) has opened a restored block of back to back houses in the City Centre. If you ever get the chance to go they are fantastic. Each house is furnished to reflect the people living in them over the time they have been built. As much as I love the stately homes that the National Trust preserves but my paternal grandparents lived in houses like this, so it is living history. I remember my father saying that he thought that everyone had an outside toilet that froze up in the winter until he was 17 and went into the Royal Air Force.Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09241852596094368096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30377348.post-1151613125991525722006-06-29T13:09:00.000-07:002006-12-13T16:14:23.915-08:00Films and ChildrenLast night I took my youngest two children to the Cinema at our local arts centre to see a documentary. We saw "Wal Mart- the High cost of low price". It is a hard hitting critique of the American Supermarket Giant's practices and policies; not the kind of things that you expect a 10 and a 13 year old to see. They sat quiet and attentive all the way through a film without special effects, explosions or any stars. It can be done! We decided following the film to boycott ASDA from now.<br /><br />I remember going to the cinema at a similar age. My local community hall had a children's film club called the "Double LL club". It had its own song, the words of which I can still remember, and can still sing the song if encouraged too. It seemed to specialise in Children's film foundation films which were cheesy even in the 1970's and are probably quite "cool now". One Saturday we had the Battle of Britain, and I can remember the Germans getting resoundely booded during one of the scenes when London was being bombed.<br /><br />I take my eldest daughter as well. We have a great time, we chat about lots of different subjects and when she is quite sure that no one she knows is watching we hold hands. We have seen a few films together including Brokeback Mountain and Walk the Line.<br /><br />I hope that they will love cinema as much as I do. Watching a film seems much less of an event with small screens at multiplexes and films being available on TV within months of cinema release (and in the case of pirate DVD's days) Part of the thrill is it being a shared eventMarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09241852596094368096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30377348.post-1151483666178104302006-06-28T01:32:00.000-07:002014-02-17T01:52:29.438-08:00First one of these blog thingysHi there. I have never kept a diary but I think I will give this a go.<br />
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What to talk about. I have an average life and don't seem to do much. I have 3 children a wife and a morgage. We have been married over 20 years and seem to be happy. I have more of a fat stomach than I used to. Some people say its contentment.... I say its too much Cadbury's chocolate!<br />
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Life is a round of work, kids, tidying up and sleeping.<br />
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Who is this designed for? I'm not vain enough to think that anyone will be interested. However, I enjoy reading other peoples blogs and they probably think their lives are unexceptional too.<br />
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More thoughts to follow............Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09241852596094368096noreply@blogger.com0