Travelling on a Friday

I can't win! Last week was a nightmare getting home from the office as I left late and was stuck on the M25. This week I thought I would travel in by train and got the 6.30am one then got stuck on the line and delayed for 40 minutes because of cables being nicked and signal problems. Travel on the road would have been even worse apparently as there were accidents. I need to make sure I am not travelling on a Friday really - I have had enough bad experiences of this to last me a lifetime!!

Hanging by a thread

Probably not a good time to be posting but I reckon I might be getting sacked tomorrow...I have a meeting with the MD (my boss) and it's the frostiest of relationships with him at the minute it's a nightmare. Working all the hours possible and have done 25 hours in the last two days but still can't get up to date or deal with all that's coming in.


Well, I think it would be weight off my shoulders but God only knows how the rest of the family would take it. I might be over-reacting and over-worrying once again but it wouldn't surprise me one little bit if my meeting was accompanied by the Company Secretary tomorrow! Well, instead of talking about it, it's 11.20pm and I need to put together some documentation to back up my situation and argue my case

Placebo Effect and Hippocratic Oath

In my quest to learn something..,I looked up the two points above. I had a good idea what they were but to confirm:


Placebo Effect results when a patient is given a tablet/cure which doesn't actually have any chemical effect at all. It's conning the patient and using mental suggestion to fool them into thinking they're better


Hippocratic Oath - this was originally attributed to Hippocrates about 500BC and was along the lines of 'every doctor will do his best and honour his patients'. It stuck for 1,000s years and contrary to popular belief is no longer a requirement for Medical students but it's still remembered!

First game of the season

I was hungover admittedly but I was okay!


On Sunday we had Lewis & Jack's first matches of the season. Jack beat Summertown Comets 14-1, he only scored the one goal, a right-footer from distance which was good and then Lewis won 2-1 to Harwell & Hendred scoring with the last kick of the match so all in all a successful weekend. Lewis did well and defended against his player well. It was straight off for him to run a karate session and straight to bed for me!


I am going to stop drinking for quite some time now, until the next offer anyway...!

Night out & mad religion

Not looking forward to tomorrow morning if I am honest! Why not? It's the first game of the season for Jack's team, surely you should be excited I hear you ask. Well, it's the night before that's the problem!


We're all out on the town tonight for Wayne's birthday and I think there will be over 20 of us old-timers scaring the young girls of Oxford. Starting at 5.30pm for cocktails is going to make it a very long night indeed so probable hangover tomorrow morning!


9/11 anniversary is tomorrow and there is a pastor in the States who was planning to burn copies of the Koran to demonstrate his hatred of Islam. Unsurprisingly the followers of the Islam faith are not amused and are demonstrating and planning attacks on anyone remotely 'American'. I was reading this and thinking what a fucked up world we live in, is it really necessary to have a pissing contest as to who's God is best? It's always been that way and it winds me up so much. Funnily enough though I was reading this and said to myself, "Thank God I am an Atheist!", and then laughed out loud when realising the contradiction. I know, little thinks please little minds but it did amuse me. Sadly a quick Google search confirmed I wasn't a comic genius as that phrase has been used time and time before...


Anyway the pastor how bowed to pressure from all over the world and cancelled his planned book burning, but it  shows that some nut with a congregation of only 50 can cause some panic and hatred so easily.


Not a pleasant thought!

New Regime

I have created an "I will..." list at the start of the week and listed all the things that I will/want to achieve with my life, short term and long term. So far so good but then it's only a few days old. What's on the list I hear you say...well nothing too exciting but a couple of key ones are to learn more and then to update on here what I have learned so that it's remembered!


Also some other things:

• Improved confidence, productivity, learning & stop wasting so much time doing rubbish things
• Get up earlier in the morning - aiming for 6.00am
• Become more sociable - going to be a tough one that
• Get down to under 12 stone and run 15 miles a week

So nothing earth-shattering but we'll have to see if there is anything I can cross off, as and when I do then I will update the blog as a record of my achievement! 

Out in the Kayak

Made it out in the kayak yesterday for an hour and a bit. Charlotte, Jack, Tash and I went as far as the Perch and back again but the skeg made all the difference and we actually got it working well. Met with some new neighbours as well who seem very nice and all that. They want to use Charlotte as a student model so that was nice to hear. What else? New student arrived, Maria from Italy, very nice girl. I did a BBQ and then it was Tiffany's birthday so they got a limo and went into Oxford.

Back to work today

Well, back to the grindstone today after a week away in Weymouth with the family and the Holdens. Had a good time but the weather was crap and the camp-site was basic to say the least, but we made the best of a bad job. We came home a day early as I think we'd all had enough and the day we decided was dry and warm so it was a chance to pack up in decent weather and actually get out of the field which was a worry for me! Going in there I got stuck in the mud and needed pushing out.


Weymouth was fine though, watch City play their match down there on the Saturday and went on walks etc so good fun.


Will be getting back into the routine now as well as Jack's football training started on Sunday and Lewis's starts tomorrow so all good fun.


Not looking forward to the next fortnight with work though to be honest - there is so much on my plate it's scary! Oh well, best crack on...

Empty house..

Tash and the kids have been at Standlake since Monday but are due home today sometime. They've had a great time and the weather has held up, it was forecast heavy rain so they've been lucky and have been wake-boarding and in the ringos etc. It's meant it's been quiet here but i have looked after Max the student and he's a really nice lad.


It's also meant I have got some work done without being distracted and clocked up 22 hours already in just two days! Probably not healthy but necessary unfortunately. Well, another day begins so best crack on with things.

Charlotte's back!

Having been away for a week with her friend Issy, Charlotte returned yesterday and it was lovely to see her. She had a great time and the photos of where she stayed looked fantastic, the people live in a huge mansion it seems in lovely grounds. 


Busy weekend - Friday was Katie's birthday so we all met up in Pizza Italia which was nice and then yesterday it was Brendan's birthday so this time it was Pizza Hut for a kids party. He enjoyed himself for his 4th birthday.


Got lots of jobs done that I have been meaning to do including organising the start of the boys football season and also trying to organise a tour to Butlins at the end of the season for their Football Festival for Jack's u10s. It's quite expensive but I think people will be up for it, hope so anyway as it will be great fun to go to.


Well, incredibly busy week with work so best crack on - Tash is off to Standlake for 3 days so peace and quiet here!

Education Direct has been sold...

Big News yesterday when we were all called into the meeting room with Jason and he announced that the Mailing Centre has been sold to JEM, another much larger mailing house, and all staff will keep their jobs but will become staff for Jem and the Education Direct name will also go with it. We'll become known as The Education Company now.


Surprisingly there was no problem and everyone accepted it with good grace, quite unbelieveable really, it all goes ahead in the next couple of weeks, but has been in the planning for over a year. I was surprised, didn't have any idea that this was occuring.


Went out for a drink with Darren and Jason in the evening and food to discuss this situation but didn't really establish much more to be honest! Interesting times!

Jousting at Blenheim Palace

Went to Blenheim Palace for a jousting display on Sunday but it was only Jack as Lewis was left at home to concentrate on some English work and Charlotte is away with Issy. It was fun and as much as it was all pantomime the strength and power of these horses was still very impressive.


We were both shocked at the size of Belnheim and its grounds as the jousting was in the 'back garden' which is somewhere we've never been to before, we'll definitely make an effort to get there again before our passes expire.


It gave Jack the need to make a sword which we did in the afternoon and spent time whittling it into a point but sadly it snapped so we had to go across into Port Meadow to find some more. That was interesting as we found an area that we've not explored before so that's another walk that will have to be done in the near future!


Photos of the jousting are here

Running with Tash

Went out for a run this morning with Tash, we didn't do so well, she needed to stop twice and we go at a much slower pace, but it was a nice morning - actually it pissed down with rain halfway through so not so good!


Just dropped them into Oxford to do some shopping for Birthday presents although Tash came home from Bicester Village with Xmas presents!!! It will be quiet in the house next week, Charlotte is off to the coast with Issy and I am working away for most of the week which I am disliking more and more to be honest.


Well, I should be doing some work so best crack on!

Lewis is a baby sitter!

Our attempts to help Lewis raise a bit more money took a step further last night when he has his first baby-sitting role looking after Ben and Dominic across the road, not bad for £4.00ph so he came back in at 10.30pm with £16.00...

He's also been asked by Sensei Jake to help on Wednesdays and Sundays with the karate classes which is a real bonus (£5.00ph) which he could really do with, not just for the money but also the responsibility and taking his karate skills that one step further. Well done him.

Keeping fit...

Had a really good run last night, 6 miles in exactly an hour - quickest time and pace for quite a long time, really pleased with myself!


I also upload the video for Lewis and Jack performing at the skipping Championships last night and this is below, I love it seeing them perform together and the cheers for Jack is really pleasing - he's definitely a performer!

Taurus Performance at the Skipping Gala night

This is the video of Team Taurus performing

Team Taurus perform at BRSA Gala Night

The team were invited to the British Rope Skipping Championships Gala Night to perform a couple of routines which went really well. The Championships had been on for four days and the Gala Night was a competitive night for some of the countries and in between the competition there were various acts either skipping or dance or whatever.


The crowd was at least 1500 noisy people, mostly made up of parents and competitors from throughout the tournament. The demo teams that worked for about 10 minutes were brilliant and it was close between South Korea, Belgium and USA but it finished in that order.


However, Taurus were involved in two demos, they did the Rugby routine which went down well and it was brilliant to have Lewis and Jack performing, Jack got huge cheers when his tricks came off. The whole team were then on near the end to perform their routine that will be used in Talent Oxford. They got huge cheers throughout and were really impressive. They got a standing ovation at the end which was incredible, the noise was deafening. It was such a great feeling for everyone involved with the team and obviously as parents we were all proud as punch. Didn't want to leave really as everyone was on a high but eventually left at the end and got home for 1.00am! But it was so worth it. Haven't got decent video of the performance because of where we were sat but will look out for some asap! 


A great evening

Summer Holiday in Devon

We went to Devon for the first week of the summer holiday and had a great time camping at Braunton and surfing at Saunton Sands. Weather was fine and we did well with the surfing so that was an added bonus. We took our niece, Katie, along and she seemed to enjoy it as well.


Definitely fancy going back to the same place as it was perfect for us


Photos available on this link

Early start

Dropped the student off at 6.45am so when I got home I wheeled the kayak down to the river and went down a mile and a half exploring. It was lovely drifting along in the early morning with no hassles from the river boats. Couldn't believe the number of fisherman out and about, there were loads.


Got back and after sorting out the car for the trip to Devon tomorrow we went to Aston Pottery to meet my mum and have a tour of the pottery and that was interesting. Treated ourselves to a nice lunch and then dropped the boys off at Team Taurus. 


Katie was dropped off at ours and after dinner at Sue's, Charlotte, Katie and I went for another trip down the river! Talk about over-kill but Charlotte was really insistent so we went down to the Perch and back. It was hard work as we didn't work as a team and kept turning round which was really frustrating but I kept quiet and we carried on. They enjoyed it though. Bit worried as one of the sides started to slowly deflate - we can't have a puncture already surely? Bit pissed off if we have and will send it back.


Well, off to Devon tomorrow, can't wait, surfing and exercise and fresh air and no work! See you later!

Kayaking in Wolvercote...

Well, got out on the kayak today at Wolvercote and enjoyed it. Hard work and we found that missing the skeg seems to make hell of a difference because we kept getting turned which was really frustrating. Have ordered one so hopefully that will solve the problem. Spent an hour or more going up and down the same stretch but need to go further afield next time. 


The furthest Charlotte, Jack and I went was to the Perch and back, took an hour.

Photos available on this link