The Blog 2007 (Part 1) Page!

This page is now split into two halves, because it was starting to take to long to load every day.

This page coveres from the start of the year until July.

 

Cheers

 

Don

 

Thursday 04/07/07 (yes I know 3 updates in a week!)

Hello all,

Spent last night up at Dave's, helping him photograph his miniatures for his website project. Some of these things just blow your mind. The imagination and skill that go into these models is unbelievable. Today I was talking about it at work and yup you guessed it I got slagged for playing with "Toys". Not to be put off I have included a picture of one of Dave's award winning minis.

Also I would like to announce that some reviews are now being posted, so if you said you would give me one (oo-er) then get your finger out and send it along. Donna Laird has kindly offered her services to review wines for us all. Still need someone objective to do music reviews, any takers? Remember all reviews will be posted so if you have something to say then let me know and I will pass it on the the world. Just email me using the "Contact Me" option and I will post it.

 

Tuesday 03/07/07

Yeah I know its Tuesday? Andrew wasn't feeling himself today, so we put of going to the gym. I had been wanting to get the American relatives page updated for ages, and Lorna give me the idea of doing it tonight.

I have been having big problems with my ankle since I was on the May Deployment, and Astrid (my chiropractic doctor) gave me an ankle session today (so far so good) but she did use my Dads best line "It's no good its going to have to come off".

Work is a bit hectic still, but I hope to be over the worst of it for a few days at least. I have applied for another job, but to be honest I am not sure, it is in the city centre and I just don't fancy standing on a platform in the sleet.

Anyway going to bed now so night night

Sunday 01/07/07

Wow July already? what is going on with the year?

This week has been difficult, with so many different stresses and pressures pushing and pulling me in every different direction. Lorna was off work this week and helped her Dad sort out a lot of paperwork and housework. She has been taking time for herself, but Lorna wouldn't be Lorna without doing something helpful.

The big project that I have been working on at work had a few issues at the start of the week, but with some help from others in the team I have managed to keep on track and on target. The big story at work continues to be how secure are our roles? The topic is never ending and we are all desperate for news.

The Xcite fitness centre that I have been going to was set alight by vandals last week and it looks like it will be out of action for a while. Andrew and I have been trying hard to get back into the swing of things so this is a bit of a pain.

Glasgow airport, who would have belived that? I hope that people start taking this sort of thing more seriously. When I think about how many people might have been killed, it is very worrying. Mind you it would have to be someone very committed to try and do something like that. I hope that they have various parts of their anatomy stuck in a vice until the sing like a canary and tell the security forces everything.

The big project for the weekend was the Bathroom. I am very glad to say that apart from the carpet, the Bathroom is now finished. This weekend saw the gloss being done (twice!) and touching up of the green paint. We bought a bathroom cabinet from B&Q and it was shockingly bad, very bad quality. I had to build it in a different way to the instructions and bolster the strength of the carcass with PVA.

Aaron was down on Friday after a week in Ireland, he is saying hello to everyone. He was going to see lyndsay after me on Friday so I asked him to say hello for me.

On Saturday night I went up to Dave's and Dave Spanky and I had a Mini LAN session to ourselves. BF2 wouldn't work but we had some fun anyway. It is just the thing to unwind after a day shopping in Stirling (well I wasn't but you know what I mean) and a day of DIY hell.

I called Ewan today and he appears to be fine, and again he is asking for everyone. Ewan has been doing some illustrations lately that are great, but he is not finding his job very rewarding. If you could use Ewan, then let me know and I might be able to get me 10% as a finders fee.

So it's back to the grind stone tomorrow and I am counting the days until I can get a break (4 weeks and counting).

I spoke to Uncle Cam on Friday about building (and selling) a modular scenery range (like barricades and gun positions to ramparts and drawbridge sections) I hope he takes me seriously because I have seen how much Games Workshop are making on this sort of thing.

Sunday 24/06/07 (another year older)

Hello all,

This week has been a mixed bag of emotions, Janet's funeral on Wednesday and my birthday on Saturday.

The Funeral was as good as it was possible to be, the service was very basic and thoughtful, and was exactly as Janet would have wanted it. The night before was raining like the depths of winter, but at the last possible second the sun came out and it was a lovely day.

The Service was very well attended as was the graveside. The Minister made use of all the information that she had got from her visit, including a joke about the length of my trousers.

Lorna and Robert are still doing OK, but there is so much to take in, I will still be keeping an eye on them both.

On Saturday I was invited along to my first ever Whitburn Gala day, and I really enjoyed it. They take it very seriously (with a whole rank structure of fairy's and so on!).

After the parade we went down to my Mum and Dads to have my birthday barbeque. It was a great night and I was so glad that I could spend it with my friends. I was spoilt rotten with gifts and I will post some photos and more feedback from the night when things are a little more back to normal.

Thank you to everyone who came along and got wet and drunk!

Sunday 17/06/07

Hey,

As you would expect this week has been very difficult for everyone. Funeral arrangements and all the paperwork have taken up most of the time since Thursday. I had some very demanding sessions at work to deliver (all to team managers, so things were pitched at a higher level). I was racing around in a blur and somehow managed to get things done.

Everyone has been fantastic in supporting me, to enable me to support Lorna. The guys from work and the guys from the squadron have all been top class.

I had a few minutes to go to Geek Central on Saturday, and managed to pick up a few bits and bobs. Having an ideas crisis about my army but I hope the answer will come soon.

Dropped Mum and Dad of in Edinburgh at 06:00 on Saturday and picked them up again tonight, they had been up to see Chris and Edith. "Happy Birthday Chris".

Updates should be back on track as of tonight. Janet's Funeral looks like it is going to be Wednesday at 13:00 but I will post more details as I have them.

Lorna would like to add her own big thank you to everyone who has sent a card or flowers, everyone has been very kind.

 

Thursday 14/06/07

Hello all,

This morning at about 05:15 Janet passed away.

She passed away in her sleep and just slipped away. Lorna and Robert were amazing in the last few days and dealt with all the news and set backs in a manner that was truly humbling. I had not known Janet for very long, but I do know that she was a clever, funny and very kind woman, who loved life and was well loved in return.

I know that many of you have expressed your condolences to Lorna and her Dad, and I have been asked to thank you all for your kind words and offers of assistance. Lorna is bearing up very well and I will be here to look after her.

Thank you all for your understanding and compassion.

 

 

Tuesday 12/06/07

Hello,

Firstly I would like to say thank you to everyone for your get well wishes to Janet. Janet is still in hospital at the moment and is awaiting the results of some tests.

This weekends update is a few days late as I was away with the Squadron at RAF Shawbury and DACE Cosford. It was a great weekend, and I hope that everyone enjoyed the trip. I had some experience of driving a big load (Big Wagon and Trailer) so that was interesting.

Dad had his big 60th bash on Saturday night but I was not able to be there.

I won't post the photos of Cosford, I will get shouted at for being a geek.

Managed to have a long chat with Roddy, he is doing well and asking for everyone.

This update is going to be short, but hopefully it should be back to normal at the weekend.

 

Don

 

Sunday 03/06/07 (Yes it's June, soon my Dad will tell you the nights are drawing in)

Hello,

This week has been as hectic as Aaron in the Fender Factory (the one in the USA, not the one in Mexico)

OK so this weeks main story is Lorna's mum (Janet) who is not very well at the moment and to make matter worse she is stuck in St Johns. I have been to see her a few times, and she is in good spirits (Gin, I think?). She was sharing a ward with some of West Lothian's more colourful characters, but now I think she might be able to get some rest. Get well soon Janet and enjoy the flumps!

On to other news this week and I know you will think I am joking but this is true

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AARON HAS MOVED INTO HIS HOUSE

Yes as unlikely as it seems this is true Aaron Moved into his house on Tuesday night and his 31st Birthday was on the Wednesday so he met his target with less than 3 hours to spare. He has done a fantastic job with that house and I cannot wait for the house warming.

Casualties at work: As I have mentioned before my department at work are going through a "Change Review" which can only mean one thing, a down sizing. To add to the speculation and rumour 3 People are away from the team in a matter of hours.

HP (aka Hutch) is gone for good to credit control
Dougie Kemp is away on a short term secondment to another area of the group
and Louise Keningale or Louise McBride are sure to be leaving us on a Long term secondment (1 year)

Others in the team are applying for roles left right and centre, as for me? well I know that I don't need the money and I only work there for the "Banter" so I might just stop working there and go live on my yacht and write another best seller.

I had my first painting lesson this week and it went very well. Dave Stewart who is giving me the lessons complained that he did not have his own page under the friends section (whoops!) so here it is. The results of the session are below

 

The first lesson was about base coats and relief effects, next time it is going to be about details. This photo makes these guys look massive, but they are only 28 mm tall, and painting them is very difficult.

 

This weekend is the Squadron deployment to Cosford, so look out for some updates before then. Also It is Dad's birthday on Wednesday, I just can't get my head round the fact that he will be 60 years old. I sometimes forget just how old he is, and despite what he thinks I don't mind fixing his PC when he breaks it!

Look out for a special 60 Years birthday Update on Wednesday night.

 

 

Monday 28/05/07 (where is this year going?)

Hi,

Sorry for the delay in update last night. Had a great weekend this weekend, Lorna and I went shopping on Saturday and dropped into Mum and Dad's with a special steak pie that Aaron got on his travels. Dad had been working all day and mum had started to build their new bed from Ikea (on her own, not the best idea). So I am not sure exactly what happened but Mum and Dad went off to a party and Lorna and I built the rest of the bed. We had also popped in to see Lorna's cousin's son (Nathan) who is 2 weeks old. My kind of baby, he slept the whole time apart from feeding time and even then he fell asleep.

Sunday was across at My Aunt and Uncle's house in town, for a big get together for the Americans. It was great to see everyone again, It is shocking how little I have seen of my cousin's family's. Susan's two boy Kristian and Nicholas (Hi Guys) are all grown up, I was thinking about it yesterday on the way home, I think I have only seen them twice before in my life.

Steven's two Jude and Luke are growing at a scary pace also. The only time I had even seen Luke was when he was 5 days old and now he is three!

Anyway Arlene and Lorna were chatting about all sorts and it was great to see everyone just chilling out and relaxing. We have been invited over to the US so you never know next year might be the time to do it.

Mr and Mrs Harrison are back from their honeymoon and despite not seeing the fresh prince, they had a great time.

I think a lawnmower beckons?

Click here for the photos page and then the "Boston Tea Party" link.

for now I have a letter for America

 

 

Wednesday 23/05/07

Hello all,

Just a quick update tonight, as I am going to bed. I tried to get a cool new splash screen when you enter wolfworks, but I just can't get it right. I plastered up a dodgy intro screen that will have to do until I can sort something else out.

On the bad side of the news it would appear that the long dreaded Operational Training Review is casting it's shadow over my job with the bank. To say I am gutted is an understatement. Not sure when things are likely to be announced, but every night I am awake with worry. If anyone needs a fully house trained L&D Consultant and part time web designer, drop me an email.

Quick mention to Jason, how's it going?

On the plus side, Rachel called from Kent to say that everything is going well and that she is missing everyone. Also tonight Arlene, Allan, John, Judy, Mum, Dad and I went down Mary King's Close in the Old Town. It was cool, although I thought that it would be scary, it wasn't. Anyway after that we went for a Mexican Meal at Viva Mexico, very nice.

It was great to catch up with my American relatives. I was also reminded of Jill that I lost contact with last year. I will try my best to right that wrong and drop her an invite to stop by the site.

Anyway it is bed time so night night

Tuesday 22/05/07

Right then!

Lupus Reiver was totally fantastic, the team pulled another blinder out of the bag.

To give you a taste of the deployment, half the fighting strength of the squadron was deployed for a 3 day exercise in Otterburn, England. The Directing staff had spent the best part of 6 months in preparation for this deployment, the biggest in the unit's history. Myself and Grant had written a scenario during the Christmas holidays and had been refining it ever since. The amount of red tape and paperwork that you have to go through in order to pull something like this off is unbelievable. Safety first is the planning watch word, and everything has to be scaled down to the abilities of the troops.

One of the things that made this deployment so special was the fact that it was done in total secrecy, a deception plan was put in place to fool the troops that we would be going to Kinloss (180 Degrees and about 500 miles away from the true location). Mission plans and deployment models were painstaking written on whiteboards, and then almost rubbed off, so anyone with half a brain could make out what had been written. False equipment requests were written and left on faxes and printers so that they would be found. Discussions between key members of staff were made within earshot of the troops, and maps were annotated to show things like tidal shifts and load bearing properties of sand (Otterburn is about 40 miles from the sea). All in all I think that it is safe to say that as far as deception plans go this one was second only to the D-Day landings.

The Boss was on the bus with the troops and they got a bit of a shock when the bus turned South rather than North. I wished I could have been there to see their faces, but I was already forward deployed to take over the training area and do all the admin (Of which there are simply a 1,000 things to be done). Jim was with me and we managed to get everything squared away in time for the main body arriving.

The weekend started with a route match to the Bivvi site, some of the more inexperienced ones were struggling. No matter how many times we stressed to them that they needed to train and get fit, some of them obviously just walk to the kitchen for a snack and mummy and daddy drive them everywhere else. I carried Graeme's bag, as he waited with Mhairi at the road head (new boots were killing her). I had originally intended to cover the distance in one leg, but in the end we had to stop three times. Shattered and worn, the troops arrived at the forest that was to become home sweet home for the next 48 hours.

The sound of 81mm High Explosive mortars and 7.62 FN GPMG about 1 Km away was very eary, nothing like what you expect combat to sound like. I did most of my "hearing" through the hairs on the back of my neck. It doesn't take long for you to be able to tell if a mortar is going to drop short or go long. The "CRUMPBANG" of an impact, makes you glad that the 1st Belgian Air Mobile Brigade are Covering you to the North, any naughty people would have a real bad hair day if they got caught in the open by our neighbours.

The first night was spent linking up with other forces and taking our place on the line. HQ Section and the three section bashas were perfectly hidden and for the first time there was no laughing or joking, people were switching on to "Serious Mode". The Patrols found who they were supposed too, and all made it back to HQ. The wind was getting up, and as bunk down started the wind was getting towards 30 Mph. All night the Directing Staff were up checking everything was OK, and about 5 AM things started to calm down.

Saturday was spent Patrolling and practicing the tactics that would increase unit cohesion. At 1100 a flash action message was received that a friendly RPV had been downed close to the TAN border and that our units were to locate the wreckage and recover the RPV if possible. The three sections worked well together and not only located the RPV but were able to recover it and the Data plug that it contained.

After recovering to the base of operations the teams received new orders to pack up and move to a new location on the TAN border. The location was a disused farm called Heardlaw. The guys then went on a mission that I hope will go down in Squadron folklore as one of the best. I am not going to go into the details of it, (it would take hours worth of typing) but the Squad Commanders used, stealth, strong leadership and good tactics to achieve their objective. I was very proud of them as these are the first of the Lupus Generation, who have been brought up through the ranks immersed in the training and ethos of the Lupus spirit. This was the 6th Lupus Deployment, it was bold, it was brave and it set new standards in making the impossible, possible. More than that it was the first time that I can look at the leaders of the section and remember them as bumbling new recruits, making stupid rookie mistakes. I looked at them as they recovered to that windswept farmhouse, cold, tired and hungry, the contrast couldn't be more obvious they had the look of professional leaders, who lived up to and surpassed our expectations, truly them are the embodiment of our leadership training. A leader knows the way, goes the way and shows the way.

Canes Primi

 

This is the amount of Kit I was taking. What is shown is a 120 Litre Bergan, Roll mat, Kevlar Helmet, Tactical Infantry Assault Vest and my Hydration pack. It was VERY heavy. (you will notice that my sure for men was being left behind).

 

 

 

 

This is me mucking about in the trailer for the 110 Landrover. (I love the tactical roll mat, NOT!)

 

 

 

This is a very unusual photograph, la la la la la, nothing much happening in this one.

 

 

Home Sweet Home, you can just make out the games room being fitted to the bosses five star hotel in the background.

 

 

 

Returning to base after the RPV Mission.

 

Would you let any of these guys anywhere near your Money? In the back of the 110, just getting ready to deploy. The guy on the left is Ricardo "Dirty Sanchez" Millar and Grant hasn't put on any max factor because he was a safety supervisor.

 

This is the terrain that we were in, it sucked big time and the rather large black hill in the background was the last to go.

 

 

 

Get it RIGHT UP YA!

END EX !

 

 

Dons Mood for the week is..............

 

 

Join the Dark side!

 

 

 

 

Wednesday 16/05/07

Hello all!, the feedback about the site has been on the whole very positive. Thanks to those who have pointed out the spelling and grammar typos that I made, you will get your horses head in the post (nah, thanks guys it makes the whole thing that much better when it is all right).

Loads of people have been checking out the Wedding pictures and the photos from Nice, so much so that my bandwidth usage has quadrupled! Thanks for checking them out, no doubt there will be many more light boxes coming your way shortly.

Planning and prep for this weekends deployment has reached the zenith and I know that my gear is stowed and I am ready to rock and roll. The work rate that everyone has put in has been phenomenal, I just hope that the little darlings put as much effort into this as the command staff.

My Neighbours put their house on the market this morning, so I doubt it will be very long before I get some new friends to tell you all about. Despite Aaron crossing his fingers for the last month, I doubt very much that it will be a woman's beach volleyball team (but keep them crossed Aaron!).

Work this week has been hectic, today I built a demo of a system that will take a user from html to an XCF file to a ASP file to a SQL database. I don't think anyone was that impressed to tell you the truth, but I know how hard that was to arrange.

So that's about it for tonight's update, please be aware that now the WW2 site is finished I will be updating it on a regular basis. Also please don't forget to submit a review (I know a few of you have been to the pictures lately).

Dons Mood for the week so far:

 

 

What about we do...........

 

 

 

OK - So I have been dreading this, but here goes SUNDAY 13/05/07

Yes I know it has been a month since the last up date, but I am going to try and justify it. 1) I was on my holidays (see below) 2) I have totally rebuilt this site (as you can see) and 3) I have been running about like a dafty trying to sort out Lupus Riever and the Black Paw.

So lets just pretend that everything is just as it should be and carry on.

Hello!

This update will include the Nice Holiday, everything else and Andrew and Leah's Wedding.

General things

• My car has been a naughty monkey and has had loads done to it, the bottom line is that it was in the shop the entire time we were in France and it cost me a small fortune. Computers in cars, BAD IDEA the bloody thing is more powerful than the computer that NASA used to put a man on the moon, but it still tells the garage that my car is about to pack in.
• Dad got elected, I know, I can hardly believe it even as I type it. From the very earliest memories I have, Dad has been involved in every election. The house would look like a cross between mission control and a printers workshop. But despite the setbacks along the way, he never gave up. When I called me to tell me that it was official I went through every emotion. I am so proud of him (and mum for putting up with it all for all these years) that I still can't get my head round it. If I didn't have such a huge update to write tonight I would be going full blast into this story and I might yet.
• On the down side of Dad getting elected, someone that night keyed my car, and caused hundreds of pounds of damage. I would like to think that it was a coincidence, but to be honest I don't believe it was. On the plus side we went out for a furama.
• Work is mega hectic - R2 (D2)
• Lupus Riever, frantic work trying to get the last minute details sorted out. The basics have been sorted so anything else is a bonus. I know that some people read my site, despite me asking them not to, so I can't go into any detail.

Yesterday was Andrew and Leah's wedding. It was fantastic, and the most original and exciting wedding I have ever been to. I was asked to do a reading, and I was very chuffed to bits. My reading was a poem by Hovis Presley (that I first performed on New Years Eve) and Although I knew I knew it back to front I was still very nervous. Loads of people congratulated me on it, so I hope that every one was happy. It was a very long day for Lorna and I (we were the first to arrive at the the stables) but the ceremony was outstanding, the bride was beautiful and the meal was out of this world. All in all it was a great success and every single person had a ball. I took some pictures of the Bride and Groom, that I have put in a little lightbox. Lorna and I would like to thank Andrew and Leah for letting us play a small part in their big day. Andrew and Leah gave me a present for doing the reading, it is a digital photo frame and it rocks. As I write this, the rain is pouring down and the sky is gray, the new Mr and Mrs Andrew Harrison are jetting away to a honeymoon that will be just as magical as their wedding day. Click Here for the photos

 

To try and help the logjam of updates the lovely Lorna has typed up a diary the we kept of our trip to Nice. I have added a lightbox of our trip which you can access by clicking here

Saturday 21st April

We arrived at our beautiful hotel at 8.30 pm. Our room I very nice and we have air conditioning. What a bonus.

We unpacked and went of to explore and found the beach and where the restaurants and bars were.  We had an exhausting flight as there were boys and girls from George Herriott School who were the loudest and rudest children ever.  We were such calm and tolerant people and only retaliated once.

We found a great pizza place a few doors up from the hotel. We ordered pizza and sat in the beautiful gardens of our hotel and ate it. Surrounded by exotic flowers and beautiful palm trees.  We ordered a bottle of the house red, a Merlot and talked and drank until the wee small hours.

Sunday 22nd April

Our first day here. We had a lovely breakfast of some cheeky croissants and pastries (Don only had a pain au chocolate). We walked the whole stretch of the beach. A whopping 4 miles. A bit much in the first day I know but we are nothing but adventurous. Blisters were received by me and Don was reasonably unscathed. Sunday we discovered was the day for the locals to come and meet and greet their friends and loved ones. A day of relaxation and fun.  We walked to the port and saw the war memorial carved into the rock and some lovely big yachts and a huge galleon. 

We came back through the market and restaurant district to wonderful smells of coffee, seafood and hot pastries. We bought a bottle of wine for later and discovered that it was cheaper to buy it there than at the hotel. We had a little siesta and went out to dinner. A little place in the plaza and had fois grat, mussels marinara, duck and escalope finished with crème caramel and pistachio and amaretto ice cream.  It was delicious and we even had a man play the accordion for us.  This came to a very reasonable €50. About £34.50 in our money. We drank our wine when we came back to the hotel garden and went to bed very happy.

Monday 23rd April

We were awoken by a drill this morning with some hammering thrown in for good measure. No hot water and Don was very brave and had a cold shower. I was not so brave and decided to wait. We were greeted by some very somber faces at breakfast. 
This appeared to be the other guests. We on the other hand were very excited as today was Monaco day. We set of at 10.30 and went to the train station where we purchased a joint ticket in French and were told we had to punch our ticket before entering the main platform. We did this and waited and waited. Our train was 20 minutes late.  It was a breathtaking journey full of blue sea, beautiful buildings and lovely colourful
flowers.  We arrived at Monaco about 30 minutes later. The station is carved into the rock and was immaculate.  It had polished wooden floors and pristine white walls.

We made our way down to the Marina and took about 5 minutes to decide whether we wanted to take our life in our hands and cross the road or not. This was a big decision as motorists in Monaco think its formula 1 time all of the time. We walked a construction area where they were building the stands for the next Grand Prix in a few weeks time. We took pictures of the Marina and swimming pool complex. Whilst admiring the sheer opulence and wealth of the yachts in front of us.  Some of them could house speedboats and helicopters on board.  We wandered past the track marshals and the pit lane and saw a Fiat Panda parked in the Ferrari pit lane. Don was very amused by this.  I had Goose bumps and Don managed to control his emotions slightly better but he was still excited as he had always wanted to come here.

We went to the shopping plaza and climbed the steep hill and then down the cobbled streets to the Monte Carlo Casino as featured in Casino Royale. Don was a little disappointed as it was under renovation but at least we were there.  We laughed
At the prices in Gucci and Moschino and the sheer wealth before us.  We had lunch on the marina and bought some post cards.  Which we wrote outside the station as our train would take another 90 minutes to arrive.  We decided to take an earlier train which did not stop at the other stations and were home in 20 minutes. This was due to Don’s quick thinking and bravery.  We got off the train feeling very proud as we had just been on our own mini adventure.  We went back to our hotel for a little nap and then went out for dinner. Don did not feel too good so we had a light dinner and just a little wine. I don’t think he ate enough today.  Lesson learnt.

Wednesday 24th April

We got up early and had another wonderful breakfast. We set off on another adventure.  We were intending on going to Antibes by train but were told last night that they are on strike due to the election.  We went instead by bus. This cost us €1.30 each, around £1.00. We had a great time as the bus was air conditioned comfy and had tinted windows. We had fun watching all the characters that got on and off and at the places themselves. We ended up missing our stop due to an English tourist who thought that they knew the route. We got off instead at Cannes. We stopped for a few pictures, a look at the fort and a stroll along the marina.  It was very expensive and we did a lot of window laughing at the caviar shop and the Ferrari shops prices.  We then boarded the bus back to Antibes. We arrived in time for lunch and spent some time sitting in the park eating 2 large ham baguettes. We meandered along the quaint narrow streets of this medieval town and spent a few hours there. It had a lovely friendly atmosphere and some very reasonable shops. We had just counted out our change and the bus came to take us home.  We bought another bottle of wine when we got back and went to the hotel and read our books until it was time for our siesta. 

After our snooze we made our way to Le Lodge restaurant for our evening meal. It was superb. We had salad and some ravioli with a carbinara sauce and lashings of parmesan. This came to €50. Don tried to find out the score of the Chelsea v Liverpool game but had no luck.  It was only when we arrived back at the hotel we found it was 1-0 to Chelsea.  We then consumed our usual bottle of red in the garden. 
We were not as enamoured by this as it was full bodied Bordeaux. We went to our room where Don showed me how to play solitaire which I played until the wee small hours.

Thursday 25th April

It was raining slightly today so we decided to give our bus trip a miss until tomorrow.  We went back to bed after breakfast until the sun appeared an hour later. We then went to the plaza souvenir shopping and bought little packs of local preserves and sweets.  We had lunch around 3.00 at the subway (another meatball sub).  Then came back to the hotel and sat in the garden reading. Another siesta later and we went out to the Corsican restaurant a few doors down to be greeted by Gisele and Jean Luc.  We had pate, sirloin steak and green pepper sauce and crème caramel and tart tatin to follow washed down with a bottle of red wine.  We helped another 2 couples to decipher the menu and then drank another bottle of wine in the garden of the hotel.
We took some lovely pictures and had a real laugh and recalled how the week had gone. We both agreed we had a marvelous time and could not have asked for better company. We also decided that Merlot was our wine if choice.

Friday 26th April (our last day)

We got up early and had our last lovely breakfast here.  We had to be out of our room by 10.30 so we decided to pack and go on our bus tour. This cost us €18 each. We decided to get off at the top of the hill and visit the amphitheatre. Nothing could have prepared us for what greeted us. We ended up in the Roman Empire. We walked along roman streets and saw roman artifacts and saw how the Romans really lived.  This was a preserved roman bath complex which dated back to 300 BC.  It was stunning. We managed to take our time as we were the only visitors. It felt very surreal. It was a stunning 29 degrees and we even found some roman pottery which I dug out of the wall.  We saw how their baths were heated by briar fires and raised floors and how their floors were decorated with mosaic tiles and even saw a model of how it would have looked. This was a superb end to our holiday and we are so glad that we waited as we believe we saved the best for last.

We got on the plane at 8.10 local time and had a pleasant flight, arriving in Edinburgh at 9.50 our time. We had a further hour to wait though between our luggage and transfers. We came home to a smiling Marion and lots of hugs and excitement as to` how our holiday had been. Marion waited for over 2 hours for us and we were very grateful. After checking mail and a cup of hot chocolate it was off to bed for a well deserved snooze. This where our adventure ends but I am sure there will be many more.

 

 

Monday 10/04/07 (What happened to Sunday?)

OK bottom line is that this weeks update will be slightly late (perhaps wednesday?).

A load of info for you but I don't have the time to go into it tonight. The biggest news is that WW2 took a giant leap forward and should hopefully be ready to launch on you all in about a fortnights time.

Please don't fret Wednesday will come soon enough.

 

Sunday 01/04/07 (Spring is in the air)

Hi!

Well another action packed week has come and gone and you would not believe what I have been getting up to this week.

Firstly the bad news - Binky noir, is very unwell and he goes to the operating theatre on Tuesday.

The Good news is that;

1) My big boss leant me her BMW M3 for the day, the only drawback is that I was working and not on the starting grid at silverstone.

2) We got taught how to be undercover cops on Tuesday, including hidden mics and bugging equipment, we tailed a suspect all over fife, whilst he was selling stolen computer parts! this was a team building day and full of actors (all ex-police) and I can honesty say that I had more fun on that day than I have had on any other day at work period. I got a little to much into the whole Jack Bauer thing as on the way home I had a massive stress headache. Top marks for the work for arranging this one, it will be impossible to beat that for an away day.

3) Rachel had here leaving night and due to aforementioned binky problems I was stuck in Livi, I hope she had a great time but I am very sorry not to have made it along. Rachel has been a good friend and I will be very sad to see her go (on Wednesday) but I have faith that she will go down to London and make her fortune (I wonder who will play me in the film about her life?)

4) I went to Laurna Macauley's 30th this weekend, in THE VILLIAGE (if you need to ask where that is, then it's best you never set foot in the place), It was in the bowling club and I think half the village was there, I spent more time moving tables and chairs than anything else. It looked like it was going to be a great shin dig. I had to leave and come home and get dinner, but everyone was looking glam.

5) Went with some of the staff of the squadron to see 300. I thought it was a great film, and whilst it was never going to win an oscar for plot or for screenplay, it told a "Heroic" story rather well (far better than Burt Lancaster did in his film "Go tell the Spartans") Anyway Andrew didn't like it, but I went there expecting blood and gore and that's what you got.

6) Lorna and I spent ages cutting the grass and strimming the place, all looking great and the garden has that lovely summer smell of freshly cut grass. Lorna weeded and helped with the leaves, it was a great way to spend an afternoon, but I (well my back mainly) was glad when it was finished

7) Went for the longest route walk today, about 6 and a half miles, so that burnt of the chinese we had on Saturday night. It was the first sunny day of the year and for once I did not even have my silly hat on. I got a great picture of Lorna in the daffs (see below)

That's just about it for this week, now some pictures.

Emma thanking her lucky stars that she survived following me to Stoneyburn

 

Emma (still in shock) and Angela McMental

Ducks (Still no Heron that's been a month!)

It must be spring!

 

Sunday 25/03/07 (It's Summer time!)

Hello all, Today marks the start of british summer time (So as you can imagine it was cloudy and cold all day). We lost an hour of sleep last night, but I don't mind too much, because I know that from this point forward the days become longer and hopefully warmer. The bad news is that the RAF is still very much a traditional force and as such switches off all heating systems today until October (Brrrrrrrr). This week was always going to be a bit flat compared to last week, but it still was a week that was packed full of the usual fun and games. R3 at work is proving to be very frustrating as the powers that be keep changing the scope. I devised a radar plotter for use at work, I think it is fab (well I would!) but it got a fairly luke warm reception when I showcased it. Nick D has made a ultra cool skills matrix that I hope our database guys can use as a template for our our one due Q2 2007. Had a great meeting with the NCO team on Thursday and I was glad to see that lots of that carried through to this weekend. Mum's birthday on the 22nd was great, I popped down to see her and give her a card (it was the 3 of spades) and what she asked for (Asda Vouchers?) so she seemed quite happy with that. The Squadron had another ITW this weekend and I have to say I am shattered. I think that I might have to sit the next one out because that is in effect 2 weeks straight without a day off and I am not as young as I used to be. Went to the gym on Tuesday with Andrew so we are both finally finding our rhythm again. Note to self don't have two weeks of at Christmas! Lorna was a wee star this weekend and was waiting for me when I got home today, with the washing done. OK some pictures (including one of Ben (the dug)).

Happy Birthday Mum!

Its all round "Good Boy" Ben (the Dug) Robertson

 

Any clues where we are? Map reading leaving LOADS to be desired.

All round (Bombay) "Bad Boy" Spanners Robertson

 

"Shall I compare thee to a summers rose?" Dan adds up the points

 

With Pride

Mike "The Meerkat" Shows us how it's done

Get it right up me! (I hate it when other people use your own jokes against you!)

The new slim line author on his way to the local tesco

 

A Bumper Update! Sunday 18/03/07

Hi Guys, this week was a truly amazing week. I am sure every one of you will already know what was going down this week. For those who don't then It was a trip to have a meeting in the countryside on Wednesday, followed by a graduation parade on Thursday, followed by a 30th Birthday Party on Friday. It is fair to say that I have been feeling the strain of this for about 6 months now and in true staff style everyone played an equal part in getting everything ready. On Wednesday the Boss, John, Graeme and myself strapped into the blue streak and went for a jolly up to Kinloss to look at the area for Lupus Riever, we have put so much effort in to this one that I doubt it can be topped. Unfortunately we were not allowed to get the boats that we had asked for, but a beach landing exercise is still on the cards. After the meeting it was a blast down the A9 to get to the barbershop in time (thanks to the blue streak and it's time traveling properties we made it with 15 minutes to spare.

On Thursday we had a special guest join us for the graduation parade and I hope that he was impressed by what he saw. I was having a drama before leaving the house as my blue suit is slightly to large for me, and I will need to get it tailored. The night went without a hitch and the parents and guests had a good time, we even had time to squeeze a team photograph in before the final whistle. I have included some photos from the night to give you a flavour of what it was like. Thursday night takes us to the last step before we hit our target, one last big push and we will achieve what we have been aiming for, for the last 7 years.

On Friday I could hardly contain myself at work, I picked up my kilt and gave the guy (R + I Kilt makers) a squadron badge, and he discussed the various designs available to us for a black wolf tartan, so hopefully he should be back in contact soon. I got home and had a shower and got ready for the big night. Lorna arrived back from work and got ready (it was neck and neck, but I think I just managed to save male pride and finished getting ready about 20 seconds before she did). Lorna was looking stunning in her dress and I managed to get a photo of us, just as the Taxi horn was going outside. When we arrived at the venue we were met by the honour guard, and very smart they were too! The guys and girls looked amazing and very professional. We went upstairs and went through to the Bar area. It was great to see so many people there. Aaron, Zoe and Jenni were invited guests, who sat amongst the rabble, and the top table was a who's who of the organization.

The night went well, and although I nearly stopped breathing when the guest of honour was 40 minutes late, the night was so special. I was amazed at the turn out of our mob. Honestly to see such a bunch of young adults turned out like that was a credit to themselves and our unit. The Meal (cooked by Lorna's cousin's husband) was simply stunning. And Although I helped pick the menu I never expected it to taste as good. The food over, we were given the first play of the unit's very own pipe tune and it gave me goose bumps, I cannot wait to get the sheet music and get it framed. After that treat we went into the speeches and Steven Parry's was a great ice breaker (He even mentioned a rollicking I had given him when he was a young guy (don't listen to a word of it dear reader I am all sweetness and light)). Gary was up next and he had a great blend of humour, nerves and seriousness. Brian's keynote speech was full of passion and a great insight to how passionate he is about our unit and everything that we do. After the speeches I read out a telegram from G&WS Commander, wishing us all the best, and the Jim Shanks played arguably the blinder of the night and read out a telegram from the Queen. Brian was so shocked that I thought he was going to fall over. After that bombshell, the guest of honour graced us with a speech and a top quality after dinner joke. Once it was over the youngsters went on to have a disco and the older ones went and had a few drinks. It was amazing to see everyone interact, and I hope that I managed to swing from conversation to conversation keeping it all flowing along. Darren and Karen were kind enough to give us a lift home and so shattered I fell into bed, after having one of the best nights ever.

On Saturday, Lorna and I got up and went for a look for some boots for me to wear to work, but there was nothing about. We went to the shops and got some DVD's. I spent the rest of the afternoon watching the Scotland game and the qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix. We had a lovely Chinese and then I met up with Peter and Remko, and took them into Bathgate. We started off in the V bar which is the worst place on earth now (Karaoke, need I say more and the place was dead about 15 people on a Saturday night?) then we went to the James Young and then on to the new Smith and Jones place across the road, it was so much better than the rest. Sunday we got up bright and early to go for our walk to find it snowing outside, so we did the only sensible thing and went back to bed for an hour, when we woke up again it was sunny! We went for our walk in the usual place, and fed the ducks. After that we went up to Mum and Dads and gave mum her flowers and had brunch, it was the first fry up I have had in 5 months, LOVELY. After that it was back to the old routine, ironing and then watching the Grand Prix. After the race was over I made dinner and Aaron popped down. Still trying to get the right idea about finishing off the bathroom. We watched a very scary film called Children of men. Creepy! and after all that at 23:00 I am writing this. OK I get it, shut up and let's see the pictures, but before I do I want to say that a very good friend of mine, John, has taken a fantastically brave step and joined the French Foreign Legion. He left this morning and sent me an email from France tonight to tell me that he has found the place and is enjoying his last pint for a good long while. He has sent an email that I will read out on Monday night. John, I hope that you get a chance at some point to look at these pages and photographs. John is the total package, an excellent soldier, a trusted friend and part of my family, all the very best mate!

Do they know what there are signing?

 

I didn't have any

The last time he did this was at his wedding

 

See no cake!

Lesley, Lorna and Susan

The Boss at the door

The Gunners arrive

Two conversations?

 

Lorna looking stunning

Awwwwww

Spanners

Grant and Christine

Jim Shanks

Zoe and Jenni

Andrew Heaney

Susan and Cammy

What a bunch of posers

The Last Supper

"That was Abba and Dancing Queen, next up its Boney M"

 

Pow wow

The Big Boss and Christine, Grant and Lorna

The tune is called the wolfs cry, and it is stunning.

Brian in full flow

Lesley and Graeme

A Letter from the BIG BOSS

It's Wednesday and I have added the pictures of Sunday and the videoOK Guys true to my word I have returned to add the pictures of Sunday including a video of Neil, it is quality funny.

This week I have been on a course to learn all about MS Project and Gantt charts, so look out for the ultimate plan on how to go to the bathroom soon! On other news the work website is going a guns blazing, which is good news. I am not having much in the way of build work, but that's what my boss wanted "Build this site, then pass it on". Today was spent on a de-conflicatation meeting at location "Oscar" for the big squadron shin dig in May. Looking forward to tomorrow, but I guess that will have to wait until Sundays update. OK Photos!

Cam's Brother and Sister-in-law were leaving not long after we arrived.

Ewan was "Super Uncle" because he bought the boys an art set, it was so much like a birthday that young Ben was telling everyone that it was his birthday.

 

Cam giving dad the cold shoulder, as dad had poured Cam's beer down the drain, Sandra thought it was funny anyway.

 

Mum, god bless her!

 

George, Cara, Marc and Ben (taking it in turns to get the tracer working)

If you haven't seen the video, click here to see it

 

 

Its late on Sunday 11/03/07 (just a few hours before I return to work)

Hello all, Sorry for the lack of update on Wednesday, however things were a little on the dodgy side for me. I can't believe it (but it's true) I got floored by another throat infection (or possibly the same one coming back) but this time I had some other issues as well. As this is a family show I won't tell you about them! Let's see OK so the squadron was manic again this week, we are seriously understaffed right now, we need some back up. Also we need a female member of staff so if you want to give it a shot then give me a shout. Basically I was getting up, going to work, coming home then going to bed (and having some dreams that were WILD!) waking up in soaking wet sheets, falling asleep again (repeat as necessary) finally getting up having a shower and going to work.

On the plus side we finally made some real headway in the Website front for work (yeah!) and now I hope to pass it on to those who will be responsible for it's upkeep. I flew down to Birmingham on Friday for a meeting in the headquarters of birmingham midshires, the meeting went very well and I am pleased about they way that I did my stuff. I left the house at 04:50 on Friday and got home at 18:20 so it was a very long day (and an expensive one at that). Work done, you would think that I could take it easy but I was up again in the darkness on Saturday to go to the Squadron for Passcamp 07. My session went OK but my throat was killing me the whole way through. When I got back I found that Lorna had tided up and went and bought me a new mat for the hall and some lamp shades. I watched the Scotland Ireland game on the TV and then fell asleep on the couch. Lorna and I hired "Barnyard" "The Departed" and "Warriors of Heaven and Earth" all three were excellent. The Departed is a fantastic film that won an Oscar last month and rightly so. The Film making in Warriors of Heaven and Earth is simply stunning. Add to that a chinese meal and we had a great night.

Sunday morning was yet another early start, we had to get a walk in before heading over to fife. We went for the longest route today (Mid Calder - East Calder) and it was great. We saw Three new things today including a great Wagtail and for the first time in my life a Kingfisher. The rest of the walk was spent trying to get close enough to the wagtails to get a photo. After the walk we went home and got showered, then headed over to fife. Sandra and Cam were having a few people round and it was a great "Old style" family Sunday. I loved every second of it. Lorna has now met the vast majority of my family and she has been well liked by them all. Rachel was meeting the "Douglas Clan" for the first time as well, so it was good to get this bit over and done with. Mark and Ben (Cousin Cara's two boys) were great today, full of fun and laughter. The play well together which I haven't seen with other siblings for a while. Well behaved and very well mannered, they made the day. I also was shown a film clip of Neil Launching a golf course in China (I recorded it but will have to wait until Wednesday before I can update site with the films (its very late already). Lorna and I dropped Ewan and Rachel of in Linlithgow, and we came back here so I could get stuck into the ironing (well it is ironing day!). That half way done Brian popped in to tell me how things had gone at the Squadron Commanders meeting today, business as usual it would appear. Look out for the photos and films being added on Wednesday.

Sunday 03/03/07 (home)

Hello all,

This weekend was crammed to the brim with all the usual goings on. Friday night was spent in the house (which I tided up for hours), had a lovely pizza and just tried to switch off from the week at work. Saturday was spent finishing gutting the spare room and then for some bizarre reason Lorna and I decided to go to town on the bathroom. We took it in turns to scrub the grouting with bleach and a toothbrush, and it has made the world of difference. I want to get the bathroom done (i.e. finished) as I don't want to invite people round to the house when they might have to use the bathroom. It still has bare floorboards in it. I have also attempted to get my indicators fixed this week, and the guy appears to be on the level just very very busy (that's a good sign?) I will keep you posted. Saturday night we spent an truly excellent night with Andrew and Leah, Aaron, Lorna and I, Michael playing the Wii, it was a great laugh and I will never be able to look at rabbits the same way again. This is the sort of thing that would be ideal on Christmas night when people have had a little bit too much sherry. Today we were woken up to the sound of my neighbour building the aircraft carrier Nimitz (or at least that's what it sound like @ 09:00) that put us on a downer for the rest of the day. We loaded up the car and went to the tip, then up to beescraigs country park. We went for a walk round the reservoir and fishery. On the way back we popped in to see Peter and Diane, the wee one was having her nap so it was just adults this time (however the Fimbles and a dutch clown called boomba were brought out) It was great to see them. Once home it was lunch time and a very healthy lunch it was! Then after lunch I did the ironing and Lorna watched a film called Danika (the 2nd worst film ever?) Lorna is not feeling well tonight so I am keeping her here so I can keep and eye on her. This week is going to be a humdinger at work so don't expect much in the way of updates apart from "R3 - hard". On the plus side I had a play with Div tags in css and that is going to be very worthwhile.

Beecraigs

Swans (at max zoom)

 

Wednesday 28/02/07 (day 12,428 in the big brother house)

Hello all, What's happening with you lot? Drop me an email (use the contact me link if you like). I have been having a very interesting week at work. Full of R3 stuff, I am starting to get my head around it, but there is just so much to do. On the other side of the news I got a little bonus at work today (a bottle of champagne) as we announced our year figures this morning. I am trying to get to grips wit this advanced dreamweaver stuff but I just can't squeeze it all in. As Homer Simpson said "Every time I learn something new, it pushes something old out of my brain".

I also found out that Mark from work has handed in his notice and will be leaving in the next few weeks, I am gutted, but you can't blame someone for bettering themselves. I just don't know where I am going wrong, how can everyone else get CSS to work and I am still struggling with the basics? To make matters worse A division of the company asked for my help and I want to do it so much, but things are so tight with us right now that I can see it taking a back seat and me not being able to help them. I just wished I had time enough to sit and learn this stuff, the only time I have spare in a week is Wednesday night and if you don't practice all the time you have to keep going back to the basics.

I am working on the black paw project, so I am going to do that now. Sorry its a bit of whinge tonight but I am feeling pretty down at the moment. Take care guys.

 

 

Sunday 25/02/07 (Recovering after Scotland get hammered)

OK so lets deal with the big issue first. Scotland got thumped by Italy at home. Scotland were useless, and despite what people thought about the Italians and the ref, you can't cover up the fact that we were rubbish. Three tries in the first 7 minutes? I mean come on!

To make matters worse I had a great seat (the best I have ever had at Murryfield) and that game was the worst game (bar none) I have had the sorry misfortune to see in my life.

Ok on to other matters. R3 has been hotting up at work and I am trying hard to get organised and stay on top of things, as if I let things slip I will forever be on the back foot trying to catch up. Had a great meeting with Tim and Louise on Friday and Tim spent a bit of time on forecasting.

Lorna Graeme Andrew Aaron and I went to see hot fuzz on Friday night and I can honestly say that it was brilliant, I laughed the whole;e way through and some of the gags were world class. Nic and Rodders made it back safe from Canada and I am begging Nic to show me how he did a trick on his web site.

Speaking of web sites, the one for work went back to the drawing board again on Friday and I have been professional about that, but I wear my heart on my sleeve and cannot accept that despite 3 years of trying the department will not listen to me. Gutted. I was clear from the outset this time that this would be my last adventure and if it didn't work this time then I wasn't going to go any further with it.

On Saturday night Lorna and I went out to Graeme and Lesley's for a fabulous dinner and a chat about blackpaw outdoor supplies, I am glad to say that things went very well and that we are looking forward to retuning the favour. Other things that happened this weekend include a nice long walk round Linlithgow Loch today (pictures below) and going to see Ewan. Lorna, as ever has been perfect and spending time with her just makes my weekend complete. She was in on her own on Saturday (I was at the rugby) and she did loads (including taking a single bed in her car by herself). Dad was on fine form when I saw him on Saturday (he didn't know he was in the paper this week, so we gave him a copy) and Mum went to visit some friends that she worked with before I was born. All in all another action packed week, and low and behold it's Sunday night and we are getting ready for another stormer of a week. Replies are coming in for the Dinner Dance so watch this space.

Dark and Moody

It was a Sunday and the Swans must have had a bad night, they all looked ruff

The first tree blossom of the year

Creepy birds (Cormorants)

They looked like extras from a horror movie

 

Ewan with his birthday present

 

Sunday the 18th Feb (Ewan's Birthday)

Hello all. I am feeling much better today (still having a lot of trouble with my eardrum, which burst due to the infection last week). I have been on lots of pills to try and shift the infection, and it has now dried up at least. I got back to work on Thursday and got stuck into a few projects. The Big news is still R3 which I am delivering for the team, get used to hearing about it, because it is just about to take over my life for the next 6 months.

OK so on with the story, Dougie Richardson tracked me down (through Aaron) I called him last week and we managed to catch up some more. I will phone him this week I think on Wednesday. Nic and Roddy are still livin' it up in Canada and Nic has knocked up a website that makes me green with envy (I may or may not post a link to the site, because if you go there you might not ever come back to mine).

Spent this weekend doing loads of DIY stuff like building that IKEA bed that I have been going on about for ages (it is in the spare room) and getting rid of a load of old junk. Still managed to fit in a walk round Almondell country park today (see pictures) and met Gary on his bike, it was by far the busiest I have ever seen the park, Dogs and Kids everywhere, so no sign of our pal the Heron.

Ewan's birthday is today and I am so glad that we are so close now, the whole clan were there (Ewan, Rachel, Mum, Dad, Aaron, Lorna and Me) we went for a meal at the 4 Mary's in Linlithgow it was very nice although the service was as slow as me learning to play guitar. Aaron's house is nearing completion and I am glad to say that he spent a night there last night in his new bed! He will move in, in about 6 weeks.

Brian came round on Friday night and in true Cosford fashion we have come up with a new squadron event, a NCO selection event! I won't bore you with the details, but it looks to be a classic.

Things are hotting up for the Squadrons 30th Dance with some brass RSVP'ing that they will come, so I hope that the event lives up to all our dreams, and our hard work.

Last week was also Rebecca's 2nd Birthday, what a wee cracker! I love spending some time with her, she is so well behaved it almost makes me want one! she waddled up to me and said "UP" so I lifted her up, then she grabbed my scarf and pulled the ends away from each other and said "coat off", what a sweetheart, Happy Birthday!!!

What a sweetheart!

Gary on his bike, I think he got hell when he got back home because he was filthy!

Spring is springing?

This nutter was out for a swim

Ducks!

Mum and Dad

The Birthday boy himself! happy Birthday Bro

 

Sunday 11/02/07 (I am home but I can't hear you)

Hi guys another busy week but I am going to keep this update short and sweet. I am starting to shift this cold, only to have my left ear get some sort of infection, it is agony. It started off as toothache but it got worse yesterday and has been bad today.

Spoke to Dougie Richardson for the first time in years this week, more on that later on, sorry its so short but this is not good.

 

 

Sunday 04/02/07 (alive, if only just)

Hey!

going to cut right to the chase tonight guys, I have been ill since my last update and have been up to the following

• Coughing
• Wracking
• More Coughing
• Lemsips (even though I hate them)
• Pills a plenty
• squeezed in some more coughing
• Couldn't sleep for coughing
• I am so tired that my head hurts
• Air bubbles are coming out my right eye's tear duct
• My head feels like a banger went off inside it
• Oh and as a little bonus, some more coughing

On the plus side, when pressed I can cough the theme tune to the 70's kids TV show "The Double Decker's". I have been able to do some more of the website for work, but I was told I wasn't allowed to by my boss. Anyway no photos today as I didn't go anywhere. Lorna has been a wee gem and has looked after me this weekend, but an hour ago she had a few sniffles, so I am keeping her here tonight to keep an eye on her.

 

 

Wednesday 31/01/07 (already?)

Hello all

This week has been a mixed bag of ups and downs, on the plus side........well I am sure there must be some pluses? (Back to over 1000 at the gym). On the down side I am not feeling very well and have had a sore throat for a few days now. I am not sure why but the age old "chuck a couple of paracetamol down your neck" just isn't doing the trick this time. Lorna has a new hairstyle and it is stunning, I will endeavor to get a photo this weekend and post it for you. I have finished Dawn of war, and it turns out I should have been a Field Marshal. Rachel got back OK from Egypt and by the sounds of it had a great time. I am working on a website for work that is quite possibly the most annoying project I have ever been on, not for any other reason than I am trying to please everyone and I am afraid I will end up please no one. I have throw together something today (and tonight!) but I will let you know how that goes.

No photos because people who are on dial up are complaining.

 

Sunday 28/01/07 (Cream Crackered!)

Hey!

Lot's been happening this week so I will get straight to the point. Work has been hectic, last minute stuff all the way. It's very satisfying to pull it off, but it gets very tiring if you do it all the time. Friday saw Louise and I pull of the session of the decade. It was fab, and I left for the weekend knowing that I had earned my combat pay for the day.

Friday night was the squadron Burns night, it was top class. I am so proud of all the guys both the staff and hobbits. We can make this happen with very little in the way resources and time. Once again it was a very enjoyable night, and one of the few occasions in the year that the young un's get a chance to have a formal night. As you can see from the photos the staff were resigned to doing the serving and washing up. IT is the very least we can do for them.

I did the toast to the Hobbits this year and it went like this

Who, What, Where, When
the questions you ask us again and again
uniforms and pick up times
so please empty out your tiny minds
sit your bums down
and pin back your ears
the staff will allay all your fears

We try our best, we always do
To make the squadron fun for you
But safety first is our Motto
is it to cold or even too hotto
Because come what may just wait and see
a Hobbit will end up in A&E

But joking over and kidding finished
I would like to leave you with a message
Despite the headaches and all the gray hairs
and not to mention the noise from down stairs
we are here to help, not harry
from cadet to cadet warrant
just like Parry
Is our goal for each of you
you have it in you to make it true
we push you along and open the doors
the decision to walk through them must be yours

We love being your staff and having you as cadets
we go together like cammy burgers and charcoal briquettes
So let me finish by saying this to you
you make us proud every one of you
One day we will be gone and who will replace us
take a look round at your very own faces

And one last quote to end my bit
it shows your strength and shows your grit
a famous leader in a battle dark
spoke these words from his heart

"Give me 10 Livi wolves, or failing that give me 100 other men"

So some photos of the night might be in order

Haggis by Dad, transport by Cammy

The top table

The Bottom table

 

That's all I am good for

 

I would love to know what is going on here

 

I was washing and the boss was drying

 

 

Ok so that was that. On Saturday I went to the Balerno Burns Club ("Let it blaw") Burns Supper, and I can honestly say I have not had so much fun on a night out in years. The crack was on top form, and the recitals and performances were outstanding. Robert came along as my guest and he had such a good time, and made such an impression that he was offered a membership without having to jump through all the hoops like I did. This photo was taken before I left and it is easy to tell the difference, I didn't walk through the front door on the way back. You would not believe the damage a whole bottle of port can do to you. God Bless Lorna for taking us there and bringing us home again. Dad and Ewan were there for the first time as member and guest, it was a great night. Jamie Buchanan was also on top form and I hope to work with him over the next few months to pull together the Let it blaw web site.

This morning I woke up in a state that could only be described as miraculous, and to clear the cobwebs Lorna and I went to walk round Linlithgow Loch. It was a great day for a walk and we even stopped and had a go on the swings, something I haven't done in years. On the way home we stopped of to see Diane as it was her 21st Birthday. Came home and watched the film Domino, but there was no pizzas in it.

Canadian?

 

The Palace from the West side

A Mallard

 

From the North

Lorna on the swings

Yeeee haaaa!

After the swings we had a little sit down

From the East side

How sad is that? I had to take a photo. Perhaps Maverick was out?

 

What this place needs is some windows

 

People forget just how big a swan is, and remember they can break your arm!

A moorhen (I think?)

 

Wednesday 24/01/07 (In HTML Hell !)

Hello everyone,

This week has been really boring, I have had nothing to do at work, the squadron or at home.......NOT!

I have been running just to catch up this week, the day away on Friday followed by t he night out was just to much for me to handle (30! it's a killer). The gym was very disappointing this week, I only managed to stay an hour and only did 300 calories and that is nowhere near enough. Work has been very disappointing this week, with some bitter news coming my way today. I still persevere with my dreamweaver course and thanks to Mark, I have learned about layer positioning this week. To let you into a little secret I am well on the way to redesigning and re-launching wolfworks, I just need a little of the precious commodity TIME.

My Indicators are playing up and I need to get them looked at, so any budding auto sparks out there, give me a shout. I am very pleased with myself tonight, after all the stress this week I cracked an HTML problem on my Jack Jones, I want to share it with you, but I need to wait and do it properly.

Things are shaping up for an interesting weekend, with more Haggis than you can shake a stick at. I will keep you posted.

 

 

Sunday 21/01/07 (about to do the ironing)

Hey!

I have had a busy few days and haven't stopped. Friday Graeme, Grant, Jim and I went for a little road trip to somewhere very interesting, not much prospect of getting a candy floss or a ride on a donkey, but a grand day out nevertheless. I have included some pictures but I am not going to name the location as I know that some people have a look on this site from time to time.

Rest assured that this place is hell on earth, and is far tougher than any training any of these guys have had before. So hard that I wonder if this is the time that they break?

On the way back we stopped in a chippy, naughty naughty on the D-plan diet (but there was nowhere else!). Friday night saw a few of the staff members heading out for our Christmas bash, it was a top class night out. It was so good to get out of the office and throw pelters at each other all night. Dave was coming in to his own, so I think he is starting to get used to us. On another point I now know why St. Giles is not a cathedral and that the English Civil war started in the high Kirk in Edinburgh. Big thanks to John for putting £60 behind the bar to get us started, and another big thank you to Lorna who carted the dead bodies away afterwards.

On Saturday Lorna and I took JP to get his car, and then went for a long walk. It was so nice to see the seasons starting to turn and it was dead. We stalked our friend the Heron again, although we were a day early, I think he was glad to see us anyway. After our walk we stopped in to Mum and Dads, for a cuppa. We were there for ages, it was so good to catch up. I managed to sort out a technical problem for mum and dad, so now they can watch their pictures on the DVD player. After mum and dads, we went to ASDA, and got some Pizza's for the film night we were having, in front of me in the queue was Craig Higgins from School. We had a quick chat and I gave him the address for the site, so I hope he stops by and say's "Hi".

Today we got up and gave Grant and Christine a lift into Makro, I bought 20 wood screws, 4 scones and 6 rolls. Nothing else taking my bank managers fancy (it's the week before payday), after a cup of tea we came home and watched the film Ultraviolet, cool sword fights and funky technology, but brain in a jar job. We also put up some CD/ DVD racks which look very cool.

Still have this Ikea bed, if anyone wants it let me know.

Looks nice!

 

Can you see Tim on the left?

 

Only one sheep?

 

Looks like it might need some slates or something?

Despite being 24 hours early we still got him!

And I am delighted to introduce Mhairi's new man "Ivo"

 

Wednesday 17/01/07 (in the house)

Hello
The last few days have been pretty hectic at work and the squadron. I have heard from an old friend (and boss) of mine (Jason), he has been giving me the latest news. His Son (Harvey) is now 4 years old, and if I wasn't feeling old enough already I am now! I remember when I found out Jason was going to be a dad.

On other fronts I have been studying like mad to finish my Dreamweaver course, I did 4 hours worth tonight and cover two bits of technology that I was aware off, but hadn't used yet (layers and template construction). With all this learning my plans to save mankind from the evil ork empire have been put on hold for the last wee while, but it won't be long before I get back in the saddle.

Last night Lorna and I watched a film called Stealth (NO! I didn't pick it) it was brain in a jar stuff but fun all the same. Stealth (3 stars) On this subject Andrew would like to take me to task on my rating of Pirates 2, He would like to offer his opinion

"Nazi Disney Tripe" (thank you Andrew!)

I have been working on a few projects at work and I saw a job that had Donald John written all over it, but alas it was down in Halifax and If I wanted to live in a converted mill I could do that in Lanark.

I had to get the brakes (disks and pads) done today at Farmers in Livi (£135) so it has been an expensive week so far.

The other exciting news is that my house was surveyed on Tuesday for my remortgage, so I should hear back in the next 48 hours. Just in time for the rates to rise again. (if you want my advice put all your money into fast cars and faster women, you won't have anything to spend in your retirement, but let's face it you wouldn't make it to 65 so it's win win!)

I think that's about it, I am getting ready to change the look of the site (all dark and scary looking!) but that won't be for a few weeks at least. On that subject I am looking to get some more practice in building websites for other people, so if you would like me to build you one give me a shout and I will put something together for you.

No pictures this week, so i will put one in from the archives

 

Sunday 14/01/07 (just finished the ironing)

Hi Guys,

This is not how I want to move forward with the site (one update a week) but this week has flown in and I have been so busy. Lots of things have been happening this week including

Lorna was a godsend this weekend and was just utterly fantastic, she helped me in so many ways and made me focus on what's important. we watched a few films this weekend (My Super Ex-Girlfriend 2/5 and Pirates of the Caribbean 2 3/5). Our Sunday walk was measured this time and the results are great we walk 6 miles and burn 800 Calories, and of course we see a wonderful world on our doorstep that most people don't even know exists. (see the photos below)

Had my annual review at work, it went OK. Its hard to communicate with your boss at that all important moment of "How do you think you are doing?" We use a grid (3X3) and you have to select where you think you are performing. You don't want to self yourself short, but on the same hand you don't want to say I am the best human ever and I deserve a Million pounds a week (in my case it is true but I mean for you lot). It is awkward (more so when you have a different view about your own performance than your boss does). I am glad to say that my boss and I found some common ground and we were both happy with the final result. This will determine any pay rise this year, so I will keep you posted.

Dave and I went head to head in the 40K world and I am very pleased to say that I forced a draw (I was expecting to get soundly thrashed). Dave has a lovely house and made me very welcome. He also gave me some of the background reading I will need to catch up on to get any better.

I got an email from Marie this week, she is fab (and a fellow Spike fan). Already the focus is on for Mach 07.

Went out for a few pints (of diet coke) with some of the guys I used to work with, It was excellent to see them. Missing Jason thou' that's a shame. Gregsy, Gordon, Robert and Ewan were on top form, it is so nice to be in company that you can relax in.

Fundraising for Foxtrot continues at pace, I only hope IF will contribute. We are nearly half way there already. I have made myself a new target for weight for 2007. If I can pull this one off by October I will be back to the Don that some of you might never have met and some will have forgotten even existed.

Aaron helped me (when I say that I mean he did it all) pick up my new mattress on Saturday. It is wild, it is a memory foam job, and if you haven't tried one, you are missing out. The Bed frame that I bought from Ikea is to large for the bedroom (so If you want a brand new never assembled King size bed in beech, drop me an email) so I had to order an new divan unit to support it.

Ok I know you must be getting bored by now dear reader but I just wanted to say

GET WELL SOON EDITH, GOD BLESS.

You took your time finding the site, but I hope you have had a laugh reading through it. I want to add loads more pages of everyone, but I don't have any photo's. So let me spell this out for everyone

 

 

Please send me your photo if you do not have a page of your own on this site, and I will make one. Friends and Family (and others if you wish).

End of rant!

I don't know what the little brown / fawn bird is, if you know then let me know, and I will inform the masses

 

This is getting a little too easy now, I have been stalking him for about 4 months and he is letting me get closer every time

 

This thing was tiny (Smaller than a wren) it stayed in the bank grass and was about 4cm tip to tail

 

A nice little dipper

 

Robin (well just in case you were stupid)

Yes it is official the winters must be getting warmer!

OK guys it's bedtime and I hope that I can make the updates much more often this week.

 

 

Sunday 07/01/07 Ironing done and ready for bed

It has been a weekend of mixed emotions, I was having a great weekend, and then got some sad news.

"Big Jack" Lorna's family dog was put to sleep on Saturday after a large tumor in his stomach burst, he was a good dog who never whined or barked, even when in great pain. He will be sadly missed.

Before this news came to light (Lorna's Mum and Dad didn't want to tell her over the phone), we were having a great time. On Friday night I went to the gym, and did an 800 shift, Andrew was not able to come along, however after feeling full of energy on Friday night I want to do 2 nights a week and a big walk on Sundays. I bought a bed frame from Ikea (it matches the rest of the bedroom furniture). And tomorrow I will buy a new mattress that we saw on Saturday, it is all space age foam and such like, so hopefully this will help my back out! On Saturday night we watched the film 28 days later, it was OK. Sunday was more of the same, and our walk was the biggest yet, with every inch of the country park covered. We saw 3 Herons today, and a load of little birds. The walk was very enjoyable, and yet more calories off. After the walk I cooked Sweet and sour chicken. We also watched the siege on DVD and it is a great film. No Dawn of War this weekend, but I hope to get some in before Wednesday.

I have the new big boss coming to the department tomorrow, so I am running through what I want to say to him in my head, that and back to the squadron tomorrow, it's all happening.

Hopefully Ewan should be on for some good news tomorrow, best of luck bro.

Although this weekend was very special, it has ended on such a sad note. God bless big jack.

Big Jack, never made a sound and a lovely dog, sadly missed.

I never knew that Heron's were tree nesters!

Taken at Max Zoom, this is Lorna at the East boundary of Almondell

Our third sighting of the day

---

03/01/07 (wow 2007!) At home and getting ready to go back to work

Hi,

I have been getting ready to go back to work (washing and ironing- hurrah!). I am still not feeling 100% but I hope that I am at least able to do a full day at work. Roddy was up last night and Aaron came down so it was great to see them both. We had a chinese and talked about our holiday two years ago. It was Great to hear how Roddy is getting on and perhaps there might be a woman in his future (Watch this space).

Apart from that I have been playing a new game that I got today (dawn of war) it is top class and I am rationing myself to one game a night (otherwise I will stop going to work and live in my little PC room). Lorna, Roddy and I went to the Grapes in East Calder today for a spot of lunch. It has been re-decorated in a georgian style (white walls!) can you imagine the Grapes with white walls?

Anyway back to the grindstone and all that, see you soon.