The Blog 2008 Page!

OK so why no update over Christmas?

The truth of the matter was that I was busy doing some other things that needed to be done, so I am sorry about that lack of an update.

I have been working on the new website, and I did hope to launch it at Christmas it is far more complex than this one and has taken an age to get right.

So I hope to have it launched soon.

I hope Santa was good to you all and that you had a great new year.

For those who got me presents, thank you, fantastic all round.

Next update shortly

 

Don

 

 

Ewan's festive update

Deep in the heart of the old wild forest, there lived a family of newly-wed crabs. The crabs or the Richardson’s as they preferred to be called, were simple folk, well not folk, like I said, they were crabs. Crustaceans, sideways scuttling things with 8 legs if you like, anyway they lived happily amongst the other forest dwelling animals in a tranquil clearing peppered with tiny stone houses. It was from here that Mr. Crab, or Colin Richardson, ran his freelance IT business which, by all accounts a humble operation, provided more than adequately for the simple lifestyle they led being crabs, obviously. Mrs. Crab, or Doris, pottered busily about the garden during the autumn months, preserving and baking for the lean winter months that now covered the land in a thin veil of frost.

 

They loved their little house with its sanded re-claimed timber floors, its re-conditioned fire place and steam powered Welsh dancing ponies with cardboard eyes, but there was something missing. Doris, who was putting the finishing touches on her, ‘Cats who Have Eaten Next to Ant and Dec’ inspired seashell shrine, stopped for a second and looked longingly at the fire. She turned to Colin who was sat buffing his Hornby. If only we had a child to share this wonderful time of year with, she thought then returned to the shrine and began glue-gunning hair to it. As the flames from the fire began to dwindle the room turned dark almost in an instant, and the Richardson’s readied for bed. Colin kissed his wife’s temple affectionately then kissed her on the forehead after she corrected him, remarking that it was a shrine, and put on a soothing CD of ‘Cattle Falling From a Height Greater Than 3 Feet Noises’ Volume 2, to lull them in to a deep and restful sleep.

 

Doris, who thought she had been asleep for a lifetime, awoke to the sound of tiny bells. What on earth could this be? She thought to herself. Slowly and bravely she put on her nightgown and crept downstairs to the kitchen, where to her disbelief sat an unusual little man.

“Who are you?” she exclaimed, rather alarmed at the presence of the little uninvited guest.

“Why, I’m Ruvledymikins!” he beamed.

“And you are sitting at my kitchen table in nothing but a pair of old man’s pants because…?” Doris replied.

“Because good lady, I heard the tiny bells and here I am.” He seemed rather pleased with himself, with his reply, as if he had just thought of it, and intended to use it again if he must. Doris scuttled towards the cutlery drawer and opened it, instinctively searching for the largest, sharpest bread knife they owned.

“Look mate, if you don’t get out of my house in the next 3 seconds I’ll throw this knife at you, pointy end first.”

Ruvledymikins looked bewildered. “But dear good lady, I have been sent here to grant you your wish, a wish you made this very night.”

“I don’t care if you came to glue ‘Chewy Monkey Pies’ to my ceiling; I want you out of…” And then she stopped. Something about the way he looked at her made her change her mind. She put down the knife and began to sob.

“Come, come, my dear.” Ruvledymikins replied in comfort, “Was it not you who wished for a child on this, the most special night of the year?”

Doris looked up, “Why yes, I cannot tell a lie, it was me but how on earth could you have known?”

“I was next door with a glass pressed against the wall listening in on your conversation.” said Ruvledymikins confidently.

“But that was said in thought for dramatic effect, I didn’t actually say anything.” Doris commented, rather worried she was losing it.

“It doesn’t matter, the point is, you wished for something, and I am here to grant you it. The problem is though; we don’t have any babies left. I could only find an old two legged horse or a shoe made of beef, so…” Ruvledymikins looked a bit embarrassed, “Any of those triggering any sort of emotional connection?”

“Not really.” Replied and disheartened Doris. She stood up, and walked wearily towards the landing door where the steps to upstairs, which weren’t included in the previous description of the layout of the house earlier on in the story, are situated.

“Close the door on the way out.” She turned to Ruvledymikins motioning in the direction of the east facing front door.

Ruvledymikins jumped down from the table and walked to where she was pointing. He looked back over his shoulder to see Doris close the landing door behind her as she walked solemnly up the stairs to bed. He waited until she was completely a sleep before leaving their precious little house. As he did so he shed a tear that dropped like tiny a glass pear on to the threshold, and disappeared. He disappeared by the way, not the tear just in case you were wondering.

Colin and Doris awoke with the snow falling gently on their little village. They looked out the little leaded windows, for these were in the days before unleaded windows. Children were playing with their new toys and the village folks were greeting each other with festive cheer. Colin placed one of his legs around Doris’ shoulder, well, the bit just after her sticky out eyes and her shell-like back plate and pulled her close.

 “Come on, let’s go down and see what Father Christmas has brought. I bet there is something special down there for you.” he whispered. He could see the corners of her mouth turn upwards and his kind words; though he knew it was more for his benefit than actual happyness. They ventured down the old stairs to the kitchen, through the landing which I have now mentioned twice, so there shouldn’t be any confusion as to where they entered the kitchen from and to their astonishment, in the middle of the room stood asteamroller driven by a seal who was busy pulling levers and honking horns with his flippers and nose respectively.

“Rubbish. What a disappointment.” sighed Colin. “I was hoping for a big pig on a length of elastic.” But his words were lost in the silent air surrounding his wife who was kneeling on the floor surrounded by 30,000 tiny crabs, all scuttling on or about her feet making little crab noises and flipping over on to their backs. Tears were streaming down her cheeks, well the shell bits under her sticky out eyes.

She looked up, then through the wall towards the neighbour’s house. “Thank you.” she said in her head for she knew who was listening.

It was just mental.

 

Merry Christmas and a Heavy New Bear - Ewan x

 

 

This can't be right? Don makes an update???? 30/11/08

Yes I know things have been very quiet lately on the update front. The main reason for this lack of info has been the bug that caught Lorna and I over the last 14 days. We have been seriously unwell and I am only just getting back on my feet.

So what? well this was a mega arse kicker, and has left me very sore all over due to the coughing and whatnot.

My Scalectrix set sold today so I am very happy about that, sad that it didn't go to one of you, but if no one wanted it, then that's fair enough, but at £80 it was a bargain.

Mum has had one of her pictures put onto some Christmas cards this year, I think they are great but she only got a few made incase they were not what she was expecting. They rock.

Mum and Dad are trying to get back online and they are signing up with a new company after AOL were so bad to deal with. I urge anyone on AOL to stop kidding themselves and get a proper ISP.

Dave took my marines and fought a combined Desert Scorpion and Storm Wolves force against the upstart tau, he crushed the blue faced freaks and sent them home to think again. Richard is soon to be a force to be reckoned with as he already has a grip on some of the rules that I am still struggling with after 2 years.

Lorna and I went to see Ewan on Saturday it was nice to spend some time with him, it was a festive nightmare in Linlithgow as it was Christmas market day and the police has coned off all the parking (gee whiz that made a lot of sense!).

As It was Alex's last day with the team on Friday we went out for lunch, it was lovely and I am sure that he enjoyed it. We are going to miss Alex he has been a great asset to the team and his new team will be working along side us in the future so we will be keeping in touch.

Sharon will return from Maternity leave tomorrow, I will be glad to have her back.

 

Sunday 16/11/08

It has been a mixed bag of news this week,

On the down side there is still no news about our jobs, we have heard about lots of banks that would like to buy us, but so far there is still only one offer on the table.

Christmas shopping on Saturday was a stressful frustrating nightmare, I hate it with a passion and it only furthers the case for online shopping.

Still no takers for my Scalectrix, so I am considering selling off some other stuff. If I have it and you want it, then make me an offer.

Lorna is feeling a bit under the weather today, so is resting up and watching hollyoaks (

I don't know, I got up early today with high hopes of doing lots of things, but I went to the shops and came home again, tidied up the livingroom, then the kitchen, then did the ironing, but the day has just slipped away from me. I have loads to do and yet again I find that I have accomplished nothing. The new website is looking great even though I do say so myself, but it takes an age to get the photos loaded on and then there is the issue of updating all the friends links from the original text on the original wolfworks which was 3 years ago.

3 years ago things were so different, I knew different people, I moved in different circles, I had different worries - it all seems like a million years ago.

 

 

FOR SALE

1 Brand Spanking New (still sealed in factory wrapper) Scalextric Le Mans Set (size 4, the biggest one there is!).

This is complete, and includes 2 ultra fast cars, lap counter, barriers, track, power pack and everything else.

This is a reluctant sale, but needs must. ToyRus and Argos are selling this set for £129.99 but I am looking for £90 ONO

If you live locally I will deliver it for you. To post it would cost between £10 and £15.

If you know someone who might be interested please give me a shout, or send me an email, I have some more pictures or would be happy to show someone the set.

 

What is going on?

Well if anyone has been on the site friday night or Saturday, you will know that there is a new wolfworks just about to launch. I had to do some testing and loading so you might have seen some white pages. I am not sure when I will get it finished so for the time being just make do with this one!

Cheers

Don

 

Disaster recovery update

Hi gang,

I got woken up with a phone cal on Saturday morning to say "Do you know that wolfworks is down?" And so began my Saturday of stress, frustration and lots of threatening the PC with a hammer. After about 4 hours work, I finally isolated the problem and put in place a fix. For all of you that type in the address manually, you are fine, for anyone who has the following page book marked it will not work www.wolfworks.co.uk/WW2/index.html, it will direct you to a page where you can find this site. Please bookmark or add this page to your favorites.

So what else has been going on, well it was halloween on Friday, but we didn't get a single guiser, alas we had to eat all the sweeties our self! Ewan and Susie came over and we were also joined by Aaron. We played the Wii and had a good laugh.

Work wise we are still in the dark, we have heard that another bank wants to buy us over and our company is still saying that the original offer is still the only offer. However it lands up we are bracing ourselves for massive job cuts.

Lorna and I went to have lunch with Andrew, Leah and Brodie today, it was a lovely experience and lunch was very tasty indeed. Andrew and I converted Brodie's cot into a bed, which is very cool. In about a year we will be converting it to an even bigger bed, then after that Andrew is on his own (only kidding mate).

I have been working on the design of WW3 and I must admit I am starting to think it will look cool. The page layout is plain white, with some carousel navigation and a few other bits and bobs.

Spent some time clearing out some of my Space Marine sprues, I got rid of 20 frames yesterday and reorginised my paints and tool etc. I have a few items on my build list, so I will be spending a lot of time in the spare room.

Also want to name check Steve Dennis, who wrote a killer article on CSS layouts. He is a proper web designer from NZ.

Lewis Hamilton won the drivers championship tonight, after losing the title with 2 laps to go, he got it back on the last corner. Stunning climax to the season and I am chuffed that he managed to do it after losing out last year. It was also DC's last race and he was taken out at the first corner, which was a shame.

 

Ok that's enough of Sim wanting to be the leader!

Hi guys, just a quick mid week update,

I am finding it very difficult to get on with things at the moment, I have an army to paint, a website to build (well 2 as it happens) and 100 other things to be getting on with, I just can't be bothered and that is in turn getting me stressed out.

Lorna is up at her dads and I am home alone, I can't even watch Battlestar Galactica as we are watching it together and I can't skip ahead :-(

On the plus side......... well nothing.

Ho hum, soon be christmas.

Tomorrow is halloween...yeah :-| you can tell I love it!

Right I better stop now.

 

Sim Beasley Special Update

Hi,

Just wanted to let you know that you can find a few flash movies of our honeymoon by clicking here

Also I wanted to give a name check to Sim Beasley, and although this site is due a major overhaul at Christmas, I thought I would share with you some pictures he has sent me. Blackpool looks nice at this time of year and I like to look of some of the rides. OK you have been warned!

 

 

 

 

 

 

OK so it is the Honeymoon Update!

Day one (Friday)

We woke up after a restless sleep, full of worry and panic about “did I pack…..?” After 32 years you would think that I would have mastered the art of being able put clothes in a bag. The days leading up to the trip were full self questioning about the squadron, about work and about what direction to take.

To tell you the truth the alarm was a relief, now the trip could start and we could get on with it. Much like when I walk out the front door with my CS95 on and my Bergen I know that the preparation is over and the “doing” starts. Up and showered, I called mum to see if she could come slightly earlier than the 06:50 start time, she could, so we were ready to go at 06:40. It was a good job because mum drives everywhere at 50 MPH. We arrived at the airport at 07:05 and went directly to the Continental desk and started the process of checking in. The first question we were asked was “Do you want to fly on the next flight as we have oversold your flight” “Erm…. No thanks”.

We got through the check in and moved up to the security checkpoint.  I was looking around at the business guys flying on the 08:10 flybe flight to Leeds Bradford, every time I was on that flight I looked at the people flying to their holidays and thought “I wish I was going there….” Now I was looking at them in suits, struggling to get their laptops out and their shoes off all stressed and flustered.  We sat outside the BMI Lounge (I guess that is the flip side for not being on business), and waited for the hours to pass. We got on the pane and got seated, the sun was splitting the trees and I had a worry that perhaps with the storms forecast for Mexico, we might be heading the wrong way.

The trip was super smooth and on the way I watched the films; Get Smart (which was quite funny, which was a surprise) then I watched Hancock, that was exactly as I thought it would be, and then I watched a nice film called diminished responsibility with Mathew Broderick and Alan Alda. It was a low budget film but had some very touching moments. After the films I watched an episode of the big bang theory, I quite like it, but it is getting a little repetitive.

The flight started to let down and we flew in over the New York skyline Lorna and I had our faces up against the glass looking out at Manhattan, Statton Island ferry’s, the empire state building and the statue of liberty. New York looks like a place that we could enjoy visiting in the future, but it looked very busy and massive.

We cleared US immigration in a short space of time and got our bags on to the transfer belt, so we had 4 hours to kill in the airport. I took a few pictures of the skyline of New York. The first thing we did was go to McDonalds and bought a big Mac and a quarter pounder with cheese. It was the same as at home however there was no surly teenager and no 10 minute wait.

We sat at the gate and did a few hours of people watching (which in America is an interesting sport). The flight was very full and we were delayed because people had so much carry-on luggage. Americans are allowed to bring suitcases on the flight and low and behold there was not enough space, so people had to empty their (over-packed) Louis Vitton suitcases into plain white carrier bags!

The flight to Florida was pretty uneventful, no movies or anything, it was a little like being on the number 28 bus.
We landed in Florida and went through to the baggage reclaim area; Arlene and Allan were waiting for us and came over to give us big hugs. We went to the parking level and got into Allan’s new car (the Lincoln Town Car Presidential Edition) it is the size of a transit van.  It was a short trip to their house, and at this point it was midnight our time so I was starting to feel a little wasted. Arlene had laid out some food for us and Wayne came over to say hello. It was good to see him, he looks the same as the last time I saw him, which is not a bad considering it was ten years ago. We went through to the room that we would be staying in, and I saw Allan’s 50 inch Plasma HD TV. After a quick demo we couldn’t keep our eyes open so it was night night.

Day 2 (sat)

I woke early and got showered and dressed, I went and stood outside in the predawn, it was the first time I had seen the golf course (as it was pitch black the night before). It looked lovely but already it was getting hot. Arlene came through and the day started. Before long we were all packed and ready to go to the airport.

It was chucking it down when we got there, real tropical storm stuff. We parked up and got to the airport terminal and went through the process of leaving the US and getting into Mexico. We sat at the gate for another few hours and Lorna and I went to a pizza place and got a slice of pepperoni. It was bliss! We sat and eat it and then went back to the gate to board the aircraft.

The storm outside was still going on, but no-one who was local seemed to care. We boarded the aircraft (757-600) and we were sitting 123 – 4 so Lorna was on her own. I offered to switch places but she was insistent that she was OK. The plane ride was fine, but the decent was akin to being shot down. And everyone that had problems with their ears was in real agony, because the decent was so quick. Once we landed, we went to Mexican immigration which surprisingly was harder to get through than US immigration. They have a button that you press and if the light goes green then you walk through and if it turns red then its open everything time. The tension mounts, I push the button and it randomized ……. Green! And on we go to the outside.

It was bit of a zoo outside with people trying to take your case to a taxi (and get a tip), but we had been briefed beforehand by Arlene and Allan just to say No Gracias! And we did. The doors opened and the heat committed a red card foul, and ran up and head butted us in the face. The hot sticky feeling was immediate and for a laugh I put on my jacket! We got into our pre-booked taxi and we were on our way Lorna got stressed by the driving, which was on the death race 2000 side of the Highway Code.

After about 20 minutes we arrived in Cancun proper and got to the resort. Quite simply the resort is stunning and so unlike a hotel (which I guess I was expecting it to be like), the three complexes run together in one mega-complex and are operated more or less as one big building. We came to the villa and it is fantastic, with a balcony that overlooks the pool and the Caribbean Sea.

Arlene and Alan took us for a tour of the whole complex and a walk along the beach, we paddled and Lorna collected some shells. We came back and got changed and went to the onsite trade winds restaurant, Allan and I had “man-burgers” which were stupid big (but I finished it anyway!) Lorna had chicken pasta and Arlene had a cheeseburger (whimp!).  After that we stopped by the shop and bought some drinks and came back up to the apartment and had a few drinks and a good chat.

Day 3 (Sunday)

This morning was a welcome briefing, where we won a t-shirt for traveling the furthest distance (everyone else was from the US). After that we went to the beach and the pool. I think that it is safe to say that we got burned after putting on factor 45 and sitting in the shade all day.

The temp was above 35 degrees and boy do we have the burnt bits to prove that. Today we went into the sea and went into the pool, I had my first rum and coke in a swim up bar (that was cool!) It was a day of heat, drink, more heat, more drink, more drink, more heat, and some more heat and then to finish it off, we had heat and drink. This is living, this is what I have been needing, this was exactly what the doctor ordered (I know because he was beside me at the swim up bar!).

To try and describe the scene here, I know that I have pictures but that won’t do it any justice at all, we are about 100 yards from the beach and about 50 feet above it. The white sand is always cool to walk on, because it is limestone. The water is aqua marine for about 200 yards then the deepest and clearest blue. This place is as close to a tropical paradise as we are likely to get to. The sound of waves and grackle birds is constant and the occasionally a shout from a team scoring a point on the volleyball part of the pool. In a nutshell it is a stunning place that you can’t help unwind in. I have been sleeping so well here, and I feel so happy.

Today was spent in and out of the pool, and along the beach.

Day 4 (Monday)

Wow bit of rain this morning, I was tempted to stand outside with my lynx and head and shoulders and have a shower outside as the rain was warm, but the police in Mexico are not known for their sense of humor. Lorna and I went to the travel agents this morning and bought our tickets to Chitzen Itcha. This trip is sponsored by John and Judy Murray and brought to you in conjunction with the Massachusetts Transit Authority Pension Scheme. This trip will be a lifetime experience and it was a wedding gift from John and Judy so we are very excited.

The rest of the day was spent snoozing, reading and watching crap about two dudes called Nobama and McPain arguing about who wants to head up the club of US superheroes or something like that. To be fair it got quite interesting, but I hate the negative advertising that spin doctors use, anyway it’s not my fight, but Uncle Alex has nailed his colours to the mast and if one of them gets in, he is going to build a bomb shelter in the back garden.  What would the application for planning permission look like? Reason for structure: - Hide from WW3 ???

Anyway tonight we eat at Pancho’s & Willie’s they are two Alligators that live under the pier that the restaurant is built on. They are living on the “scraps” that people throw to them. Judging by the look of surprise on Allan’s face they have grown considerably in a year and judging by the amount of food being tossed towards them, next year I wouldn’t eat there in case they are big enough to smash the wood down and start eating the customers. It was a tapas experience and it was nice to try lots of little things, but you know me, a big plate = happy Don.

After the meal we went back to the apartment and Allan and I got wasted on Orange Liqueur and 7 Up.  Lorna and Arlene favored ice cream, and were generous enough to offer me some. It was great to sit around and not have to worry about the Squadron, Work, getting up in the morning or the fact that most people had enough money in their sofa’s to buy our company, the share price fell again today to almost 80p from 1181p this time last year.

Day 5 (Tuesday)

Today was more of the same; I got up early and left sleeping beauty to it. I swear Lorna could sleep for Scotland. I went out to the balcony and read some of my book, the noise of the waves is such a nice sound, when you are sitting barefoot on a comfy sun lounger, with a cold glass of orange juice and it is hot before 8 am.

Today was spent around the pool area, we got a little frazzled the day before yesterday and the colour is starting to show, so we kept underneath the umbrellas.

Tonight Arlene and Allan took us to their favorite resturant in Mexico the “habituella” meaning string bean which was their signature dish. It was their Wedding present, and what an experience. The place was on the wrong side of the tracks if you know what I mean. On the plus side we saw a part of Mexico that we would never have seen otherwise. This was a real downtown back street that was pot holed and dirty, with scruffy houses and battered old cars. In the middle of this slice of real life was a door and when we went through it we were in an oasis.

The setting was magical, an outside courtyard with Mayan statues, busts and carving in the walls. The Food was 1st class and as a special treat I had my first ceaser salad that was made from scratch right at the table. The waiter cracked the eggs, and added all the ingredients and then coated the salad and served it all with the sort of stage presence you would expect from Elvis (it wasn’t him though I checked!).

Then we had the main course which was lovely, I had real honest to god Mexican Fajitas, they were so very different from “Old Elpasso”. The finalle to the dinner show was the Mexican fire coffee that Arlene and Allan had.  I took some film of it; you should check it out it is amazing to watch.

After an amazing experience of dinner, we got a taxi to the Coral Negro which was a flea market. It reminded me of Turkey (which was not a nice experience). We got there as the stall holders were closing for the night, which was a blessing, as they were too tired to bother us too much. Arlene and Allan are old hands at dealing with these sorts of people, but I find it hard to just ignore people, or to have selective hearing.

Lorna and I bought a tea light candle holder which they guy engraved for us with a dremmel. I have thought about him a few times since, as he was not wearing a mask and grinding glass. I fear for his health. I bought Lorna a new purse and she was very happy with it.

The most vivid experience of the night was waiting across the street! The number 21 bus was for want of a better expression (and the fact that my mum will read this) “tired and in need of some serious repair work”. It was a bus that you see in Hollywood films, the only thing missing was a woman sitting holding a Chicken, but I think she had got off at the stop before we got on. This was the only transport that we were in that didn’t have air conditioning, so we were very grateful for the open window. I have been in many modes of transport that the passenger comfort consideration was at the bottom of the list (usually they belong to the queen and are painted green and black) but this bus was a death trap, the suspension was like being hit by an anti tank rocket every 5 seconds and the engine and gear box were trying their best to rip each other apart. Crap music and a headlight that wasn’t working completes the picture. Think armored personnel carrier but with none of the comfort (sorry that is an in joke).

We were  glad to get back in one piece, so we had a few drinks to steady our nerves and got excited about the following day. 

Day 6 (Wednesday)

After a rubbish sleep we got up at 5 am and got showered and dressed, we were trying to be as quiet as possible as Arlene and Allan were not getting up to go to Chitzen Itcha.  Lorna and I were waiting on the bus at the main entrance of the Royal Mayan at the allotted time of 06:50 but everyone else was late, so we didn’t get moving until 07:30 our bus was not the one that was advertised, but the tour company offered us a refund or go another day. We were up and running anyway and nothing was going to stop us from seeing this place. Once we were on our way and the first thing we noticed is that the roads are shocking bad, and that the roads were flat and straight, they pass through hundreds of miles of scrub jungle. It is an interesting experience the journey was broken up by passing military check points and little shacks on the side of the road. The tour guide was telling us about the history of Mexico and the Yucatán peninsula.

We stopped at a truck stop and tourist trap, there were any number cheap tat things to buy (that perhaps were not as cheap as you might expect).   Mexico has had that effect on me, to see some of these people living in what are in effect shanty towns, and trying to make a living selling crap to tourists, I feel guilty because compared to them I am loaded, but they try to sell this stuff (mass produced “authentic hand carved” masks and the like). You can’t help but feel guilty for not buying something, even if it just to pass them some money.

Anyway after 3 hours on the bus we arrive at the site, we are all given a wristband and ticket to get in. We follow Felipe the tour guide and he walks us down the road towards the main site. There are trees here that give us temporary shade, and before we know it we are standing under a tree and looking at the main pyramid. I have seen any number of programs about the place (one of the main reasons I wanted to come here in the first place) and I knew that it would be impressive, but to see that thing for yourself is just awe-inspiring.

We were given the tour of the ball court and I already knew that the captain of the winning side was sacrificed when his team won the game and that it was a massive honor to do so.  We were then shown the temple of the warriors and that is where Sgt Grackle as he is now known had his picture taken, then we went on to the hall of 1000 pillars, which must have been amazing to see in its day.

The Mayan culture was incredibly complex and had astronomers and judges and all sorts of math’s and trigonometry. They wrote a warning about 2012 which I will take seriously. The whole place was just stunning and makes you feel so small and unimportant. Will people look at the work I do next year and like it, never mind in 800 years?

We were given an hour to wander about but I wanted to see it all and made poor Lorna do a tab to get round all the sites, and even then I am only talking about the main ones the site has hundreds of smaller buildings and structures. She was puggled at the end of the hour, so we made our way back to the entrance to pick up the Mayan Cartouche that I had made for her.

We got back on the bus and then we drove to a Cenote which is a deep hole in the ground that has formed over millions of years, from the surface it was 100 feet down to the water and then straight down 150 feet to the bottom. I was shitting it, but I had to jump in, because I would never have the chance again. I was running through all the reasons why it would be OK to stand up and go back to the bus, but I kept saying the mantra “Livi Leads the Way” over and over. I was looking down into this abyss and there were ugly black catfish swimming about and for that reason I was more scared but I am not sure why? Lorna kept saying “it’s ok if you don’t want to do it babe, I will still love you” which made me angry at myself for being a big fairy.

So I inched closer to the edge and thought “screw it” with one last “Livi leads the way” I jumped in and plunged down far further than I had expected. I seemed to take ages to get back to the surface but when I broke the surface I felt brilliant, because I knew I had just faced a huge fear (swimming out of my depth) and knocked it out of the park!

My heart was going like the clappers when I got out and went up the 97 steps to the ground level, and I was giggling like a school girl. After getting dressed and getting back on the bus, we drove for a few minutes to a Mexican Buffet place. It was a cheap and cheerful hacienda, which catered for coach parties like ours, we had enough time to grab a plateful and watch some dances and it was back on the bus. The drive home was some kind of torture, 3 hours of flat straight roads through the same scrub jungle. Mile after mile it was very depressing, and before long we fell asleep. I slept for an hour but then woke up and had to listen to my mp3 player to stop myself from going mental. I listened to Black Ladysmith Mumbasso, somehow it was fitting?

After 16 years 4 months 2 days and 3 hours we arrived back in Cancun and went for a lovely dinner with A&A and just for a change I had a cheese burger!  Poor Lorna has been bitten by fire ants and she is in a lot of pain. They managed to get into her shoes at Chitzen Itcha.  I am sure they will go away with the cream she got, but they look sore.

Some Brandy and 7ups later it was bed time.

Day 7 (Thursday)

    
Today we woke up and had breakfast (which is far cleaner than trying to do it the other way round) Arlene and Lorna painted an owl and a vase and are having them glazed. Alan and I went down and checked emails and sat and wrote the diary so far. Lorna and I went for a walk along the beach before dinner and with Lorna’s help we made the quickest sand castle ever, BUT it did have the most impressive array of anti flood defenses which at the time of writing are still holding back the Caribbean.

We are off to the trade winds again for dinner tonight; I must try something other than a cheeseburger.

UPDATE the phantom pottery painters have just returned with their creations and they are fantastic.  

 
Day 8 Friday

Last night we ate at the palapa and halfway through the meal Lorna started to get bothered by mosquitoes. Lorna and I both had bare legs and although Lorna had used anti mosquito wipes they were no use whatsoever. Lorna’s legs were bitten and the bites started to swell up and blister and the poor thing has been ill ever since. Today was spent packing and taking it easy.

We have introduced Allan and Arlene to the card game switch and we played that last night and tonight. Lorna and I went for a walk along the beach and took some photos to remind us how nice it was here. It was easy to enjoy our time here, this is what a honeymoon should be about, hand in hand walks along the beach at sunset, stopping for a kiss (and to pick up more shells!) every now and then.  I also to a 30 second movie clip that I want to do something with in flash.

Snoozing and enjoying the break were the order of today, we went out to Paco’s Taco’s tonight for a last taste of Mexico and we had a chimichanga? It was a deep fried tortia with chicken and salsa it was very nice. So after we went home Allan and I polished off the bottle of brandy that we had in the freezer and went to bed.

I woke in the early hours and boy was I as sick as a parrot, good god I wouldn’t have thought it was possible to feel that bad, it was like the winter vomiting bug that I had 4 years ago. I was sweating and shivering within the same 60 seconds and I was up all night in the bathroom. Meanwhile Lorna was itching with all her bites. Despite being a Marx brothers comedy of disasters we were glad the other was there, it helped to know you were sharing hell in paradise with your loved one.

Day 9 Saturday

Well as we didn’t sleep at all last night, we were  ruined this morning, but we had to be washed dressed and packed by 08:00 so we could get our taxi to the airport. We got the taxi bus and started the wacky races towards the airport, the driver had Bob Marley playing and with the sun beating down on us it felt right. We got to the airport early and the check-in desk was not open, but we hung around in line until it opened bang on Mexican time (i.e. about 20 minutes late).

We went through security and all the stuff that goes with it without incident and then hit the departure lounge. It was as good a departure area as I have seen anywhere in the world, very fresh, new and clean. Compared to the poverty outside, this was a real wakeup call and looking round the shops it was clear that we were not going to be spending any money. How the Mexicans who work in these boutiques must feel selling a watch worth $1,999.99 and looking at their pay packets?

The flight was delayed by 20 minutes because the aircraft was late coming in; we were soon to find out why. We took off and had one last look at Cancun from the air, it was simply stunning, the waters were so clear and shallow that you could see everything right out to about a kick offshore. The flight was great and super smooth until we descended in to Miami then we saw why the flight had been delayed, right over the airport was a massive thunder and lightning storm and it was ugly looking.

The pilot came on the PA and told us that he was going to land anyway, and that pilot must have had balls of steel because as we were about 50 feet above the deck a lightning bolt hit the ground right in front of us. The rain was coming down in a tropical storm and although we get a lot of rain in Scotland, it is nothing compared to this, it was more like a waterfall than rain. The pilot hit the deck and more lightening was bouncing around the place. He came on the PA to tell us that all ground personnel had been ordered off the pan because it was too dangerous for them to be outside, so we taxied up to the gate and had to sit there for an age before we were allowed to get off.

After we joined the queue in US Immigration we were met by an agent called Earl. He had us in stitches with advice for the first year of marriage; he was very funny in a dry way. I had a mark on my nose where the mask had been rubbing and he grabbed his truncheon and asked “if she be hittin’ on cho, cho just let me know”. Because none of the ground staff had been allowed outside there was an hour of baggage delays so we had to wait for ages and as with anywhere that people are coming back from holiday tempers were getting high, so we were glad to get out of there.

We got in the car and started to drive home with Allan’s classical music, and big comfy seats, it wasn’t long before I was drifting off.

Lorna was starting to feel very unwell but I drove us to Landlubbers, where we had a lovely dinner, I drove home by way of a drug store and bought some stuff to try and help Lorna feel better. We were in bed by 9PM and Lorna had a very bad sleep.       

Day 10 Sunday

Lorna was a lot worse today, the bites and everything else were causing her some serious problems. Her bites are looking serious, the consensus is that she is allergic to mosquito bites!   The whole of the American family (Florida Branch) were coming to dinner today. Arlene made a roast ham (scrumptious!) and put out a big spread.

I enjoyed meeting everyone; everyone was so nice and friendly. Donna and Norman and their two boys, Lance and Beth and their three girls, Wayne and Renne and their daughter Stirling. It was a full house, and just to sit and listen to them talk was like being in an American sit com. They are so open and talk about every subject, nothing was off limits and that just made things even funnier. I had a great time just contributing a little to the conversation, and listening.

I asked everyone to sit for a photo, so I could put everyone on the website, but there were too many of them so I had to take three pictures to make sure I got everyone in.

Thanks to everyone for making us feel so welcome! Lorna was in bed and missed the whole thing, Her mosquito bites are really painful and her legs are swollen so she needed the rest.  She felt awful at not meeting the family but she wasn’t up to it. Poor thing.

Day 11 Monday

Today was the start of the road trip, we borrowed Arlene’s Nimitz Class super carrier (A Lincoln Town Car) and the sat nav and hit the road. Lorna and I drove from Ft Lauderdale to Orlando on the Turnpike; it was an easy drive until the cars heading towards us starting to have their lights on. My trouble radar sprung into life and up ahead there was a line across the road that was like looking into a boiling caldron. Yip we had to drive into that, It seriously looked like the wormhole from stargate.

We battened down the hatches and counted down to zero. I have driven in some seriously bad weather but this was un- freakin’-believable, a solid wall of water, it lasted for about 5 minutes and to tell you the truth if there had been a crash a head of us we would have ploughed into the wreck because we couldn’t see anything, and being America people behind us were not for slowing down. After the stress of that storm, I had a massive headache and it was time to pull off the road and into the safety of a burger king.

When we arrived at the motel we were staying in, there was a police car there and a few dodgy characters hanging about. It was like a Hispanic version of the Soprano’s. We checked in and went to the room. In one word the room was “Minging” so we left straight way and checked out and drove to the motel 6, which Sac and I had stayed in 10 years previously. Thankfully it was clean and available.

We checked in and went across to “Old Town”, it is full of cool shops that sell lots of smart things, and it is like Coburn Street in Edinburgh. We walked down one side and just as we crossed the road the storm that we had driven through hit the place. We were in Water Street and boy did that live up to its name. We waited for the worst of it to pass before we headed back to the motel.

For some reason on the road trip I had been thinking about putt putt golf or crazy golf if you are from Scotland. I remembered that Sac and I had played in the pirate’s cove mini golf 10 years ago, and to my relief it was still there. Lorna and I played a round, and despite Lorna smacking a ball so hard that Tiger Woods would have been proud (and losing the ball in the bushes as a result) we had a great time. I finished my round with a hole in one, and won a token for a free game (look out Cousin Neil!!!).

After that we went and got an ice cream and watched family guy.

Day 12 Tuesday

Today we went to Universal Studios and I can save a lot of time by saying it was great. It took an age to get in, but when we did it was well worth it, we did every ride/thing except the Mummy. I thought that Shrek 4D was great and I enjoyed the brand new Simpsons ride. Lorna thought that the best show was the terminator experience was “Super” (again that is an in joke!)

The day was long and the queues were longer, but we did everything that we wanted to do and it was an amazing place. On the long walk back to the car, we decided that because Lorna was not keen on moving rides, we would forget about Disney and head over to Kennedy Space Centre that night (the drive this morning had been a nightmare due to the volume of people trying to get in).

So we fueled the Nimitz and headed off to Cape Canaveral. At this time of night the roads were dead and we made excellent time to get to the space center. We used the GPS to find a motel just outside and we used the restaurant built onto the side of it, mmmm Rack of ribs! It was the same type as we had stayed in during the Lupus 30 trip so I knew what to expect. By the time my head was pillow bound I was already asleep. Today was a stupidly long day.

Day 13 Wednesday

Today was great, we got up had breakfast and arrived in the park before the crowds (although it was a close run thing, as we entered through the booths the queues were starting to form behind us. We went in and looked at all the individual experiences and shows (that is one thing that America does well, its museums are very interactive and set up to encourage people to look and feel, as opposed to the big barriers in Scottish museums).

We learned all about the constellation mission to go back to the moon and then on to Mars. You can’t help but get swept up in the excitement of everything they are doing. We learned about the robots, spaceships, engines, life support systems and loads of other things then it was time for our tour. We had paid an extra £30 each to go on the up close tour and it was worth every cent.

We had a tour guide called Bill who has worked for NASA for 30 years and he knew pretty much everything. He showed us all the buildings that support the missions (and which films they have been used in, like Armageddon for example). He also took the time to show us the local wildlife and there is a lot of that considering that the place is one large nature reserve. The high point of the tour was being taken to the launch pads (38 A and B) and much to my surprise there was a shuttle on each. He said that if we had come last month there were no shuttles on the pad, but to see two was a rare event. Lorna and I took some pictures and then Bill took a picture of us both (one of the few we have) in front of the assembly building (which is one of the largest structures on Earth).

The tour showed us lots of things like how they reuse the solid rocket boosters and the two ships that go and fetch them. We ended up in the Saturn 5 Hanger, and we watched the film of the first Apollo Mission in the actual room that was launch control. Then we got to see the beast! If you have never seen the Saturn 5 then you need to, it is awe inspiring just to look at. One of the highlights of the day was the real shuttle launch simulator. It was awesome. It is the latest thing at the centre and won the best ride in Florida this year. Very clever use of full motion simulation and special effects.

After then we went back to the car park and decided to drive home when it was dark and quiet. This would be the hardest drive, I was shattered but I knew with cruise control and GPS it was be OK. We arrived back from Upstate a day early and thankfully Arlene and Allan were in and let us gate crash their night. Sleep Good. Shattered…… Don Hard Drive Failure, must power off………

Day 14 Thursday

I am going to keep this one simple (as I am sure you are falling asleep reading this!)
Got up late, went to the British depot, I bought stuff to make dinner with, I cooked bolognaise with Mango Chutney for us all and then we watched a film called Hoot that Arlene was an extra in, then we watched calendar girls, with lots of popcorn!

Day 15 Friday

Tried to do as little as possible today as Lorna was still not feeling well. We think she is allergic to mosquitoes. Arlene took me to the Flea Market to buy some fridge magnets and the like. Then we stopped off at Dunkin’ Doughnuts and brought some home.

Wayne, Rene and Stirling came over for dinner and we had chicken. It was great to be able to speak with everyone in more depth and I am so glad that they spent their Friday night with us. Wayne said something that worried me before he apologised for not showing me a good time the last time I was over, that must have been someone else because I had a great time! I was also glad that I got a chance to speak to Stirling because she is a lovely and smart young lady. She is trying to choose which guy to go to the homecoming dance with, and I am sure she has loads to choose from (pick a nice rich guy!).

 

Day 16 Saturday (going home!)

With a longish sleep and breakfast at the bagel tree, we had a great last day, Lorna was feeling better and we managed to go and get some last minute shopping before we left. I bought a north face jacket, because I have always looked at the people who could afford these sorts of things with green eyes. Lorna bought a handbag (only the 2nd this trip so I got of lightly!) then it was home, pick up bags and away to the airport.

The trip home was smooth, but I was ill, and I mean ill the whole way home. Thankfully mum was there to take us home, and she had even cleaned my car, not many Mums would have done that!

On the whole it was a wondrous honeymoon, and like some many things in life, you have to make the most of things when things go wrong (or there are killer bugs out there!) I think for the next few years we will be going to places like York, or Possibly London where the chances of being savaged by mosquitoes is less to none!

To Arlene and Allan, thank you so much, we wouldn’t have left Edinburgh if it wasn’t for you, you are stars, and did you notice I didn’t mention anything about your second wedding ;-)

OK so if you are looking for some photos click here.

 

 

Wednesday 01/10/08 (the world is in turmoil, but I don't care)

Hello everyone (I feel like the Rev I. M. Jolly saying that)

Well for those who care, life here is rapidly going to hell in a hand cart. Job losses are looming at the bank, and everyone is in a foul mood.

Some of the interesting things that have been going on are;

1) Met Suzie for the first time, and although she is very beautiful, smart, funny and charming there must be a flaw there somewhere, after all she is going out with my brother (seriously she is such a nice person, Lorna and I thought she was excellent, and more to the point she eats meat!)

2) After 9 months of planning Lupus Mercury 08 Finally arrived and was a brilliant success I will write more about it when I get the time, but for now lets just say that it is better to go out on a high, rather than go when people want rid of you. So with this is mind Grant and I are stepping down as Lupine Directors and will concentrate on other training events.

3) Roddy has been up and Roddy and Dave had a battle royal (Templar's vs Nids) at 2000 points each it was a sight to behold (yes I have pictures but no I don't have time to put them up at the moment). It was a close run thing but Roddy held on to claim a victory.

4) Dad got the results of his scan, and although it is great news that he has no "Lumps" in his head, the bad news is that something else is causing him a lot of discomfort.

5) Finally got the bare bones for Let It Blaw (.com) finished, I can't wait to get moving on this project

6) SAD is starting to bite, I woke up on Tuesday and for the first time this year I had to put the light on in the shower, that is bad news because it means that Winter is only a few weeks away.

7) Mel got commissioned last week, I am not sure to say congratulations or commiserations? nah I am sure it will be congratulations!

Not much else to tell you at the moment except that I went to the dentist and they gave me a quote for £350, and my car looks like it is going to cost £800 - £900 to put through it's MOT, all in all life sucks and there is no way on earth that I will be getting that PS3 after all.

To be honest though I am going to have to grin and pay it because I hate toothache and I need my car for work.

Christine told me to add to my job advert below that I am almost fully house trained, but I am not sure that will make much difference.

Got a text from Gregor (and Rosie) to say that they had found a War office 1940's book on how to read a map, I am going to take it up the the squadron and see if we can use it there.

Don't be surprised if there aren't updates for a few weeks, I am going to be very busy. If you need me send me an email.

Thursday 18/09/08 (my company gets bought over :-( )

Hello everyone,

Just a sad not to say that my employer has been bought over by a rival, and that always spells disaster whatever way you cut it.

Gutted.

Thanks for all the messages of support, I appreciate them. I was thinking about posting this advert in the local paper:

Free to good home.

Fully house trained Flash and E-learning developer, seeks new employment, no reasonable offer refused.

I will let you know how I get on

Cheerio

 

Sunday 14/09/08 (well well well an update? I know.........)

OK,

Well there have been a fair few things ongoing this week (well fortnight since the last update)

1) The Squadron did very well at the regional training day and finished an agonising second in the Scotland and NI drill competition, and third in the aircraft recce. I was chuffed to bits with the guys and the amount of effort that everyone put into the wing and region competitions. On the day I bumped into Steven Ross who is the father of Gav Ross. Gav is due to pull another tour in Iraq, so best of luck mate!

2) Arlene and Allan have been the best help in the world when it has come to our little trip away, we are so excited and can't wait to see the sights and hopefully some sun, as it has been the worst summer here ever (apart from the 20th June!) Thanks for all your help you guys are legends.

3) Ewan Fairweather and Jennifer got married, I wish them all the best. I had a invitation, but unfortunately the squadron needed me that night and I was called away. I dropped in a bottle of moet, so I hope that Mr and Mrs Fairweather have enjoyed it

4) As if that wasn't enough Karin Morris married Kenny on Friday, The weather wasn't the best but I am sure the bride would have shone! all the very best for your future together.

5) Work has been a blur of learning and testing, Fraser and I have been working on a SWOT training module that is uber funky and we can't wait to show it off this week. It has been a hard few weeks with a lot of uncertainty of the future but my team have rolled up their sleeves and gotten on with the task at hand.

6) Dave and I finally got another game in, and although I lost, it was a close run thing and it would have helped if I had remembered to put my two tanks on the battle at the start? (what a dumpling!) anyway not to be put off I went out and bought the assault on blackreach boxed set on Thursday and dave and I split the box so he took the orks. I built the dreadnought and the terminators, they are very cool, but the normal marines are crap.

7) Planning for Lupus Mercury continues apace and this week will see the scenarios being rolled out to the DS and some last minute tweaks. Rations still feature heavily on my worry list but the boss is on the case.

8) It was the air show on Saturday, but I didn't go, to much to do around here, but by all accounts is was a washout, I was very sorry to miss it, as it was the last time the Vulcan was to fly a display due to lack of funds.

9) The black paw are still supplying kit to anyone who is asking for it, despite the site being closed for a stock-take and a tidy out, so if you need anything just let me know.

10) Went out with Aaron, Keith, Cammy, Andrew and Dad on Thursday night to see the band Calexico, and they were awesome, if you have never heard of them, then you should give them a try. Big thanks to Aaron for buying the tickets, and a big thanks to dad for proving that it is possible to fall asleep during a live and very loud concert!).

11) Roddy called me from gamesday 2008 in the NEC, I wished I could have gone but the logistics were just to much and the bank balance was very afraid. Roddy thought that it was excellent and bought lots of cool shiny things for me to go green with envy about, when he comes up next week.

12) Lorna joined the gym today, and she came home very excited about the whole thing, I did my shift before she went down, and I hated it (It was very early and I was on my jack). I hope she can motivate me into doing something, like starting to enjoy it again, I go twice a week and I am always looking at the clock thinking "I could be doing ......." so fingers crossed.

So that is about that sports fans, except to say that Lorna picked a cracking film yesterday called the counterfeiters, I wholeheartedly recommend the film, very sad, but excellent.

 

Sunday 31/08/08 (after the field skills training day)

I AM SHATTERED!

You will have to forgive me for this update, things have been uber hectic for me and I am still recovering from yesterday.

So what has been going on? Mum won the artist of the show competition, and we are all very proud of her. She is working on another painting and hopes that it will become the second of a pair, so keep up the good work mum!

I (and a cast of thousands) have been preparing for the field skills training day for ages and on Friday night we set of up to our harbor area and set up camp, the next 27 hours were a non stop blur of training and monitoring that has left me absolutely shattered, I nearly fell asleep in the shower last night when I finally got home. The staff od the squadron are fantastic and it was great to get the Lupus feeling back in the unit. It is one of the rare occasions that everyone pulls together and the feeling is electric. At work on Friday I had a guest from NI called Paul come and visit the team and all day I was overly happy and excited, it makes you feel great but is a huge amount of worry, stress and effort but it is worth it.

Linda (the big boss) paid the team a visit on Wednesday and I went well although I didn't sleep a wink the night before, with all the job cuts and "streamlining" going on I was worried that she might have some bad news for me. So far no news is good news but the one thing I have learned is that no one has a job for life these days and that is just a fact of life.

Richard and I went along the the Wing training day last Saturday and we pretty much swept the board with all but three of the trophies being won by the mob. It was another very long day, but the guys did very well and won the most important trophy of the year, the Drill comp.

Lorna has been to Stepford School lately and every day that I come home from a day away with the Squadron (which has been far to many lately) the house is spotless and there is a lovely meal in the oven. Lorna is just fantastic, and now I am looking for excuses to do Squadron stuff at the weekend so I can come home to a sunday dinner just 10 minutes from ready!

Lots of other stuff happening, so keep an eye out for further updates this week.

Cheers

Don

 

Sunday 17/08/08 Hello Brodie Harrison!

Well at long last I can announce the safe (albeit late) arrival of BRODIE HARRISON! After a olympic record (and personal best) of Leah Harrison of 50 hours in labour, Brodie made his move for freedom and a bigger apartment. Lorna and I went up to see the Harrison family on Saturday and took along the world's supply of presents and a "My first giraffe" called Jiffy. I am slightly curious to see what someone's "My fourteenth Giraffe" will look like.

So apart from the new arrival, what else has been happening? Well, yesterday Lorna turned 35, and we spent the day going round family and then of to our local bistro, the Park Bistro at Philipston (near Linlithgow), and despite the credit crunch the bill was the same as always, this was managed by giving us half the normal portions, but it was still very nice. Lorna has collected quite a few crafting presents, so look out for some homemade Christmas presents heading your way.

I am still getting crank calls from a group of guys from sheffield uni, who rang me two weeks ago to ask if I was a virgin. I spoke to them for about an hour and they have been calling every other night to let me know how they are getting on.

The big news is that a lot of people from my old work are looking at being made redundant, a lot of my friends are in real trouble, it is to early to say one way or the other about my job, but for the moment it is head down and keep working. Speaking of which we have been producing some cool stuff, and I will shortly be looking to produce some cool animations for Arlene and Allan.

Ewan has cheered up a lot and even went out into Edinburgh to see a show in the festival, I am glad to see him look so positive and cheerful, long may it continue.

Mum sold two paintings at the art show on the first night, including the one she has agreed to sell prints of. She is chuffed to bits and so she should be, I am stoked for her. Well Done Mum!!!!!!!

I have added some photos to a new show which you can access from the list under the photos button on the left, or click here. This is a right old mixed bag of photos including the garden and some from out fabulous time in Caithness. As you can see from the photos it chucked it down whilst we were there but that didn't stop us from having a great time.

The Squadron has finished it's stand-down and we are glad that the new office is performing as it should be, after some real hard work from the whole team, I am glad to say I like it a lot.

To finish of the note from last time, Warrant Officer Lenny Sclater was the member of the Squadron that died, I am very sad about it, because I had started to get on very well with Lenny, the Squadron attended his funeral and provided a guard of honor.

Hello to Karen and Rich who have paid a visit to the site! please drop me an email and let me know how you are doing.

 

 

 

Friday 01/08/08 GOODBYE MARY DOLL

Well it is a very sad night for me sitting here in wolfworks towers, two bad bits of news.

The first is that Mary Kerr our beloved porter/cleaner/all round good guy is leaving us. This is a massive blow to me as Mary has always looked out for me and been a real friend over the years. Mary and Debbie used to stop by my desk in the early mornings and have a quick chat, it is something that I miss. Once Mary cleaned a smartboard that some trumpet had written on with a permanent marker! (like the sign that said "this is not a white board" wasn't enough?). Mary has had to put up with a lot of crap during her years of service, usually from idiots that think that a cleaner is another word for slave.

Anyway Mary Doll, I am glad to have known you and I hope that you keep checking up on us all through wolfworks, you are a big loss to the IF Family.

 

The second piece of news is embargoed until other people have been informed, but we lost a member from the squadron last night. To say that this man and I have always been friends would be a downright lie, however over the last 3 years we had gotten to know each other and in February we shared a moment that I will treasure for a long time. I will write more when I have been give the nod that everyone has been told face to face.

Still no news on baby Harrison, but then again it can't be long now.

I painted the ceiling of the spare room last night and I think that is the painting finished (oh how I hope so!)

On that note, I will sign off.

Monday 28/07/08 What no Baby Harrison?

Yes still no news on the baby Harrison front, I am starting to think that it is all a sham and Andrew made it all up so he had an excuse to buy a train set. We were round on Sunday and I think it is safe to say that the sooner this is all over (or it starts if you see what I mean) the better.

Work has been a hard place to be this week, on the plus side my team won team of the quarter (and rightly so!) the work the guys have produced has been first class. On the down side is the news that HBOS might be getting bough over by a Spanish bank. Whilst the papers and TV have been full of this story, our work will not comment and that just makes us feel worse! Anyway I can do nothing about it, if it happens it happens.

Last week was a scorcher and Lorna and I spent it glossing the woodwork in the spare room, and lifting the carpet and all that other good stuff that you want to do when your street is out every night having a barbeque and street party!

Seriously we have come a long way in the spare room this week, we bought a new carpet and double bed, so only three walls left to paint and we are done.

Went to the end of the pipers trail with Dad on Saturday night, it was a great night out and the pipes and drums were excellent. The VIP reception afterwards was great and I got to meet some cool people along the way.

On Sunday we all went to Kushis in Mid Calder and it was superb, as always. It was great to get the whole family there and just enjoy the conversation and good food. We took Ewan home afterwards and he was in a good mood which was nice to see.

Lorna and I had worked up an appetite working in the garden all day, which looks pretty good out the front and now it is only that back to do, and we could be ready to go to market!

 

Sunday 20/07/08 DIY? no thanks!

Hello all, we have been busy in the house this week, we got rid of some furniture and put up some coving in the spare room. I also had to go and see a GP about the crash, I hope that this is sorted out soon because it is starting to drag on and on.

At work things went very well on the flash front, and we came up with this flash animation. I did the sheep, Fraser the background and Dave and Alex did the rest, I am chuffed to bit with it.

I know you must all be thinking "Big Wow!" but to be honest I really think for 4 guys learning flash from free tutorials of the internet we are doing very well. I had high hope of creating some characters, almost like avatars for use in the e-learning, but I am not quite there yet.

Anyway here is the flash of the surprisingly evil sheep.

And a character that I want to develop, codename "Andy" at the moment

Still no update from the Harrison's but as soon as I have anything I will let you know.

 

Thursday 17/07/08 Midweek updates?

Hello all,

I wanted to put a quick message up to say that work has been very hard this week but very rewarding at the same time. The guys have all been working hard and learning new stuff all the time (flash being the thing at the moment).

Dave and I had our first Marine on Marine battle tonight and with deft use of a Terminus Ultra Crusader, I claimed victory! I am well happy about it because it has been 6 months since the last battle. Lots of changes to the rules and a lot of them make sense. This has inspired me to hurry and finish my 30 Marines that are still on the slab.

In other news, there is still no sign of baby Harrison although I am sure that it can't be long now! I can't wait for Andrew and Leah to be parents they will be the coolest parents ever!

Anyway Lorna and I are both very happy and we spent the last few nights watching movies and eating doritos!

I recommend the Darjeeling Ltd and also Juno two very of centre films that are well worth a look.

 

More Flash?

Ok so I did a little bit more in this one.

Sunday 13/07/08

Well this week has seen it's disappointments, Lorna and I had looked at a house in Armadale however we have decided that we are not in a position to buy it. With the market the way it is and the share price going down the pan, it might have been a step to far.

On the plus side Mum, Dad, Lorna and I spent Saturday doing the garden and tidying the spare room. We have got rid of one wardrobe and the other will be gone by the end of the week. Popped up to see Andrew and Leah on Saturday night and we played mariokart on the Wii it was a lot of fun.

Aaron is on his way down with the wedding photo album, so we can't wait to see it.

Mary from work was supposed to be leaving (and I wrote a lovely little bit about her on the site), but I have the pleasure of her company for another few weeks at least, so I am happy about that.

I have to go to the doctors in Edinburgh tomorrow, but it is at 11:30 and I have a really busy day at work.

As for the flash stuff well Fraser and I spent some more time on this and we have mastered a few simple tricks, so watch out for some jazzy animations coming your way soon!

If anyone wants a never used Ikea king sized bed or a still sealed scalextric set please let me know, I am going to get rid of both items.

 

Wow you were all very quick to point out that it was the worst flash ever!

08/07/08

What's this? a mid week update to the site? I know something isn't right.

Alex and Dave are both of sick at the moment, but Fraser and I went ahead with our flash lesson today. It was cool and we learned about masking! oh the joys.

 

Worst flash in the world (ever?)

Hello all,

Married bliss continues and we are still very happy, so despite two weeks of being man and wife we are still speaking to each other!

I am only on quickly to post a flash animation that I made this afternoon (it is cack! you don't have to tell me)

Now that you have suffered with this, please excuse me as it is bed time, I promise more flash rubbish when I find the time!

If you are looking for the wedding page please click on the link below

Wedding page

 

Thursday 19/06/08 My last night as a single man!

Well everyone, the time has come to say cheerio to singledom and hello to married bliss.

To say that I am not cacking my pants would be a lie, but I just want to get everything right on the day. This is one event that I can't control and that scares me a little I guess.

Lorna and I said our final goodbyes at 18:00 tonight and she is staying with her dad until the car arrives tomorrow.

I am looking forward to the day and being able to share it with my friends and family.

If you are looking on from around the world, thanks for your support.

Right then of to bed and a new life.

Ciao

Don

Saturday 14/06/08 the morning after update

Hello all,

Just wanted to let you know that I survived my night out, I felt fine and went to bed a slept like a baby.

Less than a week to go till the big day and Lorna and I have a list of things that we have to do every day until Friday.

As you will note from the date this is the first anniversary of Janet passing away, and I hope that she would have approved of the things that Lorna has achieved this year, I am full of admiration about how she dealt with everything and continues to do so. I can't get my head round the fact that when we go back to work there will be 2 John's in the company email directory.

Lorna's team got us a champagne ice bucket and some glasses, so that was very nice of them.

It is fathers day on Sunday so I am going down to mum and dads for dinner and I am already looking forward to it.

More good news I heard from Roddy and he will be able to make it to the wedding, but I think he will sit out most of the dancing this time!

Sunday 08/06/08 - A mega update (I know it is long overdue)

OK I know that it has been almost a month since my last confession, sorry I mean update but there have been some very good reasons for it and I hope to explain all in this update.

Wedding plans, well first off the wedding is less than a fortnight away and the momentum is building rapidly. I got my uniform tailored by a little place in broxburn for £20! I can't believe it some companies were trying to charge £100 + anyway I know where I will be going in future.

In terms of the rest of the plans everything has now been finalised and we are good to go. The last month has not been without its trials, but the main points are listed below:

• Don made an arse of wedding list paperwork and a few people were missed of the list (this has now been dealt with, sorry again!)
• Flowers arranged by Jessie
• Gone down to one hymn, and you had better all sing like canaries! Other wise we will sing a second one
• Piper arranged (yeah dad!)
• Lorna's hair and makeup all squared away and she even had a trial run when I was away!
• Aaron has a champion opening gambit for his best mans speech
• Lorna has her Hen thing today (whilst I will be doing 2 weeks worth of ironing)
• Lorna, Diane, Margaret and me (yeah i was a little shocked as well) did lots of "Crafting" to make things for the wedding, I didn't use a PC or a rifle once so it was a new experience for me.

That's about it for wedding news, lots of other little bits and bobs going on, but I would be amiss if I didn't say how sorry I am that there has been some confusion with Susan's invite, I honestly don't know what went wrong but I promise to send some photos down.

The other major news is that Roddy Jamieson was accidentally shot whilst on a training range in Wales. When the call came through I was shocked but glad to hear that he was alive. After what seemed like a year some information started to come out of the hospital. Roddy had been acting as safety for a gun crew working the right hand side of the valley and there was also a gun team behind them and on the left hand side.

One of the recruits was not aiming his L85-A2 correctly and as Roddy turned to shout on him the guy accidentally pulled the trigger and sent a 5.56 round towards Roddy. The Bullet struck Roddy on the left arm (just above the elbow), the traveled up the bone of his left arm until it punched its way through his shoulder joint and exploded his shoulder blade. For those of you who don't know a lot about bullets, the bit that hits the target is designed to peel away a brass "jacket" (that's where the film full metal jacket get's it's name from) and that is the bit that shreads everything inside. The Core of the bullet bounces about breaking bones and ripping tissue. In Roddy's case that core ended up smashing his shoulder blade and staying inside him.

Nick Delissen and I moved heaven and earth to get down and see Roddy and ended up getting the train and bus to get to the hospital. We had arrange that we could visit outside visiting hours due to the distance we had traveled. We also managed to blag a bed at the Soldiers accommodation block at the hospital so we could get a few hours kip before heading back up the road. The journey was an education and I am glad I was sharing it with Nick, it gave us a chance to catch up and share the worry about what state Rodyy would be in when we got there.

When we arrived Roddy was getting a line in him (the 16th attempt) but Roddy is so thick skinned that everyone kept missing. Apart from looking awful and having his left arm and shoulder in plaster Roddy was in good spirits and was very glad to see us. Lorna had made Roddy a card, which I think was his first get well soon card. Spanky (or Alan as he is known to the tax man) gave Roddy his proof copy of his book which Roddy and I helped him with when he was writing. That is such a massive thing to give someone and it shows the respect Spanky has for Roddy that he was very willing to give him the very first copy of the book (which is due to be launched on the 21st June). Roddy thought that it was an amazing gesture and is looking forward to be lucid enough to be able to read it, perhaps one of the many hot nurses will give you a hand with turning the pages eh Rodders? LOL

Some pictures are below

 

 

Love the heart shape that the doctors shaved in his chest hair in case they forgot where it was!

OK so best wishes to Rodders, and a speedy recovery!

The other thing that was going on was another deployment to Cosford. Most years I am a simple driver that drives for 7 hours there and back, but this time on top of that we worked for a 14 hour day on top of that. Basically the trip down was smooth and despite having Brian's GPS telling us all fairy stories we made it more or less in one piece. We were staying in the officers mess and having 4 of us this time made us one little group that we could do things without feeling like an add on or outsider. The cold war exhibit is something that everyone should see, it is a fantastic learning centre and well it has a Vulcan!

Tony Osbourne came over to stay with us before and after and he was a great help when the phone call about Roddy came through (Cheers mate!)

I have some picture that I will put on the site when I can, but I thought it was more important to get things updated today.

Also Arlene and John I have been trying for about two weeks to reply to your emails but they keep getting sent back to me? Any ideas why?

Answers on a postcard!

My new team at work have been a fantastic help last week, Dave and Fraser had a blistering start to their careers as "uber geeks" and if they keep this up much longer I will have to ask for more work again!

OK watch out for more updates this week.

 

 

Sunday 11/05/08 The summer cold is paying a visit!

Hello all,

Yes the temperature outside is 24 degrees, so as you would expect Lorna has been choked with a cold you would expect from the depths of winter, the bad news is I woke up this morning with the "gungie" feeling so I will be staying in today.

Wedding plans are continuing to gather pace, there have bee trial make up runs (no, not for me!) and the menu meetings with the hotel, so it is only 6 weeks away now. The bills that are arriving are making the experience seem very real, but I suppose that everyone that ever got married had to do it, so people must survive.

I think back to my Gran and Grandad John telling me about the day they got married. It was a wednesday and Grandad had been given two days leave to get married, so they rushed around and found a minister and grandad went back to his regiment and asked the RSM who can I have for the next 48 hours?, some poor sod was not as busy as everyone else, and he was told "right then, you are going to be my best man" they found a minister and got married that afternoon. A few people for tea and scones and bobs your uncle.

How times have changed? Many people are asking "where is the wedding list?" the truth is we don't believe in them. That's not to say we wouldn't get something of a wedding list for other people, it just is one of those things. If anyone is struggling for ideas then play it safe and get some argos vouchers or something. But the important thing is that we are glad that people will be there to share our big day, and we are not hung up on anything else.

The day list is final, (and 1 over!) so in the very limited space that we had we managed to fit a lot but by now means everyone that we would have liked to invite for the day part. We have been feeling very guilty about this but there is nothing we can do, so we have had to draw a line under that and move on.

At work this week I was recruiting two people into the team, and it was a very interesting experience. Alex was a godsend, and we worked out a list of questions and even an exercise to use in the interviews. Can't say two much at the moment but I know that the quality was high and that the choices are not easy.

Aaron and I went up the Dave's on Friday for another LAN party, it was top class despite the usual teething problems. We spent all friday night shooting the bad guys and winning the missions (yeah us!) and then it was back for tea and medals.

I got my report back from the officers senior course, and it was a very positive report. I am a quietly assured individual, and that is what I was aiming for. As it is quoted in many a military book "I know my onions" and that is the best you can hope for. Brian got an excellent report as well, as you would expect from someone who runs the best unit in the region.

So with runny nose and lemsip at the ready I will get back to feeling sorry for myself.

Toodle Pip

 

Thursday 01/05/08

Arrghh the road to recovery!

Seriously I am getting back towards normal now (although it has cost me an arm and a leg in doctors bills!).

I have been a busy boy back at work (I am guessing that you all come back to 1,000,000 emails after a tea break never mind two weeks off?). I did however pick up an email with a difference. I got an email from Lisa Chapman (who I have never met, but I know her mum and dad well) asking me what an allotment was. A overgrown collection of weeds in most cases but in this new eco-friendly world in which we live, it might not be such a bad idea. The trouble is that people are just to lazy, and when you can buy a tin of washed and cut carrot slices for 29p in Aldi, spending months growing and tending to them might seem a little like hard work, so people don't bother.

Anyway it is nice to finally hear from Lisa and I hope that she sends me some pictures so I can update the rest of the Family page.

Things are starting to move up a gear (for Lorna anyway) with the wedding and all the 3 ring circus that goes with it. As for me I am working hard to complete a spearhead of rhinos and dreadnoughts.

Right I best be off but again many thanks for the get well wishes.

Don

 

Sunday 27/04/08

Hello,

Firstly many thanks to everyone who has emailed or called to ask how the recovery is going, the answer is slowly.

I am sad to report that I have been having some real problems with my neck and shoulder, that have been causing me some serious pain. The Doctor signed me off for a week, and I have been laid up and bored out of my skull. I have however read a few books that I never got a chance to read until now, I know it is a severe way to get time to catch up on reading!

So what can I tell you about what has been going on? Not much, Lorna was full steam ahead with wedding plans, but she suffered an accident of her own last week and ended up in A&E herself. I think it was a blatant attempt to get some sympathy, but don't tell her I said that.

Lorna has arranged balloons and decorations for the venue and despite being offered an input I have stayed at the sidelines, as Lorna is at her best (and happiest) when she is doing this sort of stuff.

I haven't been able to do much, so as you can imagine it is a short update.

Lorna got her new passport (under the name Uziki Mambawi so if you get any emails ask for your help in laundering money from her uncle who was the defence secretary in Nigeria, it is all true). Seriously she got her married name passport and is desperate to use it.

This time last year we had been to Nice and we were starting to talk about the kitchen and bathroom, so I guess without being away anywhere so far I might get a few more weeks of peace before the talk starts about the spare room!

Andrew and Leah bought a pram this weekend, so I can't wait to give you all the stats about mpg, top speed, air bags etc but I hadn't realised that apple had launched the i-pram?

OK its bed time and back to work tomorrow - yeah!

Tuesday 15/04/08 Special Crash bang Update

Hi everyone,

Firstly a massive thank you to everyone for messages of get well soon and their concern, it has been a real eye opener and one of which I shall reflect a great deal. I will come on to the topic shortly.

Our wedding plans are advancing at a great rate of knots and I am glad to say that the honeymoon is now booked, (still to be paid for however LOL). So if anyone is looking for mickey mouse hats or goofy t-shirts then I am taking advance orders.

Our venue has all been booked and confirmed and we are checking with them on an almost daily basis to make sure they don't try and screw us over like the last place did. So, invites will be heading out over the next week or so. Due to the size of the venue and the number of friends and family that we want to invite, it will not be possible for us to invite everyone that we would like. In a nutshell I am hoping that people who do not get an invite will be understanding and supportive, as I am sure that anyone who has ever got married will have gone through the same nightmare that Lorna and I are going through. Lorna and her band of merry helpers were busy making seating cards and orders of service last week when I called and it sounded like production was in full swing.

So in a nutshell Wedding plans are advancing in short order and I am so impressed by Lorna that she has done so much of the planning without me being there (causing trouble!).

So where was I last week. It was pointed out that I shouldn't give advance warning to any would be house breakers that I am going away, so I am sorry if you thought that I couldn't be bothered writing an update, but I was away. Now as you know I am not allowed to have any affiliation with any organisation on this web site (for legal reasons) so I have to tell you that I was "away" and that it was with the "Squadron" and that it was my officers seniors course (not in any way affiliated to any military branch) (what a load of crap, you all know fine well I was down and Cranwell). Anyway the course was fantastic and I gained a lot out of it.

I was particularly pleased with the presentation that I gave on the Thursday morning as I didn't use crib notes and delivered it off the cuff. The rest of the course were great and it was very interesting to meet people from every other region. As always you gravitate towards people of similar interests and I am glad to say that I hope to take some of these contacts up on there offers of joint training and sharing of resources.

Some of the guys had never used power point before and we used the presentations to train them up on the daemon slide show, so my apologies to their squadrons of everything from now one comes in a power point show.

So I guess you want the details? well these are the facts.

We were dismissed at 12:00 and we went back across to the mess too get our kit, it was very busy as a certain prince William was passing out, Brian and I tried to keep out of the way of everyone and although we were invited to stay for the post graduation air show we wanted to head up the road and get home.

We left Cranwell and had stopped at 13:00 for some lunch at a McDonalds just off the main A1 heading north. We finished lunch and started off. At 14:15 we slowed down for some roadwork's at a place just outside of Truxton, and came to a complete stop. We had been stationary for about 5 seconds when Brian screamed "DON" and lunged towards me, the next thing was this almighty impact, it was like being hit by an anti tank missile. My seat snapped and I went backwards as the airbags exploded towards me, they moved so quickly one instant they weren't there and the next my ears went funny and the air vanished in the car. I was looking up at the blue sky and had the sensation of very quick acceleration pinning me back in the seat and the next thing was the impact from the front as we slammed into a C5 taxi. That impact stunned the hell out of me, I knew I was close to passing out, but something whistled past my ear and shattered the windscreen. I felt my heart beat in my ears and my hands were scrabbling for my seatbelt, the cab was full of smoke and acrid cordite, I wanted out of that place at once. I looked over at Brian who had has back to me and he was thumping his door trying to get out, I expected to see him mangled I realised what had happened and I knew that there would be a danger of fire, and the smoke was starting to scare the hell out of me.

Brian turned round and shouted "I can't get out", so I tried my door, and it opened. I was still stunned but I knew there were cars whipping past us so I went round the front of the car as Brian climbed to my side and jumped out. I took a look at the scene and behind us was the remains of a car. smoke was pouring from the front of it (looking back now I think it was probably steam from what was left of the radiator) but I though that it might blow up. There was a tall guy with a bleached blond stripe in his hair standing beside the green car (a Fiesta) and people were trying to get out of the back of it. Brian had come round the front and was standing in front of me asking if I was alright. The next few minutes were stunned my thought process was simplistic, I have clarity of what happened but the truth was not much did happen. An army medic stopped and came over to make sure I was OK and then checked on Brian who was calling the police.

When I looked up there was I young guy in a camo jacket asking me if I was Ok (he was the driver of the van, that the taxi had hit). The medic was checking on the fiesta and Brian asked about the lady still in the front passenger seat. The driver told Brain that she was OK, but when Brian and the medic, asked her if she was OK she told them she was trapped.

The Police, ambulance and Fire brigade arrived and were all about their tasks, I was sitting on the barrier and my leg started to ache like mad, I knew that the adrenalin was starting to wear off, because I was going into shock but I was moved to the other side of the road as rubber neckers were causing risks from the other side of the road.

The senior paramedic, asked me if I was ok and I was but I was starting to stutter. The air ambulance arrived and the fire brigade cut the roof of the fiesta to get the girl out. I felt absolutely useless, for years I have been training to help people in situations like this, and I was sitting in an ambulance as everyone around me was doing something positive. By now my leg was in agony and I had lost the feeling in my toes. But I felt such a failure, watching it all happening and contributing nothing to the effort.

Strangely enough I felt anger towards the driver of the fiesta, because he had caused this problem. I could see the length of the skid marks and the distance he had pushed us (and let me tell you the force that he hit us was far greater than I had ever experienced before). As the Sky turned black and the rain started to throw down, I was shut in an ambulance and I was taken to hospital for some X-rays and some quality drugs.

Brian was superb throughout the ordeal, his shouted warning and his gesture proved that he instinct was to try and shield me from the incoming impact (I had no mirror so I didn't see it coming). Brian looked after me in hospital and made sure I got home OK.

As a footnote to this story, I want to say publicly that Holly was a star, she was about 20 cars behind us and stopped to offer any help she could. Kirsty for helping us when her boss was more interested in making money out of us. Colin, total legend, what a diamond geezer. Graeme, if ever there was a coming of age situation then this was it. Total reaction, it will not be soon forgotten.

As for the girl I have been looking but can't find any update on national news websites. So now it looks like it is a sore neck and crutches for me and a sore neck and chest for Brian. Brian's VXR is a write off and that is a real shame, because that car was in showroom condition.

To see the photos click here

 

Sunday 30/03/08 - Easter, Mum retires and turns 60!

Yes I know I say this a lot, but I have been to busy to put an update on the site. So first up I am sorry.

So mum hit the big 60, and after far to many years she retired from the Bacon Company. She is very glad to skip the getting up at silly o'clock, but I am sure that she will find lots of things to do instead (I suggest staying in bed). She is looking happier now that she knows it is over, she just wished that dad would do the same.

Speaking of dad, he was falling asleep during the meal we had at kushis (it must be bad if dad is sleeping when there is good food on the go?).

I spent some time away from the squadron and it has been a difficult time, I wanted to do so many things that I have been putting of for months (and in a few cases years) but as soon as I started my time off, a million other things arrived to take over the spare time I did have. I am back now and I am looking forward to some of the events that are coming up on the radar.

I still have a long list of things that I want to do but can't - it is very frustrating.

On the negative side my old boss Tim Hazell left HBOS after 20 years (man and boy I am told) I went out for lunch with him on Thursday because I wasn't going to make his big leaving do on Friday night. It was good and sad at the same time.

On the plus side Sharon gave birth to Amy May Wilton (6lbs 9oz) on Saturday last week, and everyone is thrilled to bits for her and Del.

Sharon's cover is being provided by Alex who is an old mukka from a few years back, we are working well together and he is up for a fair share of the traveling so that makes my life a whole lot easier.

Gregor is starting his secondment with another area of the business, he is looking forward to the challenge but will continue to keep up to date with his old colleagues (or else).

Mhairi and Ivo sent a nice email last week, so I am glad that they are keeping an eye on the site.

Today I went to see Jeff Monson (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Monson) because it was Dave's birthday, he knows his stuff and despite the gym being sub zero temperatures, everyone soon had a sweat on.

Anyway I have loaded some pictures which you can see here

 

Sunday 15/03/08 - The F1 season is about to start!

Hello everyone,

Not sure where to start with this update?

OK so Aaron arrived back from Lake City in America. Ewan's flat is being put on the market. Uncle Alec and Auntie Irene bought us a lovely engagement present of a cook book and some ingredients!

On the wedding front a bucket load of changes have had to be made as we have been massively let down by our venue. Lorna has put months worth of work into planning this and I am gutted that some people are just muppets that can't understand simple instructions.

On the plus side we had a lovely drive town to Stranraer on Friday, and a walk along the headland. It is a very picturesque place and the locals are very friendly.

I have been very busy with working on the other web projects I have on the go at the moment and hopefully I should see some of the benefits shortly.

Tuesday 11/03/08 - Just uploading the update

Hello all,

Spent a day down in Halifax yesterday and managed to get the screens I needed to build that new simulation for work. Being off the squadron at the moment is fantastic, but I am still not getting any time to do the things I wanted to do in the first place.

Anyway The wedding is all booked and confirmed so look out for further information shortly

Saturday 08/03/08 - Scotland win the Calcutta Cup (and It's Nicks Birthday)

Well blow me down with a feather, I was not expecting that result. The bad news was that I was at the squadron and I missed it on the TV (think I will watch the highlights later he he he).

Today I thought the subject that everyone hates the Principles of flight (i.e. how a plane fly's and how to control it). The poor wee ones were trying to take it all in (and I think they have!).

This week was a strange one, Sharon from my team is not having a great time with her pregnancy so She worked from home this week. I pulled together some training for BM and tried some new things with our new software. I know that with some hard work we will be able to get it to do all sorts of cool things. My old boss Tim Hazell, handed in his notice and he will be leaving the bank after 20 years (perhaps a bit more!) that is a crying shame but he was made an offer he couldn't refuse, so good luck mate!

I have been given the go ahead to recruit 2 members of staff into my team, so the recruitment starts in earnest on Monday, and I will hopefully have some extra people joining the team within 3 weeks!

The other news is that Ewan will be coming to stay with us for a short time, so we are clearing out the spare room so he can at least find the bed.

On the wedding front this week Lorna bought the statue thing for the top of the cake, and we looked out the birth certificates and stuff for our forms that you have to fill in. It feels very strange filling in forms to get married just somehow not connected with the event? perhaps that is just me.

Loving the TV show ashes to ashes at the moment, I love DCI Gene Hunt, I think he should run for president of the US. Imagine that "Good evening my fellow Americans, Lets fire up the Quattro!"

Had a great meeting with Team mainia on Thursday and I am glad to say that we have taken action that will put this website firmly on the map. It would appear that the company has a large expansion planned over the next few years and that could be great for us if I do a good job for them.

Mum and Dad arrived back from South Africa and their luggage was only a day behind them! They had a great time and are full of stories of big game animals and Bri (I am not sure how you write that, but to us it is a BBQ).

Arlene and Allan have sent a lovely email asking what our plans are for the honeymoon, and there is a real chance that we can get to go to Mexico (oh yeah baby!). It would be fantastic if we can make that work, so fingers crossed.

So I think that is about that, another full week with all the trails and tribulations that go with it.

Got a lot on next week, so If you need me please try the mobile.

Sunday 02/03/08

Well wedding fans!

THE DRESS HAS BEEN BOUGHT! (No I haven't seen it, but judging by the amount of mascara streaks on the fashion critics, it must be a stunner!)

We have had some lovely cards from all over the world and it means a lot to us to have the well wishes and congratulation messages.

Quite a lot happening this week;

1) I had the cold (Boooo)
2) Dad called from South Africa to tell me it was 40 degrees (I was looking out the window at sleet at the time) (Boooo)
3) The Beast arrived (that is the codename for the new PC, quad core Q6600 awesome!) (yeah!)
4) Was sent down to Wolverhampton on Wednesday night for a meeting on Thursday morning (flying with a head full of gunk is no fun whatsoever) (BIG BOOOO)
5) Spent Friday night looking at Karin's PC (it's gubbed, Booo)
6) Spent the other half of Friday night tidying out the PC cupboard (Yeah for tidy/Booo for doing the tidying)
7) Spent all day Saturday (and Sunday) building a website for work! (top secret yeah!)
8) Off the Squadron at the moment (yeah/booo)

Special mention to Erin Fairley, who today rode her bike for the first time without stabilisers, Lorna and I were there to witness this amazing event. Very proud father Gary Fairly commented "I am utterly chuffed to bits, Erin rode that bike better than I could". Erin "daredevil" Fairley modestly remained calm through out the ordeal which saw the bike swerve towards the one and only rock on the Almondell salt flats. Afterwards DDF answered questions from the jubilant crowd that had gathered to watch this event. The reporter asked "WOW, was that fun?" Daredevil Fairley replied "Yes!" As the crowd melted away we heard DDF claim that she was sure that her safety team had been holding on to her the whole time, but with my own eyes I saw that the safety team could not have kept up with that little rocket.

WELL DONE ERIN

And finaly just before I sign off, John Murray sent me this picture and I love it. Can you guess who it is off?

 

 

Sunday 24/02/08

So what has been happening this week?

It is 40 degrees in South Africa, so mum and dad should be defrosted about now! The trip is going well and they have called a few times to let us know they are OK. This week was a nightmare from a travel viewpoint. I was stuck in Leeds on Tuesday due to the fog, and in the end they had to fly me to Heathrow and then to Edinburgh to get me home. Dinner was well and truly in the dog at that point, but hey ho that's life I guess. On the plus side I did manage to meet up with Karin Morris and Paul Humphreys. It was great to be able to spend some time out and about in Halifax, even though it was freezing fog and dead!

Been having some more computer related problems at work was is driving me crazy at the moment. I have asked for my boss to help me sort it out as I am running out of hair to pull out!

The Black Paw have signed up Teamainia to be a client for web design and other services so I am over the moon at that, and I can't wait to get stuck into the job of running the site!

This weekend saw the wedding planner (and her driver) head of to Falkirk to look at lots of wedding ideas (I went along to carry bags and have a subway, which was lovely). I think Lorna has all the details worked out for invites and favours but I still say that an email to everyone and a packet of rolos would have been a better idea?

Yvonne, Samantha and Nathan came round to see us on saturday and brought with them a lovely engagement present, which has been given pride of place in the bookshelf.

We have had so many nice emails from everyone wishing us well, some from old friends that I haven't seen in years. So thank you if you have sent a message, we love to read them (special thanks to cousin Steve for pointing out the similarity in spelling between Fiancee and Finance!).

Went through to Ewan's on Saturday and helped him get past and nightmare level of God of war on the PS2 (He was still where I left him last time) but at least he was spared Scotland getting a thumping from leland.

I am on stand down from the squadron and I have a shed load of work that I need to be getting on with, mostly web stuff but a few other odds and sods that need doing.

Roddy has been in touch and he has been trying out his new camera and he is sending some of his pictures for me to post on the site.

I am trying to save up and buy a copy of CS3 from adobe, but to be honest I am not sure I can do it. It is the most expensive bit of software going, if anyone out there has a copy that is sitting around not doing much then please let me know I would love to borrow it!

 

Sunday 17/02/08

Hello all, just had a phone call from South Africa it was dad

"Hi son, I can't remember the name of your wolfworks site?" <---- Oh my god!

Anyway I hope that you find it.

Great weekend this weekend, lots of visiting and people oohing and aahing at the ring. Spent some time with Grant and Christine, Peter and Diane, Senga and Archie and Ewan so all in all a non stop visiting troop this weekend. Long Walk down the Almond today and got some film of our Heron goose stepping his way towards Poland.

It's Ewan's birthday tomorrow and Lorna and I went round tonight with a fish supper and the worlds largest chocolate cake (which put a smile on his face).

I am away tomorrow (an early flight) so its off to bed for Bonzo!

Cheers

Don

Thursday 14th Feb (Valentines Day)

Hello everyone,

Well I can finally tell you what the reason behind the communication black-out!

I am very sorry for the lack of information or updates but every single thing had a direct impact on the big news so without further ado........

Lorna and I got engaged on the 13th

<Space for you all to go into shock>

Yes it is true, that poor girl took leave of her senses and said "Yes" and has made me very happy. There was so much going on (like picking a ring, and asking her Dad, then planning the proposal) I feel sorry for those who had to go through it with me. And I hope that you can all understand that when you spend a whole weekend looking for a ring for a surprise proposal you can't exactly announce it online!

So enough from me at the moment, here is the picture you are all waiting for (cheers Ewan for taking it)

 

 

 

Tuesday 29/01/08 In training

 

Hello all,

Sorry for the lack of update on Sunday, but I had so much to do.

OK So what news?

The Squadron had a Burns supper which was fantastic! The guys put a lot of effort into the night and I was very happy with the quality of the recitals. There was a bucket load of organising to be done before hand (I had to cook the soup for 60 people) and had to visit the MP in Livingston to pick up some norgies and a polar box.

I then had the Burns Club Burns supper (I had hired a kilt and double checked everything fitted as I didn't want a repeat of last year) The supper was excellent fun and the craic and jokes that were getting tossed about were first class. The highlight for me was Bill Hill's oration of the year (very funny). Dad did the toast to the club and did an excellent job of it, it is a very difficult toast to do. Ewan was there in his own right after becoming a member this last year. Robert came along as my guest as he had enjoyed it so much last year.

The other news is that we are still playing our Wii and still falling out about it!

Other than that Ewan came to stay on Saturday and was very welcome, I wish he would do it more often.

I learned about 1% of Flash on Monday (enough to make a invatation to this big event next week) so I hope that has gone down well. I am on a training course today and tomorrow in Rosyth. Today was good and I hope to get a lot out of tomorrow.

I have added some pictures of the Burns supper and other things.

Tuesday 22/01/08

Hello everyone,

Sorry for the lack of updates, usual story I am afraid.

The big news is that we have bought a Wii, and already we are suffering from the aches and pains that you come to expect should you own one. It was a spur of the moment thing and we got the second last one in town (Thanks to Greg!) anyhoo it rocks although we tried a game called smooth moves and it sucked so bad we had to change the game in the shop.

Andrew and Leah were over on Friday night and we played the game "Articulate" with some total belters coming out, at one stage I got a country and a fruit mixed up (I am not saying which) and Lorna would have you believe that Malta is just of the coast of spain. It was great fun and thankfully there was no booze involved or it could have ended very differently.

Watched a couple of films over the weekend: The War Bride (7/10) The Aviator (7/10), Triple X 2: the next level (6/10) and Guy X (6/10).

Was down at Mum and Dads on Sunday for dinner and it was lovely to have a nice meal in relaxing surroundings. Loads more happening with people in and out like Haymarket station but all in all a great weekend.

On Monday night I had a sales call from India and I wasn't in the mood so I told him so and hung up, 5 minutes later he got a girl to call back and then they both gave me serious abuse. I couldn't believe it!!! His must cutting remark was the "you are a dog john, you are mister dog john" as you can imagine I didn't let that sort of challenge go unanswered...... It has however restored my faith in humanity, international hate calls! fantastic.

Have you checked out Ewan's site?

 

Wow another Friday Update!

I have been on my travels again (this time to Halifax) and I will spare you all the details but delayed flights, nippy staff and being treated like a criminal all added up to a delightful little jaunt. Flybe, more fly maybe?

This week has been building (but that was mostly Sharon) I went to promote the team in the business banking sector of ID&SB and that went well. I also worked on Rachel's website, and am just waiting on some blurb from her and we are in business.

Went to GW today and spent my 15 pounds of vouchers (I bought a set of needle files and a pin drill) so I hope to be spending some time using them this weekend.

UPDATE - That Didn't happen!

 

Friday (thank crunchie!)

Hi everyone,

(Apart from the next bit) Things are going well this week if not a little hectic (I am going to stop saying that because it is just becoming normal).

We had some more bad news this week Lorna's Aunt Sheila from wales passed away on Tuesday, so our thoughts are with Bill and the rest of the family.

I have been having a few problems at work buying some new software (why won't it do what I want it to do?) So next week should be interesting. I have some important meetings that are here there and everywhere this week, so if you are looking for me give me a call on the mobile.

Brian has taken some time off from the squadron so for the time being I am in the big seat, I hope that it is only a temporary thing as already the in tray is filling up and I have so many things I need to be doing. The Burns supper season is upon us and I am looking forward to Haggis Neeps and Tatties (yum yum!)

OK so I wanted to put this on the blog, I don't care what your views are about various things around the world but this guy has the right idea.

Don't know whether you heard about this but Denzel Washington and his family visited the troops at Brook Army Medical Center , in San Antonio , Texas (BAMC) the other day. This is where soldiers who have been evacuated from Germany come to be hospitalised in the United States , especially burn victims. There are some buildings there called Fisher Houses. The Fisher House is a Hotel where soldiers' families can stay, for little or no charge, while their soldier is staying in the Hospital. BAMC has quite a few of these houses on base, but as you can imagine, they are filled most of the time.

While Denzel Washington was visiting BAMC, they gave him a tour of one of the Fisher Houses. He asked how much one of them would cost to build. He took his chequebook out and wrote a check for the full amount right there on the spot. The soldiers overseas were amazed to hear this story and want to get the word out to the public, because it warmed their hearts to hear it.

The question I have is why does: Alec Baldwin, Madonna, Sean Penn and other Hollywood types make front page news with their anti-everything America trash and Denzel Washington's Patriotism doesn't even make page 3 in the Metro section of any newspaper except the Local newspaper in San Antonio?

 

Saturday 05/01/08 (still not used to saying that)

Hello all

I have set aside some time to finish off my account of 2007 and to hand out a few awards for the best (and worst) of 2007.

Before I do I have to finish off Tuesdays blog entry and say that I survived meeting Alcorns and Russell's (not that it was easy to do in 100 degree heat). Seriously they are a great bunch of people and I was made to feel very welcome. One thing that was weird was that we (the 28 - 35 year olds) were referred to as the "Kids" and we were eating in a separate room. I think there were about 30 people in the house and I dread to think where people would have to sit if Lorna and I had 30 in our house (any more trifle in the Attic? Seconds for the Garden shed?). Lorna's cousins were great and very easy to talk to so that made the night much easier than it could have been.

You can share my experience in a special photo section "Meet the Alcorns" by clicking here.

Right on to other news, well firstly nearly everyone has fallen to the super cold that is doing the rounds at the moment, it sucks royally and now Mum is the latest to be bed bound. I was super ill on Thursday night (all aches and pains and all sorts) but managed to struggle in to work on Friday, so this year I have 100% attendance! LOL.

Anyhoo, Rodders was up staying with us over the new year period and it was great to see him, we managed to have a 1500 point ruck on Thursday night and I am glad to say that the Storm Wolves won the day (even tho' Roddy dropped a pod on my lines, which was full of assault terminators).

I also heard that My old Mukka Jason Grieve is to be a daddy again, which is great news so its all happening on the baby front. On the new news front Ewan and Jenro got engaged during the festivities, does she not know about the screw through the pipe incident? Seriously Jenro you couldn't wish for a nicer guy, well done you two.

Now onto the Awards section, I just wanted to share some of the good fortune I have had during 2007 and try in some small part to help these people out buy spreading the word of how good they are. As anyone who knows me I will not stand for bad service, but I appreciate when I get good service so please take some time to look at the following information.

Winner of the best Utility Service 2007:

Almondvale Plumbing and Heating Services - David Hunt

The background story to this is the Kitchen. All I wanted in a new kitchen was a gas hob (us chef's!) anyway when all the building work was being done (and going wrong) this little white pipe peeking through the floorboard telling me "Relax Don it will all be worth it when you get me connected". I looked for a gas fitter in the yell.com, google and the thompson and I couldn't find anyone that could do it in timescale that could be measured in weeks, most of them were in terms of months. I did eventually find APHS and this guy could not have been nicer.

First of all he didn't try and sell me something I didn't need, and secondly he managed to book in an appointment on the Saturday before going to another job, because I wouldn't have to take any time off work that way. Let us not forget the price for the job, he said £75, I asked him what extras would be added to that because it was about £50 less than anyone else just for the call out. He said no that is it. He arrived bang on time and got to work with no mucking around, he found the pipe and cut it to fit the attachment and he turned to me and said there is no gas in this pipe. Now when some people are faced with an issue like this they have a choice "to fleece or not to fleece". David chose not to fleece and to try and sort the problem as quickly and cheaply as possible. So to cut a very long story short he started lifting floorboards and found what had happened (it was when Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid fitted my central heating) but he jumped in his little van and got all the parts he needed from B&Q. Then he went to his previously booked appointment and then came straight back to finish our job. So after agreeing to a 20 minute connecting job costing £75, he not only reconnected a branch, stopped a deadly gas leak (again thinks to the cowboys) and then after all that connected the hob and tested the whole thing. Time spent 4 hours, plus the parts from B&Q and what does he charge? £130 Utterly fantastic!!!!! I should be so lucky to find a car garage that acted like that (if you know one PLEASE let me know).

If you need any Gas or plumbing work done David is your man and I couldn't recommend him highly enough, his site is here.

Congratulations David and thanks for all your help.

Winner of the best Interior Service 2007:

H M Tiling Service - Liam Walsh

Liam was a savior in a different (but no less important way) After the disaster of the kitchen Lorna and I were at a real low there were still many outstanding issues with the kitchen and we had only noticed further problems after living with it for a few weeks (like one set of cupboards being 2 inches higher than the rest!). We needed a master craftsman to do the tiling to make sure it looked good. Enter Liam Walsh, now the way Liam came to be involved was that Dad has a friend who used to be a tiler before he got elected, and Liam used to work with him. So anyway Liam came round and had a no nonsense approach to the job, he looked at it and said it would take so much adhesive and so much grout and to get so many boxes of tiles, just what we needed to hear, clear instructions from someone who told us it would be alright.

On the the day the Liam cam to do the job he was early and set out mats everywhere to protect out brand new kitchen. Liam worked away all day (only to discover 3/4 of the way through that there was a fault with a batch of tiles and although B&Q replaced them for us then and there, it still left Liam with a mountain of work to bleed the tiles into each other so that you couldn't notice the slight differences in shade.

That in its self was all well and good but that is not what wins Liam this award it was the perfectionist in him that drove him to cut SIX tiles to get one exactly right for above the extractor hood. Not only did he get the job spot on, but he even took a spare tile and cut it so we could have a matching splash back for the sink in the toilet (at no charge!). Not only that he came back on the Saturday morning and cut tiny strips to go behind the strip lights, seriously the chance on anyone ever noticing if that area had been done or not was about 1% but that didn't matter, he knew it should be done just in case. Not content with that he came back later with a joining compound for the plaster board that he knew we would need before we could paper the rest of the kitchen.

Liam Walsh - A perfectionist without the Prima Donna. Great work.

You can contact Liam on 07939 530999

Winner of the best Retail Experience 2007:

Kaiser Rushforth - Daryl Elms

What can I say about this guy? Total Legend!

OK so for those who don't know I started going through a midlife crisis during June 2007 and started collecting 40K miniatures. I was in awe at the amount of money that this hobby was starting to cost, and despite the massive market there were very few players other than GW (bit of a monopoly going on there). Anyway so I start collecting these things and transporting them around in a shoebox and a old tool box, didn't make me feel good, and didn't do a very a good job of protecting my guys from getting bashed in the boot of my car. I just wouldn't pay the money that GW were asking for what equates to a big plastic lunch box with foam inserts. So in true Don fashion I searched the internet and found some companies in Germany, USA and Japan.

Then by accident I found this guy who was as frustrated by his son getting ripped off as I was, that he decided to build one himself. Daryl is an engineer by trade and he soon found that he could make and sell a comparable product for half the price of the GW case. So after many (I am sure Daryl would say FAR TO MANY emails) I bought one and he shipped it to me. I liked Daryl from the start because he was a regular guy that was taking a stand for the common man against a multi national corporation (and doing a bloody good job of it). I offered some feedback on the case and some feedback on his website, I am not sure Daryl knew what to make of that? but he seemed interested in my idea for a user gallery.

Anyway It was getting to the point that I was dropping him an email every week just to find out how business was and what was happening at the trade shows. Then Daryl let me into a secret, he was making a new and improved case that would be better than the GW case and would be sure to be the case of choice for all the geek's in the world (the reason his cases are so much better than the standard GW case, is the amount of personalisation and customisation that you can have is just fantastic). So Daryl tells me that he has something big in the offing and would I be interested in being the first customer of his new case DAMN STRAIGHT I WOULD. So a few emails to Dave and we get an order together and BAM the postie is complaining about the size of the parcel.

Daryl is like many people in this business, sound. Unlike the people who work in GW he is a one stop shop for ordering, designing, packaging, feedback, support, communication, advertising and most likely making the tea. Great work from a great guy.

Please check out his site http://www.kaiserrushforth.com/ and enjoy his excellent products at excellent prices, but it is the level of support that you get from him that makes a great customer experience into an truly outstanding experience.

So all in all these guys have been a massive help in what has been a very difficult year.

I also wanted to do a few shouts.

Dougie Richardson - Hope you are recovering well and that you well be able to go get some in the near future

Colin Wardle (and Elaine!) - Thanks for keeping an eye on the site, and congratulations on being the first paw winner for an external unit.

The guys from From USMC Camp Le Jeune - You guys rock! seriously proud to have been there with you.

USAF Special Forces - Nuff said you guys go kick some ass!

Rachel Grantham - Going to be a Millionaire in 2008? you go girl.

Ewan John - Top bloke and winner of "my favourite brother 2007"

 

 

 

Tuesday 01/01/08 (ouch!)

Happy new year to one and all!

I just can't get my head round how quickly 2007 went in. 2007 was full of the highest highs and the lowest lows but in balance it was a year that I won't forget in a hurry.

The Saddest point was obviously Janet passing away in June. Lorna and Robert handled that so well that it has been an inspiration to me. The run up to that event was so desperately sad, with the news from the doctors getting worse each day. Janet put a brave face on it all the way to the end, and even managed a joke during my last visit with her. Further bad news was to come later on in the year when Janet's brother Robert also passed away.

Getting Sonas has changed Roberts life and it is great to see them having some fun together, Robert didn't manage to find a picture of Sonnas in the archive so I am going to put one on here.

Lorna and I have had some amazing adventures this year, going on holiday together to nice was excellent and we had a great time. It was on that holiday that we agreed the we were going to move in together. All that preparation for Lorna moving in was going on at the same time as Janet was in hospital so things were very hectic. Lorna sold her house on the first day it was for sale (the advent wasn't even in the paper) so things moved very quickly for us.

As any frequent readers of this site will know, the kitchen and the rest of the house was the big story towards the later part of the year, and I am not going to drag it all up again. It was a painful experience and we were let down badly by lots of people, but at the moment when I was considering running away and pretending to go canoeing for 5 years, we had some excellent people to the rescue, namely the gas fitter and the tiller.

I have to sign off because I am going to meet the rest of Lorna's Family, but I will finish this tonight (or when I get back)

Click here to see the Xmas photos