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Tuesday 03/01/11 - Happy New Year!

Hello everyone,

I hope that you all had a great time at new years? Lorna, Murray and I had a quiet one as we all had the cold. We waited up for the bells then watched 2 episodes of Father Ted, and still laughing went to sleep.

Murray is now officially 6 months old, it is bizarre, that the last 3 months have flown in, and as I write this he is closer to his first birthday than the day he was born, our little boy, growing up so fast.

Lorna has been an absolute star these holiday weeks, and my appreciation for everything she does knows no bounds, thanks babe for being wonderful.

We have seen Gran and Grandad today, and as usual Murray was the star of the show, Lorna and I managed to nip out to the shops while gran and grandad looked after Murray. We have also managed to see a few other people including William and Angela, who were over from America to see their family. Colin, Elaine and Ethan also popped in for a visit it was great to see them. They are 2 months ahead of us in the journey so it is very helpful to hear what they think about certain products, ideas and whathaveyou.

I hope that Auntie Sandra and Uncle Cam, can get to us for a visit before heading of to the far east, if you are reading this please get in touch!

So all in all a very bust but enjoyable start to the year, and on the plus side, Lorna said to me today "wow after eights for a £1" and I said "yeah, that's amazing, but we are trying to be good", no I know that doesn't sound like a big deal, but as first steps go, it wasn't that bad!

 

Thursday 22/12/10 - Merry Christmas!

Hi everyone, this is the xmas update as I expect to be very busy over the next 48 hours.

Firstly Murray has been swamped with presents, everyone that has passed on a present, thank you so much on behalf of Murray. I know that money is tight for everyone, but it looks like Murray will do very well for himself on the 25th.

Lorna and I swapped rooms over the last 2 days, it wasn't supposed to be a massive job, but it ended up like that. A lot of the stuff in our rooms hadn't been touched since we moved in (wow that was a year ago!) so we took the opportunity to clean up and throw out. Well that was the plan but the bins are all still out and are over flowing, so I might just keep the non smelly stuff in the garage. It hazs now been 2 weeks below freezing and it is showing no signs of climbing any higher than 0.

So what a year it has been eh? If you are one of the regulars here you will know that so much has happened in such a small space of time it's hard to get your head around.

The house move from hell was only recently brought to an end (3 weeks ago!) with the insurance payment to pay for the damage from the burst shower when we moved in. I feel really good about that little victory as my lawyer and nearly everyone else said "give up" or "you are wasting your time", but the stubborn mule that I am just couldn't give up. So that was a sweet day when that cheque arrived!

Then obviously the pregnancy that was a nightmare for us to conceal from you all, Lorna and I have agreed that we are not cut out for the James Bond lifestyle as it was such a headache to keep it under wraps. It was such a great day when I was able to tell you all. The excitement of wondering if it was a boy or a girl, and all the million other things that I wondered about, that before I hadn't even given a second thought. People told me that it would change our world in so many ways that we would forget what had come before, and there is no doubt that they were right.

The 13th of July was a day that I will never forget, I had just finished a rubbish teleconference at work and was looking forward to grabbing something to eat and a quick walk around the block, Lorna called to say I was to go to the hospital.....I won't repeat the story you all know what happened.

I thank my luck stars every day that Murray was strong enough to pull through, because some babies in his ward didn't make it. When I looked at him stuck in his little box under the UV lights, I felt something that I had never felt before, I was truly helpless in the most basic meaning of the word. There was a fight going on inches from my hands as they were pressed against the glass, and yet there was nothing I could do, nothing. It helped put the world in a bit of perspective.

The bad news is that it also reinforced my belief that life was a very fragile thing and could be snuffed out. It must sound strange to you but it only hit me after the car crash that I was going to die. Yes I know that sounds weird, but it's also true. I have been one of these people that prepared for the worst case (with life assurance, will's and so on), and hoped for the best case. But after meeting with Prof McMillan, and being referred to the rivers center, I can at least accept that life is short and sometimes brutal, but at least I was born, and had a chance to experience life in all it's glory. This is something I want to do more of, I think there may be a passport renewal in my future.

So to that end I am gearing up to prepare myself for next year and the challenge that it brings. By this time next year I want to be in clothes not made in a circus tent factory and to have a BMI that doesn't cause morticians to look out the "Coffin's for the fuller figure". I am so desperately unhappy with myself, I just don't even look in the mirror lately. I hate this person staring back at me, he is twice the man I want to be. Dave made me gasp when he lost all that weight in such a short space of time. He looked ill and very unhealthy, but when it stablised and he started eating food again and going to the gym, he looked amazing. I just don't have the will power to do that sort of diet, so I will need to find another way.

That makes it sound like it's all doom and gloom this Christmas, but it's not. I want to get fit, for my benefit and for Lorna and Murray. I don't want Murray to miss out on a kick about in the garden with daddy because he can't fit through the door.

Yes, I want to get control of my life back, it has been missing since the crash, and although I sometimes hear from self restraint, we don't really speak that often. I am afraid that pride and I are only on christmas card terms at the moment. I have sent them both a message on face book, and I hope that we can all agree that we are better together, and we can make a nice friendship again.

So my priority for next year is to get myself back, because as I recall I wasn't that bad as a person.

And so to the message,

Seasons greetings to you all, we hope that you are with friends and kin, and that you get what your heart desires on the 25th. With Love and best wishes from;

Don, Lorna and Murray

 

Monday 20/12/10 - Last day of work for 2010!

Yes! It's true today is the last day of work for 2010, at times I thought this day would never come, but now it's here (YEEEEEEHAAAAAA).

So what has been going on? well the snow is still coming down, and the temp outside is -8 degrees today. Everything is just an extra ball ache with the cold. You can't jump in your car and pop to the shops (it takes an age to defrost the car and clear a path to the road) so a lot of planning and preparation is required for everything.

We are not looking forward to the heating bill as the heating has now been on for a solid month, never in my life has the heating been on for such a period, but everyone in the country is in the same boat. I have been lucky enough to be able to work from home some days, but we are at the finishing stage of a project that we have been working on for 3 months and we all needed to work from the office for the last 2 weeks. That was also the reason for the lack of updates, I have been so busy at work, that everything else has fallen by the way side.

We have had a few visitors over the last few weeks (weather permitting!) and it has been great to see some people that I haven't seen in such a long time. Mum and Dad (or Granny and Grandad to give them their correct titles) came round to see Murray on Saturday. They love playing with him so much that I have to check their pockets on the way out just in case the try and steal him away. Dad wasn't for giving Murray back, and Murray was pretty attached to grandad (although dad is growing a big white beard and Murray wasn't so sure of the feel of it).

I went to see my lawyer in Glasgow and was told that a resolution to my case was a good 6 months away, I did feel that the ground was falling away from under my feet, as I was told we were at the end of the journey, but after a few hours of talking to them I knew that they are only acting in my best interest. I wish it would come to an end soon, but it looks like the other side will put me through the same medical tests as my side, which is a big pain because they are all in Glasgow.

Murray continues to get stronger every day, he will regularly sleep through the night, and he is starting to have teething issues, so it is a period of great change for him. I know that if mummy sings the wheels on the bus, he smiles and laughs so much that you can't help and feel such a feeling of joy coming from him. That feeling is why people have children, it's something you can't explain to someone else you need to experience it for yourself. Bath times are starting to get a bit better as well, Murray no longer screams when you put him in the bath, he just looks up at you and then slowly he starts to enjoy the warm water.

He got the 3rd set of jags on Thursday and he was a bit poorly on Friday as a result, but he is stacking on the weight and is now 14lbs.

We have a few pictures that we will post tonight, they have a xmas theme!

 

 

Wednesday 08/12/10 - Work = nightmare, Murray = Cute!

Hello all,

Work has been hell this week (it's only Wednesday) and I will be struggling to bring the team's latest project in on time. The weather has just screwed things up completely. Only Dave and I were able to get to work today and we worked flat out all day. We are about 45% of where we need to be by COB Friday. As if that wasn't enough our team night out and meeting was canceled due to the weather in Edinburgh. the team coming up from yorkshire got stuck on the train when it broke down, and the roads in Livingston meant that we couldn't get home never mind to Edinburgh for a night out.

And just to cap of a great day, I had to go to the dentist and get a scale and polish! I called home and all I could hear was Murray screaming in the background, it would appear that the teething fairy has come calling and now our little boy is in agony.

He started on solids last week, and although it is very messy, it is also very cute. He is a fan of baby rice, but not so much porridge.

I wanted to share another few pictures with you.

 

As you can see, Murray is growing up so fast, it's hard to remember life without him. Last Christmas, Lorna told me we were pregnant, it was a very special feeling to get that kind of present and not to be able to tell anyone.

Anyway the temp outside at the moment is -13 degrees, It took 20 minutes to get into my car this morning the doors were frozen solid. Still it give me something to moan about!

Thursday 02/12/10 - Cabin fever

Hello all,

Before I start, just wanted to say a massive thank you to 2 very special people. They contacted me after reading the last entry. You are both amazing, and I thank you you from the bottom of my heart.

And now on to the news, well I measured the snow in the garden tonight, it is 3 foot high. I tell you global warming can't come quick enough. Screw the polar bears, lets dump as much CO2 as we can!

Seriously Lorna, Murray and I have been stuck in the house since Sunday and we are now officially out of anything remotely tasty in the house to eat. Murray has at least another 3 days worth of Milk so he is OK, I just wonder how long I can survive on Chicken in white sauce mixed with Custard and tinned Oysters? The weather is no joke though loads of people have come to grief in the village and there is no end in sight. Lesley Lewis has had to cancel her 40th birthday party tomorrow as no one would be able to get there, it is a shame but at least it is a party to look forward to in the new year.

Murray has been such source of joy over the last week, I love it when you tickle his chin and he laughs like a drain. He is so adorable that it is hard to pull yourself away from him for a few hours!

I have been able to work from home so I have not missed that much, but there have been other problems on the work front that are just a pain in the arse that I don't need right now. I have a deadline looming, and every day it is white outside is a day that I am losing. I think this one is going to go to the wire and it might take a late night pizza fueled race over the line to get it done.

I have been calling mum and dad to make sure they are OK, and they seem to be quite happy. Dad walked down to the main street today and managed to time it right so that he got a loaf and a few pints of mile, so that should keep them happy for a few more days.

The end of the year is fast approaching and I have quite a few things i would like to get done before the year end, so I have been making a list (much like santa will be doing around this time).

OK time to head off, night night

 

 

Thursday 25/11/10 - Insert witty tag line here

Hello again my chums,

I am trying very hard not to come over all black today so its happy fairies and jolly bunnies all round. Well I start each day telling myself that, but by the time I am out of the shower, its mildly unimpressed fairies and nonplused bunnies. When I go outside and finish scraping my car of ice, then have a 10 mile detour because the end of my road is closed, then by the time I get to work I would rip the fecking wings of the fairies and enjoy eating raw still twitching bunnies.

Then the fun and games start at work. Back at home I can't even go into my room, it is sooooo uncomfortable that my skin crawls even just popping in for a second, let alone sitting and doing anything constructive in it. So its a catch 22, I haven't lifted a paint brush in anger for more than 3 months (and even then it was a poor effort) and I am getting increasingly hacked off with myself.

On the plus side (see, there is one!) I bought the router I have been looking to buy (its from Santa). On the down side I have bought all these tools and made a workshop so I can build a paint rack. What is so wrong with that I hear you ask? well the tools have so far cost about £300 and the punch line is I haven't been able to use a single one yet. Not only am I left questioning my ability, but the real punch line is, I wont spring the £120 to buy the paints to stick in the rack. So why am I OBSESSED with buying the tools and then building the rack, when I don't have the paints to put in it?

If I could answer that then I wouldn't need a years worth of therapy (which is still very poor).

I think there is an element of jealousy if I am being honest. I designed the original paint rack, and showed it to Roddy. He was able to see the promise in my idea, and then he took it a stage further and made a much better one (his is a million times better than mine) and for some reason I want to make a 3rd version of the rack, not to somehow beat Roddy (we are the best of friends) but I need to do this for myself. Far to many times I come up with good ideas and then do nothing with them.

My dream is to one day have a design that is so awesome that people will ask me to make them one for cold hard cash! I think that is the goal because it is the ultimate capitalist realisation, your idea/product is so good that someone is willing to part with cold hard cash to have one.

My dad must suffer from a similar problem to me, he is a collector of model railway stuff but hasn't so much as had a single train on the dining room table going round and round in 10 years, yet every few days there is another little package from ebay.

My 2011 build list is massive and I am not sure but a part of me is procrastinating, trying to tell myself that the reason I don't want to start the massive paint list is that my paints are not in a good order, or all my painting tools are not arranged in the best way, and that somehow if I build this paint rack, then my life will suddenly be all OK again, and that the sun will shine down and make my a golden daemon standard painter. I know how preposterous that idea is, but it is better than the alternative, which is my mind is basically saying "you are shite at the painting thing and anything that keeps you away from painting and the ultimately soul crushing feeling of failure when you finish a model, must be a good thing".

See my blog is honest!

Why then should it matter to me so much? At the end of the day I don't need anyone to tell me they are little plastic and metal soldiers, yes I know this already, so why so important? I am not sure what the truthful answer is. Yes it is a hobby, and hobbies are supposed to be fun and relaxing, but I feel that when I don't achieve anything then I am a massive failure. I talked last time about my sprucastle (which is only 10 miles from Newcastle!) and its true, I had far better things to be doing (about 150 models to paint) and then I spend all that time doing that? No wonder the word procrastinate is popping back into the frame.

I had a nightmare last night that I was choking to death on a 38mm Forstner Drill Bit (its the one missing item from my tool box, that would allow me to start making this paint rack) I mean COME ON, choking to death on a drill bit, that's just stupid. I bet more people get hit by meteorites than choke to death on 38mm drill bits!

I started the 40k website, but wished in a way that I never did as I have not been able to update that one for even longer than this one. I just don't have a second to myself anymore, and it must be worse for Lorna as she is stuck in the house 24/7 with Murray. Now that is not to say that having him 24/7 is a bad thing, far from it, but you have to admit that sometimes you do need a little "me" time. The trouble for me is when Lorna tells me that I should go and do something fun, I just don't have the inclination any more.

Are you still there dear reader? I wouldn't blame you if you weren't every time you come on to this blog I bet I make you feel worse, and all you are after in the first place was some pictures of Murray. Murray saw his first snowflakes today, although Mummy reports that he soon went back to trying to stuff his toy giraffe in his mouth.

I would be interested to know if any of you has a take on this? Do you have any ideas about how to break the cycle of the catch 22?

I was thinking about taking 2 days of work and just pretending I wasn't in the house, but that is so not fair on Murray and Lorna. I think the time for drastic measures has come, suggestions on a postcard please.

Cheers

 

Tuesday 23/11/10 - Yes, black, sue me

Hello,

Just to say how sorry I am about the utter lack of updates, I am feeling so down at the moment that trying to find the motivation to update anything is almost impossible. The good news is that the update below is new, because I wrote it and never had time to upload it! If anyone is interested Dad went under the knife as planed and is now making a slow but steady recovery.

Murray is just awesome, Lorna is a super mum and she runs a tight ship when it comes to cuddles!

My sessions are not going well and I have had a few episodes of late that have given me some cause for concern.

Do you know how screwed up I am in the head? Well with a million models to make, and ones I could do with making, I spent the first 3 hours I have had to myself in months, to build......wait for it...... a sprue building. If you don't know what that is, it is a building made from all the frames that model parts come in and you throw in the bin. I spent an hour raking the bin for sprues I had binned and cut them all up and tried to make something useful out of them. I am not sure how that comes across, but I am not going to tell my shrink.

 

 

Tuesday 09/11/10 - Trying to update!

Hi

I wanted to quickly blog today as it was a week ago since the last update. What has been going on? Dad goes under the knife today to get his legs sorted out at last. I know that he is not looking forward to being bed bound for a few days but compared to the alternatives it is a small price to pay. I will let you know how he gets on.

Other than that, Murray slept through the night again on Sat, so that was a nice surprise. He is growing up so fast, and every day at 17:00 when I get home he is happy to see me, it makes me feel very humble. Lorna continues to do an excellent job of being house-mummy, its a role that she is completely happy with. On Saturday Mummy went shopping and left the boys of the house alone. Dave popped over and we took the complete army shots of his 'Nid army for the 40K website. To see 3 years worth of work on the table was a sight to behold, the numbers involved were terrifying. Dave paints his mini's a quick way, but even so this is an undertaking worthy of a great deal of respect.

So well done to you Dave.

It would appear that Uncle Ewan is having great success with his art, we are all very glad for him, its about time that the public got onboard and started to support him.

 

Tuesday 02/11/10 - Not much of a blog these days is it?

Well friends, I am glad that you bothered to look at the site again, I am very sorry about the lack of updates, I wake up every morning and think "I will put an update on today", but it just gets lost in the never ending things I need to do in a day.

I have managed to get some more pictures uploaded so you can see them in the gallery.

So what has been happening, well on the Murray front, our boy is doing well, he is growing up big and strong and he even managed to sleep in his own cot for the first time. His mum and dad are well chuffed!

Chris and Edith stayed at gran and grandad's on the way back from Canada, so they got a chance to meet Murray as well, it was great to see them again, and we managed to agree to go up to Caithness next year so Murray can run along the beach and go looking in the rock pools. I loved that as a kid.

Uncle Ewan has been accepted into the Royal Academy of Art, and has managed to sell a few examples of his work. I suppose it is like him talking about selection at Hereford, I just cant do it justice, but we are are all very proud.

Work has been hellish, its a non stop have a pop at Don month and I am just so tired. I am getting the feeling that I am being managed out the door, so I will be keeping a close eye on events over the next few weeks.

I am sure there are a million and one things I should have said in this update, but I am so tired that I am just going to sign off and upload some pictures to the gallery.

 

Sunday 17/10/10 - Another crappy day

Hi everyone, Just another crappy gray day that nothing of note happened except I got incredibly frustrated. Star trek marathon on TV this weekend and the put the best move on last and it doesn't finish until 01:30 on Monday morning (well done you bunch of muppets).

Got the long winded appraisal from the psychologist at last, yeah me! its exactly as was said before. I have tried to tell a few people lately but I don't think people know what to do or say, some people just don't care, and that is fine, at least I know where I stand.

Murray continues to be awesome and generally fantastic. We had a bath tonight that ended up getting mummy all covered in water and bubbles but it was worth it.

I had my first session with the shrink and well, apart from being a lovely lady, I didn't get much out of the session. Ah well onwards and upwards.

I have been tasked with finding an activity for the team to do at work, no pressure but...... So if anyone knows a good thing to do in Edinburgh in the afternoon, then give me a shout.

I had an hour before the rest of the household got up this morning so I sprayed my 15 for sale marines black. So they will be going on ebay shortly.

 

Wednesday 13/10/10 - No time

Hello, yeah its the same old story, to much to be getting on with.

Firstly Murray is doing very well and he is up to 9lb 11oz, which everyone is very pleased about. He is having a "gurney" day today and he hasn't slept that well the last few nights so we are all tired and looking forward to that magical night when he sleeps right through.

I got the garage shelved at long last, it is looking good, but I still need to do a few things, like fit a strip light and some more power sockets, many thanks to everyone who helped put it all up. If you are looking for some shelving then look up bigdug.co.uk

Roddy and Emily got married, it was a great day and everyone had a brilliant time. I was so pleased for them both. It was the first wedding I have been to in Grenta and it was a nice place. Duncan gave a great best man's speech and most people got up and danced. It was great to catch up with Tom Gordon and his new girlfriend, Sac & Anna and Nic. Nic said I could have a shot of his Audi A5 convertible, so guess what? I drove it home. Good times!

Other than that it has been a weird time at work, I am feeling so frustrated and I feel a bit like a caged animal, but I am going on a course in November so hopefully that will allow me to spread my wings a little.

Mum and Dad are under the weather today, they have the cold, so we are not going to visit them this weekend just in case, so get well soon.

Chris and Edith were down and are now away again, but we are going to see them in a fortnight, it will be so nice to see them. I think Edith will just melt when she claps eyes on Murray for the first time.

So I have missed out large chunks of the last 3 weeks, but rest assured that it is due to being so shattered that we are all falling asleep on the sofa rather than not wanting to share the news with the world.

Tuesday 21/09/10 - Photo Gallery

OK so I gave in and got a Gallery module for the website, It is being populated now and will be available tomorrow or Thursday.

Murray was weighed today and our little boy is not so little anymore, he tipped the scales at 7lb 4oz (which is the average birth weight these days). We then went to tesco and stocked up on nappies, cotton wool, and a host of other baby related stuff (but we forgot to get lunch, which was the point in going in the first place).

If you want to check out the Gallery (be warned it is a work in progress) but it is here

I went to check out Ewan's exhibition at the line Gallery in Linlithgow, it is fantastic to see his work in a real commercial gallery. I am so proud of what he has achieved. I might have even been persuaded to part with a few coins to own an item! ;-)

If you are in Linlithgow go check it out.

Sunday 19/09/10 - What an update!

Hello everyone, I have been getting bombarded with emails etc to say "finger out Don and update the website", this is the first chance I have had to do it (I have an ear out for a cry from downstairs) so here goes.

Murray continues to take up 99.9% of our time, we love him so much, and yes I know it's a bit on the gushy side but that's the truth. That is not to say that the last month has not had its moments of extreme frustration, confusion and dare I say it less than happy-happy joy-joy thoughts. The only thing that causes these moments is lack of sleep, we are currently getting an hour at a time between feeds, changes and general entertainment demands, it's just not enough. I am dreading going back to work next week as I just don't know how we as a family will be able to function on 3 - 4 hours sleep a night (or 24 hour period, as day and night don't seem to have any relevance to Murray).

So what has been happening? well Murray has met lots of people now, there are still a few people who need to share the joy, but we are slowly but surely getting round everyone. It takes a lot of planning and logistical jiggery-pokery to get the Murray road show, on the road, but we want to get round as many people as possible, to say thanks for all the wonderful gifts that people gave (and continue to give) to Murray.

Andrew & Leah, Grant & Christine, Graham & Lesley, Dave & Steph, Aaron and everyone else, I hope you enjoyed meeting Murray. As for the rest of you, give us a call and lets sort something out.

One of the other big events in the last week has been the American arm of the family coming to visit, it was so great to meet up with them again,, I have said a million times that we get on so well, it is such a shame that I can't jump in the car and see them any time I want to (someone hurray up and invent teleportation beams!) Arlene and Allan are just as fantastic as always, and it was great to spend some more time with John and Judy. We have made no secret that a major part of naming Murray, was to affirm the bond between the two sides of our family, and we were especially proud to introduce Murray John, to John Murray.

Mum (or should I just start saying Granny) had the world round for dinner last Sunday as a meet and greet for Murray and the Americans, It was great to see Steven, Alison, Jude, Luke, Alec and Irene. (there was a small wake up call for me with Jude, I remember when she was Murray's size, and it doesn't seem that long ago!)

On the other side of the news I have been having mood swings that are truly impressive, from full of joy to the pits of hell in 20 seconds, its not a pretty journey to be on, and as always I can't stop it happening. For example last week I got the loft floored, I bought a loft ladder and it arrived as promised and I was so excited to have it fitted, only to find out that it had been made incorrectly, and had to be sent back. Any normal person would have been able to keep that in perspective, but not me, nope the world was ending! The replacement has since arrived but it's not much better to be honest, but I will just have to put up with it as I don't have any more time to waste on the project.

Granny, Grandad and Papa have all been a great help, they are enjoying being grand parents, and like nothing more than a cuddle, and the good news is that suits Murray just fine.

OK enough talk lets give you what you want

 

 

 

 

Sunday 29/08/10 - Sleep deprivation and cuddles!

Hello all, as you can tell from the title, sleep is a commodity that is in very short supply at the John household. Murray is going 3.5 hours in between sleeps, but is suffering from reflux, so he cry's a lot of the time (even when he is fast asleep). Last night working as a team Lorna and I managed 5 hours sleep, which, with a new baby in the house actually isn't that bad.

So what else to tell you? it has been a case of wash, clean, feed, burp, clean up burp, more washing, a little bit of sleep, etc, etc. so every day is much like the last and the next. Murray still isn't able to laugh, or I have to face the facts that I am not the remotest bit funny! Granny is doing art in the park,, today so I hope it clears up a bit for them today, there is nothing worse than a rain soaked park to keep the public away on a bank holiday weekend.

Grandad had a luck escape yesterday, he was enjoying a pint of shandy at the rugby club and without noticing it, a wasp flew into his pint and he was stung twice in the mouth the next time he went to take a swig. OUCH! He was OK in the end but still what a shocker.

Ewan and Suzie calibrated the 2nd anniversary of them meeting yesterday so that involved a curry and a bottle of wine, I can't believe that I have only known Suzie for 2 years?

Arlene and Allan are due very shortly and Lorna and I can't wait to see them (and John and Judy!) I hope the weather improves otherwise Allan will be walking about with a parka on all fortnight.

I popped up to 661 Sqn on Friday night to see the guys as they were getting ready for the FSTD on Saturday, I miss that excitement, I might yet find my way back there, I will have to wait and see how things go at home.

OK so I have some Videos of Murray with various people

Murray Feeding

Murray and Grandad John

Murray and Granny John

Murray and Daddy (when Murray was tiny)

 

Tuesday 24/08/10 - Murray is home and Finn arrives in SA

Hello all, Lorna and I are very sorry for the lack of updates to the site, but things are a little "trying" for us at the moment.

As you can see from the headline, we are very pleased to announce that Murray is now home. Mummy and Daddy know that there are a load of people wanting to meet Murray (and he is pretty stoked about meeting you all too!) but we need to arrange it so that there is ample parking and gifts at the gift shop. Seriously we want to share Murray with you all, but please call us a few days in advance to see what the plans are, the last thing we want is people wasting a journey. On that note, can you avoid calling after 9pm as quite often Lorna, Murray and I are at various states of feeding bathing or sleeping.

So what has our little boy been up to I hear you ask? Well the truth is not a great deal apart from sleeping (about 20 hours a day) Eating and trying to swallow his fists? We got our parent inspection today and apparently we passed with flying colours, so we must be doing right by Murray. Every day sees a little change, he is getting stronger (he was giving his old man a right good kick-in during this mornings nappy change), and even more cute! We took Murray for his first ever visit, he went to see granny and grandad. He slept in Dad's arms for the better part of two hours and then mum fed him his lunch. I think it is fair to say that mum and dad (or should that be granny and grandad?) were over the moon to have a visit, and we were so happy to leave him with them for an hour, when we went to the shops, knowing that he was in the best possible hands.

So, it is still a case of eat, sleep and grow (although the sleep issue is not great, the first three nights he has only slept on my chest, but tonight we have been told to leave him in his moses basket and leave a light on and the radio to see if he will settle.

Again, I feel slightly embarrassed about how much I want to talk about Murray, but I guess that is my place in the world these days?

Lorna's birthday was another day that should have been special, but as Murray had not been released we didn't feel much like celebrating. So it came to pass that Lorna's birthday was a bit of a non event as all she wanted to do was sit with Murray in the SCBU. Still it was all worth it in the end.

Sonia gave birth to a baby boy in South Africa last week, and I think he has an awesome name, Finn. I mean seriously, Imagine if the three boys ever played front row for Scotland, Brodie, Murray and Finn. Man you just can't make that up! a massive CONGRATULATIONS to everyone in SA, (including aunties and grand parents!).

OK So I think it is best that I sign off now, but I know some people are checking for updates (hello everyone at the squadron/work) so here they are WARNING THE FOLLOWING IMAGES CONTAIN SCENES OF HIGH CUTENESS!

One last top up before heading out of the SCBU

The alcatraz look

Grandad and the 2 hour hold

Home

Granny doing the feed

Getting ready for the first bath!

Not enjoying the first home bath, but that's because there are no toy ships!

 

Roddy has finished making his video tutorials for the 40K site, and I will upload them tomorrow.

Thursday 12/08/10 - Where is that tube?

Well, today's entry is all about Murray and his lack of feeding tube! The poor wee soul must think that someone has chopped of a bit of his body today. The doctors were so impressed with his feeding that they are trying a day without using his feeding tube. Now before anyone get's carried away, its a trial, it might be to early for him, so we will have to see how it goes.

The faces he was pulling today were amazing, he was constantly feeling his nose and going cross eyed to see if he could see the tube that is no longer there. I guess for the 32 days he has been on the outside he has had it, and it makes sense that he thought of it as part of him, and it would be scary to wake up and find your leg or arm missing!

So many people are saying "loved the pictures" I thought I would add a few more. After all it's my website and I can gush about Murray as much as I want!

 

 

Monday 09/08/10 - Murray getting stronger - daddy getting tired!

Hello all, Lorna and I spent the weekend with Murray in hospital. He is such a little joy to watch (gush gush). It's hard not to tell you all what a wondrous time we had at the weekend watching a very small child sleep, I guess its one of those, you have to be there moments.

Ewan and Suzie came to See Murray, and it was great to be able to share the news that Murray is now in a normal cot (having regulated his body temp) and that he is feeding well and putting on weight.

Mum's art club had her exhibition opening on Friday night and Mum has already sold 3 of the 6 paintings that are on show so she is feeling very chuffed with herself and so she should. Dad has not been having such a great time, he was out for a meal on Friday lunch time and got wicked food poisoning. He was a sick as a dog and has had to stay away just in case.

I have had some messages from some people via face book, and everyone is very happy for us. A lot of people have been holding off contacting us, which I fully understand, but wait until you see Murray go!

I wanted to try and do something about me for an hour or so this weekend, lots of people have told me that this is a good plan with a new baby as if you are not careful they can absorb your whole life. So after owning it for 18 months and not being brave enough to try it, I finally started the build of my 2nd super heavy tank. I will keep you posted on how that is going, but I know its Murray you are all looking for so Here are some more pictures from the weekend.

 

Look out, its Godzilla !!!!!!!

 

Wednesday 04/08/10 - More Murray

Well the last update seems to have woken a lot of people up! I hope everyone understands the reasons we had to keep our Murray news under wraps, and if you don't then, well we are sorry it was our choice so you will have to live with it.

So what news of the little one? Well today Murray put on 50g and that takes him to just slightly over 4lbs which although not a sumo wrestler, it is considerably bigger than he was this time 3 weeks ago. I know that all new parents gush about how fantastic their child is, and fully intend to do so over the coming years, but for now for him to have added a quarter to his body weight in 3 weeks is just amazing.

Lorna as ever is being fantastic and sitting with him all day when daddy is at work, I used to live for the home time bell so I could get out of work, now I can't wait to go and get some cuddles with Murray (soppy I know but what the hell). Murray has managed to pull off a dashing ensemble today with clothes from Andrew and Leah, Grant and Christine and Mum and Dad (or should that be Granny and Grandad?).

Lots of people stop me at work to ask how we are all doing, and it's great to be able to talk about what yesterday was like and what we are looking forward to tomorrow. We hope that in 4 weeks we can finally bring our son home and introduce him to everyone.

Its hard work, all these cuddles!

 

 

Sunday 01/08/10 - Murray

Well you must be wondering what would cause such a lengthy delay in an update to the wolfworks? A holiday perhaps?, possibly sickness or to much work? well to tell you the truth the answer is infinitely more fantastic than any of them. There is no easy way to say this so I am going to come right out and say it.

On the 13th of July and 9 weeks early Lorna gave birth to our Son, Murray Callum John. Even as I type that, I still struggle to believe it. Murray was very poorly when he was born, as his heart and lungs were not strong enough to cope on their own, so as soon as he was born he was transferred to the Intensive neonatal unit at the ERI.

He was there for a week, and Lorna and I spent every second we could with him, but as Lorna had to have an emergency caesarian to deliver Murray she was still recovering from her major operation. I could write a book about our feelings, worries, stresses and the heart stopping moments when any of his life support alarms went off, but even now 3 weeks on, those feelings are starting to fade. Murray was such a brave little fighter, who never gave up and occasionally an eye would open to check we were still by his incubator, and then when he was sure that mummy and daddy were still there he closed his eyes and got on with the job of getting bigger and stronger.

Murray was 3lb 9oz when he was born, and I have always been skeptical about people who said things like "you could fit him in the palm of my hand" but the truth was that you could fit him in the palm of my hand.

The treatment that Murray (and Lorna and I) got from the staff at the the neonatal unit was quite simply second to none. At all times he was being directly watched by a nurse 24 hours a day and they explained everything that was going on. We also got to speak to a consultant whenever we wanted to, and he made sure that he spoke to us at least once a day. The place was fort knox to get into, and when you were in the doors you were treated like an adult and you always got the truth about how Murray was doing. Those first 7 days seemed to be a years worth of standing looking down into his incubator, but we wouldn't have missed a second of it. Daddy was trying his best to spend all the time he could with his family but one night he nearly crashed his car because he was so tired, sleep was something that happened to other people.

Gran & Gandad, Papa Alcorn, Uncle Ewan & Auntie Suzie were each allowed to visit Murray in the ERI, but we hoped that he would get strong enough to be transferred back to St John's so we could see even more of him. At this time the news that Murray had arrived was starting to slowly filter out and those who knew were fantastic in their support.

Day by day, Murray got stronger and he soon was breathing on his own without the aid of a CPAP machine. His heart rate would suddenly drop without warning and this had the Doctors worried. As the days went on this happened less and less. Finally we were told the good news that Murray was strong enough to be transferred back to St John's.

The last 2 weeks have been both great and bad as we have had our issues with some of the care that Murray has received, but every day he grows stronger and stronger. Murray has now gained back all his birth weight and yesterday he put on 60g. He went on to 30ml feeds every 3 hours the day before yesterday and he seems to be taking it all in his stride.

To look at him when he opens his eyes is just one of the most heart melting feelings in the world. I am so proud of him and how far he has come. I have to remember that he wasn't due to arrive until the 8th of September and that he is having to develop at a much faster rate now that he is out in the big bad world. When I look at Lorna holding him, I know that it was the job she was born to do, she is just so fantastic at looking after him, its all smiles and giggles when mummy is doing the nappy changes and stroking him. Trust me you don't want to know what happens when it's daddy's turn to change the nappies!

We love our son so very much, he may be tiny but he is most definitely perfectly formed.

It has been one hell of a journey over the last 21 days, and I can't wait to share more of Murray with you all, but for now Mummy and Daddy are knackered and we need to go to bed. Here are some pictures of the last 3 weeks.

The very first picture of Murray 13th July 2010 at 23:59

 

Our first Family picture, Mummy get's the first cuddle 14th July 2010

Mummy and Daddy get to hold Murray for the first time

Granny and Grandad

Let out for a few minutes with mummy

 

Kangaroo Care with mummy (and Blanky bear)

In St John's and the last day in the incubator

Guess what I love?

Uncle Ewan and Auntie Suzie see Murray in his Hot cot for the first time

My first day in the hot cot

More cuddles with mummy

Cuddles with daddy

More cuddles with daddy

Mummy and Murray

Seriously how cute am I ?

Sunday 11/07/10 - Robert turns 70, steak pie and world cup final

This weekend has been a good one, although it started out bad. I was getting stressed about everyone coming over (more on that later), and I started acting weird. On Friday night I came home from work and cut the grass, moved furniture and a million other jobs that needed doing. Lorna and I worked until late, I was shattered and went to bed but woke up at 6AM on saturday morning and was up and mopping the floors and hoovering the carpets, I needed everything to go well for Roberts birthday. After some more OCD cleaning I went and collected the steak pie, it was a large one (4lbs). I got it back up the road and we got everything ready to go when we got back. We took Robert to the Bo'ness steam railway and met up with mum and dad (who never miss an opportunity to go via steam power) It was a great time, Mum and Robert chatted away for most of the journey and we all had a great time.

When we got back to the station, Dad bought tea and scones for everyone, and we all agreed that this was indeed "the life". After high tea it was back to the shack where I started cooking dinner. Uncle William and Aunt Jessie, joined us for dinner as a thank you for all the help they gave us whilst the move disaster was going on. I made soup to start with and it was (even though I do say so myself) very good. Then it was steak pie, roasties and veg, followed by trifle, then tea and coffee and birthday cake. The night went very well, and as usually Lorna was an excellent hostess.

I wouldn't go to bed until everything was washed and put away, but according to Lorna I was falling asleep doing the dishes and she had to put me to bed. This morning I woke up at 7, then went back to bed, it was one of the very few times I have done that, but I guess yesterday took it out of me more than i had realised. Then I got up around 10, made breakfast and watched the grand prix, I loved it. Then I managed to star building my raven wing speeder (well start by painting the pilots legs, chairs and instruments, (you can't do all that when you have glued it all together (he speaks from experience). Then afterwards we watched an episode of the Claudia Black show, sorry farscape. Then we had the sorry misfortune to waste 2 hours of our lives watching Holland and Spain in the final, what a load of crap. Some Holland players should have been sent to jail for the tackles. In the end the more skillful team won, but that doesn't mean the better team won.

In the end it was a very quick weekend and we are all systems go again for work tomorrow!

 

Thursday 08/07/10 - I finish the bike squad and a large snail is in the garden

Hello I finished my bike squad tonight (yeah me!), and a massive snail is knocking around the garden. Also I wanted to show you all the pudding that Steph made (awesomeo 3,500)

Wednesday 07/07/10 - Skirting around the black and gizmo upgrade 1.1

Hello everyone in normal land.

I am on a knife edge today, not sure which way it is going to go. My room is starting to get untidy again and the garage is still a skip, so that is really getting my knickers in a twist. I built some flash stuff for my 40k website, I love it but I am not sure anyone else will see the benifit.

Anyway got feedback that my gizmo needs to have drill down functionality, and I like to keep my public happy

you can have a look at it here, hover over a unit, then if you want more information click on that unit.

 

Tuesday 06/07/10 - Back from Birmingham

Yesterday was a very long day, I was up at 04:30 and got in at 19:00 last night. I used to crave the "successful businessman" travel, but nowadays it is a means to an end. Cammy and Brian fly all over the world on business, LA, China and Germany every other week, but not Don, oh no! it Solihull for me!

Actually it was a good day, the people were nice and the place was great (I even had an white chocolate chip cookie!). But when I came back I knew I had one job to do and that was to upload all my new site files for my 40K vanity project. I did that at 22:00 last night and I am happy with the result.

Last weekend was great, I got to spend some quality time with Lorna, which is annoyingly rare. We got loads done, including the painting of the final bedroom, so that should be it. We could have got a professional in (like we did for the Living room) but to tell you the truth it took me 6 hours and I saved myself £200, which could be used to do all the other things in life.

Graeme, Lesley and the kids came to see us on Sunday, and despite the house stinking of paint, it was great to see them come to Armadale. And as if that wasn't enough, not long after they had gone Dave and Steph paid us a visit with 4th july desert!

So all in all another good weekend. I still feel that I want to do lots of constructive type things. Recently I have been struck by a drive to make and build things. Last weekend I was trying to buy a router to build a "spray booth" for paining in the garage. No idea why I thought that was a good idea, but I think it goes back to my need to "accomplish" something. I am a nightmare at night if I feel that I haven't achieved something constructive, I pace the hall and can't settle.

 

Wednesday 30/06/10 - must....keep....strugling on....

Hello everyone, not much to update you on this week, work has been an interesting place. I got my half year review and it was a good chance to clear the air on a lot of issues. Things have been a bit rubbish on the squadron front this week, but I hope that they pick up soon.

Anyway I have been trying to complete my 40K site, but it is taking an age. Again it is the same old me "must be done by" "deadline" or even "final push" what a lot of balls, no one even cares!

Had an interesting brush with the darkness yesterday but managed to give it the slip in the nick of time (I think?)

I got some feedback that I had been churlish on a call at work and I could feel the sinking elevator feeling but managed to hold on and not do a big chris.

yeah me and my mental health problems :-)

Sunday 27/06/10 - Engerland get humped and I get a year older

Well I can't believe it has been so long since my last confession, sorry I mean blog update.

Lots have been going on, but I don't have a great deal of time to tell you everything so hold on for some edited highlights

1) England got thrashed at the world cup
2) I had a lovely meal for my birthday
3) Last weekend Ewan, Susie, Lorna and I went to mum and dads and tidied out the barn, you have to see the pile of stuff that is going in the skip to believe it. A lot of memories but in the end lots of things that I can live without so in the end I took my childhood teddy bear and a wooden propeller that I made at school. That's all I took from the barn.
4) Lorna and I went to Ikea (twice since the last update) and we were there for it opening, it was like a ghost town, just the way I like it
5) It was Armed Forces Day yesterday - Awesome!
6) it was 2535's annual dinner dance last night so Lorna and I popped along for a catch up with they guys, it was great to see how ell the squadron is getting on.
7) I have forgotten Everything I even knew about actionscript 3.0 if only I could go away for a week and work it out then I would be a happy camper!
8) I bought a load of 40K stuff for my birthday, which is a story in it's self (see the 40K subsite for more info on that one)
9) Got a fantastic email fro Dougie Ritchardson with a photo that is awesome the writing is quite hard to see but it says "Wish you were here Donald" (it must have been a Sunday!) What a guy, actually what a bunch of guys. Keep up the good work.

OK so that about sums up the last fortnight, other than to say I was so extraordinarily busy at work and oh yes, Eng er-land got a spanking.

Don

 

Tuesday 15/06/10 - The cold!

Well it had to happen! the sun finally comes out of retirement, only for me to catch the summer cold that is doing the rounds. I have slept for a total of 4 hours in 2 nights and I am feeling a little worse for wear!

Still on the plus side I got my iphone today, it is a thing of beauty but I am worried that I have signed a 2 year deal. Hey ho its the way things are these days I guess. So now I have an 8 month old Ipod touch 32Gb for sale, it cost me £230 8 months ago and I am looking for £130 it is in mint nick as it has been in a case since the day i got it, give me a shout if you want it.

Other than that I have been marking exams for the ATC this week, it is a very boring job but someone has to do it eh? I have also been spending a bit of time with my other site, trying to get that finished by June 23rd (not looking good!) but I will see what I can do.

 

 

Thursday 10/06/10 - Housemartins, birthdays and ruby weddings

It was a packed week this week, work was a total and utter pain in the arse this week, I stayed lated every single day and was getting mucked about something cronic. However lots else going on last weekend.

On Friday it was the surprise Ruby wedding party for Uncle William and Auntie Jessie. It was a great night, and the oldies were giving it wahoo long after us young ones had started to go to bed. It was great to finaly get a chance to speak to some of Lorna's family, it is the same old story isn't it, weddings and funerals! So the party went on for ages, and as it was in the bowling club it was a fairly priced night.

It was also Graeme and Lesley's pool party, no...wait it was supposed to be a barbeque! It was a great night but we haven't rain like that in these parts for years. The garden was actualy flooding at one point. The food was ace, I had a my first burger in 8 weeks! but for once I didn't over do it. Lorna got chatting to the rest of the women, and guys just talked about guy things. Very much a plesant valley Sunday (but on a Saturday if you see what I mean). The night took an unexpected turn when the "Dance Star" game come on for the wii. it was very close to my idea of hell (but without the celeary). It was a great night and we loved it. We lived in the next street for years and as soon as we move we have a BBQ!

And so onto Sunday, It was Dads birthday. Ewan and Suzie were supposed to be coming but they couldn't make it in the end. That was a great shame as we hadn't seen them since they got back from their honeymoon. Mum and Dad were on fine form and we enjoyed the time together. Dad got an africa set from us to open, as he only told us what he wanted on the Friday (2 model railway trucks on ebay!) So they are yet to arrive. The shows arrived as per usual so there was the setting up of the clothes peg factory or whatever it is that they are doing in the feild. Dad got chocolate doughnuts from mum. Only my dad! So when I asked him if he felt any older, he said he stopped looking for signs a long time ago and he just enjoys himself now. I wish that Dad would get going on his model railway, it is such a shame that he has all the stuff and no track. It is my mission to get him up and running before September so watch this space.

We have housemartins nesting in the eves of the house, whilst I know its good luck, it will shortly become a massive pain in the bum, as it is right next to our bedroom window, and little chicks make a lot of noise.

 

 

Wednesday 02/06/10 - The Marines and the 'Nids fight it out

Well it finally came down to it tonight, the grudge match to end all grudge matches. Dave and I fight it out in the 40K universe but who won?

Click here to find out

Monday 31/05/10 - Aaron is a year older than me!

In the time of chimpanzees I was a monkey
Butane in my veins and I’m out to cut the junkie
With the plastic eyeballs, spray-paint the vegetables
Dog food stalls with the beefcake pantyhose
Kill the headlights and put it in neutral
Stock car flamin’ with a loser and the cruise control
Baby’s in reno with the vitamin d
Got a couple of couches, sleep on the love-seat
Someone came sayin’ I’m insane to complain
About a shotgun wedding and a stain on my shirt
Don’t believe everything that you breathe
You get a parking violation and a maggot on your sleeve
So shave your face with some mace in the dark
Savin’ all your food stamps and burnin’ down the trailer park
Forces of evil on a bozo nightmare
Ban all the music with a phony gas chamber
’cuz one’s got a weasel and the other’s got a flag
One’s on the pole, shove the other in a bag
With the rerun shows and the cocaine nose-job
The daytime crap of the folksinger club
He hung himself with a guitar string
A slab of turkey-neck and it’s hangin’ from a pigeon wing
You can’t write if you can’t relate
Trade the cash for the beef for the body for the hate
And my time is a piece of wax fallin’ on a termite
who's chokin’ on the splinters

 

So I hope you enjoyed that, I know I did. So many things I would love to do, but so little time to do any of them. I had a dream that I wrote a screenplay for a Hollywood movie staring Paul Rudd and Ron Livingston. WIERD. I also have an idea of producing WW2 nose art panels. I know I know slightly mental but hey that's the way it goes.

I was ill again on Sunday, I can't go back to that again. I don't want to spend 2 weeks in bed in agony, come to think of it I don't want to spend two weeks in agony anywhere! I might settle for two weeks in agony at the ministry of burlesuqe but thats about it.

The big fight has to happen this week, Dave has wimped out so many times. Its time to stamp out the bugs once and for all.

Lorna and I were in Glasgow on Saturday (always a pleasure) so we were going about our business when we bumped into Colin and Elaine, they were on route to buy a pram for their baby who is due on Thursday. Awesome to see them and they promised a suitably gushing picture of their happy family just as soon as they can.

On the way back we stopped in world-of-hobby-warhammer-craft-war-world-hobby, so I got myself some more paints (a whole £6 worth as I was feeling flush).

The rest of the weekend consisted of me fixing the chest of drawers (very proud of myself as it happens as I had to make the parts to fix it from scratch, but I did so with the help of my power tools and my workmate), having a chinese on Saturday night, and watching the entire season 3 of big bang theory on replay. Love it!

I know it must not seem very rock and roll, but the truth is our life is about trying to get the house the way we want it bit by bit. We completely changed beech place in 20 weekends, but by the end of it we were sick of the sight of the place. This time we are trying to do a little every weekend and still taking time to try and relax a little.

I am wondering about my job lately. I am not aware that it is in any way under threat, but I heard from a friend that a lot of IT jobs will be heading to India in the next 12 months. I know we are not really IT, but it makes you think. What would happen if we lost our jobs? could I make a living writing screen plays (that is a joke by the way) or making customer nose art panels and selling them (that is not a joke) I know if I had the money I would love something like that, but would anyone else? Answers on a postcard please.

 

Wednesday 26/05/10 - Black

Yesterday was a bad day, it was one of those days where you feel so angry with things that you are constantly covered in a thin layer of sweat, and you have a constant buzz in the back of head, it's like a radio that is slightly out of tune. What else has been going on? well at this moment the bank are trying to explain to me that the changes to my terms and conditions they are making are in some strange way a good thing.

I feel so utterly betrayed (again) all I ask for is the chance and the tools to do a good job.

I tried to get to the gym yesterday but I had a wing meeting to go to so yet another day went by without going to the gym. I am still going strong on the diet front and walking whenever I can.

Its not long until the traditional swing date of the year (the cosford weekend) alas I am not going, I feel that I am going to miss out as it has been the the main date in my diary for the last 10 years, and yes it was a pain in the arse to look after some of the young ones, but the majority of them were great kids and I enjoyed spending some time with them. Cosford has a unique smell (old aircraft and sunscreen) and I was thinking about trying to go down there on my own to make sure I got my annual fix, as I doubt I will be going for a few years.

I am frustrated with the perceived lack of progress with my 40K army, I know how much work has been going on in the background, but it doesn't look like it at the moment. At this time it looks like I might just finish my army by the 23rd of June.

 

Monday 24/05/10 - Back in the box

Hello,

This weekend was stunning, it was such a great feeling to cut the grass, do my chores and then sit in the sunshine out back and read a book. The weather was 23 degrees on Sat and 21 degrees on Sunday.

That's not to say that I didn't get any work done, far from it but it was good just to have an hour or so to read barefoot in the garden. Poor Lorna was working, but when she came back, we had Aaron round for a visit. We sat out in the evening sun and just chatted for hours. I had found the time on Friday night to base coat my bike squad, so they are ready for painting.

On Sunday I managed to pop round to 2535 and see some old friends, there was a training day up at the unit, so I waited until it was time for lunch and then popped in. I miss the place like crazy, but I guess that's a closed chapter of my book.

Mum and Dad came round for dinner yesterday and Dad loved it because it reminded him of being in the Med, lovely weather and the smell of good food wafting across him. We sat and had a lovely dinner of steak and veg, it was all very grown up.

The heat in the house last night was so high that we slept with the windows open, it was an amazing experience to wake up this morning to the sound of bird song and bright daylight. It was only 2 weeks ago I had to scrape snow off my car ?

Anyway Ashes to Ashes ended and what a twist! I won't tell you that Gene was Sam all along and that Bollie is a 4 year old.

Speaking of giving away the plot, we watched the time travelers wife last night and it was amazing. What a great story. On Saturday night we watched the men who stare at goats, it was MAD but it made me laugh a lot. Both films are worth seeing for different reasons.

Thursday 20/05/10 - Shattered!

This week has been all about the project I am working on at the moment. We spent all day on Tuesday filming for the project and although I knew it was going to take a while, I wasn't prepared for how shattered I would be at the end of the day. This project has been the mainstay of my work for the last few months and I can't wait for it to be over and finished.

Lorna and I watched a program the other night called "The Scheme" it is a fly on the wall documentary about life for 6 families in a run down scheme in ayrshire. The place looks as rough as a badgers arse, second only to the collection of petty thieves, thugs and wannabe hoods that inhabit the place. I think children at 14 should be forced to watch it at school, with the message "stay in school, or see what happens to you".

We had an old friend from School come round to give us a quote for painting the Living room last night, so we hope that the work can be carried out shortly.

Ewan and Suzie finally got away on their Honeymoon, I am not sure of all the details but I know that they were delayed for ages because of the volcanic ash cloud. So I will no doubt be able to post a picture here shortly. Mum and Dad are looking after the two cats for them and by all accounts they are petrified (the cats, not mum and dad).

I picked up my modeling tools for the first time in a month last night, I am getting to the end of my build list (which I hope to have completed by my birthday) so I rate my chances of doing that at 50/50. Dave is trying to get me to start another army, but as I keep telling him, I want to have a complete army, all done all painted and on the shelf so that I can pull down any unit I want to without having to use the "counts as" rule. I doubt I will have the time in the future to start anything so it's a case of thanks but no thanks.

Finished building the bikes so here is a picture

 

 

Wednesday 12/05/10 - Grrrrrr bear with sore head/neck/arms/back

I am not sure what is wrong with me today, just not working properly. Couldn't call in sick today as it is a critical day (and a week come to think of it). Slowly trying to sort out some of the junk that is still in the house from the previous owners, after 5 months we are still getting to the bottom of all their crap.

Lost 7 lbs last week, and although I am stoked to have done that, it just goes to show how much I have left to shift. I have been having a fairly black week this week, with nothing to look forward to (except the one Chinese meal that I get a week).

No energy and bad sleep is a bad combo.

Monday 10/05/10 - Chopping up the page!

Well today I split the page, as it was starting to cause people a whole load of problems with loading (it was far to big)

Sooooo, for now (until I get the new site up and ready) You can access the previous blog (2009) by clicking here

On other news, the weekend was very busy, but fun as well. Lorna and I had a chat on Friday night (after a "great" session in the gym) about some of the jobs that she wanted done around the house. So "The List" was written. Fast forward to Saturday morning and a trip to B&Q to buy paint, rollers, brushes, tape, dust sheets and fence brush.

The bedroom was the first to get the treatment (well, it was number 1 on the list) so I took the time to prep the job (moving everything, dust sheets down and masking tape on all the edges) I promised myself I wouldn't get stressed doing this job. It was touch and go a few times, but the end results are truly impressive. After the art club it was down to Mhairi and Ivo's for a BBQ (by this time the sun was splitting the trees). We had a good time, it was great to catch up with everyone. When we came home we watched Avatar on blu ray (wow!). Lorna has never seen dances with wolves so she didn't know it was a remake.

Currie won the Rugby league and Dad is supper stoked, and what a way to win the league! just shy of 1,000 points in 21 games.

So the diet has lasted a week so far and I am doing OK, didn't crack at the weekend and that is something to be proud off. I have been out walking or at the gym every night and so far I am still alive. OK time to upload this.

Wednesday 05/05/10 - the result!

Well I went to the gym in the end and the result was even worse than I feared. I am officially the heaviest I have ever been.

Its like the economy, everyone knows that massive cut backs are coming, but no one wants to think about it! I have sold all my shares in Doritos's, McDonalds and Twix (I am keeping the McCoy's just in case ;-) )

So look out for wall street panics starting now. The truth be told I am glad that I managed to get in the door and start addressing the problem, and I managed to do 425 calories. My usual old school effort was about 650 - 700 so I have a long way to go in order to recover my fitness. I was in some state when I left my t-shirt was wringing and stepping out into the cold air was a bit of a shock.

Tomorrow is election day and its days like these I wished that King Arthur was still kicking about, no mess no fuss, just pull the sword out of the stone and bob's your uncle. Not that I would trust any of those idiots with a sword.

Voda keep calling me to see if I want to upgrade my phone, but to be honest everyone is trying to get you into a 24 month contract, and I just don't believe that any phone will last 24 hours let alone 24 months.

The big grudge match between Dave and myself is almost here (it was supposed to be tonight), I can't wait to see his face when my army arrives and starts to dish out some of the emperors justice. I will only be able to try this once (he will learn how to defend against this attack very quickly, so it is a one trick pony (if you pardon the pun LOL)).

 

Tuesday 04/05/10 - Back from "Holiday" and going back to reality

Today was the first day back after being away on "holiday", so why the quote marks? well, it's like this...... Lorna and I went down to centre parcs last week, and we were so looking forward to having a nice relaxing break. It was all going so well, we had arranged to meet up with my workmates in a hotel in Kendal and have a meal. We did have a great time, but on the road back Lorna started to feel unwell. In the morning Lorna was super sick and basically spent the next 4 days in bed. I didn't want to leave her, because she was so sick, so I sat and watched crap TV and read my book.

Lorna is still unwell and has been signed off for a week. I went out on Friday night with the guys and we had a great time sitting round the fire telling tall tales and sipping some cider. We did something that I have been wanting to do for years, and that was to build a small structure that could be used in the future, so we built an OP at the East end of runway 24. At is ace and well done to Ross, Rob and Barry who all pitched in and built it. Dave also got his hands dirty, it was an eye opener for him, but he was very proud of his achievement.

The long overdue diet started today, I don't want to go on and on about this sort of thing but I have been a victim of my own stupidity. Before the crash I was going to the gym 3 times a week and looking good, after the crash I just couldn't face going out and slowly my weight has crept on and on and on and on and on and on and on and before I know it, I am back to what I started at 4 years ago. You can only tell yourself the your t-shirts must be shrinking in the wash for so long before you wake up and look at yourself in the mirror and BANG it hits you like a brick.

Lorna took a picture of me last week with my fabby new lawnmower, but I look so awful that I just stared at it. All that hard work down the pan. Sisyphus eat your heart out. I don't know how it happened but its the same thing "just one won't hurt" and before you know it you have had a whole big bag of doritos and you are wondering why your jeans don't button up?

I made this mess so it is down to me to fix it, and before I can do that I need to know how bad the damage is and yes my friends that means stepping on the scales for the first time in over a year.

I can't help but feel angry at the world, how could this happen to me? well no one forced me to eat crap all day long. I used to have a nice bowl of cereal in the morning, I did so for 2 years, then on the run up to last christmas I started having bacon rolls, and then I even started having bacon and tattie scone rolls. It was the same for lunch for 2 years I woke up early and made a sandwich for myself, then at some point I started to "forget" and then I would go and buy lunch in the canteen, and more often than not it would be chips. AAARRRGGGHHHH even as I type this I know how stupid I have been and I hate myself for being so stupid, when I lost all the weight (4 stone!) I bought some nice jeans and other clothes but in truth they have not fitted me for about 10 months now, why could I not have done something about it then it would have been so much easier. No not me I have to wait until it is so bad that even XL clothes are to tight.

Soooooo I am away to tesco on the way home tonight to get some supplies and then its off to the gym, not to break any world records but I need I starting position and this is where I find it.

I only know one way how to lose the weight and I will go back to it again. I will only loose 2lbs a week, but it is manageable and if I can use the D plan Mirror method of motivation then lets go and get on with it.

 

 

Sunday 18/04/10 - The day after the wedding

Well, after a year of planning Mhairi and Ivo got married yesterday, and it was a great day.

I could go into lots of detail about the last minute stresses and panic's but ultimately the day went well and above all it stayed dry (unlike today) so I think everyone was happy. As I mentioned Graeme and I took the pictures, so there are loads for them to review (I took over 500 alone!). It was great to see Roddy and the staff of the squadron, I miss these guys a lot. One of the highlights of the night was the lighting of chinese hot air lanterns, apart from being the most dangerous thing I have ever done (that didn't involve an assault rifle) it was great to see. I got mine up up and away, lots of others smacked into the building/cars/other people!

I don't want to go on about the wedding to much as it is not my story to tell.

I have been suffering this morning, but I did managed to get up in time to see the grand prix. I love this season, it is so interesting so far. Lots of rain/drama. Long may that continue.

OK I am going to call it quits at this point because I want to curl up and fall asleep!

 

Thursday 15/04/10 - Brizzle

Well, Dreamweaver is starting to struggle to open this page for editing so I think it is time for a redesign! The trouble is that I just don't have time to do it at the moment. So I am aware that the page is now to big and I will get round to doing something about it shortly (a few months).

So what else has been happening? well this week has seen Fraser and I take a trip to Brizzle (Bristol), as with all the best laid plans of mice and men, our plane was delayed by 3 hours on the way down, so our nice relaxing night was turned into a bit of a run around. We did manage to see the film Kick Ass, and I haven't enjoyed a film as much in ages. The meeting that we were down for went well and we are staring to work on the storyboard. There have been more than a few frustrations at work lately but slowly slowly catchy monkey.

After getting home and going straight to bed, I woke up in the morning feeling that I couldn't get out of bed, it was a real zombie walk to the shower, but somehow you manage to get moving again.

Lorna and I watched the film "Up" on blu ray, it was very good (although I must warn you that the first 10 minutes are nothing short of tragic, and don't be surprised if there are a few sniffs and "something in my eye"). The quality of the animation is top drawer and I just love the feel of the world that Pixar can create.

The election draws ever closer and to be honest I hate the lot of them, I find it a real shame that we are looking to elect the best of a bad bunch rather than the person who is best for the job.

I am trying to find the time to start on my vindicator, as you know I am trying very hard to complete my army by June, but at this rate it is not going to happen, must re-focus and get on with it. Roddy sent me some pictures of his latest creations and I am not even going to try and compete, they are some of the finest painted minatures I have seen this year, it makes me sick that he is so talented. I speed painted my marine squad last week and they look "OK" and that's the best I am going to get.

Mhairi and Ivo get married on Saturday, I am looking forward to it, I bet the nerves are starting to get towards fever pitch now!

Yesterday was the second anniversary of the car crash, I am still not happy about it and still have some issues with extreme hyper-violent tendencies, but I hope that I can get some help with that, and that I can get on with what's important, and that is living life!

Spanky's film was good, it was quite blair witch in it's style, and as I didn't know what to expect I was quite plesently surprised. I managed to get into the credits, and that is a good day out in anyones book. The film is of a book called hater and keep an eye out for it!

Thursday 08/04/10 - MFA sign off and Airplane!

This page is getting far to big to cope with the year and a bits worth of data on it. By now the WW4 should have been launched and it will be at some point in the future, just not anytime soon.

So what has been happening? well this week has been all about work, my team and I have been busy little geek's and have been slaving away over our keyboards. We had a part 1 sign off call yesterday and the part 2 sign off today and I am very glad to say that it has been signed off and approved so it will go live shortly (to an audience of about 6,000).

On the other side of the news, we have been lucky to have watched some movies this week (Marley and Me, The Hurt Locker and something else that was so good I have forgotten already).

Mhairi's wedding looms ever closer, and I have asked to borrow Brian's camera to use for the "official" shots as ultimately it is better than mine.

I managed to play a little bit of DOW2 tonight and I loved it, very different game from the original. I used to love building up an unstoppable army and swooping down on the enemy and crushing them, but you just can't do that with this version of the game.

Not heard from Ewan and Suzie for a while, but as soon as I hear anything I will let you know.

Spanky has his film premier on Saturday night so I am looking forward to going along to that, my name might even be in the credits!

I sent Gordon a message reminding him just how funny the film airplane is. The bit where the real Ethel Merman is trying to get out of the bed is just fantastic, and I hope it made him laugh.

I have started a 40K blog on the 40K site, I was aware that some people have ZERO interest in 40K so I thought I better separate the two sites. Very few people have commented on the 40K site, so it is something that I might have to look into when re-designing this site.

 

Tuesday 06/04/10 - Easter is over

Hello, just to let you all know that the grand prix was OK, I enjoyed my easter egg and I completed my tactical squad and the squad of snipers I have been working on for an age.

Lorna and I went to Mum and Dads for Sunday lunch (it was lamb and it was fantastic!) we had a good old chat and then came back up the road to watch the film body of lies. It was OK.

Pics to follow, but Update overdue!

 

Sunday 04/04/10 - Easter

Hi everyone,

I need to learn an important lesson in life, no matter how tempting it is to have an afternoon snooze, NEVER do it. I finally got to sleep at 4 AM this morning and now its 09:36 so you do the maths, was it worth it? NOOOOO.

I have set myself the goal of finishing my army by my birthday, and I think I realised just how hard that is going to be. I worked on a tactical squad and a scout squad on Friday and Saturday and they are almost there, I will finish them today. I took my "best endeavours" approach to painting and to be honest the results aren't bad, but also not up to my usual standards. I remember during a stand down 2 years ago I was painting my first full tactical squad, one a night (about 2 and a half - 3 hours). Yes I was a perfectionist, and the guys look great but when something nasty hits your squad and kills 3 of them before they get a shot off, it can be a mega sized pain in the arse.

So I will be updating the 40K site as soon as I get them finished.

I went out and cleaned Lorna's car yesterday. It must have belonged to someone who parked under a tree or next to a landi as if you looked closely in the "not normally seen" areas, there were green marks. I took some wipes and scrubbed them all clean. I know if you were to look at my car you wouldn't think it had ever been washed let alone the green bits cleaned away from under the bonnet, but hey!

I watched the Grand Prix qualifying yesterday and I think a team with coco the clown could have done a better job than Mclaren, If I was Lewis Hamilton I would be thinking of a move next year!

Lorna and I watched a film last night called "the complete history of my failed relationships" it was brilliant. A ultra low budget, a bit like king of kong, you never knew if it was real or fake. There was no denying that the guy was speaking to his ex's and wow I thought I had screwed up some relationships in the past, but this guy was a walking disaster.

It was funny to watch but ultimately tragic at the same time, it was a film 4 special so no doubt it will be on again.

It was the debut of the new doctor who last night and I have to say I quite enjoyed it. I am not sure why, its children's sc-fi, but that doesn't make it crap. It also helped that the new assistant made her first appearance dressed as a police woman kiss-a-gram. She told the doctor "you are lucky it was this or the french maid" I know which one I would have preferred!

So I am now going to make breakfast and hopefully watch the race.

Monday 29/03/10 - Halifax and the rain

Well I am sorry it has taken so long to update the site, I have had so many things going on, that it was impossible for me to update the site.

Broadband has finally been installed, although the term broadband might be slightly misleading. I am getting about 2 Mb as a maximum so it is a pain in the bum to load big sites, but it is better than nothing and apparently BT are upgrading all the exchanges in time for the 2012 olympics, but I will believe it when I see it.

When I was waiting for broadband to go live I took the plunge and installed Windows 7. It is a nice looking OS but I had a few issues with backing up and activation other older software. It is about 90% fixed and I hope to sort out the left over's soon.

The second grand prix of the season was amazing, it was non stop edge of your seat stuff and if the rest of the races are anything like that, then we will have the best season ever.

Lots of little things have been happening, like I bought a petrol mower for the new garden and this morning it was snowing! so I doubt I will be needing it any time soon.

Lorna is starting to feel a bit better, and she is hoping to be back at work shortly.

I am feeling a bit of a let down, because in the month of March I never so much as looked at a model and now I am wayyyy behind in my build plan, so it looks like I won't be finished by June the 23rd.

I am sitting in a hotel room in Halifax and guess what? it is peeing down again (Halifax is wetter than Atlantis), I thought the welcome to Perth and Kinross sign was always wet, but this place takes the biscuit.

 

Tuesday 16/03/10 - Glass Bars

Today I was working on a problem that has had me baffled for about 2 years. I wanted to make a glass bar as a vector graphic. If you think about a thermometer, or timeline that was the sort of thing I was looking for. I have tried many (MANY MANY MANY) times to build glass orbs for website's but they have always looked a bit naff, well today I built a black one then a green one and I can honestly say that they look amazing.

So I drove home very tired, and strangely happy. Don't worry it won't last!

Monday 15/03/10 - Calcutta cup draw, Mothers day and a lifelong dream

This week was a hard one, there were more technical problems at work with flash CS4 and although I did finish the animation I was working on, it took a long time.

This weekend saw the squadron go to Murryfield to be the flag bearers for the pre match. It was a very long day but I very good one.

On Sunday I got up early and made the soup for the dinner, it was a good omen that my first soup in the new house was as tasty as that. I was very proud of it. The whole family was there (Mum and Dad, Robert, Ewan and Suzie) it has always been a dream of mine to have my family round, in a new big house. I know it may seem stupid to some people but that is all I have ever wanted from life. My family round for a Sunday dinner and a nice house to have them round in.

The dinner was nice even though I would say that! It was steak pie, roasties and 3 veg. It was lovely. Suzie and Ewan made Banoffee pie and that was awesome. I did the dishes and mum dried them, we listened to the sounds of people having fun and enjoying themselves, and it all seemed worth while.

If you have been following the saga of the house move then you will know that we were put through hell and back, but at last I can say that it was worth it.

I have been toiling a bit with motivation lately, I haven't done anything with my marines for 3 weeks and although I had the chance the other night I just couldn't be bothered. I wouldn't mind so much but I have set myself the goal of completing my army by the 23rd June 2010 (notice I had to specify a year!). I don't know what os wrong with me in that respect, I just have no energy or get up and go. My motivation was motivated to move out.

Lorna is off work at the moment, the poor thing is so run down with everything that has happened to us over the last year.

 

 

Tuesday 09/03/10 - darkness

Yip, its all dark at the moment, I just can't shake myself out of this one. I have great news, my heart should be overflowing with joy, but its like having two lives, I can see both of them at the same time, but I get trapped in one or the other.

People say "I can see the light at the end of the tunnel" but the truth is, its like a mask I can slip on but I am always aware of it. Still ..... well I was trying to put something positive but the truth is I am toiling.

I have been trying so hard at work to be happy and positive but I am feeling so bored, not from lack of work, but the general feeling. I tried to build something in flash CS4 today and it would have taken me two hours this time last year but it took me all day, because I have lost what skills I had due to lack of practice.

That sucks!

So I am going to charge up the ipod tonight and try and stick it out tomorrow. Well I say that but I can't get itunes to work, that is one massive pile of crap.

I have been working on the letitblaw website, it is starting to fill up, but it is the same 3 or 4 people doing more or less everything.

Sunday 07/03/10 - Leaks, floors, MRI's and Victory

Well it has been a very action packed week. Work has been very strange but I am hoping that the strangeness will pass shortly as we have some exciting projects coming up. Thing just seem to be a bit all over the place at the moment.

On other fronts I played Rich on Wednesday night (see the full battle report on the 40k site) it was such a lot of fun to have him round. Dan was an excellent rules judge and it never fails to amaze me just how cool our little geeky hobby can be. Dave had to work, so he could not attend but i think next week is going to be a bit special because it is the dreaded nids taking the field for the first time since they got their new codex.

On Friday I worked from home in the morning and then went to glasgow to have my two MRI scans. The checklist was scary ("have you ever had metal particles in your eyes?") and then it was a case of having my chest screwed down to the bench and then my head and neck imobilised. I went into the machine and I kept my eyes closed for the whole time. Hollywood did not prepare me for the bloody noise of the thing BANG BZZZZZ BANG BANG BANG BANG BZZZZZZZZ After the first scan (15 minutes) I was starting to feel very unwell I had a strange sort of motion sickness, and considering I couldn't move that is a bit strange. The guy could see I was not enjoying it one bit and pulled me out. He gave me the option of calling it a day, but I was there to find out what is wrong with me and therefore I was going to give the doctors everything they had asked for and I would just have to suck it up. When I went into the machine for the second time I went further in and my arms were up against the sides so I was literality trapped. God alone knows the trauma that people in earthquakes must go through, I knew I was only in it for 30 minutes and that was 29 and a half minutes to long.

On Saturday the guy came to replace the flooring as agreed at 8am, and as with everything in this house I was not expecting it to go to plan, and within half an hour I was to be proved right. The guy had placed the flooring under the toilet and that had raised the pan 9mm and that in turn had put more pressure on the soil pipe, so guess what it started to leak. drip drip drip drip great! I borrowed a spanner from Aaron to try and fix it but no use. The shop had told me that 2 lengths of beading would be enough, but guess what we were 648mmm to short so I had to go back to the shop and get another bit.

So today the dinorod guy came out and pumped the seals full of silicone, and when I asked if that would be enough i was told "no worries".

Watched a great program on TV last night another good program from the comedy unit, it was called Burnistoun.

I went to see some people to catch up this weekend it was great to see or speak to so many of them. I still have a few people to catch up with.

Tuesday 02/03/10 - Weird

Hello everyone,

I had a very interesting day yesterday, I was with the team down in Kendal, to do an exercise know as colours profiling. It was a very interesting session as it forces you to look at how others see you. Now with me it was easy, every thinks I am the most awesome man on earth (and who am I to disagree?) No seriously it appears that I am forcing myself to live in a world that I have created because I have been programmed to believe that is what good and successful looks like. And living in the world take a lot of energy from me because it is like someone who is an actor playing a part 24/7 they are going to get tired of it eventually and want to take a day off.

I am supposed to be more blue than red, I am supposed to do a lot of thinking, but my job and life have forced me to become a take action type of person. A lot of why I am the way I am comes down to the squadron and everything I have learned there. I spent the 3 hours driving home wondering what sort of guy I would be if I allowed myself to be the real blue guy underneath the red exterior? How to screw with you mind eh? 3 hours of motorway driving and something like that bouncing around your skull.

 

Friday 26/02/10 - Snipers are finished

Well I took the plunge last night and said "I can't move until these snipers are finished" it took 3 hours but in the end I have a squad of 5 snipers and a further 4 bodies painted.

This week has been very difficult to get through. Mum and Dad bought a replacement car for mum (its purple!) they went to the auctions and I think they enjoyed the day out. The weather has been bad again this week with snow and sleet bashing down. I was an Wing HQ on Tuesday and have spent some time thinking about the way forward for the WAC.

I am so looking forward to this weekend, I need a chance to unwind a bit. I would love to eat some chili heat wave doritos but they don't like me as much as I like them.

Tuesday 23/02/10 - Sat about and did nothing

After the blog entry last night I thought "right, I will crack on with my snipers, I should be able to get them finished in a few hours". But I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Why not? not sure but it was a king size pain in the bum to go to bed not having finished them.

I am not sure why I don't have the motivation these days, everything seems like a big hassle and when I look at the mountain I just think, that's not worth climbing.

I was so angry at myself for not getting anything done last night that I was ill at 01:00 this morning and had to sit up until 02:00 un till the feeling of sickness had been overtaken by the need for sleep.

I had huge hopes of finishing my army by my birthday, but its not going to happen, I think that this might be part of the problem.

 

Monday 22/02/10 - Ewan has a goose and a scooter

Well Ewan turned 37 on the 18th, he had a good day on Sunday with the 6 of us having dinner at mum and dads. Lorna and I had gone to Ikea on Saturday (why does that place stress me out so much?) It was not to bad, but I hate it when I don't understand what Lorna is trying to do with a room, I trust her 100% as she has made every room brilliant, its the not understanding the vision that gets me. After Ikea we went to Costco, I have to say its not bad but its not as special as people made out. Still we did get a duvet set that Lorna loved so it was worth it.

On Saturday night we went to Hong's with Steph and Dave it was one of the best nights out we have had in years, the conversation was funny and the food was excellent so all in all 10/10.

Work was just crap last week, but what can you do? you take the bullshit along with the paycheck.

Got a great long email from Arlene and Allan, so everything is going well in the land of the free.

I feel that I have forgotten something important, but I can't remember what it was. Lets have a quick recap, Mum sold another painting, Dad is knocking his pan in, Lorna and I are working away in the house and we hope to be ready to have people round after next weekend.

We were using the freeview built into the TV, but to be honest is was rubbish, not a patch on mum and dads, but that was the fault of the ariel. So today I went and bought "Council Sky" which is freesat. The box took 5 minutes to set up and it is amazing! Wish we had done that a month ago.

I am being sent to the hospital in Glasgow for some MRI scans to see if anyone has managed to knock some sense into me, I doubt it but it, but its worth the look.

Oh I am sure I will have offended someone by leaving out some update, but I am shattered and I want to go to bed.

Sunday 14/02/10 - A love affair with life?

Well the hot water situation looks at last that it is sorted out (he said just after getting out of a lovely shower). One less thing to worry about I guess? We got our cheque from the original people, so from that point of view that's two of the nightmares sorted out just another two to go and we will be laughing.

We hope that Allan spoiled Arlene on her Birthday, I am willing to bet that they are on holiday somewhere, our best wishes wherever you are.

I have been feeling pretty black again, I can see it coming, but i just can't seem to get out of its way. This weekend has been really bad, I had such a grump on all weekend. I am very busy at work at the moment, but that in its self in no big deal, I am not sure what is wrong but donnie darko was waving to me in the mirror again, so It looks like another few weeks of riding the storm until it passes. That being said I am being sent for an MRI scan in the next few weeks, loads of people are saying that it is a very scary experience but to get to the bottom of what is wrong with me, it will be worth it.

I have been feeling so black, that I just couldn't find the (search for right word.....its not motivation nor energy or drive or ...... Nope I just can't find it) to finish painting my sniper scouts. I painted the legs and then based them, so they are not a million miles away from being finished, but something just robbed me of my life this weekend. I know that is melodramatic but it is the truth. Something is stopping me from being me at the moment.

Sam Martinez is 100 years old on Thursday, how awesome is that? Sam worked for my Grandad and then my dad, and a nicer person you couldn't hope to meet. I love that guy, he is so happy and joyful, I hope that someone makes a film about his life. So Happy Birthday Sam.

Dan has been working on the fluff for his regiment, and has produced a great back story. It has put me to shame, so I had better get my thinking cap on and start work on mine.

I worked hard in the house this weekend, I took 2 full car loads full of rubbish to the tip, I know that doesn't sound a lot but it was. I went up the loft again and pulled down about 80% of the previous owners junk and skipped it, that was at least a full car load. I found all sorts of stuff like bank statements, pay slips etc, but Lorna and I shredded them all.

It is Valentines day today and I went down to the local shop (for local people) and got some stuff for breakfast. I was standing in the queue and there was this guy in front of me buying a bunch of roses for his wife. He was telling the lady that he was being charged double, she explained that she had charged him the price, to which he said "naw hen, the label said half price" I was standing next to the bucket and I saw that the poster was referring to the boxes of milk tray above the roses (the poster did say milk tray). She pointed this out to the guy who then made a big song and dance about it being a rip off. His parting comments to the woman behind the till was "I don't really care, because they only reason she is getting flowers is because I am ofski to ibrox today" as I commented to the stunned looking woman, who says romance is dead!

I got a lovely framed picture of Lorna, I shall be keeping it beside me at work.

I went down to mum and dads on Saturday and wired in their freeview box and TV, they get a much better signal than we do, so I was gutted when I saw they got film 4 and Dave, the 2 channels I would watch, but can't get a signal for.

Thursday 11/02/10 - Dare we hope the the gas is now fixed?

Well they guy came as he promised, and also his boss arrived to make sure that it was fixed. Fair play to the guy he was very straight to the point and got on with the job and was able to tell me straight away that the main PCB was the wrong one and he replaced it with the right one. Almost straight away the heating and warm water started to work.

So finally I hope that this is the end, apart from the fact that the house is missing a wire from the boiler to the hot water pump. I have been told to go back to the builders and ask them to install it. I think that I have a snowballs chance in hell of getting it sorted, but I have asked for their help anyway.

On the plus side we have been told that the people who originally bought the house, have settled, and we hope to be able to draw a line under that. And on a similar note, the lawyers acting on my behalf for the crash, have been in touch and I will be going for my MRI scan soon. So I hope that I can get to the bottom of the ongoing issues.

I have been trying to do a little every night with my models, just to try and get my army finished before my birthday. I am not sure how realistic that is, we will have to wait and see. I have completed the weapon load for the valk, and I do feel that it looks awesome. I can honestly say that I am very pleased with it.

Mum and Dad are looking for a replacement car (mums MG was scrapped) so I will be going to the auctions with dad at some point soon.

Lorna and I are still not moved into our bedroom yet, but we hope that we can at least get sleeping in the room by the end of this weekend. I fear that this weekend will be another "roll up the sleeves" and "load number 4 for the dump" but slowly we are getting there.

The guys from the Squadron were on the TV at the start of the Scotland V France game, considering Graeme arranged this on his own, with a complete nightmare of people dropping out at the last second, he did a stellar job.

It was a sad time for me, because I was in my livingroom, looking on. I found myself standing in the middle of the livingroom floor, and it was only after the first 10 minutes of the game I realised that I had no recollection of wanting to stand there? very strange.

Still it is Valentines Day shortly, and then it is Ewan's birthday. Man this year is just screaming past.

Monday 08/02/10 - Gas Saga (anyone fancy making a TV program about it?)

Ok just a very quick one, the Field Service manager never called back despite all the voice mails I left him.

At 3 pm another engineer called to say that he would be round tomorrow. I told him that it was another day, and no one seemed to be that bothered but he was tidying out a van so he couldn't come tonight.

He is coming after work tomorrow, and I doubt it will get fixed but there you go.

Painted my thunderfire cannon tonight, seriously the worst paint job I have ever done, but I am trying to get rid of my backlog before the summer, so keep an eye out for some other models.

Bye!

 

Sunday 07/02/10 - At home - but getting ready for a hell of a week!

Hi everyone, just managing to jump online and drop these blog's. I found out last week that Talktalk have not put through the order for my broadband so I don't know when it is coming. Not a very good start all in all.

Anyway, the people at the old house are still trying to say that the boiler is unsafe and that we need to replace it. So we now have the paperwork that proves that the boiler was fine. I just wish that they would go away, they have ripped out the bathroom and other bits and bobs so I doubt they would have done that if the boiler was not working.

Anyway today I spent a few hours doing something that I was afraid of doing. When Lorna and I decided to sell the house, or life was sort of put on hold. One of the first things I did was to pack away all my 40K stuff as it took up a lot of space. So now we have moved into the new house it had been 5 months since I had done any painting or building and I had the time today to do some but I was finding any excuse not to do it. I am ashamed to admit that I was strangely afraid. I am not sure what brought that feeling on but I had a real fear about being crap. So I sat down and spoke to myself (I like to do that as I usually agree with what I am saying).

The basics of the conversation were simply that I spend far to much time on painting my models and yes, I am very pleased with the results I just don't have the time to devote to that level of painting any more. So what I did was tell myself that I would use the ironclad dreadnought as a test. If I could get possible results without spending hours and hours, I should lower the standard and try and paint more quickly.

So as an experiment it went quite well, the results are about 75% of what I would have hoped for but done in 25% of the time. The whole thing took about 3 hours.

So this week I have a load on, but I hope to be back on most nights.

Ciao

Don

 

 

TFI Friday 05/02/10 - On a train (just passed York)

Well this is a new one for me, blogging at 70 MPH I just wished it was in more comfort. The train is over crowded and very hot (I think that is all the bodies). Why are you doing this? well I had to get up at oh deary me hours this morning to drive to Livi North (no parking at bathgate) to get the 7 AM train into Edinburgh and then on to Leeds.

I had a few good meetings today and It has been a good days work, but I am not going to get home until 8PM and that is a very long day. I wish I could say that I was looking forward to the weekend but the truth is I am not. There is so much to do in the house, but no matter how much work you do, there is still another box to unpack and more junk to get rid off. I just remembered that the blue bin went out today and I didn't remember at 06:00 this morning so it is another 2 weeks with a full blue bin. Oh well never mind.

The gas saga continues to roll on, and I have asked every day for an update but to no avail (and if they are trying just now it won't work because all calls get dropped). I will spare you the saga, but considering how long this has gone on I think that I better try and keep track of the nightmare.

15th Jan called to get an engineer , none available have to wait until the 18th.

18th Jan, early morning a gas guy calls to say he is on his way, nothing happens then I get a call back saying that he was at the end of the street but couldn't do the job as I needed a higher level of gas fitter. Later on a gas fitter arrives and tells us that the PCB and fan are gone, and that he will have to order parts

19th gas fitter comes back with parts, he can't get the fan off so he needs to get another engineer out, the 2nd one gets the fan off. The 1st guy replaces the PCB on bare metal and blows it up.

20th nothing happens

21st field manger sends out two more guys to fix it , they are here most of the day and get the heating working, but there is a hushed conversation about the type of board that they have brought (to replace to blown up one) Meanwhile the customer service office have made a complete hash of callbacks etc.

Heating now works but hot water not working. More calls to scottish gas

Next engineer comes and replaces a pump in the storage area. tells me it is fixed.

We gave it a 24 hrs like he asked still no hot water

Another 2 engineers (and several broken promises later) they arrive and find it not working but can't fix it. They tell me they are coming back in the morning.

Mum comes and looks after the house, the two guys come back and then say that they can't fix the fault and that the house is wired wrong.

I chase the boiler installer, they say nothing to do with us, they point me to the builders, they say nothing to do with us.

I got a call from John at the call centre and he tells me that the service I have had so far has been "awful" and that he will get it sorted for me.

I finally get a call from the service manager 48 hours later. He will come at some point on Monday to look at the job himself.

So it has been ongoing since the 18th Jan and if that is not enough to put you off, I am not sure what will.

 

 

Thursday 04/02/10 - the breaking point

First things first HAPPY BIRTHDAY ARLENE, Lorna and I send our best wishes and an invitation to stay (when we have hot water anyway).

Hello everybody peeps,

So today was a day that I said

"THOU SHALL NOT PASS"

I am feed up with the muppets that are a blight on the earth and are a waste of good oxygen. The gas manger called last night and said "OK so we can't say what we said to you and we were stupid to try". Then today the solicitor never called back as promised so I kicked off at the company when they told me that she was off and wouldn't be back until Monday (despite promising me that she would call me back today).

So the phone rings and it is one of the partners of the law firm, and he was going to call me tomorrow when he looks over the notes, but we agreed to leave it until Monday because I am going to be all over the place tomorrow.

So how am I getting to update the website? well I am doing it from my mobile so that's why things are small and it takes an age but it is worth it to get the blog on the go again.

Roddy called today to let me know that they have just bought a new car (a focus c-max) so it sounds very nice and has a load of toys.

 

Wednesday 03/02/10 - Please avoid Scottish Gas

Well folks engineers number 8 and 9 came today and guess what, they are now saying that the house has been wired up wrong.

So in effect they have attempted to fix it 6 times and they still don't know what is wrong so they are now trying to blame someone else.

I am so disappointed, We have been so badly let down.

Speaking of let downs I was waiting to hear back from irwin Mitchell and they keep fobbing me off, and today I started to say enough is enough people better start sorting things out for me, or it is not going be pretty.

Work was a bit of a mare the last few days, and it looks like things are going to keep on getting crazy.

 

Tuesday 02/02/10 - Our hot water is still not right!

Well today as I write this we still have not hot water (supplied by the boiler anyway) the 8th engineer came today and guess what now he is blaming the problems of the heating system of the builder of the house who they claim "has wired up your house wrong". Now I have heard of clutching at straws but this is getting ridiculous.

Had some rubbish news on the squadron front, disappointing. I spent all day on Sunday in Gala at the training officers conference which was a good day, if not a little tiring.

On Monday I had another early start as we had to drive down to Kendal to have a team meeting. It is a long drive, but not as long as Leeds which was the other option. On the plus side we had a brand new mondeo (which had a load of toys) and we also had a great lunch. I had the cruise control on for nearly the whole journey home and it made the whole experience a lot less stressful.

 

Thursday 28/01/10 - We have moved

 

Thursday Well, I am just on to tell you that we did in the end move house. It wasn't without its fair share of disasters but the important thing is that after 14 days we are finally being able to enjoy our new house.

When we opened the door there was the sound of rushing water and Ewan discovered that the en suite shower had burst and was flooding the place.

Next was the heating, it packed in and took 5 days to fix

after that it was that hot water, which is still not right, but we are just putting up with it for the moment.

We are asking people for a few more weeks until we can get the repairs done, before we show you the house so if you can give us that time then that would be great.

After that, we are expecting lots of visits (if you all have your jags and passports)

Thanks for the cards and well wishes we have received, they are fantastic.

Much more to come, but only when I get broadband back (looks like it will be another 3 weeks at least).

 

Friday 08/01/10 - Standing by (and happy 18th Nikki Hill)

Well if all goes well in a weeks time we will be in our new house. I say that with trepidation as you know that we have been at the point of driving off in the van before and it never happened.

We are getting all sorts of other items of small problems, like the storage area having it's roof come in, and the owner of the house making us pay him compensation. But Lorna and I have decided to say "if you don't laugh, you will cry" so that is the way forward for the moment.

I am closing down the blog as of this update for at least 2 weeks, we won't have the internet in the new house for at least that length of time. I am guessing that it might be closer to 4 weeks but hey ho.

Wish us luck.

Don and Lorna

 

Wednesday 06/01/10 - The first blog of the year

Happy New Year !

Hello everyone, I hope that you all had a great New Year. Lorna and I had a quiet one at home on our own, as the weather was too bad to go out and see anyone.

It looks like this move is going ahead and we don't have long to pack so I am going to keep this short and sweet.

Roddy has paid a few visits over the last few days, it was great to see him again. Roddy and I went up to pick up the chinese meal and it was a great laugh driving in the snow (and to be fair he only got it stuck once!) Funny when I ordered from the menu I wasn't expecting the sideways chicken fried rice to be delivered sideways!

Lorna and I went down to see mum and dad last night and we stayed for dinner, they have had a bad time of it with the weather but are in good spirits (baileys I think).

 

Thursday 31/12/09 - The last blog of the year

Well it has come time to write the last blog of the year. It is still freezing outside and even 10 minutes ago is was snowing, so I feel like this was the first real winter time we have had in an age (10 years I think). I have already given a highlight of the year blog, but this is chance to look forwards.

2010 - well Lorna and I are looking forward to it for obvious reasons, shortly we shout be living in our new house but i don't want to say to much about it because I got all excited about it the last time and look what happened. I can't believe that we will start writing 2010 as from tomorrow.

I remember when Ewan and I were young and playing in the park ar Muirwood Road in Currie, we got some sort of cards about cars (like cigarette cards as I recall) and one of them showed a yellow hover car (the sort of thing you saw in the Jetsons) and it said that by the year 2010 we would all be driving hover cars. Ewan had to try and explain how far away that was (I was hoping that it was the next week, or possibly the week after) he said "but when the time gets to there, we will be very old". It is amazing to think how long ago that was and if only I still had that card I would be taking the printers to court under the trade descriptions act. I would have been 5 or 6 so it was at least 27 years ago, how time flys (boom boom!).

OK so I have been checking of the tasks that I want to do in 2009 and there was one that was bugging me, the 40K subsite had been left to rot, and I wanted to revamp it. I have spent the last 2 days doing exactly that, I love the logo and the look and feel of it. You can access it by clicking on this text

That will give you a taste of the new wolfworks (wolfworks 4 if you can believe it?) Which should be ready for launch in February 2010. I hope you like the styling, I am so proud that I am making these sites without Joomla or any kind of CMS. How long can I keep going? I am not sure but then again, as long as I enjoy it?

So on that note, thanks to all our friends, thanks to our wonderful family we would not have survived this year without you.

All the very best for 2010

Don and Lorna

 

Tuesday 29/12/09 - Didn't they do well?

Christmas day has come and gone, and I am glad to report that Santa was able to put in an appearance despite the current financial situation. Santa got the message that I like practical stuff, so here is a brief roll call;

Drill bit set
Sander
Rotary multi tool
Spork
Raven Wing (no, not an actual one, but a 40K unit)
Hat
Slippers
Hip Flask
Aftershave
Ikea voucher

Our Christmas started on Christmas eve when Lorna and I cranked up the heating and snuggled down with a glass of port to watch the Muppet Christmas Carol. It never fails to amaze me how they managed to get it so right with that film, it is like someone switching on a light that makes it Christmas. And so with a few glasses inside me we went up stairs to a warm and toasty bed to await the sound of the big man on the roof.

In the morning we got up and made breakfast, Mum and Dad arrived, but couldn't get up the drive due to the snow and that Dad has racing slicks on his car! Finally after getting a push from some kind people we were able to sit down and open some presents. As I mentioned already we were spoiled rotten with good gifts, including a Raven Wing attack force for my space marines. It was a total shock, but apparently Santa had realised that I had bid on a few of these on ebay and never won one so Santa stepped in and got me my very own one.

After mum and dad left we headed up to see Aaron before he left for his mums. It was great to see him, and we managed to cram a lot into our 30 minute catch up. Aaron was given a basket of pickles and sauces by mum and dad, which he loved! Aaron also gave us a box of sweets and magic candle that everyone has been ooohing and ahhhing at. It was then up to see Robert and Sonnas. Robert was full of festive cheer and he enjoyed opening his presents, it was the same as last year Robert enjoyed opening his presents and in particular a wooden woodpecker toy that didn't cost very much, but you just know that he will be playing with that for a long time to come.

Then it was off to Grant and Christine's to hand in their presents, I got a pizza cutter shaped like circular saw (which is razor sharp!) it was nice to be able to catch up with them as well. Christine always has more lights on her tree than anyone else I know and it always feels like Christmas in their house, I was reluctant to leave, but the thought of our dinner was starting to appear in my head.

When we got home I started on dinner and as we cooked the turkey the night before, we got dinner on the plate in 60 minutes. It was so nice to be able to devote all my attention on my lovely wife, when you have guests your attention is all over the place, but not this time.  After our dinner we watched a film and a few bits of TV then fell asleep on the couch.

On Boxing Day we had Mum and Dad, Robert and Sonnas over for dinner and it was a real military operation to make sure everything was ready at the right time (and the same time!) It took and age to prepare all the sprouts and carrots but it was well worth it, as everyone seemed to enjoy the dinner. I made my soup last weekend so that I could just unfreeze it and heat it up and that would be one less course to worry about, and I am glad to say that I think everyone enjoyed it. I changed the recipe to a ham stock and added smoky bacon.

So after dinner Mum and Lorna went and did the dishes and the men folk talked about cars, so all in all it was a great stereotypical family meal. Sonnas who was a good boy all day, slept a bit on the couch and enjoyed being stroked by everyone. There is a good picture of Sonnas and Dad, which I will post on here when Mum sends it to me.

Ewan and Suzie had the day off, as they had been doing the whole Christmas dinner thing the day before, but they sent a very special present to us. It was a book of our wedding in pictures, we were very touched. I look much better in black and white!

So after everyone went home it was an early to bed special for us, we were shattered (I fear it is because we are getting old). So on the 27th we had a bit of a longer lie in.
Then I got up and went up to the squadron to play 40K against Dan and Ross. It was a hard fought battle and as I lost the roll, I went second. It was a complete disaster for me. I was hit with 3 Strength 9 ap 2 5" blasts (if you don't know, that is seriously bad news) I lost a full squad of Marines before they had even moved or fired a shot. Worse was to come in the second round, I lost my Land Raider to a direct hit and even more Marines. Then a plucky attack by my scouts on the left flank opened up the game and I took it to the enemy and fought my way back into the game. As the 3 hour limit was reached we agreed to call the game a draw. I think that under the circumstances that was a fair result and I know that Dan will have been happy to kill my land raider outright with a single hit.

So back to work for a few days, but can't complain there are 21 cars in the car park today, not bad but there are usually about 500 or so.  

I have also been working on some updates for this site and for the 40k site, so keep an eye out for them.    

The Christmas Update

Well as I sit here at the grand piano, with a cracking and snapping fire at my back (without a single pop in ear shot) the snow falls down past the window to add to the blanket of white that covers the world outside. I am contractually obliged to reminisce about the events of 2009.

This year sucked

Right and on that note let’s bring on 2010.

OK so there was slightly more to the year than that. I am not going to relive the year (if you want the chapter and verse, read the whole year long bog) but some events are worth going over.

As most of you know Lorna and I had some serious setbacks this year, during the events we cried, argued, howled at the moon; all the sorts of things that happen when you suffer events like we did. I have found it very difficult to get over the feeling of persecution that has been attached to us this year. What did we do to deserve that? Have we been such bad people that this is our punishment? I hope not, but after being kicked so many times this year you do start to believe all sorts of crap that your mind created to justify the events.

We did go away for a few breaks this year, we returned to Nice with globespan (alas we will not be doing that again) It was nice to go back and see the city again. The exchange rate was shocking which did put a bit of extra pressure on us and I think with the threat of job losses hanging over us we were very careful what we did with out money and although some people did think we were mental we chose to eat our lunch in McDonalds. But we came home having spent our allocated money and having had a great time. We also returned to Centre Parcs with Mum and Dad the week after they retired. It was a great laugh and it was such a happy time, especially dragging mum and dad round the river rapids (I had no idea that mum and dad were completely afraid of the water). I am so glad that we got to spend those few days with them in such lovely surroundings. And after we got the hang of red squirrel spotting, we ended up seeing about 15 separate ones (some bright red and some almost black). Seeing the woodpecker and a pair of the lesser spotted F-15E was a bonus.

Ewan and Suzie got married. I am so happy that my brother has finally found someone who makes him happy and he can be himself with. The big day was great and in such a magical setting. I compared the massive church wedding and all the extra things that Lorna and I never had and I wondered did we miss out as we didn't have any of that and the truth is I don't think so, we are two different couples and they were two different weddings both ideally suited for the people getting married. The prep days were full of purpose and energy and I love being involved with that sort of thing, going to get measured for the kilt and last second changes to plan, it all makes me feel so alive (if not a little stressed). It was great to do the reading at the wedding. I was offended a little at the minister telling me to speak every word separately (after all I used to do this sort of thing for a living) but he was right, in a church the acoustics are different. Stepping up on the alter level was great, and I was glad that I got to play a small part in their special day.

Don leaves the squadron; yeah well I wasn't expecting to write that message. I was so lost, stressed, tired and in physical pain that it was the only option I could take in order to try and gain control of my life again. I was never interested in rank or station; I was always interested in being with my mates, doing the things I am good at. When the Wing Commander asked me if I would take on this new role, I was shocked but I had been missing the feeling you get when you are involved with the mob, so I agreed and it has been a very steep learning curve.

The Squadron had a graduation and presentation night and I was asked to come along and give out the paw and stars and then the 2 black paws that have been earned in 2009 (CI Mhairi Jamieson "Matron" and F/Sgt Nicole Hill "Mole") it was a very emotional night for me. I was then presented with my "retirement" tankard, which has the squadron crest and my call sign on it. That lump of metal means more to me that I think anyone will ever know. It is a validation of the last 20 years of my life. I gave everything I could to the squadron, I lost out on personal things, work things and even life things but holding that tankard lets me know that everything I did, I did with an even heart and I was always true to the ideals that my granddads instilled in me. For all the things I have lost over the years, the gains I have had far outweigh any negatives. If you judge a man on the strength of his friends then truly my cup flow'eth over.

The house saga is something that just hurts so much. The highs and lows have seen Lorna and I dancing in the kitchen one day and sobbing on the kitchen floor the next. To make up our minds to move was difficult, we could have had a fairly comfortable life where we live, a small mortgage and money to buy as many space marines as I would like. But the driving force is that we hope to raise a family one day and we wanted to do it in a house that we had both chosen and we felt offered us the best opportunity to do that. The whole year was spent sorting out the house (painting, repairing, papering, carpeting, sparky stuff, chippy stuff and a shed load of cash) we did everything we could to square the house away. When the first person to walk through the door made and an offer then and there, we thought we had at all sorted. The packing and preparation for the move was stressful but we never lost sight of the goal at the end. Then when the van was parked outside we got the phone call that would change our life. I remember walking through from the kitchen and saying to Lorna "its all off, the buyers mortgage has fallen through". I had such a stress headache it was like getting stabbed in the head. But over the last few months we have worked very hard to keep everything ticking over when we found new buyers and all the fun and games that we had to play in order to sell it again.  As I write this update, we still don't know if we have actually sold the house. A special mention must be made for Jessie and William for their help storing our things whilst we tried to sell our house again. We really appreciate all the help they gave us.

To go through all the uncertainty of "they should be able to get a mortgage" to "they can't get a mortgage" every day was an adrenaline fuelled 'mare and eventually that starts to effect they way you sleep, they way you act and in general it just starts to change you. If anyone reading this wonders what the hell was wrong with me this year I can only apologise.

My health – well I know most of you know this already so I will gloss over it. I had a nightmare with my own health this year. I found out exactly who my friends were when that news hit. I know that I am well on the road to recovery, I still have the sore days and I have to pay much more attention to how I live my life and the way I put my body through so much crap.

I was pretty scared for a while, and even afterwards I was lying on the bed with my laptop trying to keep my mind occupied, as if it wasn't my mind would start to go over everything again. Visits from mates helped me get through those days, well that and the OUTSTANDING DRUGS.

Mum and Dad retired, I know I have written at length about that, but I just wanted to say that this year they have been awesome parents (I am sure Ewan would agree). I get stressed about the fact that Dad constantly breaks his PC and Mum is still trying to do too much, but they really are the parents of the decade! So thanks for everything.

Oh dear I have just realised that I have heard the song I am listening to before, that means that I am back to the start of the album and that means I have been banging on for to long.

So let me end with this; Thank you to everyone who has been a friend in 2009, Lorna and I are so grateful for all the support and kindness that you have shown to us this year. When our life gets back on track we do fully intend on repaying our debts.

Lorna and I hope that Santa is good to you all and that you managed to avoid a lump of coal on the 25th. I have put a good word in with the white bearded one for you all so I hope you get what you wanted. Love to all

Don and Lorna