My life diary

R.I.P "Slug" (Jojalane Superior Risk) 10-01-2004 - 19-02-2011

2011-02-21T01:07:00.001Z

Farewell little Sluggy. I will miss you.

What I am grateful for. My manifest for the future

2011-02-16T10:47:00.003Z

I love my family.
I am grateful for my health.
I feel empowered to start writing and create a successful blog about my life.
I am happy to have a full time job.
I am grateful that my depression is lifting.
I have a wonderful, supportive family.
I am happy that I have the freedom to take my life in any direction I want to.

I am at a crossroads in my life at the moment. the decisions I make over the coming months will shape my life for the next 10 years or so. It is important that I learn from my past decisions and apply that learning to my current situation.

It is time to change the parts of my life that are not working anymore. this includes:

my financial situation: Although I am not hopelessly in debt, I am in a precarious situation where I am living above my means. I need to alter this. I know what I have to do I just need to find the courage to actually do it.
My employment. This drains me physically and spiritually. I get nothing from my job except money. It is time for me to think long and hard about what I want to do with the rest of my life and to lay the foundations to enable me to move in that direction.

In 12 months time is see myself:

Debt free
living in a flat or apartment on my own
working for myself or working in a job that is not so demanding of my time
happier and more fulfilled in all aspects of my life than i am now.
having more free time to devote to myself and my family

Ok. that is my life manifest. Now it is time to set the wheels in motion and start to create that life that I so desire.

By publishing this on my blog I am making my intentions public. By making them public I am comitting myself to actually do something to make them real.

re-booting my life. Today it begins

2011-02-14T09:53:00.000Z

I've been reading through all my old posts on facebook, twitter and here and, gosh, i am so negative!! No wonder i'm currently in a depression funk. So, from today on I am re-booting my life. I am going to make a conscious effort to think positively and to try to bring the laws of attraction into my life.

This time next year I will be in a much better place. the journey begins today and I intend to use this blog to record it and to inspire myself whenever i'm feeling low!!

a rambling stream of thoughts about my current situation

2011-02-12T09:16:00.000Z

Limiting beliefs.

Why am I in this mess? Have I bought it on myself? Ok lets stop these negative thoughts and try to do something constructive to get myself out of this situation.

What mess am I in?

Im in a job I don’t like
Im in a house I cant afford to keep
Im single again

Right, let’s analyse this. The job and house situation is linked. I need to find a secondary income stream to help me in the short term. Then once that is in place I need to work on changing my situation to one that is less expensive. Then I can change my job or maybe work for myself.

The being single bit is not a problem for me as I actually like being aline. I have the freedom to do what I want when I want.

Ok, so my immediate focus is on setting up a secondary income stream to help me pay the bills.
Not sure what to do about this: maybe I could start up a blog. But what could I blog about that I know enough about to offer something new to the world? Also, most stuff that is useful or interesting has already been covered by other bloggers surely?

I need to work on this: needs thought and meditation. Hmm, I don’t actually know how to meditate!! Maybe that’s what I could blog about lol! my path to learning how to meditate!!

Then I can focus on reducing my expenses: the obvious thing to do is to sell up and move to cheaper accommodation.

T his ramble may continue when i have more to add to it.

Feeling positive

2011-02-10T09:05:00.000Z

Finally, after what seems like an eternity, it feels like the clouds are beginning to lift. I'm actually beginning to seriously feel ready to return to work!!

Depression is a strange thing. I don't think anyone can fully understand it until they have experienced it for themselves. In the past I have listened patiently to people while they go through a bout of depression, all the while secretly thinking "why don't they just pull themselves together and snap out of it". I now realise that this is not possible.

I only have mild depression. From my experience I really feel for those going through severe depression!!

Anyway, onwards and upwards

resurrecting my blog

2011-02-08T09:06:00.000Z

A lot has happened to me over the last 4 or 5 months. I am still trying to make sense of it all and to sort my life out, both materialistically and physically. I'm hoping that by writing my thoughts and feelings on here and making them public I can make sense of it all and , hopefully, commit to changing my life for the better.

I don't for one moment expect anyone to follow this, but if you do, welcome and I hope I don't make you too depressed :-)

Image email test

2011-02-08T09:02:00.001Z

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

Testing mobile connection

2011-02-08T08:59:00.001Z

I'm thinking about resurrecting this blog and using it. This is a test to check my connection from my mobile phone is set up correctly.
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

Introducing me

2010-05-09T09:10:00.001+01:00

This is it. This is official. I have decided to start blogging. I have dreamed for a long time about having my own blog but for a long time I have agonised over what to blog about. I read loads of successful blogs and they always seem to be about something, even if it is just the subject of blogging!
I have never really had a "subject" I can write about. My life is not as straightforward as that! So, I have decided simply to make my blog y journal. I will write about whatever it is that is taking my energies at the time isit down to write. This could be anything from my job, through money, writing, my dogs, my family whatever is foremost in my life at that moment when I sit down to write.
My posts will rang from unedited rambles to polished posts depending on where and how I"m writing. Right now I am writing this on my mobile phone, great for writing, not so good for reading through and editing, so this is my first, rough draft that is now my final post!!

Over the coming weeks I will introduce myself to you more and in the process both you and I will discover my writing voice and blog subjects together. This is an organic process not planned in any way!! So let's begin this journey...
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

Checking connections

2010-05-07T09:03:00.001+01:00

Just testing to see if this is set up correctly

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

2009-09-10T01:13:00.001+01:00

test

Just testing

2009-08-09T16:40:00.000+01:00

Just testing to see if this works
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

A musing on writing

2009-08-09T02:26:00.001+01:00

Often I want to write but don't really know what to write about. Well, the answer to that is easy. Why don't I write about the fact I can't think of anything to write?

Writing can be both the easiest and the hardest thing to do. The actual act of writing is often the easy part of the job. Choosing a subject can be difficult to say the least. You may be lucky and have a commission to write about a subject in a certain style and from a specific point of view. Often, though, all you have is a blank sheet of paper and no idea of a subject. this is the situation I find myself in at this moment in time. I have decided to actually write about this.

If you find yourself in this same situation, why not write about it? Who knows, you may get an article out of it!

Another method I use is so-called "free form" writing. This is where I simply start writing with no idea what you are going to write about. Often all you get is pure nonsense but sometimes this may gel into the beginnings of something more substantial. I haven't actually used this method for many years now, but I have had short stories, the odd poem and even an essay for my English o-level course!!

Whatever method you choose, the key is to relax and free your mind from the self-imposed restrictions of spelling, grammar and the need to actually make sense. All this can be put in later on in a re-write. For the 1st draft simply allow your imagination to run riot and see what you get.

Alll these thoughts are my own thoughts on the subject of writing, you may have your own methods. However you choose to write, enjoy what you do and don't worry too much about your output, just jam and improvise, you can always polish it up later.
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

Success!!

2009-04-07T02:28:00.003+01:00

My best shot so far

A busy year ahead

2009-04-07T01:55:00.003+01:00

It is the chinese year of the Ox. This means that hard work and honesty will pay off in the end. It won't be an easy year but if you keep your nose to the grindstone and don't try to cheat then you will benefit in the long run!!

I have a few unfinished projects I wish to complete this year. The first is to get my comptia A+ certificate and complete my microsoft mcp exams. I'm not sure that I will acheive all this before the end of thecourse in September but I will have a damn good try!

After that I have decided to finish something I began in 1982 and promptly abandoned a year later, namely to gain my amateur radio licence. A lot has changed since I first attempted this and I am bringing myself up to speed slowly but surely in this subject.

I also wish to regain the fitness level I seem to have lost in the 15 months since I returned to lorry driving. Lorry driving is not a very healthy profession in which to work. A long time each shift is spent motionless in the driving seat hunched over a steering wheel. Even loading and unloadng is often nowadays performed by warehouse staff and involves little or no involvement by myself. Normally I spend this time sitting in my cab "twittering" on my mobile phone. so, long dog walks are the order of the day.

Now the summer is fast approaching, I hope to be able to get out and about with my new camera. I will post the results on my Flickr page, just click here to see the page or click on the links to the right of this column

My Illustrous golf career so far!!

2009-03-27T06:45:00.005Z

On nokia n gage pro series golf

It can only get better!!

A ramble

2009-03-21T14:49:00.003Z

Do I really have to write meaningful posts for this blog? Can't I just write a stream of drivel and get away with it. I mean, I don't think in a coordinated, organised manner so why should my blog be any different. Twitter works on this level. How many times have you logged on to twitter and wondered what on earth people are rambling on about?

Perhaps I should just publish some of my diary rants on here for the world to see. Wonder If that would work.

Mothers day

2009-03-19T23:18:00.002Z

Hey everyone. Don't forget it's Mother's day this coming Sunday!! I've just ordered my Mum some flowers to be delivered as I am working this Sunday so won't be able to go see her.

QR code

2009-02-24T04:54:00.003Z

Got a barcode reader on your mobile phone?

If you have scan this is. I've made a little message for you :-)

Who do I choose to be?

2009-02-18T10:29:00.002Z

Akemi Gaines asks on her blog "if you could start your life anew today, who do you choose to be?"

After the initial reaction to this along the lines of "multi millionaire" or "successful businessman". I’ve started to actually think about this question and I realise just how deep a question it is!
Well, for a start, I would like to free of all the bills and financial commitments that life in this society burdens us all with. I would like to be free. Free to do what I please and free to live my life in a manner that benefits people and society as a whole. I would like to go around teaching people how to live fuller lives.

I guess I need to start living a fuller life myself. The million-dollar question is how to begin. How do I free myself from the shackles of this world without making myself dependent on others for my survival? This is the hurdle that most people fall on. It’s one thing to quit your job and drop out of society but eventually you will need to eat and find shelter, this means needing money which, in turn means having to work to earn money.

The key is not to drop out totally but to find ways of maintaining an income by doing things you love rather than slaving away in a job you hate.

I am currently in a job I can just about tolerate, but the hours are brutal to me. I find that most people at work don’t understand what I am moaning about, but working nights and most weekends, time I would rather be spending with my family, is wearing me down. Still, I have to be strong. Another 12 to 18 months of this and I will be completely debt free and able to actively seek a lifestyle more in keeping with my life purpose. In the meantime I can work on strategies and ideas that will help me achieve this goal. I am studying for some I.T. qualifications, I won’t finish the course in the allotted time but that is not really as important to me as the knowledge I will learn from the course materials.

I am also trying to find my writing voice. This is a voice I lost in my teens when I stopped being creative and started on my journey in the material, adult world. It has taken me nearly 30 years, but I have realised that the material world is not a world I am happy to live in. At the moment my writing voice feels awkward and stuttery. I know that I need to write my way out of this mental block so this blog is sort of like my testing ground for finding my writing voice. I have even started writing fiction!! This is something I haven’t done in any serious way since I was 15!! (1980 if you are curious). I am very excited by what is forming in my imagination and am only frustrated by my lack of ability to get it out and onto paper before it disappears into the ether!!.

Anyway I have strayed from the original focus to this blog post which is the question Akemi Gaines set. Who would I choose to be? Well I would choose to be a better, stronger version of ME I guess. A version who is not afraid of taking risks. A version who doesn’t worry what other people think about me. A version who will spread love and kindness in the world and show people that it is possible to live an honest, caring life and still be a strong, ambitious person.

Change is coming

2009-02-09T22:43:00.001Z

Why do I get the feeling that something important is about to happen to me in my life? I can’t explain it any better than that. I feel that all the things I have been thinking about and researching over the last 6 or 7 months are about to happen.

All this self-analysis may be beginning to bear fruit. I have started writing after a gap of roughly 25 years. Ok so this isn’t going to land me a multi-million pound writing deal, but hey, it’s a start!!

I am beginning to define my other passions in my life. Aside from my family, they are mostly to do with computers and the Internet. I also have a long held ambition to be a radio ham and to learn to design and construct my own electronic projects. This is something I have wanted to do since I was a teenager but have never known how to go about learning the skills necessary to do this. Until now.

A recurring dream in my life has been to be able to work from home. I remember when I first encountered the internet that I thought "one day I will be making money off this" it’s taken a long time but now I am beginning to get ideas on how to do this.

Perhaps I can make my money from writing about my interests, I need to get really knowledgeable about them.

First of all I need to define what exactly my interests are!!

Ok, writing is one interest. I want to create original stories and articles.
PC building, upgrading and repair. I am working towards qualifications to help me do this. I need to pull my finger out and get them done. Also I need to set up a workbench in the house where I can practice my skills and create new projects.
Amateur radio. As soon as I have completed the computer courses I will work towards this qualification.

Now how do I go from working my guts out as a truck driver to working from home as a writer and PC tech guy?

That is the next step on my journey that I now need to focus on. I must remember that I won’t get it all overnight. Solid foundations take a long time to construct, only once they are securely built can work start on the main structure.

On writing

2009-02-08T23:53:00.001Z

I know I’m meant to write. From an early age I’ve always had what other people called "an active imagination". I always used to get gold stars for my stories at school and I remember one of my teachers telling me I should consider being a journalist or an author!!

All that was 30 odd years ago though and adulthood has crept in and destroyed my imagination. Here I am now, at 44 years of age, and worrying about all the adult things in life such as paying bills and getting enough sleep and not enough about creating new worlds and stories.

The other night, while I was at work, I was a bit bored and found myself thinking about how I would really like to be spending my days. I asked, in my head, "what am I meant to be doing with my life" and the reply I got, I guess from my spirit guides, but I can’t be sure, was "writing". I then asked "but what do I write and how should I go about it?" to which the reply was "just start writing" or " just do it" I can’t remember exactly which it was now.
So, my idea is to start a diary, or journal, as our American friends call it. I can use this to gain some writing experience and to log my thoughts, musings and ideas as they occure to me before they are forgotten forever.

The main problem I have is the bottleneck created by my writing and typing speeds that are never able to keep up with the speed of the ideas that are in my brain. Often I have a good idea but by the time my writing or typing has caught up then that idea has dissolved, never to be thought again. When I am away from my computer I can put up with parchment and quill or the clumsy predictive text on my mobile. None of these are ideal, but better than nothing. When I am at my computer I can type into a word document like I am doing now. However, I feel the way to go is some form of speech recognition software, or, away from computer, a bluetooth Dictaphone device that is completely hands free.

Writing is the way for me to go I believe. The idea of creating. Bringing into this world something new, never before seen that I can create from nothing. That is an idea that really appeals to me.
I have always wanted to create something that will outlive me. Something that will be read and remembered by generations of readers to come, long after I have left this existence and ceased to exist as Andy Bedford!!

Original fiction is my ultimate goal. Maybe I have to find my voice by writing drivel such as this diary entry. If that is the case then so be it. So, from this day forth, I intend to start a diary. In this diary I shall document my life both long since lived and currently being lived by me. Also, I will record my present feelings and thoughts. Sometimes I will make elements of this public on my blog. Often much of what I write will stay private. Either way it will serve as a way to get my ideas and opinions out of my head and onto paper before I forget them. In this way I will re-learn the craft and art of writing.

Ok, my next few entries in this diary will be about my life so far and my passions and plans for the here and now and my future.

History repeats itself?

2009-02-08T23:02:00.001Z

Hmm, sound familiar?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panic_of_1837

Snow!!

2009-02-05T12:31:00.004Z

It's been a long time since we have had snow like this in Northampton!!

I've uploaded loads more photos of the snow to my flickr page here.

my objectives for next week

2009-01-03T22:42:00.001Z

Next week, being the 1st full week of 2009, is the week i have decided to start my new year resolutions.
My objectives for next week are;
To take dogs out for a walk every day.
To go for a swim on 2 days and for that to become a regular thing.
To join the gym at work. I can go for a session after work 2 or 3 times a week.
Lastly, to keep a regular diary.

thought about work

2009-01-01T13:53:00.001Z

I've often puzzled as to why work creates such a strong reaction of anger in me. After all, the job i do isn't exactly a tough one. Driving a lorry is quite an easy job for me and comes pretty naturally. So why do i hate the job so much?
I think it is because it keeps me away from my family for such a long time each day. I also don't like the shifts and having to work when my family are not. I.e. Weekends and bank holidays.
Understanding all this is important to working out what i want to do for a living. I think i need to be working for myself, so that i can have a degree of control over the hours i work and to be working from home so that i am available for my family when they need me.
Ok, now to work out if i have any talents that people may be prepared to pay me for.

New year resolutions

2009-01-01T12:21:00.001Z

January 1st. time to think about what I want to achieve in the new year. To be honest, I don’t have a very good track record in sticking to my new year resolutions. I start off full of good intentions but, after a month or so, I fall off the wagon. Sometimes I return to my resolutions later in the year, often I don’t.

This year I only really have two areas of my life I want to make improvements in. My work and my fitness.

My fitness is the easy one to make a start on. All I really have to do is commit to exercise on a daily basis and watch my diet. So, my plan for this is to take the dogs out for a half hour walk every day and go for a swim twice a week. I don’t see any problems with this plan and I may be able to expand on it after a few weeks. I plan to start this resolution this coming Monday. I’ll write about my progress on this blog.

Work is a bit more difficult. The problem is that I need the income I get from this job in order to meet my monthly bills. This means I can’t just give up my job and trust to the universe to provide for me. I need to formulate a plan to enable me to change careers without losing vital income. I have a few initial thoughts about this which I may make up into another blog post at a later date.

Another resolution I have made is to keep a daily diary. This entry also forms my 1st diary entry. I’m not sure what I will be putting into my diary, or whether to make it public on this blog or to keep it private. I think I will just let it go with the flow.

Enough for now. Time for bed as I have to go to work later.

Happy new year.

Genius quote from an irc chatroom

2008-12-10T23:33:00.006Z

This one made me laugh out loud (literally!!)

" The problem with America is stupidity. I'm not saying there should be a capital punishment for stupidity, but why don't we just take the safety labels off of everything and let the problem solve itself?"

wahnsinn: $4000 for a couch?
griff : you could feed some kid in africa for TEN YEARS for that couch
Mo: but could you sit on him afterward?

I've always loved irc chatrooms for their anarchy, for more of this stuff go to http://www.bash.org/

or better still, download mirc and have some fun!!

Weird dream I had last night

2008-11-12T10:23:00.001Z

Weird dream I had last night.

It’s my first day at my new job. I am back to work at the royal mail depot. Nobody knows me so they are all puzzled as to how I know the job inside out.

However the job is different…

We are working in a swimming pool. Yep, actually sorting the mail in the pool itself!!

At some point everyone gets out of the pool to have a meeting. I hang around looking at the pool and see Claire and Beetle (one of out pet staffies) swimming in the pool. Claire is holding on to Beetle’s legs, the arthritic one at the back as if she is making Beetle do swimming exercises for her poorly leg.

I jump back in the pool wondering if I will get in trouble for not attending the meeting but no one notices.

Now I’m swimming with Beetle who is happy to see me and Claire is in the background smiling at me.

Now there is a pool full of dogs identical to beetle. I don’t know which one is Beetle but after a few moments I find her and we swim happily together.

I can’t remember how the dream ends. I think I just go back to work but I’m not sure.

I don’t often have dreams as vivid as this one and rarely remember them after I wake up, let alone several hours after I wake up!!

I wonder what it all means?

My new personal development plan

2008-11-06T15:29:00.001Z

Putting in place a plan to get things done.

One of the reasons most of my personal development plans have failed in the past is because I have not made them flexible enough.

What I mean is that I would set a plan that involved me, say, swimming 3 days a week between 13.00 and 14.00 and studying on the other days during this same time period. The problem with this plan would be the morning I get home from work late and thus not wake up till, say, 15.00 in order to get my 5 ½ hours sleep in. This would then make me feel I have already failed for that day and thus I would give up on my plan.

This time I intend to set my plan so that the hours of each element are not fixed. I.e. I will devote one hour a day to exercise and/or studying with the option to increase or decrease according to how I feel that particular day. Now, I don’t want that last statement to become an opt out clause, I want it to be a condition that if I attempt to exercise or study and I really can’t do it that day after making an effort to then I won’t feel a failure if I then just go and watch telly.

The key is to make an effort each day. The more often I discipline myself to make an effort, the easier it should eventually become to actually start achieving something.

The aim of my plan is to do one constructive thing every day. Whether that be taking the dogs for a walk, going for a swim, doing some studying or updating my blog.

I have already started this plan today. So far I have taken the dogs for a walk and looked at my study books to see what I need to do next. I have also done some research on my next Pc build and have subscribed to some modding and overclocking forums that will indirectly inspire my i.t studies.

I will keep blogging on my progress as I go on. Perhaps once or twice a week and this blog will enable me to look back and actually see what progress I have made :-)

Happy Hallowe'en

2008-10-31T15:21:00.003Z

"double, double toil and trouble;
fire burn and cauldron bubble

fillet of a fenny snake
in the cauldron boil and bake;
eye of newt and toe of frog,
wool of bat and tongue of dog,
adders fork, and blind-worm's sting
lizard's leg and howlet's wing
for a charm of powerful trouble,
like a hell-broth boil and bubble." (Macbeth, some guy called Shakespeare)

And so is canteen food created!!

Happy Hallowe'en everyone!!

A boring blog entry

2008-10-30T10:19:00.001Z

The art of successful blogging is to post regularly. This is the reason why I will never have a successful blog!

It’s not that nothing ever happens in my life it’s just that I’m not really convinced that anyone else will be really interested in reading about it.

For instance, this week I have worked 2 shifts at work. Both 12 hours shifts had nothing unusual to report about either of them unless you are interested to know where I drove in my lorry and any hold ups I encountered. Oh, I did have an encounter with a ghost at the Oxford city centre store!! I was on my own on the back of my trailer while the loader had gone off to fetch more empty cages to put on me. I watched as the cage I had just put on the trailer rolled into the middle of the trailer. Nothing unusual there, there is a slight slope in most of these trailers. It is what happened next that I can’t explain, the cage stopped in the middle of the trailer and what it should have done next is follow the line of the slope and roll down to the back of the trailer but it stopped and then rolled back to where it had come from as if being pushed!! Totally against the slope and when I went up to check if it was tight up against the other cages which it wouldn’t have been had it rolled under it’s own gravity!!

What else happened this week? I had Tues and Wed as my rest nights from work so I picked up Jake on Tues lunch and we went for a swim. This is something I haven’t done at all this year and we both thoroughly enjoyed it. We came home with a vow to go swimming more often.

Tues night was spent at Taekwondo which had a small turnout due to the unseasonably wintry weather (Snow, in October!!)

On Wed morning we went to play a round of golf which is something I really enjoy doing with Jake and I know he enjoys it too. We had a good round even though we are only at the "hack and slash" level. We came away from that with a vow to practice more and buy some winter clothing suitable for playing golf in.

We then met Claire for lunch with subway sammiges all round.

After lunch Jake and I were tasked to find some space dust for Friday’s Halloween TKD party. There is a fantastic shop in gold street in Northampton which is like an old fashioned sweet shop selling all the old sweets that are still made but you can’t find in any of the main high-street shops. We spent longer in there than is healthy!! And after 30 mins or so we left clutching half the shop’s stock of space dust and some winter mixtures!!

Dropped Jake off to his mum’s later wed afternoon then spent rest of night at home.
Today I have to get a puncture repair kit for Claire’s bike so that is where I am off to in a minute!! Then back to bed this afternoon ready to go back to work at 8.00pm tonight. Next night off next Mon which seems a long way off at the moment.

You see, if I just blogged about my life it would rapidly become very boring!! Or is this the type of stuff you want me to post? Let me know via a comment to this post please.

Inspiring

2008-10-22T23:32:00.000+01:00

www.enlightennext.org

A dream of a slower life

2008-10-13T01:07:00.006+01:00

Oh for the age of simplicity. A long country walk followed by a pint and a bite to eat in a quiet, rural pub and then the long, slow stroll home watching the sun slowly set across the valley. All this followed by a cosy armchair, a good book and a stiff brandy before retiring to a soft bed for the night.

I often wish for a return to a time when life was led at a slower pace and ambitions were much easier to achieve. Often I feel I was born 200 years too late.

Maybe I just have such a romantic view of life in olden days and perhaps the reality of it all is that modern life, for all it’s faults, is much easier than life in centuries past. After all, we do have it easy nowadays what with insulated houses, central heating, computers etc. But I often feel that life in the 21st century is led at a pace much faster than I can cope with. I would love to be able to retire from the rat race, take up residence in a smallholding somewhere in the country and become as self sufficient as it is possible for anyone to be in this day and age.

What I am trying to achieve in my life is to be able to retreat, with my family, from modern life and lead a slower pace of life. Last year we courted the idea of buying a narrowboat to live on full time and I guess that we had a rather romantic idea of life on the canals. However, this is still something I would love to do, perhaps coupled with my small holding in the country. I have always dreamed of a large, farmhouse type kitchen with an aga style stove in one corner and the dogs wandering in and out from the farmyard. Visitors stopping by to taste our latest cooking and my homebrewed wines and beers and ending up staying the night in one of our spare bedrooms.

Perhaps this dream is just that, an unachievable dream, or maybe, just maybe, I can make it a reality. After all I am only 43 years old. That means I have 20 odd years to achieve this dream in and then another 20 odd years in which to enjoy it.

Here is a picture of my dream kitchen in my dream farmhouse. Just for inspiration, of course…

Update on dilemma

2008-10-10T07:09:00.003+01:00

Well, you know how I asked in my last blog post for my spirit guides to send me a sign. Well I think they may have...

I got paid today and included in the pay packet was a pay rise of 3.5% plus back pay to the beginning of August. Now that made me stop to think that if I am ever to get out of debt then I really need a job like my present one. Ok, so I don't particularly like the job, but I can live with it for another year or so until I get all my debts paid off. Plus it will buy me enough time to get my studies completed and to get my ebay business off the ground.

Also, with the credit crunch looming, redundancy is on the cards. Now it might just be worth my while to hang on in just in case there are redundancies and I can get the redundancy payments since I will have been at this company 12 months on 6th Nov this year. I know that sounds horrible and not very lightworker in ethics but such is life. After all I am only doing this job for the money, not for the love of lorry driving!!

Another sign was a conversation I had with one of the agency drivers at our work tonight and the things he said made me have second thoughts about agency work. Unpaid breaks, last minute placements, expecting you to work on days you have not made yourself available to work on or face blacklisting for future job placements. Mind you, he gets a good hourly rate from the acency, much better than my £10.80 an hour!!

So my revised masterplan is to stay in my current job for another 12 months, pay off all my debts and arrears, complete my I.T courses and get my ebay business up and running.

Here we go then.........

dilemma

2008-10-08T23:57:00.001+01:00

Ok i have a dilemma. I have just applied to a driving agency for work. I am still in my current job at the moment and have not committed myself either way just yet. My dilemma is, do i go with the agency or stay in my current job?
Both have their pros and cons. Agency work will give me more freedom as to what hours and days of the week i work but is less secure than my full time job. I could do with some guidance on this. This is where my spirit guides could do a good job by sending me a sign i think. Trouble is i'm not sure how to get in touch with them!

Lack of energy

2008-10-07T10:54:00.003+01:00

I don't know if it is just this time of the year that causes me to want to hibernate, dark nights, bad weather, dull days etc, but for the last week and a half I have had absolutely no motivation whatsoever.

Now this is both a bad thing and a good thing:

It is a bad thing because all the intentions I had about starting an eBay business and improving my life have stalled and my I.T studies have not happened
It is a good thing because I have spent most of the time thinking about my intentions and, somehow, maturing them into more workable intentions, things I can actually achieve.

I haven't been completely lazy though. I have signed up for 2 courses. One is an introduction to Reiki and the other is a "Mind, Body, Spirit" day where we try out things such as meditation and massage. I'll blog about these once I have been on them, they are both in November.

The other thing I have done is a slightly reckless one. I have contacted a driving agency to see about registering on their books. Why is this reckless? Well, if I choose to go with them I would be giving up a secure paycheck from my current job for a less secure one from an employment agency. However this excites me because I hope it will give me the freedom to persue some of my other projects such as setting up that eBay shop and develpoing my spirituality.

Something else I would like to do is sign on an extras casting agency. No real reason for this apart from it might be fun!!

Researching ebay

2008-09-16T16:00:00.010+01:00

Well, I've spent most of today on ebay researching what sells and what doesn't and for how much. To be honest I'm more confused now than I was before I started!!

You see, there seems to be abslolutely no rhyme or reason as to what sells or doesn't on ebay!! I saw items listed with blinding descriptions and photos that didn't sell yet identical items with

RED, BOLD, HIDEOUS TEXT

sell for more than is healthy for such an item!!

So what have I concluded from this research? Well I'm certainly not going down the route of gaudy red, bold text to sell anything!! I think that a trip to some of the charity shops and £1 shops is in order to pick up some bargains. Then I will solidify my terms and conditions to create a positive environment to give buyers some confidence in me. Then I will list all the items and hold my breath to see what happens!!!

The next item on my agenda is to set up a blog to write about my efforts in changing my life and in finding out my life purpose.

Oh well, a cup of tea first i think...

My life manifest. 1st week review

2008-09-15T22:01:00.002+01:00

The initial fire of passion I felt at the beginning of last week for achieving my dreams has now died down to a more sedate flame. I have to admit that I have taken my eyes off the ball over the past couple of days.

However this has given me a chance to re-assess my original ideas and see which ones I still have a passion for. It seems that my flame for getting my I.T. qualifications has diminished slightly. It hasn’t died but I seem to be putting it into the background for the time being. The reason for this? It seems that my main passion at the moment is for developing my ebay business and taking it to the next level. This next level is mainly to take it beyond merely selling my clutter and to start buying to sell. I’m not at all sure how to do this at the moment or at what point it stops being a hobby and starts being a business but researching this is what I am putting most of my energies into at the moment.

This sort of makes sense because in order to get my computer qualifications and gain a job in I.T I need to be able to leave my current job and still be able to support myself and my family while I make that transition.

There is also a deeper need in me, that is the need to be at home, where my family is, for as much as is humanely possible. To do this I need to have a job where I can work from home. I still want to be self-employed and ebay seems to be offering itself as the obvious way to do this.
My next task is to research what sells and what doesn’t and to work out the mark ups of those products. Then I need to set out my core values as an ebay seller and figure out the best way to achieve what I want to do. This involves some form of basic business plan because even though I don’t intend to borrow any money to set this business up I still need to have an idea of what direction to develop the business in. Then I need to put my money where my mouth is and take the plunge. I need to phone that wholesaler up, I need to buy some stock. Then I need to work out how much to sell it for and then see what happens when I try to sell it.

Ok, this is where I am at as far as my personal development goes. Most of what I am focussing on at the moment is intended to alter my work/life balance in favour of my life rather than the way it is at the moment where work seems to be ruling my life. Once I have that better aligned with my core values then I can begin to address other areas of my life such as fitness and happiness. This makes it sound like there are clear divisions between these areas. This is not the case, each area is dependent on the other, but I feel that work and income generation is the one that needs to be sorted out first. Once that is sorted out then paths will open up for me in my other areas.

phone test

2008-09-12T04:35:00.000+01:00

Just checking mobile phone settings. If you can read this then mobile settings are working ok.

My life manifest

2008-09-10T23:11:00.002+01:00

My life manifest:

I am running a successful ebay business
I write a successful blog about my journey to achieving my life’s goals
I have studied and passed A+ and am working towards the next qualifications on my computeach course
I work in I/T in a job I really enjoy after quitting my lorry-driving job just after Christmas 2008
The money from my ebay business and my blogging and other writing pays the monthly bills and allows me to work at developing a career in I.T

Ok, where am I at now with the above list?

Ebay: am still exploring the possibilities this can offer for income creation. I have decided that when I have made £100 profit I will explore the possibility of buying stock from a wholesaler to sell at a profit on ebay.

Writing a blog about all this: in the planning stages and potential blog entries are floating around in my head at the moment.

Writing in general. I need to find a way to earn money from this and to find the time to develop some of the ideas I have floating around in my head and sitting on my computer’s hard drive.

A+ and computeach studies. Working on this already. Bit slower progress than I would like, have to explore ways of studying more effectively

I.T job and quitting my job. Not ready for this yet, need to generate income streams to replace what I will lose when I quit my current job

Ok, this is where my life stands at the present moment and this is my manifest for re-aligning my life with what I believe to be my life’s passions and talents.

Oh, one more thing. I want to develop my psychic abilities. I feel that I am clairsentient and I have had this confirmed by a mini reading with a psychic.

Other things, to re-gain my fitness levels and develop my martial arts skills in Ju-Jitsu and TaeKwonDo.

Possible future projects: to learn the art of massage and alternative healing methods.

If this is a bit dis-jointed I apologise. These are my raw thoughts, exactly as they came out of my head as I was typing them. All I have done is correct any spelling mistakes.

I will continue to blog about my progress in these areas and sometime in the next week I will be launching a new blog devoted specifically to this subject. When I do I will use this current blog for posting photos I take on my mobile phone.

Summer update

2008-09-05T10:51:00.005+01:00

Has it really been 3 months since I last posted on my blog? Geez where does the time go?

Well we've had a quite interesting summer. We went go-karting, which was fun but expensive. I took the kids on a steam train ride which they seemed to really enjoy. Plus Jake and myself have taken up golf!! we are not very good at it but that's not the point!! it is fun and that is the point.

On a personal level I have taken up a new martial art called Ju-Jitsu which I think I am going to enjoy. I would also love to re-start tae-kwon-do but that may have to wait until I have sorted my work and money situations out.

Work is a huge drain on my energy at the moment as it involves shifts and weekend working, but it is helping us recover from the financial quagmire we were in at the start of the year so I guess it is a necessary evil for the time being. I'm hoping to do something about it in the new year though!!

My ebay selling is making slow but steady progress. I'm toying with the idea of finding a wholesaler and getting a shop set up. More on that when there is more to report!!

mobile internet, a few random thoughts

2008-05-08T00:40:00.000+01:00

I believe the future of the internet is mobile. I am writing this post on my mobile phone. A nokia n95. I have written it from a couple of locations while out and about. These are places where lugging a laptop about would not be practical, ie work. Sure, there are limitations, such as the lack of a full qwerty keyboard, but i'm sure that future generations of mobile devices will overcome these small problems. I have just had a chat on msn messenger with my daughter using my mobile while listening to a podcast i downloaded. This would have been almost impossible a year or two ago. Who knows what we'll be able to do on our mobiles in another couple of years. There are still a few issues that need to be sorted out, ease of use being one of them. It is still a quite involved process to set up a mobile dos blogging and using social networking sites. plus, formatting text and inserting links, while possible, are still too complicated to be worth the effort. We are halfway there, perhaps the next generation of mobile phones will address these problems and make staying connected while out and about a normal thing to do.

Having an online presence

2008-05-02T20:51:00.003+01:00

Have you ever sat there and thought "I wonder what so and so is doing right now"? I know I have. Ok so you can send a text message to them but sometimes they may not reply and what happens if 20 other people think the same thing?

Well, the answer is some kind of online log, like a diary of what I am doing right now. To this end I have been experimenting with some of the so-called "social networking" sites that are springing up on the Internet nowadays. My favourite seems to be twitter at the moment, mainly because it can be used on my mobile phone via text messaging or the web client on my phone. It is simple to use and doesn’t take much to set up.

You can follow me here on twitter.

I also have my mobile phone set up so that any photo I take on it is automatically uploaded to my flickr page in the background without me having to do anything.

I’m still looking for a way to do the same with video. I guess I could use you tube but I’m not sure about that yet. I have been looking at a service called Seesmic. I may sign up for that soon. When I do I’ll let you know on here.

One thing that has crossed my mind is what is the point of all this? Well, I think that it can be really useful for people to see what you are up to, especially if you are away from home a lot like I am when I am working the long hours I do. I guess that most of my posts are pretty boring, kind of "I’m watching telly" type of posts, but it’s the intimacy of that type of post that is important. When you are physically with someone you know that they are in the next room watching telly and it is comforting, to know that. It would be nice to take that feeling with you when you are out and about.

This is where the future of blogging etc lies. Not with the movers and shakers of the world, although they are important in their own right, but with the normal people going about their normal, mundane lives and letting their friends and family know what they are up to. It’s kind of like a conversation but one that happens online and on your mobile phone.

off work sick, thoughts and musings.

2008-04-06T23:37:00.004+01:00

Well I've been off work since last Wednesday with an ear infection. My left ear has been completely blocked up and I have been having serious problems with both my hearing and my balance as a result. I've even found myself being really tired as a result of the extra effort required to function with a huge bass drum pounding away in one ear!!

Seriously, though, this has made me think about what it wold be like to be partially deaf. For one thin, i would not be able to continue in my current job as a lorry driver. It's been dangerous enough trying to keep my balance while walking let alone trying to drive a 40 ton articulated lorry!! It makes me think about what I would do to earn money if my health deteriorated to an extent that I could not do a physical labour job such as driving. I guess that with the Internet my life will be easier than it would have been, say, 20 years ago. I could always find a job working from home. The hard bit would be finding a job that I could earn a living wage from in an area I am unproven in.

It's amazing what you think about when you are laid up at home with an illness. I just hope I never have to be like this all the while. I now have greater respect for people who are disabled in some way and can appreciate their frustrations at not being able to do all they want to do. I admire their resourcefulness at overcoming obstacles that are put in their way.

this and that

2008-03-27T01:40:00.001Z

Sorry i've been really quiet on this blog recently. Things are a bit hectic at the moment. I've just started driving at work again, not something i wanted to do but we need the wages at the moment. Maybe a year, two at the outside to get our money straight then i can hang my hgv licence out to dry for good. Long hours are now the order of the day. 15 hour shifts are not unheard of. Easy work though so i can't complain too loudly. Btw, i'm blogging this from my phone. I always think of stuff to blog about when i am out and about but invariably forget by the time i get to a computer.

Lazy day off work.

2008-03-06T11:34:00.003Z

Today is a rest day. The term "rest day" is a rather dry way of describing what now passes for my "weekend". Ok I know it's Thursday, but the way the rotas at work operate, today is my weekend!!

I woke up really late, too late to do anything major, so I've decided to declare today a "lazy day". I may get washed and dressed in a while and the dogs are looking at me hoping I'll take them out for a walk, which I will do shortly. I might also put some stuff up on ebay that I've been meaning to put up for over a week.

At least I can take some photos now I my new phone. I have a shiny new Nokia N95 which arrived the other day. I'm still in the process of setting it up and letting people know my new number. one of the best things about it is the 5meg camera, so I guess my flickr stream is going to get a hammering now. Perhaps I could take a short walk, to the pub of course, taking some photos on the way to try out the camera!! it's a nice, sunny day out there.

Anyway, enough of my rambling, here's a photo of me being lazy.....

Take a look at my ebay page

2008-02-16T21:24:00.003Z

Why not check out my page on ebay. I have loads of interesting items for sale and will shortly be adding more and more stock.

Eventually I will be opening my shop on ebay. As soon as it is launched I will put a link in here so you can browse the aisles.

For now, though, go to my ebay page and check out what i'm selling.

2008, busy year so far!!

2008-02-13T00:03:00.000Z

No posts in a while. Sorry about that but life has suddenly got rather hectic!

In the past 2 weeks We have taken on a betterware catalogue distribution round, an Avon cosmetics brochure round and that is just the beginning!! We have also started to sell on ebay which is beginning to pay off. I need to find a good source of products to sell. My ambition is to make enough money from ebay and the other ventures I have mentioned above to pay the mortgage each month. who knows, maybe we could eventually generate a large enough income to pack up work and start leading a better lifestyle with more freedom to be our own bosses!! Wild fantasy or possible reality? Who knows, anything feels possible at the moment. I haven't had this much energy for living for a long, long while.

In the meantime I have been active at work and am on my way to getting back on to the articulated lorry driving which will mean a quite substantial rise in pay and the ability to start paying our bills and save again.

Before Christmas I applied to an internal vacancy at work for a transport manager postition. I never in a million years expected to get a reply to it, but yesterday I went for an assessment day which, if they like what they saw, may lead to an interview!! If that can happen to me then who knows what else will happen. Ebay power seller status and work from home lifestyle? Not as far fetched as it seemed even 2 weeks ago.

So, 2008 is shaping up to be a busy and momentous year for us. I predict that this time next year our lifestyles will be a lot better than they have been for the last year or so.

P.S check out my ebay space in the coming weeks as I put loads of stuff up for sale and auction, Oh, and please buy something while you are there lol!!

Update on "2008 dreams and ambitions"

2008-01-15T05:15:00.000Z

I have a positive vibe about 2008. Already I am getting activity from my C.V which I posted on Monster.co.uk. I believe it is only a matter of time before I am in a better job. Even my current job seems to be getting better, at least in the work part of it, not in pay though.

I am thinking about putting my resume up as a web page to see if that will generate more interest.

Anyway, have to go to work now. I'll update this blog later today when I get home from work.

How not to use powerpoint

2008-01-07T21:08:00.000Z

This should be in every office training pack!

Happy 18th Birthday to Dan

2008-01-05T18:41:00.001Z

Chocolate cake
Originally uploaded by ydnab41.

Ok, i know it's not till Tuesday but i will be at work then so I'll forget. Happy birthday to a lovely daughter.

2008, dreams and ambitions.

2008-01-05T01:00:00.001Z

I wonder what 2008 holds for me? As I sit here typing this I feel that I am at a bit of a turning point in my life. 2007 saw me finally turn my back on my almost life long job of driving which I am happy about. I feel that I want to try something completely new in 2008, before I get too old to be able to do anything. I do feel tied down by my lifestyle though, I have quite a large mortgage which needs me to have a full time job to pay the bills each month. However I do feel trapped and would like to downsize so that I can experience life a bit more. I think Claire has similar feelings to me but I’m not so sure she would be quite as willing to give up this house. Maybe I’m wrong, or maybe we do need to hang on to our house and perhaps put off other ambitions for a few more years until the bills are not quite as burdensome.

So, what would I like to do in 2008? Well, pay off all my debts. Now for the fun, dreamy stuff:

Learn to scuba dive
Get a job where I can work from home and work the hours I want to, not a job that takes me away from home for long periods of the day.
Get a job, working from home that I enjoy doing. So that it is not work, but earning a living doing something I love.
Go on holiday. The last holiday we had, not counting our honeymoon, was in 2002!!
Get a part as an extra in a film so I can bore my grandchildren silly when I am older
Do something creative. Write a book, create a work of art. Create something that will outlive me that I will be remembered for by people who I will never know or meet.

All the above applies to Claire, so we can spend more time together

Ok 2008…here we go. Let’s see how many of these things I can make happen this year!! Should be a laugh.

happy new year and good riddance to 2007!!

2007-12-31T23:14:00.000Z

It’s new year’s eve and I am sitting here thinking I should post something on my blog but I can’t think of anything to write about.

New year isn’t really a big deal to me. I used to like to celebrate it when I was younger, but nowadays the idea of getting blind drunk and staying up later than I would like to doesn’t have the same appeal that it did 10 years ago. Claire has already gone to bed and I won’t be far behind her and it’s only 11 o’clock as I write this. I guess the thought of work tomorrow isn’t exactly making me feel much like partying! Anyway, Christmas is the big one for me and this year we had a fantastic one at home with everyone who matters to us.

What do I want from 2008? Well, I don’t like to make resolutions as it makes me feel like I’ve failed when I don’t achieve any of them. I guess that I just want to sort my finances out and pay off all my debts. To do this I will need to get a better paid job, preferably one that gives me weekends off to spend with my family. To get a better paid job I will need to knuckle down and pass my I.T courses and put myself out there on the jobs market. There, that’s enough to be going on with in 2008 I think. Then in 2009 I can hopefully start to reap some benefits from all the hard work of 2008.

Anyway, all that leaves me to say is happy new year and I hope that you, too can turn some of your dreams into reality in 2008 as well.

christmas photos

2007-12-26T00:20:00.000Z

Hi all. Just say I hope you all had a good Christmas and to wish you all a happy new year. We had a great Christmas day with everyone over to our house and a fantastic dinner cooked by Claire, who came up trumps this year. Well done claire. tomorrow we are off to Claire's parents for lunch which will be a nice day as well. Then back to work on 27th and no day off till new year's eve :-(

I will post some photos up on here soon and hope to upload some onto my flickr page shortly.

Busy at work

2007-12-17T16:27:00.000Z

I have to admit that I have not been updating this blog very much recently. Sorry about that. The reason is that I have been really busy in my new job. Working in a warehouse that serves a supermarket has meant that the last week or two have been really, really busy and I have not had any days off and have been working 10 hour shifts as well. This means that other aspects of my life have been somewhat neglected, namely family, my studying and the Internet. I hope that this makes up for that in a small way.

I really must apologise for the collapse of my "Photo each day" idea. I suppose it is a reflection of my life that I haven't been able to keep up the project. It doesn't help that we are not allowed to take photos at work although I will get a photo of the outside of the building. I guess that I got bored of photographing the same things everyday. think about it, there are only so many photos I can take of the same route to and from work, or my computer desk!! I will still take and publish photos of my daily life but I will just have to be a bit more imaginative I guess!!

I really must stop and get a photo of the canal on the way home from work one day this week as it really looks lovely in this frosty weather.

2007-11-30T23:52:00.001Z

You tube viewing stats

2007-11-28T09:57:00.000Z

I've always wondered what makes a you tube video get so many views. Most of the time I think it is down to links from websites. This made me wonder just which video of the 24 I have posted up has the most views. Here are the figures and, apart from the top viewed video, which I can put down to Claire using on the front page of her TaeKwonDo website, I was surprised at some of the figures on the others.

The top view video is:

This got an amazing 932 views!!!

Then, obviously, there were a few more sparring videos. Next came Kerry and Chris's first dance with 147 views. I'm guessing they must have linked to it from their facebook pages.

What surprised me the most was the view count for Jake flying his helicopter in Delapre park, with 75 views. I thought this would only be of interest to family. Obviously other people must have been interested enough to watch it as well. It's not even the better one of the two I have posted up, which is strange.

If you want to see the other videos I have posted, maybe you are waiting for the kettle to boil and have nothing more exciting to do!! Then head over to my you tube page located here:

http://uk.youtube.com/user/ydnab40

Happy viewing!!

my watch at work

2007-11-27T10:06:00.001Z

my watch at work
Originally uploaded by ydnab41.

This is for Dan. A picture of me wearing my "watch" at work last night.

winter reading

2007-11-20T16:41:00.000Z

Usually at this time of the year I choose a book to read over the winter. Often I fail abysmally to actually read whatever I choose since other duties often get in the way of serious reading.

This year I have decided to read everything written by and about J.R.R Tolkien. This amounts to rather a lot of reading and I rather feel that this may be an undertaking that will, most likely, take most of 2008 to accomplish. Firstly, there is the obvious: The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings trilogy, Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales. Just that selection will take a fair while to get through! Then there is the "History of Middle Earth" series to get through: 12 volumes of, in places, quite heavy reading. This is the posthumously published writings of Tolkien edited by his son, Christopher, and taken from a complete lifetime of writing. Much of which was never really meant for publication, being working drafts of what was to become lotR and other writings. Some of this Tolkien wanted to publish but was put off at the time by various sources that said they would never sell.

So, my reading order will be: Oh and don’t panic, I know the Hobbit should be read before Lotr but as I don’t have a copy of the hobbit at the moment then it will have to wait.
1. The lord of the rings
2. The silmarillion
3. Unfinished tales
4. The history of middle earth series, all 12 volumes

In amongst this I will read the letters of J.R.R Tokien, and his biography and that of the inklings
Then I will go on to any other writings I can find

Wish me luck!!

snow, Sun 18/11/07

2007-11-18T22:02:00.001Z

snow, Sun 18/11/07
Originally uploaded by ydnab41.

this snow surprised us by settling, even though we had been expecting it all day.

The canal at banbury lane: day11, or 12, or whatever!!

2007-11-09T17:04:00.001Z

The canal at banbury lane: day11
Originally uploaded by ydnab41.

Part of my cycle route to work. When I drive it is all dual carriageway. Any wonder I use my bike?

Happy birthday Dad!!

2007-11-08T21:07:00.000Z

It's my Dad's birthday today. So happy birthday to you Dad for being the best Dad in the world!!

My new bike: day 10

2007-11-07T18:29:00.001Z

My new bike
Originally uploaded by ydnab41.

My new bike taken at work. (I will get fit, I will get fit, I will get fit.....even if it kills me!)

Woman on bench: day 8

2007-11-05T20:41:00.001Z

Woman on bench: day 8
Originally uploaded by ydnab41.

Missed yesterday. Sorry!! I was busy playing hide and seek with Jake. Anyway, I hope I can make up for it with today's photo.

I was out testing the route to work for my new job which I'm starting tomorrow when I came across this sculpture by the canalside near Rothersthorpe lock flight and I couldn't resist stopping to take a photo of it.

Beetle's birthday present: Day 6

2007-11-03T17:07:00.001Z

Beetle's birthday present: Day 5
Originally uploaded by ydnab41.

Beetle tucking in to her 8th birthday present earlier today!!

Northampton's guildhall: day 5

2007-11-02T11:51:00.001Z

Northsmpton's guildhall: day 5
Originally uploaded by ydnab41.

Designed by Edward William Godwin and buit between 1861 and 1864. This buiding stands in the middle of the town centre and is very heavily used for all council business. Marriages are held here. We got married here on 11th March 2006

Autumn sun : day 4

2007-11-01T14:02:00.001Z

Autumn sun : day 4
Originally uploaded by ydnab41.

getting the garden ready for the winter. Not sure if i've capured the beauty of the autumn sun here but it was magical in real life.

the two ladies in my life!! (day 3)

2007-11-01T08:57:00.001Z

the two ladies in my life!!
Originally uploaded by ydnab41.

Beetle the birthday girl and Claire helping her to use the internet.

Happy birthday Beetle

2007-10-31T11:11:00.001Z

Happy birthday Beetle
Originally uploaded by ydnab41.

Happy birthday Beetle from all the family

A photo a day for a year: Day 2

2007-10-30T21:50:00.001Z

A photo a day for a year: Day 2
Originally uploaded by ydnab41.

Being between jobs at the moment I'm leading a really exciting life. This is not part of it though, I'm watching MHL with a glass of milk. How middle aged of me!!

A photo a day for a year: Day 1

2007-10-29T12:29:00.001Z

A photo a day for a year: Day 1
Originally uploaded by ydnab41.

Starting today I am going to attempt to take one photo each day for a year and post it to my flickr page and then on to here. It could be a self portrait, like the first one I've taken above. It could be something that catches my eye while I'm out and about or it could be anything really

Jake flying his helecopter

2007-10-21T11:23:00.001+01:00

This was jake flying his helecopter in delapre park on Sun 21/10//07

New job!!!

2007-10-18T10:08:00.000+01:00

Well, this has been a very interesting week for me. On Tuesday I got a phone call to say I had got the job I applied for a few weeks ago. I start on 6th Nov. Ok, so it’s not the I.T job I’m looking for, only a warehouse job but I’m optimistic about it because they have talked a lot about training and would I be prepared to have the odd week away from home for training courses. I never once had a sniff of training or promotion in royal mail in over 25 years of working there. I’ve got a good feeling about the long-term prospects of this new job. I really feel that royal mail is dead in the water. Sure I could stay there, earn loads of money and go for the redundancy package when they offer it next year but I have no guarantee that I will get voluntary redundancy, so I would be stuck in a job I don’t really want to do with no promotion prospects and having to offer total flexibility in terms of hours I work from day to day. No thanks!! Bye bye royal mail. So I am now on "extended" sick leave and have just posted my notice letter!! I feel really naughty, like I’m wagging school or something!! This is fun!!
I intend to use the next couple of weeks before my new job starts to really blitz my computeach studies and get at least the hardware and o/s mocks completed. That’s quite a tall order, but I have 2 ½ weeks at home so if I am really disciplined I should be able to do it.
That’s all for now.

Moday waffle

2007-10-15T10:46:00.000+01:00

I know I should update this blog more often however deciding what to write about is often so daunting that I take the easy option and not write anything at all. You see, I have a lot of stuff I could write about but most of it is personal to me and I’m not convinced that anyone else would find it interesting enough to actually read.
For instance, I could write about the fact that my A+ studies are getting to the stage where I feel almost ready to take the first mock exam. I just need to do one final review of the material and I am in the process of making up flashcards with the stuff on I need to learn off by heart such as Irq’s and processor socket types. I guess that this is only really of interest to me though or someone else who is studying A+.
I could also write about how unhappy I am at work at the moment because they are imposing new working hours on us next week and at the moment I don’t know what I’ll be doing next week or even what days I’ll be working!!
What else is going on in my life? Oh yeah, I’m just about to pop my birth certificate over to another job I’m applying for. Less money, but hopefully a better job, plus it is only 4 miles away from home instead of the 20 miles I have to drive at present.
Well, I’ve probably bored your all rigid so I’ll sign off now and I won’t mention how proud I am of Claire for persevering at her TaeKwonDo club even though she only has 4 regular members. Don’t worry, now the grading is over we can do a big advertising push.
Also I’m so glad that Jake is settling in at his new school. They really seem to know how to handle autistic children and Jake is really maturing in that environment and is now actually fun to be with.
Also I am proud of my daughter Dan who seems to be really working hard at school on her A levels. I’m sure that if she stays this focussed she will get exactly where she wants to be.
Anyway, enough of my waffling, I’m off into town to get that birth cert. over to that job application.

busy day

2007-10-01T23:51:00.000+01:00

The skip arrived nice and early this morning. Much to our suprise the driver put the skip in our front garden despite the small matter of the tree being in the way!! I shall be extremely interested to see how he manages to get it out again since he took a load of branches off the tree just getting it in.

We spent the rest of the morning filling the skip up with the contents of our garden shed. Now, the skip is bigger than the shed, so how have the shed contents managed to fill the skip? We must have a TARDIS shed!! bigger on the inside than it is on the outside.

My parents came round at lunch time and treated us to fish and chips. This felt like the perfect excuse to stop for the day as we were both getting a bit tired at this point. It looks as though the shed wasn't as rotten as we first thought and just needs a few planks replacing and a new roof, so we have decided to keep it and save ourselves some money.

It was Claire's dad's birthday today so after my parents had left we went round to see him and wish him happy birthday.

Ok, time for bed, going to finish off the skip filling tomorrow so need an early night.

Holiday, dreams and other stuff

2007-09-27T11:01:00.000+01:00

I'm on holiday next week yay!! Well sort of. I've hired a skip for the first few days with the intention of demolishing our woodworm infested garden shed and clearing the junk left in the attic by the previous owners. I'm not looking forward to clearing the loft out, I hate going through other people's things, I somehow feel as though I am contaminating myself with germs etc. I'd never make a forensic scientist would I? lol!!

They say that when you have something that is worrying you, go to sleep on it and you will dream the solution. I never really subscribed to that theory, mainly since it has never happened to me. However, I woke up this morning from a very striking dream in which an unidentified voice was shouting at me and telling me what I have to do to put my life back the way I want it to be. (this is not personal stuff, that is running perfectly fine at the moment, it's other stuff). I won't say what the voice told me to do, that would probably jinx it, but don't worry if I seem a little pre-occupied over the next few months, it's only me trying to change my life for the better!!

Anyway, Jake's birthday this weekend so I'm off to town in a few minutes to get him a cake.

Uk iphone launch

2007-09-18T10:54:00.000+01:00

Today saw the uk launch of the apple iphone.

This is probably the most desirable gadget available at the moment but I won't be getting one just yet!

Firstly, there is no 3G on it. In the uk this is almost essential on a mobile phone.

Secondly there is the price: £269 for the phone and £35 per month on an 18 month contract with O2

I think I'll wait a year or so until the price drops and 3g is included in the phone. Shame, really, because I really want one!!

This is funny

2007-09-13T15:36:00.000+01:00

Here's one for you Claire, thought you might appreciate this...

Karate school robbery leaves thief hospitalized

5 days ago
BOGOTA (AFP) — A feckless stick-up man chose the wrong target when he was beaten and hospitalized in an attempted robbery of a karate school in Bucaramanga in northwestern Colombia, police said.
"The man entered the academy with a firearm, but could not intimidate the dozens of students, who fortunately reacted and disarmed him," said Colonel Julio Cesar Santoyo, police commander in the province of Santander.
Police arrived at the scene only to take the would-be robber to hospital for treatment of multiple contusions at the hands of the karate students.

What the experts think

2007-09-13T03:23:00.000+01:00

I think there is a world market for maybe five computers."
Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1949.
There is no reason why anybody would want a computer in their home."Ken Olson, founder of DEC, 1977.
"640K ought to be enough for anybody."Bill Gates, 1981.
"I can foresee the day when there will be one of these (a telephone) in every town” A mayor in early twentieth century Pennsylvania

A geek afloat

2007-09-06T02:31:00.000+01:00

Claire has been hard at work over the last few days designing our new home. Palace might be a more apt description!! She is really taking a shine to the whole idea of getting our new floating home designed from the ground up and is already on "Alice Capel" ver 2.0.1 I think!!

Not to worry, I'll leave her to it, she has a knack of being able to make anything look homely. I'll just worry about the cost of this venture and gently try to nudge her in the direction of that nice CHEAP 2nd hand boat we saw in the marina ;-)

Another niggle that has been concerning me over the last few days is how I can maintain my geekiness on the narrowboat. After all a few batteries and an inverter isn't exactly going to give me the levels of global warming electricity I need as a true geek to power all my gadgets and pc's!! After all I have to have the largest carbon footprint I can muster, that's what being a geek is all about. The off switch is an anthaema to true geeks, why switch off when standby and sleep mode are there just asking to be used. However 2 laptops and 3 desktop pc's, a server perhaps, a router, mobile phones on charge, oh, and a games console or 3 will soon drain all the life out of the boat's batteries. This need some deep thought.

All this sounds a bit negative. Don't worry though, I am quite enthusiastic about the whole project. The idea of parking my entire home outside a nice country pub serving well kept real ale makes it all worthwhile. Just think, country pub, real ale, nice meal and not having to drive home afterwards, perfect!!

An announcement

2007-09-03T12:44:00.000+01:00

It's official. We have decided to sell our house and buy a narrowboat to live aboard. To many this may seem an "out of the blue" announcement but we have actually discussed the idea more than once or twice in the last seven years.

In reality, it is going to be a long time before we are actually living on board. There is the small matter of selling our house for one thing, no small task!! Then there is the waiting list for a new build boat, 18 months at the moment, although we could get it quicker if we really wanted to. We would rather take our time and do it properly, after all there is no going back on this once we have set the ball rolling!!

I will make regular blog entries on this subject whenever there is anything to report.

My broadband speed

2007-08-27T08:01:00.000+01:00

I'm on a 4Mb package with NTLworld.

8.00 Mon 27th aug 2007

Is modern life too stressful?

2007-08-12T23:11:00.000+01:00

this made me think. I don't work in an office, thank god. But I still have to work long hours in order to earn enough money to pay all the bills (when the overtime is available, that is)

Personally, I strongly believe that society is falling apart simply because we are all too busy rushing around to be polite and courteous to each other any more. Tomorrow, let's all make a conscious to slow our pace of life down to a more civilised speed and take the time to be polite to each other.

Why try to squeeze everything into one day and end up eventually having a physical breakdown because of it?

Tomorrow I intend to lead my life at a much slower pace and I will not allow myself to be intimidated by anyone who wants to "hurry me up"

Also, from now on, I vow to not get stressed when run out of time to complete what I am doing.

Looking forward to normality

2007-08-07T13:18:00.000+01:00

It's been quite an eventful couple of weeks. It was meant to be my summer break, two weeks of chilling out at home with Claire and the kids. Not quite!!

At the beginning of the holiday Claire's auntie passed away unexpectedly after being taken ill at home. Add to this the fact that my sister in law was due to get married, then add us having the kids over to stay for a week (nice, but stressful) and then my finances still suffering the fall out from my conversion from weekly to monthly pay and you can see where all the stress is coming from.

Well everything is over now, the wedding has happened, the kids are away at their nan's, Claire's Aunty's funeral is over and we are both back to work, Claire today and myself tomorrow. Oh, and I am getting our finances straightened out!! I am praying that we can now have a period of calm and normality for a few months in order to calm our nerves!!

I think I may even be able to get back to my studies, which, needless to say have been rather neglected over the last fortnight.

funny

2007-07-29T17:43:00.001+01:00

new lorry at work

2007-07-16T23:05:00.001+01:00

Even though i don't enjoy my job much. Sometimes it can be quite interesting. Tonight i have been given a brand new lorry to drive. It has a fully automatic gearbox and is taking a bit of getting used to!
It also has a digital tachograph that takes the new digital cards. There are basically like credit cards that replace the paper, manual entry tacho's we have been using for use last 20 years.
Only time will tell on how greener and easier to drive there new units will be. For now though, time to head back down the m6 and finish my shift.

harry potter

2007-07-15T14:48:00.001+01:00

We have just been to see the latest harry potter film. Brilliant is the verdict of all of us. They have somehow managed to condense the longest book of the series so far into one of the shortest films of the series. But nothing has been taken away from the storyline.
more later when i get home as mobile phones are not good for writing long emails.

Harry Potter

2007-07-15T00:34:00.000+01:00

We are all going to see the new Harry Potter film later today. I can't believe that I am getting excited about a film!

I'll let you know what I thought about it in a blog post later today.

A good Fri 13th

2007-07-14T00:30:00.000+01:00

Well, Fri 13th has been and gone now. to be honest, it hasn't been a bad one all in all. I had a slight panic about money to begin the day. I thought I had used the wrong credit card to buy the shopping, the one without money in it. I've just checked and I am ok, so no panic there then.

Today We ripped the old, horrible carpet up from the living room floor. It was the carpet that was down when we moved in, and it looked horrible. To our surprise we found underneath smooth, polished floorboards!! they look great, especially since we were planning to put down laminate flooring anyway. Just a little clean up and a varnish and we will have a nice, contempory looking living room floor. It has already inspired us to start planning the funiture we are going to buy. I've posted some photos of the floor on my flickr page.

checking

2007-07-11T16:38:00.001+01:00

Does this thing still work? I email a blog post in and it disappears into the ether.

big life change plans

2007-06-26T13:41:00.000+01:00

I've just realised that if I get rid of my car, cancel my sky subscription and cancel my gym subs I could save myself nearly £5,500.00 per year!!

Giving up the gym is easy, I never use it!! giving up sky is relatively easy, I just replace it with a freeview pvr, one large payment and that's it, no subs to worry about. It's the car that's going to be the hardest to give up. I would have to change my job for something closer to home, I currently work 18 miles away from where I live. Then there is the family to think about, how would they cope without a car to be ferried around in. Mind you, after a quarter of a century of driving i'm just about ready to hang up my driving gloves for good.

Now to do some job hunting, of course I can look for a job that pays £5000 less per year so that widens the net a bit.

What do you think? has anybody reading this ever done anything as radical as giving up driving (voluntarily i mean, not through health reasons) If so, how did you cope and how did your family cope?

Global warming

2007-06-21T16:22:00.000+01:00

Pipedreams and ambitions

2007-06-20T23:50:00.000+01:00

I'm getting itchy feet again. I'm a bit worried about it, the last time I got itchy feet I ended up driving buses!!!

I always have these little pipe dreams of working for myself, maybe building and troubleshooting pc's for people, taking and selling photos perhaps. I need to get away from the monotony of working for an employer and feeling used and under valued.
Plus, i'm bored doing the same old thing day in and day out. Sure, I realise that all jobs have an element of repetition and boredom in them, but I'd rather be doing something I enjoy than something I hate.

I'm working on the first dream, pc care and repair by doing this course with computeach. The rest? Oh just pipedreams I suppose. There is always that voice inside my head saying "don't be silly, normal people don't earn a living from taking photos, or scuba diving etc". Oh well, back to driving lorries I guess, the mortgage won't pay itself.

Geek rap

2007-06-18T00:33:00.000+01:00

Check this out. Very funny!! This is gonna be big

Family trees

2007-06-14T13:37:00.000+01:00

Recently I have become fascinated by my family history, who my ancestors were, where they lived etc. Anyway, I have struggled and slowly built up quite a tree.

My wife Claire, however, has taken to genaeology like a duck to water. She can look up her ancestors on the internet and take her family back several generations in one evening. In short, she is a natural at internet research.

After doing a neighbour's family tree who's surname is Smith, of all things, she has decided to take the plunge and offer her skills and services to anyone willing to pay her. So if you are interested in your family history and don't know where to start, or have hit a brick wall in your research, check out Claire's website and get in touch with her via the form on the site.

Claire's family tree website

encyclopedia of life

2007-06-01T03:20:00.000+01:00

I'm always on the lookout for interesting websites or inventive ways of using the internet, the darwin letters project I blogged about the other day is one example of this.

Here is another one that sounds interesting. The encyclopedia of life is an ambitious project to create a web page for every recorded lifeform on the planet. They expect it to take ten years to complete and I think it sounds really interesting. Take a look:

The encyclopedia of life

dreams

2007-05-30T00:46:00.000+01:00

Isn't life strange? I mean, I really enjoy finding out about how computers work and I'm always interested in new gadgets and developments on the internet. However I'm well aware that many people, especially those who do this sort of thing for a living, find it all very boring. I find many things boring that others people don't. I wonder why this is? What is it that makes football, say, an obsession for one person and yet a complete turn off for another (i.e. me!!)

Here I am, desperately trying to study for a career in I.T and only today I was talking to someone who has a career in I.T who hates it and wants to change to a career in HGV driving, which I do and hate every minute of. If only we could just swap jobs. life is very strange isn't it? He just couldn't see why I find computers so fascinating and I failed to be convinced by his arguments about how HGV driving is fun!!

Oh well, back to my studying, maybe one day I will achieve my dream, and hopefully he will achieve his.

The zimmers (re-post)

2007-05-28T15:29:00.000+01:00

I blogged this a month or two back, but have decided to repost it for you to enjoy:

Darwin's letters online

2007-05-16T16:45:00.000+01:00

This looks interesting. Need to check this out in more detail when I get some free time

Darwin Correspondence project