Steve from England

Hmm .... (image here that I am sitting on a deserted beach just thinking to myself ... I like to do that and have some of the most amazing thoughts and ideas doing it. Sadly, I rarely take a pad and pen so none of them will ever survive the day. Of course, now and then I have recurring thoughts which may be provoked by current circumstance or may just be milling around in my mind looking for a means of escape and, unfortunately, those poor thoughts just have my inadequate writing abilities to give them life. I don't recall reading any more about this subject lately than I normally would or seeing it on television but the issue of climate change has been bouncing around my mind recently. Not only climate change but the state of this planet in general. Thing is, I can recall quite clearly being told back in the 1970s' that in my lifetime the oil would run dry. We may be some time away from that but just how long? Just because something is a conspiracy theory doesn't mean it c

Hmm .... (image here that I am sitting on a deserted beach just thinking to myself ... I like to do that and have some of the most amazing thoughts and ideas doing it. Sadly, I rarely take a pad and pen so none of them will ever survive the day. Of course, now and then I have recurring thoughts which may be provoked by current circumstance or may just be milling around in my mind looking for a means of escape and, unfortunately, those poor thoughts just have my inadequate writing abilities to give them life. I don't recall reading any more about this subject lately than I normally would or seeing it on television but the issue of climate change has been bouncing around my mind recently. Not only climate change but the state of this planet in general. Thing is, I can recall quite clearly being told back in the 1970s' that in my lifetime the oil would run dry. We may be some time away from that but just how long? Just because something is a conspiracy theory doesn't mean it c

Disneyland was really cool Annoyingly, Deej got a tummy bug the first day and I got it a few days in which kind of buggered things up but we still enjoyed it despite the crap weather of the Sunday through Tuesday. Our planned Paris trip didn't happen as the French were in strike meaning hardly any trains. Matt now has his flat and that meant me going out straight off yesterday (Saturday) to spend about £1k on new stuff for him. I was totally shattered and feeling really bad by bed time. This morning I woke up around 08:30 and sat down to a tea when a call came through from the coach house. The guy in the flat next to Jermaine had barged in and trashed the place. Jermaine had been kicked and punched and two staff members needed hospital treatment. On the plus side, everyone was really lucky and nothing too serious happened with regard to broken bones or death. Jermaine was fine by the time I got to see him. That was some significant time as I had to sort through what was left in his

Disneyland was really cool Annoyingly, Deej got a tummy bug the first day and I got it a few days in which kind of buggered things up but we still enjoyed it despite the crap weather of the Sunday through Tuesday. Our planned Paris trip didn't happen as the French were in strike meaning hardly any trains. Matt now has his flat and that meant me going out straight off yesterday (Saturday) to spend about £1k on new stuff for him. I was totally shattered and feeling really bad by bed time. This morning I woke up around 08:30 and sat down to a tea when a call came through from the coach house. The guy in the flat next to Jermaine had barged in and trashed the place. Jermaine had been kicked and punched and two staff members needed hospital treatment. On the plus side, everyone was really lucky and nothing too serious happened with regard to broken bones or death. Jermaine was fine by the time I got to see him. That was some significant time as I had to sort through what was left in his

As a dad we want the best, OK ... let's get personal, 'I' want the best for my kids and I imagine them to be the best. When they are growing up we have a sort of game plan on how things are going to turn out with tons of room for adaptation but always within a framework about which we are certain, within that we can allow just about anything and it'll be fine. Annoyingly, other human beings have a habit of developing their own agenda without consulting anyone else or considering that anyone else may have already mapped things out. As parents we know we have to do the 'tidy your room' thing without ever seriously expecting them to think for themselves until they move out, that's normal rebellion. We expect chores to be done and are surprised every now and then when we are right, that's normal too. The point of all that silliness, all that which seems time consuming and wasteful is to hope that a little of this will rub off on them when they are in panic l

As a dad we want the best, OK ... let's get personal, 'I' want the best for my kids and I imagine them to be the best. When they are growing up we have a sort of game plan on how things are going to turn out with tons of room for adaptation but always within a framework about which we are certain, within that we can allow just about anything and it'll be fine. Annoyingly, other human beings have a habit of developing their own agenda without consulting anyone else or considering that anyone else may have already mapped things out. As parents we know we have to do the 'tidy your room' thing without ever seriously expecting them to think for themselves until they move out, that's normal rebellion. We expect chores to be done and are surprised every now and then when we are right, that's normal too. The point of all that silliness, all that which seems time consuming and wasteful is to hope that a little of this will rub off on them when they are in panic l

Yes, Beds to start off with ... some sofa beds are simply only fit for sitting on and even then their use is questionable! Trust me on this one, a solid base on which to lay is not good for the back or any other part of the body and boy did I so not get a lot of sleep in a recent sleep out. Memo to self ... take something soft to lay on next time. Just finished my latest book 'Eric' and along with the one I read previously, 'The Colour of Magic' I have to say I was disappointed. Terry Pratchett just does not write consistently good books. Both of these seemed to have either no real end as in 'The Colour of Magic" or, a very weak one such as 'Eric' It is almost as though he didn't plan on ending the book there but ran out of ideas so cobbled something together for the last few pages. I am back to wearing a zipper jean now after a while of buttons. The problem is that with buttons I don't bother doing them all up so never actually touch them at al

Yes, Beds to start off with ... some sofa beds are simply only fit for sitting on and even then their use is questionable! Trust me on this one, a solid base on which to lay is not good for the back or any other part of the body and boy did I so not get a lot of sleep in a recent sleep out. Memo to self ... take something soft to lay on next time. Just finished my latest book 'Eric' and along with the one I read previously, 'The Colour of Magic' I have to say I was disappointed. Terry Pratchett just does not write consistently good books. Both of these seemed to have either no real end as in 'The Colour of Magic" or, a very weak one such as 'Eric' It is almost as though he didn't plan on ending the book there but ran out of ideas so cobbled something together for the last few pages. I am back to wearing a zipper jean now after a while of buttons. The problem is that with buttons I don't bother doing them all up so never actually touch them at al

There was a time when I was king of the refund. Where I ever actually paid full price for anything expensive because I managed to get a refund afterwards. Most noteworthy was a 1998 8 week trip of Europe on which I made extensive use of my camera to get evidence of breaches of safety, terrible quality etc. Not only did I get the entire cost of the holiday refunded but in their confusion they refunded it twice so effectively paying me to go. Of course and as may well be the case in life, this was at a time when I could afford expensive holidays and didn't really need the money back. It was really just for the hell of it and for the hell of it I did it loads. For years I have lost my touch, maybe it is simply because companies have got tougher or perhaps it just isn't so much fun any more? I mean, getting money back from a bank or phone company or 'gestures of good will' is generally quite easy, too easy. Sadly, it also achieves nothing except me getting some money, it w

There was a time when I was king of the refund. Where I ever actually paid full price for anything expensive because I managed to get a refund afterwards. Most noteworthy was a 1998 8 week trip of Europe on which I made extensive use of my camera to get evidence of breaches of safety, terrible quality etc. Not only did I get the entire cost of the holiday refunded but in their confusion they refunded it twice so effectively paying me to go. Of course and as may well be the case in life, this was at a time when I could afford expensive holidays and didn't really need the money back. It was really just for the hell of it and for the hell of it I did it loads. For years I have lost my touch, maybe it is simply because companies have got tougher or perhaps it just isn't so much fun any more? I mean, getting money back from a bank or phone company or 'gestures of good will' is generally quite easy, too easy. Sadly, it also achieves nothing except me getting some money, it w

Yesterday Deej and I were in bed after the girls had gone to school/college. I got up at 9 and discovered a message on the answer phone from the orthodontist saying Zoey's appointment yesterday had been cancelled. Not wanting to confuse matters any longer than need be at 9:15 I telephone the college to tell them I'd not need to be collecting her after all. They sounded concerned and then said "She never came in this morning" So started the day of Zoey going missing. I telephone the taxi company and they confirmed that though they were sure she was at home she would not answer the door when they knocked. I then realised I would soon have to be contacting the police and needed to speak to Daisy first so she could say what she would know about having been the last to see Zoey. Duston school were arseholes. They seemed to go out of their way to be difficult despite me explaining the situation. They were stupid to a level I didn't realise was possible from apparently e

Yesterday Deej and I were in bed after the girls had gone to school/college. I got up at 9 and discovered a message on the answer phone from the orthodontist saying Zoey's appointment yesterday had been cancelled. Not wanting to confuse matters any longer than need be at 9:15 I telephone the college to tell them I'd not need to be collecting her after all. They sounded concerned and then said "She never came in this morning" So started the day of Zoey going missing. I telephone the taxi company and they confirmed that though they were sure she was at home she would not answer the door when they knocked. I then realised I would soon have to be contacting the police and needed to speak to Daisy first so she could say what she would know about having been the last to see Zoey. Duston school were arseholes. They seemed to go out of their way to be difficult despite me explaining the situation. They were stupid to a level I didn't realise was possible from apparently e

I forget to write anything to the blog and, it's not like there isn't anything to write as loads has happened, it is more a case that I keep putting off. The week following my last entry we had a meeting at the Coach House in Corby about Jermaine. It went as well as I'd expected it to. The only complaint from just about all sides was the total lack of will on the part of the company to get required jobs done. That weekend we went to see 'Stardust'. It was a last moment choice but a very good one as it was excellent. Then along rattled half term and we'd booked to go to Calais a day with the girls, stay over there and also in Kent taking in visiting friends and seeing my dad and Kath as well. French trip went real well. I doubt I will ever accept the stupidity of the border control people in the UK. It is always the British that cause the issues. "Where have you been sir?" "France" "Where exactly sir? "Oh, here and there, how exact d

I forget to write anything to the blog and, it's not like there isn't anything to write as loads has happened, it is more a case that I keep putting off. The week following my last entry we had a meeting at the Coach House in Corby about Jermaine. It went as well as I'd expected it to. The only complaint from just about all sides was the total lack of will on the part of the company to get required jobs done. That weekend we went to see 'Stardust'. It was a last moment choice but a very good one as it was excellent. Then along rattled half term and we'd booked to go to Calais a day with the girls, stay over there and also in Kent taking in visiting friends and seeing my dad and Kath as well. French trip went real well. I doubt I will ever accept the stupidity of the border control people in the UK. It is always the British that cause the issues. "Where have you been sir?" "France" "Where exactly sir? "Oh, here and there, how exact d