Clare's Climb's Climax, Potato Couch and The Dogs
Hello Bloggettes,
Well done to Clare Caley who reached the top of Kilimanjaro. I got a text from her from the mountain If you see her give her a hug! If you want to donate here's that link to her site again... CLICK. Dontchajustluvher?!
Happy New Lunar (Chinese) Year! It's the year of the dog. How bizarre with me going Greyhound Racing this week!
This time four years ago I celebrated Chinese New Year in China. And smuggled a lot of very strong Chinese vodka into South Korea.
It was just weeks later I ended up delierious and close to death in a Korean hospital run by nuns, with my parents flying out just hoping to see me before I died.
I blame the icy conditions on the Great Wall, the local tipple and endless rice!
I also blame Pauline, because if she had let me swap her for a two camels and a bottle of Coke - like the Mongolian guy wanted - I could have rode back warm! Lol
I think the man was also trying to give me his daughter in ‘part-exchange’. But by the look of her she wouldn’t have tasted very nice. Perhaps I could have swapped her for a warm coat and a pair of rabbit mittens (only joking, rabbit lovers!)
Anyway. Its been busy (don’t yawn!) I had a look around the gym I won a week’s pass to. It’s Cannon’s on the way to Cannock, (Rawnsley side) near the bridge.
It is very luxurious. There are so many classes like yoga and pilates as well as regular activities and a large gym. I will give it a go. It starts next Tuesday.
I have an induction session with ‘Jodie’. 'Kelly' didn't look anything like I expected by the way!
Until then I am continuing with my fitness drive, its the only way my lungs are going to last the distance. I have started each morning with a cycle (brrrrr COLD!).
I am up and about for my 8am medication and nebulisers so I might as well utilise the time.
When I get back (I do the same block each day) I do stretching and some dumb bell exercises that the hospital told me to do, before a shower.
That’s why I feel wrecked by lunchtime and am a zombie by the afternoon.
On Saturday I went to Lichfield. I took an invoice in and had some bits and bobs to get. (I love that phrase ‘bits and bobs’. What is a bob? Can one buy a bit of bob? )
Saturday lunchtime I bumped in to Erik and Diana (and D’s bump!) So we went to Couch Potato for latte. I was meeting the lovely LC there later anyway so it was perfect.
LC is so funny. It is weird. I feel really comfortable with her, really at ease. It is like I have known her a lot longer than I have, although thinking about it I have known her a long time, but not well, gosh I am rambling now aren’t I? Anyway, you rock friend, ok! Luv ya!
When we meet it's always a day I have to disappear somewhere later on. This isn’t deliberate, ok. Please don’t think I am trying to escape from you or something! Its just my disorganised social life. Am I forgiven?
Anyway big snuggles to LC and the radiant CC. The bestest Bloggettes one could hope for!
I was meeting my mum at Chico’s Café and I met a Lithuanian girl selling cards she had made. It wasn’t till after she had gone I thought. ‘What a story’.
What is someone from Lithuania (which I can’t even picture on a map) doing in sleeping Lichfield.
Why would she choose here? What is her tale? Perhaps she is escaping the Russian mafia. Perhaps she is escaping to avoid an arranged marriage to a Muslim overlord? (Are there Muslim Underlords, or Moslim ones even?)
Perhaps she is just a student!
When I was at Uni in Manchester and working for the uni magazine the editor told us all to go out and find a homeless person and get their story. There were some fascinating ones. Apart from mine who claimed to be on a mission from God to drink cider!
One had got all A-graded at A-level but got rejected from Cambridge for some reason so took a year off and got into drugs and just went downhill. I hear he is still there outside the Cornerstone (?)Cinema in Oxford Road, Manchester.
Anyway….Saturday…I then met up with other CWCCers and got a coach to Perry Barr to the Greyhound Stadium.
It was a good night. The meal was pretty ordinary for ₤18! But the racing was fun. How they get those tiny jockeys onto those little dogs is beyond me
What happens is you all stay in the warm and a lady comes round to each table with a kind of bus-ticket machine.
You tell her the kind of bet and the lane you want and the amount and she gives you a ticket. After each race she comes round and pays the winnings and takes bets for the next race. Its cool as you only have to bet ₤2.
And the programme contains loads of statistics about each dog and its form. (Although we couldn’t be bothered to read it !)
I had a system of sorts and ended up about ₤7 up on the night. But drinks were about ₤2.50 each and by the time I had bought my friend one too and bought a ₤2 programme I was about even!
For one race a group of us went to the actual trackside. Those greyhounds just fly along.
They are so beautiful, sleek and well-disciplined. (and that’s just the waitresses – he he) I suppose that’s why they make such good pets. Apparently they don’t need much exercise either. (I am still talking about the DOGS…!) Our waitress was Tara and she was ok.
We are making progress with the bench for dad in the village park. We have had various moneys come in and with the cricket club donation I think we will have enough.
Sunday I thought about taking a day off from the cycling. But my conscience got the better of me and I went. It was a good job I did because I went to the Park Gate for a couple of drinks at lunchtimes with the usual Sunday suspects and felt really bloated afterwards.
In the afternoon I did a village news piece I do every week for the Mercury newspaper. There was so much to put in this week. I also try to do a little Blast From The Past every week, with a bit of potted history or old newspaper stories from Cannock Wood.
This week I did a little piece about an original version of the National Lottery, which rain the Cannock Wood and Gentleshaw in the1960s. It even had rollover weeks and cost 6d per two numbers.
This week is filling up fast. I am having blood test (more fasting aaaaaagh!) going to an old folks’ home which has set up its own cinema and ‘Wurlitzer’organ – thanks largely to my friend Ian’s late father. This sounds fascinating actually.
I have a couple of half finished features to finish for the local press too as well as starting my Advanced ECDL course evening class at Lichfield and Tamworth College
….Aaaaaaagh (Mark shakes at the thought of his brain having to work again!)
I hear it is a lot harder than the ECDL and Clait Plus evening classes I have done there over the last two years. But at least I won’t have to worry about my oxygen running out during an exam!
There are still tickets to Cannock Wood’s Valentine’s Dance left by the way from Jan or Gary. There are some.ermsurprises guaranteed. I haven’t decided whether I will go yet.
I only know about two people under 50 who will be there, but part of the profits will go to Cystic Fibrosis Trust so I feel I should support it….and…well….we will see.
I am still waiting for the link to be e-mailed to me for my latest music reviews on ciao.co.uk. It normally takes a couple of weeks. I have written about some new bands coming out of Australia and of course (yawn!) of the Arctic Monkeys album. I say 'Yawn' because everyone must be bored of me saying how much I like it by now!
I am having to get up very early and do all my exercises (I really am determined to get my lung function to what a normal person’s should be and beyond but it’s a slow, hard business….. )
You should see the state of me when I come back from the cycle. (Not a pretty sight) and make sure my drugs are laid out for the day. From today I am stopping one painkiller. Wish me luck. If I write anything it will be all shaky!
Friday I am going to BB and BJ’s place in Brum and of course its Colin’s birthday at the weekend. Of course I won’t reveal his real age. But he’s at least four years older than me! It will be my first 'sleepover' since my transplant. Its a real psychological step towards normality.
Well I will love you and leave you I hope you like the pictures. They were all taken on my phone so forgive the quality! They are just of my weekend basically.
Oooooooh KITTEN COULD BE IMMINANT! Ms McKeon has a lovely kitten. A kind of grey, silver tabby with a lovely nature and the cat’s mother it apparently always have these kittens and they are all sweet natured and cute (just like me, eh? L)
She will ring us when the next batch are born! If they are as cute as the little Amerton hedgehog I won’t be able to refuse. It will be difficult just to have one but I must be strong!
“Don’t get taken in by a suntan and a grin,” DM.
“Love is the drug that will get you through,” RM
Villains of the week 1) Express and Star 2) George Galloway 3) The person who ran over that animal between Burntwood and Lichfield (It is now just flat so I don’t know what it was.) grrrrrrrr.
PSL I am now allowed blue cheese again! :)
Well done to Clare Caley who reached the top of Kilimanjaro. I got a text from her from the mountain If you see her give her a hug! If you want to donate here's that link to her site again... CLICK. Dontchajustluvher?!Happy New Lunar (Chinese) Year! It's the year of the dog. How bizarre with me going Greyhound Racing this week!
This time four years ago I celebrated Chinese New Year in China. And smuggled a lot of very strong Chinese vodka into South Korea.
It was just weeks later I ended up delierious and close to death in a Korean hospital run by nuns, with my parents flying out just hoping to see me before I died.
I blame the icy conditions on the Great Wall, the local tipple and endless rice!
I also blame Pauline, because if she had let me swap her for a two camels and a bottle of Coke - like the Mongolian guy wanted - I could have rode back warm! Lol
I think the man was also trying to give me his daughter in ‘part-exchange’. But by the look of her she wouldn’t have tasted very nice. Perhaps I could have swapped her for a warm coat and a pair of rabbit mittens (only joking, rabbit lovers!)
Anyway. Its been busy (don’t yawn!) I had a look around the gym I won a week’s pass to. It’s Cannon’s on the way to Cannock, (Rawnsley side) near the bridge.
It is very luxurious. There are so many classes like yoga and pilates as well as regular activities and a large gym. I will give it a go. It starts next Tuesday.
I have an induction session with ‘Jodie’. 'Kelly' didn't look anything like I expected by the way!
Until then I am continuing with my fitness drive, its the only way my lungs are going to last the distance. I have started each morning with a cycle (brrrrr COLD!).
I am up and about for my 8am medication and nebulisers so I might as well utilise the time.
When I get back (I do the same block each day) I do stretching and some dumb bell exercises that the hospital told me to do, before a shower.
That’s why I feel wrecked by lunchtime and am a zombie by the afternoon.
On Saturday I went to Lichfield. I took an invoice in and had some bits and bobs to get. (I love that phrase ‘bits and bobs’. What is a bob? Can one buy a bit of bob? )
Saturday lunchtime I bumped in to Erik and Diana (and D’s bump!) So we went to Couch Potato for latte. I was meeting the lovely LC there later anyway so it was perfect.
LC is so funny. It is weird. I feel really comfortable with her, really at ease. It is like I have known her a lot longer than I have, although thinking about it I have known her a long time, but not well, gosh I am rambling now aren’t I? Anyway, you rock friend, ok! Luv ya!
When we meet it's always a day I have to disappear somewhere later on. This isn’t deliberate, ok. Please don’t think I am trying to escape from you or something! Its just my disorganised social life. Am I forgiven?
Anyway big snuggles to LC and the radiant CC. The bestest Bloggettes one could hope for!
I was meeting my mum at Chico’s Café and I met a Lithuanian girl selling cards she had made. It wasn’t till after she had gone I thought. ‘What a story’.
What is someone from Lithuania (which I can’t even picture on a map) doing in sleeping Lichfield.
Why would she choose here? What is her tale? Perhaps she is escaping the Russian mafia. Perhaps she is escaping to avoid an arranged marriage to a Muslim overlord? (Are there Muslim Underlords, or Moslim ones even?)
Perhaps she is just a student!
When I was at Uni in Manchester and working for the uni magazine the editor told us all to go out and find a homeless person and get their story. There were some fascinating ones. Apart from mine who claimed to be on a mission from God to drink cider!
One had got all A-graded at A-level but got rejected from Cambridge for some reason so took a year off and got into drugs and just went downhill. I hear he is still there outside the Cornerstone (?)Cinema in Oxford Road, Manchester.
Anyway….Saturday…I then met up with other CWCCers and got a coach to Perry Barr to the Greyhound Stadium.
It was a good night. The meal was pretty ordinary for ₤18! But the racing was fun. How they get those tiny jockeys onto those little dogs is beyond me
What happens is you all stay in the warm and a lady comes round to each table with a kind of bus-ticket machine.
You tell her the kind of bet and the lane you want and the amount and she gives you a ticket. After each race she comes round and pays the winnings and takes bets for the next race. Its cool as you only have to bet ₤2.
And the programme contains loads of statistics about each dog and its form. (Although we couldn’t be bothered to read it !)
I had a system of sorts and ended up about ₤7 up on the night. But drinks were about ₤2.50 each and by the time I had bought my friend one too and bought a ₤2 programme I was about even!
For one race a group of us went to the actual trackside. Those greyhounds just fly along.
They are so beautiful, sleek and well-disciplined. (and that’s just the waitresses – he he) I suppose that’s why they make such good pets. Apparently they don’t need much exercise either. (I am still talking about the DOGS…!) Our waitress was Tara and she was ok.
We are making progress with the bench for dad in the village park. We have had various moneys come in and with the cricket club donation I think we will have enough.
Sunday I thought about taking a day off from the cycling. But my conscience got the better of me and I went. It was a good job I did because I went to the Park Gate for a couple of drinks at lunchtimes with the usual Sunday suspects and felt really bloated afterwards.
In the afternoon I did a village news piece I do every week for the Mercury newspaper. There was so much to put in this week. I also try to do a little Blast From The Past every week, with a bit of potted history or old newspaper stories from Cannock Wood.
This week I did a little piece about an original version of the National Lottery, which rain the Cannock Wood and Gentleshaw in the1960s. It even had rollover weeks and cost 6d per two numbers.
This week is filling up fast. I am having blood test (more fasting aaaaaagh!) going to an old folks’ home which has set up its own cinema and ‘Wurlitzer’organ – thanks largely to my friend Ian’s late father. This sounds fascinating actually.
I have a couple of half finished features to finish for the local press too as well as starting my Advanced ECDL course evening class at Lichfield and Tamworth College
….Aaaaaaagh (Mark shakes at the thought of his brain having to work again!)
I hear it is a lot harder than the ECDL and Clait Plus evening classes I have done there over the last two years. But at least I won’t have to worry about my oxygen running out during an exam!
There are still tickets to Cannock Wood’s Valentine’s Dance left by the way from Jan or Gary. There are some.ermsurprises guaranteed. I haven’t decided whether I will go yet.
I only know about two people under 50 who will be there, but part of the profits will go to Cystic Fibrosis Trust so I feel I should support it….and…well….we will see.
I am still waiting for the link to be e-mailed to me for my latest music reviews on ciao.co.uk. It normally takes a couple of weeks. I have written about some new bands coming out of Australia and of course (yawn!) of the Arctic Monkeys album. I say 'Yawn' because everyone must be bored of me saying how much I like it by now!
I am having to get up very early and do all my exercises (I really am determined to get my lung function to what a normal person’s should be and beyond but it’s a slow, hard business….. )
You should see the state of me when I come back from the cycle. (Not a pretty sight) and make sure my drugs are laid out for the day. From today I am stopping one painkiller. Wish me luck. If I write anything it will be all shaky!
Friday I am going to BB and BJ’s place in Brum and of course its Colin’s birthday at the weekend. Of course I won’t reveal his real age. But he’s at least four years older than me! It will be my first 'sleepover' since my transplant. Its a real psychological step towards normality.
Well I will love you and leave you I hope you like the pictures. They were all taken on my phone so forgive the quality! They are just of my weekend basically.
Oooooooh KITTEN COULD BE IMMINANT! Ms McKeon has a lovely kitten. A kind of grey, silver tabby with a lovely nature and the cat’s mother it apparently always have these kittens and they are all sweet natured and cute (just like me, eh? L)
She will ring us when the next batch are born! If they are as cute as the little Amerton hedgehog I won’t be able to refuse. It will be difficult just to have one but I must be strong!
“Don’t get taken in by a suntan and a grin,” DM.
“Love is the drug that will get you through,” RM
Villains of the week 1) Express and Star 2) George Galloway 3) The person who ran over that animal between Burntwood and Lichfield (It is now just flat so I don’t know what it was.) grrrrrrrr.
PSL I am now allowed blue cheese again! :)
MUSIC: Travis - Singles, Depeche Mode - Playing The Angel
BOOK: Left-handed-ness Through The Ages
To contact me CLICK
posted by Mark @ 5:37 pm
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home