The big bright thing in the sky is out once more…

It’s amazing how the sun can change everyone for the better. Even the grumpy out men are looking at things in a slightly more favorable way. It isn’t just because we have more things we can do outside which are fun either. In fact, some would have us believe that it is to do with the fact that it helps us produce endorphins which in turn gives us a feeling of well being. Mind you, the people who claim such black magic do so under the title of “science”. But let’s not burn the witches just yet!

I do however have a different idea about this. When the sun comes out it makes us a great deal warmer and as such females tend to wear shorter and skimpier clothing. This makes men happy! Fact! It also means that the female race get to go out and buy a whole new collection of clothes making them happy! Fact!

So which do you think it is, or do you have another idea? Let’s not just believe these so called “intelligent people” as sometimes the real answer is actually a simple one.

Help my christmas fund…

With the festive period just around the corner there are parties and dinners to be had I feel that I should write this blog.  Over this busy period it is easy to have just that “last one” and then head home.  But if you do and it takes you over the limit, please do not drive.  You can walk home, or better still you can help my christmas fund and take a taxi.

Last year it is thought that almost 11% of drivers who were pulled over and tested were over the legal drink driving limit.  Not only can you lose you license over this, you could also cause an accident which could injure yourself or even worse, someone else.

Please enjoy yourself, please look after others and please add to my christmas fund!

And so it continues…

Right now is a real down point.  It was all going so well that I should have known that something would have to go wrong at some point, but did it really have to happen right now.  So after the car crash which I was involved in the other day, I have been on the phone almost non-stop.  In fact it has been so bad that I almost feel like a telephone sales person!!  I know for sure that I could give the script that many of the companies have to sell you any and all of their products.

Anyway, I have been on the phone to my insurance company, the other persons insurance company, at least three different lawyers (ifs there’s a blame, there’s a claim, told you I could work for them!!) and also the car rental company non stop.

Everything seemed to going well, the other lady assumed responsibility (apparently her foot slipped off the break and hit the accelerator… hmmm) and they had sorted out a rental taxi until I have my car fixed.  The car will take about a week to fix, or so I am told.  It needs two new doors, the rear wheel arch replaced, a new rear wheel and the strip under the doors needs to be replaced also.  Plus on top of that, it needs a paint job to make sure it looks natural.

So, I digress, the rental car was due to arrive today and it did right on time.  The only problem was that the 2-way radio was not there, just some (and more importantly the wrong ones) wires and also the meter was set to the wrong tariff.  So yet again it was back to the phone to try and sort it out which took another day of my life away!  We should be able to sort it all out tomorrow, if only we could tell the electricity or gas company that one!

Well thats it for now, next time if I am still of the road I might start up a fund where all the people of the world can send me some money… but I think there are several “organizations” that have already got that one covered, but I will complain about that another day… for now I will keep smiling and carry on as close to normality as possible.

A good three weeks turns bad…

So not too long after writing my last blog, I got another job.  Just a normal £5/6 job but near to the destination another driver was pulling out of a carpark and t-boned me!  My car can still drive but it is too badly damaged to be used as a taxi.  So I have had many hours on the phone with insurance companies, injury lawyers and taxi rental companies and they are all asking the same questions over and over again!!

Anyway, it is still not sorted and I dont know =when it will be.  I will let you guys know as and when.

 

2 weeks…

So, I started this blog a week ago and I haven’t updated this blog for three weeks now which is really bad and I am sorry, but starting the new job and all that… well I haven’t had much time to do anything.  It has been a very busy time but things are starting to look good.  The bills are getting paid, I’m getting the chance to stay at home from time to time and I am getting to meet all kinds of interesting people.

OK so that last one isn’t always a good thing.  When I say interesting, what I really mean is different.  At the end of the day it does make me feel kind of good though, because when you see the dregs of society it makes you feel good as you know you are better than them and when you see the good, nice people it makes you think that there is some good in this world.

It is a strange world out there though, some people will sit in your car as long as they can talking to you as it will be the last contact they may have for a whole week.  Some are just plain rude to you while you just have to nod, smile and agree.  Many think they know the best shortcut which cost them almost twice as much.  And I can’t tell you how many times I have spoken about the weather!!

Overall things are going really well!

Ready to rock ‘n’ roll…

So finally I have everything that I need in order to go out and get paid for driving my car. After a process that has taken some 4 months to complete I can now go and earn some money. I have to admit that I am somewhat nervous about starting, what if I get the wrong address? Should I talk to the passenger? What if they think I am driving too slowly or fast? Oh man, there are a million different things going on in my head right now.

I guess it is just like starting a new job to do with anything, especially something that you have never done before. Stepping into the unknown is always a daunting prospect but I feel that I am ready for this step. I just need to get started and then before I know it, it will become second nature I am sure.

So if you get me to take you from a to b, be patient and take it easy on me… after all I could always take you further away from your destination than you started!

Nobel Peace Prize…

Ok, so this is not new news but it something that has been playing on my mind since I heard about it. I don’t really want to make this blog about politics, mostly because you never get two people that will have the same opinion about it and because of that, far too many arguments are a result of a simple ‘conversation’.

The problem is that I have is that I keep swinging from side to side, it’s a good thing… no, no it’s a bad thing. Obama is starting to do some good things, he also has a lot more great ideas. The only problem is that they haven’t come to fruition yet but it is also completely unreasonable to have expected them to by now.

Now I am in full support of what Obama is trying to achieve and feel that by the time he steps down for the next President, he will have down some truly historic things. By giving him this prize now, it has placed him in a very difficult position. By accepting this he annoyed a lot of people, but if he didn’t accept he would have annoyed the rest.

It has given all the people who hate/dislike Obama (in America and also other “organizations” throughout the world) a lot of fire power against what he is trying and will strive to do. Infact I find it to be a very strange choice and wonder if asked before if he would accept it, would the answer have been yes? He would have been fully aware of the fallout that has occured.

Now don’t get me wrong, many of the previous winners were so due to their intentions and ongoing work. But I cant help but feel this is going to damage any good work already down a d potientlly any good work to come for sometime.

I, unlike many, do not believe this to be pollitical and I also do not think this prize is a joke. I think it has gone to the right man, just 10 years too early.

Pleas leave your thoughts below as I really would like to know what others think, but please explian any statements.

Thanksgiving weekend…

Well it has been a few days since my last post but it has been a busy weekend and I haven’t been online much as we had some of our friends come down to visit us for a thanksgiving weekend.

We asked Paul and Annie to come for a visit and we told them that we would have the thanksgiving dinner on the Sunday.  There was a condition, if they wanted to come they had to bring with them a pumpkin pie.  To the people from North America this is nothing new, but in the UK… well not many people have heard of, let alone made pumpkin pie.

So they slaved for many hours making the pumpkin puree and pastry.  I have to say that this was also my first time trying this and I loved it!!  They did the most wonderful job and it really made the weekend.

We all really had the most amazing weekend and just relaxed, drank some home-brew beer and played lots of board games.  I hope that those from Canada also had an equally (but not better. only joking) weekend!

So in the true sprit of thanksgiving, what I am thankful for is the following;

I am thankful that I have had the opportunity to travel the world in my past job but now that I have the chance to take a different direction in my life which means that I can stay at home.  At home where I can spend time with my wife and see my daughter grow up into the wonderful girl she is.

Good times…

So while I am waiting to get the last of the paperwork finished before I can officially start my work I thought that I would post this.

I have been very fortunate in my life and good things seem to happen even when all seems lost.  One of the great things to happen in my life was getting the opportunity to work onboard a number of cruise ships.  I got to travel to a number of different countries, experience different cultures and meet my most amazing wife, who together with our daughter are the source of my happiness.

Working on the cruise ships has meant that I have seen all types of people from the crew to the passengers and also people ashore.  One thing is for sure, there are no two people who are the same.  You can’t always judge people by the stereotypes but believe me when I say, some people fit those stereotypes to a T.

Getting to go ashore in places like Mexico was a real highlight, looking for the local food was something that I enjoyed on a regular basis.  Getting to see the mountains in Alaska, swimming with turtles and seeing an active volcano in Hawaii, relaxing on the golden beaches of the Caribbean and experiencing the fall in New England.  Not to mention meeting my most wonderful wife.

I really has been a truly wonderful and amazing journey which I will always remember, but if it was all added up, it still doesn’t come close to waking up next to my wife and then spending the day experiencing all the amazing things my daughter does.

I really do have the most wonderful life…

A new start…

Welcome to my new blog.  I will be talking about the ins and outs of changing my career, from driving cruise ships around the Caribbean, Mexico, Alaska and Hawaii to driving a car around the district of Adur, South East of England.

It is a slightly different direction most people want to take in life, but now having a wife and baby girl at home it has made it very difficult being away for the large amounts of time.  I was working at sea for 3months and then getting 1.5months holiday, which, don’t get me wrong is a great ratio.  But it really can be hard having little contact for that 3months.

So when I got home this time around and saw my daughter, who has just had her first tooth, taken her first steps and is developing into a real miniature human being right in front of my eyes, I knew that I would be leaving my job.  I spent a month or so looking for other sea going jobs which would have me coming home at least every week but there was nothing available.  Then I got offered the chance to work for a local taxi firm.  I could work the hours I wanted, get paid just as much (more if I want to work longer hours, good with christmas coming up) and I really wouldn’t have the stress of driving a cruise ship with almost 4,800 people onbaord.

So my new life was about to start, the only problem was that I needed to know all the roads in the Adur district.  It is a requirement of the council that you have to take a knowledge exam where you sit in front of the licensing officer and he will ask 25 questions.  You have to know the shortest distance between to the points of interest (any public building, pub, bar, road etc) and be able to name all the roads that you would take.  Having only lived in this area for a few months this very quickly became a daunting task for me.  However, with the help of my wife and step father I got there in the end.

I have also bought a new car, got it fitted out with all the equipment, taken a second driving test and put the car through a taxi test (to make sure that it is suitable).  The only thing I am waiting for now is my Criminal Record to come back and then I can start.  All of this for a lovely sum of around £600 (not including the car and cost of fuel while I was driving around the streets learning them).

A new start… one which I am ready for, which I am looking forward to and which the bank requires me to take.