New Year, New Blog - Day 45

Day 45.

I slept quite well last night considering I put myself under a lot of stress. All I've thought about today has been flying and whether I can do it. There are lots of 'what ifs' at the moment. What if I agree to go and get to boarding the plane and chicken out? What if I go and something does go wrong on the plane? I have been looking at alternatives to flying to America. I've looked at getting a boat from Scotland or Denmark to Iceland, then to Greenland and then to Canada. Its something I'd consider doing if it means I can go and see family. Another option is getting a cruiseship from Southampton to New York and then a train to Michigan somehow. That costs about double the price of flying and takes about 8days longer than flying. Thats also something I'd do and be quite happy to pay for. Lots to think about and not long to get all the thinking done.

This morning I was at Simpson Autocare with Chris. I wasn't working on Penny the Peugeot today as we have done all we can until Chris works out the next move. It shouldn't be long now until she rules the road again. Today I helped Chris with Elvis the Escort. I think I shall name all the cars I help with from now on. I just did a bit of sanding as Elvis is a complete restoration job. Elvis is just the shell at the moment, no interior, no engine, no electrics. Just an empty frame of a car. It was nice not getting my hands greasy and doing something different. 

I got back about 2ish and after a shower I sat down to watch the 3rd Lord of the Rings films, The Return of the King. It lasted 242mins. A little over 4 hours long. It was an excellent film and I didn't notice how long it was. I also can't see how it could have been edited shorter for cinema and regular DVD release. I think I'll be adding them to my blu ray collection.

I was told once that I think too much and I have certainly been doing that lots recently, so off to bed I go.

Until tomorrow.

Jim

New Year, New Blog - Day 44

Day 44. 

I'm not really feeling like I want to write a blog today. We went to book our holiday to America and I have until Thursday to decide if I can go. I had to leave the travel agents to get some fresh air half way through. I do want to go to see family and I know I'll have a great time, but I can't get on a plane. There is nothing that will make me get on a plane. I think I've developed a nervous twitch over the past few weeks while I've been thinking about the decision. Everytime I think about being on a plane, I see myself looking out over the left wing and its a long way down and I know there is nothing holding the plane up. Lots of people have said that I have more chance of dying in a car crash or out riding my bike. That might be well and true but at least I would feel somewhat in control of that situation should it come about. On a plane, there is nothing I could do about it should it go wrong. The thought of falling uncontrollably is stopping me and there is nothing else I can think of when I think of getting on a plane and flying. My fear of flying will ruin my life. 

Until tomorrow.

Jim

New Year, New Blog - Day 42

Day 42. 

The first day of half term, mums gone away for the weekend, Sam didn't have work so there was no excuse or reason for me to wake up early. 7.30am and I'm wide awake. A great start to the day. It did give me chance sort out my external hard drives and enjoy a lovely breakfast made by dad. 

My main 1 TB external hard drive, was acting weird and sluggish early on today and then decided that it wouldn't work altogether. So my afternoon has been dedicated to scrolling through forums, trying all sorts of fixes/paths/command promts and lots of other things to get my external hard drive working again. Everything I have tried so far hasn't worked but I will keep trying. This hard drive had everything on and WAS my backup. Films, music, tv shows, photos, university work, programs and software on it. Over 650GB worth, all unaccessable at the moment. I was getting slightly hacked off with it earlier. So annoyed infact that I put it outside in the cold for an hour! That didn't help matters though. I'll have a crack at it tomorrow.

It did stop obsessing over it for a couple of hours while I watched the 6 nations. England played away at Italy this afternoon. The strangest thing to see was the snow on the pitch. Most of the pitch was white, England were white and so was the ball. England could have used it to their advantage. Italy played incredible. They fought so hard and deserved to win the 1st half. They dominated possession and territory in the 1st half and should really have scored more points. Italy did have some very good passages of play and the forwards put up a good fight until Martin Castrogiovanni went off injured in the 33rd minute. He was overpowering in the scrum and was causing problems for England so it was a huge loss for Italy when he went off injured. The 2 tries in 2 minutes that Italy scored were vital for putting England under a lot of pressure for the 2nd half. England were far more dominant in the 2nd half and looked the much better team in attack. Italy had a great defence and credit where credit is due, it only got broken once by Charlie Hodgson charging down a ball which lead to a try. England were good at retaining the ball and shipping the ball wide. Making use of the whole back line was a huge positive from todays game. The new caps are gaining confidence and looking good with ball in hand. This England team will go far with Stuart Lancaster in charge. I wonder how the RFU will screw things up this time?

Dad, Samantha and I had pizza hut for dinner tonight. I can say that I will never eat pizza again. I am so full up. We had a hot one with jalapeno peppers on, a bbq chicken with cheesy bites crust and Sam had a cheese and pineapple stuffed crust. And now I'm hungry again but we have no pizza left.

I hope to get my hard drive working again tomorrow so I will let you know how it goes. 

Until tomorrow.

Jim

New Year, New Blog - Day 41

Day 41. 

Half term is here! A week, without pesky kids annoying me, winding me up or making me aggy. Perfect!

Yesterday I told you that I had been at the Simpson Autocare in the evening and I left you all in limbo as to whether Penny the Peugeot started. She did not start. So a hammer was used and after some gentle pursuasion, she spluttered into life and roared! It was an amazing and satisfying feeling that Chris and I had done that. Penny sounded magnificant. She then decided to make a terrible knocking sound just like before with the old engine. My heart sank a bit but then she stopped making the knocking sound and then it started again. I'm hoping that it will be something simple but like everything else with my stupid car, it will be complicated and very expensive. There are some photos of the rebuilt engine and Penny in all her shining glory.

The rebuilt engine.

And again.

From another angle.

From the back.

Penny looking and feeling cold and miserable.

Everything in place and connected.

Just needs to be fired up....

 It just means I'll have to wait a little longer to be able to drive her. 

Todays discussion will take place tomorrow. I am not pressured by time tomorrow so I can get a lengthy discussion going. 

I hope everyone has had a good day.

Until tomorrow.

Jim

New Year, New Blog - Day 39

Day 39.

So I forgot to set my alarm last night and therefore didn't wake up when I should. I was woken up by mum banging on the wall. Oops. Todays walk to work was a little slipperier than yesterday but also more fun. I almost fell over a few times, thankfully I didn't.

With regards to the Spinal Tap issue of me not knowing if they were real or just for the movie, Jen helped me out. She informed me that they were made just for a TV show and then the film 'This Is Spinal Tap' but got quite popular and released albums and did some live shows. I might have to invest in some of their music as it was pretty good.

Work was easy today. With year 10 and 11 its just getting coursework finished and year 7, 8 and 9 were the normal lessons with lots of noise and an average amount of work being done. Nothing interesting happened except being called a legend by my year 9 class and reciting Anchor Man and Step Brothers quotes at lunch time. If Jen was there for that then it would have been pure awesome.
There was no rugby for year 7 after school today. I think the ground is still a little frozen as it still has snow on it. I'm quite happy about that as it was bloody freezing again!

Mark from work gave me a couple of hundred songs from Bacobens Rock Top 500. They are my type of songs and I'll name some of the artists from it. Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, Derek and the Dominos, The Beatles, The Who, The Doors, Pink Floyd, The Eagles, John Lennon, Jimi Hendrix, Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan, Yes, Jefferson Airplane, Jethro Tull, Lynard Synard and so many other classic artists. The music from artists like them is timeless, from the golden age of rock and without doubt, my favourite type of music. I have been listening to it since about 4pm and I'm not even halfway through the tracks. It could last a lifetime and I would still want to keep listening to it. Its that good.

Thats all for today. Nothing interesting has happened but I have enjoyed myself with the music.

Until tomorrow.

Jim.

New Year, New Blog - Day 38

Day 38.

A normal, quiet day for me. It was an easy day at work with very little to do, so tonights blog will very short. I think the only interesting thing that happened was walking Annabelle across the icey school car park. The car park was like an ice rink and I can't believe that it hasn't been cleared. With 100+ cars being driven in to park, one would think that there would be a safe place to park. Obviously its not that important.

When I got home, I watched This Is Spinal Tap. Its a mockumentary and I'm not sure if Spinal tap is a real band or just made up for the film. Can anyone help me? I think they are a fictional band but are a real band. I don't know. I really liked the film considering it was released in 1984 and it was quite funny. The story is they are promoting there new album in the U.S and its called 'Smell The Glove' but most of the gigs, concerts and venues they want to play at keep cancelling. I'd recommend it and would rate it quite highly at about 8/10.

I have found a new band I like listening to called Seether. What I have heard of their music so far I like. I can't say much more on that because I don't know anything else.

As I said, a normal day.

Until tomorrow.

Jim

New Year, New Blog - Day 36

Day 36.

It was snowing pretty hard last night from about 10pm onwards and by 1am it was like a full on blizzard. When I woke up, it was a beautiful sight. Just white everywhere. My sister Sam was meant to be at work for 6am but wasn't able to get there so she got a few extra hours in bed.

I went to Chelmer Park this afternoon with some friends to play in the snow. It was awesome and I got some pretty cool photos.

The photos are not that spectacular but still quite cool. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that tomorrow will be a snow day and the school will close. It would be nice to have a snow day or a few of them. Lets hope we get more snow overnight.

How was everyone elses day in the snow?

I will give my views on the 6 nations games during the week when I have watched all the games. From what I have seen so far, they have been quite entertaining.

Until tomorrow.

Jim

New Year, New Blog - Day 35

Day 35.

A very successful day in my opinion. Spent about 7 hours at Simpson Autocare with Chris rebuilding my engine for the last time. We had to pick up a head gasket from Motex and then the real fun began. First rule of the workshop is to put the kettle on, so I did and needed the tea to warm up a bit. It was colder at the workshop than outside. In order for everything to go back together, I had to clean the engine head and somthing else but I cant remember the name of it. I will let the pictures do the talking.

A dirty engine block

Still looking dirty

A clean engine head

The tiny part that caused so much bother

Its tiny!

A clean engine block

Getting there.

Nice and clean

There are a couple more pictures to upload but the internet is slow and I'm off out to a friends to have pizza from Dominoes :)

I will upload them in tomorrows blog.

Until tomorrow.

Jim

New Year, New Blog - Day 34

Day 34.

An interesting day at work. It was one of the few days when I couldn't be bothered to get into arguements or keep telling the students to put their phones away or to stop eating. So as long as the teacher didn't see then I couldn't be bothered to stop them. I did get a piece of chocolate orange out of it for not grassing on them. I didn't have a lunch today either as I chose to go to a lesson that I wasn't meant to be in. So I ended up having 6 lessons instead of 5. After work I did a mega workout with Woody and Jules. My back hurts a little bit now but I thought it was quite easy. Friday nights are when I help at the youth club. We were quite short on helpers tonight but it was still lots of fun, until an immature little teenager decided to draw on my arm. I'm only joking about the immature part.

The discssion topic tonight is:


How can England win the Six Nations with three new caps blooded against the Jocks?

First of all, England have minimal chance of winning the 6 nations. They are coming off the poorest world cup performance ever and have less experience than any other team in the 6 nations. The world cup was an embarassment. Although they made it out of the group stages with a stumble, they tripped and fell flat on their faces in the quarter finals against France, a team low on morale and respect for their coaches.


Out with the old.

The old faces have either retired, been axed from the elite squad or just slipped away from spotlight with their dignity intact. The most high profile retirement in recent years was Jonny Wilkinson. He was one player that gave his all every time and will sadly be missed. He wasn't expected to play in the 2007 rugby world cup let alone 2011 RWC. He has held the record for highest international points scorer, record for highest 6 nations points scorer and various other achievement that won't be broken for a long time. 
Lewis Moody the captian for the past 18 months, retired from international duty in October 2011. He led by example from the moment he won his 1st cap to the last second of his last game in an England shirt. At times he was the best in the world and at times he oversteped the line but never gave up leading by example. 
Others name missing from the team sheet include Mike Tindal, Shontayne Hape, Mark Cueto, Andrew Sheridan, Simon Shaw and Nick Easter. Most had a glittering career at the top of their game, some seemed like they could offer more but didn't.


In with the new.


There are several uncapped players in the squad and names that should have been in a long time ago. Chris Robshaw has been deserving of a chance to play for England for so long and he has finally be given a chance. Not only that, he has been made captain as well. Several Northampton Saints players have made it into the sqaud and they too have been deserving of a chance. Lee Dickson, Tom Wood and Phil Dowsen have all played exceptional for the past few seasons.

Englands don't stand much of a chance against a very physical, determined Scotish side tomorrow. They have had a major retirement in Chris Paterson last year who wanted to retire at the top of his game, and he was one of the most consistant kickers in the world. Scotland also have quite a dynamic backs division with Joe Ainsbro breaking the line regularly and one of the Lamont and Evans brothers using their speed and agility to finish. England should be able to match in the forwards but I think Scotland will turnover more ball and have more possession.


Whatever the outcome, it will be a good game. It always has been a hard fought contest for the Calcutta Cup.


I hope you have enjoyed the read. Its getting late now so I best be off to sleep.


Until tomorrow.

Jim

New Year, New Blog - Day 30

Day 30.

I didn't think I'd get to 30 posts. I thought I would get bored and give up or forget a few days and not carry on. But we are almost at February and I'm going strong. So once again, a huge thank you to all who read, have read and are going to read my blog posts. It makes me feel good about writing it. 

Today was different at work. Well everyday is different but this was not a normal day. It was pastoral day which means each tutor group stays together and does various activites throughout the day. I was given the honour of working with one of the craziest young boy I have ever met. The subject of this pastoral day for year 8 was sex and relationships. They were learning about different situations they might find themselves in and how they would handle it. It wasn't the most exciting thing to part of but we had some giggles along the way. They also learnt about different forms of contraception which freaked them out a bit, but I guess they have to know that stuff. All in all it was a good day at work but I am also very glad pastoral day is once every half term.

After work I went to the cinema with my sister Sam, to go and see Haywire. I lost a bet sometime last year and agreed to go and see the next 5 films with Channing Tatum in. He is Sams favourite actor and she is crazy in love with him. We were the only 2 in the cinema which felt very odd and I just kept talking out loud because I could. I can't really tell you what the film was about because it wasn't clear at all. It was meant to be a thriller but it lacked any go and substance. I think the story was about a CIA agent getting set up on a mission to be the fall girl and targeted by her employer. The only good thing about the movie was some of the fight scenes and when the film ended. It was a real let down. 

When we got back from the cinema, I headed to the gym. I'm fed up of being fat and lazy so I just packed a gym bag and went. I did 40 minutes on the cross trainer which felt amazing and then 2500 metres on the rowing machine. Every 250 metres on the rower I would stop and then do Russian twists or press ups. I felt a bit wobbly on the way home and felt sick that I had worked so hard. 

That was my day. It was a busy one for me but I feel good! Tomorrow I will mention some motivation videos that I have been watching that have made me want to get back in real good shape.

Until tomorrow.

Jim

New Year, New Blog - Day 5

Day 5 was quite a bit better than yesterday. I had a quiter day at work, which is always a bonus, I saw my favourite class, heard a funny story and saw a hilarious situation! Unfortunatly I won't mention whose in the class (child protection etc), the story isn't suitable to repeat and the hilarious situation, well, you'll need to ask me about it.

The weather was so bad today. Wind, rain and cold is a bad combination unless your are weatherologist. The wind messed up my hair as well. Only one more day until the weekend, wahoo!

 I've been really lazy today since I got back from work. I got in and went straight on the xbox for a whole 5 hours. It was an awesome session as I was gaming with an old friend called Tim, who make the experience that much more enjoyable. 

 Tomorrow is a very special persons birthday and she might get a surprise at work, but I wont let her know about it.

Mum showed me how to get a visitor counter on the blog and will be doing that in the next few days. Hopefully I'll be able to get the numbers ticking over. I'll also have to turn on email subscriptions so all you wonderful people dont miss a thing, and if you want to leave comments then that is also cool.

I was going to write something else but I seem to have forgotten it now.... I remember, I find that everyday, there are more and more people reading these blogs and I am always humbled and appreciate the time you all take to read my blogs. So thank you very much everyone :) 

Blog again tomorrow.

Jim