Blue skies but still not good :-(

The Jubilee River half way through my run.

Backing off the mileage as from tomorrow, maybe.  I think I'm fighting off a bug, resting heart rate is up a little - oh well.  A bit of rest might be in order ... and my knee's a sore.  Too old for this. I haven't been running that long either, about three years now - wonderful asthma drug made the difference.

However, I am planning to go for a short run with Mrs Jenks tomorrow :-)

Did a ten mile run today, why?  A bit sad really but I wanted my Garmin Training Centre week mileage to be a hundred miles - just for me.

Back to my run ...



What I woke up to, the green across the road.

Woke up to a blue sky - happy, happy man.  See photo ->



Not feeling brilliant, head says run, body says no ...

... body, head argument ...

... more body, head argument ...

Go for run, slowly, stopping at regular intervals.

End up running behind lady who I'd normally pass.  Lady happens to be following my route, realise she might be getting worried with strange man staggering behind her!  Don't want to pass her but don't want to stop, she takes a different route - phew!

Then ... 'runner's runs', yipes!  Do I stop?  No, can't see anywhere. Control, focus, mind over ... uh, well, you know.  Keep going, stopping every so often, glancing at watch as if it's planned (very sad).  Focus, control, get to halfway and see top photo. 

By this time mind has done its job, remarkably, tentative relief.  Body still not happy though, so still no speed.

Another photo of the Jubilee River.

Run (jog) (stagger) past pretty young lady on horse.  Smile at her, she ignores me! Irritation, I was bestowing runner's courtesy she probably thinks otherwise, grrr. I've been happily married for almost 25 years, I really don't need this.

<- Take another photo, feel better.

Back over Maidenhead Bridge so I take another photo, see below.

The Thames from Maidenhead Bridge

Reached 10 miles, Garmin Training Centre is happy ... body isn't. I should rest and recover, I'll see how I feel tomorrow ...

111 Janathon miles (feels much, much more than that)

Wet, very wet and tired, but I got there ... 100 miles :-)

See! Wet and mud!

Wet!  First run in the morning was wet!  Dog was wet! I was wet!  See photo of wet with slippery mud. 7 miles of wet, wet , wet.



More wet and mud!



 Afternoon it cleared :-) dried all my clothes :-) :-) Started running after dry weather has been around for hours, 10 minutes into my run and ... wet!  I get wet all by myself too!  To top it all, a big bus sprays me with more wet! Wet, wet, wet! 10ish miles of wet (but no mud) and I'm so hungry!  Everything is wet ... wet, wet, wet and it's dark and I'm cold and I'm hungry! NO it's not just wet, I'm drenched!



A variation - wet dog walking in mud and wet temporarily ceased to remind you how nice it was when it wasn't wet ... before the wet starts again!



But 4 miles left - 4 miles to get to a hundred miles. Sigh! I can't stop now, I might never do this again.  It's wet outside, and darker, and colder but most of all it's wet .... but I'm so tired, I want to go to sleep, I've had a nice dinner. It's warm inside and so cold outside ... and wet!!!  But it's only 4 miles ... sigh!  But I'm not putting wet clothes back on, and I will find a pair of older 'dry' running shoes ...

 

... I did it :-)  About 4.5 miles.  And it was dry too!  Although dodging the puddles in the dark with my headtorch was hard going (not all our roads have streetlights). Total rounded up to 101 miles.

100 miles in a week - I'm very pleased with that.  Once I thought I might do it, I decided that I would try and do it early on in case I developed and injury or fell sick. I've bagged it, 100 miles in a week :-) 

Assuming nothing goes wrong, I'm pretty sure that Gary of Local Adventures will win as he seems to be taking the mileage in his stride - very impressive.   Kevin of ...musing...  has little ones, that's exhausting on it's own!  I remember how hard having little ones was, teenagers can be difficult but little ones ...  brilliant fun though, but so are teenagers (sometimes).  I'm very proud of all three of my sons despite the moaning - grumpy middle age man that I am :-(  Well, maybe I'm not that grumpy.

Me? I'm certainly not stopping but I might slow down a bit, see how I feel. I don't use my age as an excuse but I do find if I'm injured it does seem to take a little longer for my body to repair itself. Am I competitive? My 13 year old certainly is! I don't think that I'm that competitive, the goals I have set so far have been my own. Like Kevin I'm really surprised at my mileage so far - I never dreamed I could run so far in one week.  I guess I haven't run that fast but that's okay.

Total so far, 100 miles (over 160 km)  :-)

Geese, ball and wondering if I should run?



Wet, dirty but happy



Took my dog out for his morning run, in the rain ... and more mud.  I took it easy this morning as I think I might be fighting off something? My legs felt better today.



He wants the ball



I passed a huge flock of geese on the muddy field (see yesterday's photo) - hundreds and hundreds of geese! Fleet, my dog, just ignored them. Fleet did find a bright yellow ball and I eventually convinced him to leave it behind. The field had even more mud, I ended up on mud stilts but as it was raining my running shoes weren't quite so muddy when I got home. Morning run was about 6 miles




Hundreds of geese and an uninterested dog

 

I spent the day wondering if I was developing a cough so I didn't go for a run at lunchtime - if the truth be known I was probably too busy to run anyway. 



Fantastic drug - let's me run :-)



By this evening I was still unsure if I should run. I'm asthmatic and I take an inhaler morning and night, this normally controls my asthma but occasionally something will trigger it.  Anyway, I decided that I would try a gentle run along the paths in Maidenhead, any problems I would turn back or call for a lift.  I kept the run gentle and slow. It actually turned out to be a good run, it was slow, but it felt brilliant!  However, I did get a bit lost and later it did start getting very cold,  but all in all  it was a successful run. Evening run was about 10.5 miles.

This brings my Janathon total to about 79 miles.

Legs that feel like I'm running on mud!

Woke up this morning and looked out of our loft conversion window to a beautiful blue sky and a blazing Venus.

I find starting morning runs quite difficult at times, once I'm going it's often the best time but the first half a mile!  This morning the beautiful sky helped a bit, my dog's expectant eyes helped a lot. So off I went, plodding the first mile with my faithful dog.  Things gradually improved, a bit; so I plodded faster, a little faster.

One of the good things about Janathon is that it has helped me to focus less on pace and speed, and instead to listen to my body a little more. With high mileage running I'm concentrating on keeping my running smooth, trying to minimise any jolting and ultimately try and save my knees. Yes, my legs have ached and still ache a bit (quite a bit), but my knees seem to be okay. My runs are slower and I'm less inclined to push fast because I keep thinking 'How does it feel? Am I pushing too much?' It's all a new experience and I hope it goes okay but if I have any problems and I end up having to reduce the mileage - that will be okay, hard but okay.

Part of my run took me across a field which was (not surprisingly) muddy.  The mud slowed my progress further and I realised later that most of my run felt like degrees of crossing that muddy field.  Almost all my runs I end up running to a point and then turning round, the photo below is the muddy field I crossed, it doesn't look quite so muddy as it was!

The last couple of miles actually got better and I did some strides near the end.  Morning run was 6 miles.

A couple of hours after that I had a phone call from a panicked chaperone asking me where my son was as he had to be on stage in half an hour (he was at school).  My youngest son is in Peter Pan at a theatre about 20 minutes away, he was at school 10 minutes away.  We had not been told his schedule had been changed.  Phoned up the school, grabbed his kit, dashed out the door, picked him up and got him there 5 minutes after the curtain went up - stressed! Fortunately he was on only on stage 20 minutes into the show, sigh! 

It's times like these that I need a stress reliever - running.  So I got back to work, grabbed some food while I was working and went off for another run.  Sadly this run was in the rain.  I was a bit easier than the morning but the last couple miles were harder, I should have had more to eat or grabbed a gel.  Afternoon run was 7 miles.

13 miles today so that means that I've now reached 62 miles(ish) which I think is 100km(ish) - I'm very pleased.  I'm also very tired so I must get to bed.  I am really enjoying the Janathon experience and the blogs are great.

What does a woodpecker and a mobile phone have in common?

Today I did a run in the morning with my dog.  Set off to the sound of  the dawn chorus and a misty sunrise.  I even heard a woodpecker tapping away on an old tree.  The sound was very familiar and reminded me of something else, I thought and thought and then realised what the woodpecker's taps sounded like - my eldest son (he's 18) texting on his mobile phone!  His thumb goes in little bursts as he selects each letter (unlike me, he doesn't use predictive text).

Morning run went well although I often find running with my dog a little more tiring.  I'm not sure why this is the case as he is off the lead most of the time?  Here's a photo from this morning ...

Second run I squeezed into a late lunch.  I set off a long compilation on my computer (they can take hours) and then headed for road.  I was feeling fine after four miles and was tempted to go a little further before turning around but I didn't. 

But I was hungry! All these calories I'm burning have made me quite hungry at the end of some of my runs.

My morning run was 6 miles and my afternoon run was 8.3 miles so I did 14.3 miles today.  I think my dog should be logging his miles too :-)

Of mixed up music and irritating speedhumps!

We did the same 5 mile walk this morning that we did yesterday but this time we convinced our youngest son to join us.  Fleet, our dog, did lots of running chasing lots of sticks some of which were really to big for him!We had a great time and stopped off at a local pub for a bite to eat called The Bounty which is right next to the Thames.  It is a relaxed pub with a very welcoming atmosphere - I shall take some photos next time. It's really worth a visit  and extremely popular with the locals.  I'm tired of posting scenic photos, here's a photo of me and my youngest son who is 13. 

So ... after we returned home I started thinking about a run.  Now my youngest son has really got into Janathon so he's giving me a push.  The problem is that we don't have many daylight hours, off I went later in the afternoon knowing it was going to be dark when I returned, sigh!  I did the same run down to Maidenhead and along the Jubilee River and back again.

After sunset it started getting quite cold, I might need a few more layers in the future.  There were even a few snow flurries, brr - I couldn't talk properly when I got inside as my face was so cold!

I used my new iPod that has playlists (unlike my old iPod Shuffle), the problem is that I can't easily forward songs like on my iPod Shuffle and I haven't organised the playlists properly.  No problem, I thought, I'll play my 25 most played songs and i'll set it to shuffle.  Now I have sung in a choir and often listen to pieces to etch them in my memory (I can't read music very well) and my most recently played songs only apply to iTunes and not my iPod Shuffle.  This meant I ended up listening to a mix of Electronic/Dance music and Rutter/Chilcott Choral pieces - not everybodies taste but worked rather well, it kind of boosted and then made you float along (ideal for Janathon where knee conservation running is a high priority).  Sean, remember it was my idea first - AudioFuel with a twist of Choral Music (somehow I don't think it will take off).

One other thing, speed humps are not very good for cars but they're not very good for runners with headtorches either! I really struggle to spot them, I know they're there, I'm looking out for them and then trip, stagger, 'umph!', I've hit one!!

The run was 14.44 miles, which includes 0.4 miles when my Garmin was off.  I don't know if I switched it off during a rest/headtorch adjustment, and then forgot to switch it back on or if my glove switched it off.  Anyway I came home and worked out what I'd missed - it's the second time it's happened.  I might try the auto off function when you stop and see if it's me forgetting switch it back on.  

Such a good husband ...

I made my good wife breakfast in bed this morning - such a good husband I am. 

A very pleasant morning it was so off we went for a walk with our dog but no sons (three teenage sons = two asleep, one baking!).  New background was taken on our walk (see below as I'm sure I will change it again).

The walk was about 5 miles and we ended up taking quite a few photos, the one above just suited a background image, I might upload other photos in the future.  Lots of runners out this morning!

Another photo of our dog :-)

In the afternoon I set off for a run just in the nick of time, the early dark evenings are quite frustrating.  My afternoon run took me up and down a hill that requires a total ascent of just under 1400 feet.  Beautiful scenery from the top overlooking the Thames but too late and dark for photos.  Part of my run goes through Marlow High Street, loads of shoppers so I resorted to running in the road as the traffic was very slow. Turned round and ran back up the hill (very steep).  Used my headtorch which also has a flashing red light at the back - it might look like a Christmas Tree but it's very safe (Alpkit Gamma headtorch).  Only problem is my hair needs a cut so I imagine I might have looked a bit odd as all my hair ends up sticking out between the straps, oh well.

Total run was a touch under 10.4 miles.

The tale of 'the smartly dressed runner with brolly'

Well first of all, Happy New Year.

So today is the first day of Janathon and it was never going to be easy going for a run after a party the night before, but I did.  Off I went in the afternoon along my familiar route, over Maidenhead Bridge and along the Jubilee River.  I have to admit that I was struggling a bit at first, and on and off thereafter.

As I approached the Jubilee River a man got out of a car slightly ahead of me. He was dressed quite smartly in brown trousers and shoes and a light beige jacket, he might have had a tie on too.  He had a neatly collapsed full length brolly that he held midway, horizontally. He was probably late 40s or in his 50s. Well I thought he was going to go for a walk along the Jubilee River but then ... he started running!

Now this gentleman was running maybe a couple of metres in front of me to my left.  His legs were moving but his body was quite vertical and his brolly remained quite perfectly horizontal.  Now you would expect that I (in my snazzy running gear and more electronic gizmos that I would like to admit to) would slip past him effortlessly, but no!  He was running at the same speed as me!! In my defence I had already run 4 miles and I've lost some fitness over the last few weeks but still ... with a brolly ... and dressed like he's going to dinner! 

What to do?  There I was running slightly behind and to the right of a gentleman with brolly and smart attire.  How does that look?  Was I going to run like that for another mile?!?  Would you?  I decided something had to be done. I could either pretend that I'd reached halfway and turn round, which, of course, I had not, I could pretend that my shoelaces (or something or other) needed tieing, I could glance at my watch and slow to a walk as if planned (don't tell me that you've never done this), run with him and take the mirth and mockery or ... simply speed up. Sadly my ego was in control so, I sped up. I did, you'll be pleased to learn, offer him the courtesies due to fellow runners on passing and said a polite 'Hello'. 

Once I had passed him I realised (and panicked a little more than I should admit to) that he might speed up! Alas, we could end up sprinting along Jubilee River through all the New Year's Day walkers like a scene from the marathon run in 'Run Fat Boy Run' - but perhaps even more hilarious (and more damaging to my ego).  Fortunately my ego is intact as I did manage to increase the gap, and when I eventually found an opportunity to glance back, the 'smartly dressed runner with brolly' was nowhere to be seen.

Sadly I do not have a photo of the 'smartly dressed runner with brolly' as my ego shoved out any possible ideas of photojournalism.  On my return I took a photo from the spot where the 'smartly dressed runner with brolly' threatened my ego - a pretty stretch of the Jubilee River isn't it? 

Hmmm, was the 'smartly dressed runner with brolly' a possible Janathon participant squeezing in a quick run?  Do you recognise yourself from the above description?

The rest of the run was fairly uneventful in comparison. It did start raining and I didn't have a jacket two miles from home, not really a problem other than a wet shirt does have tendency of making my, umm, nipples go raw.  I had a slightly embarassing incident once (more embarrassing for my teenage sons) that involved rain, two red streaks on my front (that I was unaware of) and greeting two teenage girls (friends of my sons).  Dads are always embarrassing I know, but sometimes more than other!  Anyway, fortunately my nipples were fine but I was a bit cold.

I'm pleased to say that today's run was 10.12 miles, I'm definitely running slower than I was a month or so ago.

Run on a misty, muddy day

Did an 8.15 mile run today and took this photo of the Thames near Boulters Lock half way.

Snow, ice and slush

After a period of cold and flu I finally went for a run today.  I dressed up warmly and wore my trendy Saucony green top, my son said I looked like a Christmas Elf!  You really can't be too sensitive when you're a Dad of three teenage sons, sigh.

I was a little apprehensive as it was a mixture of ice, slush, compacted snow and more ice.  Time to test my new Yak Trax ice cleats, last year's cheapo ice cleats broke after falling off numerous times.  The Yak Trax Pro ice cleats have a strap over the top so if they unclip they stay on your feet.  Unclipped ice cleats wouldn't have been too serious today but in deep soft snow it would have been difficult to find them (as I have experience of).  Anyway, the Yak Trax performed very well and I didn't slip once :-) Yak Trax and Gortex Salomon Running Shoes proved to be an excellent combination - I can be such a Geek!

Scenery was beuatiful with frozen streams.  I didn't take Fleet (my dog) today as it was my first run for a little while and I wanted to check that the Yak Trax worked okay. Oh yes, I ran 7.5 miles at an easy pace - feeling good ;-)

The background photo ...

... , which will probably change, is a route I run frequently, 'very' frequently. Perhaps I should run different routes but I don't. Am I lazy?  Am I getting old?  It's just easier - I know how far a mile is, two miles three, along the Thames, over the bridge ... I love my runs, I love this route You know it changes all year round too - I should post photos. The Red Kites love it too, sometimes dozens of them.  In fact I associate their call with running. My dog loves it too, that's him in the photo - possibly the softest, gentlest dog in the world.

When will my sons be home?? It's icy and snowy out there :-(

Just found out my one son is staying at his friend's house for the night, a relief! He will need to catch the first train for his paper round.  My eldest says he is almost home ... he's home - whew! Goodnight.

No running

Still no run today, still sick but have put up the Christmas tree :-)   My three boys went out, chose a tree, purchased it and brought it home, quite special, I'm very proud of them. The two eldest went out this evening and my youngest and I put up the tree, decorated it and then watched a movie, special.

But no run :-(

... and I'll be happy when they get home too :-| Sigh!

Janathon - Running and Blogging

I've never written about my running on my blog so why not start me thinks. I've decided to participate in Janathon. Run every day and blog every day for the month of January.

'Looked After Children' no more

My wife is a Social Worker and she told me last night that 'Looked After Children' are now to be known as 'Children that are Looked After' ...

'Looked After Children'
'Children that are Looked After'
'Looked After Children'
'Children that are Looked After'

??

Do they really believe it will make any difference?

Of course I'm sure there will be a cost associated with the change.

Missed it again!

I have just realised that yet again we have missed The Royal Variety Show.

Some years Mrs Jenks and I happen to catch a snippet of it and we call our kids down to see the last few acts. Every year we say that we really must remember to watch it all next year; even just most of it ... this year we didn't even catch a snippet! I fear our children will be deprived of seeing the whole show, just once! What makes it worse for our poor children is that they often show flashbacks of the various acts at the end of the show - the acts that they missed.

Are we the only family that are unaware when it's on? I suppose this is the danger of selective viewing, you miss the adverts for shows. Oh well, will somebody please remind us next year, if not for us then for our children’s sake - I have this suspicion that next year this time ...

Swans with shades

This might be obvious but we live near the Thames but not so obvious would be that our village has an assocaition with swans. Anyway, I heard that a crew was filming locally and made use of 'trained' swans instead of our local common or garden variety of swans (I'm not much of an ornithologist I'm afraid).

Now I have this picture in my head of swans with shades, reclining on director's chairs - do you think they have equity cards. Imagine the tantrums, you don't want to be near an angry swan!

(PS "Swans with Shades" is a unique phrase in Google and takes you to this post ... and I was hoping for a picture.)

Cheques and permission slips - grrrrr!

I'm fed up with writing out cheques for school and filling in forms. The other day I had to request another chequebook from my bank, the last one they sent us was at the end of October!

Piecemeal requests for cash, £2 for this, £5 for that - sigh. Permission slips. Newsletters. Bigger sigh. I just have so many better things to with my life than fill in forms, tell people that yes my son has had a tetanus jab, write out my address, email, telephone numbers over and over again .... and write another confounded cheque ... for £2!

I wish I could tell the school 'Yes, you can take my child wherever you think is appropriate (I trust you), email me the details, here's £100 (or whatever) - take out what you need, when you need it and let me know periodically if the pot needs filling and roughly where the money went.' Not complicated, less paper, less time and surely everybody will be happier.

I received a form yesterday that listed 'all' the contact details associated with my child that was held on record. It was 'all' correct but for some reason I have to keep writing out this information on forms! If I really have to sign a form, why not do a mail merge??? It's a closed loop system, parents submit details, parents check details - all records are correct and technology has helped save time and money.

Oh well. I feel a little better now, sorry.

My bad timing and hairy chests

Hairy chests, another example of my bad timing...

I grew up being told that you're a real man when you get a bit of hair on your chest. That chest of hair was a sign of your arrival at manhood.

That was the 70s.

I remember one of the more serious swimmers at school shaving his body to reduce drag in the water - most of my friends were horrified, such sacrilege. What if the hair didn’t grow back??? So this thing about hair on your chest was really quite important – get the picture.

Enter a rather hairless teenager (namely me, not unusual for teenagers really) waiting for those hairs to emerge … waiting … waiting … waiting … hoorah!

Alas, arrival of hairy chest occurs just as it goes out of fashion.

Men now seem to shave, wax (ouch) or something? I can’t imagine they’re born like that and I’m not sure it’s ever discussed down the pub. In fact, I imagine most men would be worried if there was ‘no’ hair to remove. I think you notice a little confusion here and a distinct lack of research.

But my main point is that it is another example of my excellent timing. I might add that I am not planning on any shearing of my torso either – Mrs Jenks has said that she is quite happy just the way I am. Besides, it might come back in fashion ;-)

Off to the Hellfire Club ;-)

I'm off to the Hellfire Club tonight. What is the Hellfire Club you might ask? I really can not say.

Hee, hee ... the mind boggles doesn't it?

Dull technical reports

I'm writing a fairly dull technical report and I fear my brain might implode. Dull ... dull ... dull. Any suggestions for shoring up said brain - it might be very messy if implosion arises?

Funny enough this is analogous to stars, nuclear reactions prevent the star from collapsing under its own gravity. When the star runs out of elements to fuse gravity takes over and (if the star is big enoug) .... bang! Supernova - the biggest firecracker in the universe.

This would suggest that the resulting mess arising from implosion correlates to how big my head is - hmmm. Back to dullness ...

Find that school ... Friends Reunited :-)

Schools - I think I went to too many of them. As a child we moved around quite a bit, we seemed to move house most years and often when we moved it was outside of the catchment of a school I was attending and naturally I changed school again.

I only went to one high school although we did move most years when I was there. We did actually move out of catchment but I convinced my parents that I could still get to the school on my own steam.

Until I was about 13 I was an only child so I don't have a anybody really to peg those early years to. My Dad died last year and my Mum has this year recovered from cancer. I realised that it would be good to track my earlier years while I can still remember them.

Trying to remember the names of schools - very difficult. Then I hit the jackpot, I discovered my old stamp collection that had loads of envelopes showing all our addresses. These addresses together with Friends Reunited and ... bingo! Well, almost ... I think there might be one or two schools I've forgotten particularly in England. Here is the list:

?
Radford Primary School (England)
?
Sapcote CofE Primary School (England)

Cardigan Primary School (Wales)
St Dogmaels Primary school (Wales)
Lamphey Primary School (Wales)
Pembroke Dock Junior School (Wales)
Cosheston Primary School (Wales)

Martin Primary School (South Africa)
Warner Beach Senior Primary School (South Africa)

Amanzimtoti High School (South Africa)

Of course I don't expect anybody to remember a transient child through their school but it has been good to be able to make contact with school friends from my last two schools.

My kids have a totally different experience, they all went to/go to the same primary school and will likely go to the same secondary school. Going to so many different schools has probably had an affect on my schooling but not as much as you might think it would. Parents today get so worked up over which school to send their children to and I think they forget how adaptable and resilient children are. I think I'm evidence of that ... although I'm sure a few of you would say how I might prove the contrary point :-)

Oh yes, and isn't Friends Reunited very useful - an excellent research tool.

1973!! But ... but ... how?

James Blunt sings a song set in 1973 yet he was born in 1974! Am I the only person this irritates. Every time I hear him singing this song I think but you weren't even around in 1973.

It's as bad as living next door to Alice for 24 years ... waiting for a second chance! How irritating. What kind of guy was that?

Sigh ... I feel better now, I got that off my chest. I really shouldn't bother, I really shouldn't ...

In Facebook I am

I have a Facebook account - postings are rarely longer than a sentence, then you do a quiz.

What to believe?

My mentioning of 'His Dark Materials' reminded me of how angered Christian groups are about the books.

This brings me to my religious beliefs? Oh dear, how this has caused me so much trouble in my life. Atheist, Agnostic, Spiritualist (a close family member was even a medium), Christian, even Missionary, Preacher ... what do I believe now? I'm not saying much about that right now - I've got to have learnt something from experience.

What's so surprising is that people who know me who read this posting are likely convinced I fall into any one of the boxes above, except perhaps the Spiritualist one.

The problem is my timing ... it's not very good. As an example, when I lived in South Africa at about 18 years of age, I helped arrange a beauty competition. It was quite a success and in particular I arranged a date with a beautiful model. The date went well until she brought up her beliefs over dinner. She was on the journey to becoming a Christian and I was not, in fact I was pretty much an atheist ... needless to say we didn't have another date. However, a few months later and we would have got on so much better - my lousy timing! Our beliefs were out of kilter. I do hasten to add that about six months later I did meet my lovely wife ... that was superb timing :-)

This is the main problem I see with religious beliefs (or lack of them) is that it polarises us. The only time it doesn't is when we say we just don't know - good old agnostics! That said, I don't really subscribe to the view that religion has caused a great deal of woe in the world. We're essentially tribal and it doesn't matter what the banner is we sit under we'll still fight and bicker with all the other tribes. But it does seem to me that when we sit under a religious banner that the vast majority of people go on to lead good lives. So religion seems to be a good concept and whether you believe that that is how God intended it or whether evolution has brought us to this point something seems to be right about it. By the way, please don't be offended by the tribal analogy - I am referring to everybody including me as being tribal.

But back to my religious beliefs, as you must concede that this posting had started out as a bit of oblique navel gazing. There are many reasons why my spiritual journey has been so eventful and I have some rather interesting tales. Would I have chosen a different path? No, I don't think so - often these journeys are more about finding yourself than a religion or even God. It would be such a boring world if we all believed the same thing and despite what I said earlier it would be no fun arguing with a world of agnostics. I am very happy to say that I have used God/religion as a crutch through significant portions of my life and why would that ever be a problem? If you have a religious belief then I trusted in God, if not then I tapped into my inner strength - the fact is it worked/works ;-)

Next year I'm continuing to study astrophysics - the universe is truly a strange and awesome wonder. The more I glimpse (this is about all I can manage) of the strangeness of the quantum world, other dimensions and the universe, the more I sense a chasm in our understanding. To read only in the last week of the suggestion that the hole in the universe detected by radio astronomers in August is the imprint of another universe is amazing. Then to read the theory that the act of 'observing' this might have affected the future of our universe is pretty startling. This is the strangeness, that merely observing at a quantum level has an affect, that something can come out of nothing, that I'm even here writing this in the first place. It is as if, through us, the universe is trying to understand itself, remarkable. I didn't intend that to sound so ... 'cosmic', but it did and it is - I guess. Incidentally, I think 'studying astrophysics' is quite good timing - for a change! So much is going on in this field at the moment that we seem to be discovering new information almost monthly, the chasm's still there though, there just seems to be a lot to discover.

Anyway, I could ramble on all evening and I daresay I've been talking to myself. I hope I've cleared up one thing - don't assume you know what my beliefs are :-)

What's in a title?

I enjoyed reading 'His Dark Materials' and I'm looking forward to the release of the film adaptation of the first book, 'The Golden Compass'. What I don't understand is why we have to have different book titles on different sides of the Atlantic? It must have something to do with marketing but does it really make that much difference?

I'm an electronics engineer and I have come across the view that products sell better in the US that have a number rather than a name! I've always found this hard to believe but what do I know?

I mean, why in the US would the title 'The Golden Compass' be preferable to the title 'Northern Lights'? Are other parts of the book changed as well?

All the same, I am looking forward to the film.

Mirrors and bodies

Mirrors. Mirrors everywhere! ... and I can assure you that I do not have an image problem but I can't understand why there are so many mirrors at our local gym? Stand in the right place and you see an infinite number of sweaty, puffing, red faced, straining bodies working and grunting there way to um ... perfection?

But such a fascinating place - all the interesting people.

You get those who bounce from piece of equpment to the next, playing a kind of pin ball. Have a go on this, have a go on that and bounce out the door again.

There's the couple of friends chatting away on the exercise bikes peddaling at a snail's pace ... on and on they go ...

The superfit granddads! So very impressive, I've a very long way to go before reaching such an enviable level of fitness, but then I've some time before becoming a granddad (I hope). Very inspirational.

Pot bellied body builders. They always appear to be hurting. They seem to spend hardly any time on aerobic fitness and load the weights on all the resistance machines.

The young guys flexing there muscles, looking in the mirrors checking this muscle, that muscle. So blatant and confident, I always reserved my body inspections for the bathroom. Glancing over at the fashionably dressed young ladies - trying to catch an eye.

The young ladies, I try not to look and definitely refrain from catching an eye. It's not good for me to talk about this group for obvious reasons but I do have to say that those mirrors don't help ... it's so very difficult to look anywhere without looking at somebody at the wrong moment.

It's a lot easier when I visit the gym with Mrs Jenks but alas she's not very well tonight so I shall head down by myself, gulp!

Why do I do it? We're trying to keep up with our growing boys, skiing in a month's time, general health, a bit of vanity too.

But a huge reason for me is that this year I've been introduced to a new asthma treatment and for the first time I can exercise without wheezing. You can't imagine how exciting this is for me. I've never been able to run long distance and it became particularly worse when I was about 14/15 when I had quite bad pneumonia. The problem was at school I didn't realise I had asthma so I just tried harder to get fit ... it helped but never quite worked. The new treatment 'is' working very well :-)

I must say that I don't have bad asthma just exercise induced asthma. This also includes coughing and laughing induced asthma - very irritating. That's about the level of it really, irritating. I just kept away from triggers which doesn't mean I didn't exercise, I just limited the type of exercise or extent, but now ....

Trouble is when I removed the asthma symptoms I was left with a lower level of fitness and that's how I started going to the gym.

Next year I'd really like to try some running.... Tonight I'm going to the gym and I shall ignore the mirrors, and the young ladies too - it's not too difficult as they ignore me too ;-)

What’s your experience of gyms?

Puppy and Loft Conversion

So we have a dog now.

We had always said that we would get a dog but that wanted to wait until my youngest son was old enough. He's 9 now which we felt was 'old enough' but more importantly my eldest is 14 ... gulp! In just 4 years he will be 18!!! It was that realisation that prompted us to get a dog. We were concerned if we left it any longer then he would not have had the benefit and enjoyment of seeing a puppy grow up.

As I was saying, we have a dog now ... we also have a loft conversion that we are very pleased with :-)

Where am I going with this? Patience please.

We had the loft conversion done because I used one of the bedrooms intended for my sons as an office (I work from home). So, I now have an office and my sons all have their own bedrooms - very good and my three sons? :-) :-) :-)

When you get a puppy it is advised that you spend time with them and not leave them alone.

But:
My office + puppy = bad idea as puppies chew cables, books, in fact just about everything!

So ... I now work in the kitchen! I might add that the puppy is happy and contented ... oh well!

Back?

Hmm.

Sorry about the dust that has gathered on this blog. So much for how therapeutic I find writing a blog!

Oh well, here I am for now. What happened?

A combination of things really ... I haven't mentioned it on my blog before but my Dad died of cancer in March last year. Then a few months later I found out my Mum had cancer and she has been undergoing chemotherapy. The good news is that a few weeks ago we found out that the cancer seems to have gone. My Mum is still receiving chemotherapy but the future is looking much brighter.

I didn't particularly want to discuss this on my blog but it was not all that easy to write about much else ... but that is only a suspected reason for no posts since September.

Other things?

I've been trying to make headway into a long story I am writing (it would seem a bit precocious to call it a novel) ... okay, I have to admit it's not very long yet ... but it will grow. Sadly, unlike plants, it doesn't grow very much when kept in a dark drawer.

Growth - reminds me of our puppy! We now have a Border Collie puppy called Fleet. Border Collie puppies are medium sized dogs, yes? Well our puppy's father was called Hercules!! :-s

More later, time for tea and bed. At least I've cleaned the dust off.

Another thing I do ...

I've never actually mentioned this on my blog before but I'm a Cub Scout Leader, yep, Jenks is an Akela! I've always been a touch reluctant to divulge this on my blog but I have a suspicion that most people that venture here know who I am in the non-blog world. I suppose I fear been stereotyped, I don't think I'm a stereotypical Cub Leader but that's difficult to judge (well, if I wasn't judged I will be now - own goal Jenks!).

Anyway, I only did 6 months of Scouting as a child. I got involved as an adult (so they say) when I 'helped' out at a Cub camp about six years ago ... Since then I've been a Pack Assistant, member of the Group Executive, Assistant Cub Scout Leader, Assistant Group Scout Leader, Group Scout Leader and now Akela. Now those titles probably mean very little to you non-Scouting folk as they meant little to me six years ago, what is interesting is would you employ somebody who has jumped jobs so many times (all in the same group I might add). I think they should fire me ... please!

Only kidding ;-) It's actually very rewarding and quite a stress reliever, or maybe it's more of a stress 'replacer' - working on the principle that a change (in stress) is as good as a holiday. Guess it's a good thing I'm not a psycho therapist or councillor ... I just work with kids. Gulp!

But don't worry, I'm okay - trust me. The kids have a great time (I don't think they come across people like me at school); if you don't believe me take a look at our programme for this term http://www.cookhamscouts.org/rs_programme - good hey? The product (I must admit) of all my assistants but I do try to pass it off as my own work - at least I have conscience.

So it's Cubs tonight - sigh! They should just fire me, really they should.

Why do I blog?

For me writing is therapeutic (although I do seem to forget that it is) and putting together a posting and commenting on other postings sort of keeps me in the habit of writing. But I’m not sure that that alone would be enough. I could write (and occasionally do) in private. I could send more emails. What is so compelling about writing a blog?

This question was further highlighted to me only the other day. A good friend of mine could not understand why I ‘wasted’ my time writing a blog. “Hardly anybody reads them”, he said, he’d been listening to a Radio 4 programme about blogs and it had obviously been a bit negative. I was quite surprised how strongly he felt about it. Why did he and others feel so negative about blogs and … why do I write a blog?

Sometimes I write and it’s a bit like graffiti, sort of “I’m here world”. Other times it’s because I’ve got to get something off my chest or I’ve felt strongly about something – although I often don’t finish these postings, I seem to have lots of scraps of postings waiting to be picked up. But more often than not I write about my observations or what has amused me – I don’t particularly write for a response but I do look forward to one … and of course, that response is a connection.

What is so refreshing about this connection is that we often have no access to the normal sensory cues that trigger prejudice – I’m sure Clarice brought this up in an earlier post or comment. We can communicate freely with another human – well, I think they’re human (shudder)… not even that prejudice exists!

So I write my blog because I like to communicate … that’s a fairly human need so I don’t see why anybody should get upset. So why be negative?

I think that we are used to associating the audience one has with power. As people move up in status or maybe I should say ‘celebrity status’ they gain a wider audience. This wider audience allows their message to be heard, their ideas to be propagated or their products to be sold. I believe the blogosphere effectively short circuits the celebrity status and gives many people a platform to say whatever they like and ‘they haven’t even earned it dear’. It’s the same jibe celebrities often make of reality TV celebrities. Somehow our world believes that a columnist, actor, singer, games show host etcetera all have the right to a greater audience because … they are celebrities. The blogosphere judges blogs purely on content alone, content that has not been edited, content whose only bias is that of the author’s. This might be seen to erode the power base of those that tap into their audience for gain, for good or for bad. The blogosphere becomes a threat, so it is ridiculed. Of course, it could also be that it is ridiculed because it is not understood.

But if those that ridicule or are negative about blogs really stop and think, they will see that the expansion of the blogosphere is positive – people all over the world are starting to write! Writing what they feel, fear, believe, see, hear … unhindered communication. Writing in sentences, playing with words – but most of all, thinking and (I say it again) communicating. So the blogosphere is making people ‘think and communicate - that can’t be bad ;-)

Dusty apology

(Drops out of loft and brushes off dust, cobwebs, spiders and such life that lives up there). I've been clearing our loft for a loft conversion, so been quiet here but noisy up there. Posts and comments will follow but I must go back to my loft a few more times as scaffolding, skip and crane threaten.

Razorblades

Gathering some toiletries for our supermarket trolley tonight my youngest son (aged 8) and I found ourselves facing the razorblades. He looked at all the different types of razors and spotted the ladies razors.

"Are those ladies' razorblades?"

It's funny how all the possible directions the conversation might go start flashing through your mind at once. You can sense the 'fight or flight' instinct kicking in, but it's your 8 year old son ... and you know that all the people around you have heard the question and are deliberately hovering to wait how this parent will deal with this 'one'.

"Umm, yes they are ladies' razorblades."

Wait for it ....

"Do ladies have beards then?"

OK, so I chicken out,

"Well, I suppose some do."

But this is nothing compared to explaining the vending machines in men’s toilets. I remember my Dad telling me that you got chewing gum out of them! I could just imagine saying that to my younger son in front of my two eldest sons who are both in Secondary School.

When my youngest son did ask the question, "What are those Daddy?" the Gents were full! Needless to say both my eldest sons smirked and eagerly waited for my response. But I'm sorry, I chickened out again,

"We're late we've got to go now!"

"Bu..."

"Mum's waiting for us outside"

"Wha..."

"Come on", grabbing his hand and not making eye contact. I know I failed but I panicked - but at least I didn't say it was chewing gum. Could you imagine how embarresing it might be in later life?

"Hey Jenks, do you know where I can get some gum?" ....!

-------------------

Anyway, talking of razor blades (I can't work out if it's two words or one and I can't be bothered to check so I shall randomly use both versions) just where will it all stop? How many blades can you fit in one razor? Six blades seems to be the present record. The number of blades seems to be going up exponentially!

Now I have to admit that I was bought one of the six blade versions on the weekend - my previous razor only had half the number of blades. It's a little misleading as they actually have five blades for cutting. They try to romanticise what the sixth blade is for - sideburns, beard trimming but the real reason is because five blades PLUS a massive moisturising strip means you can't shove the razor high enough to cut the facial hair just below your nose. This would be a serious problem left unchecked as you would start to get a thin line moustache just below your nostrils.

Now, take my word for it, it is very hard to remove this facial hair with a nose hair trimmer (goodness, I'm going to have people peering up my nostrils now). This is because the hair is flat against the skin and nose hair trimmers aren't good at those types of hairs. This is where the sixth blade comes in - you revert to a single blade just below the nostrils.

Now this could be very dangerous for those young men (and women - for my youngest son) who are not practised at using a single blade. Look out for the cuts just below the nostrils ... this will be the indicator of those who have succumbed to advertising seduced by the promise of beautiful women stroking your smooth chin ... of course I wasn't, it was bought for me - by a very beautiful woman I might add, my wife.

Does your partner borrow your razor? Don't go there Jenks ...

And I won't.

I was going to say more about razors but I'm getting a bit bored of the topic and I can't see it making much difference to the world.

Why do I write so much rubbish? I agonise over comments I will make on Robert Sharp's blog or Clarice's blog, all of whom are clever young people - and then I'm scared off when I think of tackling their sharp intellects as it just seems to show me up as some sort of middle aged oaf - which I'm not, I don't think. Then I read that Clarice is referring to herself as being old on another’s blog, and that makes me feel archaic! But I have a suspicion that one or two people reading this will be higher up the age stakes than me ;-) I have yet another suspicion that they won't want to talk to me anymore either.

Rob, (referring to his post) the world is indeed divided into two groups of people - those who are older than you and those who are not.

I think that I better go to bed so that I don't embarrass myself any further. I'd copy this post as I shall probably edit when I reread it. Goodnight.

Dog on the Run

Another photo taken on our holiday - this one was taken by eldest son (borrowing my camera again). It's one of a series of photos of a dog playing on the beach - good isn't it? :-)

Young Summer Fun

My two eldest sons borrowed my camera ...

Plums - an admission

I was reading the Kitchen Witch's post on Plums and I feel I have an admission to make ... especially after reading all the comments ...

We have a plum tree that is/was heavily laden with fruit (it's too dark outside for me to see) but I'm afraid that this year the birds and the - well, wildlife will feast on them. We have no time as our loft will shortly be converted, sorry.

When we first moved to our house our plum tree only gave us a handful of plums (if that) each year. It was very sad and my mother-in-law told me that it had some sort of disease, should just be cut down as it would never bear much fruit. This was, I should add, after I suggested that all it needed was a tender prune (my answer to all gardening problems I'm afraid).

Well, it was a challenge - my mother-in-law said ‘never’ and I though it just might. Why do I descend to such competitiveness? I duly looked up how to prune plum trees waited patiently for the right time and … pruned.

Next season it had so many plums the branches bowed under the weight. One of the branches actually broke! When next my mother-in-law visited we took her round our woeful garden (I’m afraid it is – well a bit, ‘woeful’ might be a touch of an exaggeration) her eyes set upon our tree with all its wares and she told us that … you know I can’t remember, I just felt very smug and that’s all that counts.

Ever since then the tree has bore us large quantities of fruit. I do not know if it is the initial pruning or perhaps the ‘threat’ of future prunes that causes our plum tree to be so generous. However, the plums do not always fair well and have gone mouldy or delivered us prunes instead.

But we have little time now for plums (or prunes) as our own fruit seem to drain so much of our time turning us into said prunes instead. Today we cleared their bedrooms (three males I should add) and it is a wonder the garden hasn’t grasped at the opportunity of extending there too. But it is cleared (pruned) and my wife and I feel satisfied even if we had to resort to an Indian takeaway for dinner. But the plums will remain in the garden for the wildlife this season …

Gone, back in a week! Please feel free to look around.

Off later today for a week in Wales, all five of us Jenks - a bit of walking, cycling, swimming, damn buidling, sight seeing, etc. etc. Got to pack though, I hate packing. My family hate me packing too! I'm afraid I tend to get a bit ratty - I shall try to remain calm today.

Anyway, if you find yourself here (and it seems not that many people do) then please feel free to have a look around but please don't break anything. See you later ;-)

Jenks on Light Bulbs - trying our best!

Did you know that in the UK Philips energy saving light bulbs are now subsidised? So it's a good time to change over energy saving light bulbs. The stick type you can get for 99p and the warmwhite globe type cost £2.80 - have a look at Lamps2udirect .

Lamps2udirect have lots of other types of energy saving replacement light bulbs including ones to replace golf ball bulbs, spots and there's even a dimmable sort that works with a regular switch. I've still had no luck replacing GU10 bulbs though and the golf ball replacements have a light that is not quite as warm as incandescent bulbs. The spots are good and you can get quite small energy saving bulbs now. If you need more convincing about changing bulbs take a look at ban-the-bulb . We placed an order for a range of energy saving bulbs and we're trying them in different places around our house. At this stage I can't see us changing all our incandescent bulbs but we're trying. If you have any suggestions of good replacement bulbs then let me know.

Energy saving lights are ideal for outside lights but please endeavour to purchase lighting that direct light downwards. A sky full of stars is both beautiful and awe inspiring - the natural world does not end at the horizon, it extends high above us. We really need to save the night sky for future generations. Have a look at the International Dark-Sky website for further inspiration. If you're passionate about nature and conservation, don't forget the stars above you.

I say this with a tinge of guilt - I still need to change our front light. With all the building work we are planning I've not got round to changing it , but I do keep it off. I suppose this saves energy but I could do this better with a PIR (Passive Infra-Red) sensor ... but I really must change it soon after our garage work is done and fit a PIR sensor.

More on energy saving in later posts ...

Sorry but there was a big chunk missing from my earlier post - must be Gremlins in my Blog!

My messy desk

I took this photo a few days ago as a start to develop a blog that, hopefully, will be a bit more interesting than a few boring blue/grey dots! I'm not sure if I will use it but I thought it probably describes a fair amount about me (and how messy my desk gets). What surprised me looking back at it is how many little clues there are about some of my interests. Yes, my hat is on my desk but it's normally a bit further to the right - I can never figure out where to put it so it sits on my desk!

Echinacea up my nose

I thinks I'm coming down with a cold or something - headache, sneezing, aching. My wife suggested I take some echinacea. They come in little capsules - bottle said take three, so I did.

One of the pesky things got stuck in my throat, I couldn't budge it not after comsuming gallons of tea and water. What do they coat those capsules with? Super glue!

Well just now the capsule must have decided to dissolve and a cloud of echinacea came back up through my nose ! Words can not describe how horrible the experience was - well, not my words anyway. Normally bad experiences are quickly forgotten but in this case the echinacea seems to have coated the inside of my nose - how on earth do you clear the inside of your nose? I wonder what my prognosis is?

My latest 'Sky at Night' ...

My latest (September 2006) 'Sky at Night' magazine investigates:

'Mystery at the OUTER LIMITS'
'Voyager beams back secrets from the edge of the Solar System'

but wait for it, in big yellow capital letters ...

'PLUS Patrick Moore's guide to Uranus'

Hmmm? They did it on purpose didn't they - surely they did?? Or is it just my infantile mind?

I can just imagine when my kids pick it up - lots of giggles.

What's that tune? Let your computer do the work.

This is of good novelty value - Tunatic is free software that you can download to your PC that identifies a song's title and artist from the audio alone. All you need is a microphone and internet connection and you're away.

In our family we started playing CDs to see how well it did, we were quite impressed though you do need to make sure that there is little or no background noise. Have fun ...

Cosmic Exaggeration

Irritating, that's what its is. In this BBC article the author writes:

The astronomers were lucky enough to catch the collision just 100 million years after it occurred - the blink of an eye in cosmic time.

Our universe is about 13.7 billion years old and that would make 100 million years 1/137 or 0.0073 of the age of the universe - the blink of an eye?

To contrast this a blink of the eye takes say 0.4 seconds. Let's assume that the average person lives to say 80 years, that would mean that a blink would be 0.00000000016 of a lifetime. Now we don't really know how long the universe will be around for, so let's just assume that we map one lifetime over the age of the universe to date.

So what would a cosmic blink be?

2.2 years!



In fact, I'm always amazed to what extent the universe has developed when you consider how long cosmic events take.

Let me give you an example:
Many of the heavier elements both in and around us can only be created inside stars or as a result of supernovae (exploding stars). The age of our Sun is 4.5 billion years so our Sun has been around for about a third of the time that the universe has been in existence! That doesn't seem to leave much time for the universe to cool down after the Big Bang, sort itself out ... create a star, let the star burn for a while ... or maybe a long while, blow up the star, allow the debris to cool, gather and form a star (do this a few times) ... debris eventually gathers and our Sun forms. But the universe has only got 9.2 billion years to do this, quite a feat.

Furthermore, our Sun is about half way through its life expectancy of 10 billion years. So we couldn't quite fit the full lifetime of our Sun into the available time before our Sun was created. That means that we can pretty much say that the matter in our solar system has never existed in a star system with a star with the same mass or smaller than ours.

But what are the most common stars in the universe? Stars of our mass or smaller - there are more piddly stars than massive stars.

The truth is that stars of 15 times the mass of our Sun would have a lifetime of only 10 million years and it is stars with a mass over 11 times the mass of our Sun that will go supernova. So in our 'blink of an eye' scale, supernova would be sort of a monthly event - you can kind of see how it all fits together and that there is actually enough time.

So it all fits neatly together, there is enough time and we don't need 'The Creation' to make it work - amazing! As for 'a blink of an eye' ... hmmmph!

A happy snappy Jenks am I

I'm so pleased :-) Very, very pleased :-) I have a new camera a Canon EOS 30D with ... (drum roll) ... an image stabilsed lens. These lenses are wonderful as they allow you to take longer exposure photos without a tripod and without a flash. The result - lovely lighting for portraits, no harsh shadows, landscapes at dusk ... wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. When I've figured out how to get photos off the camera I shall post some. Happy, happy, happy :-)

Budgie watch out

I visited Zimbabwe and took this photo from a helicopter ...





... well I guess it wasn't taken from a crane. I suppose I could have had a particularly bad experience with a bungee jump ... but I couldn't tell a lie. No, I'm afraid it was taken on a helicopter ride - my very first!

Back again

Quite a lot has happened since my last post ...

Losing touch with reality

I lost touch with reality this morning. I've been reading "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" and this morning as I was waking up, it dawned on me how irresponsible J K Rowling was allowing everybody to know so many potentially dangerous spells!

A sad reminder - 17 years today ...

I was reminded today that we have lived in the UK for 17 years and I hasten to add that we have been very happy here. We arrived here in November 1988 and we spent some time with my wife's grandfather in Sussex. I remember making a trip by train into London in early December with my wife. We went through Clapham Junction only minutes after the rail disaster there – this event has now become a sombre reminder of our arrival in the UK. Sadly it seems we have had a few too many rail disasters since then.

Encourgagement for Bryn and Andrea

Earlier tonight my family and I watched Bryn Terfel and Andrea Bocelli sing “The Pearl Fishers' Duet” on the Royal Variety Show. My eight year old son was obviously quite impressed because he turned round and asked "Do you think they are both in the choir?"

Of course he’s quite right, only the best singers are in the choir and these two gentlemen have received a compliment of high esteem from my young son. Keep it up chaps ;-)

Business Foolishness - not us Brits!

Clive Davis's posting The British way of doing business? caught my eye. His is a comment on a posting by Adriana Cronin-Lukas who I believe is a management consultant.

Unfortunately, I think that management consultants sometimes have a reputation for telling you what you already know about your company, but at great cost. This has given 'consultants' a bad image on both sides of the Atlantic, you only have to look at some of the Dilbert cartoons top see this (note the level of my references). The difference between the Brits and the Americans is possibly a level of cynicism and a desire to not be seen to have been 'caught out' or look a fool. This is why the Brits tend to be very suspicious of anybody with the title 'consultant'. Rather than been caught out by a consultant and losing lots of money, we'd rather not use them at all, or at least test them first – this gives us the appearance of being very cautious and reserved. Americans seem to be more willing to give anything a go; they wouldn’t want to miss out on an opportunity.

So when we see our friends over the Atlantic trying absolutely anything (including consultants) and then failing we have a good laugh because they look foolish but alas, they probably don't understand what we're laughing at. The Americans are more willing to give it a go and see this as preferable to indecision or a fear of failure. The Americans come across more positive, open and decisive; and us Brits seem more negative, suspicious and indecisive. But once us Brits have made a decision we have to ensure that we don’t look the fool so we need to succeed. We become terriers and quite determined, perhaps more so than the Americans, and all because we don’t want to look the fool!

I think that if we are honest, both sides of the Atlantic both respect, admire and are equally frustrated and irritated by the way each of us do business. No matter what we say, the UK and USA are friends and perhaps the ideal is somewhere in between.

This sort of relationship exists between us Brits and countries in the Far East. Here we see the British often frustrated when dealing with businesses in countries such as Japan, Korea and China. Endless meetings that reach no conclusions that ultimately revolve around the need to 'not lose face' (i.e. not look a fool). But when they make a decision they certainly make sure they get the job done.

Of course, another downside of not wanting to look the fool is that we don’t like to admit we are wrong. Again, the degree of not wanting to look the fool is almost a linear scale from west to east. Conversely, an upside is the need to test to make sure it’s right. I feel the Americans aren’t always as good as us and possibly the Far East is better? But then they won’t want to admit they are wrong as quickly as we British do and the Americans can’t understand why we just don’t drop the project and start again … and so we can go backwards and forwards.

This is probably one of the best arguments for a global economy – the diversity of approaches is healthy. It is the same argument for opening our doors to other cultures within our own borders, the diversity helps our own economies, helps us to work in different ways. Indeed, it would be a shame to lose these differences and hopefully the cultural identities will be retained.

It is often the complaint that cultures are being Americanised, I’m not so sure that this is the case. It might be that American cultural influence is more discernable as it is more open and less subtle. Perhaps, deep below the surface of the American culture is the Far Eastern cultural influence and maybe nearer the surface is the British culture etcetera, etcetera. Isn’t it an interesting world we live in?

But coming back to being a consultant, and I’ve really gone off track this time, there is an answer – don’t call yourself a ‘consultant’. Incidentally, it’s a bad idea to call yourself ‘expert’ too!

And now about another blog ...

I fear I might blow my cover here, but I've set up a website based using the blog format for our local Scout Group. And yes, I am a leader there - amazing that they allow people like me to do that sort of work?!? The website - My Local Scout Group.

Best Tory Leader? The other one!

Well, it won't be long before we find out which of the Davids will lead the Conservative Party. Having previously said that the most electable leaders in the Tory party always seem to be the ones that have resigned, I've now got this feeling that the best person for the job of Tory Leader is the one that's not chosen by the rank and file.

You see, I'm not sure that I have enough confidence in the rank and file to choose the right leader. I really believe that if they want a decent chance of winning the next election then they should vote in David Davis but I don't think they will. It's about time that Labour told the Tories that you just can't depend on democratic means to choose leaders! What is the world coming to ;-)

Da Vinci code and the dots on my blog

Having watched the end of a programme that debunked the book 'The Da Vinci Code' (I really can't be bothered to look up the name of the programme, I think it was on Channel 5), I just want to say that the dots on my blog have no significance. Neither do the missing dots that strangely make the letter 'L' on its side. This is a default, regular template that has dots on it.

I just wanted to clear this up before it was too late.

And the fact that I am saying this has no significance! <- and neither does that.

Deadly romantic - what happened? Where have all the people gone?

Ever since I popped a post on this blog about romantic love drying up my stats have dropped. Interesting as it's not even a serious posting.

It might be that males are being scared off by the subject of flowers and the word 'romantic' in the same posting.

It could be of course, the sight of flowers - makes my blog look a bit like an advert for a funeral parlour. Then again, it could just be that I have a deadly boring blog!

Needless to say, I will still continue to suffer the blogosphere with my postings.

Has your Romantic Love run dry?

Well it seems from this BBC News article that romantic love is all down to a protein called NGF and sadly romantic love only lasts a year. Once this chemical has run dry so does the romantic love.

'Ahhhhh, now I knew that', many men will say but do women feel the same way? Does this mean that 'being romantic' has nothing to do with romantic love? So ladies, why the big problem with flowers? Surely the cessation of flowers coincides with the cessation of NGF - explained! It's not the fault of men, it's this protein thingy - it runs out, you see. Brothers, we have been absolved.

Alas, I fear not. I'm not sure that line of defense will work. Something tells me there is more to this, far more. Those flowers have a greater meaning. However, I will work it out one day, I will, I will ... But until then, better to play on the safe side and buy the flowers - oh dear, I haven't bought any recently!! Better pop out before my dear wife reads this ...



... phew! My wife notes that it appears be men that have conducted the research - did nobody ever point out to them that they would never win the argument?!?

A sentence with 'circular' in

My eight year old son had some spelling homework and one of the tasks was to think of sentences for each of the words. When he got to 'circular' he struggled a little and then came up with, "When you're pregnant you look circular!"

Chip and Pin again ...

Am I the only Dad that has an eight year old (he's got older since the last post) that is desperate to know my credit card pin number? He is fine when I draw money out of an ATM but he just can't control the desire to see if he can figure out my pin.

The other day (night actually) we were shopping at Tescos and he thought he'd figured out a few numbers of my pin, so he started shouting them out. This was pretty terrifying as it was quite late and they were filling the shelves (I know we should not have been finishing our shopping at 11pm at night with an eight year old in tow but sometimes ...), and you must know the kind of people that shop at 11pm at night ... (besides me, of course).

Now I know I should have got cross but if you could have seen his face you would realise that he really could not control his curiosity. So now I pretty much hug the keypad which probably makes everybody else in the queue feel rather uncomfortable. So if you are in a queue behind a parent with a sub 10 year old and he's hugging the keypad as he punches his pin in then you can probably relax - he/she doesn't think you look suspicious, unless you're shopping in Tescos at 11pm. By the way, he doesn't actually know my pin yet - I'm winning, yes!

Scrooge with Tommy Steele

When I was a boy I always wanted to see Tommy Steele at the London Palladium, I never thought that I would do so as an adult. Well, on Tuesday my eldest son turned 13 and we went to London to see Scrooge at the London Palladium. It has not received very good reviews but I do think that critics looked at this production in the wrong light.

It's not panto but it's not Les Miserables either. All my family enjoyed it. My youngest son is just about to turn eight and he came out the theatre and announced loudly:

That was brilliant! Much better than 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'.

I think that says it all.

This is a production to take your children to and it really can not go wrong because it based on a timeless story with a timeless message. So if you have children between 8 and 13 as I do, then I don't think you'll be disappointed. If you're looking for something more intellectually challenging then why on earth would you want to see a musical?

In fact it can't be that bad as on the first night (when the majority of the critics went along to the show) the show received a standing ovation from about 80% of the audience. I noticed that even Andrew Lloyd Webber was standing but I suppose he might have some vested interests. Although I did think that the standing ovation might not go down too well with the critics - probably the other 20% of the audience! They probably felt like they should have stood but couldn't and that would have made them feel all the more bitter and irritated - we English are so strange. Having said that, I'm not sure the production quite deserved a standing ovation but who cares ... only critics.

I suppose I should give you links to the critics but I don't think it is worth the bother - with this particular production they serve little purpose as they failed to see what 'Scrooge' is. I think it best to end by saying that my family enjoyed it and as Charles Dickens said of his story, 'A Christmas Carol':

I have endeavored in this Ghostly little book, to raise the Ghost of an Idea, which shall not put my readers out of humour with themselves, with each other, with the season, or with me. May it haunt their houses pleasantly, and no one wish to lay it.

Their faithful Friend and Servant,
C.D.

December, 1843.

May the ghost of Charles Dickens haunt all those sad critics this Christmas ...

David Davis - refreshing politics?

Well, after watching Question Time I'd say that the Conservatives are out of touch if they vote in David Cameron - I just don't think they will win with him as leader, not in the next election anyway.

He would be up against Gordon Brown and it would look like a contest between Gordon Brown and Tony Blair - we've have that one already.

David Davis is a fresh alternative. Last night he seemed calm and confident. His answers to questions were both considered and knowledgeable, and he seemed very calm and composed without being arrogant. I partly agree with Clive Davis when he says:

More to the point, they both came across as human beings, which is a rare feat for Tory politicians.

I think that Cameron was too Blair-like. Don't get me wrong, I'm not that against Blair but in this time of fashionable politics I'd say that Cameron is 'so last year'. With Davis leading the Conservatives I 'might' even be tempted to vote for them ... but not if they are going to waste more time on discussing hunting, but that is another topic for another day - perhaps.

Davis might not only win the Conservatives the next election, he might win a few people back to politics. I think a Brown/Davis clash would be good for politics - they both seem to have an honesty that would be truly refreshing.