A skeleton visits a pub and orders a beer, and a mop

It has been a good weekend so far.  Due to personal issues, I have not gone into work this weekend, which means that Tuesday will be interesting.  But this meant more time with the family.  Friday was spent in the garden, though my son was taken by some neighbours to the zoo which was very nice of them.  Yesterday we went to visit my mother, though we had a meal in Stoke Newington at a pizza place my wife had researched.  That meal, though simple, was excellent.  The pizza's were simple, but well made, and it was the view of everyone that these were the best pizza's that we had tasted.  My mother was glad to see the children and my son got to play Scrabble against her but not a full game as we had to leave.

Today though has been a bit more interactive.  We had a trip to find out more about the Moomin's which was mostly for my son, though all four of us loved it.  And afterwards there was a craft area where people were encouraging children to make buildings for a model London (well, central London).  My son, once again, was amazing and while lots of parents helped more, I let him have a much more free hand.  I did make one or two suggestions, but listened when he had declined some but accepted others.  Anyway, the picture shows his building which he is rightly proud of.  While some may say that it is not as spectacular as some of the other buildings, the others had a lot more help from parents than he got.  And I think that what he did was amazing.  All I did otherwise was help him cut a few things (he did most) and helped him by putting glue on the card that he used for windows (or balconies).  Afterwards we ate great food at a place called Ping Pong and then back to rest.

The good and the bad at PC World. A reply to Customer Services

Dear Gemma,

Thank you for taking the time to respond to my tweet.

On Friday the 7th of April, my wife took her mother to PC World in Chingford looking to by her a laptop. There were several assistants loitering and only one came over (called Gill), rolling his eyes and sighing as he approached. They were enquiring about a specific laptop and his first statement was that it was a laptop. Despite asking three times about it's specifications he referred to the information on the shelf but did not give them any more information relevant to what they were asking. They left the store vowing never to visit it again. 

However, they did visit PC World in Colchester the day before yesterday and found the staff there to be far more helpful. While the laptop they wanted was not available the staff were polite, helpful, courteous and an asset to the image of PC World.  Needless to say, the difference was remarkable.

I would be grateful if you could feedback the areas for improvement to the Chingford store and let the staff in Colchester know how good they are.

Yours truly 

Under the pier

The kids seem to have enjoyed the Easter holidays so far.  For the first part of it, they were at my parents-in-law, which meant that I missed them, but also it was nice having a clean house, and one that was quiet.  My wife and I even went out on a date!  And while they bickered when they were back, it was nice to have them.  Though I would prefer less snapping at each other.

Anyway, the weekend involved a trip to Walton.  Some friends of ours have the use of a beach hut there, and so they invited us there.  The only downside on this is that we forgot the importance of getting there early.  So we got caught in traffic, and then had issues finding a place to park.  The plus side is that as it is early in the year, there are places that we could park that we will not be able to do so during the summer.  While my daughter does not like this picture, this was taken there.  We had fun, my son on the machines in the pier as well as walking along with his sister to get some papers. And as you can see, my daughter and I had a walk on the beach, this being a picture I was not allowed to take.  Obviously I have no idea how this picture was taken...

Anyway, today, I made some personal bests on cycling to and from work.  I did not meet the standards I was hoping to reach, and have learned not to alter my route yet.  But once I had some energy, I played throw and catch with my children.  My daughter is great and my son is catching up with her.  He had done most of the work on putting up a shelving unit though and is quite rightly proud of himself.  And he may listen more when it comes to exercise, but, considering what he has done, I should not be too pushy as he does try to improve himself a lot.  Maybe not as much as I would like, but much more than I did when I was his age.

And last of all, one more chess tournament has finished.  I did not do as well as I hoped, but I may do better in the next one.

Why I want Arsenal to finish 7th

It is not enough for Arsenal to finish in seventh place. We have to be knocked out of the FA cup in the semifinals. 

Leicester City won the league last season and not playing in Europe helped them (as well as us throwing away our best chance in ages to win the league). This season, Chelski are going to win the 

league and they are not playing in Europe.  It is very unlikely that we will be able to fight our way back into the top four. And fifth place results in a place in the Europa Cup, which is the best chance to win European silverware, but it is a competition that ruins the chance of a Premier League team winning the title.  Sixth place will probably give a place as well, as the odds are that a top four club will win the FA cup.  Which means, if we finish in seventh place, we will have a clear run at the league and assuming we can keep our players (and add more quality to the squad), it means we have a good shot at winning it. 

So long as Claudio Ranieri is willing to join us as manager...

I want to die peacefully, in my sleep, like my grandfather, not screaming, terrified, like his passengers.

Good day to you all.  Mothers day today went well, mostly.  After a lie in, as the clocks had gone forwards by an hour, our son came in with the present he had made.  My daughter though was not in as good a mood as we would have liked.  She did improve, but rather than her making her mother one of her morning cups of tea, I did.  Things did improve as they day went on with a trip to Manningtree to have lunch at a restaurant we had been to before.  At present, it is one of the favourite restaurants of my wife, and it was worth booking it.  I almost had not booked it in time, but it did work out well.  A relaxed lunch was followed by a trip into town to shop and look at the new sculptures in Colchester and also, while my wife was enjoying the wares, the kids and I walked about town collecting Pokéballs and catching Pokémon.  But, she did not have to make any food, other than preparing the burgers which I had cooked, and a bit of shopping, which I had said I would do (honest).  I would love to post more, but it is late.  I think it is important to say at the end, that the kids were great though my daughter hated her red dress!

And here is something that might bring a smile to your face.

Trees Everywhere

A policeman pulls a car over on a lonely back road and approaches the blonde lady driver.

"Miss, is there a reason that you're weaving all over the road?"

The woman replied, "Oh, officer, thank goodness you're here! I almost had an accident! I looked up, and there was a tree right in front of me. I swerved to the left, and there was another tree in front of me. I swerved to the right, and there was another tree in front of me!"

Reaching through the side window to the rear view mirror, the officer replied, "Miss... that's your air freshener."

A quiet weekend

Well it has not been one really.  Not yet.

Since the last post, my son has been bought a bicycle, one which he should grow into.  So last week, we rode it.  He was a bit nervous as he has had issues when riding his bike before and I understand his concerns, but he was great.  And he noted that there was a difference compared to his old bike, a big difference.  He loved the speed that he could now reach.  His previous bike was perfect for his needs, but sadly, he has grown out of it, and was nervous when using it as he was concerned that he would knee himself.  This was in part, my fault, as I did not raise his seat as much as I could have, but he was never going to get to go as fast as he now can.  In fact, he is now looking forwards to his next bike ride.

My daughter today rode her bike.  She had ridden with me to my work before, and did so today while my son went to work with my wife.  And she had improved compared to before and on the way back, thanks to her determination, rode up part of a hill she had failed to do so before.  Needless to say, I was very proud.  And instead of heading straight home, we took a little diversion, which I think that she liked.  That involved some cycling down a dirt path, and when we came to a dip, and the climb afterwards she gave it all.  And I think she loved the speed.  While I took a picture of her first challenge, I should have taken one of the hill of fun.

So today it was a trip to see our mothers for Mothers Day tomorrow, and both loved seeing the kids.  We are home now watching The Voice and are amazed that at the quality of the singers.  My daughter is on the only one not paying full attention to this, but I think she likes it as well.
Anyway, before I go, another chess tournament has finished.  I think my final position was respectable, finishing 16th out of 100.  Well, I got to the second round before I was knocked out by the much better player.

Dhan Waffle

First of all, the update on the family.

It has been a while since the last post when we went out for a meal.  Since then we have had a few things happen.  Last weekend we travelled to London to see our (that is my and my wife's) parents though due to an accident on the A406, it was a very tiring day.  In addition to this we have had a learning conference (or as I used to call it when I was younger, a parents evening) were my daughter was told that she is amazing, and my son was told that he needs to show everyone how amazing he is more often.  And it was his birthday.  That was great as we had a gaming party where my wife had arranged for someone (a very nice lady) to come round with two projection screens and she connected them up to some PlayStation's and also brought two virtual reality headsets.  Being boys, the kids absolutely loved it, and being a boy, I did as well.  It all went well for him and I have to compliment my wife once again on her amazing abilities at organisation and with the cake, cooking.

Today, while my son was at two birthdays I was in London for a course.  When walking back to my car (which was parked where I did not have to pay), I got to eat at Maltby Street, indulging in a very nice (and posh) hot dog as well as some amazing dumplings.  The picture does not do the flavour of the dumplings any justice as they were amazing.  And unlike many other places to eat in Maltby Street market, there was no queue.  After eating the dumplings, and then eating more, I felt sorry for those who walked past them.  I know that when I have my next course in that area, I am going to try to find an excuse to travel to Maltby Street so that I can eat before I return home.  The downside of driving home from there though is that I do not get to have any of the beer I saw being drunk there.

And on getting home, I got to listen to the Arsenal game.  The midweek demolition was demoralising to say the least and a friend of mine commented that Lincoln would be looking forwards to this game.  And considering that they nearly made it to half time with no goals being scored, you could not fault that statement.  But we won and appeared to do so with ease as Lincoln tired in the second half.  And it has taken away a little bit of the hurt that I have suffered as a fan, but I suspect it will return soon.

Anyway, my wife is in bed, unwell with a poorly knee which means that she was not able to go out tonight has planned, but instead has had to stay in bed watching Gilmore Girls while I watched the Voice with the kids (who vanished before the end) and a mug of wine (it saves on washing a glass later in the day when I am tipsy, an issue as my daughter broke our last habitat goblet).

Last of all before videos from artists from The Voice UK, my standings on two chess tournaments were a bit respectable.  Thanks to a few time outs, I finished 6th (out of 12) in the quicky tournament, and in the 34th Chess.com Quick Knockouts (1401-1600) I finished in 197th place out of 315 places (and 527 players).  Well I was proud!