There are two types of people on this planet. Those who finish what they start and

Morning all.  It is the last day at school for my daughter today.  Not that I will get to see her that much.  It has been an amazing year with her development.  She has learned so much.  Do not get me wrong, my son has as well, but I guess I can remember more of what she did not know before she went to school.  I am proud of them both, but on days like this, when I it is brought back to me, just how much she has learned, I am even prouder.

My son yesterday decided to dice with death.  He was taken on a trip to Walton and when there, decided to try and drown himself.  Not content with going into the water, he then decided to fall down.  Fortunately my wife was at hand to look after him.  The problem for her was that she, due to the cold, was not wearing gear to be in the water.  Not only did that happen, but yesterday he called her a pillock and told her to shut up!  When I got back and heard about the pillock comment, I did laugh, but I managed to hide it from him.  He still got in trouble.

Anyway, time to go.  To think, this time last year, I was working in a place that was bad for me, and now, I am so much better! 


*TRADITIONAL ECONOMICS*
You have two cows.
You sell one and buy a bull.
Your herd multiplies and the economy grows.
You retire on the income.

*INDIAN ECONOMICS *
You have two cows.
You worship them.

* PAKISTAN ECONOMICS*
You don't have any cows.
You claim that the Indian cows belong to you.
You ask the US for financial aid,
China for military aid,
Britain for warplanes,
Italy for machines,
Germany for technology,
France for submarines,
Switzerland for loans,
Russia for drugs and
Japan for equipment.
You buy the cows with all this and claim of exploitation by the world

*AMERICAN ECONOMICS*
You have two cows.
You sell one and force the other to produce the milk of four cows.
You profess surprise when the cow drops dead.
You put the blame on some nation with cows & naturally that nation will be a danger to mankind.
You wage a war to save the world and grab the cows.

*JAPANESE ECONOMICS*
You have two cows.
You re-design them so that they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk.
You then create cute cartoon cow images called Cowkimon and market them worldwide.
*CHINESE ECONOMICS *
You have two cows.
You have 300 people milking them.
You claim full employment, high bovine productivity and arrest anyone reporting the actual numbers.

*RUSSIAN ECONOMICS*
You have two cows.
You count them and learn you have five cows.
You count them again and learn you have 42 cows.
You count them again and learn you have 17 cows.
You give up counting and open another bottle of Vodka

* FRENCH ECONOMICS *
You have two cows.
You go on strike because you want three cows.

*GERMAN ECONOMICS *
You have two cows.
You re-engineer them so that they live for 100 years, eat once a month and milk themselves.
You invade Poland for land to store the cows.

*BRITISH ECONOMICS *
You have two cows.
They are both mad.

*ITALIAN ECONOMICS*
You have two cows.
You don't know where they are.
You break for lunch.

*SWISS ECONOMICS *
You have 5000 cows, none of which belong to you. You charge others for storing them.
*WELSH ECONOMICS*
You have a cow.
You sell it for a sheep.

The other night I was expecting an important phone call, so I slept with my mobile under the pillow. When I woke up, it was gone and there was just a shiny new fifty pence piece where I'd left it. Damn that blue-tooth fairy!

Well, I have enjoyed today.

As usual, I woke early and went into work to do some paperwork.  And as usual, I came home to take the kids to school and pre-school.  After dropping my daughter at school, I took my son to his pre-school and there he met one of his friends, Celeste.  She was starting today.  He knows her as my wife knows her mother, and my daughter is in her sisters class at school, and the two of them are good friends (well, as good friends as five year olds are).  When I picked him up, there was a leaving ceremony for the kids who were leaving for good, to start at school in September.  It was touching to see the teachers in the pre-school cry when they were hugged.  Especially as this time next year, my son will be one of those children.  Anyway, he refused to mention who he played with when I took him home.  I thought that was because he was using his scooter to get home for the first time ever with me.  Later I found it was because he had spent his time looking after Celeste!  He does have a heart of gold.

After lunch at home with my son and wife, as usual I went back to work.  Now, after last week, I was not going to be late to pick up my daughter (not that I wanted to be late the first time), but I got a phone call from my wife as my daughter had been stung by a wasp.  It flew out of nowhere (she said later) and stung her.  One of the boys at school, a lad called Edward, stamped on it afterwards.  She was very brave and did not cry and when given the option to come home early, wanted to stay at school.  She showed me her finger (where she was stung) and also her tooth, which became very wobbly.  She too used her scooter to get home and I have to say, she is getting very good on it.

But once at home, after eating her dinner, her tooth came out!

It is sad really that I get sentimental about things.  She is a child, and she is going to grow up.  But this time last year, she was terrible at reading.  Do not get me wrong, aged four she was able to read a few words, but she seemed determined not to want to read.  Now, she is doing really really well.  It came to me when I was reading her the three billy goats.  I used to get her to read the easy words before.  Now, a year later, she is able to read the entire book with just a little bit of help.  The reason it is sad, is after all, that is what children are meant to do, grow, and develop.  My wife was in tears though.  My daughter though was very excited, and now is asleep, hoping that the tooth fairy is to come (fingers crossed for her).

Anyway, time to go.

"BREAKING NEWS: NoW hacking whistleblower found dead." I guess Cameron is really serious about keeping his job...

Evening all.  When it comes to the kids and family, not much new to post.  Of course they are still amazing.  And I love them loads.

Well, the news has been both tragic and politically interesting.  Here in the UK, the main story is not those dying in Africa, it is the way News International, or rather the News of the World, has been hacking into mobile telephone calls, not just of those who are famous, but of a dead teenager and the families of the war dead.  But while Cameron is under attack for his links, Gordon Brown seems to have got away with his contacts.  Both were wrong to court the devil.

Anyway, almost time to get ready for bed.  Have work to go to tomorrow.  On the weekend, I bumped into someone I used to work with.  I did like where I worked, it was just that I had to leave as otherwise things would not have been good for them or me.  And bumping into my ex-colleague was nice, but it brought back many of the reasons why I had to leave.  And the best thing is that I am working somewhere so much better!

Sky News - Maradona hit by bus. British driver set to recieve M.B.E

What Diego Maradona lacked in brains, he made up for in speed.
And Cocaine.

Not that I am bitter.  A truly great player, who scored one of the best goals I ever saw.  After the cheating git scored with a handball.  A bit hard to forget really. 

Anyway, time to post about the family.  First of all, the picture is one my daughter did.  I had meant to post it on the weekend, but forgot!  Yesterday I was working late, so did not get the chance to post it, and on Monday, I was putting the bed for my son together.  On Saturday, the kids were jumping on my sons bed, and broke it.  My wife managed to 'fix' it, in that it lasted until a new bed came (which was then bought after the first one was broken), but it meant that I had to put together the flat pack bed.  And so far, it is still standing.  My experience with DIY is legendary.  My wife no longer trusts me to do things.  She asked me to put up shelves, an I did try to put them up right, but in the end we had to pay someone to come in and put them up properly.  We have a light in our extension, and one of our neighbours would not sit under it until she was promised that I did not put it up and that we got someone in to do it.  

Anyway, today I was a bad father.  I picked my daughter up late from school.  I literally was only a minute or two late, but it must have been an eternity for her.  She was really brave waiting for me, but when I arrived, she burst into tears.  And I felt so bad.  So, out of my wife and I, I have had to do the walk of shame after getting my daughter late to school, while my wife never has (there was a close call for her once).  And now I have been late to pick her up.  And to make things worse, I only take and pick up my daughter once a week.  Wednesday is my paperwork day, so I go into work early, come home to take the kids to school/pre-school and go back to work.  I come back to collect my son from pre-school, go back to work, then come home to collect my daughter.  I honestly think that it helps me work, as I hate paperwork.  I love people contact, not paper contact, and having the time with the kids makes the drudge of paperwork so much better.  Saying that, I still love my job, and love where I am working, and Wednesdays, though the Wednesday part is mostly because I get to take the kids to school.  And on the topic of work, I hope you like the joke below... 

12 July 2011 PM.

Dear work colleagues,
It would just so happen that I am the winner of the Euro-million jackpot so I won't be in Tomorrow you bunch of boring gits.
I regularly spit in the office kettle and Mr Jenkins, I ****** your Wife.  Twice.
  **** you and goodbye.
..........
13 July 0811 AM.

Sorry all, checked last weeks numbers by mistake.
May be a little late this Morning.
P.S I have doughnuts :-)

Jenson Button wheel nut be happy

The title of this post is a reference to the British Grand Prix, which is a quick sports post.  Of course, my main concern regarding sports is Arsenal.  Fábregas and Nasri may be leaving, as will Manuel Almunia and Nicklas Bendtner.  Me, I think that Nasri should be allowed to play his contract out.  I think that we can do without Fábregas, which is not to say I am not grateful for the way he has played for us, or am not aware of just how good a player he is, but he have Wilshere.  Also we have Walcott and Aaron Ramsey.  In addition to all this, it will be interesting to see if Henri Lansbury can break into the first team and the effect he can have.  After all Denílson wants to leave as well and if he does go, that will leave more opportunities for players to come through.  Many Arsenal fans fear the upcoming season, but I think that we have the opportunity to do well.  Few will fear us, and if we can harness the potential in the team, that will be in our favour.  Alan Hansen once said "You'll never win anything with kids" and was proven wrong.  Well, this is a chance for Arsenal to show that it can be done.

Anyway, time to talk about the kids.  I have not posted that much of late, and for that, I am sorry.  This weekend, I missed the school fete, which was just as well, as there were stocks, and kids got to throw sponges at the dads that were there.  I did though get to watch Kung Fu Panda 2 with the kids.  And then we ate out and walked back home.  Simple things that gave us quality time and brings a huge smile to my face.  After all, times like these are what having kids is about.    

RIP the News of the World.

Rip it up good and proper.

If the F1 teams need their tyres taken off quickly, why don't they employ scousers? 

News of the world.

Letting deaf people read their voicemail until 10/07/2011.

Environmentalists say that every day an area the size of Wales is destroyed... Why is it never Wales?

Actually, I love Wales so I do feel a bit guilty about the joke.  We went there on the weekend, travelling down on Friday to stay at a lovely hotel for a wedding yesterday.  I have to day, the hotel was great.  On the Gower Peninsula it was a great place to stay, once I had worked out how to open the doors, and the kids loved it.  Not just because it was close to the beach, but because of the way the rooms were set out, having the space to play, clean and of course, watch Cbeebies on the large screen in the living room, and the televisions in their room or in ours.

We have been to Wales before (and I would return to the Gower Peninsula again), mainly because the best man at my wedding, Tony, lives there with his lovely wife Sally and their three kids, Dan Lowri and Tomos.  Mind you, I am hoping that I have spelt their names correctly.  And today, we met up with them on the way home.

So the wedding first of all, one which the kids loved, and so did we.  A cousin of my wife marrying a welsh beauty.  I had met the cousin before, and I do like him, and it was great to be there for his (and her) special day, one which celebrated their different backgrounds, with people flying in from across the globe to be there.  At the table I was on, there was one gentleman from Chile.  The kids were really good there.  Which was amazing as they were there for ages.  We got there are 1400 for the ceremony.  The legal stuff actually had been done the day before with close family and friends present, this being a day for everyone else to show their joy at the marriage of the two.  And it was an out door wedding, which was at risk of the elements.  Which considering that Wimbledon is about to start, was a brave decision. We found out later, that there was no plan B but as I said, if there was a plan B in case of rain, it would have rained.  Not sure if anyone (including myself) fell for that!  The vows that the happy couple made to each other were brilliant, and of course, reminds me of how wonderful a wife I have as the vows, about true love, apply to her as well.  After that it was drinks and a game of cricket, where the groom was caught out by the bride!  Start as she means to go on!  My daughter did find herself popular with insects, the wedding being held in a farm.  And after the tears, she was convinced to risk being bitten again (though I did not tell her about that) and the two kids and me walked around the farm looking at the hen, the cockerel and of course the two horses which my daughter loved.  I think that my son liked the chickens more, but they both loved seeing the animals.

They were great during the meal and at the end, it was time to dance, and both loved dancing.  Not that either of my children, or my wife and I could compare to the first dance between the happy couple.  Set to Queen's Don't Stop Me Now, it was a very memorable dance, and had some very impressive moves.  I have to say, the kids would have tired me out with dancing, but I hurt my knee on the dance floor which meant that I had to rest and watch.  After my daughter fell asleep on me (something that does not happen very often now) we later had to call it a night, though the couple and friends partied till three in the morning!

Anyway, come the morning, after my wife met other members of her family again who were present for the wedding, we went to meet up with Tony.  I have to say, I do feel guilty about messing him up a bit.  While we had mentioned to him a while ago we would be coming to Wales, we did not remind him until this weekend.  But his family and he met us at Margam Country Park.  And not only did all the kids (ours and his) have a great time, but we did as well.  One thing that I am amazed at is how few people there are there considering how great it is for kids and families.  It is a pleasure meeting up with Sally, Tony and their three kids, it is just a shame that we do not get to see them more often.

Anyway, after that, a long drive back to England.  And now time to rest...

Take care all. 

The eclipse everyone is talking about is over rated. it's a crap film!

The Apprentice is useless. If I want to hear about 12 people sitting around a table treating some Jewish bloke like he is some kind of a god, I would read the bible.







Afternoon all all. Again, I have had the pleasure of spending time with the kids yesterday. And my daughter has a new toy. I have been on eBay and got here a LEGO Ashoka Tano. The family also had a haircut as well, my son asking for his haircut to be stopped when he looked handsome!  My wife got to use her new hair thingy that I had got from eBay for her.  Anyway, take care, and I hope you like the links.