WOW..... Time Flies By

So its been almost 9 months since I last did an update, I'm Slipping badly with keeping the blog up to date as I promised but thanks for the nudging emails :-)

Well, I'm still in Jamaica right now with the Stewarts Group as Aftersales and Bodyshop Manager, we have added Jaguar and Landrover to the mix and given BMW up to another dealer.

This Weeks Adventure, Mystic Brownies, Ziplining down a mountain, Pum Pum and Bobsled......... Phew What a Day!!!!!

Well, Like I said, What a day ;-)

Decided to take a trip out to Mystic Mountain in Ocho Rios this weekend.

Mystic is one of the main tourist attractions but having been here for 2 and a 1/2 years I've never been.

So the day started with a nice leisurely drive from Kingston to Ochi on the new highway which I have to say is fantastic for cutting down on time but bloody steep to get up.

Targeted Hypertrophy Training (T.H.T)

A FREE Workout program....... That actually works!!

So I've started this new workout program at the Gym called Targeted Hypertrophy Training or T.H.T. for short.

As you can see its from a guy called Mark McManus who has really put the research into the science behind muscle building, exercise and optimal diet to suit anybody's lifestyle. There's a choice of 2 workout routines, 3 or 5 days per week which both run for 10 weeks at which time you swap over or alternate. Theres also a choice of meal plans to go for, I've gone for the 5 days per week workout with a low carb diet plan (Dont worry, mark explains it all in depth)

A Weekend In Port Antonio, Frenchmans Cove & San San Tropez

Decided to get out of Kingston for the weekend and go over to Port Antonio on the other side of the island on the west coast.

Drove out to a little beach called Frenchman's Cove (www.frenchmanscove.com) which is not too far from the main town, a little bit secluded and its a private beach so no hassles. Frenchmans is set in really lovely countryside grounds with a freshwater stream that runs from the mountains down into the sea right on the beach so as your walking out the temperature of the water changes from hot to cold and back to hot again.

Golf, Back to the Frustration..... but that's not a bad thing

So I started playing golf again.........

A few weeks ago one of the guys I work with at BMW started talking about getting into playing golf as his son who was a good young player had decided to take a break from the game.

Being as I haven't swung a club in 2 years (They have been sat idle) I thought it would be a good time to start up again as we should hopefully be at least in the same stage so should be able to improve together as we go along.

Medical Insurance, Rubber Gloves & KY Jelly

So I finally (after two and a half years) got round to going to Sagicor to get my medical done so I can have some piece of mind with the health and life insurance.

Had to jump through several hoops as expected with the usual round of tests and endless questions.......

So, completed the questionnaire and then it was off to do weight, height, blood tests, P in the bottle etc, etc

Then it was into the examination room and strip down to the boxy's ready for the check over. So I'm reading a notice on the wall about the importance of washing your hands regularly and thoroughly and I happen to glance around and see some of these sat there on the trolley.....

I'M Already Getting Worried............ Then I see this...................................

I'M Already at this point putting my jeans back on when the doctor comes walking back in.............

I'm stuck....cant go anywhere... there is no escape route, In the Examination Room, NOBODY CAN HEAR YOU SCREAM!!!!!

Well as it turns out, that is not a part of the examination :-) :-) :-) Heart rate was up for a little while but as it turns out I'm as fit as a fiddle, Lungs, eyes, ears, heart are all good and blood pressure is well within normal range both at rest and immediately after physical activity, sugar levels are normal and I'm going to live forever :-)

Good job they didn't do a brain scan (Or in my case a scan for a brain) Not so bad after all then .... :-)

Just Some Blasts From The Past

Came across Some old photos when I was clearing up my Facebook account which I'm not really using anymore.

Anyhow, here's a laugh for you, my brother Tony and I way,way, way back in the day....

My First Administration Job, Service Advisor @ King Ford, Skelmersdale, England.

Oh Dear......... check out the moustache :-/ in my defense it was fashionable back then

Its That Time of the Year ...... Again......

Well, in my last post I showed you that I have been trying to get myself fit, or fitter at least. Well this is the time of the year when Digicel (Our biggest mobile phone network provider) and the Digicel Foundation host their annual 5 Kilometer Walk/Run event to raise funds for children with special needs.

Being as I had only started back in the gym in the August, the thought of running a 5K in October was kind of daunting but at the time I was working out and being put through my paces by my friend Oneal who doesn't really give up when it comes to training. So my company Stewarts is a big supporter of several charities and organizations and they just happen to enter a corporate team each year which I became part of......

Originally, given my state of fitness I decided that I would take the WALK option, but, Oneal had different ideas and we embarked on what became a merciless training regime. Here's the route in Downtown Kingston.

Time For An Update....

As usual its been a while since I put anything up on here, In fact its been nearly a year already......

So, thank you to Martin, Katerina and John for kicking my ass via email and prompting this update :-), I didn't realize it had been so long.

For me the last 12 months have been a bit of a roller coaster year with various things going on, not least of all is that i started back at the gym last August with all intention of losing all of the weight I had piled on. I'm sorry to say that I haven't put all of the commitment into the gym as I thought I would be doing and social engagements kind of kept me off routine but hey, what u gonna do :-) I am glad to report though that from a massive 200+ lbs and a 37 inch waist whilst on a break in the U.K, I am now a fighting fit 168lbs and sporting a 32 inches around the gut, Happy days, Still more to go though cus Ive still got a bit of a pop belly (Read beer) but I'm working on that so watch this space. Here are  a couple of the Work In Progress photo's.

The mid way result being........

Frenchman "Foreplay" Party. Ocho Rios, Jamaica

What a weekend!! every year in Jamaica there is a party weekend called Frenchmen, so called because it was originally held at Frenchmen Cove in Portland until they out grew it as a venue. For years now it has been held on a beach in Ocho Rios and a huge section of the beach is cordoned off. The tickets are not badly priced considering that when you get in all of the food and drink is included in the price, and its all top shelf stuff. We had a private villa for the weekend with some friends and it was very comfortable to say the least!! Private cook, maid and a butler for 3 days, private pool, jetty into the ocean, great fun.

Hurricane Sandy.

I think I dodged the worst of hurricane Sandy but it wasn't without a few inconveniences and a few valuable lessons being learned. Kingston was hit pretty hard but it seems that where I live escaped relatively undamaged save for a few downed trees. Other parts of the Island suffered moderate to high winds especially in the exposed areas which wreaked havok with power lines and water supplies.
Not being one to watch or listen to the news or read the local newspapers and having been off work with a back/neck injury for 2 weeks, I only found out about the impending storm the day before it was due to hit from a work colleague.
Even for the 2 weeks prior to this the rainfall has been really heavy but the amount of torrential rain that fell during the storm and in such a short period of time was incredible to say the least.
An estimated 150cm of rainfall in 3 days would challenge even the best of infrastructures but on a self proclaimed third world Carribean island where surface drainage is normally the furthest thing from being a priority it caused chaos and turned major roads into rivers.

Greetings From Jamaica...............

Surfs Up..............

Here we go again, I'm back in the trade....... Strange how the motor trade has a habit of not letting you go...

There I was, enjoying being my own boss and making the rules up as I went along when along comes a job in Qatar back in the Middle East via an agency that I was with way back when.
That didn't happen because after 3 months and a few telephone interviews which went very well, they decided to promote somebody from within the company ........ hmmm... "why waste my time?" I thought

Switching Camps

I never thought I would be saying this so soon but I am switching jobs and going over to the other side....

As of Monday I am leaving the Ford Dealers and moving to another company with Vauxhall and Chevrolet as Bodyshop Manager for 2 of their sites.

It was a bit sad to leave the Ford dealers because there weren't any real problems there and they were a good bunch of guys in the bodyshop.

Time moves on as they say and an unexpected career opportunity landed in my lap to get back into a multi-site role in a job that should keep me really busy, for a while at least. I suppose you have to grab these things as and when you can so here goes........... I'll let you know haow its going as I get into it and get my feet under the desk :-)

The Muppets Ride Again....

Andrew, Jayne & Chloe finally made it over to our place a couple of weekends ago, it was good to see them after quite a while and they are all doing fine.

We planned to have a BBQ at our place but mid afternoon was looking bleak but just as they arrived the weather turned around and we ended up sitting outside enjoying the sunshine!! I dont think we could have planned it any better, Macky made loads of food as usual and of course much beer and wine was used to wash it down :-)

Next day we went into Liverpool and had a walk round some of the local landmarks as they have never been before.

Thats the Liver Buildings in the back ground, and next is the Albert Dock.

Next time they come over we will hopefully manage the time to get a full day and a night out in Liverpool City Centre, great atmosphere and loads of places to go.

New additions

"The Pitter Patter of Tiny Feet"

Well, here we go again..........! Yet another addition to the family household.

Six an a half years after having Daniel we have decided its time to hear the patter of tiny feet around the house again.

This time though we have decided to go for the furry type of feet, and here he is with Daniel :-)

His name is Lucky as named by Daniel an he is a 6 week old Labrador puppy, we picked him up a couple of days ago and he is already making his prescence felt and made the house his own.

He was born at a stables where he's been til we picked him up and with a full litter of 7 pups he has had plenty of attention and wants to keep it that way.....

We have bought him a puppy bed which he doesn't like to sleep in instead preferring to sleep on the feet of whoever will let him (strange dog!!)

He cried quite a bit for the first night but he has settled down surprisingly very quickly and has got used to being alone now to the point where he just flakes out wherever he wants and pesters for attention when he decides he wants it.

Because he is only 6 weeks old we cant have him innoculated for another 2 weeks which means we cant take him anywhere yet for fear of him catching any bugs or doggie diseases.

Needless to say, being a pup he likes to excercise his teeth and has taken to chewing so we have had to give him plenty of toys to destroy but he does seem to have a liking for magazines (I did say he was a bit strange)

We are quite "Lucky" because we have a lockable hallway where he can sleep at night, although he has managed to find his way out of there once and left us several doggie surprises for when we got home. Only to be expected I suppose when you buy an untrained puppy.

This I'm sure is just the beginning of what promises to be an eventful future for the latest edition.....

Maybe I should have took the Advice from Lubos and had a baby sister for Daniel instead :-)

Back in the U.K, 9 Years On.....

"I'm Back"........ Having left AAA Auto in Bratislava for the last time I am now based in the U.K. again and it looks like I'm here to stay (for a while at least :-))



Before leaving the U.K. to go to Saudi Arabia I was working as a Bodyshop Manager at a Ford Main Dealer. Now strangely enough I'm working as a bodyshop manager at.... you guessed it, a Ford Main Dealer :-) Actually I have another 2 days before I start, but still.....

Most of my working career has ben spent working within the Ford network so I feel like I'm returning to familiar ground and the dealer I'm joining is only 15 minutes away from my last job in the U.K. nine years ago, I even know some of the people that are working there because they used to work for me at the other dealer!!

The U.K. automotive market is going through a very difficult time at the moment and I have several freinds who are still out of work due to the recession and dealer closures etc. Jobs are few and far between to say the least so I feel very lucky to not only have found a job but to have found a job I should enjoy doing.

So, back to the Rat Race in the U.K. and I'll let you all know how its going in a few weeks after I settle in and get my feet under the desk.

In the meantime, thanks to Lubos, Jan, Steve, Paul & Dave for the great references.

Incidentally, it is now a full year to the day since I started this blog so people could catch up with me and find out what I'm up to, thanks to all of you who keep in touch by email and your comments are noted, I will try to update the info as often as I can or asand when there is something newsworthy.

It's Been A While.........

O.K. so its been a while since I updated the blog and a lots happened since the last post so I thought it was time to get typing.

"I'm back working with AAA" :-) After almost 4 months off work doing pretty much as I please its back to the grind. I've rejoined as Country Service Manager this time and I'm based in Bratislava, Slovakia. As usual lots to do and targets to be met but its kind of nice getting back into the middle of it.

I've been back almost a month now and I've been staying at the Residence Harlequin Hotel in Bratislava but I'm glad to say I should be getting the keys to my new apartment tomorrow :-)
The harlequin is OK, and its basically a fully equipped one bedroom apartment but its still a hotel at the end of the day and most of you know my feelings on them. The place I'm moving into is a 1 bedroom apartment but it will be a lot better because I can settle down there knowing I don't have to move again.

I'm on my as Macky & Daniel are not with me this time, its really hard leaving them to come to work but I'll be seeing them regularly when I get home every 2 or 3 weeks for weekend breaks and I'm sure they will be out here for the school holidays. The first 2 weeks I was here I couldn't get on the net and it drove me nuts and cost me a fortune in SMS messages but that's all sorted now.

We have finally bought our own place in the UK :-) Most of you know that this is the first house we have had that we can make truly ours as we have moved 8 times in the past 8 years. It was time for us to have a base and a place we could call our own.

The last 2 weeks I was in the UK were hectic to say the least. We got the keys to the house on Friday 12th September and by Saturday afternoon the next day the carpets were all removed and the decorating had been done!!! although its not a nice experience getting up at 4 am to start painting :-(

We spent Saturday evening and Sunday shopping because I had to fly to Bratislava on the Monday morning but by Thursday of the following week the new carpets were fitted and Macky was backwards and forwards to the house receiving the furniture deliveries.

We did a trip to Ikea whilst I was still there and bought all of the essentials such as kitchenware's blankets towels etc because all of our stuff was still in storage in Prague :-( as it turned out Kat helped me out with a courier that was next to the storage place and it all got sent on Wednesday 24th by truck. I flew to the UK for the weekend on the Friday and it all arrived Friday evening!!! We ended up unpacking as much as we could and I was assembling furniture for 2 days but it meant we could actually move in :-) we now have enough crockery and cutlery for a 24 seat dinner party and still not need to do the dishes.

Macky's done a great job of putting the house together and it looks really good now, she has been very busy over the past 2 weeks:-)

Daniel is still going to the same school even though we've moved area but we are only 10 minutes away so it made no sense to move him. Macky now has to get up earlier though to drive him there instead of a 1 minute walk. He's happy to have his own bedroom all to himself again and needless to say there are toys everywhere but he's happy.

Macky is driving around on her own now and she is doing really well considering she didn't really have much driving experience since passing her test, and she's never driven right hand drive or driven in the UK before. We ended up getting a Ford Focus Zetec 3 door, its a great car that's not too small but not too big, if you know what I mean.......... it looks good too but she still wants a convertible... hmm.... maybe next year.

Anyway that's about it for now, its Sunday but still got work to do :-( at least it keeps me busy.

next post soon, ish

Todays Adventure....... "On Yer Bike"!!

The weather here today was fantastic (for a change) so off we went to New Brighton to see the Wirral show which was on all weekend. I was expecting a lot more than there actually was so I was a little bit disappointed, until I saw these guys......Basically 3 nutcases doing bike stunts, they had a ramp set up for take off and a landing ramp which was on the top of a truck!! They obviously had their brains removed before fitting their helmets (Sounds like me when I had my bike :-))

The first 2 pictures don't really show the scale of what these guys were doing because I wanted reasonably detailed close-ups but here's one that kind of puts things into perspective
This guy is still on the way UP!! they at this point added a car on top of the truck landing ramp which you can just see the edge of on the right, these guys got some serious height on these jumps.

Other than these guys and hot dogs with onions there wasn't really a lot that turned me on BUT for the big kids there was a funfair, step up Daredevil Macky and cue Mission Impossible theme tune...

"I want to go on that one"!! "The one that throws you around in the air upside down whilst doing 360 degree spins at 100 miles per hour, 150feet off the ground " "I'll get in the Q" :-)

Now those of you that know me or have read past posts know that there is no power on earth that's going to get me on that thing so guess who's going it alone....
This is a closeup of Macky hurtling toward the ground at light speed about to be turned upside down (That reminds me, I must get her life insurance sorted). The Strange girl next to her looks about to throw up.......

So she finally gets off the ride from hell and her first comment? "Lets do that again" :-)

I think not! move along, until, "I want to go on that one" "That one that spins you round on every imaginable axis until you vomit" Here we go again......

This one actually looks like a giant blender gone wrong, The person who designed this ride must have strange dreams but "Off We Go"

On a good note, it seems Daniel has inherited my dislike of heights :-) a very undervalued characteristic in my opinion which will hopefully keep him out of danger in the future. He did tackle the aeroplane flight and the Ski Jump though......

And that was the story of the day, not too exiting but hey, what else are you gonna do on a Sunday :-)

The Woodvale Rally is coming up soon and I'm really looking forward to it. It's a show of classic and modern cars & motorbikes, all manner of military vehicles, an air show with the Royal Air Force and Navy and also model plane exhibitions, plus all the usual stalls and stands, should be great fun :-) Of course I'll be taking my camera.

Viva Espana

Three days later and I've finally recovered from the trip to Spain...... (Crappy flight times).

We had a really good week in Alicante (Benidorm) we managed to get a last minute break for a week and Daniel stayed at my sisters so it was just Macky & I going away.

Benidorm isn't really my idea of the ideal holiday with about 99.9% of it being English or English geared anyway, I would have preferred something a bit more traditional, or less commercialised at least. Anyway, you cant expect too much choice when you want to go the following week.

For anyone who does like Benidorm, I would recommend this place though

This is the Levante Club Hotel, its a four star place that looks like its just been refurbished but the service was really good, the pool area was immaculate and the pool bar was open very late.

The food was a bit different though.......

One of the places I wouldn't recommend unless you have a long afternoon nap first is the notorious bar strip (Yes Bar Strip not Strip Bar) in the town, full of good humoured fun and conversation and lots of special offers to entice unsuspecting holidaymakers to stay up til the very early hours of the morning.

We couldn't believe that it was so lively at 5am in the morning, we had to go back several times to make sure we hadn't made a mistake :-)

That was the other good thing about the hotel, the maid just came and went in the morning and if you were still in bed she just came back later in the afternoon. God only knows what she saw when she walked into our room at 10am :-)
Another good thing about going on holiday is that I no longer have grey hair!! it's now called "Sun bleached" I think it's time to give Andrew a call for some advice :-)
On the couple of nights that we did make it back to the hotel early they had shows which were followed by late night Bingo. The first night that Macky played she won 2 tickets to the spa which we used on our last day there (Very nice & very relaxing) the next evening she played again, and won again to the utter disgust of the other hotel guests who probably thought it was a fix :-) this time she opted for the bottle of Champagne as it was our last night.
Here she is showing off, the Chikki Chikki Bingo Mama (Too long a story to go into here...)
Anyway, we both enjoyed it thoroughly and it was a great break, I think Daniel probably enjoyed his break from us as well and got away with all sorts out of sight of Mum & Dad although Sue says he was a little Angel, hmmmm....

Yorkshire & Back to Black.....

Ok, I havent updated the blog for a while because.... well there's been nothing to update it with until now :-)

I've been pretty much sitting on my arse doing nothing and enjoying the break since I left Prague but as I said we would, Macky, Daniel and I went across to Yorkshireville to catch up with Andrew Cave his wife Jayne and daughter Chloe.

All in all a good trip and we stayed over at their place on Saturday night for a session on the pop and a chinese :-)

Now I have to get this next bit out of the way, take a look at this picture..................

A fairly innocent picture of Andy & Mandy having a brew in the garden, I hear you say.............

Well its actually a lot more sinister than that,,, just after this photo was taken I was speaking to Jayne about how remarkable it was that Andrew showed no signs of going grey whilst I the very much, much younger of the two of us exhibited slight highlights, "it must be the stress" I said "Oh No" says Jayne "Thats because Andrew colours his hair" Well @*&$ Me!! for 4 years he's been denying it and here he is shopped by his wife :-)

Anyway, the evening progressed and before Andrew & I excused ourselves to the pub we opened the last 2 remaining beers that Andrew had brought with him from the Czech Republic.

Can you tell what they are? they went down very well :-)

The girls had a good time and I think they were glad to get rid of us to the pub for an hour (or 2) I actually wanted to go back to their place after the first pub but Andrew insisted on me visiting every pub in the village (All 2 of them). He said it was like a welcoming ritual in Yorkshire but I actually think that he wanted everyone in the village to know that he wasn't lying at all and he did indeed have a freind :-)

Here's the girls a couple of glasses into the night

The following morning, Jayne suggested the six of us take a trip to York which is only half an hour from where they live. York is a really nice historic city and there is loads to see, unfortunately the great British weather wasn't on our side so we only stayed a couple of hours and had lunch but here's a couple of the pics.

Macky & Daniel doing the tourist bit...

Constantine the great who I think founded York City? I could be wrong...
The very famous York Minster
It really was a shame about the weather because I wanted to get some good photos of the kids but as I said, still a very enjoyable couple of days catching up and having fun, hopefully we can do it again soon. Our thanks to both of them for the invitation :-)