I appear to have cracked a rib

Friday has finally arrived and it is a beautiful Autumn day. The sky is blue and cloudless and the weather is mild. This evening's walk around the Three Miler was a great escape at the end of a fairly successful day.

On the work front I can now report that Scotty is back in Engineering and will spending the weekend recalibrating the dilithium chambers so that we can look to disembark early next week*

The rest of the crew are starting to submit their tactical analyses and, providing we don't have any problems with Klingons, all should be good for a First Contact Engagement on Star date 2011.11.21. All we need is Tigger to return from his R&R on the pleasure planet Risa and we'll be ready to go.

Turning to the title of today's entry, I appear to have cracked a rib. This injury was not as a result of a brawl with a Nausicaan  but actually came from a collision with an item of street furniture.

Last week 30% and I spent the morning in Worcester. As we left the camera shop deep in conversation I walked straight in to a 4' high bollard. This was very painful and I assumed that I had suffered some bruising.  I was expecting the pain to subside over the next couple of days but it has not and at the moment coughing and sneezing are bodily functions to be avoided. This morning I popped in to the local Surgery for my flu jab and mentioned this incident to the Practice Nurse as she pumped influenza vaccine in to my arm. She smiled and after a quick chat confirmed my self diagnosis and advised that it would be six weeks before this minor crack healed.

I obviously don't know my own strength if I can break my own bones and will be taking care if either of my nostrils need excavating, I might fracture my own skull.

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* This Star Trek bollocks translates to I now have a full project team on-board and can therefore pull my costs together early next week

Picture Post. No. 11

Thursday was pretty similar to Wednesday. Resources are still missing but my 2nd Line Manager contacted me this afternoon and is now on the case so hopefully we will be in better shape when I record Friday's fun and games.

I am still standing firm with my refusal to commit to a delivery date and so far no one has shouted at me although I have heard that a Senior Sales Exec has stated "we will not de-commit from our price submission date".  That is all fine and dandy providing you set your date after ensuring that you have the appropriate resources and have asked them for a realistic delivery date. Needless to say, he did not and as I am bound by a set of processes with absolutely no authority to bypass them I am standing my ground.

Away from work I was supposed to pop round to a local Farmer's to give her a hand dispatching a few cockerels but when I turned up a family row had taken place and she was in a bit of a state so we decided that the boys can have a temporary reprieve and we'll do the deed later on next week.

I also had a call from the camera repair shop and they advised that my old EOS 350D needs a new shutter mechanism, a clean and a service and that this is a viable repair in view of their current second hand values so I gave them the go ahead and it should be available in about three weeks time.

Whilst on the subject of photography I have decided to go with another Picture Post and have chosen a few photos from day 5 of this years holiday in America. These were taken in Jackson Hole, Wy and the nearby Grand Tetons National Park.

Jackson itself is a nice enough town. It is the nearest sizeable community to the Grand Tetons National Park and consequently is heavily focused on tourism. It has however managed to preserve its origins and grow whilst managing to avoid becoming tacky. There were plenty of restaurants and bars and an array of shops far beyond what anywhere else in the region could sustain if it wasn't for the constant flow of visitors along the main street. I liked it.

The Grand Teton Range

And this is what they all come for; The Grand Tetons National Park. It is a magnificent range of 13,000'  peaks surrounded by glacial streams and meadows. The fact that they lack any foothills and just rise straight up off the prairie adds to the spectacle.

On our first day in the park we took a ride across Jenny Lake and took a short hike up the trail to see the Hidden Falls and the views from Inspiration Point. The trail was packed with American Families* who detracted somewhat from the concept of wilderness but the views were fantastic and made up for the hustle and bustle of the trail.

Hidden Falls, Cascade Canyon

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* It was more like a Shopping Mall than a trail

When in doubt, Think of an analogy ...

The lack of resources and the impending deadline meant that today I had to implement Plan B.

Basically Plan B said the following...

Dear Mr Manager and Mr Sales Exec, You did not give me enough time and then you did not give me enough people on day one of the aforementioned, miserly time frame. Taking this in to account I have to advise that I will not be delivering the requested deliverable on the requested date. In fact, I will not be delivering them at all until you provide me with the appropriate pond life*.

Cheers

bad man

 Now obviously I applied suitable spin to this and did the appropriate calls to warm people up to the idea and ensure they understood why we were where we were**. The net result is that I appear to have come out of this rather well and may have managed to gain some more time to complete the work.

We are still under the cosh but at least the Senior team now have a realistic view of what we can and cannot achieve and are now allowing us to progress with an understanding that the dead line may have to be resuscitated and kept on life support for another week or so before they decide to pull out the plug and feeding tubes.

Although this seems like a major achievement the best thing about today is that I will no longer have to work unsupported through the weekend flogging the proverbial dead horse. We may now have time to do the job properly ... sort of.

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* I actually said " You wanted a meal. The best I can do at the moment is give you some of the raw ingredients"
** God, I hate that fucking saying

Time for Plan B perhaps

Well that it Tuesday finished.

It has not been a good day. I have 5 days to do a piece of work and have it ready for review next Monday. In real terms this means that I actually have to work straight through the weekend to stand any chance of achieving this. I also need a number of key individuals assigned to provide deliverables.

I appreciate that this is one of many opportunities and that prioritisation decisions must be taken by the Management so I waited for my Boss* to advise on whether I would get them or not, nudging him gently by Instant Messenger on occasions over the morning.

By lunchtime I was advised that this project had been prioritised and then took a call from a Dispatcher to advise that although I had been "prioritised" there would still be gaping holes in my team. These would not be minor bullet holes in the Superstructure these would be massive fucking torpedo holes on the waterline just so we all have a common understanding.

Basically I am screwed but still bound by process so am in a position where I am being asked to give up my weekend to have a piece of incomplete nonsense ripped apart by a review process next early next week.

I definitely need a new plan.

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* I will not go on about him today but needless to say he was as much  use as a chocolate teapot today. Same as yesterday, still a Prick.

What do you get if you lock a fat fish in a safe?

After several weeks of hanging around with no real direction I have finally had some proper work to do today. Tigger has gone off to Spain for a golfing drinking break leaving me to run his latest project. The poor fellow  only got it last Thursday and had hadn't really got stuck in other than to request some assistance before he started packing his arm bands, Speedo "budgie smugglers"  and factor 30.

I had a brief overview call with him last Friday and that told me that there was going to be a lot to achieve in a very short time. Basically I have been tasked with getting a cost estimated developed and approved in the space of a week.

I'd be a liar if I didn't say that this occupied quite a few of my waking moments over the weekend but that allowed me to hit the ground running this morning and I feel that I have got a reasonable grasp of what we are trying to achieve. There is nothing particularly complicated or earth shattering about the project scope. The only issue is that a week is nowhere near long enough to do this ...

... actually scratch that. A week is plenty of time to do this if we had the resources we need on day one. My major obstacle to achievement is my pen pushing, bean counting, process obsessed, obstacle constructing twat of a manager. It goes like this; "ah bad man, but I need you to build me a profile of the resources you need down to a fraction of a head and the critical path for deployment". For Heaven's Sake! I have a week to do this and need two days of each resource type NOW. I do not have time to arse around drawing pretty patterns because he is obviously not used to  responding to Business pressures.

Now I appreciate that there are other projects that need the same resources but it is his job  to allocate or deny. At the moment all he appears to be doing is fannying around burning the little time I have avoiding making a decision.


My manager is basically the Ed Milliband of the IT Services world. Fundamentally says the right thing but ends up just sounding like a weird prat*. Basically his problem is that he doesn't have sufficient depth of knowledge of what his team do so manages us at a quite a superficial level.  This is a problem because the cracks in his knowledge show through quite regularly which means that trust is not engendered and neither is confidence. This is one of the reasons I am somewhat apprehensive about the appraisal he will give me at the end of the year despite my alleged successes.

Back to today, although it sounds dreadful I have actually had a pretty good day. It has been long and tiring but I have a goal and focus and actually feel that I have done something rather than the past few weeks where my role has been that of Corporate Andrex.

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* at best. The more I think about the more I realise how demotivated and negative I feel after talking to him.

On the mend.

I woke on Sunday feeling slightly more human and a gentle stroll across the fields in the sun whilst TP attended rugby practice did me the world of good.

I had another lazy afternoon that was punctuated by a little light housework and I made a start on relocating the half ton of sand that Hank kindly left on my drive...

... Cheers Hank.

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Other Stuff:
I received a call from the local Farmer who supplies us with beef. She did make mention of an upcoming kill but the main purpose of her call was to ask me if I would give her a hand to dispatch some cockerels that have just reached killing weight.  I was flattered to be asked, but surprised that there was no-one at home she could have asked. Anyway, to cut a long story short, I'm off up to help her on Thursday evening and have been offered a couple of the birds as a reward for helping out...

... Cheers Kathy

Duvet Day

That pretty much describes my day; sprawled on the sofa and alternating between sleeping and watching television.

I declined breakfast and lunch and by mid afternoon I had started to feel slightly more human. I actually managed to step outside and put the trailer away after yesterday's Tip run and I also managed to joint the pheasant that Marauder caught on Thursday. Both activities left me shattered and the smell of pheasant did cause a gag or two.

However, by Supper time I actually felt peckish and joined 30% and TP for a Chinese take away meal ...

... a very small portion though.

If all goes well I might be brave enough to attempt a fart in a day or so.

Urghh!

I didn't feel particularly chipper when I woke this morning. There was nothing I could identify as being wrong but I just didn't feel quite right.

Shrugging of this non-specific feeling of mailaise I started my day with a trip over to my Dad's house where I picked up him and his redundant freezer. We came back via the local Tip and after several circuits of the facility managed to deposit the aforementioned freezer, bags of patio rubble and green waste in the appropriate receptacles.

Once home we settled at the table to chat and drink coffee and this was the point that I realised that the last thing I wanted to do was to eat or drink anything. I started to feel most unwell. I was definitely going down with something ...

... and that something was presenting all of the symptoms of gastric flu. I had a fever, the shakes and other things that begin with "sh" too but I won't go in to that.

It is fair to say that I did very little for the remainder of the day other than attend a DVLA mandated eye test as my Driving Licence is up for renewal and have a hand-over call with Golfy as I am covering for him while he swans off to Spain for a week of golf and beer.

I was tucked up in bed by half past four and that is where I stayed for the rest of the day.

A Day Off

Although today is a holiday there was no lie-in for me. Mark had rung to say that he had finished working on the Defender so 30% took me over to pick her up early this morning. The work was an MOT test, a service and a repair to the windscreen wipers and the bill was large, about what I expected, but still large. He also advised that my flywheel was on the way out but that I need not panic as it is not urgent and I should have a good few months before it needs to be done.

After giving me a substantial estimate we started to talk about my options and whether I should sell her on. He advised that her trade in value was only £1,000 less than I paid for her three years ago and I realised that whilst I had been hit by a few repair bills her depreciation had been negligible and the total cost of ownership was actually very good. I drove home pondering this and decided to get a few quotes for the flywheel/clutch replacement in the New Year.


Once home I ventured out on to the Three Miler with T&M. It was a fairly event free ramble until we wandered back towards the village. As were were walking along T&M suddenly dived in to the foot of the hedgerow and many scrabbling sounds could be heard. I assumed that they had found another another rabbit suffering from myxomatosis. I called them off and found Marauder stood over the body of a cock pheasant that she had caught. Never one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I picked it up and it is now hung up in the cellar waiting for me to pluck and joint it. Thanks M.


Later in the morning 30% and I took a ride in to Worcester for a wander around and a light lunch. Whilst there I dropped my Canon EOS 350D body in for a repair estimate following it's failure when we were in America. I also wandered in to the local Motorcycle Dealership and was rather taken with a very nice Textile Motorcycle Jacket. To be honest. if I hadn't just been stung with the Defender repair bill I would have been flexing the plastic.


We lunched at Mac & Jac's in The Shambles which turned out to be a pleasant little deli-come-bistro and I can definitely recommend the Serrano ham, sun dried tomato and mozzarella flat bread.


The afternoon was pretty lazy but I did eventually rise from the sofa and load up the Defender with some debris from the recent patio work and garden clearance. The plan for tomorrow is to pop over and pick up Bad Man Senior and his redundant Freezer and come home via the local Tip.  Then we'll have lunch and I'll drop pater off at home later in the afternoon.

Picture Post. No. 10

Wednesday was another day in the Office for me. Tigger, on the other hand, declined on the grounds that he couldn't be arsed to drive in twice in the same week. Most of my day was spent in meetings of one sort or another but I can think of nothing of worth to note down here. The high points of the working day were the commute on the Honda and pressing the enable button on my "out of office" at the end of the day.

In view of the lack of excitement I have decided to go with another Picture Post and today I have selected a choice from Day 2 of our Summer Holiday. These were taken in Arches National Park in Utah.

Landscape Arch

Balanced Rock

South Window - I think!

Turret Arch

Although named for the 2,000 plus sandstone arches to be found there the park has many other geological features including petrified sand dunes and the hugely impressive sandstone towers that form the Courthouse Towers group. It is a gorgeous place and, like most of the US National Parks,  easily accessible by road and foot. I can see that some might say that the walkways detract from the concept of "untouched wilderness" but it can be argued that they prevent damage to the fragile desert soils and were a boon for us in view of 30%'s recently broken foot that would not have stood up to rock scrambles.

When planning our trip we nearly struck Arches off our itinerary on the grounds that it was too far off route. I am so glad we didn't as it was truly one of the high points of the holiday.

My work here is done .... almost.

In a break from the normal routine Tigger and I met up at the Nearest Circle of Hell today, rather than the more usual Wednesday congregation.

The reason for this change is that a vital process needs to be established and the victim process owner could only meet with us today.  Like a lamb to the slaughter he had kindly booked a room and arranged a teleconference for those that could not attend in person. He sat there smiling meekly with his preconceived ideas about the scope that we would address ...

... it may therefore have come as a bit of a surprise when we wandered in and hit him with both barrels, not giving him time to breathe let along disagree with our proposals. Before he had worked out what was going on we had established a tracking spreadsheet a full Governance System with the Account Executives and a regular weekly review where Senior team members would review and hopefully ratify the decisions...

... we then left the meeting informing the victim process owner that he was best placed to run this new process as we were about to disengage and he would provide the continuity that was vital to the success of this key activity*.

Apparently we left this meeting so fast that two trails of flaming footprints could be seen leading from the meeting room to the coffee bar.

Congratulating ourselves on job well done we then had an interesting discussion with a lawyer who seemed to think that Poland was not part of the European Union. Having put him right on that Geo-political fuck up we then corrected his understanding of our project scope and left him to bugger off and sort out whether Model Clause Agreements needed to be put in place.

All in all this had been a successful day and we were able to leave knowing that a couple of key disengagement activities had been completed.

However the great thing about today was nothing to do with that.  As a result of the Defender being in the workshop I used the Honda to get in and out of work. I normally only use her for recreational purposes and had forgotten how joyous she makes the daily commute. Heavy traffic no longer slows me down, overtaking is done with ease and each set of bends become and exercise in line and pace. It was only when I got home that I recalled that Tigger had commented on how bad the traffic was and this had gone right over my head as my drive in to work had been an absolute pleasure.

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* some of this week's finest bullshit.

Before 'n After or There 'n Back

Today has involved a bit of running around mostly due to fact that the Defender is in the workshop and the dogs has been booked in at the Groomers. I therefore had to take T&M in to the Poodle Parlour and then drive 30% on it to work before I returned home to make a start myself. That was return journey number 1

I then muddled through my workload until just after lunch when Jenny called to advise that T&M were ready to be picked up. This was return journey number 2.

I then spent the afternoon pondering the complexities of European Model Clause Agreements before making return journey number 3 to collect 30% from work.

The net result of the day is that I have two very smart looking dogs and have had a sizeable impact on Global Warming.

Tyson - rasta dog & glamour puss

Marauder - 70's throwback & modern chic

Manners maketh man

The heat wave continues and Sunday morning was glorious. 30% and I dropped TP at the Rugby Club and went exploring with T&M and an Ordnance Survey Map...

... The fields behind the Club pitches are becoming a little congested with walkers so we explored some of the other paths in the vicinity.  To be honest they were equally, if not more, busy as there appeared to be both a Rambling and an Equestrian event taking place and there were groups of silver haired walkers and horses, some pulling traps, at every turn. We agreed that the new path showed potential and there were some lovely woods to be explored over the next few weeks.

On our way back we spotted a rider ahead and called T&M back and put them on their leads. The rider was well aware of this courtesy as he halted and watched and then walked slowly past ...

... without a single word of thanks, in fact without a single word of any sort. Now I wasn't expecting gushing votes of thanks or anything like that but good manners suggest that a simple acknowledgement and word of thanks might be in order. I am pretty sure that he would have been far more vociferous if I had left T&M unrestrained.

As he passed I couldn't resist and went with a very passive aggressive "THANKS, YOU'RE WELCOME" to his complete lack of acknowledgement. Even this failed to promote a response from the ignoramus. We both agreed that he was very rude but that we wouldn't let it spoil our walk. We wandered on hoping that he would be thrown and die a slow death in ditch crushed under the weight of his mount.

The afternoon's main event was a visit by 30%'s mum and dad who had insisted on coming over to see the kittens. Tea was taken in the garden and the Autumn sun was enjoyed.

The kittens have settled in really well and are amazingly confident with T&M. The dogs still have a tendency to get over excited but are adjusting very well considering it has only been a week since the little monsters turned up. At one point this evening one of them misjudged a leap from the coffee table and landed on Marauder who was sleeping by the sofa. M barely stirred and continued her doggy dreams...

.... as for names, I think we are going with Tog and Noggin but who knows whether these will stick or get corrupted over time.

The Week in Brief ... Again

It appears that the need to spend a day away in Europe seems to totally screw up my ability to maintain The Journal. My last entry was a week ago and I would go with a variant of the Catholic Confessional " Forgive me Father but it is seven days since my last Journal entry" but I am most definitely not Catholic and The Journal is definitely more record than confession.

So here I go with a round up of the last week. The main theme seems to be travel and transport problems but other shit happens too.

Sunday
I woke with that nasty scratchy feeling at the back of the throat that presages a cold. Great, that is just what I need this week.

The morning was filled with the usual trip to the Rugby Club so that TP could train. We took T&M and 30% and I walked the dogs while TP did his stuff on the practice pitch. We congratulated ourself on avoiding the rain which held off until the drive home and transport problem number one raised it's head. A couple of miles from home in the middle of a downpour the Defender's windscreen wipers gave up the ghost with a noise that would make even the most mechanically insensitive wince.  It is due for a Service and an MOT and now the wipers need fixing too. Bugger!

The wiper failure messed up my afternoon's plans as I had intended to drive round to Bad Man senior's house and take a redundant Freezer over to the local Tip. The frequent storms meant that this was not going to be possible so I spent the afternoon caulking cracks and filling holes on the Landing and the evening saw me packing a case for the trip to Zurich.

Monday
My flight out to Zurich was at lunchtime so I did very little in the way of work before driving over to The Nearest Circle of Hell where I met up with one of the Account Executives who had kindly offered to drive down to Heathrow. He is is a good few years younger than me and is probably best described as a Belfast Boy done Good. He has done very well for himself and the drive down was my first inside experience of a Porsche 911. As a rider of motorcycles I was prepared for the brutal acceleration and high speed but I must admit that my age has tempered the aggression in my driving whilst his is most definitely still there. I think it is fair to say that if we had had bionic hearing "look at that wanker in that Porsche" would have been a frequently repeated phrase from those we passed.

The main activity on Monday seemed to be drinking lager as we started in the Departure Lounge at Heathrow and continued through until a little after midnight in Zurich. After the trip to Luxembourg where I had seen nothing to suggest that I had left the UK I had intentionally planned my Swiss itinerary so I had the chance to see a little of Zurich and actually get a sense of Switzerland...

... after checking in to the Hotel which was just over the road from the Zurich football stadium we took a tram ride down to the Old City by the lake shore and spent a few hours taking in the fine architecture, imbibing several more lagers and tucking in to a beautiful but very expensive Thai meal.

 The trip home involved a compulsory visit to an Irish Bar where I switched to G&Ts before we poured ourselves in to another tram back to the hotel for a nightcap or two before retiring to bed.

Tuesday
I woke on Tuesday feeling much less shabby than expected and after a shower I climbed in to my suit and took the lift down to breakfast. The lift paused on the second floor and the Exec climbed in on his way outside for the first cigarette of the day. He looked absolutely dreadful and made me feel much much better. I was going to describe him as looking like death warmed up but road kill better described his appearance.

The day with the Swiss team was long but productive. They were a reasonably good natured bunch and they seem to be focused on getting their local contract signed and starting to deliver the necessary services. I picked up a few actions but nothing that couldn't be cleared over the next few days.

Surprise, surprise we finished the working day in the Zurich departure lounge with a lager before boarding our flight back to Heathrow....

... and that should be it. I should now be typing "after a short flight back to the UK I was chauffeured up the M40 in the 911 and was home by half past nine". How fucking wrong was I? The fuck wit baggage handlers at Heathrow couldn't get the luggage off the plane and we spent the best part of two hours waiting for our cases at Carousel 2. The end result was that it was gone ten thirty before I finally walked through the door at home.

Wednesday
I met up with Golfy at our Nearest Circle of Hell on Wednesday and we started the day being shouted at by Germans. I have to say that they were most unfriendly and I took some persuading to change my tack from taking an armoured Division across the Rhine to sort things out once and for all.

The Senior Account Exec took a slightly different approach and basically said "Oy Sausage Munchers. You can moan all you like but you are already on the hook to deliver this stuff and if you don't sign the local agreement you still have to deliver but you just cant bill for it. Lets see if her threats sort this out.

The rest of the day was filled with meetings, chat and failed attempts to clear the e-mail that had accumulated since Monday Morning.

Thursday
Thursday started with a trip over to Bromsgrove to drop the Defender over at MP Trading for repairs, servicing and MOT testing. Mark is up to his ears in work and it will be early next week before I can collect her and I am expecting a rather large bill.

The rest of the day was spent catching up on stuff and swearing at the utter, utter bastards who attempt to drag me in to stuff that is nothing to do with me or ask me for responses on matters that are quite clearly not in my area of responsibility. I bent poor Tigger's ear quite few times with my ranting.

The working day finally finished and I took a walk around the Three Miler enjoying the heat wave that currently has the UK basking in Mediterranean temperatures.

Friday
Friday was very much a case of "more of the same" and after finally completing the week's objectives I reached the mental nirvana that is "Fuck them all" and booked a couple of days off next week with the very real expectation that they will implode without me. I appreciate that this will not happen but after the arse wiping that I have had to do this week one wonders how some of them will find the coffee machines without me!

The evening saw 30%'s brother and his girlfriend visit for dinner and a very pleasant evening was spent catching up on their news and seeing how much lager/red wine I could drink without falling asleep*.

Saturday
Saturday started WAY TOO EARLY with 30% throwing two kittens at me while I still slept. These were followed in very quick succession by two standard poodles that leaped on to the bed to join in the fun. Just to make sure I was fully awake, 30% then started to chastise T&M for being too enthusiastic at full volume.

I was now most definitely awake and threw on some clothes and wandered downstairs in the vain hope that coffee would drive away the fatigue.

The morning saw me take the Ducati over to Moto-vation in Cheltenham for some some scheduled maintenance and 30% kindly followed me over to provide the necessary transport home.

The rest of the day has been spent in the garden mowing lawns and starting the Autumn tidy up. This looks like it could well run through to the Spring as there is a long list of jobs that need to be completed.

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* a litre of the former and two glasses of the latter thank you very much

New Arrivals

Saturday started gently with a few cups of coffee and a wander down the road for a haircut. I suppose I had better look reasonable tidy for the meetings with the Swiss on Tuesday.

Once shorn I climbed in to the car and set out to pick up the kittens. Normally I would have taken the Defender but 30% offered the use of her Seat and I accepted. I am truly glad that I did as the kittens proceeded to have the most horrendous smelling dump in the cat carrier as soon as I started the car and I spent the return journey with the window open....

... as I said, I'm glad it is her car that smells of cat shit rather than mine.

The arrival of the kittens has gone really well and whilst T&M are quite excited by them they have behaved really well. The cats seem quite unfazed to have two great big dogs towering over them, sniffing their nether regions. We now need to decide on names for them and Tog and Noggin seem to be the current favourites but who knows what will actually stick. We'll see what happens over the next few days but I have the feeling that at least one of these choices will morph in to something more appropriate as their characters become apparent.

I should point out that my suggestions that they should be named in tribute to the Dam Busters fell on stony ground. It is probably best that you don't ask.

Having got the cats settled in, I popped over to see the Mad Bat & Dickie on the pretence of borrowing Dickie's sack truck. After spending the best part of an hour catching up on their news I finally left with the aforementioned trolley and spent the afternoon clearing the lawn of paving slabs and stone left over from Hank's patio job.

30% and I have now decided that the remaining slabs would form a great shed base in a corner of the garden under one of the Yew trees. Absolutely nothing grows there and it would be a useful place to tuck away the "porn mower" and garden tools so it looks like Hank might be back sooner than he thought.

Once the lawn was cleared it got mown and the garden now looks a lot more civilised as prior to this afternoon's tidy up it only needed a rusting Metro on bricks to complete the Council Estate gritty urban chic look.

The evening saw a Pasta Supper disappear and after the afternoon's exertions bed beckoned early.

 As the day closes I think that, in the future, I will look back and remember this day as the one when we decided to buy a shed.

Road Closed

The Pile is located on a main road which is currently closed as Severn Trent are replacing the water mains.

Despite two signs in the middle of the highway clearly stating that the road is closed it is amazing how many people ignore them and drive past only to be forced to turn around in front of the house and head back in search of a diversion* ...

... out here in the sticks we take our entertainment where we can find it.

This evening VI turned up with his long suffering spouse and a lamb carcass. 30%'s wallet is now £100 lighter and the freezer is filled with  over 40lb of local lamb.

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* to be fair to the motorists Severn Trent could have done a better job of signing the diversion** in view of the fact that it is an A road
** apparently the diversion signs disappeared, allegedly removed by locals who didn't like the increased traffic on the back lane

Bike News

After a couple of left messages I got a call from Tim Hyett this morning. Tim is the owner of Moto-vation, an independent Ducati Dealer in Cheltenham, and as Autumn is now here it is time to book the Vespa in for a a bit of tidying up.

She is in great condition and has reached the stage where she is starting to appreciate in value. The consequence of this is that I now need to keep an eye on her and ensure that she remains a thing of beauty.

She will be going in at the beginning of October to have the engine removed and re-painted where there is some slight alloy corrosion causing paint bubbling. She will also have the exhaust pipes polished, a carbon hugger fitted and the rear shock absorber will also get some attention as the adjuster has seized.

The great thing about having the work done now is that there are unlikely to be any glorious evenings that I will miss while she is sat in Tim's workshop.

All I need to do now is encourage 30% to go to Cheltenham for a bit of shopping and that is my lift home sorted.

Wandering slightly off topic I also spent a fun hour and a half waiting at the local Doctor's surgery this morning. I have a recurrence of Trigger Finger in my left index finger and needed to get a referral to a Consultant. The actual consultation took less than five minutes and the Locum looked a little bemused when I turned up sat down and told him a) what was wrong with me and b) what I wanted him to do. I think he might be more used to people who take a  more passive approach to their healthcare needs.

There seems to be some strange link between getting the Ducati  sorted and having my hands fixed as it was June last year when she was restored to full health after 5 years off the road and then in the following August I was out of action for a good few weeks as the National Health service made a balls up of a Trigger Finger release for my right index finger*.

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* To this day the finger is numb down one side as the amateurs have managed to damage the nerve that serves the most sensitive finger on my dominant hand.

I almost forgot ...

... Village Idiot turned up on the doorstep this evening with three of the most enormous, verging on pornographic, carrots*. He didn't have time to pop in for a coffee but he did advise that he had taken some lambs in to the abattoir and would we like one.

I enthusiastically took him up on his offer and we now need to clear some space in the freezer.

All we need now are some spuds and onions and we have the makings of a fine Irish Stew

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* His son grows exhibition veg and these were some spares that didn't quite make the grade for a recent show.

Picture Post. No. 9

Tuesday was a case of "more of the same"; more document reviews and the same questions, sometimes asked by people who had asked them a number of times before!.

I am getting desperately frustrated by my apparent role as the font of all knowledge as it seems to be a case of "ask bad man" rather than "read the manual". I need to disengage to encourage them to use their heads rather than mine.

Rather than rant I have decided to go with a Picture Post and today's subject is Bryce Canyon in Utah. It was our first stop after leaving Las Vegas en route to Yellowstone. Bryce is renowned for it's Hoodoos. These are stone towers and are formed as a result of rain and snow melt erosion. Each tower is capped by a harder rock and it it this that protects the softer lower rocks as erosive forces wear away the surrounding matrix. It is an amazing place and the views across the Canyon with it's thousand of towering Hoodoos are incredible. One of the early settlers described it as "one hell of a place to loose a cow" and that neatly sums up the confusing local geography.

A trip to Switzerland .... AND BACK!

There is a black joke here at The Pile that revolves around my reluctance to visit Switzerland ...

... It goes along the lines of 30% asking if I'd like to go to Switzerland and me steadfastly refusing because no mention is ever made of any return journey*. She always says "Would you like to go to Switzerland?". In view of their infamy as the Euthanasia Centre of Europe I would much rather hear "Would you like to go to Switzerland and come back still breathing and most definitely not in a casket?"

Well, guess where I'm going next week? Yes' I'm off to see an Alp or two and I have checked, rechecked and once more checked my travel arrangements to ensure that a) there is a return flight and b) my accommodation is a hotel rather than a "clinic".  I'm also hoping to get to see some of the city this time as my trip to Luxembourg trip comprised a stay in a  hotel and a trip to a business park and there was nothing to indicate a National flavour. I could have been in Slough!

The rest of the day was the usual mixture of calls and e-mail which seem to revolve around me repeating myself and the rest of my team until the message sinks in. It seems that any message needs to be repeated at least three times and at least two other people need to concur before our Transition team finally get it.

I also schlepped in to the nearest Circle of Hell for a 4 hour meeting only to find that the host only wanted to see me for 20 minutes and much of what he wanted to discuss had already been covered in my written response to his bloody document. A phone call would have been sufficient.

Away from work I was to be found lying on the kitchen work surfaces cursing and swearing as I replaced bulbs in the cabinet lighting. What genius decided to make fiddly little 12 volt halogen bulbs with tiny pin connectors and then advise that you should not touch the bulb surface as the oil from your skin shortens their life? I was a happy little soul after spending a good while with torches, pliers and tissue paper to get the sodding things inserted in to the tiny light fittings.

On reading this I suppose I shouldn't really let little stuff like this irritate me ... Chill bad man, Chill!

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* Google The Dignitas Organisation to get a better understanding of my reluctance

Sunday in brief

Sunday came and went; The dogs got walked whilst TP attended a Rugby Training session and the afternoon saw a major clean out of one of the chicken coops that has a red mite infestation. The dogs had their faces clipped and Monday now looms like a grey cloud encroaching on a sunset.

No Surprises Here

As arranged, 30%, TP and I set out for the nether reaches of Droitwich this morning to "see" two Ginger Kittens. As I jot this down I wonder how many people actually go to see kittens and say "no, sorry mate, their not quite what I was looking for". I am guessing very few ...

... it does not, therefore, take a rocket scientist to work out that we went, we saw and we instantly fell for two tiny and very cute little killers. We passed whatever adoption criteria had been established, paid a deposit and will be popping over next weekend to pick them up.

For anyone who can't wait, I did manage to get one half decent snap of one of them as they careered around the room.

Hold still you little sod.

The other one is equally adorable and we now have the naming discussions to fill our evenings for a week or so.  This then becomes doubly complicated as virtually everyone in The Journal has an alias so I may also need to think up two nick-names for them pretty quickly.

The afternoon saw an abbreviated walk with T&M as the sky threatened rain and the house is messy enough without two soggy dogs to add to the chaos. We then popped over to see Bad Man Senior and took cake to ensure we were allowed through the front door. We spent a pleasant couple of hours catching up with each other's news and then liberated a few beetroot and leeks from the garden. The former will be made in to chutney and the latter will go well with Sunday Dinner.

The day closed with me sat on the sofa alongside 30%, who threw random cat names at me. This had the fortunate effect of distracting me from Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves as it is a very, very bad film that is made truly magic by Mr Rickman's performance as the Sheriff of Nottingham. I knew my heart wasn't in it when the film referred to Nottingham as a city and I baulked, knowing that it didn't obtain city status until late in the 1800's*.

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* Apparently it was awarded City Status as part of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee celebrations in 1897.

I'm glad thats over

The working day has finished and I am very tired. It has been a surprisingly hard week. The hours have not been excessive but it has been intensive with a plethora of conference calls and multiple reviews of a document completed.

I did have a "head in hands" moment today when I was told that I needed to respond urgently to a request for some help desk  services to be moved from one of the cheaper locations in Europe to one of the most expensive.  The request dissipated like clouds in a sunny sky when I pointed out that the client had already been given a rate per call for each country and there was no way in Hell they would accept the resulting 50% price increase.

I'd like to say that I was happy when five o'clock arrived but, to be honest, it was verging towards relief. 30% was equally fatigued and serious consideration was given to a takeaway but neither of us could summon the energy to drive to The Chinese. We instead compromised with a short walk around the playing field with T&M, throwing a tennis ball to burn of a bit of excess energy*, and a home cooked Chinese Chicken Curry.

The paving job is storming ahead and curbs have been laid in swooping curves, ballast and sand screeds have been laid and the first paviers have been positioned. It is really taking shape and is a vast improvement over the grim path it replaces.

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* Theirs not ours!

The true European

Thursday continued in the same vein as Wednesday with further reviews of documentation and calls with my European colleagues. On that subject; what is it with the French? I appreciate that I have had some differences with the Luxembourgers but at least they are relatively polite and professional. The French team are a completely different kettle of fish. They are abrupt and whiny, bordering on rude and there were a couple of occasions where I was tempted to tell them to bugger off and set fire to some sheep on a motorway*...

... to be fair it was only one member of the team that was a pain in the arse but one bad apple...

Away from work Hank had a short day on the patio project due to a cock up with the ballast delivery and achieved little more than offloading kerb stones and laying of a weed prevention membrane.

It also appears that 30% has arranged to go and see two ginger kittens at the weekend. I'm guessing that it is more than going to "see" them in view of the new litter tray and bag of litter that is sat in the boot of her car.

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* For anyone outside of Europe this is the typical Frenchman's response to any political issue; a motorway blockade followed by ritual burning of the offensive object. If any of them read this they'll be printing it out and torching it in the middle of the M5 before you can say "Bob est votre l'oncle"

A dull day in the office.

Wednesday was spent at my nearest Circle of Hell in a series of meetings with Senior Members of the Account Team. They are a likeable bunch but it was a pretty tedious day.  I finally crawled away a little before six with a raft of documents to review and some "urgent" slides to prepare!

At home there had been some serious excavation work in preparation for the block paving. Our original ideas have been somewhat revised due to the location of a tree and changing levels but the cleared area gives an idea of the final shape and it is going to be so much better than the strip of 1950's concrete slabs which were very utilitarian and simply provided a way of walking around the house without getting your feet muddy.

An unexpected visitor

Tuesday started in an unexceptional fashion. I was sat in front of my laptop responding to the usual drivel when T & M went absolutely mental, barking at the door out to the garden.

Now T & M going mental is nothing unusual and they always bark at unexpected sounds. The thing is that they tend to practice directional barking rather than random shouting. In other words if they are going crazy you just need follow their eye line to see what the problem is. Now the garden is not a prime location for an alarm call and this had me wondering what the hell was going on.

I wandered over to the door and saw a strange man bent over by the old potting shed. I was about to challenge him when he straightened up and I could see that it was Hank....

... Hank is the chap who gave us an absolutely outstanding quote for some block paving work along with a rather vague start date. Well apparently today is the day that the patio refurbishment starts and he has certainly made an impact. Most of the old slabs are lifted and stacked, the potting shed is no more and all of 30%'s potted plants are haphazardly scattered across the lawn. It is a bit embarrassing really as we had planned to do the site clearance for him but his unexpected arrival meant that he had to shift a multitude of garden decor before he could even start. Ooops!

He disappeared shortly after lunch having made short work of most of the demolition and apparently the digger arrives tomorrow and a cash advance was requested.

The rest of the day has been uneventful and I type this while TP attends the first evening practice of the 2011/12 rugby season. One thing that is worth mentioning was the outstanding rainbow that appeared while I was walking T & M.


It's an iPhone picture so don't expect SLR quality but it was truly beautiful forming a full arc across the ridge of Lords Hill.

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Hedgerow Supper

Whilst walking T&M on Saturday I noticed a Puffball Mushroom growing in the verge. These fungal fruiting bodies can grow to the size of a football or even larger and when ripe release literally trillions of spores when knocked or blown - hence the name; Puffball....

.... They also allegedly make good eating.

I mentioned my discovery to 30% and she was as interested as I to give it a go so I returned and picked it and it became the inspiration for Monday's supper.

I can take no credit for the recipe, it is one of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's but the ingredients seemed to go with the hedgerow origins of the prime ingredient and it is basically a tarted up version of bacon, eggs and mushrooms.

Puffball - this one is about the size of a large grapefruit

Bacon or pancetta is fried in a pan and chopped garlic is added. As soon as the garlic starts to brown the bacon is removed and put to one side. The puffball is peeled and cut in to slices about 1cm thick. These are dipped in beaten egg and are then coated in seasoned breadcrumbs. The puffball slices are then fried in the bacon fat.

The puffball slices are then placed on a plate and are topped with the garlicky bacon and a fried egg.

I like mushrooms but am not a connoisseur but I can advise that these tasted wonderful. The mushroom flavour was present with a fragrant, slightly perfumed overtone that added a further dimension. I was concerned that the garlic and bacon would overpower the puffball flavour but need not have worried. The recipe was spot on and this made a lovely Autumnal supper.

Marauder's Bumper Book of Crimes. No. 9 in an occasional series

The late afternoon walk started so well; we wandered across the paddock at the foot of St Peter's, climbed the style, passed through the kissing gate and then crossed the footbridge by the badger's set. As we wandered through the wood at the edge of the Village Marauder decided to investigate the stream and returned coated in black, stinking, stagnant mud ...

... a bath is going to be a  must before she enters the house this evening.

The week in brief

This week I seem to have been somewhat remiss in jotting down my activities in The Journal so here, for anyone remotely interested, is a quick summary of the week.

Tuesday:
On the work front Tuesday was unexceptional. During the day an old friend called to say that he might be in the area in the evening and suggested we meet up. I haven't seen "Paparazzi Pete" for the best part of 12 years and we recently re-established contact via Linkedin. Unfortunately the Gods did not smile on us and the Channel 5 photo shoot was delayed until late in the evening which meant that his work prevented an evening of beer and raucous reminiscence.

Wednesday:
I trundled in to the nearest Circle of Hell for a catch up with Tigger and a handover meeting with the chap who will take over the commercial management of the deal we have just signed. I was finished by lunchtime and then drove down to Heathrow to catch a flight out to Luxembourg. I spent the evening with the Project Executive and managed to stay sober this time.


Thursday:
Thursday was an all day session with the Luxembourg Team and it went very well considering that neither of the teams trust each other. An interesting point was that the Luxembourg Directeur looked very much like an "old school" European Vampyre and I made a mental note to wear garlic on my next visit. In fact the meeting went so well that the Project Exec is considering a similar session in Switzerland and would like me to tag along to that one too.

Overall I am somewhat dismayed that I didn't get to see anything particularly Luxembourgish while I was over there. The hotel was at the edge of the modern concrete and glass Banking Sector and the Company Office was in a Business Park. For all I know BA might have just flown around for an hour and then landed me near Basingstoke. If the locals hadn't insisted on speaking French all the time I could have been anywhere.

One thing that did prove I was in Luxembourg was the taxi fare back to the airport. It was €80. Eighty fucking Euros! The whole country is no bigger than the table I am sat at! It cannot be physically possible to rack up a taxi fare that high without going through passport control. This goes some way to explain the half million dollars of travel costs the thieving gits put in to their cost case a few months back.

An evening flight had me back at Heathrow by half past seven and I was back at The Pile by ten.

Friday:
Friday was spent chatting to Tigger and catching up on stuff that had accumulated over the past couple of days. Tigger and I got a mention in the weekly dispatch issued by one of the most senior Daemons in the UK following the signing of the UK Contract on Monday. I'd like to say that this came as a complete surprise and we were bathing in this unexpected glory but the truth is that I drafted the note and submitted it for publication working on the principal that if you want good publicity write it yourself.

Away from work I had a fortuitous meeting with the local Plumber when I was walking T&M. He is a lovely chap but a complete nightmare to get hold of. I need his services as I have a radiator that needs to be disconnected so that I can replace the skirting board behind it. To my complete and utter amazement he advised that he would pop round on Saturday afternoon and remove the rad. I wandered away pondering on my current gullibility rating.

Saturday:
It was an early start as we needed to pop in to Worcester to get TP a new school blazer. We needed to be home by midday as the plumber had given us a rather vague appointment time. True to form the appointment slot came and went with no tradesman appearing at the door. At a little after three in the afternoon I was about to walk the dogs when he finally turned up. Twenty minutes later the job was completed and he was away.

As he disappeared down the road a mixture of thoughts passed through my head. These condensed as the following; a) I now have to do some DIY, b) 2 hours late is actually early considering the normal punctuality of the plumber and c) what are the chances of him returning to reconnect the rad before the end of Winter?

I then popped out to walk T&M and returned to find that Village Idiot had called and had left nine fertile eggs for me to put in the incubator. Apparently his wife has another cake to make for a local poultry breeder and the aforementioned breeder had provided the eggs ...

... these will be gently warmed for 21 days and "shop eggs" will go in the cake.

Sunday:
No surprises here, I spent a good part of the morning and early afternoon fitting skirting boards on the landing. The radiator brackets were repositioned so the rad won't foul the skirting board and I now wonder how long it will take to get Reliable Roger through the door to connect it all back up again.

The incubator was brought up to temperature and the eggs were set. I now have 21 days of egg turning and all being well will have chicks at the beginning of October. I stress "all being well" as the last attempt was a complete failure.

So that brings me up to date and I suppose I had better start my day job now ...

... well perhaps coffee and toast first.

One down ...

... thirteen to go.

Today's good news is that the first of the European Local Country Agreements was signed off today. This means that the Transition and Delivery Guys can start doing their job in earnest and it means that Tigger and I can officially hand this project over as there is now a contractual entity to hand it over to.

I appreciate that there are still a raft of Agreements to be signed but the first is enough to allow work to start and it is the official "beginning of the end" for this project as far as Pooh and Tigger are concerned.

This is great timing as there is news of another huge nelifunt out on the plains and our recent triumph has meant that Tigger and me will have no time to sit by the fire eating hunny sandwiches, toasting our toes and reminiscing. We must gird out loins and go out and get that one too.

To be honest we barely have enough work to fill our days and after ten long months on this hunt I am now well and truly ready for something different. I have enjoyed it enormously but our time is finished and we must now get our colleagues to step up and take it forward.

My recent holiday has helped to break the ties and all being well we should be hunting something different in a couple of weeks.

Lazy Sunday afternoon

30%                                TP and I are about to watch that film that I recorded last night. Are you coming to join us ?

Bad Man                        Is that the one with Ricky Gervais in it?

30%                                Yes.

Bad Man                        Isn’t it a bit sexually explicit for TP to watch?

30%                                What?

Bad Man                        Well, its got a c**t in nearly every scene.

Thought for the Day ...

... I'm guessing that it was at this time of year that they invented gravity.

With a hop and a skip ...

While we were in The States Chippy Ian did a fantastic job of ripping out some vile uPVC double glazing and replacing it with some more appropriate Sash and Casement windows. The ripping out and re-fitting was done really well and he made an absolutely fantastic job of hiding my trailer under a pile of packaging and redundant double glazing units ...

... as a result I now have a skip on the drive and spent a good portion of today filling it with the aforementioned debris.

We also had a bit of a clear up in the garden taking out a few Ash and Silver Birch saplings and a Conifer that had managed to work its way in to 30%'s bad books. TP's "den" was also dismantled and the potting shed was emptied as it will be demolished as part of the upcoming block paved patio project ....

... as a result I now have a FULL skip on the drive and a desire to do nothing more than snore on the sofa.

Its a little bit "Country" ...

Friday evening saw 30% and I put on our glad rags and drive over to the NEC in Birmingham to see Dolly Parton...

... I'm guessing that most of you have disappeared now so I'll just write for myself. We had the most amazing evening. I'm not a particular fan of Country & Western but I am prepared to experience most things provided they are done well and the show she put on was absolutely fantastic.

Her voice was amazing and many  of the numbers she sang were either a capella or with a single instrument such as a Dulcimer. There were, of course, the back catalogue classics such as Jolene and 9 to 5 that had the full support of the band too. I hadn't realised how versatile she was as demonstrated by the range of instruments played including banjo, guitar, piano, penny whistle, harmonica and the aforementioned dulcimer.

Of course, it wouldn't be Dolly Parton if they didn't have most surfaces covered with Rhinestones and they did, as did her costumes*. Her material ranged from Country and Bluegrass through to pop and rock and she did a medley including interesting Bluegrass versions of Help and Stairway to Heaven.

As I said earlier in this entry, I am prepared to experience most things provided they are done well and Dolly absolutely charmed the audience. Her narratives were engaging and witty and her performances were faultless. There was none of the mediocrity that pervades stage and screen under the guise of new talent and has me heading for the door or reaching for the remote control.

I can quite honestly say that I have never seen a show like this one and there were parts of it that were most unusual but she has, without doubt, the X Factor and the best word I can use to describe the experience was mesmeric.

This post would not be complete without mention of the audience which, I think it is fair to say, is one of the most peculiar I have ever sat amongst.

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* Quote of the evening; " I buy 'em two sizes too small ... and then I have 'em taken in ! "

Luxembourg, Schmuxemburg

What a fun time I have had today.

At one of yesterday's meetings Tigger and I were instructed that one of us had to have a case packed and to be in Luxembourg next Thursday morning. "Oooh!" I hear you say "A European Trip, how lovely" ...

... Well yes it would be if it weren't for the God-awful Corporate Travel Booking Tool and the 4 levels of approval required to leave the country. You may have guessed that I have pulled the short straw and will be travelling to the smallest country in Europe*.  I haven't a clue of what I am required to do there other than attend a meeting. Obviously I understand the general background but it would be nice if someone would consider spending 10 minutes briefing me on the purpose of the meeting....

... That is not likely to happen so I have spent an hour or so this morning making travel plans and initiating the approval process.

I'm quite interested to visit The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg but am not  overly keen on meeting my colleagues over there. They were far from cooperative on the recent project. In fact they were bloody obstructive on occasions. I can recall one point where they were actually inserting costs for services that weren't in-scope and the round of Executive Escalations when they refused to remove them.

As a result, it is fair to say, this was not an environment where long lasting friendships were established and I am not looking forward to the false bonhomie I will have to project to a bunch of fucking crooks that would have screwed me over given half a chance.

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* I think you will find that Monaco is a Principality.

Have you seen this man?

I climbed off my branch in The 100 Acre Wood this morning and drove in to The Village to meet up with Tigger and other members of the team for some exiting meetings.

I wandered in to the Office a little before nine o'clock and imagine my horror when I noticed that Tigger has been kidnapped and replaced with a doppelgänger.  I quickly covered up my concerned look and put on my Poker Face. I then spent the rest of the day carefully acting as though nothing was out of the ordinary. I need to point out that it is a cunning deceit and the Double looked and acted exactly like Tigger. It is only my acute attention to detail that made me notice a minor difference in his coiffure that drew my attention to this devious abduction.

I wonder about the Kidnapper's nefarious aims as no ransom demand has yet been found.

Now that I am safely away from work I can now report the matter to the Authorities and do my best as a concerned citizen to assist in locating Tigger. I have therefore developed an "e-fit" picture of the suspect. If you see this man do not approach but report his presence at once to the nearest police officer.

WARNING
Do not approach this man - he may be dangerous

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Other Stuff: Does anyone know the escape velocity that needs to be achieved in order to draw my attention away from an unnaturally blond head?

Fair Game?

Not a lot to report for this Bank Holiday Monday. The morning was spent producing a vast batch of faggots* and these are now residing in the freezer.

On the home front a chap called round and gave us a truly outstanding quotation for some block paving that will resolve a couple of problem areas in the garden. We literally accepted the quote on the spot and he should be turning up with his gang in the next couple of weeks.

The afternoon saw a walk with T&M and this is where the title of this entry has a modicum of relevance. As we wandered round the Three Miler I noticed that the young pheasants had just been released from the rearing pens and were wandering up the road with less savvy than a teenager in a strip club ...

... unfortunately Tyson was quicker than me and charged up the road after them. They are now much more streetwise and Tyson was definitely put through her paces. They all escaped relatively unscathed.

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* For anyone in the US, please don't take offence, these are a traditional UK "meatball" made from pork, onions, breadcrumbs, suet and liver. I have not taken to hurling insults about sexual preference in The Journal ...

... yet

A soupcon of news

The jet-lag from the US trip has been pretty rough this time and I am only now getting anywhere near the UK time zone. 30% is affected similarly but as for TP, who knows! He is 14 and it is difficult to tell whether he is suffering the malaise of the International Jet Setter or is just being a teenager.

Today saw a little kitchen activity and I spent the morning preparing a batch of Pea and Ham soup for the freezer. Once that was simmering nicely T&M were walked and I was back home in time for lunch.

The afternoon saw a trip over to Hampton to visit 30%'s brother and his partner in their new house and we spent a happy hour or so chatting, drinking coffee and looking at the carnage that follows any house move. 30% did her best to offload surplus furniture from The Pile but didn't manage to pique their interest. I think she should have tried harder and her failure is full justification for a bonfire.

First Blood

Nothing special was planned for Saturday, TP was away with his Mum to visit his Grandma in Surrey for a few days and 30% and I had a fairly leisurely day laid out before us. The aim was to get T&M walked and then bathed and then we would pop over to Solihull for some shopping leaving the dogs at home drying off.

So, having waved TP off, I started with the walk. We hadn't gone very far and had just entered a small patch of woodland at the edge of the village, T&M charged off in to the undergrowth and I heard a squeal. I assumed they had disturbed a rat and wandered on calling them to follow.  Marauder failed to appear which is unusual for her so I clambered through the brush to investigate. I found Marauder stood over the body of a rabbit with a sort of "what do I do now?" look on her face.

On closer examination the rabbit showed early signs of Myxomatosis which might explain how M managed to catch it. I was going to say that this is the first item of prey that Marauder has ever caught but that would be ignoring a few stray chickens that she has come across up by the Free Range Egg Farm. I have always managed to liberate these intact bar a few feathers and a ruffled disposition. This, however, is Marauder's first wild kill*.

The rest of the day went pretty much according to plan and the evening saw 30% and I sat on the sofa with a Thai Green Curry and two sweet smelling dogs.

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* Mice** don't count
** If the plural of mouse is mice, is the plural of rats; rice?

We're Back

Its Thursday and we are all settled back in at The Pile. The Jet Lag has been a little troublesome and TP and I were up and about at half past four in the morning on Wednesday. I seem to be over the worst of it but still cannot make it much past the first few minutes of the Ten o'clock News without falling asleep.

We picked up T&M from the kennels on the way back from Heathrow and that was a splendid reunion. We had a fantastic time in The States but we all really missed the dogs. I suppose it goes to show how much they are part of all of our lives. They seem to have had a great time at the kennels and have returned none the worse apart from the fact that they are very dirty and smell of horse shit! It seems that they have been exercised in a Manege and took great delight in rolling in the delicious smells that they found!

Tigger has done a most excellent job whilst I was away and I returned to a very manageable in-box. That has now been cleared and work is reasonably quiet as we wait for Local Country Agreements to be signed on the  current project and for the next project to kick off.

I took my first walk around the Three Miler this evening and note that the Blackberries are ripening. Marauder and I paused to eat a few as we wandered around. Tyson isn't particularly fussed about them but Marauder will pick them from the brambles herself. While we were away many of the fields were harvested in the long spell of dry weather and T&M now have acres of stubble to charge across.

I now have some 700 or more photos to trawl through to see which ones are worth inserting on to The Journal.

Journey Stats

US Miles Driven:  2,438
US States Visited:  7  (Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Idaho, Arizona, Wyoming & Montana)

Day 14: Quote of the day

This Wal-Mart is crap. The last one sold guns and shit!


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Day 13: 24 Hours in Vegas

It's my third stay in this town and it still isn't growing on me.

I'm not a fan. Its cheap, it's tacky and every facet is designed to separate you from your cash whilst ensuring that you receive little if anything in return.

Everyone seems to do the same tired, zombie like trudge from shop to shop, hotel to hotel and casino to casino. They slurp lurid iced cocktails and clutch either burgers or wailing brats with the other hand.

There are those that sit chained to the one armed bandits pressing buttons. Gone is the reward of coins falling in the tray, both winnings and stake are added to or taken from a credit type card. They sit like patients in a dialysis unit rather than Gamers in a casino.

The Hens and Stags are all having a great time but it's not for me.




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Day 12: Nephi, UT to Las Vegas, NV

Another 300 mile drive so it's numb bum again.

We arrived in the Sin City around three in the afternoon and checked in to New York New York.


A wander up the strip is the most significant achievement especially in 104 degrees of heat.


It is made of jelly beans

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Day 11: Canyon, Yellowstone to Nephi, Utah

450 miles in one hit stopping only for fuel and coffee. I now have a numb bum.

We are on the long run back to Las Vegas. The total distance is over 750 miles but we have broken the back of it today. We have a little over 300 miles to do tomorrow.

The journey took us out of Yellowstone's West exit and along route 20 in to Idaho before taking the I 15 South past Salt Lake City.

The drive was a fairly easy run through farm land with mountain ranges an ever present backdrop. The only painful part was hitting Salt Lake City during rush hour and having bumper to bumper, stop/start traffic for an hour or more.

Nephi is a pleasant enough little town but the restaurant was dry! Thank Heavens we had a bottle of wine in the ice box. I needed a glass after today's drive.


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Day 10: Mammoth to Canyon

We took a quick wander around the Travertine terraces at Mammoth before we left this morning. They were impressive but I have a memory from nearly 20 years ago of climbing the terraces at Pamucale in Turkey and in my memories the Turks have it on size and gleaming whiteness. Of course I know how time distorts and have promised myself that I will unearth the old photos to compare.

After leaving Mammoth we took a brief detour in to the Lamar Valley as we had been advised that there was plenty of wildlife there. They were not wrong, within a few miles we had passed two herds of Bison each numbering at least 100 animals.

After a spot of Bison watching we returned to our route which took us over Mount Washburn. Near the summit we stopped for a break and 30% got chatting to a fellow visitor. She returned and excitedly informed is that there were reports of a Grizzly Bear a few miles down the road.

The "Bear Jam" came into view and we managed to find a parking place. For the next hour we watched as a solitary Grizzly wandered across the hillside 100 yards away rooting amongst the herbs. When it eventually disappeared from view we climbed back in to the car and were soon checking in to our cabin in Canyon.



This is not the Grizzly

After a leisurely afternoon we took a drive out to view the canyon and Falls before spending a fruitless hour watching a bison carcass in the hope of seeing scavenging wolves. None came but we had a great natter with two brothers-in-law touring the park.

Tomorrow we leave the park for the long drive back to Las Vegas.


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Day 9: Old Faithful to Mammoth

If I see another fucking geyser or hot spring I swear I will go Postal.

Don't get me wrong, the geysers are impressive and the vivid colours of the hot springs are beautiful and alluring but you can definitely have too much of a good thing.




Day 3 of geyser spotting was definitely too much for me and I now see them simply as pools that smell like a neglected lavatory. Some of the ones I saw today were reasonably impressive and the chromatic pool was truly memorable but many of them looked and smelt like boiling puddles of Elk piss with twigs in them.

I think I am now at the point where I would say do the Old Faithful walks, visit the Chromatic Pool and the bubbling mud at Fountain Paint Pots and leave it that. To be cynically honest a boiling kettle or a deep hot bath after a week long vegan diet are a fair match for the rest of them.

We are now at Mammoth in the North of the park which is famous for it's travertine terraces. In my present humour these may be too close to geysers for my liking.




After days of scouting for wildlife Mammoth is a complete surprise as we are at much higher altitudes and there are Elk all over the place. They are literally wandering about in front of the hotel.

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