Happy Easter Bunnies!

Had a great weekend this Easter up in Newcastle; always a pleasure to meet up with good friends, especially since it's been a while. A great big thank you to Sam, Carl, Daniel and Snowy the dog, who demonstrated patience way beyond the call of duty with our Maisy, a true pain in the ass of a dog but dearly loved all the same!

The weather was great all weekend; dry, bright and, for the most part, quite warm to boot. The drive up was, thankfully, quick and painless, managing to avoid the usual Bank Holiday traffic delays after a fortuitous detour off the A1 and onto the A19. Lots of green and pleasant land passing by the window at speed and all of us in good spirits. Rosie did all of the driving (admirably) over the weekend and it made a pleasant change for me to be a passenger. Great to be able to relax and interact with the kids (me being the biggest one in the car it has to be said!) who, God bless 'em, must hate long car journeys with a passion! Luckily we played a few games to keep us amused and generally had a bit of a laugh.

Great to see Sam, Carl and Daniel again; can't believe it's been a year since we saw them last. School report reads: 'Must try harder!' A wee bit worried how Maisy and Snowy would take to each other but all turned out good really. Maisy her usual, daft, playful self and Snowy, bless her, didn't really give much of a sh*t one way or the other just a long as this tiresome ball of white fluff didn't outstay its' welcome! They both got on quite well considering; could have been a nightmare from start-to-finish which would have been fun........not!!

I love Newcastle. Everytime we go up there I am amazed and constantly surprised at just what they have on their doorsteps; a smart, vibrant City; beautiful, green, rolling landcapes, steeped in ancient history; wonderful and quick access to lovely coast and beaches and the Lake District or Scotland only an hour or two away. Fantastic. Northumbria in general, and its' people in particular, are truly blessed and fantastically warm, kind and generous people to boot, certainly the ones I know anyway, and I can't wait to go back that way again soon. Must be something in the water up that way; it's turning me into some big, daft Geordie I think. Hee, hee, hee!

Had a couple of great days out; Saturday was at Housteads Roman Fort, a second century relic built on Hadrians' Wall, followed by a trip into Hexham (don't mention the camera!). Sunday was spent at Tynemouth Priory and the weather was great; even the dogs got to enjoy it! The only dark cloud on the horizon was having to go home early because of work and being on call. Major drag. I think this new job of mine is turning into something altogether unexpected and unforseen; not what I envisaged at all. Deep down I think that I have decided to kick it into touch but that's another story; watch this space!

Many thanks for a great weekend to our friends in the north; see you all again soon!

Willg - the Chameleon :-)

Winding up or winding down?

Can't believe how nice the weather is today compared to the cold, wintry blast we suffered only one week ago; I seem to recall driving home this time last week in a real, full-on snow blizzard! Last week - winter, this week - summer. Bloody typical of this countrys' weather but I guess its' also part of its' charm too! Desparate to get home and go for a blast in the countryside on my bike for an hour or so, encouraged by the fact that the cars' thermometer says it's 15 degrees outside and the sun is shining brightly still at 5pm. Not managed to get out for a decent ride lately, what with the new job, the kids/dog/wife etc so can't wait.

Decided to do the usual 15 mile route, which takes an hour or so, from home to Pipewell, to East Carlton, down into the Welland valley to Middleton, up Middleton hill (always a joy!) and back to Corby via the concrete monstrosity that is the Beanfield estate (never a joy!!).

Felt pretty good after the ride, especially considering I've not been out for a wee while on the bike; cant understand why Kevan said he was so knackered after his ride. Must be his age I guess, poor old boy! Ha, ha, ha. Still loads of beautiful, bright yellow daffs about and amazed by how much wildlife I came across in the hour or so I was out for; a fox, a kestrel, lots of pheasants, a little wren sat in the hedgerow warbling away and, best of all, a herd of about twenty deer just plonked down or grazing in a field between Pipewell and East Carlton. Stopped for a few moments just to admire the tranquil spectacle before me and marvel at the fact they were oblivious to my prescence; obviously down wind of them I guess. Not uncommon to find deer hereabouts I suppose, what with all the woods roundabout here being the last remnants of what was once the vastness of Rockingham Forest, in its' heyday covering some 350 acres between Stamford & Northampton and was once the hunting ground of William the Conqueror. Much of it has now been lost to arable land and open pasture but the deer still remain in some numbers in places and it's not uncommon to see a great big stag jump over a hedge onto the road in front of you, or to come round a bend in the road and find one standing there as happened to Kev and me one New Years Day whilst out for a bike ride a few years back. A bit of a shock at the time but a breathtaking sight all the same.

The only down side to being out in the countryside, for me, at the moment is the amount of litter that is in the hedgerows or dumped by the side of the road; truly sickening to see and says a great deal about the number of arseholes driving about these days who don't seem to give a toss about anyone or anything beyond their own shabby, selfish existance. Finished that McDonalds, toss it out the window; beer can empty, toss that off too; can't be bothered to take that old settee to the tip, lets' dump it here by the roadside, who gives a sh*t!

Who gives a sh*t indeed; not enough of us these days for sure. If I had my way all these hoodie wearing, baseball capped little tossers who literally seem to get away with murder these days, would be rounded up (if you ever could catch them at it), suited up in a new, luminous orange 'Guantanamo' stylee jump suit, shackled together at the ankles being made to clear up what should be our 'green and pleasant land' once more. Tony Blair take note; it's what I, and millions of other tax paying, law abiding, countryside loving people want to see. I don't want to waste my time preaching the values of right and wrong to my kids, trying to pass on to them the values of respecting the world around them, and appreciation of all the wonderful things that nature has to offer us, when a few mindless morons are intent on turning something most of us love into a rubbish strewn, rat infested, steaming cesspit of a world. Unfortunately it will never happen because the people who have the power to stop it and really make a difference are all PC addicted, spineless suits who have their own vested interests at heart, and it 'aint you, me, our kids, our beautiful countryside or our wonderful planet for sure. Oh dear, what a rant this turned out to be!

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Willg - the Chameleon :-(

Hectic Days!

Been a while since I posted a blog entry so here we go again!

It's been a busy couple of weeks really, what with the ending/starting a new job malarky and all. On the face of it things seem to be going okay with the new job but it is very, very different to working at Compressor Engineering and me and my opposite number, Mark, have had a very hectic first week already. If I'm judging it correctly then this is what passes for the norm and, if I'm totally honest, is a bit of a shock to the system at present. Not entirely sure I'm comfortable with being at everyones beck and call, being pulled in lots of different directions and working my ass off all day with not much respite; it's all I can do at the moment to stop myself from saying "whoa, what the fu*k is this all about; chill out dudes!" (sounds pretty funny when I write down what I'm thinking sometimes, hee, hee).

I suppose I'm going through the 'all very new and a bit frightening' stage at the moment, comparing it to my old work routine and methods of doing things which simply become a bit of a safety net I suppose.

The company I'm working for are a parts supply outfit who are based at, and contracted to Morrisons, providing all the parts for their fleet of lorries, trailers and forklift trucks. The scale of the Morrisons site is awesome, simply huge. The vehicle maintenance unit service up to ten lorries/trailers at a time and the same amount, if not double that, of forklifts etc. The guy who has been running the parts stores, Phil, has been doing so single handedly for the past year and has been so busy that all the usual paperwork and documentation mechanisms I would expect to see to track parts in/out, reorder stock, return warranty/exchange stuff etc has all gone out the window. On top of that the fitters have been allowed to help themselves to parts in the stores from 6pm to 6am and not much of it gets recorded it seems, as well as robbing bits out of kits; a complete nightmare.

So at the moment I'm reserving judgment and waiting to see how it all pans out. Interestingly my new colleague Mark seems to be having the same doubts as me but perhaps now there are three of us providing cover up to 10pm it might improve slowly; some things need a bit of time I guess so that's what I'll give it. That being said, if the doubts remain and it looks like I've misinterpreted the job totally and made a big cock-up in taking it then I'll just have to accept it and sort it as quickly as possible; can't imagine that will go down too well with certain people for sure. Hey ho, whaddya know, isn't life a gas!

Toodle pip!

Willg - the (ever so slightly stressed) chameleon :-)

A New Chapter Begins.......

Off to start a new job soon, Monday 19th March, so today was my last day working at Compressor Engineering. The end came quite soon really although I'd been a bit restless there for some time. I handed my notice in on Monday and, as is often the way of it, found that I could leave at the end of the week; no long goodbye then!

Compressor Engineering had been a part of my life for the last three years (to the day of my successful interview believe it or not) and although, for the most part, things were okay there I'd been a bit restless for a while and felt that the time was right to move on, hopefully to bigger and better things. Mostly sad to be leaving behind some fantastic workmates, the engineers especially, who are a great bunch of lads and I'll always have some good memories of the crack we had at times. The roll call of infamy is as follows:

Paul Hicks; Paul Seabrook; Matthew Bosworth; Ben Morrow; Chris Plumb; Darren 'Dazzlin' O'Rourke; Stuart Mayne; Nick Simpson; Darren Palliser; Derek Stratton; Glenn Swannell and finally the joker in the pack (who turned out to be the ace), Chris Tebbutt.

Chris Tebbutt is one of those people you happen across in life once in a blue moon if you're very lucky; genuinely funny and kind, always guaranteed to brighten your day with a wisecrack or stupid impression; able to mimic fellow workmates with ruthless but side-splittingly funny accuracy at will; recite word-for-word lines from TV, film or song, having you in stitches before you know it. Karaoke legend; a true gem.

I had the good fortune to work with Chris for three or four months when I first started at Compressor Engineering; he being a junior engineer drafted into help me in the stores till I found my feet, and being at a bit of a low ebb after the previous sixteen years that I'd spent working rotating shifts until it near did for me, it was, looking back on it now, the best tonic I could have been prescribed. In fact I'd go as far as to say that his sometimes childlike take on life, never taking anything or anyone too seriously, especially himself, has seriously helped me to get back to the happy and more contented place I now find myself in. Some of the funniest moments I've had in the past few years have been thanks to him; funny anecdotes about the consumption of not very legal substances, rave culture, youthful escapades in an Amsterdam brothel, trouble with work or the law, taking the p*ss out of workmates or bosses, misbehaving at school or college - you name it, he's lived it large and he's still only twenty four! Top bloke Mr T, I wish you well - "your motorcycle, your boots; give them to me now!!"

Hopefully will get to see them all again next week when we go for a few celebratory beers an a spot of ten pin bowling. Maybe a few pictures to post if I remember to take a camera.

As for the others at Compressor Engineering i.e the management; can't say with any truthfulness that I'll miss any of them. Not a bad bunch of people really (except one tosspot who shall remain nameless; actually two, no three!); a wierd vibe sensed from day one; too many hidden agendas, bad blood, empire building, mistrust and backstabbing for my liking. Probably not uncommon in many workplaces I suppose. Not my thing at all really. Too many people there with pound signs in front of their eyes whereas I much prefered giving good old fashioned customer care and service, taking great pride in doing so. Don't think they could figure me out at all; a fact that pleases me a great deal, ha, ha, ha!

Goodbye cruel world and hello sailor!!

Willg - the Chameleon :-)

A Very Good Week Indeed!!!

Greetings fellow earthlings!

I am absolutely chuffed to bits this weekend for three very good reasons:

1. My sweet little angel of a daughter Freya, aged all of 6, got a fantastic school report at parents' evening. Working very hard, achieving all of her set targets (in fact well exceeding them) in all of her subjects, as well as being a well behaved, polite and caring little bod! This was Wednesday.
2. I went for a job interview, which I thought had gone quite well, and was offered the position four hours later. How cool was that! This was Thursday.
3. And the icing on this particularly delicious cake was the news that we, and thousands of other anxious parents up and down the land, had been waiting for, if not dreading somewhat; which secondary school would Jacob would be going to in September. Only the flippin' highest achieving secondary school in the county, Brooke Weston City Technology College, our preferred first choice, but in truth barely hoped for in our wildest dreams! Way to go boy, well done - we are all so very proud of you for your hard work so far; keep it up and you will fly very high we've no doubt! This was Friday.

Thankfully Jacob was lucky enough to get into his first choice of secondary school, a fact which fills us with immense pride and hope. It has been an agonising wait to see what the outcome would be and I am acutely aware that we, unlike a lot of other parents, have been very, very fortunate. God do I feel for all those who were to be bitterly disappointed with their childs placement, if indeed they were placed at all, like one of Jacobs friends at the moment who has no idea what school he will be ging to in September.

The whole process is, to be frank, completely sh*t. A complete lottery fraught with serious failings from start to finish. The worst aspect of it all was being conned by the L.E.A into thinking we had a choice at all; quite simply we didn't. There are only three secondary schools in our town and one of those is not worth an x on the ballot paper. That effectively leaves a choice of two and one of those, which looked a good school and would have been our first choice, does not fall into our catchment area; our best hope was an entrance exam and acceptance on a technology placement with very slim odds; not really worth the risk. That only left the third school, which probably would have been okay but presented a seriously poor first impression due to its' shabby condition and lack of investment in the infrastructure for goodness knows how many years. Truthfully it was hard to see beyond the shabbiness and see where a good education for Jacob was going to come from, especially after marvelling at the modern, state-of-the-art, want for nothing Brooke Weston C.T.C which all of the kids got to see first; how cruel was that! All against the backdrop of having to name each of the three schools as your preferred first choice to even be considered for entry, an impossible thing to do, and there you have it; the state of modern UK education under Tony Blairs' shambolic governance. Choice, what choice!

Still, at the end of the day, what can you do but take your chances and make the best of them, 'cos that's what were all going to do when it comes down to it. So once again well done boy, make yourself proud and we'll be right there with you - no pressure then, eh :- )

Willg, the Chameleon - a very proud father!

Grandchild

She stumbles upon every day

as though it were a four leaf clover

ringed in a horseshoe.

The light is her luck - and its' thickening

into chair, postman, poodle

with a ribbon round its' neck.

She plays among godsends

and becomes one. Watch her being

a seal or a sleepy book.

Yet sometimes she wakes in the night

terrified, staring

at somewhere else.

She's learning that ancestors

refuse to be dead. Their resurrection

is her terror.

We soothe the little godsend

back to us

and pray, despairingly.

May the clover be

a true prophet. May her light be

without history.

Norman MacCaig.

Man-Flu; the struggle ends!

Well what a bad result that was. Nasty cold germs - 4, Guthrie family - 0.

Not a very good week last week. All four of us were hit by these stinking cold germs which seem to be doing the rounds at the moment, and boy do they hit you hard!

The first casualty was Freya who had to come out of school a couple of days before they broke up for half-term because of a high temperature and feeling sleepy, Jacob not far behind a few days later. Plenty of Calpol was the order of the day but God do I hate it when either of my kids is not well, especially if they get feverish; frightens me to death. Thankfully they are rarely ill and, kids being kids, are resilient enough to bounce back quickly.

Rosie was the next to come down with a bad cold, hacking and coughing away like a good 'un (and still is almost two weeks later). And so that left only me. Like sharks circling a lone swimmer in an open sea, surrounded by impending doom, the inevitable; the dreaded Man-Flu!! Oh yes, not for me the simple inconvenience of a paltry and wishy-washy cold, no sir. The real deal was no steal let me tell all you women out there (stop laughing Rosie)! I had to take two days off work and take to bed because of this, let me tell you, that's how serious it was.

Thankfully I have recovered sufficiently for me to let the world know that, despite a few hairy moments (which felt a bit more tender than usual it has to be said), I seem to have kicked its' big bad ass and sent away it to infect another poor unsuspecting male for a short time, building up its' strength through the female population first of course!

Seriously we are all feeling much better, although Rosie is probably still struggling a bit with her cough; something to do with all those germs not wishing to leave the comfortable confines of her ample bosom just yet. And who could blame them - I've been struggling for the past 22 years!!!

Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha :-o

Willg - the Chameleon (the supreme, and not overly serious, Man-Flu Ass Kicker) !