Well i have gone and done it again, started to pay a monthly sum of exorbitant amounts to a gym. I am now on my third gym since leaving the Andrew two years ago.
It was so easy having the gym on your doorstep and not having to pay for it, since those days I have had 6 months with Michelle White in Bideford, paying x amount and probably going about 10 times in 6 months. Then I tried Fitness M8 in Bideford again exorbitant amounts and alot of hassle trying to get out of the contract when i probably only went 6 or so times. I think they had problems there anyway as they have now shut down.
Anyway at the weekend I went to the Barnstaple Hotel and there they have improved their gym a 100% it is full of modern machines now and with a pool (inside and Out) and a relaxation room, so I have taken the plunge again. I am determined to make the effort to go at least three times a week and keep it going all the time I am paying for it.
Tonight I had my induction, which was quite amusing in the fact that the young gym instructor treated me like a complete novice, must have been my three chins and five bellies which led her to believe I had never stepped inside one of those places before.
Well now i'm a fully inducted member and have had my first gym session in months, I think it even helped my golf swing as I finally managed to hit some decent shots with my driver...
Tuesday, 17 November 2009
Monday, 16 November 2009
Not been on here but trying to get back.
I was thinking about doing a complete precis of events since I last wrote but have decided that its probably better if I just continue from now.
I am hoping that since I have a new laptop that I might have a renewed vigour to complete my blog. I have finally stepped into the world of the Apple Mac and although I really wanted an Imac, I could not justify the price tag. I was a little slow of the mark when Apple updated their range and the older Imacs were being sold with a decent discount. Anyway I have opted for the MacBook and have bought the new updated one, which came with office for Mac 2008, which is a bonus.
At present I am very pleased with it though I need to start learning things the Mac way, I cant find a delete button and it is a little frustrating not being able to double click from the mouse pad. I also have managed to make the font large on my screen and I dont know how!
I have just sussed it, I remembered reading the info on the apple site that the keypad is a special one and you can use your fingers on it to swipe etc ala the iphone screen. There is a promise of a 7 hour battery life and as I write I have been on here for a while and the battery showing no sign of dropping.
Anyway time to close now and learn a few more tricks with my new Mac.
I am hoping that since I have a new laptop that I might have a renewed vigour to complete my blog. I have finally stepped into the world of the Apple Mac and although I really wanted an Imac, I could not justify the price tag. I was a little slow of the mark when Apple updated their range and the older Imacs were being sold with a decent discount. Anyway I have opted for the MacBook and have bought the new updated one, which came with office for Mac 2008, which is a bonus.
At present I am very pleased with it though I need to start learning things the Mac way, I cant find a delete button and it is a little frustrating not being able to double click from the mouse pad. I also have managed to make the font large on my screen and I dont know how!
I have just sussed it, I remembered reading the info on the apple site that the keypad is a special one and you can use your fingers on it to swipe etc ala the iphone screen. There is a promise of a 7 hour battery life and as I write I have been on here for a while and the battery showing no sign of dropping.
Anyway time to close now and learn a few more tricks with my new Mac.
Friday, 30 October 2009
Is it that Long!!!
I cant believe it is so long since I last posted on here and I am going to have to get back in the habit. Even if no one reads it, its a good diary for me. I have started a second blog which I am going to use as diary of my exploits trying to master the game of Golf and get a handicap and get round an 18 hole course without losing too many balls, so will have to make this blog a golf free zone.
Anyway I have just come back from a couple of days in Wales so I think what better way of getting back into my blog than posting a few pics and tales from there.
Anyway I have just come back from a couple of days in Wales so I think what better way of getting back into my blog than posting a few pics and tales from there.
Tuesday, 7 April 2009
Malaga Torrox
On the 1st April we came back to the Riu Ferrera in Torrox, we had enjoyed our stay last October but felt the hotel was a little isolated as far as activities. Anyway we came back this time deciding the hotels facilities were the most important factors as we had the girls with us.
Weather forecast was good for the week and as I write now on the last day it has been lovely all week. Bit of a breeze in places but sun bright and temperatures around 25•
One of the things I like about the hotel is it has a wifi lounge and I have been able to carry on with my twitting obsession! I have also downloaded Skype to my phone and took the opportunity to use the free call to phone my daughter, it has a complicated sign up procedure which I need to investigate further at home, but I think it could be a useful tool when phoning from abroad.
My phone has been constantly in use here not for the reason to which it was designed, but for playing games! I downloaded from iTunes a game called Flight Controller which hasproved to be very addictive to all and a source of competition between us, Becca held the lead with 99 for many days but lay night K smashed that with 128! Me I can't get past 40 so air traffic controlling is obviously not my forte.
One of the nicest places on the sea front is the Venitian ice cream place, it serves lovely ice cream as well as the best cafe con leche around.
Posted with LifeCast
Thursday, 5 March 2009
Rambling and Right of way
I decided after a week of fitness that I would go out for a walk today as it was my afternoon off. I had bought a book of walks for the motorist which was very useful, as it had a circular walk and clearly identifies where you can park your car. Unfortunately today, even though it is the 5th March I was beaten by Snow! yes i did say Snow!.
Not wanting to be beaten and the roads locally clearing nicely due to a bit of Spring sunshine, I chose a walk I knew of but had never really done fully before (which wasnt in the book by the way). It was starting in Westward Ho! by the Braddicks owned Elizabethan pub and then following the coast Path towards Bucks Mills (Bideford bay area). The ground for the first mile is tarmac but then goes to open land and obviously with the weather it was very wet underfoot. I had my new ish North Face trainers on (only wore on the high street), but really should have opted for boots given the conditions. Anyway the sun was out and at one stage I even had to put my sunglassess on (though this was short lived), and I also decided a hat would be a good thing too.
After plodding on at a nice pace and not seeing hardly anyone I was enjoying the walk, I had set Runkeeper up (my Iphone Application) and that had picked up the GPS and was following my route. The only person I came across was a Mountain Biker with 3 dogs not on a lead, who sped past me as I started and again when he was on his return. He had no consideration for other path users and on both occasions I had to give way to his dogs that were taking up the whole path. If you are reading this Mate then have some respect for others!
Anyway this footpath brought me into a village area of a few houses which I think was called Green cliff, by now very wet and muddy I had taken my eye off the surroundings. I followed the road for a little way, then as you can see if you look at my map, (http://bit.ly/TeQ4V) around the 3 mile point, I had a little detour. It had a footpath sign on the farmers field so I could see in the distance a well worn path going up the hill and through a gate which would take me back onto the cliff path. So I follow the path and nothing! it comes to a fence, no method of getting across and no sign of any further paths which lead to the one I saw at the start of the path. So back I trudge. A little stop on a farmers gate to take some nice picturse of the fields and to have a quick coffee from my flask and I'm moving again.
Anyway I take the road which looks like someones drive and go down it, this can be seen on the map around the 4 mile point where I go off road in zigzags. There was a stlye so over I go and through the field where the next gate the farmer had put up a sign saying it was this way the path and for the Ramblers association not to be so pig headed and take the sign down spoiling other walkers routes. (obviously been probs there before). I walked in the direction getting extremely wet in my feet as it was the bottom of the field so alot of the water had settled there, another style over I went a little way and a gate? The gate gave no indication that was the next part of the route except for a Devon County Council sign saying keep dogs under control, but a look at the field which was all cut up said you are going no further!
Not wanting to be beaten and the roads locally clearing nicely due to a bit of Spring sunshine, I chose a walk I knew of but had never really done fully before (which wasnt in the book by the way). It was starting in Westward Ho! by the Braddicks owned Elizabethan pub and then following the coast Path towards Bucks Mills (Bideford bay area). The ground for the first mile is tarmac but then goes to open land and obviously with the weather it was very wet underfoot. I had my new ish North Face trainers on (only wore on the high street), but really should have opted for boots given the conditions. Anyway the sun was out and at one stage I even had to put my sunglassess on (though this was short lived), and I also decided a hat would be a good thing too.
After plodding on at a nice pace and not seeing hardly anyone I was enjoying the walk, I had set Runkeeper up (my Iphone Application) and that had picked up the GPS and was following my route. The only person I came across was a Mountain Biker with 3 dogs not on a lead, who sped past me as I started and again when he was on his return. He had no consideration for other path users and on both occasions I had to give way to his dogs that were taking up the whole path. If you are reading this Mate then have some respect for others!I came to a signpost in a particularly boggy area after I had already navigated many others, which told me I had done 2 miles, there was 4 miles to Bucks Mills and 1 mile to Abbotsham(if I came off the path). Unfortunately as you read on I made the wrong decision here and decided to head off the path and do a circular route, hoping to pick up one of the other footpaths around Abbotsham and come back on.
Anyway this footpath brought me into a village area of a few houses which I think was called Green cliff, by now very wet and muddy I had taken my eye off the surroundings. I followed the road for a little way, then as you can see if you look at my map, (http://bit.ly/TeQ4V) around the 3 mile point, I had a little detour. It had a footpath sign on the farmers field so I could see in the distance a well worn path going up the hill and through a gate which would take me back onto the cliff path. So I follow the path and nothing! it comes to a fence, no method of getting across and no sign of any further paths which lead to the one I saw at the start of the path. So back I trudge. A little stop on a farmers gate to take some nice picturse of the fields and to have a quick coffee from my flask and I'm moving again.Onto the road, I end up by the paper shop / post office / shop in Abbotsham I know where I am now, driving this road very regulary (its always a pain in this village as school / church goers park either side of the road for about 200m and its very difficult to see something coming the other way. I'm suprised someone has never been hurt here). I'm drifting, Through the village I have a plan now as I said I know the area reasonably well, but I am distracted by another one of those footpath signs aaaarrrgggghhh!
Anyway I take the road which looks like someones drive and go down it, this can be seen on the map around the 4 mile point where I go off road in zigzags. There was a stlye so over I go and through the field where the next gate the farmer had put up a sign saying it was this way the path and for the Ramblers association not to be so pig headed and take the sign down spoiling other walkers routes. (obviously been probs there before). I walked in the direction getting extremely wet in my feet as it was the bottom of the field so alot of the water had settled there, another style over I went a little way and a gate? The gate gave no indication that was the next part of the route except for a Devon County Council sign saying keep dogs under control, but a look at the field which was all cut up said you are going no further!I took a path which lay between the two fields I walked and headed on, a signpost stating that I would soon end up in Cornborough which again is not far from my destination. I also thought I could get back onto the cliffs from here as in my running days I used to take a route from Westward Ho! to Cornbrough and beyond ending up at a footpath leading to the cliffs. As I was walking down the road again, I bumped into 2 Farmers rescuing a lamb and mother who had done a runner from their field, exchanged small talk and they went on in the motorised jeep thingy whilst I walked on. A downhill stretch was most welcome even though to get to the cliffs I knew I would have to go up at some stage. At the bottom of the hill the road was flooded for about 50 metres (deep water) , it was at this point I thought cheers farmers for warning me the road was flooded ahead. With nothing else to do but gingerly cross and hope it wasnt to deep, I did just that, luckily the water only coming up to my ankles but swamping my feet all the same.
I had to take a picture at this point, along with emptying the water out of my shoes and wringing the socks out.
I walked on then getting to Cornborough and the row of posh houses there, I went into one of the closes looking for a route down the cliff and found a pathway between two houses, unfortunately as you can see at mile 5 it was a wrong turn, the path led to a field which was fence and a sign saying trespassers will be prosecuted miserable gets! Further down the road when it looked like all would be in vain and I would have to walk on the road all the way back, I saw another footpath sign! Now I can hear you saying youve had no luck so far so stay on the road. I had to try one more time and if it worked it would cut a mile of the journey.
Anyway through a gate I go and I find myself on National Trust property Kipling Tors and a path going down the cliffs RESULT! The picture shows the view from the first clearing, the path was steep and very slippy as the sun hadnt
melted any of the snow, it was also quite dangerous in the fact the snow had also brought down many of the gorse bushes and in places the path was blocked. So if anyone in the National Trust is reading this, then Kipling Tors needs sorting out! This brought me down to the caravan park oppostite the Elizabethan pub and my Car waiting paiently for me, unfortunately due to lack of planning it didnt have any claen trousers or a fresh pair of socks but it did have some clean trainers and it was warm to get the rest of my coffee inside me.
All in all an adventurous walk, with more challenges than expected, maybe I should purchase a map so I know where these rights of way are. I will say though that after going down dead ends although the farmers have to allow you through, they sure make it difficult for you to find your'e way.
Anyway through a gate I go and I find myself on National Trust property Kipling Tors and a path going down the cliffs RESULT! The picture shows the view from the first clearing, the path was steep and very slippy as the sun hadnt
melted any of the snow, it was also quite dangerous in the fact the snow had also brought down many of the gorse bushes and in places the path was blocked. So if anyone in the National Trust is reading this, then Kipling Tors needs sorting out! This brought me down to the caravan park oppostite the Elizabethan pub and my Car waiting paiently for me, unfortunately due to lack of planning it didnt have any claen trousers or a fresh pair of socks but it did have some clean trainers and it was warm to get the rest of my coffee inside me.All in all an adventurous walk, with more challenges than expected, maybe I should purchase a map so I know where these rights of way are. I will say though that after going down dead ends although the farmers have to allow you through, they sure make it difficult for you to find your'e way.
Another lesson learn't is the fact that however small a walk you are planning it may not always turn out like that, and some spare clothing should always be carried.
Sunday, 1 March 2009
NEBOSH Exams
Two posts in one evening, well I wanted to finish off my Amsterdam ramblings especially as there may be more travels coming up again soon, and the second post I just had to tell of my passing the NEBOSH exams.
I recieved the results on Friday and could not believe what I was reading. It said Pass.... well if you look back to October, November and December posts when I was doing the courses, you will see I was not very confident of any success. It was all new to me and even the Fire Certification which I had done lots of in the Navy wasnt the same in civvy street. Anyway I got on with them and did answer all the questions on the papers, which probably saw me through in the end.
The first paper which is the General paper NGC1, I needed 45 for a pass and got 49 phew!, the second paper the Fire Certification, I needed 45 again and got 52 phew x2! and finally the practical exam in which we had no practice I needed 60 and got 62 phew x3!, I knew it would be hit or miss on the practical as I misunderstood the requirements of one of the reports and listed many many things which I felt were wrong with the Hotels Fire safety, I still stand by those and would not be comfortable staying there again as it a hazard waiting to happen. Anyway the paper, it turned out required me to note the precautions which were in place at the hotel and then recommend how they could have been further improved, so I missed a whole chunk of marks in that area which leads me to think the rest of that practical was pretty good.
Still a pass is a pass, I have contacted a few of the other students and two so far are really pleased with their distinctions, and the rest like me happy to have got through.
My next decision is whether to sign up with the governing body IOSH and get some letters after my name? I know its more than that, in fact the letters mean very little these days its the rest of the package that comes with it and the chance for further personnel development. It is a pricey annual membership and I have in the past been a member of the City and Guilds when I recieved my Licentenship in Engineering, when I passed all my qualifications and management experience onto them. I dont think I really gained much out of that, and this then leads me to wonder whether the IOSH would be any different.
I know the qualification and all the struggle to acheive it will be wasted if I dont stay current, but could I stay current by being active on the HSE web site and ensuring I read the right literature and attend there frequent free seminars? Or would it be better to network within the IOSH and get more out of it, than I did with City and Guilds? It is a choice and one I will be investigating fully, there isn't many people I can talk too with my thoughts but as Twitter seems to be a very good networking tool, I may try my luck on there. Anyway I shall look forward to my certificate arriving soon and will now insist that those at work call me the Health and Saftey Officer ...lol, I may even push the boss for a rise though I think that may be pushing things too far.
I recieved the results on Friday and could not believe what I was reading. It said Pass.... well if you look back to October, November and December posts when I was doing the courses, you will see I was not very confident of any success. It was all new to me and even the Fire Certification which I had done lots of in the Navy wasnt the same in civvy street. Anyway I got on with them and did answer all the questions on the papers, which probably saw me through in the end.
The first paper which is the General paper NGC1, I needed 45 for a pass and got 49 phew!, the second paper the Fire Certification, I needed 45 again and got 52 phew x2! and finally the practical exam in which we had no practice I needed 60 and got 62 phew x3!, I knew it would be hit or miss on the practical as I misunderstood the requirements of one of the reports and listed many many things which I felt were wrong with the Hotels Fire safety, I still stand by those and would not be comfortable staying there again as it a hazard waiting to happen. Anyway the paper, it turned out required me to note the precautions which were in place at the hotel and then recommend how they could have been further improved, so I missed a whole chunk of marks in that area which leads me to think the rest of that practical was pretty good.
Still a pass is a pass, I have contacted a few of the other students and two so far are really pleased with their distinctions, and the rest like me happy to have got through.
My next decision is whether to sign up with the governing body IOSH and get some letters after my name? I know its more than that, in fact the letters mean very little these days its the rest of the package that comes with it and the chance for further personnel development. It is a pricey annual membership and I have in the past been a member of the City and Guilds when I recieved my Licentenship in Engineering, when I passed all my qualifications and management experience onto them. I dont think I really gained much out of that, and this then leads me to wonder whether the IOSH would be any different.
I know the qualification and all the struggle to acheive it will be wasted if I dont stay current, but could I stay current by being active on the HSE web site and ensuring I read the right literature and attend there frequent free seminars? Or would it be better to network within the IOSH and get more out of it, than I did with City and Guilds? It is a choice and one I will be investigating fully, there isn't many people I can talk too with my thoughts but as Twitter seems to be a very good networking tool, I may try my luck on there. Anyway I shall look forward to my certificate arriving soon and will now insist that those at work call me the Health and Saftey Officer ...lol, I may even push the boss for a rise though I think that may be pushing things too far.
More about Amsterdam
Although it was last weekend when in Amsterdam, I hadnt really finished writing about some of the attractions there. A weekend can sometimes not be enough, with so much to do and we filled our weekend up without doing anything cultural. Museums are a plenty and situated well within easy walking distance of either the tour bus or the canal stops.
As already stated the tour bus had many attractions that came packaged with it, and as I said some better than others. One of the really good ones was the Amsterdam Diamond Museum, i am going to put a small video clip, which has some highlights on it, but it is not of brilliant quality. I bought a handheld cam corder just before I went to Amsterdam and as the budget was tight, purchased this little Toshiba , which records directly to SD card, however it is of poor quality and I have as yet been unable to edit the clips as I wanted. I think for my next trip, I will go back to my trusty DV tapes as I can edit those and the quality is higher.
Anyway have a look at the inside of the diamond museum, the dark bit at the end of the clip is a room shaped with mirrors which trys to give you the impression of looking at the different facets of the diamond. One of the factorys in Amsterdam is now producing diamonds of 121 facets which is an amazing feet of workmanship ( unlike my video recording).
Next door to the bus tour ticket shop is a Vodka Museum, yes Vodka museum, it is in the package funnily enough and if you wanted to see it as a one off, it would cost 7 Euro each. What a load of rubbish that was and if you are tempted dont bother unless you are a complete Vodka spotter. The only item of interest I saw in there was a bottle of Vodka shaped as a Kalashnikov rifle ( as they say in Full Metal Jacket or something like that the prefered weapon of our enemys).
A couple of shops further on than that was the Sex Museum which if you can get in without any giggling school kids being in there, is actually a very interesting exhibition and not as seedy as you would imagine. It has a couple of tacky items a mock up of an outdoor urinal found on the corner of many European streets with dummies of a prostitute and a policeman doing naughties in there, but other than that there is an interesting array of sex through the ages exhibitions in pictures and items. It is interesting to note that things don't seem to have changed much at all through the years except for maybe the amount of body hair in theose personnal places! There is one area where they cover some of the more extreme sexual activities, bondage, animals and wrong holes but it is clearly marked and you can avoid if you want. They also have a nice Vespa outside, which is the transportation of my dreams if I was allowed!
The last attraction I'm going to tell you about is the House Boat museum, unfortunately we had some problems finding it, in the fact that we we were sure we saw it on the canal after Anne Franks Huis. so we got the tram to the area then walked along the canal looking for it. After about an hour an no house boat, we checked the tourist guide and saw it had an address, we was on the right street but at the wrong end of it aaaaahhhh! Feet were very sore after all the weekends walking but after a pit stop in a local hostelry for toastie and Heineken we were refreshed to walk further up the canal. I have to say it was well worth it, the houseboat was well furnished and had lots of interesting artifacts and a nice slide show of different houseboats. It was quite reasonable in price and cheaper than the Vodka museum. The picture is of Row coming of the boat which was suprisingly spacious inside and for someone my size I could still stand up in there.
Well hope you enjoyed mini tour of Amsterdam, We did go to the Red Light area one evening and what was suprising was how pretty all the ladies in the windows were. Its a seedy area though and not one I enjoyed staying in too long. I dont know what sort of pressure the girls are under to work there, but the night previous to our visit, a prostitute had been murdered, there was flowers by what I assumed was her window, but suprisingly only the immediate windows in her area were empty, the rest were all working! You would assume that there is some pressure on them to work even when one of their colleagues is dead which is sad.
As already stated the tour bus had many attractions that came packaged with it, and as I said some better than others. One of the really good ones was the Amsterdam Diamond Museum, i am going to put a small video clip, which has some highlights on it, but it is not of brilliant quality. I bought a handheld cam corder just before I went to Amsterdam and as the budget was tight, purchased this little Toshiba , which records directly to SD card, however it is of poor quality and I have as yet been unable to edit the clips as I wanted. I think for my next trip, I will go back to my trusty DV tapes as I can edit those and the quality is higher.
Anyway have a look at the inside of the diamond museum, the dark bit at the end of the clip is a room shaped with mirrors which trys to give you the impression of looking at the different facets of the diamond. One of the factorys in Amsterdam is now producing diamonds of 121 facets which is an amazing feet of workmanship ( unlike my video recording).
Next door to the bus tour ticket shop is a Vodka Museum, yes Vodka museum, it is in the package funnily enough and if you wanted to see it as a one off, it would cost 7 Euro each. What a load of rubbish that was and if you are tempted dont bother unless you are a complete Vodka spotter. The only item of interest I saw in there was a bottle of Vodka shaped as a Kalashnikov rifle ( as they say in Full Metal Jacket or something like that the prefered weapon of our enemys).
A couple of shops further on than that was the Sex Museum which if you can get in without any giggling school kids being in there, is actually a very interesting exhibition and not as seedy as you would imagine. It has a couple of tacky items a mock up of an outdoor urinal found on the corner of many European streets with dummies of a prostitute and a policeman doing naughties in there, but other than that there is an interesting array of sex through the ages exhibitions in pictures and items. It is interesting to note that things don't seem to have changed much at all through the years except for maybe the amount of body hair in theose personnal places! There is one area where they cover some of the more extreme sexual activities, bondage, animals and wrong holes but it is clearly marked and you can avoid if you want. They also have a nice Vespa outside, which is the transportation of my dreams if I was allowed!
The last attraction I'm going to tell you about is the House Boat museum, unfortunately we had some problems finding it, in the fact that we we were sure we saw it on the canal after Anne Franks Huis. so we got the tram to the area then walked along the canal looking for it. After about an hour an no house boat, we checked the tourist guide and saw it had an address, we was on the right street but at the wrong end of it aaaaahhhh! Feet were very sore after all the weekends walking but after a pit stop in a local hostelry for toastie and Heineken we were refreshed to walk further up the canal. I have to say it was well worth it, the houseboat was well furnished and had lots of interesting artifacts and a nice slide show of different houseboats. It was quite reasonable in price and cheaper than the Vodka museum. The picture is of Row coming of the boat which was suprisingly spacious inside and for someone my size I could still stand up in there.
Well hope you enjoyed mini tour of Amsterdam, We did go to the Red Light area one evening and what was suprising was how pretty all the ladies in the windows were. Its a seedy area though and not one I enjoyed staying in too long. I dont know what sort of pressure the girls are under to work there, but the night previous to our visit, a prostitute had been murdered, there was flowers by what I assumed was her window, but suprisingly only the immediate windows in her area were empty, the rest were all working! You would assume that there is some pressure on them to work even when one of their colleagues is dead which is sad.
Monday, 23 February 2009
Amsterdam Trips Out (without Hemp)
On our first day it was decision time, with so many things to do. The plan was to maximize the trip and see as much as possible. There was the options of getting the canal boat Hop on / off or get the bus and do the same. Both packages came with free entry into various things. We opted for the bus, which also included a free tour of the Gasson diamond factory ( really interesting and one of my favourites of the weekend) , a canal cruise, diamond museum and a few other bits which we didn't cash in.
The bus took you to certain points where a group of attractions are, we ended up visiting Anne franks huis which even though we had to queue for 3/4 hours it was worth the wait. The building
next to the house has been converted to allow for the entrance, the cafe and the shop it then leads to the warehouse part of the main house and utimately up to the offices and then the secret part of the house. Unfortunately it had no furniture, apparently at the request of Otto Frank which as he has now died is a shame. They furnished it for one day to film stuff for the many videos around the house but it was all then removed. 
Dam square was a must to visit and although we didnt go in 
Madame Tussards was the next largest Q after Anne Franks Huis. The Bloommarket was also good, this was a range of house boats where the flower seller have their shops, the whole row consisted of about 15 boats and the best one was the last as the picture shows.
More to follow:
The bus took you to certain points where a group of attractions are, we ended up visiting Anne franks huis which even though we had to queue for 3/4 hours it was worth the wait. The building
next to the house has been converted to allow for the entrance, the cafe and the shop it then leads to the warehouse part of the main house and utimately up to the offices and then the secret part of the house. Unfortunately it had no furniture, apparently at the request of Otto Frank which as he has now died is a shame. They furnished it for one day to film stuff for the many videos around the house but it was all then removed. 
The Canal tours were also good value for money if you can call it that with the value of the pound against the euro, we took 2 one went round the major attractions and the second was a bit longer and had a proper guide and took in the docks and the eastern part of the city. All very interesting and allowed plenty of time for Pictures and video footage.
Dam square was a must to visit and although we didnt go in 
Madame Tussards was the next largest Q after Anne Franks Huis. The Bloommarket was also good, this was a range of house boats where the flower seller have their shops, the whole row consisted of about 15 boats and the best one was the last as the picture shows.More to follow:
Geolocate this post.
Posted with LifeCast
Amsterdam Weekend Food
In our time in Amsterdam we have had 3 evening meals, 1 in an Italian and 2 in the Greek. I think the money has gone to the same person as they are next door to each other have the same décor and tonight the Greek became the Italian overfill.
The food in both has been lovely, however the Italians are cheeky b ... Tards meal came to 39 euros, I gave him a 50 euro note and then waited an age ( no change) after a prompt the change arrived and funnily enough the 10 euros came as change rather than a note just to make sure we tipped. ( I didn't by the way). You may think awh that was cruel, it was an accident, well only 10 minutes prior to that I saw him do the same to a german couple.
I have tried local Dutch at lunchtime, one of the days in a nice pub by the old church at Westerkerk. It was meatballs in a soft bap with mustard, I was offered peanut butter but 
declined.
I have been trying to get the pizza from the bakers but as yet have not been able to do. I have one morning / afternoon left.
Overall there has been plenty of choice here food wise, we could have also chosen Indian, Spanish, mexican, steakhouse, macdonalds, Kentucky fried, and hemp if we were really hungry or could have gone to one of the nice ladies in the pretty red windows to see if they could have knocked me up something. We did have a nice Hot Dog though.
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Saturday, 21 February 2009
Amsterdam
Arrived yesterday ( thurs) at 5 pm, flew from Exeter with flybe. We were slightly annoyed to find we had a delay, but were not told of the delay until 15 minutes before original take off time. It was just a note to say operational reasons
On boarding the plane we were told the plane had to be changed, it was in actual fact upgraded for a faster plane so the extra half hour on the ground wasn't as bad as the journey was now to be quicker and we would get there about the same time. WHY COULDNT THEY HAVE TOLD US THAT IN EXETER WE WOULD HAVE BEEN OK WITH THAT INSTEAD OF MOANING FOR HALF AN HOUR.
Amsterdam has a strange airport the arrivals and departures all mingle together in what is a very open and modern Airport.
We went to catch a train from there, the ticket machine causing 
some confusion ( it didn't like my debit card but we didn't catch the message saying so).
The train was unusual it had upstairs it also went underground and overground. It was quick though so we got to the centre without hassle. I had booked an Ibis hotel which was next to central station, in actual fact it is right above it. Rooms are clean and tidy with a nice flat screen tv and a few British channels.
The evening was cold and overcast but we ventured out as the food in hotel was very expensive.
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Friday, 13 February 2009
Started Twitting and new Apps on the Iphone
It seems like Facebook has now become old hat and all the trendys are now on Twitter. I think I have gone over the top with it, I have Twitterfon, Twitteriffic and Twinkle on my Iphone, all doing the same thing sort of. I then have Tweetbox and Tweetdeck on my laptop, again doing the same thing. I expect as time progresses I will have a favourite and can limit the number of applications I have. I am liking Tweetdeck at the moment, it is distracting me from writing this blog.
Yesterday was following Phillip Schofield as he came down to Newquay for a family funeral and then he had a bit of a session with his brother and introduced him to Twitter. He has quite a following. I googled stars on Twitter and can now follow Jonathan Ross, Andy Murray, BBc Sport, Tim Lovejoy, along with my sister (but she lives up north so dont get to see her much).
Picked up another couple of useful Applications on the Iphone too, was watching the gadget show special which I had recorded and they used a Hotspot finder, ( I'm off to amsterdam next week for the weekend and it may come in handy) will want to keep up my blog and bore you all with my sightseeing.
I also found this app called Rumble, which you can look at places to go in your area using the GPS function, you can also create a list of your favourites so other people can get recommendations in your area.
I have added three so far, though I do visit 1 of them every couple of days, and the other two regulary. The Costa in Barnstaple is a regular haunt and when in Exeter we always have coffee at Bernaville Nursery and then if feeling particulary hungry will go to Darts Farm near Exemouth.
Yesterday was following Phillip Schofield as he came down to Newquay for a family funeral and then he had a bit of a session with his brother and introduced him to Twitter. He has quite a following. I googled stars on Twitter and can now follow Jonathan Ross, Andy Murray, BBc Sport, Tim Lovejoy, along with my sister (but she lives up north so dont get to see her much).
Picked up another couple of useful Applications on the Iphone too, was watching the gadget show special which I had recorded and they used a Hotspot finder, ( I'm off to amsterdam next week for the weekend and it may come in handy) will want to keep up my blog and bore you all with my sightseeing.
I also found this app called Rumble, which you can look at places to go in your area using the GPS function, you can also create a list of your favourites so other people can get recommendations in your area.
I have added three so far, though I do visit 1 of them every couple of days, and the other two regulary. The Costa in Barnstaple is a regular haunt and when in Exeter we always have coffee at Bernaville Nursery and then if feeling particulary hungry will go to Darts Farm near Exemouth.
Saturday, 7 February 2009
Lunch At Saunton Sands
Weather not very nice so not really wanting to travel to far. Stayed local and as Row has a client here now we came to Saunton Sands Hotel. We did plan to the garden centre at Ashford for our usual but they were only operating at half capacity.
Anyway nice here and food lovely along with a nice view of the sea. Surfing is quite good here not that I have tried but no hardy suffers out today with a wind chill of -5. It's blown out anyway.
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Tuesday, 3 February 2009
Had to start fire to get going!
The snow stops Bideford.
Just tried getting on to main road which is moving, but blocked in
cars not able to do small hill! Blooming morrisons Lorry tried the
back route, which would have been difficult for him on a good day.
Monday, 2 February 2009
Snow finally here in the South West
With the whole country reeling from heavy snow fall, it was disappointing that we were free from all the flurrys. It has fell finally this afternoon and these are the scenes at the Manor one of our care homes. 
Sunday, 1 February 2009
Lazy weekend
Chillin this weekend in more than one way, the weather is bloody freezing, the sun is out but you are caught out by the cold wind. It was Rosies birthday on Friday so we went for a meal and then Saturday was her day to do as she liked, it turned out quite good for me too.
we went out early in the morning and headed off to Bude the weather forecast wasnt that good but they always seem to be wrong these days. It was cold but you can wrap up against that cant you!
After a bimble round town and picking up an absolute bargain ( a ben sherman jumper for £15 ) we had lunch and headed back. My phone gave me a reminder that the royal Marines were playing at appledore, so wrapped up I headed off there to watch and catch up with some old friends.
The Royals were missing several key players, so didnt look a shadow of the team I used to referee they had a lot of possession but could not find the back of the net, even with the divisions top scorer in the side who seemed to have an off day.
The game ended with Appledore coming up victors 2-1 in a reverse of the meeting at Endurance Park, a few weeks ago.
At the end of the game I was freezing as I wasnt wrapped up nearly half as much as I should have been.
Footenote written by Rosie: I am in a better mood as rosy said i was going to the dumping ground if my mood did not improve. Which if my blog is going to continue in the same vane is not very good as I am going to have to get angry with someone.
Thursday, 29 January 2009
Horses and Tractors aaaarrrrgggghhh!
Now I know I live in the country sort of, but we do have cars and main roads, which leads me to the question why do horses and tractors have to use them?
Three times today i have been held up on major roads, miles away from any fields or open areas by a tractor (twice) and a horse (once).
What pleasure does a horse get wandering around a main road? Then unlike our dog friends the horse is allowed to crap everywhere far worse that any dog could muster, but the owner doesnt have to get out their poop scoop. I think I shall have to look on Facebook to see if i can find a group Keep horses of the road and make them pick up their own Poop!
When Im gone I am coming back as a farmer and i will spend all my time going up and down the A38 on a Friday peeing all the matelots off who are going home.....
The Post office have been subject to my rants today as well, i went shopping used my M&S credit card and had it refused. Initially I was told I was in arrears, until I informed them I had paid my first bill last week which wasnt due till 4th Feb anyway so could not be in arrears. They backtracked and it turned out the post office had returned a letter from M&S unsent, so Marks thought there was something dodgey and blocked my card.
Thats ok of Marks, however it would be nice if they phoned me to check rather than letting me be embarrassed in front of a queue of customers. Even worse is the Post office not delivering the mail in the first place, that institution is getting worse, yesterday I put a letter which came through my door wrongly back in the box, and today it was back through my letterbox! So I can get other peoples mail but not my own!
Wednesday, 28 January 2009
why cant 36 long be 36 long?
Back to my running tonight, havent done any for a couple of days after spending the weekend at my Mums and then lacking in motivation the last two nights. Not sure if it was wise to have a break, but the timings of the run thanks to Runkeeper show an improvement even though it doesnt feel like it at the moment.
Really impressed with the Runkeeper, I have a couple of other similar applications which I havent fully tried yet, but as I have a record of stuff at the moment I shall stick with runkeeper. As you can see from the pic it even gives me a satellite view of my run through google maps.
Bike riding day tomorrow, doesnt the week fly by, its also the end of the month and that seems to have gone so quick too. Not sure I will have time for a ride tromorrow as I have a few things to do in town, my car needs sorting, I have a deal with the mileage on it and with 7 months of the deal to go I only have 2000 miles to play with, I dont know where they go either. I am hoping the garage will let me cut my losses and change it for a newer one.
Got to take some stuff back too, mum had this really good gadget that your sat nav sits in so it doesnt have to be stuck on the window leaving tell tale marks when its removed, though doesnt everyone have a sat nav these days? Anyway ordered one online and get it home and its useless the sat nav still has to sit on its bracket, then it lies down almost so you cant see the screen. so back that is going, its a new David who is not going to hang on to junk when he buys it!! Still have a load of stuff to go on ebay though which I haven't got round to doing yet.
Also got some jeans to go back which dont fit, I know I am trying to lose some weight but when you buy a size which all your other trouser are then it should fit, why do manafacturers mess about with sizes? 36 Long should be a standard 36 long not variable according to make... even so all my other Autograph (yes its my age being a Marks and Sparks man) trousers are 36 long so why should these jeans be different are they trying to make savings by using less material.
Rant over off for tea healthy food too, though may sneak in some snacks during the football later...
Thursday, 22 January 2009
Bike Ride
After a hard slog at work this morning well at bit of PAT testing, I decided to get the bike out for a ride. The afternoon though a little nippy was ok for cycling. I got home prepared a flask and some crisps and packed my bag. Rosie then phones (i am sure she has a camera in my house and when she sees me doing something she doesn't approve off, she rings. Its usually just as I have flashed up my Xbox 360) anyway she was back from her appointments early and did I want to go for lunch? That was ok I could tie meeting her and going on the ride too, still don't want to overdo it legs are still a little stiff. On the way to meet Row the front tyre is wobbling all
over the place so on investigation I see it's all shredded on the insides aarrgghh! Someone trying to stop me enjoying my afternoon off?Luckily there is a bike shop in town and they could fix it, but I would have to wait half an hour! Aaarrrggghhh they still trying to stop me!Anyway it's given me chance to write a few lines on here and have a coffee so let's hope it's ready and I can get on the way!Well Thank you to Freebird Cycle - Surf - Skate of Bideford for their speedy repair and reasonable cost too. If you are reading this in the area go to http://www.freebirdonline.co.uk/ and see what they offer. I was finally away at 14.12 and the weather was still fine, so nothing really lost. The next obstacle i came too was a flooded trail, I
took my heart in my hands and decided to plough through it and luckily as you can see in the picture, although it looks like a river it wasnt really.On arrival at fremington which is about 8 miles from Bideford and far enough for this week, I took the time to have a play with my camera and took a 10 second delay shot of myself and my trusty steed. It looks OK that picture but that was one of many attempts, thanks too digital cameras.
I had a spot of soup (well it was in my rucksack so it would be silly to carry it all the way back. It wasnt very warm so in the rush to meet Row I dont think I got the heating right, nether the less it was very welcome.
The trip back from Fremington is always into wind, even though when coming into the quay you still think the wind is in your face too. It was a struggle as always but once back at Instow it seems to be a bit more downhill and a little easier. I finally arrived home and according to my Run keeper I had done 15 and a bit miles, the run keeper was interupted slightly when I had a phone call from Row again, checking her diary dates.
Still this weeks activitys look good on the computer lets hope I can keep them up, i have a little break this weekend as off to see my Mum up in Shrewsbury though I am thinking at the moment I may get up early and have a short run before we go and if not will try and go when we get back.
Wednesday, 21 January 2009
Miserable Day On The North Coast
Today was a strange one, didn't really see a forecast that predicted it but after deciding to walk to work I soon found out that all the roads were icy and slippy.
I had to walk today as my legs were still so stiff from yesterdays run, i was very good though even though the weather turned bad this evening I still walked home.
Had to laugh at my brother today, sorry Ian but he is a massive Man City fan and I made some what I felt relevant comments that his club was a bit of a laughing stock much like Newcastle where there is too much in the press and not enough happening on the field. I was then accused of having Man Utd goggles which really he had those same goggles on. I think football is about balance and not just money, when Utd have spent big it has not always worked, the same with Chelsea and even City are showing that with Robinho. If you start airing your washing in public it takes it's toll on the team. City should use their millions to buy players that are ready for a scrap not who have title ambitions there will be plenty of time for that once the battles this season have been done! That was from a football fan who does not want to see the south dominance take over the premier league again.
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Tuesday, 20 January 2009
Back Again
After a long time away, thought I might try and get this iPhone working for the money I throw at it. I have updated lifecast and got this brilliant feature too called Run keeper. Basically when you go out for the run it locks onto the GPS and shows your route on google maps giving you distance and speed etc too.
Yes it's another thing I have restarted running. I am sat on my sofa after two days of small runs with my legs stiff as a board full of latic acid.
The runkeeper let me down today though did a four mile run and found out halfway round that the GPS had not kicked in at the start of the trip.
Been pestering people today, BT Vision turned my sport off I only found out as I settled down to the Liverpool derby. The nice people turned it back on but not in time to watch the match. When I checked tonight it still wasn't on, phoned them up and after being told last night it might be 24 hrs, they managed to do it in 5 minutes tonight. Typical and such a pain, the OU are next on my list, they haven't given me access to anything even though my course starts in a week. They harp on about preparation, how can you when not given the tools to use.
Well enough of my rant football is on sky no trouble watching this all subscriptions are up to date.
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