I love my work and yet I am not happy AT work - the reason has struck me following learning a few interesting facts - ambition.  I have always thought that ambition was a good thing, but I have learnt that ambition can become too strong.

When you learn that 'friends' within my team have issues with how you manage that team, that I can live with.  No one's perfect, least of all me and if I have made mistakes then this only proves that I am human.  However, I expect 'friends' to tell me that I have made these mistakes as I would them.

 

I have always known that certain people are not to be trusted as these people are perfectly happy to do vicious things to their fello colleagues in order to guarantee their progression.  I have recently realised that perhaps the reason I haven't progressed as well as others is simply because I won't do this - maybe this restricts me professionally, but at least my conscience is clear.

 

However, when I learn that 'friends' have sent quite vicious emails to senior management about me in order to try and improve their position then that hurts.  Then when those 'friends' continue to act as though they are your best friend it leaves me extremely disappointed.  It also leaves me even more resolute to push for progression myself and if this fails then it is truly time to leave.

 

On another note I have had a comment left regarding our hatred of the daily routine.

 

We all do it - day in day out, get up, go to work, come home, have tea, get a wash, go to bed!!  Yet we all have dreams, things we would love to do, places we would like to go but generally we don't do these things or go to these places.  Why do we do it?

 

I have a theory that it is all because of modern society and what it is commonly accepted is ok to do in order to be a member of this society.  People talk about their dreams; travelling around the world, moving to hotter climes, a holiday always wished for etc but society tells us that we should put family, work and neighbourhood first and our dreams can wait.

 

But I say sod that!  The truth is we can have our dreams and if done sensibly they don't have to be at the expense of family etc.

 

I have been there, I spent seven or eight years putting my wife and her kids before anything else and society told me I was doing right.  It wasn't until my marriage was over that I realised that I had in reality spent those years totally ignoring what I wanted.

 

I had a nice motorcycle parked in the garage which was my pride and joy.  I loved riding my bike and yet did less than 10,000 miles over the full eight years.  I love motorcycle touring and yet took the bike no further from the house than the coast, 70 miles!  I stopped playing snooker, lost contact with many friends and was only able to do karate by taking the boys.

 

And besides all this felt I was doing the right thing.

 

Nonsense!!  I have now learnt that I was wrong.  The only thing stopping me from doing the things I wanted to was me.  Since then I have put me first and life is much better.  However, people still seem to consider me as a generous, helpful fella which tells me that I can have fun and still think about others.

 

And if I can do it, anyone can.

 

I now have a new policy for life.  If I have the money and the time, I do it.  The money; I can't take it with me and I could get run over tomorrow, so as long as I ain't borrowing for my pleasures, why worry.  The time; I can't turn back the clock so would I rather look back at yesterday with a smile and a laugh or with the knowledge that yesterday was no different than any other day?

 

So my advice is live your dreams, you can't do yesterday again.

 

Cheers for reading

 

Geoff B

 

On a last note - I fancy organising a motorbike trip to the south of france, anyone want to join me??

Oh wow!!!  Really, sorry one and all.

Nearly six weeks and I haven't said hello, that's awful.

All I will say is that I have been ill - pretty poorly actually.  Started about five weeks ago with a bad cough, that developed into a full blown flu which knocked me for six.  I seemed to be getting over that a few weeks ago, but was left with blocked ears, this developed into a nasty ear infection which led me to go see the Doc.  He told me off for not going sooner and warned me that even with drugs my infection would get worse before it got better.

Very true cos this infection spread into my throat and then my chest which left me having difficulty breathing half the time, in a lot of pain and deaf as a doornail.

Well happy to say that apart from still being a little deaf in my right ear, everything seems to have cleared up.

 

Really glad to say as well because I am hoping to go off for a long weekend on me new bike sometime within the next few weeks before I go on my two week (nearly) trip touring Spain that I have booked myself on.  Jeez, I'm looking forward to this.  This very evening I have laid out absolutely everything that I am planning on taking from chain lube down to painkillers (in case) and have practised packing and re-packing it all into my panniers and topbox.  Got it sorted now with loads of room to spare should I decide to bring things back.

 

Saying this, I am going to have to take pretty much the same stuff for a long weekend away.  The thing I learnt a long, long time ago about motorcycle touring is that packing for a few days is not much different to packing for three months!!  On a bike you simply don't have the space to pack a clean set of underwear and t-shirt for each day of your twenty eight day touring the USA.  So do what I do, pack no more than four or five changes and if you are going to be longer than that, wash them!

 

Also found out that my landlady is definitely going to put the house on the market, so I need to move out.

 

Things getting busier and busier at work, too busy a lot of the time actually - I have noticed that apart from the fact that I am feeling a lot more stressed recently, everyone else is as well.  Need to get another bod, pretty soon.

 

Anyway, thought I would drop in and write - will make a point of bobbing around to say hello to people individually.

In the meantime, farewell.

 

See you all later.

 

Geoff

As promised I have uploaded photos of me posh new bike.  Picked it up yesterday and so far have only had chance to do a couple of short rides so only about 70 miles on it at the moment.

 

It's a lovely bike to ride, wonderfully smooth and yet of course, at 1300cc, incredibly powerful.  It's also, despite it's size, very easy to ride.  It has perfect balance and feels just as relaxing to ride through high speed bends as it does doing u-turns in the road at half walking pace!  The best bit compared to my old bike is that after an hour in the saddle I got off without any aches or pains at all.

 

This is definitely a bike to travel from here to Spain on - anyone want to join me?  Any young lady interested will be happy to hear that my new bike also has a big, comfy pillion seat!! Lol.

 

Still no reply from my landlady.  It's been three weeks now and I still don't know if she still has plans to sell.  Crazy.  Anyway, my mind is resolute now which means she has only eleven days left after which I will be giving my months notice and sorting out another house.

 

Watching Return of the Jedi, although I will be stopping it to watch Big Brother whilst I record Top Gear.  All I will say is Carrie Fisher in her slave girl costume in Jabba's lair.  Wow!  I was only fourteen when I went to see that film at the cinema and the gorgeous Ms Fisher was very nearly too much for my raging teenage hormones to cope with lol.  To be fair at the age of 51 (imdb) Ms Fisher still don't look bad although the signs of age are showing - saying this it don't look as though she's had any plastic work done unlike most Hollywooders - good on yer girl.

 

Right, time to watch BB - I'm looking forward to seeing Dannielle squirm when she sees that the world has been debating whether she has been racist and bullying live on national tv.  Personally, out of the three witches I do think that Dannielle is the one who could be labelled racist although they're all guilty of bullying.

 

I have meetings Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday - as such roll on Thursday then I can go to work on me new bike!!!

 

For a change ....... cheers for reading

 

Geoff

xx

Well, almost at the end of the first month of the year once again.  I can't decide if the speed at which time passes by is a good thing or not!

 

I ordered my new bike yesterday and because they have one in stock I will probably be able to pick it up next weekend.  I'm dead excited, bit like a little kid the way I can't really wait.  Going to the next karate grading in an hour to help out and it would be ace to turn up on a new motorbike.

 

I asked my landlady a couple of weeks ago what her plans are.  She told me last summer that she wanted to put the house up for sale this coming Spring and I need to know what she is doing because if she decides to sell then I need to move.  However, two weeks have passed and as is her way I still haven't heard from her.  It's a wierd arrangement this for certain.

 

One of the biggest problems with living here is that I am unable to contact my landlady quickly!  She will not give any phone numbers out, even to me and so my only way to contact her is to write.  Even then it is odd because she has a post box set up and to access it I have to post anything to her name care of my address and she has it set up to divert to her post box.  Because of this I don't even know where she is living!!!

 

There are a couple of nice houses in better areas up for long term rental right now and I have decided that if I don't hear from her by the 8th (date when the rent goes out of my account), then I am going to send her another letter offering my one month's notice.

 

I have been thinking recently.  I have a nice new car, I have ordered a nice new bike, probably moving to a new house, have a very well paid job, planning some nice holidays etc etc.  So why am I not completely happy?  Why do I cry at sad movies?  Why do I regularly feel as though there is something not quite right, as though there is something missing or I'm not doing something which I should be?

 

The obvious answer is the lack of a special friend, a special, female friend.  However, I think that is too obvious and besides, as I have blogged before, although sometimes it would be nice to have someone there when I wake up or when I get home from work or on an evening in front of the tv, a lot of the time I am perfectly happy with my life being just me.

 

I can do what I want, when I want.  I like the way I am able to set the furniture up in the living room so that I am sat in the middle of it with my surround sound system spaced perfectly around me.  I like the way I can go off for the Sunday or even the whole weekend with little or no planning, or like today, I can decide to do nothing and spend the whole day in front of the tv in nothing but my undies!

 

So, no, I think the lack of a girlfriend, although a little bit of a shame sometimes, is not the reason I often feel like I do.

 

It's almost as though as though there is something important missing or wrong with my life.  I enjoy my job most of the time, but I have been wondering if this is the problem.  Perhaps I should be doing something else?  I like Britain and being near family, but again, perhaps I should be living somewhere else?

 

I have always got a lot of pleasure from helping others, guiding others.  As such I could easily see myself being very happy as a tour guide, or a teacher or as a full time martial arts instructor.  But of course then I wouldn't be able to afford the things that I like.

 

I would absolutely love to pack in my job and spend a year exploring the world on two wheels.  But again that would mean leaving behind all the luxuries I have around me including my films and would probably make quick work of my savings.  Plus then I would be left with the risk of not being able to get a job at the end of it which would pay to keep me in the lifestyle I am used to.

 

It's very frustrating and indeed confusing.

 

I wonder if, like a young Clarke Kent, this slight sadness is because I am supposed to be a superhero of some kind???  Perhaps instead of working nine to five, I should be resting during the day and then going out at night to beat up all the bad guys??  Hmm, perhaps not lol!

 

Or maybe it's simply because I haven't been laid for a while lol!!!  Who knows?

 

Ok, guess I had best put my gi on and go and beat up some karate students attempting their next grading!

 

Hopefully next week I'll be able to post some photos of my beautiful new bike.

 

Until then, thanks for reading.

 

Regards

 

Geoff

xx

Well, finished my first week back at work after the Christmas break - phew!!!  I had hoped that the break would be enough to make work fun again, but unfortunately not!!  Our office would benefit greatly with Andrew disappearing to another consultancy.  He's managed to annoy everyone tremendously within just this first week!  What is wrong with the man?

 

My thoughts have been heavily biased towards holidays this last week and I have spotted something which seems really cool - A company in Yorkshire called White Rose Motorcycle Tours do British and European escorted bike tours and I really fancy the 9 day trip to the South of France.  As it happens the numbers are limited and I may not get it, but if not I should be able to get into another one of their trips, even if it's in the UK.

 

Speaking of bikes, I now have the pennies to buy my new bike so within the next few weeks I am going to order it - which again is going to be ace!!  Or at least receiving it will be ace, I guess ordering it will be pretty uninteresting!!

 

My landlady spoke last summer about putting the house up for sale in February of this year.  As such I am going to have to make contact with her to see what her immediate plans are and whether I should be looking for another property.  This seems to be a good time to be getting a new house as there are a few really good ones on the market right now.  So I could be relocating real soon and this time it ain't gonna be a couple of car loads to get myself moved, I am going to have to look at renting a van or even getting a removal company involved.

 

Been to look at a house today actually, it's in Alverthorpe in Wakefield and is a three floor end town house and is perfectly laid out for me.  Living areas on the second floor with bedrooms on the third floor.  Thing is that as well as the built in garage (required for the bike) there is a large room on the ground floor which is advertised as a third bedroom or office but would make a perfect dojo!!

 

Still sticking to my change in eating habits - indeed starting to get used to it now, cooked myself a turkey roast dinner today without even thinking about it.  The cooking side of things was never a problem (after all I used to cook each night for five), but my problem was that once I was single I couldn't be bothered going to the trouble of proper cooking when its just been for one!!  In fact I haven't had a single takeaway all week and have only had chips once.  Eating far more veg and more fruit and yes, I am feeling better for it.

 

In fact as well as my clothes feeling as though they fit better, a friend commented over the weekend that I had lost weight which is cool.

 

The only problem is that my new craze, the powerball, is starting to have an effect as well with my upper body starting to build up so now whereas a few weeks ago my t-shirts were tight around the belly, the belly is now loose, but my t-shirts are starting to feel tighter around the chest and shoulder area!!

 

Saying this, I returned to karate for the first time in three weeks on Saturday after the Christmas break and I was surprised to find that as well as thoroughly enjoying the class, I wasn't falling over dead at the end.

 

Anyway, I'm gonna get off, watch Celeb Big Brother and I'm going to have an attempt at getting around other peoples spaces.

 

Cheers for reading

 

Geoff

xx

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY!!!!!!!!!

 

 

 

I thought this was supposed to be a break??  I'm shattered lol.  I have spent all my time so far running around from friends to family and back again lol!

 

Last night didn't help to be fair!  My sister had rung me earlier in the day to ask if I fancied going over to spend the evening with them and to watch a film and eat a curry.  However, when I got there my brother in law had decided to put together a new bed for my niece.  Of course I ended up getting involved and it was gone one o'clock by the time I got home and in bed.

 

I can't believe that the break is halfway over either!  Where does the time go?  I don't care what the scientists say, time does slow down and speed up according to what you are doing and whether you are looking forward to something or not.  I am sure my last day at work lasted a good two or three days and yet the last six days have passed in under two!!!!  It's simply not fair.

 

I am at that time of year again when my head starts to turn towards holidays.  I have been invited to go to Center Parcs again with my sister and her family in July ..... however, I don't think I will be doing this.  They are going with Steve's Mother and her fella again and have suggested that Steve's brother James and myself go as well.

 

But they are trying to keep it quiet for the time being because they don't want my Mum and Dad to find out - they don't want them to find out because they don't want them to go and as such have no intention of inviting them.  And I don't think that's fair.

 

My sister and her husband get a lot of help with their kids from my Mum and Dad.  Apart from the fact they have them every Friday until Saturday lunchtime to give my Sister and Steve some time on their own, they also babysit on other days as and when required, they buy the kids things and so forth.  And yet it was only a week ago that Steve was complaining that his Mother doesn't do anything to help, which is very true.

 

So why does she get to spend a week with them on holiday and my parents aren't even told about the holiday itself?  So, no, I don't think I'll be going.

 

Instead I am thinking of my new bike that I am planning to buy in the next couple of months and of the possibilities of taking that abroad.  Or maybe I'll go to Wales again for another chill out week in the woods, or I'll go to Portugal again??  Who knows?  Anyone got any suggestions?  If you're an attractive single lady and your suggestion is for me to take you somewhere nice for a week or so then let me know lol!!!

 

On another note - has anyone seen the new Carphone Warehouse advert where the pretty young (and from appearances supposedly pleasant and innocent) ladies are "disposing" of their old mobile phones?  If so, do you find it odd that I find the adverts fairly sorrowful?  Ok, I know they're just adverts and I know that the phones being "murdered" aren't real of course, but even so I find myself feeling quite sad for the poor phones.  The one where the phone is being drowned I find especially awful.

 

Anyway, enough of my potty ramblings - I have bought myself a Christmas present that needs playing with - a posh DVD recorder to go with my posh home cinema system - it's got integrated Freeview and a nice big hard drive so I can do fancy things like pausing live TV and recording programmes instantly or setting a programme to record and then start watching it as soon as I get home, whether it has finished recording or not - clever hey?

 

Now, just got to choose a film that will really test the surround sound .... hmmm.

 

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas and hope you all have a fantastic New Year and indeed a fantastic 2007.

 

Cheers for reading

 

Geoff

xx

I always know when Christmas is just around the corner when I begin to have my last few karate lessons of the year.  Now with just one more to go on Tuesday my brain is definitely set into Christmas mode.

 

I have agreed to go to my sisters and brother in laws for Christmas Day dinner and the afternoon, but not for the full day.  I haven't explained why but they don't seem to be that bothered as long as I am there for part of the day.

 

The cards are starting to come in - I am always a little touched as to how many people from my past still send me cards every year - there are some who I haven't spoken to in years and yet still today, as with every year, a card will appear through the post.  I have made a point this year of digging out the addresses of all my old friends, people I knew before I was married but have drifted away from.  I am going to dig out all the addresses and send them all cards.

 

Looking forward to the New Year.  I have lost some weight already and I plan to lose a fair bit more, hopefully, before my Sensei decides it is time for me to try for my black belt.  So I am planning on a New Years resolution - never made one before so perhaps it's about time - I am going to try and change my lifestyle slightly and my food habits as well.  It's not that I eat particularly bad, but some weeks I do find myself having up to three takeaways due to a lack of time - well I think the answer here is to stock up at the start of the week on two or three ready made salads - these would then be easier, cheaper and quicker to clean up after than any takeaway.

 

I already own an exercise bike and an abs trainer, but don't use them as often as I should, normally only managing two, maybe three sessions each week.  So again I am going to make a point of doing a session on both every evening I am not training at karate.

 

Finally, as well as going to senior class every week I can, I am also going to make a point of going to brown and black belt classes on Sundays, or at least those Sundays I have nothing planned.

 

But this isn't the only reason I am looking forward to the New Year.  Work is kicking off right now.  Over the last two or three years I have been able to keep my team ticking over nicely and making a nice profit on anything from five to ten jobs at any one time.  However, my marketing push over the last twelve months has really paid off and we are looking at a workload of at least eighteen jobs at the same time, which is liable to keep us extremely busy for the next six months.

 

The good thing about this personally is that it gives me the opportunity to expand my team again and push for further promotion.  This could perhaps be the way out of Andrew's grasp.  I was promised a couple of years ago, that if I can expand my team to over ten people then I could have my own profit centre and possibly my own building.  Well this is entirely possible within the next twelve months and this combined with the fact that Andrew's team will have dropped from twelve, from when he took it over three years ago, to just two by this coming February will hopefully be sufficient for me to justify moving my team away from the prat!

 

But quite possibly the main reason I am looking forward to the New Year is that I have now saved up enough pennies to go and buy my new motorbike.  My plans are to order it in February and then it should be here nicely for spring - I can't wait.  What is making the wait worse is that the back tyre on my current bike is down to the wear markers, so if I ride it much more the tyre will need changing and I'd rather save the 150 squid for the tyre and put it towards me new bike.  So I am not getting out on a bike at the moment even!

 

I have decided what I am having - a Honda CB1300S in red and white to mimic the old CB1100 Bol'dor from the eighties!!  Looks gorgeous and although it looks like a bike from the seventies/eighties, it is totally and utterly modern, with up to date semi-racing suspension and braking systems and a 120bhp engine and a 150mph top speed!!  Not that I am that bothered about the top speed - my preferred riding is below the 100mph mark and using a really big engine to zip past cars on fast winding A-roads, something the CB is perfect for - ooooo, I really can't wait.

 

I haven't taken a bike abroad for several years either and again this is one of my plans for next year - maybe Belgium or France, not too far but far enough to get used to riding on the continent again and then perhaps the year after I can look at booking myself on a long distance european tour for two or three weeks - that would be cool.

 

Now all I need is a pretty lady to accompany me - erm, ideally with her own bike lol.

 

Anyway, enough of my waffling.

 

I decided to blog this morning mainly to wish everyone a wonderful Christmas and a fantastically happy New Year.

 

Oh, and if you are a lady, aged somewhere between 25 and 45, are single and seem to have got some mistletoe stuck in your hair - feel free to drop me a line and I will happily come over and help you get untangled lol.

 

Once again, thanks for reading

 

Regards

 

Geoff

xx

Tomorrow should be fun - I have agreed to take my Mum to Lincoln for the Christmas Fair which is always worth seeing.  It's more of a big market really, but it's full of craft type stalls and european stalls (Lincoln is sistered with a small german town) and is often the place to go to get those little, unusual gifts.

 

Thats my hope anyway, I still need something else for my Dad and I am at a loss really.  I am hoping to find something tomorrow.

 

Sorry, I haven't been round to say hello to people this week - I really have been far too busy.  I was hoping to spend one evening at my mate Lou's in order to sample her spag bol that she has promised me next time I go round.

 

Andrew at work has done himself proud this time.  He has sent a letter to my doctor asking him to arrange a medical examination for me because I am often drowsy at my desk.  Now, firstly, it is true that shortly after my split with my ex I went through a phase, basically during the divorce etc, where I would lie awake at night thinking quite often.  This led to me being very tired during mid afternoons to the point of sometimes even finding it hard to stay awake.

 

However, this was over a year ago!  Since the divorce was sorted and the house has been sold no-one at work has even mentioned it.

 

So, it was quite a surprise a couple of weeks back, as blogged, to find myself being quizzed about my illness??  At that time he asked if it was ok for him to arrange an independant examination, to which I said no!

 

But he has done it anyway, which is contrary to my contract.  So enough is enough, the managing director is coming up next Friday and I am going to have a word with him about it.

 

Speaking of Andrew - his wife has just discovered she is pregnant.  Although I am fairly happy for them, I still found it amusing to hear Andrew comment that this means he is going to have to change his plans SLIGHTLY for the next year or two!!  Year or two?  By

 

God, he is going to learn lol.

 

Anyway, long day tomorrow

 

Good night and as allwas

 

Thsnks for readin

 

Geoff

xxx

Have learnt of my first double booking for this year!  I promised a long time ago to take my Mum to the Lincoln Christmas Fair and this week we agreed to go on the Friday the 8th.  So I booked the day off and everything was sorted.  However, then Judi at work mentioned that that was the same day that we had arranged to have our unofficial Christmas dinner.

 

So what was I to do?  Drop out of the Christmas dinner with my workmates or let my Mum down?

 

As it happens the Christmas dinner would be a relatively quick affair.  It is going to take place during our normal dinner hour, although it will probably drag over a little of course, and both morning and afternoon will be work as normal.  Also, there will be people, well one person, there who will insist on talking about work, which on any dinner out of the office, let alone the Christmas dinner, should be a no-no.  Plus that same person is someone I'd rather not have dinner with anyway.

 

The other option is take a complete day off from work, which is always a pleasant break and use that day enjoying myself at one of the few market type days of the year that I actually enjoy.  On top of this I also get to spend the entire day with my Mum, who although she winds me up a little every now and then, remains my favourite lady in the world, closely followed by my little sister.  Besides, what kind of son would I be if I was to let my Mum down about something she has been looking forward to for a few months??

 

So in reality it took about three seconds to make the decision that I am going to go to Lincoln and take my Mum with me for the day out!

 

Unfortunately, this hasn't proven to be my only Christmas conundrum.

 

I have been invited to my sister's house for Christmas day - something I would very much like to do, except .......

 

Already going to my sister's for Christmas day are my Mum and Dad, my brother in law's Mum and her boyfriend, my brother in law's brother as well of course as their children.  My sister and her husband have a very nice house, but it isn't a particularly big house and by the time it has been filled with all these people and half to all of the lounge has been filled with kiddies christmas presents, I don't believe there will be a lot of room for me.

 

My Mum and Dad, for example, are staying at the house overnight, but because of the lack of room they will in fact be taking their caravan and sleeping in that!!!  What I don't want is one of those horrible Christmas days where you spend all day constantly trying to find somewhere where I am not in the way at all.  Or one of those Christmas days where everyone has to remain in the lounge whilst the dining room is being sorted and then everyone has to remain in the dining room whilst the lounge is being set out for afternoon nibbles and then everyone has to move to the front garden whilst the lounge is cleared and the dining room sorted for tea etc etc etc.

 

The fact that I have been invited and am expected means that I have to really go for dinner at least.  But then again, I hate it when people turn up for dinner, eat, say thankyou and then leave!!  So I couldn't do that, but of course the alternative is to remain for the day!!

 

I have another reason for not going as well.

 

Firstly, let me get this clear.  I left my wife two years ago and I have been divorced for eighteen months!  And I am over her, totally.

 

However, the fact is that my marriage ended quite abruptly on Boxing Day two years ago.  I am still single and over my ex or not, I still have memories.  As such, although it sounds a bit baa humbug - although generally I am looking forward to Christmas, a little part of me isn't.

 

This feeling isn't anywhere near as bad as last year, which is a good thing I suppose, but it's still there.  Last year when I was invited to family's for Christmas Day I felt that this would help alleviate this feeling but how wrong I was.

 

In reality I sat there, smiling and pretending to enjoy myself, whilst all the time, all around me, happy couples and their children laughed, played and thoroughly enjoyed Christmas Day.  And it was hard, really hard.  Most of the time I enjoy being single again, but occasiionally I wish there was someone and that makes me sad.  But I have never been as sad as I was last Christmas.

 

And now I am being asked to go through it all again!

 

So what do I do??

 

Cheers for reading

 

Geoff

xx

B.o.o.b.s are ace.  I love b.o.o.bs.  Big ones, small ones, round ones, pointy ones - it matters not.  B.o.o.bs are ace.

If i had a pair of nice women's b.o.o.bs, I'd never get owt done - seriously, I'd have been fired years ago, I simply wouldn't be able to leave them alone.

 

But something got me thinking.

A very nice ladyfriend sent me an email today.  Many people know this lady from spaces but I am not going to mention her name.

The point was that this email included photos of another lady.  This lady, although not being particularly large at all has got ridiculously large b.o.o.bs.

Honestly, each one is the size of a large medicine ball around the nipple and hangs down to the poor lady's knees.

Like I said, this got me thinking.

 

I am sure there are some fellas out there who feel, as far as b.o.o.bs go, that the bigger the better and who indeed find this size absolutely wonderful.

However, and I feel I speak for most men, these fellas are the exception.  Really, really big ones are not attractive - sorry, but it's true.

Now when I say this I ain't talking about 38DD or similar.  Sure this is large, but they will still look reasonably in proportion.

I am talking about the Jordan's of this world or the Lolo Ferrari's of this world.

 

There are many women who are FF size which are grown naturally and I do feel a little sorry for them simply because of the constant strain put on their backs.  Indeed, many of these ladies have reductions specifically to try and ease backache problems etc.

 

But on the other hand a lot of women with FF or bigger have these due to surgery, forced on them I suspect through insecurity with themselves and it is these women whose friends should be having polite chats with.  Don't do it girls, it don't look nice.

 

Besides, owt bigger than a mouthful is a waste lol.

Although saying that, I have got a big mouth lol.

 

As always, cheers for reading

 

Geoff

xx

I hate London.  I really do.

Don't get me wrong, it's not that I dislike Londoners, or even Southerners in general, not at all.

In fact those that I know are all friendly, intelligent people and I have no real reason not to presume that the majority of the rest down there aren't the same, which of course beggars the question;

Why do they stay in London.

 

Yesterday I went to London for a meeting.  I went by train.

Now for starters I hate the fact that I have to go by train.  I like my car, it's a nice car.  It's very comfortable, quite fast and superbly relaxing on the motorway.  Indeed it's built with long journeys in mind such as Knottingley to London and back, but the fact is that the traffic in and around London is so incredibly bad that you'd be mad to drive into the City centre.  Forget about the Congestion Charging or even the forty squid you need to pay to park in the centre for a day, it's literally the hours you have to spend to get into the centre that frustrates me.

 

I did it once.

A few years back I was going to a day long series of talks about improving motorcycle accident statistics (it's my job, I can't help it) which was going to require me to spend a couple of nights down there.  Now even though I wasn't paying, I feel there is something definitely wrong with having to pay at least £120 a night for a decent hotel, when as little as ten miles away an equivalent hotel would only cost £40.  As such I decided the best thing to do was drive down in the evening, book into a hotel near one of the suburban train stations, get the train into the centre and back the next day, stop over another night and then drive home the following morning.

So, I had a pleasant drive down stopping somewhere just off the M25, had a nice evening followed by a decent night's kip and then after breakfast set off on foot for the train station.  However, when I got there I learnt that because of emergency maintenance the railway line from there to London was closed for the morning!!

Aaahhhhh!!!!  No real choice therefore but to go back to the hotel, collect my car and drive into the centre.  I expected it to take a long time relatively to drive the eighteen miles, perhaps as long as three quarters of an hour.  I set off from the hotel at around half past eight and arrived in Parliament Square at just gone quarter to eleven!!!  Over two hours to travel eighteen miles.  Plus I had to pay the £5 congestion charge which in itself is a bit of a laugh because it cost me over £45 to simply park for the day there anyway - so what's another fiver??

 

Anyway, back to yesterday.

I went by train.  I drove to Wakefield and caught the GNER service into London.  Judi, our secretary had booked the train tickets for me - a saver return which at £78 was nearly twice the cost of the diesel to London and back had I driven.  Although this is bad enough, young Pete came with me as well, so in fact our tickets cost nearly four times the cost of diesel!!

 

The train going down was busy and although I like Pete a lot, he's a decent fella after all, I hadn't really wanted to spend two hours practically sat on his knee.  What with that, the noise of mobile phones, hand held games machines, laptops, coughing and sneezing, people bumping into you as they walk up and down the aisle and railway staff trying to sell you overpriced snacks and drinks that you don't want, I was seriously ready to get off the train as it pulled into King's Cross.

 

Of course then I was faced with London commuters and late lunchers, most of whom didn't even seem to realise that Pete and I were even there.

 

I am afraid it was at this point that I lost it.

After being barged out of the way for the ten millionth time I was getting seriously pissed off.  It was at this point that whilst stood on the platform of the Thameslink station I was barged big time by this ugly looking fella from behind.  Now I am normally very peaceful and placid, but I am not the person to try barging out of the way if I am angry and if I have been barged already by the entire population of London.

Without really thinking what I was doing I quickly stepped forward and lightly kicked the guy in the back of his knee forcing him to stumble and very nearly fall over altogether.

That was a silly thing to do because we could have easily have then been fighting.

The guy turned around and snapped something rude and insulting.  So instead of saying sorry and trying to be polite about the whole event, I, still being very angry, snapped something back about how it served him right and he should watch where he's going from now on.

Luckily after a few seconds of simply staring at the fella with the old kung-fu eyes, he backed down and apologised.

 

The thing is though that although he was the one who apologised, it should have been me.  I was the one who was out of order.

He didn't barge into me because he was especially rude or ignorant, the awful truth is that he did it because that is what people do down there.  He was simply acting normally, it was me who was in the wrong.

 

This is how it is in London.

 

Then as if the day couldn't get any worse, we learnt on the train back that our saver return tickets were not valid at that time of day and so I had to pay another £70 to cover the difference in the two tickets.  So suddenly the cost of travelling by train had gone from four times the cost of going by car to six times!!

 

Sorry but I hate London.

 

Cheers for reading

 

Geoff

xx

I haven't blogged for a few days again because each time i consider it I wonder what exactly to say.

 

I am not sure about the point in blogging simply for blogging sake, I like to have something specific which I want to say and sometimes that ain't easy.  Plus I wasn't well last week, even had a couple of days off work, which is unusual for me.

 

I had planned to go and visit some friends during the week, but in the end decided against it as I would only pass on my lurgie.  God it was awful, a real case of Man Flu and everyone knows there's nowt more dangerous - lucky I survived really.  I had thought about ringing into the office and letting people know that my mystery illness had got worse and perhaps even asking Andrew what I should do about it, but in the end decided that this would be a little too sarcastic.

 

Strangely, my Mum was also ill at the same time.  We became ill within a couple of hours of each other and got better within a couple of hours of each other!!  She was really ill though - hospital and everything!  I am glad to say that she is better now, although still weak, but she definitely wasn't good, scarily actually.

 

Because of all of this, I haven't really done anything to write about this week.  Had fancied a ride on the bike, but was ill.  Had fancied going out during the week to take some photos, but was ill.  Wanted to watch the big fireworks display at the White Rose Centre, but was ill.

 

One thing I have done a lot of this week is think.  I have had a lot of spare time to simply sit and think and so I have been thinking a lot.

 

All this business at work is frankly getting on top of me, Graeme is disappearing to New Zealand with his girlfriend, my little canadian friend is either going home with six months or is also going to New Zealand and I think is looking for a travelling partner, I have no real ties in Britain and I have been thinking for some time about a whole new start.

 

Should I go to New Zealand?  There are several very good reasons as to why I should.  However, there is also one huge reason as to why I shouldn't - fear.  Yes, Mr tough karate man is afraid.  There may well be problems at work, but at the end of the day I have a good job, i am quite well paid, i live in a nice big house, drive a nice car and so forth.

 

Moving and leaving all this behind wouldn't be easy.  Building it all up again would be even harder.

 

So I don't know, I can't see me going anywhere, but then again you never know!!

 

Just been checking other people's blogs and it seems there is another virus going round which I seem to have caught - horny virus!!  Don't know what's up with me?  Now don't get me wrong, I am a full blooded male normally anyway, but these last few weeks I have been terrible, simply so sodding horny.  Now to be totally honest it's been several months, but even so this is not like me at all.  The first lass that bends over in front of me is in for a serious surprise I promise yer lol.

 

Anyway, I think that's enough of that subject lol.

 

Cheers for reading

 

Geoff

xx

In my last blog I mentioned that I have had enough at work.

 

The basic issue is that I am seriously fed up with having to defend everyone from Andrew.  The slightest issue with anyone and he instantly looks to attack.  No matter how minor it is he suddenly wants to hang people out to dry.  Someone finishes a little early to pick up their kid, he wants to talk to them about contract hours.  Someone is having some problems at home, he wants to chat to them about their recent concentration issues.  Someone is unable to attend a meeting due to some family commitments and he wants to speak to them about putting things into priority.

 

Of course my defense never works and he always ends up "speaking" to the person in question and hopelessly upsetting them along the way.  This will continue with him having several "talks" with whoever which usually ends up with them both falling out in a big way which then in turn results in them shouting and arguing with each other across the office.

 

That is until obviously the person arguing with Andrew gets fed up and leaves.

 

Luckily for me I have been at least able to convince those in my team to stay.  The planning team, Andrew's team however is a different matter.  Three years ago the planning team was bigger than mine with seven members.  Then the Director retired leaving six members with Andrew in charge.  Soon after they started leaving.  Over the space of two years four people left specifically because of Andrew.  That would have left just Andrew and Graeme, had it not been the case that we took on Helen just a few months ago straight out of university.

 

If the office was struggling financially, then perhaps I could understand.  But we are doing really, really well.  Our profits are getting better and better each year, but perhaps at the expense of the staff.

 

However, on Thursday, Graeme who has been recently having big arguments with Andrew due to personal issues with them both and from being over worked, put his notice in.  This will leave the planning team as only Andrew and Helen, who with only a few months experience is still very new to the job.  With enough work for possibly four experience staff, this will prove a serious problem.

 

However, the astute readers will note that if Graeme put his notice in on Thursday and yet I stated I was fed up last weekend, then Graeme putting his notice in was merely another nail in the coffin.  I was of course fed up before this.  The reason?  Simple.

 

Andrew's firing line has recently turned in my direction.

 

As Andrew clearly showed with one member of staff called Paul, he simply struggles to understand how someones personal issues at home could have an effect on work, let alone support them as a good manager should.  Paul's problems were more serious than mine.  Apart from the fact that his girlfriend and him were having a lot of difficulties arranging their wedding, in the same year his father died, then he learned his father's illnes was hereditary, then his brother was diagnosed with the illness and then Paul himself learnt that although he didn't actually have the illness, he had the characteristics of developing the illness.  To top it all off he offered to cancel the wedding because he felt it was unfair on his girlfriend, but she wouldn't hear anything of it - I guess she was in love!

 

And all this happened in one year - as you could expect, Paul's work began to suffer as his mind quite understandably drifted.  Andrew's answer was to give him more work and tighter deadlines in order to "focus his mind".  Of course things got worse and so Andrew and I spoke about it and I tried to explain all of Paul's problems and how we should be helping him by easing his workload and giving him some free space until he was back together.  Andrew's response was simply "We all have our problems".

 

Andrew simply put on more and more pressure until of course, Paul left.

 

Well, those that read my blogs will know that although recently I appear to have got my life back on track, the last two years have not been my best.  A vicious divorce.  An ex-wife who refuses to allow me any contact with kids that for seven years I treat like my own.  Serious concerns over the house and when or if it would sell.  Worried about being able to get a place of my own.  And all this of course whilst constantly discussing staff with a manager who appears happy to simply get rid of everyone.

 

All these concerns would haunt me day and night which used to result in me having difficulty sleeping.  If you struggle to sleep for a couple of nights, then you are left very tired.  If you struggle to sleep for months, then you are left in an almost zombie like state which usually I could fight.  However, throw in a day in front of a computer monitor in a warm stuffy office and you are left with a nodding off Geoff.

 

I basically spent eight or nine months regularly nodding off at work.  Sometimes to the actual point where I would be indeed asleep for several minutes.  As you can understand this proved to be very embarrassing.  Even now, if for some reason I don't get enough sleep, I can easily spend the afternoon very tired.

 

Obviously people started to ask questions.  People asked if I was ok, perhaps I should see a doctor etc.  Well I spoke to a doctor who told me the obvious, it was going to take time but things would improve, if it continues for long enough to concern me I should return.  Generally though I was fit and well but upset.

 

It was nice for people to ask if I was ok.  It showed people cared.

 

But then Andrew mentioned it.  He was concerned about how it could affect my work.  I explained the situation and told him it would improve.  Nothing more was said.

 

Until a few months ago.  I got a phone call in the early hours of the morning.  It was my mother telling me my father was very ill and needed a lift to the hospital.  Obviously I was there straight away.  My Dad was sorted by the kind doctors and nurses and I was able to return to bed for almost an hour before getting up for work.  In total I had less than two hours sleep - it was my fault, I should have taken the day off.

 

Instead, I went into work and indeed felt fine until mid-afternoon when I started to struggle.  In the end I simply went home early and had an early night - the next day I was fine.  That was until Andrew asked to have a "word".  He asked if I knew why the problem with me being tired was continuing!!  This was because of the day before when he noticed that I was looking tired as I walked around the office.  I told him about my father but it made no difference.

 

Then the week before last I got home late from karate, cooked my pasta for a full 45 minutes before I realised I hadn't lit the oven and ended up not getting to bed until the early hours.  Then to make matters worse I was woken up repeatedly by my next door neighbours who I have to presume were rearranging all their bedroom furniture!!  The end result being that I only got a couple of hours sleep again.

 

Once more I found myself struggling in the afternoon.  Indeed I struggled a lot and actually found myself with very heavy eyes mid afternoon, very similar to a number of months earlier.

 

The following day, Andrew wanted a "chat".  As we went into the meeting room I spotted the staff manual under his arm and realised straight away he was going to mention it.  However, what he did say shocked me.

 

Straight away he opened the conversation with "I think we need to talk about your illness"!!!  Illness??  This surprised me because I didn't even realise I was ill and the fact that even my doctor didn't know was very worrying.  He went on to then explain that not only was I ill, but it was also a persistant illness and as such he wanted me speak to a specialist.  I asked what kind of specialist, given that I didn't know what was indeed wrong with me, but he ignored this.

 

But just as I thought that he had uttered the most annoying thing he possibly could, his lips carried on moving!

 

He continued to explain that he had spoken to both the company's Managing Director and the Design Director about my "persistant illness" and they both agreed I should speak to a specialist.  So now my two Directors both believe that I have some form of serious and continuous illness.  Something I am sure is going to do wonders for my future development within the company.

 

So, as you can see, problem after problem after problem with one person left me thinking that perhaps it was time for me to go.  And now with Graeme announcing his leaving my mind has been made up.

 

Cheers for reading

 

Geoff

xx

Before I start - check out Colours are Brighter

Basically its a cd of kids songs written and performed by some of the current pop and rock bands such as Franz Ferdinand etc and all profits and royalties go to Save the Children

I've bought mine - your turn.

http://www.coloursarebrighter.com 

 

 

Had a brill time at the bike show today.  Ended up going on my own, but that wasn't a problem - one of the great things about being a biker is other bikers are always keen to chat to you, so although I walked around the halls of the NEC on my own, I was constantly surrounded by friends.

 

The only problem I ever seem to have at the bike show is what to look at?  Do I look at the beautiful motorcycles or the gorgeous ladies?  Ok, I know that having extremely pretty young ladies draped over motorcycles in a, frankly, very "I've never sat on a motorcycle before" type way, wearing very, very .... very little is sexist, slightly degrading for the ladies in question and quite insulting to a lot of women out there.

 

But hey?  They're gettng paid for it (probably quite well), they have agreed to do it, they SEEM to be enjoying it and let's face it, they're seriously fit! Lol!  And before any ladies comment with complaints about my attitude towards the opposite sex, you've got it all wrong because I for one would have had absolutely nothing against hunky fellas in nowt but their speedos being there for the women.  Indeed, if Honda or whoever had offered me the pennies, I'd have happily been the one in the photos rather than the women there.  Of course, perhaps even the ladies wouldn't have wanted to see this, but you get my point.

 

The question still stands though because there were some seriously beautiful motorcycles on display, many of which I wouldn't actually own, because there is often a big difference between looking at one and actually owning one.  The latest Kawasaki ZX-10 is a very good case in point.  For those scratching their heads, the ZX-10 is the green bike in the photos and is in my opinion, one of the most beautiful peices of machinery ever made.  I wouldn't own one though, not that there's anything wrong with Kawasakis, they're quite good, but the riding position is too extreme for me.  I am moving away from this now.

 

Hence my love of the new Honda CB1300, which is the blue bike with no fairing (front cowling).  Built to look like a bike from the late seventies and early eighties, but in reality, totally modern.  And only six and a half grand!  That may sound a lot of money, but how much would you have to spend to buy a car which is capable of over 150mph (if you're daft enough to do it) and can go from 0-100mph in less than six seconds!!!!  You'd be looking at around £70,000 at least, in which case the bike suddenly appears remarkable value!

 

Anyway, thats enough of motorcycles!  Have a look at the photos and check out the incredible level of detail in the machining!

 

Went to see Saw 3 yesterday with a couple of friends.  I did enjoy it, but the twist at the end, which you expect from a Saw movie, simply wasn't anywhere near as jaw dropping as in the first two films.  I hadn't guessed it to be truthful, but when it was exposed it left me simply thinking "Oh, ok??".  Nowt special really, but like I said, apart from this I did enjoy it.

 

One thing I will say, is that if you are at all squeamish - you may be better off giving it a miss!  The gore factor on the first two films was pretty high and the film Hostel tried to out do them with some success, although I still prefer the Saw movies.  However, this third film simply throws everything else you may have seen to the side with it's gruesomeness and sheer blood and guts.  Oh, yes, the gore factor is off the scales here.

 

Remembering that I have looked down to see my own left leg bent in several places only to think, "That don't look right" and I have quite happily looked INSIDE my own hand after impaling it on a hook and found the contents fascinating rather than gruesome.  Remembering this it has been a long time since I have been debating whether to look away or not!

 

But overall, I have to say it's a recommended film.

 

Spent Saturday evening at my sisters watching a film - amazingly, both my sister and my brother in law stayed awake through out the entire film - a definite first.

 

Had enough at work - I'll probably blog it all next time.  Nothing to do with any of the people I work with or indeed with the work.  Sodding Andrew again.  Like I said, I ain't gonna go into it this time, but I will.  The point this time is that it has made me actually make some phone calls and I am going to speak to some people about other opportunities - two in fact, both of which are closer to home, so that would be good.

 

Right, been a long day, so I fancy watching Vincent with the excellent Ray Winstone and then I'm off to bed.

 

As ever, cheers for reading.

 

Geoff

xx

As a result of a very good month the company is paying for us all to go out tonight and have a curry in a very nice restaurant in Leeds.

 

Pete however, has declined??  He doesn't want a free curry and some drinks courtesy of the company?

What's all that about then?  I don't understand any of that?  Is this some sort of wierd habit that the under 25s have that us over 25s don't understand?

 

Anyway, it's in the Aagrah in Leeds centre - I shall let you all know what it was like.

 

Five days to the bike show (International Motorcycle Show NEC) - I have taken Monday off work to go then so I don't hit the rush of going over the weekend.  I am really looking forward to it as I haven't been for a good four years.  Apparently it has really changed with free rides on some of the new models, an off-road experience and similar.

 

I will of course be taking my camera so I can take some good snaps.

 

One downside though - I was supposed to be going with some friends from a lot further north but they have now been invited to something else on the Monday evening.  As such, they will be going on one of the two weekends the show runs over despite how much busier it will be.  I guess therefore that if anyone fancies a trip to the bike show on Monday then they are welcome to come along although they will have to queue and buy a ticket there as I have only got one ticket.  Hey - I'd enjoy the company.

 

Work has loosened it's grip slitghtly over the last couple of days as it does after very busy periods in this business.  It will pick up again when it's ready.  To be honest  it's been a bit of a break actually after the bedlam of the last few weeks and we are all still busy, just not rushed off our feet.  It will definitely get busier again after Christmas when a couple of the schemes we have had get onto site and we have the supervision of the works to worry about.

 

Spent Monday evening at Lou's - listening to music and talking about nothing in particular for two hours as you do.  Had a good laugh talking about wallpaper and in some cases the lack of it!  She knows what I mean by this and she'll probably thump me the next time she sees me for blogging it lol.

 

No plans for the weekend yet - hoping to catch up with my new canadian friend, but we shall see.  If not then I'll go bother my family.

 

Cheers for reading

 

Geoff

xx