No Business like Snow business

Well hiya, here we are back again. The wheels are turning and we're getting there. The new spex well what can one say keep going back to the old pair trying to keep away from Headaches. Well winter has descended with a vengance 3inches of the white stuff all over Norfolk and what happens then all the young drivers must go out for their FIRST drive in snow .... but why do they have to get in front of me 15 mph is grand but on road that is clear of snow I ask you... Must not get stressed not good for one I have been told. Got to do it all again tomorrow, at least next week we'll be in the Rhine Chrimble marketting pass the gluh vin mmmm nicey warm. Okay must go and speak with the fitters -  see if they have my webasto heater fixed!  hope so might be able to keep warm then... of with us then see you soon..

Here we are again....

Well here am I back from the brink - Eye safely operated on and I can see a bit clearer now and if you have been worried about an eye op the dont be! me I was scared s*****ss but the nice young ladies in the hospital held my hand and in an hour it was all over and I didnt know why I had made a fuss the only problem is I cant put my own eye drops in cant see to do it hee hee, the only problem is that as the eye has to settle down cant do emails or computer type things so I have sneaked onto my little girls computer for a little while, good old funky fit.com, she is busy practicing her manicuring and all the other stuff she does....... and still finds time to do my eye drops. ouch caught, must go, leave my ear alone. . ..
.....

A rainy Day at home

Well folks we have here in Mablethorpe a typical english summers day that it is October and Autumn is neither here or there the rain or monsoon is falling without abatement which means NO grass cutting today hurrah, but time for a blog!

Not looking forward to this week at all as I am supposed to be getting an Eye op tomorrow so looking may be a bit differcult for a couple of days hee hee,

The wife is busy yes there is a Mrs Fred she is busy looking after the latest addition to the brood 6 baby terriers, the result of an union betwixt daughter in laws little terrier and another! She'll have her hands full with her poorly husband ie ME,tomorrow, so she'll have to look after me now doesnt she.......I should be so lucky and I suppose I am really.

Yes dear I am telling the world about you.... of course I am being truthful about you would I be anything else? Oh you need the washing up done and because I am here I have to do it oh well no piece for the wicked , bye for now..

Here we go again....

Its looking like Ground hog day or even week - getting ready to go back to Southern Ireland again.

Lets hope the weather is set fair again and the Irish Sea is calm, but I bet its not that quiet when we get there  - Lisdoovarna in September /October the great Matchmaking festival!!! I dont need any one matching me - Ive had the same model now for 40 years so I am to long in the tooth for a change, I am the Boss in our family ....I have her permission to say that!

Not to many folks going this week, but lets hope we may have at least a little pay rise now the minimum wage has increased - did hear that the employers are moaning that its not fair they have to  SUFFER an increase in their wage bill when every thing else is going up durrrr its going up for us to pal but when you get 5% of 50000 then thats money but 5% of  next to nothing is next to nothing when inflation cuts in.....

Any way I shant be blogging for a while I am off to the Eye surgeon and will have to spend some time away from doing things on the net - so as Arnie says "I'll be back" but not for about six weeks. So dont forget to look at Sue's excellent site Fragile X Australia - super site love nearly as good as the other one you look after for me, mind you Andreas' site all about the little place in the country (ultraviolet observations) wow some of those flowers but howsabout the creepy crawlies gang way I dont like spiders at the best of times but Sue tells me they have them there as large as plates .... blow that for a game of spiders oops, we'll see you all soon. I HOPE!

If you're Irish....

Well to be sure its meself blogging.. from inside a posh hotel to the west of Dublin. Duly Guinessed with dinner and now about to retire for the night. Thanks to the hotel for complimentary Internet so we lesser mortals can blog till the early hours.

What a week around the Rings of Southern Ireland  viz Beara and Kerry but what beautiful scenary but driving along the passes with just the width of the coach is a bit daunting but we have lived to tell the tale. Plus that big bright unidentified object has been following us all week although today it was replaced by a big Grey cloud so lets hope it'll still be around next week when I come back to Galway and Athlone.

What mess is the Euro getti ng me into 80cents to the £ makes my coffees expensive on the coach but the pax still pay in pounds. Mind today I saw a lovely sign it said R600 to both the left and the right but the right one had under it the words short route to where i was going.......

Irish or what - better be nice to them or the little people will jinx me,

See you all soon........

Brighton is a Seaside town!

Here we are again, back after the trials of a trip to the seaside! It is true you know the days of a Sea side break are numbered not in years but months! Its not surprising the Political parties are moving away from their traditional conference venues, what a dump Brighton has become, from a once lively resort near London to a stop on the School trip meter and then only a brief one to make notes of the Volks railway which seem defunct, certainly not for the Coach parking facility so far along the beach you had to have a Taxi to reach civilisation, and when parked there you have take care of the numerous FUN bikers on their Suzukis and Hondas and Kawakars all trying to fall off the back of their machines whilst trying to reach unobtainable speeds and polluting the ears with the racket - pity the poor people who live in the expensive high rise over looking the beach at that point! The hotel I had the pleasure of stopping in was right in the middle luckily not afflicted by the Gas leak from one of the neighbouring hotels Thursday night, it looked Friday morning as if all the Fire officers were in for breakies after the crews had stood down!

Mind you at lest the weather relented and for the last three days a mysterious object was observed in the heavens and bright light shone down bringing warmth on the tourists - it almost made the burnt out pier attractive - but it wasnt enough to bring the naturalists out on the nudie beach only a small point to raise I suppose but it wasnt that warm ......ho ho!

Well next week we shall be in the Emerald Isle so I hope the wee folk will smile on us and give an Indian summer or maybe that is reserved for Luton? Lets hope the Guiness is cool.. talking of cool have you see my mentors new web site? Super read Sue and I hope you get the message out - so look at The Fragile X Association of Australia an excellent read and give them your support!

I wish I was that clever but thats toooo much to ask for, but she did encourage me to blog - and yes I know we want more photos to liven it up - but I have to take them and I forgot the Camera

Senior moments! now what was I doing here? ..........

What a Week of misdirection!

Here we are again another week past and what a week rain, rain and more rain, and it was supposed to be Scotland and yes there is a high road and a low road and I was there before yea, one is the A9 which goes all the way to Inverness and the other is some thing like the A820 going to Fort Willum - I may be wrong but Minnie is usually right when she is told the correct details , but we ended up in Conference land this week and next, Bournemouth last Brighton this week but at least they speaka de English albeit with a Romanian accent having lived in Dorset I have never heard so many foreign voices especially in the Burglar King restaurant - all Korean or Fillipeanos.... wot you like wif it fries or wot?

Glad to see Sue (Blogging Sueblimely) has her son in his first choice adult centre we wish him all the luck in the world and more, whilst I am at it hows about that lovely 13 year old swimmer didnt she do well for the Team GB two gold medals well done her!

Mind you I swim like a brick doesnt! if I get any where near a pool the Whale watchers come out and I get nervous if there are any orientals at pool side hee hee. Not that one is large but one does cast a shadow when the sun shines if only....

Mind you now I have a posh neat dongle thingy, I shall be able to blog from a foreign field not b.... likely at wot Orange want to charge £60 plus a month just to have the facility rip off comes hastily to mind, well better get some ugly sleep before the sandman says oi get up you lazy so n so! better than the old fried or boiled? that old Black & White collegues would remember from the Portsmouth days - I bet that gent is now waking up the angels in the etheral b -n - b.

Well nite all.... will blogg more later....

Back in the Country

Hi Folks, now back in the country - having had a week in the land of the Kilt and the Haggis. Weather was ok tho who says you have to go abroad for the sun we got some sun and of course some rain, We went visiting all sorts of beautiful scenary and guess who had left the camera at home... but the colours were lovely when it wasnt foggy...

The hotel well it was okay but why oh why cant they use local produce in their restaurants oh sorry one night we had Haggis and it was fresh and very moist as were the neeps, luckily tho no Bagpipes were in evidence....

But what a long haul, the roads seemed to go on and on bit like this post I hear you say.... okay okay I can take a hint I'll hang up the keyboard till later when I get back from the next trip you guessed it back to Scotland, so I 'll take the high road and you can take - you know the song. Tara till next week

Dismal Week

Well what a week that was - Two days and nights closeted in an Hotel room in Eurodisney the good thing was I could purchase the English daily papers so at least I had a puzzle or two to play with - memo to self increase games on office computer.

Why why why do Parents teach the offsprings not to talk to strangers and THEN encourage or even push them into the arms of a Giant Mouse and its not just a few there must of been 50,000 of various nations in the complex, all there to see the Giant Mouse and its friends! Talking Dogs gee haw shucks!

I must be the original Mr Grumpy, and queues have you ever seen such lines the Americans call them I pity the poor Bus drivers who work the hotel shuttles in the area boy do they earn their Euros, and wow how Rude can folks be, on holiday yes but no need to be impolite, I overheard one group who on holiday abroad (yes english) for the first time moaning about some chaps lack of understanding, cos the recipient -French, involved couldnt speak english, if Mr Angry had wanted that then why didnt the moron stay in Margate? they all speak English, Polish, French, German, maybe urdu and pashtu as well!

The food well French it wasnt but universal slops it was, especially after 4 -500 people had sorted their way through the Food Service area it was like going through a giant hanger with attitude and of course the interuptions of Giant Mice.... I just wonder how many million Croissants a day pass through the complex, there must be a machine working endlessly just making them and as they are baked building in instant stale!

Ho hum thats this weeks gripe over lets see how the Scots fare next week - Is it Haggis season?

Home sweet home

Well here we are at last back in the old home stead! That last week was very fraught never having been to Austria before, and then on the way back I found out the GO machine was flat 'Good job' i didnt get stopped that would of cost a bucket load of Euros! But that is what we are for these foreign johnny's a walking ready cash machine....

Who'd be a Coach driver abroad these days? Mind you its just as bad if not worse in the UK always on the look out for the men in Brown coats but hey they have a job to do just like us....only thing is if you get caught doing something wrong its not your legs that get slapped its your wallet that gets emptied and when you dont earn a site then that is almost like living below the poverty line...but what you have to remember is that if they catch you they get their brownie points and they get their bonus for the month...talk about food chain...

But boy the scenery was nice see the pictures but that does'nt pay the rent,

Ho hum must be away got to go clean some windows or the pax wont know where we are!! as if I do!

Painless Tours

Well thats another done and dusted, Last week it seemed as if the whole of Germany was at a place called Neuwanstein Castle and a few dogs as well, but wow what a place thats how the other half used to live. But what a load of stairs. The only people making loadsa money were the Horse Bus drivers 5 Euros up the hill 2.50 down now thats the way to do it! But the scenary was worth it in the end but not the heart attack hee hee
Note to self must learn how to put in pictures... maybe Sue B will take pity on me and let me know in words of one sylabub. Oh Oh theres the fone bye for now....

Home thoughts from Abroad

Well that went well, Two days travel sees us ensconced in an hotel in Austria yodelling all the way, free day today so here I am writing the blog at a cost 5euros an hour!!! must made of money, group all nice and more later....

These Hotels know a cash cow when they see one - some nice groups give you free Wifi but there are groups that want to charge an arm and a leg for Internet connection as if we dont pay a shed load of money already, its like using an hotel fone have you tried a mortgage to phone home thats why we have mobiles although well enough rantings

Time I think for a large cool one - if lucky

Room service!! - I didnt want to buy the glass as well 3 euros for that! wheres that supermarket?

Must fly gotta go to Super thingy for a bottle of coke its cheaper! By the way the picture is the little outlet where I got my drink!

Nice name but I dont think they did sell what they were advertising

ho hum wheres the factor 200 what is it slop on the cream, slip on a banana, slap on a hat?

And theres more!

Well that's was painless, the first blog done and dusted. Now where did I put that map? Oh of course don't need it this week I have got the GPS updated at last. At least Mavis will know where we are, except when she gets lost. My colleagues swear by their units me I just stick it in the dash and let it tick away, the punters love it they love to know where they are, LOST I always say whether I am or not.

I am getting the hang of this its like talking to yourself without people thinking your well you know. Well thoughts for today, will the luggage break the back? People are fickle beings they must carry all their worldlies with them the poor driver he just has to load it and of course its got weigh the limit have you seen the size of the large Samsonite's the Americans carry - well they have porters but they pay for the privilege but not to the person who is after all ONLY THE DRIVER!

Now lets look at ONLY THE DRIVER! He is a person who maybe has trained for years at the following skills - Man management, Geographical and History Expert, Comedian, First Aider, Mechanic,Tea Maker, Valeter, Ecological Disposal operative, Window cleaner, Diplomat, Hotel Services Management, Legal Expert in Road Traffic law, Legal Expert in Vehicle Operating Standards,
and oh, by the way he is not a bad driver either and his company gets all that for £5:05 per hour when he is on tour, for which he is on call 24/7 and only gets paid for 10 of those hours per day! By the way the Statutory Legal Wage in Great Britain is £5:35 per hour but his superiors think that as he gets "ALLOWANCES" which are untaxed he meets the S.L.W , these so called ALLOWANCES are for things like food and an allowance for being away from home. Mind you when did you last get a breakfast for £2:50 and an evening meal for £5:00 boy do you have like Kant Find the Chicken or Burglar King! He may also get Gratuities or Tips which of course have to be declared for tax purposes, but these days even they are disappearing as the public feel the squeeze of the financial markets biteing ever deeper. By the way did you know a TIP is something that originated in the early 20th century when the Hanson cab arrived and TIP was a payment TO INSURE PUNCTUALITY or TIP for short!

Oh dear here we go again - hey ho off we go...

Welcome to the World of Blogging

Welcome to the World of Blogging - its easy, you should do it, nothing to it, and so on and so on so my mentor (sueblimely of australian fame tells me) and she should know! Shes been doing this sort of thing for ages.

Well here goes, I love my job well I did 40 years ago but I am still doing It so that tells you something. I must be a glutton for punishment or I dont know any better, by the way, It is carrying members of the general public around all day long to fulfill their travel or wanderlust, what makes them sit in a metal box for hours watching the countryside fly by?

Over the last few months we have travelled loadsa miles or even kilometres, and all for £5:05 an hour, I wish I was a Petrol Tanker driver getting the big bucks - £41,000 now is whispered in hallowed tones,all right they could get themselves blown to the middle of next week if they are careless but they are in their own beds every night!

We purveyors of long distance travel are in somebody else's bed most nights, sometimes shared with a bed bug or two or the odd flea. Depends on the standard of the accommodation cos after all you're only the driver! words often said scathingly! Yes but this only the Driver has brought 49 folks with pockets full of cash to spend in the establishment that has the group bedded down and this driver wants a good nights rest instead what does he get a night listening to humming of kitchen extractor fans or the whirring of the Lift motors as the drunken revellers crash their way to their accommodation, en suite and tv waiting.

I often wonder how much our bosses get for sending us to all these outlandish places and how do they find them. Hey Ho off we go....