Have you ever noticed that....?

Have you ever noticed that any place that has a sign up that states "Our staff have the right to work without threats of phisical or verbal attack" are only ever displayed in places where they lack any kind of customer service skills. Yesterday I had the misfortune of having to queue up in a Post Office. I needed a number of the larger first class stamps that we are now forced to buy due to the post offices incompetences. They cost more if your card or letter is larger than the smallest of envelopes. I don't grudge the cost, its the fact that we have to queue up to buy them. In the States you can leave the letter & the postage in your mailbox and the postman will collect them when they drop off mail.

So I queued for ten minutes to be met by some woman who simply stared at me despite my usual, "Hello, how are you?". Not a word was said until she told me the price then while I asked for a receipt she started to talk to the colleauge next to her totally ignoring my request. Come on people, you work in what is advertised as the 'Peoples Post Office' and yet your counter staff are some of the least polite people you can ever meet. They need a serious dose of customer service training.

The other place where you see the same sign warning of abuse to staff is London Underground. You spend forever in line to get to a ticket booth that is actually open to be met by someone who hardly speaks a word of English and couldnt be more less bothered or less helpfull. They are only worse than the moron gate guards who would rather chat to a friend than assist passengers in need.

Maybe it's the unions fault?

Yesterday Panarama reported on the traditional postie and how they have laid off 60,000 staff and yet expect their front line postal workers to deliver more mail. Of course the posties don't want to work longer rounds. They result to not bothering, to dropping a card through your box saying "Sorry you were not home", even though you were in all day and they simply didn't even bother knocking. As Margarett Thatcher soon realised the Unions are the curse of this country. Of course they have done some good things. We no longer send Children down the pitts or up to clean a chimney but then look at the state and attitude of children in this country today? I'm all for the return of national service as the only salvation to return respect to the youth of today.

Unions meanwhile aare going to ruin hundreds of thousands of peoples travel plans if the strike at British Airways goes ahead, as planned from December 22nd - January 2nd. The highest season of the year, where the airline makes the most money. But somehow this time like the postal strikes of earlier this year, the strikers do not have the public support. The postal workers face a declining industry while e-mail takes priority in the mail race, while how can one have empathy for British Airways Crew who earn on average double that salary that their colleagues at Virgin Atlantic make. BA Long Haul Crew make on average £35,000 PA. BA crew have always been paid the most, perhaps from the era when they gave themselves the name 'The Worlds faveourite Airline'. But in the deepest recession in 100 years and on the back of the biggest losses the airline has ever known, BA has to change to compete with its competitors. Surely striking at Christmas and causing the loses at the airline when they can most rake in the cash is likely to only hurt the airline even further. With so many discount 'no frills' airlines, we all have so much choice these days. Did you ever compare a shorthaul flight? £89 on Easyjet and £169 on BA. Of course you have to watch the extras but does striking help their better goal? They want BA to stop turning their Airline, the airline they proud to work for into a low cost carrier. But instead of aiding their cause are they not sending more people into the hands of their competitors. Would you really book a BA flight if you knew they are likely to be on Strike soon? Not I.

As the rest of us all have tightened down the hatches and started to work extra hours since all of the lay off's that were made last year. Perhaps we would feel different if the airline was profitable or they were paid so little, but its hard to feel different when they earn so much and their actions are likely to send the airline to the ground. With a huge pension deficit, a loss of £401 Million last year and higher fuel costs once again, I can see the airline going to demise. Sort it out guys, have a little festive love. After all, it is Christmas and everyone just wants to go and see their friends or loved ones. At least to date I have not seen a sign on a British Airways Aircraft saying their staff deserve to work with threat of abuse.

Go Joe go!

This year has been the first that I have watched the X Factor from the begining to the end. What an incredible journey its been. From the auditions and all the people that we love to laugh at for thinking they sound great when they are completely tone deaf. Right through to boot camp and eventually the finals.

I have to confess I love Olli from day one, a checky Essex chap, like myself, but it wasn't until I heard Joe sing that I swapped my vote. The turning point was hearing Joe sing "The Circle of Life", a song that will always be special in my heart. It truly gave me Goose bumps as he sang it and I simply didnt get that from the other contestants. Each week Joe sang I would wait for the bumps and know he had that something special. There was something about him that reminds me of me. Maybe as he was a performing arts student? But that was it, each week I would watch, waiting for the note that would give me the shivers.

I sat there tonight, along with, if the news is to be believed some 20 Million People, watching and hoping Joe would win.

Watching the news, the outakes and seeing the retakes of him when they announced the winner and that moment he realised he was the winner, there was a moment when I thought 'I wish that was me'. How did that feel? Then it snapped and I realised, I know exactly how it feels. February 17th 1995 when my parents land line rang and this voice called and asked for Neil, then said "Hi it's Sue Sharp from Walt Disney World International Recruitment. Neil I have a role as a Walt Disney World Cultural Representitive and a 12 month posting at Epcot Centre with your name on it. It was the day that my dreams came true. The moment in my life that changed me forever, the day from which point I would never be the same. Not only was it the start of my voyage from boyhood to manhood and a pivital point where I discovered the true me. It was the first moment I ever realised that nothing is impossible, you can achive your goals and the hardest thing is not achieving them, but rather to dream them. To want to better yourself, to dream of better things.

Disney taught me so many many thing but the greatest gift of all was learning that anyone can make a difference. It takes the smallest of things to help make someone smile. A small gesture which may mean so little to you can mean so much to others. The golden rule we used to be taught was 'Exceed guest expectations'. Once you do that, you are always a winner.

It seems hard to believe that my time at Disney began nearly 15 years ago. It seems like yesterday. The memories are so fresh and I undoubtedly know that it was the experience that made me the man I am today. I miss the magic, the pixie dust, the sunshine and the fun times, but I have managed to bring much of that magic with me. From a boy who was nieve, young and unexperienced, shy and daunted by the challenges of the world, to the man I have become, strong, ambitious, outgoing and surprising even to me, brave. I miss the wonderful people I met at Disney, David, Mark, Alison, Claudia, Kiyomi, Christine to name but a handfull but the dream walt once had was for a futuristic community of tomorrow. We were that community and we will be that Disney Alumni until the day we die.

Joe, I wish you success and hope that your new found fame finds you as much happiness as my turning point in life had on me.

First Business trip in over a year

How life can change, just two years ago I left home nearly every Sunday evening and got home late on a Friday night. My life was hotels, airports, stations and commuting. Having studied tourism and always wanted to travel, it was a good life, great to get paid to actually see many of the cities of the UK and Europe. But as ones priorities have changed since marrying Dusan, well my new job kind of fitted in perfectly with that.

Thursday evening however I had my first business trip in about 15 months. Never quite understood why in all of my work related trips I ended up so many times in Birmingham and yet have hardly ever been to Manchester, but I won’t complain. I actually love Birmingham. It’s a great size city, you can walk from to practically anywhere in the city within 10 minutes and has the new and very fabulous Bull Ring Shopping Centre now which has about 300 shops enough to fill anyone’s retail therapy needs. Add to that you have all the other shops that exist in the city centre, the lovely Christmas German Market with all it’s festive joy and a nice large gay scene. Well enough to keep anyone happy.

I took the train up and got into my hotel room around 1830. I can’t knock the Mal Masion. The service is fabulous, the beds are comfy and the food is divine. Let’s be honest that when you are away from home you don’t want anything less comfortable than you have at home right?

Unlike when I first worked in Birmingham and was based there for 6 months back in 1999, I no longer felt the need or desire to go out late on a school night. I did take a wander down to Hurst Street to just see how things looked but nothing much had changed. There was however a sense that the recession seemed far more severe in the midlands than in London. Restaurants that had been a steadfast when I was based there in 2007 had closed, the tables still laid and ready to dine but notices of foreclosure posted in the window. Habitat was closing down with a sign saying the nearest store would now be Solihull. (They do say Solihull is the poshest part of the midlands). Maybe it’s the only area that still has money. The old Woolworth building lay empty and stripped of it’s fittings and several other units were empty. A new commercial building had been constructed in the financial district near to where I worked. My colleagues informed me that it was empty and it’s owners could not afford to fit the interior. Furthermore the cranes that were erected to build another stood still. I was told they cost £60,000 to erect and dissemble and have just been left standing as no one can afford to do anything with them. It seemed a far cry from London, where a walk down Oxford Street on Thursday Evening was so packed with shoppers carrying dozens of bags in the build up to Christmas. Eating at the Ivy and La Caprice in the last month, both fully booked with limitation on the time you can actually spend at your table.

The Virgin Train service from Euston to Birmingham New Street on the newly improved line is now amazingly fast, taking just under 90 minutes between the two cities. I barely had time to read my paper and enjoy a glass of wine and we were arriving.
It was a good 24 hour trip and nice to have a night away for work once again and back in time now to enjoy the weekend. Think I will put up the Christmas tree today. :-)

Discounted Shopping Bonanza night with Emily

It was our 3rd years running of atteneding the Carnaby Street 20% discount shopping night. The street turns into a party and they have free booze. Yes free booze. So we started in Replay where while we browsed we were offered a free glass of Champagne (well it was actually Cava), then onto Kingley Court. Kingley Court had a free cocktails and so we sipped as we enjoyed the shops around Kingley Court.

From there Emily decided she wanted to buy as a cocktail as we were going to buy her dinner for her Birthday treat. So off we went to a basement bar. Enjoying a divine Esspresso Martini which was absolutely fabulous. Spotting a table that said "Reserved for Richard from 8PM". Well it was only 7, we had plenty of time before it was required. So we sat and enjoyed our cocktails before heading onto Soho. Emily had said she enjoyed Thai Food and I just happened to know a fabulous Thai restaurant in Soho. We tucked into a vegetarian feast (Emilys a Veggie), followed by Fritters and Pancakes. Yummy.

So much for the shopping, but we did have a fabulous time. Was great to spend some quality time with Emily, Happy belated Birthday love.

I should be so lucky...

Best friends, dear friends, loved ones. There are so many people in life you come in touch with, you build bonds with and you make a choice. A choice on whether to see them again and build on those foundations or to let it pass on by.

I guess I am one of the former. One whom takes those friends and makes them into something special. I am so lucky to have so many dear dear friends. Some so close you can rely on them no matter what. Ones that will love you through thick or thin.

Sometimes I forget in my stressfull life, with the woes of work, recession and war in Afghanistan how lucky I am. To have such wonderful friends, to be lucky at work to actually enjoy my work and most of all, to have such a loving wonderful husband whom I adore.

I often have my friends tell me how lucky I am to have someone to come home to and to love and take care of me. You know what, I am. I don't always think about it but occasionally you have to recognise how much of a lucky bitch (Lucky Bitches) I am.

I guess what I need to do is actually reflect on my own life more and appreciate what I have. Thank you to everyone who'm is dear. Especially those that have been there and are always there no matter what. Life may be a chore at times and be hard to get through the odd day but when the worst is thrown at you, those very friends were there as my backbone of life.

Someone, you know who you are, once taught me that if the man I loved was worth fighting for I should fight fight fight until I either have my man or die trying. Well it wasn't easy, it took years of fighting with immigration and the powers that be but eventually we were allowed to be together and true love is absolutely a wonderful thing.

This weekend having watched the whole of X Factor I found myself singing the Roy Orbison hit, Crying. It was my stalwart of songs to sing in the shower along with Living is without you. I no longer sing that so what does that say? I found my man, I am no longer crying and my friends, my life is great. Thank you all for being a part of it and rock on the weekned. She's back. The return of DTPM!

Collectors for Remembrance Day

As Poppy Day approached collectors started to appear at various train and tube stations accross the capital. I was amazed at how much time some of the collectors gave spotting the same person there at 745AM as was there when I went home some 12 hours later.

Thursday instead of the lone collector in a suit he was joined by at least a half dozen young men all in Army fatigues. I think it is the first time that one has felt that remembrance was about the young brave soldiers who are out in the Middle East fighting today rather than those that served in the first or second World Wars. Joining the young men and the collectors was another young man, dressed again in fatigues and playing on the bag pipes. It was quite a touching moment to see this men collecting in memory of their collegues and I found it quite shocking how few people wore a Poppy. Every news reader or television presenter wears one, but how many of your average Joe's has one?

So today we honour each and every one of the Men & Women that have and still do work on in honour of our country and brave their lives in order to protect our way of life. The fact that Gordon Brown then just signs half of our rights away without a referendum is another matter entirely.

Meanwhile the weather has turned wintery. The leaves have fallen and the cold has set in. It makes waking up and getting ready in the mornings so much harder. It is barely light by 7AM as I leave for work. I am determined that I will not gain weight this winter and will keep up my excercise routine, although I do confess I had a week off last week as my work load had me at the office until almost 730PM a couple of times last week.

Saturday with a real nip in the air I decided against going out cooked a nice meal for the two of us and enjoyed a quiet night in.

Meanwhile the bar in our complex that opened just over a year ago closed without warning last week. You could tell it was going to happen. The place was simply always empty. The recession litterally happened just after it opened and in truth, it was simply in the wrong place. Why would I choose to go and sit in a bar 50 feet from my front door and pay £5 for a glass of wine when I can invite my friends into the flat and enjoy a bottle. It didn't help that during the summer months they insisted on having a band or Disc Jockey on Saturday's and Sunday's. Being posistioned directly below the flats and facing our building and two others, I like many others were annoyed at the noise blasting out as late as Midnight on a Sunday Evening. I can't help but think that with that being the second one to close the whole idea of a restaurant / cafe in a residential complex is not such a good idea. Meanwhile the shop is a complete con. The bottles of wine are at least £2 more than I pay in the shop just outside the complex and considering the owners have just bought a new Lexus, don't think I will frequent their store while they are charging through the nose. How nice it would be to have a M&S Food where the bar used to live. After all, if people will pay those sort of prices for a Quickymart, they would clearly pay for M&S. We can but hope eh?

With one month to go until my software launch, I have a feeling I will be rather busy at work for the next few weeks. Watch this space. Happy November.

If they sack scientists for telling the truth, why should we believe them?

Last weeks news that the Home Secretary fired the Governments advisor for revealing the truth over drugs and their dangers.

What baffles me the most is that this is the scientist they hired to guide them on policy but because the findings happened to be that the use of Alcohol and Tobacco is far worse than certain drugs was fired. Surely this simply proves that they are are ignoring the facts of science in place of putting policy's first.

This has baffled me when later the same day I see a Government paid for advertisement about the Government guidelines as to how much one should drink in any week. Well as the news plays over about Professor Nutt's sacking I thought to myself, why should I or anyone listen to them? After all they don't listen to what the scientists say if they don't agree with it. It is like being told as a child "Don't do that" and your inquisitive little mind would ask "Why?", only be told "Because I said so". It simply proves that this Government doesn't have the balls to discuss sensitive subjects and will simply brush it under the carpet. Pretend it doesn't exist.

I would like to say back to the Government that the more that the reason people drink more and more these days is simply because they can. They enjoy getting drunk and being able to forget their lives because in truth, its no easy place out there. In the bustle of a metropolis like London where you daily commute of six miles can take an hour each way in cramped carriages. When the majority of your income goes to the Exchequer in a tax of sorts. Be it income tax, VAT, or the 80% tax on fuel or Tobacco. It's an expensive place. The levels of stress are high and alcohol is an escape for many. I kid you not, I enjoy a glass of red wine too. But if I want to enjoy a bit more than a glass on the odd occasion that's for me to decide and not Government policy thank you very much. Like it should have been my choice to vote on a referendum on us adopting the new EU treaty. But unlike our fellow Irishmen we were given no such chance.

Meanwhile as they merge us further into Europe I read that the EU now wants to stop us having the right to return faulty goods to shops? When did the EU actually represent the people? Rather than the Eurocrats?

Meanwhile I would like to suggest that the route of the violent problems caused by binge drinking is down to a simple fact. There is no discipline anymore. You have changed the rules so much that teachers have no respect. The kids get away with whatever they want at school. Take a journey by train into London's West End during half term and there are kids everywhere. You will see them on the trains, scribing gravity, being rowdy and disrespect full. I spotted some at Liverpool Street playing around on a custodians golf buggy. A Police Officer asked them what they were doing and they just laughed at him. No respect even for a police officer. No wonder there is a break down in the values of young people today. But then if they get no respect at home, they are not made to show their respect at school and lets be honest, nobody seriously respects Gordon Brown and his policies is there any respect at all? Furthermore, is it possible to return respect to Britain after so long? I like many are pro the return of National Service. Bring back discipline in the schools. Did it harm anyone in my years at school to be threatened with a caning if you stepped beyond the line? The most a teacher can do these days is put you in detention. They can't even expel a child these days as "Exclusion is not fair". Talk about softening the standards. Meanwhile each child leaves school with an A or A* because they can't possibly show a child that they are failing. The schools dare not get a bad grad and slip on the results league and the government has invested billions more on providing an education that results in them not being able to read or write but they all gained the best possible grades? Perhaps rather than sack the scientists and people they hire to offer them facts they might listen. But then that would be too sensible wouldn't it?

Strike On!

Its official, the pickets are out and once again the Royal Mail workers are on strike.
A walk out of between 24 and 48 hours.

I don't know all of the details. The workers are unhappy about the forthcoming changes to their contracts as the company desperately tries to modernise in order to compete in the 21st Century when snail mail is no longer the primary means of communication.

The reasons for needing to modernise and streamline are clear. They are delivering some 10,000,000 letters per day less than they were several years ago and this is a trend that is continuing to decline. So with a falling base of customers and as more and more of us switch to electronic bills and switch the green option of paperless, how can the Royal Mail business Model continue to exist long in to the future?

They are planning the biggest hike in the price of postage in its history with a 3 pence per First Class letter rise coming very soon. But with such a decrease in customers surely revenue will be falling as fast as the price increase adjusts.

Meanwhile, without modernisation the company is in a very bad place. The workers blaming the management, the management blaming the customers. Who is to blame? The Government for not interfering? As much as I feel sorry for the workers, to strike when there is so much unemployment in the country, in excess of 2.5 million workers desperate for a job, seems to be a bit off key. For over a year now we have been saying that things look like they are heading towards a winter of discontent. People are fed up with high inflation, but poor wage rises and yet still being taxed to the nth degree. With the highest cost of living in Europe old England is far from cheap. People that work at the Royal mail in the delivery offices and posting the letters will not be on the highest of salaries, but provide what I always believe should be considered an essential service.

The mail, like dustmen, the provision of electricity, water provision and infrastructure as well as transportation services are all necessities of the modern world and as such I think something that should be provided and run by the Government. We have however learned the hard way that at least in this country they couldn't organise a drink up in a Brewery.

Failed Metronet after the Government sold off the rights to run the tube, the highest electricity and gas prices in Europe after they sold off all the utilities and yet despite selling everything off they managed to dig a hole of dept that is currently 59% of GDP. What did they do with all the cash? Probably paid it to themselves in handsome little expenses packages.

Meanwhile, the Royal Mail strike continues and we hear that the Government is keen to sell the entire service off. They continue to strike, business customers leave in abundance for rival courier services and incidentally they have a pension deficit of between £9 and £10 Billion. Now while I may feel sorry for the workers at their grievances, who's going to want to buy a company of striking workers with £10 Billion dept. The Baby Boomers have struck us all again with yet another cost no doubt we will be left to pick up. Of course there is another option, Royal mail will fold. 25 years ago the miners were on strike and where are the miners now?

Time with the folkes

This week was to be a packed agenda of training and more training. I don’t think I barely have a day without any training until November at least. So knowing that my energy reserves would be required for the delegates in the training room, decided that the weekend needed to be less than energetic.

Saturday afternoon, having enjoyed a lovely lie in I made my way in the car around the North Circular and stopped off at Edmonton for a quick fly around Costco. It wasn’t that I so much needed anything but its always good to wander around and see what kind of deals and bargains you can find. We all love a bargain don’t we? Plus I managed to find the CrockerPot Slow Cooker at some £25 less than they were charging in Sainsbury’s.

From Costco I took the short drive down through the Abbey to my parents home where not only were they waiting in for me but also my Brother, Sister in Law, Nephew and Cousin. My newphew is not yet 2 years old and hardly knows me as every time I am at family events all of the girls fuss around and the boys never get a see in. So he stood there and looked at me with these eyes that were all inquisitive and almost saying “Who the heck are you?”. Of course he remembers the fabulous airplane I bought him at Christmas that he can sit on, which apparently was his favourite Christmas gift.

It was good to see the folks again. I almost felt obliged to go as it has been so long since I saw them last.

Came home around 7PM and spent the rest of the night at home.
Sunday I only made my way out of the flat to put the rubbish out and to nip very quickly to Sainburys to buy some Stewing Steak and rooted vegetables. Well I needed to try out the new Crockerpot right? Needless to say the slow cooked stew was divine. Must try a lamb shank next time.

Domestic Godess

This week is my final opportunity to prepare all of the materials for my new Portfolio Management course at work. Being prepared that I might need to work a few late nights I thought I should have a quiet weekend. Literally only going to Sainsburys and then having a complete domestic day on Sunday. Dug out a couple of cooking books and found a lovely recipe in the new Jamie Oliver one for Marinated Chicken (left it in the fridge overnight) and then made some dauphinois potatoes to go with them. Yummy. It's been a long while since I spent a Sunday at home cooking, possibly the whole of the summer, so that must be a good thing about winter drawing in. Back to home cooked hearty meals.

Meeting with my personal trainer on Thursday she worked my upper body so hard by Saturday I could hardly move my arms. Where I usually would do a full body workout on a Saturday had to skip that and let my arms recover. Back to the usual workout routine this week. Bigger by Christmas in all the right places we hope.

Football Streaming

This weekends International match will be shown exclusively via the internet and not any television channels, subject to a pay per view charge. Apparantly it has caused uproar amongst fans who like to watch either at home or in a pub. Not being a fan of the beautifull game, it doesn't affect me. But surely this is the furture. Television on demand, for a fee, via the web.

Imagine, the concert you couldn't get a ticket to being streamed live, for a fee to your home. It could be fabulous for all those things that we don't get a chance to see. Watching the reaction on the news fans were moaning that its not practical to sit around a computer screeen for the duration of a game. Funny I am sure it didn't stop you when you were viewing porn?

I wonder if one day movies might be released simultaniously in the theatres as well as broadcast on television? We rarely go to the movies anymore. Not because we don't want to see what's on, but because the thought of sharing the theatre with people chatting, cell phoness and disrespectful people means sometimes its not an enjoyable experience and something you prefer to do at home. Well see what happens in time. I have read in a magazine that by 2012 bandwith demand will outstrip supply. That's the funny thing about the furture, you just can't predict it.

What happened to education?

Its funny how so much can change in so little time. I didn't leave school that long ago but it was a time when only a handful of students got grade A. We didn't even have an A* grade. G.C.S.E's were bought in with the first year taking their exams in 1988. It was a time when the teachers were always on strike. They refused to mark your homework and you often had a day off school as the National Union of Teachers were on strike. Add to this a handful of bomb scares made even more realistic by the constant threat of the time of attacks from the IRA and it seemed that education in the late 1980s meant you had to work hard to get decent grades. We always insisted that GCSE actually stood for General Collapse in Secondary Education. How little we knew at the time.

Today something like 95% of students are achieving A's and A*'s. Now I’m not saying that the kids of today don't study but surely if 95% of students are getting the top grades then surely you are not making the exams hard enough? I often hear at work about the problems they have finding young people that can actually read, write or have a basic competence of Maths. The invention of Text Messages seems to have removed any ability to spell and dropping or substituting any letter. E.g. Alrigt m8 wot u upto?

We have an admission test at work of English, Maths & general competency. It does make you wonder what will happen when all of these young people come up to the age of being ready for employment? Will the world be able to understand their slang?

Meanwhile, University which used to be something that people that wanted to go into professions like Law, Teaching, Medicine. Today it seems they have opened up the Universities so that there is a place for nearly every student. It no longer seems to be a privilege but more a right of all these young people to go. Which is fair enough if they are going to go and learn and leave with a degree of worthwhile, but makes you wonder, do so many go to University now as they all got the required A Grades because they dummed down the exams so much that anyone could get in.

It has gotten so bad that Private Schools have opted out of the GCSE system and switched to the International GCSE (IGCSE) as they are harder.

Does make you wonder was all this done to simply get more people into study and off the unemployed list and therefore off the current statistics? Time will tell but from my own experience with GCSEs many years ago I'm all for bringing back O levels.

Autumnal Break

As the Home Office have still not returned our passports while we are extending Dusan’s visa and his right to remain in the UK (Despite the fact we are married), we had to go away on a domestic break. (The Home Office have had the passports over 3 months now and took the £800 fee in July. It still feels like we are trapped in the UK especially over the summer months).

So we had a week off at home. I know they say it’s good for the environment and admittedly it was cheaper. We spent the first part of the week literally just shopping and enjoying a much needed lie in. Especially as starting today I will be teaching virtually every day of the month. We ended the week off with a mini break to Torquay. England’s Riviera. I have no idea who came up with that as a phrase for Torquay, it was more like Skegness. A small bay side town with a strip of shops and then rising above it some hills where literally every other home was a small hotel.
We had seen advertised a new “Gay Resort” called Key West. Which drew us to the area in the first place. It was a small 19 room hotel that looked like the bedrooms had been recently refurbished. It was very Hollyoak’s looking with that kind of funky feature wall wallpaper. But had the sort of electric power shower that the hotter your made it, the lower the pressure would drop.

The features included an outdoor pool, which was almost on the main road, and a newly built, sauna & Steam Complex. We had thought we would end up going out for dinner then maybe a nice steam or spa in the hotel. The advert failed to mention that the spa was “under construction” and that the entire sauna complex closed at 9PM. Seemed a bit weird as it was a hotel resort and who really arrives early on a Friday?

But the biggest turn off to me was the lack of hospitality. We had to go to the bar on arrival as reception was closed and was given our key and told where to find our room. But then in the morning Dusan was in the shower when one of the owners came by and asked if we needed our room serviced. I said we would be ten minutes as Dusan was showering. “We don’t come back”, he snapped. Talk about offish!
You would have thought that considering that they are restricting their market to a “Strictly gay resort” they would be going out of their way to offer something a bit different. If it were me, Hospitality would be top of the list, and I nearly replied to his “We don’t come back”, with a “neither will we”. Especially as they bar was pumping out loud music that came directly through into the bedrooms each night till past midnight.

All in all it was very disappointing as we had much higher expectations and at £80 per night, far from cheap. As for a gay resort, well if a bar and a closed sauna complex make it a resort fine, but next time I want a gay weekend I think I will check into a Mal Maison or a Hotel de Vin where you really are treated, hospitality is outstanding and is almost about the same price with an option of room service or full dining service in their Bistro. Maybe the owners of the Toquay hotel would benefit from a stay in one if they hope to survive in business. I fear bad word of mouth will drive people away as it did us. Although the room was compfortable enough it was very basic.

On a positive note, it was nice to get away, the weather was fairly warm and we found a fabulous Mexican restaurant where we dined Saturday evening. Drove back in 5 hours yesterday and opened the bottle of Champagne Richard and Mark bought us (Thank you) for our holiday. Top the week off in style before heading back to the rat race this morning!

Cage au Folles

What better to do on a week off other than visit the theatre. So thanks to James at work we had front row seats to Cage au Folles. I tell you I do pick my seats well! Why is it that the woman next to me always laughs ten times more than anyone else?

Still we sat and watched the fabulous John Barrowman as the leading man or should I say lady, in the fabulous show. I don't know what it is about live entertainment that makes you just love it. Live music, live singing and comedy to boot.

The sad fact is that the drag queens on stage had bigger arm muscles than I! Memo to me I must go to the gym more. Stil was a fun a night and another show ticked off the list! ;-)

Day out with Fanny

Being friends since we were practically kids, Fanny grew up in the house opposite my parents. If two childhood friendships ever were meant to be, it was us. So today was a definite yes when Fanny asked if I would join her for a meal.

We met at Liverpool Street Station at 2:00PM and made our way to Bond Street. Fanny hadn't told me where we were going but made me aware of the street. Not seeing Albermarle Street on the tube map we were stuffed so jumped back on the tube to Green Park. Thankfully finding the street we needed. Why I didn't think about getting a taxi I will never know, we were caught up in the moment of catching up.

Our destination was Browns hotel in Mayfair (www.brownshotel.com) apparently it's London's oldest hotel. Where we had a reservation for afternoon tea.

They sat us at our table with its fine white linen and napkin embossed with the letter B. Then having chosen our choice of tea were presented with a cake stand full of sandwiches, scones and desserts. The waiter naturally bought seconds of anything we required and we were soon stuffed full of everything. The clotted cream and home made Strawberry Jam was particularly yummy. By the time they wheeled around the trolley with the Victoria Sponge and the Dundee cake we were just about stuffed.

I decided to take Fanny on a walk through Berkely Square to the Punchbowl. A pub owned by Guy Richie & Madonna until their divorce. Where we had a nice glass of wine. It would have been nicer if the pub didn't seem to be filled with school children aged around 10. Inside a pub?

Finally we made our way back to the tube and said our goodbyes. Fanny is off to travel once more - heading to Sri Lanka and a hot winter. Once we had said our goodbye's she texted me to say I was not my usual chatty self? I guess it's down to the fact that I feel envious, wish I was going and want to travel too. But as she replied in her next text, Dreams do come true but only to those that make things happen. May all your dreams come true but one. Why? Because if they all come true, what do you have to dream of?

Shop till you drop!

With a week off there are so many chores and things that I had on my list to do. Sadly the list is now shrinking as the time seems to pass so fast but the lie in and rest has been very welcome and the sleep gained has been much needed.

Yesterday we woke fairly early, up by 09:00, ready to head out on a shopping bonanza. Heading through the Blackwall tunnel then down the A13 all the way to the Lakeside shopping centre. Fear not, we went simply for Ikea & Costco and not for the shopping centre. Nothing you could pay me would make me want to shop at Lakeside when I can nip accross the river and shop in the far nicer Bluewater.

We nipped initially into Ikea for a spot of lunch. Their meatballs and cranberry are quite divine, then we needed to nip and check out the different mattresses and the difference in feel in memory foam between soft, medium and hard.

Having tested the matresses we made our way around the marketplace. Finding a new plant, that would look perfect in the lounger, along with some other bits and bobs. There is just something about the Ikea marketplace that means you simply have to buy something. We loaded our goods into the car and nipped into B&Q to return the over the door hooks we had bought on Monday. Seems a bit bizare to me that the only size over the door hooks are 40mm and no bigger. Not one of my doors is only 40mm thick. So we took back the over the door and bought some new style ones for the bathroom and the lounge.


From there we walked accross to Costco. It really does remind me of being in the USA. Especially when you can buy Kirkland Brand which is exactly the same as in the U.S. It's not as cheap as it is over there but it's still cheaper than Sainsburys. Plus I needed to buy a present for my nephew who is fast approaching his second birthday. I am always able to find great gifts at Costco for a 2 year old.

Once we left the Lakeside area, crossed the bridge and parked at Bluewater we had several things on our list. New work trousers for Dusan, new flat screen television and then a new phone for me. Well I got the phone. We spent ages in John Lewis looking at televisions and finding one we liked when we noticed they had some that were less than 10mm thick. I needed to research the technology online before making such a major purchase. We need a High Definition TV so we make the switch over to a High Definition Sky box. Well we are gay. We need to be at the cutting edge of technology right?

I did at least replace my lost phone. Where the other went 2 weeks ago I have no idea! It was in the flat when I decided to mop in the bathroom and can only think it either went into the bin or down the toilet pan. Crazy. Thankfully some numbers I have saved on a spreadsheet on my computer, but just to be sure, please send me a text and include your full name in it so I know who it is. Ironically some names, Steve for example, I have 10 in my phone.

Ended the shopping in Marks & Spencer as I needed a spot of White Wine to make French onion soup with and Dusan spotted an adult size "Cloak" and Vampire uniform with the fast approaching Halloween season. There was something funny and drawing about it that just made everyone want to own it. Even the girls at the checkout said how cool it was that they were making adult sizes in costumes. It reminded me of fun times in the wee hours of the day shopping at Wal-Mart in Orlando some 15 years ago. Good times.

Arrived home around 1830 and was felt like we shopped till we dropped. The plant now is potted, the phone is charging and our holiday is partially over.

Coming up Lunch with Fanny who is about to head off another Worldwide travel adventure.

Labour Party Conference - do they listen to nobody?

Watching Alistaire Darling speaking at the labour annual conference you can really see the problem with the Labour Party is that they simply don't listen to anyone. They are all praising themselves for all that they have done for the country and claim its all good. Hello, what about the biggest debt mountain that the country has ever known outside of war time. They seem to think that the way out of the recession is growth but when will they learn that endless growth is not a possible factor. You can't continue to grow and grow. Our land is getting now bigger, resources are not countless.

Perhaps if they had saved some money when times were good they would have had more money to see us through the bad times.

Meanwhile they think that capping bonus's on bankers bonus will stop problems in the finance industry. The only thing that will likely happen is that the good staff will move abroad. Considering how much of our GDP is the finance industry - forcing people away hardly seems like a great idea.

Meanwhile did the Social Democrats want to tax all homes valued over £1 Million, which while is a high end bracket, surely we all want to work and save to buy a nice home. It seems the harder you work in this land the more they take off you in taxes.

Still 2 pluses. I am off work all week (Horrah) and there is an election coming. Sure they will try and talk us around but with an election due in the spring, who knows what will happen by then. I just know I don't trust them at all.

Week off, with not much planned. Some shopping a show and enjoying a lie in every day. I managed to sleep till noon today - quite fabulous. Needed a recharged before I start to train the masses almost every day next month. Before then its time for me to hit the gym and also give my credit card a work out :-)

If at first you don't succeed try, try again!

Well that it was that say isn't it? If you don't try first time, keep trying. Of course it's far easier said than done when the alarm sounds at 5AM and you have to get out of bed and head to the gym. But I came home early, ate and am now about to go and shower, shave, do all the things I would need to do in the morning so I am ready.

We will see if I manage to get up early tomorrow when the alarm sounds.

Work today was one of those days where one minute it was five to eight and then before I knew it it was gone 5:30pm. I had a meeting and loads of work to plow my way through and am eager to get as much done as I can before my week off. How blissfull to think that I can have 9 days with a lie in. Last time we were off I somehow managed to sleep till almost noon or beyond every day we didn't have a tour on the agenda.

So it's goodnight from me as I hope I can squeeze the gym in first thing. I really do! Wish me luck.

Morning vs Evening workout

When do you workout? First thing before work? During the day? After work before going home? I tend to do the latter on most occasions. But my Personal Trainer usually meets me at 7AM at the gym. I find it really hard to get up that extra hour early, but once the alarm sounds and I bound out of bed I am fine. The nice thing is that you get a seat on the train and tube and it just feels fresher and cleaner travelling without so many other people around.

Despite the fact that I was not due to meet Trish this morning I went to bed early and set the alarm for 5AM. Planning to go to the gym from 645 - 745 and still make it to the office on time. Of course when I woke up at 2AM and then again at 4AM I decided that having not had a full nights sleep the extra hour in bed would be required. I guess it's the fact that I am not meeting Trish there and that I "don't have to", that makes it that much harder to get up early. But as I have plans to see people Tuesday & Wednesday this week I think the morning will be the only chance I do get to go to the gym.

Meanwhile I have started on the Protein Supplement Shakes, assured that the newes are now low carb and high Protein. You know I actually feel that my arms and shoulders are getting bigger. I know my waistband is getting smaller. Nothing fits. So the down side of all this excercise melarky is that I need a new set of outfits. Good job I love shopping eh?

Catch up!

Well it seems like it's been ages since I wrote last. I don’t know where the time has gone? The days seem to be flying past and it’s officially the first day of autumn on the 22nd. It seems like the summer came and went (Did you miss it too?) I think I was off that day. It’s weird, the weather seems to avoid us now. We get warmer weather but the sun doesn’t shine so much. It just gets hot and humid and rather wet.

Still the summer has flown and maybe because we have been so busy. Last weekend I went to XXL with my friend David from work. It was fun. I don’t tend to drink too much when I go to a club but we had a fun night. I also did a good workout at the gym. So come Sunday and Soho Live (Formerly Soho Pride) I was so tired from my workout and then up till gone 5:00AM that I decided I didn’t have the energy for Soho Live and stayed home. In particular as we had tickets with Richard & Mark to go to the Greenwich Comedy Festival.

The show was in a marquee in the grounds of the Naval College and was hosted by the very fabulous Jo Brand. Jo compared between acts and talked for about 20 minutes, making us laugh before the first act. A fellow lady who was really funny. Had us all laughing up to the interval and a 20 minute break. Time to grab a Cider and pop to the loo. The second act was a dutch guy who came on and within minutes you could tell this guy wasn’t going to be funny. He reminded me of Jim Carey just being foolish on the stage. As his act went on and on there appeared to be only 1 woman that was enjoying it who unfortunately was sat next to Mark. She was practically wetting herself with laughter at every word out of his mouth while Richard and I sat there gobsmacked at what she was finding so hilarious. When his act started to be anti religion the audience were sick of his dull act. You started to hear “Boo, get off”. This soon became contagious and soon we found ourselves jeering. He was not funny and had become offensive. It was a shame as we were enjoying our evening in good company.

Dusan meanwhile, had worked lots of shifts and had done a double and an early and then was at the show and fell asleep during the show. How does he manage to fall asleep during a live performance? I know I did it once at Wicked but it was after a very long week of travel. Still he slept through half the show and was rather grouchy wanting to go home. When the awful act ended Jo Brand returned to stage to lighten the matter, but it was too late for many. There was a mass exodus and as it was gone 10:00 we bailed too.

Somehow despite coming home early and a fairly early night I couldn’t sleep all night. I was awake from 4:00AM and this then meant I was shattered by the time I made it to work. That was the catalyst for a long week. I couldn’t recover from lack of rest and had to cancel the gym Monday and Tuesday. Rest would be best. Returning to the gym on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. I managed to give myself a complete body workout and have started on the Protein Supplements now. Hopefully I will get really nice and buff soon.

Saturday was Jaspers 2010 Spring/Summer Collection at the London Fashion Week. He had kindly invited me to go and see his show held on the Strand on Saturday morning. Having heard from Neil Sexton how hard he had been working on it, it was nice to go along and support him and see the show. My first at London Fashion Week. Plus you get to see all the things that will be the future of fashion. A double bonus was seeing the lovely Bree, Enrique and Quintin from Gaydar Towers.
Post show I made my way to the gym and managed a really good workout. I had hoped to go to Jaspers after party but by the time I got home and ate and sat to wacth TV I found myself dozing off, waking in time to see Daniel Craig (Phwoarr) in Casino Royale, opening some nice wine and ironing all of my shirts so a job was done.
Five days to go and I have a week off work (at home), to chill and catch up on all those other things you never have time to do.

Winter will soon be upon us and Sainsbury’s today had Halloween merchandise everywhere. They will soon be switching on the lights on Oxford Street for Christmas. Till then, Goodnight! 

Project Delay

Yesterday, as I gear up towards my software launch at the bank I found out yesterday that it seems that our launch date in November has been moved back to December. The good news, my boss believes, will be that I will get an extension on my contract for another month which will mean I have work now right up to Christmas. I think that if I have a week off in the next month or so I should be nice and rereshed and ready for the challenge. It will certainly be a relief to not have to look for a job in the run up to Christmas.

Hopefully nearer then there may be an opportunity to go permanent. Though they may offer me another contract or if all else fails we have other options. I quite fancy going travelling for a bit, seeing some of the World that we never have a chance or the time to get to visit and it will also give me a chance to finish off decorating the appartment. I figure that I only need to buy the TV, have the bedroom fitted units built and TV hung on the wall and we are about ready to rent it out if we so choose.

The are telling us that today will be a high of 27 degrees (80 deg F). Now that's an Indian summer. It's feeling mighty fresh and cold this morning mind. Fingers crossed we have a nice warm September and the cold of winter is at bay for a good 4 to 6 weeks further.

Bluewater lunch & trains are screwed

Having not seen Steph for some months we arranged on Saturday to meet up for lunch at Bluewater on Saturday. I often forget exactly how close Bluewater is to my home. I think the clock Ometer read about 18 miles and I got there in under thirty minutes.
We sat outside in the glorious sunshine and enjoyed some bubbles and a lovely long lunch before spending the rest of the afternoon slowly wandering around the mall to catch up. As always it was lovely to see Steph again.

Saturday night, it was about 7PM before I even got home so chilled on the couch for a few hours taking a shower and heading off to XXL for a few hours. Sometimes I have that feeling where I just want to stay on the couch most of the weekend but other weekends I feel I am sick of staying in and have to go out. The club was far less busy than it was last weekend but about 20 minutes after I arrived I ran into Gavin & Martin. Not seen either of them in over a year and spent the rest of the night hanging out with them. Both are really sweet men and had a great night till about 3AM. Knowing that Dusan was working early on Sunday and would be home by then I made my way home before it was too late.

Sunday Dusan kissed me goodbye at 8AM and headed off to work. Without an alarm set I fell straight back to sleep and was quite surprised when I finally woke and the clock radio read that it was already 2PM. Too late to go out and definitely too late to make my way all the way into town to the gym. Instead decided to cook a nice meal and clean the appartment a bit.

Meanwhile, is anyone else getting fed up with watching the news. Does Gordon Brown bug anyone else as much as he seems to bug me. Everytime I see his mutt on television I am reminded of a British Bulldog crossed with an English Bully. He doesn't seem to have a clue as to what the people think and feel. They seem so grossly out of touch with real life and the latest scandle now the U-Turn over UK IRA bombing victims not being allowed to pursue Libya for compensation as it "would not be in Britains best interest". I have to point out to Mr Brown that nothing seems to be in the interest of the people of Britain. How about the toll at Dartford that was supposed to be free once the cost of the QE II bridge was completed. Yet instead of being free increased in price 50% recently. Or the 3 pence per litre increase his incompetent government has added to petrol hiking the cost of living even higher.

Steph and I discussed a lot of things on Saturday but near the top of the agenda was the fact that we both saw no future in Britain long term. When the government seems to be out of touch and care more about being Politically Correct than the cares or rights of the people they are supposed to serve while taxing us to death. I realised long ago that no matter what you earn in this country you will always work to feed your mouth, no matter what you earn. It all goes on taxes and cost of living in what has become ever more rip off Britain.

Meanwhile - Midland London Trains failed yesterday to run a train service. Over 1200 trains were cancelled all over the country as the "new contract" stated that working Sunday is no longer compulsory and is on a voluntary basis. Apparantly not 1 driver wanted to volunteer so no trains ran. They should snatch back their francise and stop them from running the service. Other train providers have hiked their fares 50% over the weekend for off peak services. Tell me exactly how having francises works in the peoples interest. How can one say I wont take London Midland when they are the only services between certain areas. How are we supposed to have decent services for a fair price when each of these francises has to pay the government Billions of Pounds in liscense fees for a service that should be state provided and subsidised in order to encourage people off the roads and onto public transport. Makes me realise more and more this country is a joke.

One bit of good news is that the weather looks like it will at least be nice this week.

Till next time - keep well and Happy Labour Day.

Then the tax increases began...

We all knew it wouldn't be long. That those in Government had borrowed way beyond their needs but the tax increases have now started already.

From midnight last night another 2 pence per liter has been added to petrol. What makes it even more ridiculous is that they then charge you V.A.T. on top of the tax they already levy. The average liter is now about £1.07 with around 70p going to the treasury. WTF! Why can we not levy taxes enough to keep the country running without the charging us over the top in other areas.

Do they not realise that putting tax on fuel increases the cost of everything you buy as delivery costs increase accordingly. Everything is cheaper in America because they have cheaper fuel. Every increase in petrol puts up food, clothes, drink and everything from Jeans to Jean Paul Gautier.

Despite the fact we are still in the middle of a recession they are also adding £15 per journey as airport tax. Not that we don't have the highest taxes in the world on travel as it is, now they are adding even more to it.

It just feels like everything you enjoy, a glass of wine, a drop of Bourbon or a nice little trip to a sunny beach, they tax heavily. Meanwhile they seem to be borrowing £30 Billion per month more than they have in revenues to pay for ever increasing services.

The answer is simple. Cut back. Of course they want to increase MPs own pay and despite the biggest deficit in public spending in the UK ever known are still refusing to say that there will be spending cuts? Hello! You can't afford it. You need to cut back on all spending. I still can't see how them bailing the banks out has helped the country. Its not like they are lending. The bank of Englands quantitive easing is only buying bank stocks, again not helping the familiies in this country.

Just drives me mad the more they tax us and meanwhile they wonder why the young people are turning to drink? I used to think it was because they are bored. Who wouldn't be? Half of them don't work and with nearly 3 million unemployed the youth are far from going to find a job very soon. Why would they when a single parent family with more than one child can earn more than a person working hard for over 40 hours per week.

The reason people drink is they are sick of this country. Sick of low prospects if they are unemployed. Sick of the Government taking the complete Pee out of us all with their expenses to name but one of their mad scams. The youth drink to help them forget. The old would drink if they could afford it but their entire pension goes on Council tax and electricity bills because both have doubled and meanwhile the fat cats in Power are borrowing billions more. Something wrong there. Isnt it time they put the people first? Instead of just caring about lining their own pockets?

Would we better with a new Governemnt? I can't think we could be any worse off. It does appear now they released the Lockerbie bomber due to an oil trade agreement! Corruption to the core? Makes me feel sick.

Vauxhall Tavern

Last Sunday spent with Neil sexton at the RVT.

Leather XXL

Blissfull start to the weekend. Both Dusan and I were off so no need for that alarm to even be set. Didn't I make the most of it. The first I knew of Saturday was waking up a little after 2PM. Fabulous. Now that's what I call a sleep in. 12 hours of sleep in one go, that's fantastic.

Set me up ready for a a later night set to come.

Instead of actually making it to the gym, our friend Richard came over for an hour we both got on the cleaning gear and scrubbed and cleaned and shinned.

Made our way to XXL for 1130PM and wasn't sure if it would either be packed or quiet due to the holiday weekend. You can never tell. With so much on it could be packed or alternatively it could be heaving with everyone off on Monday. It was the latter, packed to capacity. Bumped into Steve & Mark whom I have not seen since David's 40th Birthday lunch so was nice to catch up with them. Had a fun night though ended up going to bed a little latter than I had hoped.

Dusan had to be at work at 11AM so we didn't stay too late but by the time I finally got to sleep it was after 5AM. Poor love headed off this morning and I was still sound asleep. Feeling guilty now that I have not made it to the gym since Friday. I think I will head there now and do some weights to make up for it.

Still waiting on our passports from the home office. Nearly been six weeks. Beginning to feel trapped having spent the entire summer in the UK and not being able to book a single trip till they return. Hoping they will come this week. Fingers crossed.

Happy Bank Holiday weekend.

Where is the part time Prime Minister?

It would seem that the Prime Minister or as my friend calls him Gordon Clown, has dissapeared.

As soon as Michael Jackson died, he made a comment. He commented on Tom Daley's amazing success at diving almost immediately, and he was there to congratulate Susan Boyle on televisions X Factor. Where is he now after one of the most riduculous cases of justice ever known to the United Kingdom?

Scotlands decision to release the Lockerbie Bomber on compashionate leave hardly seems to be very compashionate to the 270 families of the poor people that died after the that dreadfull day when a bomb exploded on a Pan Am flight.

Surely there is a huge difference between freeing the Ronnie Biggs the Great Train Robber, whom never kiled anyone and someone who murdered 270 blessed Souls.

The annoucement and release is made and Brown simply dissapears. You can't choose when to be Prime Minister. It reminds me of the death of our dear loved Princess Diana and the awful way that the Royal's, at the time, hid at Balmoral instead of facing the public and speaking out. It caused the people to turn against the Royals. One can only hope this latest blunder will cause the same for the Clown Brown.

May the people remember that you signed away our constitutional rights in the European Charter without the referendum you promised us sir. You have dug us into a £800 Billion debt mountain yet claimed to be the chancellor that ended the boom and bust. You call £800 Billion the end of Bust? It's only tyhe beginning sir. Oh and you agreed to giving up the European Rebate that Margarette Thatcher negotiated on our EU Membership. Not only did you give that up? Why sir, Why? But our membership to the EU has now risen by £2 Billion. What do we, the British get for our money? We have a Clown as the head of Government and his in hiding. I have to ask, what is the point of the man who waited his whole life to be PM and turned out he couldn't do the job.

When it comes to election day I hope and pray that the people remember all of your unforgivable blunders.

Now we face trade embargoes as countries like the United States turn against the UK for their decision to release the Lockerbie Bomber. It doesnt matter that we have devolution, its all still the UK. Starting to remind me of the election campaign when I was still at school and the cover of a tabloid newspaper that said "If Labour win, would the last person to leave the country please turn off the lights".

Leeds weekend

Last weekend was officially Alex & Mikey's house warming in Leeds. Alex has lived up there for over a year now. I don't know what prompted the move. One minute he was living & working in Basingstoke the next he was moving to Leeds.

I don't think I shall ever understand why? Sure his got a bigger house than he could afford in London but has to subsitute for it lifestyle. Mikey then lost his job due to redundancy last month and has now also moved to Leeds to be with Alex and to work for their company as Managing Director. One can of course understand that Mikey would move due to the fact that he can earn from working for his own company that is based in Leeds. But I don't quite understand how he will ever cope with not being in the capital? Its so provincial. The gay scene consists of a number of small bars or clubs that are very mixed. I only went out for an hour and met David N for a drink pre going to the party. The gay bar we went to was half okay. I wouldnt say it really floated my boat but it was okay. But the real problem in the provinces is not so much the small scene but the fact that "Hen night" seem to think its acceptable to go to gay clubs or bars as a novelty. Hello people. We are not a freak show. Its not like going to see the Zoo. Ooh look at all the gays. Don't they look funny? We choose to go to a gay bar to be around other gay people. Not some cackly group of girls wearing learner plates or wearing fancy dress that think its acceptable to go to a gay club on a hen do. Its not. What on earth were Labour thinking by making it illegal to ban people based on sexuality? In the good old days you couldnt get into heaven without passing Jules, the Lesbian on the door. I took Emily once who had to pretend she was a lesbian.

Don't get me wrong. I don't have a problem with straight people. I just have a problem with the gay scene being ruined by it not being gay anymore.

Take Canal Street for example. No gay person in Manchester goes there anymore as the gays are gone. Its full of hen do's and straights there to see it. Whats the point in a gay club with no gays? We do, after all, go there to be with other gays. Thankfully our faveourite club is men only. Hen nights are not a problem.

The party at Alex & Mikeys was fun. I actually expected more people. Alex stopped us playing Karaoke at 11PM, even on Quiet. Despite the fact that most of the neighbouring flats were empty. It seems that the recession indeed is very much a northern thing. You don't notice it in London so much. Flats don't remain empty long, especially where we live. I guess its down to a supply and demand thing.

Stayed in Leeds till Monday and went on Monday with Alex for a fabulous luncheon at Harvey Nicholls. Came home Monday evening and you would think that it would have been a nice easy week with only having a 4 day working week. Sadly not.

Rested much of the weekend and visited nan in Hospital twice. Considering she is 88 years old and had heart surgery and is already ready to leave today.

Hopefully the Home Office will return our passports soon. I feel like I need to take a nice long weekend somewhere warm. Its getting to that stage where 2 days off at a weekend does not quite fully recharge the batterys.

The Woman in Black

My team booked a few months ago to go and see the West End play, The Woman in Black, in Covent Garden. Seems like we booked months ago but it soon came around. We all met in the Lobby of the office and made our way to Covent Garden to have dinner at Porters. I had a game pie. You can imagine my surprise when there was not so much as a dice or a playing card inside it. (Boom Boom). Sometimes I even make myself giggle.

We left the restaurant to walk the short distance to the theatre to find that the heavens had opened. It looked like a Monsoon outside. Dark grey skies tipping inches of rain down. The gutters already several inches deep and with no sign of it stopping. We started to zig zag our way via shop canapies trying to stay dry but failing miserably.

By the time we made it to our seats we all smelt like a bunch of wet dogs.

The play was a thriller and back to old fashioned theatre. A cast of 2, very limited set and props and yet it was a really fantastic play. Amazing how you can get that eiry feeling and actually jump in a play.

By the time it finished it was still cat's and dog's outside so by the time I got back to the flat was virtually soaked through to the skin. Thank heavens it was at least warm or I fear I would be nursing a cold today.

Dusan came home last night with a thermonitor. They say you need one to know if you really have Swine Flu. We are both 36.5 degrees which is all clear.

Finally its Friday. I don't think I have felt a week drag so much as it has this week. Maybe because we had a full weekend last week but I have never felt like I needed a nice long lie in more. I actually snoozed the alarm every day this week and usually I would bounce straight out of bed and be up making coffee. Hopefully now its finally here perhaps the sun will return? Happy weekend.

Banks announce bumper profits

Once more the big banks are in the news having made bumber profits for the quarter. This time being the turn of 2 of Britains biggest banks, HSBC & Barclays.

Of course the news is all about how the staff will get huge profits and yet somehow they always seem to show pictures of the tellars working the counters in a branch. Clearly its not the branches that make this money but the Investment Bank arms that has made the profits. When they talk about banker bonuses you can bet your bottom dollar its the traders and fund managers at the Investment Bank that will be making the millions in bonus's and shares, while the tellers that you see in the window are likely to get nothing on top of their already low wages.

I never quite understood the way the government never wants to run anything themselves yet demands that big business do things the way they do. Surely if they wanted to run things they could open their own bank and do things exactly as they wanted that way? In the mean time you have to congratulate the big banks for making big profits. After all as that starts to trickle down into the econonmy be it through more lending or bonus's being spent in bars and shops it will eventually feed the economy and release some much needed money into the economy.

I just wish it were the bank I worked that was making the announcements. Perhaps it is the begining of the end of the recession? Fingers crossed eh?

Brighton Pride 2009

Brighton has gotten so big lately that we decided to go for the weekend and booked into the Thistle Hotel so that we could really take it all in.

Arriving in Brighton around 930PM we checked into the Thistle and wanted to go and grab a bite to eat. The atmosphere was exciting, there were hot boys everywhere and you could tell that the carnival spirit had arrived.

We dropped our bags and went to leave when we noticed a problem with our lock. These modern locks all work on magnets and it wouldnt lock. We called down and within seconds the manager was there and had a man come and fix it. All in all we had a great stay and fantastic service. Did someone buy the Thistle train and rebrand them? We had a great room in a lovely hotel.

Door fixed we went down to the seafront and enjoyed a dinner before heading to Princes Street for the non stop party. A pub called the Bulldog seemed to be open all hours and so we went down for a drink and bumped into Rui. Was lovely to see him again.

We had a few drinks but decided Saturday was a big enough day without us staying out till all hours. So we said goodbye to Rui and made our way the short walk back to the hotel for an early(ish) night.

Saturday we rose at 9AM and treated ourselves to Pastries and Champagne before heading down to Doctor Brightons and finding Neil Sexton ready for his broadcast of the Parade. We bought a pint a cider which was enough to take me to the fluffy stage. 1115AM and I was already drinking. Well Pride is a time for celebration.

Once the parade had passed we followed the masses of people up the 20 minute walk to Preston Park where the darkening clowds moved in. You could tell it wouldnt remain dry for much longer. We decided to nip into Wild Fruit Tent at the first sign of precipitation and this proved to a wise move. Within 5 minutes the heavens opened and it litterally poured down for over half an hour. We gratefully sought refuge in time as by the time the rain started to fall and within minutes they had to stop more people coming in and pour party revellors were stuck out in the rain. We stayed and enjoyed a few drinks and danced while the rain fell then desperate for the loo, left when it stopped and walked around the market.

Hungry we decided to head back to the Hotel and spotted of all people Carlos going to Pride with Steve & Woody. Never thought we would see him at a Pride event.

In the evening we went to Fitlads which which was fun but strangely quiet considering how busy Brighton was.

All in all we had a great weekend and lots of fun we arrived home today and feel very much in need of a weekend! But then again, we always? Wh

erever in the world you are Happy Pride Weekend!

Are you offended by David Camerons comments?

All over the news today is the fact that David Cameron during a radio interview was talking about Twitter and was quoted as saying "Too many twits and your a Tw*t". Is it just me but that is hardly an offensive word. I've always been taught that it means to be an idiot. Now in multi-cultural Britain where we are forced to accept the differences of others, why is it always what's good for the Goose is not good for the Gander?

Even if he had said stronger words, its nothing compared to far stronger language on our televisions, in school playgrounds and workplaces around the country. But the press have to dramatise it all and make as much out of it as possible.

Sky news quoted, is he trying to win votes with stunt's like Jonathan Ross? In truth, has the Ross Scandal really affected his career? Do the public still like him? I think so. Get over it, move on and lets hope they give us this big public debate before the election. I would love to see a televised head to head between Brown & Cameron. Maybe we would all get to see what they are really like? Surely it cant be that bad. We already know their dishonest from the expense saga. If only I could stand! An alternative to the current options. Meanwhile, I am not offended and hope the public are not greatly either. Its a word and words rarely hurt. Actions on the other hand do - like the non promised referendum on the European Constitution. That is an action I hope the people of Britain can never forgive Gordon Brown for.

GSK Trainers Reunion 2009

With it now a year since the roll out of Siebel at GSK all of the trainer friends we have made over the years arranged a reunion dinner in Soho last Tuesday evening.

We arranged to meet at a Lebanese restaurant on Greek Street where we had our meal last summer.

Fabulous to see the whole gang and a huge thank you to Marie for organising the night. I'm only sorry that I had to leave at midnight. I had my first session with my personal trainer the following morning at 07:00AM and needed to get home and get some beauty sleep. But 10:00PM is not bad for a school night.

Tom Daley wins Gold!

Tom Daley has won the Gold Medal in the Rome Diving World Championships. His only 15 years old and his beaten the Worlds best. Go Tom! Congratulations.

Jason Rosam's 30th Birthday

Saturday night was Jason's 30th Birthday bash. The invitation had come some weeks ago in the post in addition to the Facebook invitation. It was set on Saturday evening at a place called the Battersea Barge on the River Thames in Nine Elms Lane.

Dusan & Emily had also been invited so we met up at Bar Code in Vauxhall for a glass of wine before making the short walk down to nine elms and boarded the Barge. A small, permanently mored boat on the river with several floor and a disco.

Jason looked as bubbly as ever and it was fabulous to see him once again. I can't be precise as to when we did last see him, it must have been a couple of years ago. Crazy when we all live in the same city, but then, that is London for you. There is always so much going on you rarely have time to see half the people you know and care about.

Also on the boat was my friend Neil Sexton & Jasper & Enrique whom again I have not seen in forever. It turned into a bit of a reunion party.

We went upstairs to get some air on deck when Emily noticed Dusan's co host on radio London, Vanessa Feltz. I asked her if she would mind awfully if Emily had her picture taken with her and she was really sweet. As soon as I find the camera cable I shall upload the pictures.

Meanwhile, the working week has been draging. I feel quite exhausted but I think thats down to the face that I have been training every single day. When your standing up in front of delegates every day it does begin to wear you out.

I have also started to train with my personal trainer. She insisted I do sets of 20 on all my weight work outs. Naturally 24 hours later my muscles are so stiff I can hardly lift them high enough to put on a tee shirt. Hopefully the stiffness will pass today before the weekend. My faveourite time of the week and coming up, the Civil Partnership of Stuart & Iaonnis. Who would have thought 5 years ago that by the end of the decade we would all be happily married? I guess it makes us all "Lucky Bitches".