Recently in Things that happened today Category

Ok, having reimported all the entries from my old blog into this one, and had a bit of fun re-reading them, I've realised that since the structure of the blog has changed, all the links that refer to previous entries are now broken. Is it worth going back through everything and fixing them all? Will I even be able to find the post the link id referring to?

Questions, questions. Anyone out there got any answers?

Whoosh, thunk. That's the sound a throwing knife makes as it flies through the air and lands perfectly in the target. Whoosh, clang is the sound it makes when it's not thrown quite so well, hits the target sideways on, and falls to the floor.

Yes folks, today I have mainly been picking knives up off the floor after they missed their targets. I heard about this day out on a forum somewhere on the internet (no, I'm not going to tell you where!) and thought "hey, that sounds like fun!" I've always been a bit of a have-a-go person, having done fire eating, circus skills etc in the past. Knife throwing seemed to fit in with all that, so why not give it a go!

The directions to the place were excellent, it was about 55 miles away from home so I gave myself plenty of time to get there. I wasn't sure I was in the right place though, as there had seemed to be a lot of interest in the day out on the forum, but there were no cars in the car park. However the directions or my navigational skills didn't let me down and within 10 minutes I was lobbing sharp pointy things at bits of tree trunk on the wall.

My initial throws were very much like a dart player, I had the same stance as a dart player - right foot forward so I could get the throwing arm nearer the target - and I was also trying to aim the knife. John, the instructor, put me right straight away, showing me that if I put my left foot forward, and started with my right arm higher, the knife would fly straighter and stronger.

After just 20 minutes or so I was getting more knives in the target than I was getting on the floor, which is always a good sign. John had several types of knives to throw, different sizes and weights, and also a tomahawk, which I threw at the end of the day (mainly because I'd forgotten all about it and wanted to have a go with it before I left!) In total about 5 or 6 people turned up, so we weren't fighting over which targets to throw at, and I was there from about 11am to 4pm, so made a full day of it.

I'll definitely be going back and doing this again - it was great fun!

Today I helped my cousin move into her new flat. It's only a mile up the road from her old place, and by recruiting the help of my brother (and his trailer), my nephew, myself (and my car), and a friend of hers to help her unpack, we managed to get everything moved in about 5 or 6 hours.

But during the day I heard a few things you don't really want to hear while moving house:

"Have you seen the box? You know, the one with the thing in it?"
"Get that washing machine off my hand!" (not only did I not want to hear that one, I didn't really enjoy saying it either!)
"Here's a cup of tea, sorry I couldn't find the sweeteners."
"Er.... I thought you had the keys...."

It's my son's birthday coming up in a few weeks. My ex-wife wants to get him a Nintendo DS, which is fair enough I suppose. She sent me a link to one being sold on eBay, with a request for me to buy it on her behalf as she's skint, and she'll pay me back as soon as possible. I had a look at the link, and saw that it was going to be shipped from Hong Kong. The DS itself was £36, but the postage was £40. I pointed out that they weren't all that much more expensive to buy here, plus you get a guarantee or warranty with it. Fair point, she replied.

So I get a phone call from her a couple of hours later. "I'm in the shop, they won't take a cheque without a card, can you pay for it over the phone on your card please?" Well, I could, if it wasn't two days before pay day and I had more than about £20 to my name. "Oh," she says, "I'll try my dad then."

The question is... why does she have to get it now? It's not his birthday for 5 more weeks, and he'll be back at school next week anyway. Can't people think ahead any more?

The final straw was when she later emailed me to say that yes, she's got the DS, it came with a game included, it's got a 2 year warrantry on it, and here's a list of other games that would be suitable for him to play. I wonder where she expects me to find the money for games on top of the child support, birthday bash and guitar lessons she also expects me to contribute towards. I can only give her what I have to give, and no more!

Today was the first day of my week off work. This is the first proper week off I've had all year, so I'm feeling a bit burned out. I took a few days off around Easter, but although that added up to 7 days off, it's just not the same, psychologically, as booking off an entire week. Not to me, anyway.

Knowsley Safari Park was the venue for today's day out. I haven't been here for a few years, I think D and I brought A here before we split, but that was an awful long time ago. This time I went with A (of course), my parents, and my niece J.

I'm not going to bore you with all the details about what the kids did (several rides on the dodgems, roller coasters, and every other ride they could get their hands on), or the details of the animals (yes, the monkeys were pulling bits off everyone else's cars as usual, the giraffes were tall, the rhinos looked scary).

What I will talk about, is the Aerial Extreme attraction they have there. This cost an extra £10 on top of the entrance fee for the park, but A was so excited about having a go on it we decided that it would be a waste not to. Seeing as we were already there. When we went to book the tickets we were told that the sessions would start every hour, and we'd have to wait for the next one to start. He was disappointed of course, he wanted to jump on straight away, but he settled for a couple more goes on the dodgems and bouncy castle while he waited.

There was a bunch of kids waiting to do the Aerial Extreme with A, although he was the youngest. The attraction is set up on three levels, based on the height, ability and nerves of the vict - er, volunteer. Because of A's height, he could only go on the lowest level. The other kids could tackle the next level up if they wanted. (When I say level, the word is appropriate in two ways; not only was each level physically higher off the ground, but they also increased in difficulty.)

The kids started out with a safety talk. They were shown how to wear their harnesses and safety helmets, and the safety rope attaching them to the guidewire. A asked lots of questions, all of which were pertinent. I was certainly impressed with the way he paid attention, took in the information, and analysed it.

Ok, out onto the obstacle course. He stood on the first platform, swung the safety rope over the junction box above his head, and off he went. The obstacles were all variations on the rope bridge theme, some wobblier and more flimsy looking than others. At no point was he daunted or scared, he just tackled each obstacle as it came. Maybe he knew that the safety rope would keep him safe, maybe he was just fearless! About halfway round he lost his footing on one of the obstacles and found himself sitting on the rope instead of standing on it. But he managed to pick himself up and carry on. Perhaps it was the instructor's warning that if anyone should fall off an obstacle and need to be rescued, the experience would be over - go straight to the end, do not pass go, do not collect £200.

Later on he was making jokes as he was going round. The rest of us were standing in the middle of the course, giving him words of encouragement as he went along. He told us he came to the park with the school a few months back, and that they were still building the course at the time. While standing in the middle of an obstacle, he stopped, pointed to the ground, and said "one of the men fell off, he's buried over there". "Oh, really?" "Yep"

He was an absolute star, and I was very impressed. Impressed with the facility, with the training and safety aspects, with the experience he got, and with the price. The sun shone, the sea lions performed, the kids tired themselves out, once again, a fantastic day out.

Wow, today was a good day. I ended up having a great day out with my son A and my ex D (see, it is possible for divorced people to get along with each other every so often!). Pretty much on the spur of the moment, we took him for a day out to a place called Apple Jack's Farm, just south of Warrington in Cheshire. The place looks like a fairly new amusement park, but done on a very small, family scale. In other words, it wasn't full of rollercoasters and heart-stopping rides. The weather was warm, but the day was overcast, and the crowds weren't massive. However this all helped us to have such a good day out.

We started with firing tennis balls at a target. First with an air cannon, then with a catapult. It was actually a lot more fun than it sounds, reading back :-) Then a quick go with a bow and arrow (first time in my life I've ever fired one of those) and then on to watch the pig race. Yes, the pig race. The poor little piglets were made to run around a course to get to the food at the other end. We all had to pick which pig we wanted to win, but my ex, thinking laterally, cheered on the guy in the yellow tee-shirt running around the course with the bucket of food.

On to the bouncy castle next, which wasn't really in the shape of a castle. Rather, it was like the top of a huge bubble, just peeking out of the ground. Both kids and parents were allowed on it, and I must admit everyone had a whale of a time jumping up and down with each other! It's been years since I've done any jumping at all, bouncy castle or trampoline or otherwise, and after just a few minutes I was starting to feel my age. My son, however, jumped and rolled and leaped off and ran back on again for aaaaaages. He paired up with another little boy there, who I think was called Joe, and he and Joe played together for most of the rest of the day.

The only time they didn't play together was when we went into the maze. This is the main attraction at the park, a huge maze of maize. This year the maze was in the shape of a pirate ship, and dotted around the maze were little post boxes with sections of the map, and boards with clues to the pirate crossword puzzle we were given before we went in. Of course, before we started, we were given a pep talk by a pirate lady. An Irish pirate admittedly, but the kids didn't seem to notice! "Now, " she said, "did anyone happen to bring a compass with them? No? Ok, how about any camping gear? Still no? Well, don't worry, we'll make sure you get out of the maze before October...."

I think we spent about 40 minutes in the maze. We didn't get all around it, in fact we stumbled across the exit more than finding it, but A was getting a bit bored with the maze by then. So, after another go on the bouncy castle, we headed off to have a climb all over the bales of hay. We caught up with Joe again, and the kids clambered all over everything while D and I rested, smoked, and chatted. Finally, we all had a go on some pedal karts before heading back to the car. The park was due to close in the next 15 minutes, and A had been pestering us for a toy from the shop all day. Sometimes we think he doesn't appreciate going to the park, he just wants us to buy him gifts from the shop. Anyway, the shop was closed when we got to it and he burst into tears. But - saving the day - Mr Yellow T-Shirt Pig Racer was nearby, and we asked if he could open the shop for a couple of minutes. He obliged, A bought his stretchy skeleton, and we all went home very happy indeed.

If only more days out were like that!

Yesterday I was wrestling with my son, and as he's getting bigger these wrestling matches usually consist of me kneeling on the floor and him taking a running jump at me to try and knock me over. After 10 minutes of this, I'm lying on the floor, bruised, sweating, out of breath and wanting to take a break. "What did I do to deserve this?" I wondered aloud. Quick as a flash, he replied. "You married my mother."

Touche.

I feel terrible. Not just because I only got two hours sleep last night. No, I feel terrible because of the reason I only got two hours sleep last night. Why oh why I have to open my big mouth and put my foot so firmly in it I will never know.

(Note that with all stories of this nature, it's a simplification. No names are even mentioned, let alone changed)

At the end of April I met a woman online and, to cut a very long story short, we decided that as we both seemed to be looking for the same things, we decided to give it a go. After all, you don't get anywhere in life by sitting on your backside, do you? Well, for reasons I won't go into here, the relationship didn't work out. I didn't (couldn't?) give her what she wanted, so she decided to end it. This left us with the awkward situation that she was at home an hour's drive away, and half her stuff was still in my house.

During the week after the split we still chatted online, remained civil towards each other, and we arranged for me to drive down the following weekend to bring it all back to her. Also during that time she mentioned that she had gone out for a drink on the Saturday following our split, and got chatting to a bloke in the pub. The weekend comes around, and I arrive at her house, after being stuck in traffic getting there, she greeted me, then said she was busy in her room. Her kids were in their own rooms, and I was left alone in the lounge. Well, not exactly alone, I was fighting off the dog, who suddenly remembered who I was and how good my teeth seemed to taste.

After a few minutes she called through to me that I could make myself a drink if I wanted. I offered to make her a drink as well. I took the drinks through to her room, and went back to the lounge. I read the paper. I read it again. She called me in to her room to ask me a question about some setup problem on the forum on her web site. I answered the question, and not wanting to go back into the lounge on my own, I sat on her bed. I could see she had two chat windows open, one was to someone from the boards, I didn't know who the other chat was with.

About an hour after I arrived, she asked her son to help me unload her stuff from the car. We did this, he went back to his room to play with the keyboard I'd given him, and I sat back down on her bed while she chatted and tried to get the boards sorted. She seemed very focused on what she was doing, she didn't even give her kids a lot of attention while I was there. Apart from asking for my help with the boards, she barely spoke a word to me all afternoon. At about 5:30 I'd had enough, so I made my excuses and left. The only reason I stayed so long was that I'd driven an hour and a half to get there, and I was buggered if I was going to get in the car and drive all the way back after just 10 minutes.

I felt pushed out, rejected, ignored and invisible. I know we'd just split, but she was the one that decided it wasn't working, she dumped me in effect. And there I was, still trying to be a nice guy, to be a friend. She barely acknowledged me while I was there, and I've no idea how she felt about anything, because she didn't tell me.

I later discovered the other chat was with the new bloke she'd met in the pub. They are getting on like a house on fire, apparently. He's giving her all the things I couldn't give her (and I'm not talking physical items here, I'm talking about treating her the way she wanted to be treated). She said something to me, probably a throwaway comment, that if he wanted her attention, then he got it. Well, I thought, he certainly had her attention on that Sunday afternoon, that's for sure. I mulled it over in my head and thought "If he can demand that sort of attention online, what's he going to do in real life? Am I going to be treated the same way again if I visit and he's there?"

So why, if it was so awkward, would I want to visit again? Well, I have dvd's for her and she has some of mine, so there's going to be at least one more visit. Besides, I don't want to lose a friend, even if it is someone I tried to have a relationship with and it failed. We still have other ties, to do with the website I helped her set up while we were together.

Anyway, that throwaway statement she made ate away at me, and last night I pulled her up on it. But, being the master tactician than I am, I was aggressive and showed jealousy. Needless to say the conversation went right downhill, and it was all my fault. I'm still pissed off at how I was treated when I last visited, but I can understand she was uncomfortable talking to her new bloke while her ex was sitting on her bed. She could have told me the situation though, I'd have understood. Also, she could have told him she had a guest in the house. We argued, we shouted, we stormed off, we came back... but I think I managed some sort of truce by the end of the evening though.

I still don't feel any better about the way I was treated when I last went to see her, and I feel fucking awful now about the way I treated her last night. Her behaviour towards me went a long way towards forming the attitude I used in my reply to her throwaway comment, and now I've got no idea if we're on speaking terms or not.

So.... in a nutshell.....
We start a relationship
It doesn't work, she dumps me
She finds new bloke almost immediately
I take her stuff back to her house
She's devoting all her time to online chat with new bloke
I get pissed off at being ignored, but say nothing at the time
She makes a comment a couple of weeks later about how he gets her attention when he wants it
I make a comment about how I'd consider that to be very rude if he did that while she had guests
We argue
I don't apologise for making the comment, but I do apologise for the way I said it
However, I'm still waiting for an apology from her about ignoring me.

I'm not being egotistical about this, at least I don't think I am... I just think that when you have guests in your house you treat them with respect. Is that so wrong?

I was in the middle of renewing my car insurance this afternoon. Why it didn't renew itself at the end of last month I've got no idea, so I had to phone the insurance company to ask them if I'm insured or not. Since I've been so lethargic in the evenings, and busy with work during the day, this is the first chance I've had to try and sort it out. Anyway, we get pretty much to the end of it all, and then they ask if I have any motoring convictions. No, I said. Points? they asked. Yes, three, I said. What's the code? they asked. What code? I replied. The code on your licence. I've got no idea, I'm at work and my licence is at home. We can't set up the insurance without the code. You can phone the Licencing Authority and ask them to tell you what the code is. Give me a contact number and I'll call you back later and we'll get your insurance sorted out, they said. Ok, my number is 01.... and then the phone went dead.

Not just my phone. Every phone in the building. And since I was the only IT person on site today, and the phones are now controlled through the computers, I had to sort it out. Isn't it great how IT people have to fix anything and everything just because it has a plug on it? The phones went off the other week as well, but I was out of the office at the time and a colleague dealt with it. He was taking the afternoon off to take his newborn baby for some jabs though, and didn't leave any instructions on what to do.

Well, tough, I had to call him, as I had no idea how to proceed. Can't call on the main phones, as they are inactive. Can't call on my mobile, as I soon discovered it wasn't in my pocket. Must still be on the bedside table, charging.

Borrow a company mobile off someone, call colleague, he tells me what I need to do. Ok, get that done, sort out the internet access as well, everything's cool at work. First I hear that the phones are fixed is when the receptionist puts a call through to me, and it wasn't a call from the phone company to tell me it's fixed. H'mmmm. Ok then.

The upshot if it all is, by then it was too late to sort out my car insurance and driving licence. Here's hoping I'll have a chance to call them tomorrow. And wait in a queue to talk to an advisor. And go through the whole bloody process again.