Shells in the Mud

I've been busy lately trying to find out about an old relative of mine. In 1917, he was killed in Flanders around the time of the Battle of Passchendaele. He was the oldest of thirteen children having been born in 1898, making him only 19 when he died. For anybody who doesn't know, Passchendaele (or the 3rd battle of Ypres) was one of the bloodiest of the entire war with somewhere in the region of 250,000 British and Allied casualties. The Germans are said to have lost about 400,000 although they've never confirmed it. My Great Uncle was killed on 27th August during a lull in the fighting but there wasn't enough left to bury him and the only resting place he has is on a wall at Tyne Cot cemetary in Belgium. One day I hope to go over there and pay my respects to what was after all, a boy.

There is a church in east London with a memorial with him on it and also a junior school around the corner that I've arranged to visit on Friday. The office staff have told me that they'll try and look up any old school records from the time so here's hoping!

"At the going down of the sun, and in the morning.....

We will remember them"

Video and Holidays

I need to take my camcorder to get fixed today. I don't think there's much wrong with it, but we bought it for the boys growing up and it would be a waste if we don't do it. There's a shop who do repairs locally who we took our radio to so with any luck they can fix this.
I see Spurs have started their pre-season campaign with a win against Stevenage. Next stop Champions League! Even though Darren Bent scored, I still don't think he's worth the money they paid for him. That's another thing, where did the club suddenly get all that money from? I knew they were well off but that's something else.
I thought today was supposed to be sunny and warm? So far that's gone tits up! Oh well, Saturday's meant to be good and I'm off so I should be able to top up my tan.
It might be time to arrange another one of those £9.50 holidays in the paper. We last went on one to Ilfracombe in 2006 and it was the wettest week in the history of England! That seems to be our luck with holidays, its always raining or the caravan's no good or something else isn't right. You never know, our luck has to change sometime, right? We normally go somewhere like Devon or Cornwall. Very nice places to see but a long drive to get to. Next time we'll try a place closer to home, Sussex or Hampshire maybe. I'm all for staying inland for the scenic countryside but the family usually overrule me and insist on the seaside. You just can't win with this lot!
Our car's pretty good for the long distance trips. Our Spacewagon never lets us down. We've had it for two years now and it always starts first time. The one time there was a problem was vandalism. Someone thought it would be a good idea to slash all the tyres on all the cars in our car park. Cost me over £200 that did.

Proud as Punch

We received the boy's school reports yesterday. What can I say, apart from absolutely outstanding. Proud isn't the word. Every subject was given over to praise and "a pleasure to teach". We do our best to make sure they're polite and attentive in school, but short of being in class with them, you have to hope they won't let you down.

Two more days of Hell's own shift to go. I think I can see the light at the end of the tunnel before some bastard comes along and turns it off! I want to try and remain positive so no more bitching about it. All the drivers have to do it and this week its my turn. GET OVER IT!!!!!

No time to do any more. Lovely job to go to.

Waxing Lyrical

Has summer arrived at last? The last two days have been amazingly good in terms of weather and it looks pretty good out there now. Have to get my bikini line waxed so I can lie on a beach. Bloody shame I'm nowhere near one.

I'm into the final stretch of the bus rota line from hell. Only three days to go so if I keep positive and leave my hard hat on, hopefully I can make it to Wednesday in one piece. One of the worse things about these late jobs is the lack of sleep you get. I get home about 1am,go to bed about 3 and get up about 7 when Ethan decides he needs feeding. When that happens, there's no reasoning with him. He'll just scream the place down and won't stop until he gets that teat in his mouth. It can get you down if you let it.

When I have my long weekend off, I might go and see my sister in Wickford. She's only seen Ethan once when he was very small so she would have trouble recognizing him now.

Just heard the Household Cavalry have opened their barracks to the public. I might take the family over there for a look. I know Eddie will like it. Horses always go down well with him. Its very difficult these days to find somewhere new to take them for a day out. Most places you can think of, we've either already been there or its out of our price range. London is a good place for things like that but sooner or later you do run out of ideas.







"You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows" Bob Dylan

South or Wembley?

I'm thinking of buying a bike. If I get a job in South London, it wouldn't be practical to drive over there what with the congestion charge and fuel costs. There's also the pay cut to consider. I'm bidding on ebay for a sat nav system until I get used to the route. Saying all that, I probably won't even get the job.
I haven't ridden a bike for about ten years so I can imagine the discomfort I'll feel to begin with. Not to mention I'm very unfit so there's bound to be a heart attack on the first trip!
You know, it would be so much easier if we could just win the lottery and say goodbye to our woes.
I saw some of Live Earth last night. The Wembley show was over when I got in but New York was in full swing with Melissa Etheridge going strong on one song that went on forever. It was worth the wait for when Bon Jovi came on and played a stormer. The Police were ok but seemed to struggle in places. I'm hoping that's the last of the charity concerts this year because they get on my nerves. I'm just waiting now for the Bon Jovi world tour to hit London next summer.
Work wise it was a fairly quiet night with no bricks flying. You get the usual fare dodgers and lowlifes but I've decided to ignore them all and take cash only when its offered. That attitude will probably land me in trouble but, frankly, I'm really past caring.

Who Needs A Brick

My fears were realized. On the last trip last night, someone was nice enough to lob an entire house brick through the window causing obvious bad damage and narrowly missing a passenger. Why oh why do people do this? I'm seriously disillusioned with this job and need to take urgent stock of my career and hopefully find a way out. My holiday's in September so I should be able to make it that far then we'll see. I'm driving the same route tonight so it might be prudent to wear a hard hat and flak jacket! I had an offer last year from a sightseeing firm but they're based in South West London so it wouldn't be easy to get to for early jobs. It might be worth it though to escape the hassle I get now.
Professionally, I think life is getting harder. In the early days, it wouldn't have been too much of a problem, but now I tend to carry it around with me as baggage and it just gets me down which isn't fair on the family or anyone I know.
We badly need to move home. Where we are now, with the amount of people living here, it's just too cramped. Storage space is at a premium and the place is just cluttered. It's nobody's fault but we're hoping (ambitiously) the housing association we're with will come through for us.
I'm thinking of taking the family to Duxford this weekend for the big airshow. We went to one last year at Biggin Hill which was good but they do cost a hell of a lot of money. We all like the old warplanes and its really good to see them still flying. You also have to wonder about the weather. Its nice today but we all know how quickly it can change. We went to Colchester Zoo a couple of weeks ago and we almost drowned in the rain!

Expense and Life

Its car insurance renewal time again. That wonderful time of year when all the companies you can think of, and some you don't, bombard you with "the lowest quote around". Invariably, they're not and they all end up in the shredder. I'll probably just stay with the one I had last year who want £460. Compare that to another firm who wanted £800! I should coco. Having just paid the road tax last week (£180), its been a bloody expensive time for us. Maybe I should get rid of the car and done with.
The boys are back at school now but Ethan's tongue has gone dark. I think it must be something to do with the jab he had the other day. Apparently its harmless and will go back to normal shortly.
Being Friday, it means hordes of feral youths roaming the streets, causing trouble tonight. Its always a worrying time stress wise but I try and stay upbeat and pray for a quiet night.

Splish Splash

Sickness is finally leaving our home now. After a worrying night where Ritchie's temperature refused to come down, he's more like his old self now. We're very relieved.

Before he got sick, Ritchie had homework where he had to splash in puddles! I wish I had homework like that when I was at school. Off we went to the forest for some major splashing in a torrential downpour. I think everyone enjoyed it. So much so that they want to do it again at the weekend so we'd better dry out the wellies.

Took Ethan to the local clinic for his eye test today. They were only a bit concerned because of his mum's poor vision. Glad to report that his eyes are perfect for his age but we still have to go back in six months to check for long and short sight.

Thinking of booking a long weekend away at a b+b in Great Yarmouth. We've got family that way but their house is too small for all of us. Most people would take a week or two for a holiday but we really can't afford it and anyway, my annual holiday from work isn't until September.

Just heard about the derailment on the Central Line. Apparently six carriages came off. Fortunately no-one was badly hurt. I have to go on that line next week to give blood in the City but I suppose they'll have the line closed while they have their inquiry so I'll be going by bus. I'm not really superstitious but it will be Friday the 13th!

Stressed Life

Ritchie's got Eddie's bug now. High temperature, vomiting, the works. Isn't it amazing how these viruses can jump between people. Hopefully he can fight it off as quickly as Eddie.
Why is it that British radio stations seem to celebrate American independence day? I don't know if they've noticed but it was because of that particular statement that we lost one of our colonies(not a very good one admittedly).
Back to work today. Not looking forward to all those schoolkids swamping the bus about 3.30. Why are they like animals when they leave school? No consideration for other people. They just shout at each other, fight each other and generally misbehave. All we can do is get them on, get going and get them off as fast as possible and hope there's not too much damage at the end of it. I think I'll be doing this job for about three more years until I've paid off my loan and then look for something less stressful, like gravedigging!

Jabs, Bags and Nabs

Poor Ethan. Had to have two jabs in the backside yesterday. His mum said he looked at her as they were doing it as if to ask "why are you letting them do this to me?" Poor sod's got the runs now and a bit of a temperature. Nothing Calpol can't fix.
I let my profession down yesterday. A nice foreign woman asked me for a place to get off my bus, but I completely forgot about her and took her and her friend all the way to the end of the route. She was very good about it and I still got her to the place on time for her appointment.
When I finished my shift, a bus pulled in to change drivers and something like 20 police officers jumped on and started pulling people off. I saw at least two young asian guys put into a police van after being searched. Maybe they thought a bus was the next target.
I've got a day off today which was going to be spent on a school trip with Ritchie. The weather's seen that off so it looks like shopping instead. Joy oh joy. I hate shopping. Especially food shopping. Luckily we tend to do most of that online so I don't have to lug weak shopping bags and a baby up four flights of stairs. Of course there are occasions when you run out of things like bread, milk or beer and they need bringing in instantly. I don't mind that, but more than that and I'm cursing. The only time I like to shop is for entertainment, you know, cds, dvds and books, but obviously they're a lot lighter to carry.
I'm looking forward to getting my new t-shirts in the post soon. One is Jimi Hendrix and the other is Bon Jovi. Meanwhile, I've just put in an order on amazon.com for a basketball vest. Only problem with that is, they only send to the U.S. Luckily, my brother-in-law is working in Pennsylvania so he can collect it from them and forward it on to me. What a load of messing about. Good job the exchange rate is so healthy.

Bloody raining again

All ready for another beautiful day? I don't actually mind the rain in my job, it tends to keep people indoors or if they do venture out it seems they are more subdued than normal. Of course, flooding isn't nice for anyone and I do feel sorry for people with damage to clear up.
Luckily, I live in a flat so I can look on with a certain amount of smugness.
Did you see that Diana concert yesterday? What a load of rubbish! Most of those "acts" were making out how well they knew her or missed her when everyone knew full well they were only there for exposure. There were exceptions, such as the ballet people doing Swan Lake. Absolutely superb. I'm not a fan but I thought Take That captured the mood ok but people like P Dopey and Kanye Messed I wouldn't get out of bed for.
Well done to Kimi Raikkonen for winning the French GP. Hopefully Lewis Hamilton will be back to winning ways at Silverstone next week.
Also congrats to the England one day team. Why are the Windies no opposition these days? I remember their glory days with the likes of Richards, Garner, Holding and the rest. I thought those islands lived for the game. Apparently not any more.
I won't mention the tennis.
My Eddie's not been well. When he gets ill, his temperature goes through the roof. The other night it went up to over 40C. It gets hard to hold him because his body gives off so much heat. We thought it might be tonsilitis but it turned out to be just another bug so he can go to school after we've dosed him up with Nurofen and Calpol.
Hopefully the baby won't pick it up because sick babies are no fun. He's starting to make gurgling noises and laughing which just melts your heart. Of course when he throws up over you, it kind of annoys you but it soon passes.
Ritchie is learning guitar at school. It costs us £25 per term. Only problem is its once a week, for 15 minutes when the teacher bothers to turn up. I think its pretty safe to say he's not learning much so we'll probably knock it on the head and he can try drums or recorder or something. It'll definitely be cheaper.
Time to go to work now,
Bye

I'm New

Hi, I'm a new blogger so please forgive mistakes.
Dave's the name and I drive a bus for a living in London. It can be a worry for the family when you hear about car bombs being found, its a reminder of 7/7 and all that.
I went to the O2 last week to see Bon Jovi. They were superb and I can't wait for the tour next year so I can see Wembley! The O2 wasn't bad either but more signs would have been helpful with massive queues at the merchandising stalls on the ground floor. There were other stalls upstairs but I didn't know about them until I got there.
My three children are pretty good, Ritchie who's 8, Eddie 6 and three month old Ethan. They're pretty tolerant of their old man and his choice of music. Rock is high on the agenda along with 50's Rock'n'Roll, 60's groups, and even certain classical pieces!
We're all Tottenham Hotspur supporters but not daft enough to pay the prices so we have to make do with TV coverage and the net. £17m for Darren Bent is an extraordinary amount to pay for a one season wonder when somebody like Dimitar Berbatov is "only" £11m. Strange world, football.
Ethan needs attention now so that's it for now,
See ya