No pain, no gain....

So, its a new year and a new day with a new dawn. I'm afraid to say I was one of those people who made various new years resolutions - including shaping up and getting fit, which I'm actually determined to stick to it.

I'm not going to be unrealistic, but I could comfortably do with losing about half a stone and want to tone up - and feel I am slowly making progress.

I've cut my drinking nights out down to 1 or 2 nights a week as opposed to 4 or 5 like I was doing the latter part of last year. Whilst my social life has taken a dire battering, my bank balance was still in the black at end of January and I'm sure my liver is secretly applauding me too due to the fact it is no longer drowning or intoxicated by fumes!

Whilst I still have a long way to go to get a body to rival Claudia Schiffer, I feel I am heading in the right direction. Only this morning I realised I could reach my ankle whilst stretching doing the box split, whereas I could barely touch my calf three weeks ago.

I'm working through the 5:30am get-ups with the knowledge that come the summer I will hopefully be nicely toned and un-ashamed to dig out my hot pants. I just need to remember no pain is no gain the next time I'm hobbling up the stairs at work.....

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Easy Like Sunday Morning...

Think Sunday morning and what conjures up in your mind? Lazing in bed, nice steamy cup of tea, radio playing softly in the background and possibly a light fuzzy head from a few glasses of vino.

Whilst the first three are partially correct, I had a completely tee-total evening in preparation for this morning - to test drive my new wheels - on my own for the VERY FIRST TIME!

I know it's really sad, but seeing as I have only just acquired the right to own my very own car having just recently passed my test, I was too excited at the prospect of taking it out. Whilst I was very nervous in case something went wrong or I messed up, I was also very excited at the prospect of having my very own freedom in my own control. As much as I'm sure my friends have never minded ferrying me around, it is not quite the same as knowing you have your own mode of transport - and it is even better now I know I can return all those years of favours.

Did it live up to my expectations you ask? Hell yes, it did! I loved it, flying along the Ockendon country lanes (where unfortunately I failed my first test) being able to rejoice in the fact that I had indeed conquered the art of driving at the national speed limit along narrow country lanes riddled with bends. After this nice feeling of elation, I took a slow poodled drive through Hornchurch town centre back to my home town.

But, I think the best feeling of all was being able to reverse park outside my own home knowing I had done it all on my own with no help. Bliss!

Virtual Reality

Is a new era upon us - have I seen the light? Or am I joining geek status and delving in too deeply into the 2D world of my laptop? Not only have I succumbed to Facebook, Twitter and Blogger - but my new online adventure has got me branching out to Tumblr too.

I do but wonder why it is that one person could feel the need to have so many different websites to post blogs / photos / items / articles about themselves and things that interest them. I can't help but feel that even on a conscious level I know that this should be wrong, yet it is strangely compelling and extremely addictive.

I can't help but think what the future has in store for the modern man and images from a film I saw last year (the name escapes me....) where no one actually leaves their house keep popping up in my mind. They function through their computer and are so out of touch with reality that they actually don't know how to interact with other people and can't quite remember what fresh air is.....

Am I heading that way too or is it really just a bit of harmless fun? I must say I go for the latter and like using these tools to communicate with people of a great distance and to enjoy things that I have found amusing along the way, hoping it will bring some joy amongst others in my life too.

But I also know that there is a dark side to these websites and people get solely addicted to the sites, where they can barely function an hour without feeling the need to blog something and check their status. Just tonight I was uploading something on FB and up popped a chat box from a mate of mine. I say mate, but whenever I try to arrange a catch up I always get the same old, 'yeah I'll get back to you....' but tonight on FB he said to me that he loves the chat function as that is the only way he can keep in contact with people. Erm, hello? Not heard of a phone? Text? Pub? If you got off your computer and ventured out then you would indeed be able to 'catch up' with people.

I guess this is the effect of an ever moving world where people try to keep up with the times and as much as I love blogging etc.... I'll always prefer a face to face catch up, which is definitely not rivaled in the 2D world...

Farewell Tiggy.....

Call me sad, call me a spinster, say I don't have a life - but I wanted to blog a farewell to my good natured furry buddy Tigger, who unfortunately passed away on Sunday 12th December 2010.

He had a very short life being only 3 years old, but he had a very big personality and kept me highly entertained with his funny ways and peculiar antics.

I have never met such a kooky cat in all my life and my house definitely feels alot quieter with something missing now he has gone. He had his moments when I could brain him - like when he would use my bedroom window as a cat flap banging and crashing the blinds on the wall at 3am, or headbutting me awake when he decided he needed a cuddle and not to mention having a profound hate for my laptop, proceeding to try and walk on every key and crash it whenever the opportunity arouse.

But he was also the sweetest, cuddliest cat as well. If I was ever ill he would keep a vigil by my side til I got better, he would come running to the door to greet me no matter what time of night I got in, he would lay on the sofa watching mindless TV (whilst giving me cramp at the same time as never budged an inch) but best of all, I loved the morning cuddles. I got into the habit of setting my alarm 30 minutes earlier, because as soon as heard it he would come running up to my pillow and lay down with his paw on my cheek winking at me with a cat-smile on his face. Bless!

But it's his peculiar antics that I remember the most - he loved chasing flies. If there was one on the wall he couldn't reach he would meow at me to pick him up, then would go frantic trying to catch the fly with his front paws whilst I held his belly. He was also a spider stalker, following it around the floor until it started to crawl up the wall, then he would take great joy it squashing it with his paw and smearing it down my paint work. There were also the summer days of chasing the grass hoppers around the garden, mimicking them with his own jumps whenever they sprung out of the grass, not to mention the countless birds and mice he brought home for me. Not that he ever killed them, he always made sure they was still alive much to my amusement. It's very hard to capture a frantic bird flapping around your bedroom at 6am........

So, even though his spirit may not be here any more and he has been given a proper burial to lay his body to rest, his memory will live on in my household for the cool furry buddy that he truly was.

Britain Grinds To A Halt

What is it with the UK, no matter what the weather condition the country (in particular train services) always seems to grind to a halt whenever it is slightly out of the norm. It's too sunny, it's too hot, it's too windy, there's leaves on the line, it's the wrong kind of snow - or my favourite - it's too wet! Hello?! You do realise this is the UK where it rains like 350 days a year!

It's not like this latest flurry of snow has come as a surprise, we've had weather warnings in place for nigh on a month now, but did the government or local councils take note? Apparently not! No where has been gritted, there's no budget for it (or rather they are just too damned lazy tucked up in their beds drinking port) and there has been no preparation to keep the country moving what-so-ever!

How can a bit of wet, white fluff bring the Country to it's knees? This is like the third year in a row now where we have had heavy snow affecting the whole of Britain - yet the councils are still claiming it's unnatural and couldn't have been predicted! Yeah right! Unless you really are claiming that the whole of the UK's council system doesn't have five brain cells to rub together.....

I have had the journey from hell this morning - I saw a DHL van crash into two cars on the main road through my home town because no gritting has been done, even though there is about 6 inches of snow, I had to wait over 30 minutes for a train due to numerous cancellations and when I did get on one it took me an hour to do a 25 minute journey into London.

How is it you have places like Moscow where temperatures reach -60C and the country still rallies round and carries on like it's no big deal, yet we struggle to cope with -5c temperatures!

I think that is enough ranting for one day - me thinks it is time for a cuppa to warm me cockles up and defrost a bit. Now, I just need to find somewhere to hang my boots to dry for the journey home later....

Drunken Ramblings

Why is it every time I meet up with my friends, instead of talking handbags, shoes, reality shows or nostalgic childhood memories - our conversations always turn into drunken remnants.

Is it possible to get nostalgic over nights out on the lash and humouring your friends with highly embarrassing stories that quite frankly, you just shouldn't be repeating? I'm wondering if I should be getting worried about the level of social skills that I have gained and whether this is the norm?

I'm often getting told that I drink too much and should find other ways of spending my social life - and whilst I do highly agree with them, I just don't seem to have the will power to carry it through. I might look into different activities to do - bowling, art galleries, museums, dinner - but whenever I suggest these things more often than not at the last minute someone will say they can't be bothered and can we just go for a drink somewhere instead? Which inadvertently turns into an all nighter with drunken screeches, struggling to stand upright, embarrassing fellow passengers on the train home by commenting on their dodgy outfits (I'm sorry, but who in their right mind would choose to wear a Michael Jackson get up on a night out, bright red jackets and rind stone gloves are really not cool.....) and waking up on random sofas the following morning without a clue as to how you got there.

I'm always telling people that if you can't laugh at yourself then who can you laugh at? It's only a bit of fun at the end of the day, but is it time yet to worry about whether or not I am becoming an alcoholic? Nah, I reckon I've got a few more years left in me yet.....

Why Do Buildings Have Such Silly Names...

Have just found this article on the BBC News website and thought it was worth a chuckle:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-11838167

If someone came up to you and mentioned the words Gherkin, Cucumber, Shard or Cheese Grater you'd think they would be talking about a dodgy party back in the 70's - but you would be mistaken, as these are the oh so clever 'nicknames' that cast a shadow across our skylines.

When I saw this report I thought 'hmm, maybe there is some deep meaningful purpose to these so called nicknames...' and thought I would take a quick peek to broaden my enlightenment into the British world of Architecture. In actual fact, I can't say I really gained anything from this article other than the fact that British designers seem to have a rather dry sense of humour.

I'm sure the average John Doe could come up with something more imaginative than the Cheese Grater or the Gherkin - lord knows I've heard much more cruder references down the local on a Saturday night! But I guess you do have to laugh at the absurdity of it.

Only in Blighty could you design a building, then give it a really dodgy nickname just for the mere sake of outdoing your fellow rivals. I take it they've never heard of a bit of friendly rivalry over a game of Poker......