Family Caribbean adventure

On the eve of or family holiday to the Caribbean our over privileged 2 year old has know idea how lucky he is, or how the military precision of his mothers planning is wearing a bit thin on his more laid back father. Of course she is right, gone are the days of throwing a few pairs of shorts into a bag and heading of with wild abandon. The boy child does require quite a bit more consideration.
I have very few expectations for our family holiday and expect that the dress code will switch between the two pairs of swim shorts that I have packed and that we will have long days exploring and playing.
St Lucia was the first sight of land for me when I completed my first ever transatlantic sailing voyage on board, Tenacious as a keen bosun back on 2004. The sight of land so sweet after 3 weeks at sea. It was wonderful that a local photographer (above pic) thought that we were a pretty sight as well.
I know that this visit to the island will be very different to my previous visit but I am still thrilled and excited, looking forward to sharing the sights and sounds with my wife and son and hoping to feel the sun on my back at the same time.

"I Build ladders"

As I have begun to write here again, I went to my profile to see if it needed updating. It was my friend Dai who set me up with the Blog site and made up the profile, some years ago and on the day he did it, he visited me at my flat in Burgess Hill. He found me there with a pile of wood, contemplating the design of a ladder that I was about to build. I was really just drinking cups of tea and giving it a jolly good looking at. This week, by chance, the week of starting to write again, the flat was empty and I was up there doing some work ready for the new tenants to move in.
I am very pleased with my ladder that is still standing proud and ageing well. I might change my profile here to read , "I Built a ladder!"

Another week has slipped by quickly. Britain has been frozen and everyone is surprised at endless transport confusion and delay, as per every time it has snowed in Britain, for as many years I can remember. This Mayhem during snow days is as British as the Queen. It is part of our personality that we obviously like. We seem wholeheartedly unwilling to change our attitude or prepare in any way and everyone seems to enjoy a jolly good moan about it..

The misery of this cold Monday morning was lost on me as I ran through Hove park and out of the town, heading for the open countryside. My feet making fresh tracks in the ankle deep snow and my breaths freezing and hanging in the air as I went happily on my way. I am still not as fit or as slim as I would like but I am very happy when out for a long run. I am training for another event that will take place in the Lake district this July. More about that later.

Compliments?

On the back of the 'Ship Captain's Medical Guide' it clearly states that the information within, should be easily understood and interpreted by an 'Intellegent Layman' The problem is, I found some of it quite hard to understand and interpret
The next compliment was from a guy in the group  and was issued in relation to a defibrillator that was announced by the teacher, as idiot proof. He said, that he had some doubts on whether I was 'a sufficiently talented idiot.'

Compliments are not always given in ways you expect and context, timing and humour should always be considered.

A Medical course in the NE

A classroom filled with hairy, fat, sea captains (I obviously include myself in the description) we are all from a wide range of different ships but all have to complete the same updates to our Medical Care at Sea course so here we were in Newcastle in a classroom. 10 Geordie guys and me.

Not long into the course we were dealing with catheterisation of a patient. Luckily we were provided with a life like rubber penis that interestingly ( to the others) was designed and built in Sussex for this purpose. I live in Sussex and if this was not enough to amuse the other participants, I was then selected by the tutor to do the first insertion of the rubber tube in front of the class. With my rubber gloves,on and my anaesthetic gel at hand, I winced as I tried to insert the tube into the end of the penis. This may all seem like an unusual enough activity for a snowy Tuesday morning but it was made especially memorable by the heckling Geordie sailors. 'No wonder that cock is so soft if its from Sussex' 'Is it you that makes these things when you are on leave?' etc etc

A Trip to Newcastle

As we landed in a small plane, an overweight stewardess welcomed us to Newcastle. She was stuffed hopefully into her too small uniform that she had either borrowed or was from a time before she found her love of pies. She spoke cheerfully with the classic provincial accent of the North East and informed us that it was snowin' and the temperature outside was rediculously cold. "Please watch ya step on the ramp to the terminal, as it may be slippery due to the de icing fluid" Surely de icing fluid can not be more hazardous or note worthy that the ice?

A New Start

Since I started writing my first blog some years ago, I have taken great pleasure in writing. For different reasons I stopped and today I am staring again.
I am fit and well, live in a small house on the south coast of England with my wife and 1.5 children (we are expecting a girl child in the spring) and I have a job that I mostly enjoy. So although it is simple, there is a lot to celebrate right there. I don't think I will tell anyone that I started writing here again as it is mostly for myself to keep track of life and to be honest when I was writing I just noticed things more.

We are really going to Paris next week

As mentioned before, I bought a pair of new running shoes. They are bright green!
The most important thing when buying shoes for sport is that they should, above all other things be comfortable! Out of the 6 pairs of shoes that were sitting in front of me, it was again, the ugliest shoes that fit and felt the best. So my shoes are green. It is also important not to do an event in a new pair of shoes and I was hoping to do my last long training run in them but I got the winter lurgie and have been coughing and grumbling around on half power for some weeks, so the new shoes have not been tried and tested. The old shoes which are just brown/gray and crusted in dried mud (proper colour, long forgotten). These will come with me to Paris and the dilema of which to use will remain until just before the start.
So I will have to go Paris armed with a positive mental attitude. I heard once, that it is as important to feel strong, as it is to actually be strong.I feel strong, I feel strong, I feel strong. I feel strong.
I will remain positive as I step forward and keep stepping forward repeatedly in France next week. I am trying to raise money this year for the Clive Packham memorial fund and this is the first of a few events that I am attempting in this vein. I am at an advantage because I have completed this run before and have even enjoyed it.
I will let you know how I get on.

Eco Trail de Paris

Goodness me! We are off to Paris next weekend to run 80kms in a row in an event called the Eco Trail de Paris. I am ill prepared.
Things you need to do to run 80kms vs Things that I have done
sign up. Tick
buy a ticket to Paris. Tick
Raise some money. Tick http://www.justgiving.com/Daren-Packham (Not enough yet due to lack of confidence)
Train like a maniac.......? Hmm
buy new running shoes. Tick

A Day out with my Brother

My Brother is a very enthusiastic supporter of the Brighton & Hove Albion football team, is a season ticket holder and presenter of a radio show dedicated purely to the team and its trials and tribulations.

This season sees the Seagulls moving into a brand new stadium and also up into the English Championship League, which is basically all very good news if you are a Brighton football fan or if you are my brother. I was thrilled that I was invited to join my brother and the crowd at the American Express Community stadium to watch Brighton play Peterborough (the Posh). This was to be my first attendance at a live football match in the UK.
The day started at the radio station, where I sat in the back, quiet as a mouse while the boys discussed at great length the chances of one or other team beating the other and some other things. The show is all very professional and has an ever increasing following but this is the realm of Brighton and Hove Albion anoraks.
We left the studio and jumped on a nearby bus which slowly delivered us to the stadium with enough time before the game to drink half a gallon of local ale. Some hours later we were finding our seats in the Upper West Stand. I know that it was the west stand because every now and again the fans in the North stand got a bit lost. When they remembered where they were, they started telling everyone very loudly, chanting that they were indeed in the North Stand. In response to this the nice people of the West stand are reminded where they are and shout loudly back! This is very convenient and reminds me of my Tom Tom.
The West stand Brighton boys including myself were very pleased with ourselves because a) we were full of beer, b) my brothers seat is very close to the loo and c)Brighton beat the visitors 2 – 1. So pleased were we in fact, that we went off to that North stand to find more beer after the match. We only left the bar there because a friend of my brothers was playing a gig and we were on the VIP list! ‘The wedding Present’, a band formed with quite a bit of success, decades ago has a reasonably new young bass player. This Bass player is the wife of my brothers mate, which is how we were on the VIP list. The band was good and we drank yet more beer. We only left the gig because my brother was on an early morning flight to Greece and it was already close to early morning. It was a great day out with my younger brother and I even enjoyed the game of football, but don’t tell anyone.