Information to help you!

Just when we thought the cold spell was over we looked out of the window yesterday an it was snowing again!

We couldn’t believe it, winter just isn’t over yet! I actually videod the snowfall as in a few weeks we will be seeing a friend who lives in the Caribbean who has NEVER seen snow before, so this way I can show him the video on my phone. I think he has seen snow on the tv before but that is as close as he has got.

Kent has seen most of the snow over the last couple of days, which is a bit worrying as the training contract I have set up for work is in Kent, this is next week though so hopefully there wont be anymore snow before this or some of the attendees let alone the tutors may struggle to make the training!

I have always enjoyed bowling however the last time I went was probably for my friends eighth birthday party! No I am not a child, I am 24 years old, but this just shows how long ago it was since I last went bowling! Until…….. last week! it was great fun, i’d forgotten how good it actually was and the great thing was I could blame how bad I was at it on the fact that it was 16 years ago I last went!

Its the kind of game that I really want to be good at (not competitive at all) but one that always gets the better of me! The harder I try, the worse I get!

The good news I came second in the last game (and before you say it, there were more than two of us playing)! so it wasn’t too bad.

I am however going again tomorrow, so cant wait. We are going to tenpin in Derby, here you go – check it out www.tenpin.co.uk

I went to Riley’s friday night to play pool with an old friend. We got there and I made best use of the offer they had on at the time which consisted of, 2 hours of play, 2 pints and a years worth of membership, all for £10. So having already been a member there all I had to do was tell them my name as they already had all of my details on their system.

Wrong, they couldnt find my details so I had to begin filling out a membership form. The member of staff asked us what drinks we wanted while I began filling out the form. We ordered our drinks, only for him to come back to us to tell us that the beer we had ordered wasnt part of the ‘deal’ so we re-ordered a beer that we didnt want (just so it fell in with the deal). He said he would bring the drinks over….10 minutes later I had completed my form and there was still no sign of the drinks. I went over to the counter where he rested casually on the till, I handed him my form and asked him for the drinks, he said ‘oh sorry I forgot’. He then asked me what we wanted to play, so we said ‘American Pool please’ he turned to the computer and then informed us that we couldnt play american pool as all the tables were fully booked for the night, so we said ok, ‘lets play English Pool then’ he said ok and turned again to the computer to then tell us that there was a 1 and a half hour wait on the english pool!

He then asked us what we wanted to do, so we said, ‘with no option we will play snooker then’, so he siad he would book it in. We went back to our table at the bar to wait for him to bring the drinks over, 10 minutes on and I went back up to the bar he again said he had forgotten!!! We were getting very annoyed now. He then asked us what we wanted to play again, which I replied ‘originally pool, but we have had to settle with snooker as there are no tables’….he turned to the computer and then told me there wasnt any snooker tables left (even though we had already booked one 10 minutes ago)!!!

He finally gave me a snooker table and me and my mate went over to it – still being told that the drinks were on the way. They werent. We had to go back again and wait at the bar this time to make sure he didnt forget AGAIN!.

We started playing snooker only for an hour to pass when the light at our table went off, it took them 15 minutes to sort it out, all because the incompetent member of staff had only inputted one hour play on the table instead of the two hours we had already paid for by now!

All in all, it wasnt a very successful night, less than 2 hours play, rubbish drinks, a lot of waiting around due to a member of staffs inability to remember tasks, not getting to play pool and ended up playing snooker, also empty pool tables just sat there with no one playing – but we werent allowed to use them.

I dont know if it is just at Riley’s in general or this particular branch but there is certainly a need for some basic ability/training here! I am not keen on going back at all due to this particular employee!

A few months ago I went with a friend to Carsington Waters Reservoir for a windsurfing session, it was flat at first but being a beginner it was ideal. The wind even picked up a little as we neared the end of our session. It was very reasonably priced at £15 per hour and a half session (this is just for the free rein of the water) if you want a lesson I think its about £25 per hour, which I think is still pretty reasonable.

What was great about Carsington was the sun setting over the reservoir late afternoon. It was an amazing site especially when your picking up a bit of speed as you continue to get better and better throughout your session.

I took my own gear – buoyancy aid, wetsuit etc, however you can hire all of this there, wetsuits are about £3 and the BA’s are free and a regulation.

They have good facilities, changing rooms with toilets, showers etc. Dont worry if you’re a beginner either, they have very helpful staff and if there is an off shore wind and your struggling to get back in they will pop out in the little RIB (speedboat) and tow you back in.

I am looking forward to my next visit to Carsington and dont think it will be long before I get out there again.

If you want to check out their website here you go www.carsingtonwater.com

Is it worrying when you try something you have never done before, only to be pretty good at it and make it look like you practice every night.

Well, this happened to me, unfortunatly on a Dance Mat. It was all a bit of fun after a few scoops of home brew (lethal) and as it happened, I was being encouraged by the rest of the people in the room, who kept putting the difficulty setting higher and higher!

Embarrassingly I could do it, and do it well for that matter! I even at one point remember using my hands too! I looked like a breakdancing drunk fueled on home brew.

May we share many more evenings like this my friends! Embarrassing but funny

I ask this question because, when I go into the living room and sit down I may feel like putting the TV on. So, I go to find the remote and the annoying thing is the person before me (no names needed) has put the remote at the side of the TV on its little shelf, how is this helpful? and secondly what is the point in having the remote in the first place if you have to get up out of your chair, wlak across the other side of the room only to pick the remote up from the side of the TV anyway?! you might as well just change the channel on the TV itself!

I dont know…..it happens all the time at our house and I just cant see the logic in it, the remote should be kept on your chair, that way you can be a proper lazy human being and make good use of its purpose. Rant over.

We all know that a curry without a beer is like a jam doughnut without the jam! So I took the liberty of having a curry and a beer at the weekend.

Actually I lie, I had 3 curries and 8 beers in less than 20 hours, and I have to say it can cure a ‘foot above your head’ I must admit I felt like I was killing myself at every mouth full, but never the less, I made it through with a smile on my face!

It all started when we went out friday night for a curry, ordered too much, ate the rest for lunch the next day then early evening we took on another curry.

You will never guess what I’m having for dinner tonight…..yep! sure am! another curry – this ones home made though so that makes it healthy right?

My girlfriend went to see some old university friends this weekend and one of them spoke about setting up her own company, the company was basically an outdoor adventures company that would help people set up days out, kayaking, mountain biking, etc. My girlfriend told them about borrowmystuff.co.uk www.borrowmystuff.co.uk and her friends loved the idea! it was only last week that they really needed a ladder to change the light bulb which was above the staircase. They didnt want to go out and buy a ladder for this one-off job so would have loved to have been able to borrow a ladder from somebody local to them!

As soon as www.borrowmystuff.co.uk is fully functioning they can borrow a ladder from someone local next time that light bulb needs changing!

Well, what a game, who would have thought it!!!???

With Pride park being a sell out the nearest I could get to the game was listening to it on the radio and what a game it was!

It took until about 10 minutes before the end of the game for Rob Hulse to score an amazing header from a Kris Commons (ex forest player) free kick, he leapt like a salmon!

It got a bit firey with some hot headed challenges as the end of the game neared. But Derby completely out played Forest by the sounds of it! A top performance from the rams, leaving Nottingham Forest with a wounded ego, and of course their first defeat in their 19 game unbeaten run!

You have got to be angry at Billy Davies (the much respected ex Rams Manager) who wouldn’t even shake Nigel Cloughs hand at the end of the game, how satisfying it is to see how much the Rams really got underneath his skin.

A perfect result, a suprise result, but most of all a result that provides a sweet taste that will last for a very long time in the mouths of the proud rams fans.

Lets hope for some more hearty performances from the rams over the next few fixtures, there are only 9 points seperate Derby from the play-offs!