December 1st & 2nd
At last I've finished the pump change over at the East Surrey. The actual change went really smoothly big thanks to the team in EME and Julie in the Equipment Library
December 3rd
December 4th
Chipping away on the lappie all day, well nearly...... I hate doing business plans especially when I know I'm not going to be able to follow it beyond the 2nd of January
December 5th
Happy birthday Ruth!
What a bitch of a morning the M25 closed for over 4 hours, no chance of getting to Portsmouth as planned ....see what I was saying about planning yesterday.
Ended the day in Brighton being told to go away and rethink the price increases I have been ordered to put in place, Ah well.
TGIF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
December 6th
Shopping! What! Again? The joys of Christmas ... we bought a new tree (artificial) for this year piccies to follow when we put it up.
Popped round to Des' mate Sue's house to try to sort out a computer glitch, 3 printers!! Failed to resolve the problem, had glass of wine and came home.
The TV is really crap went out rented a couple of DVDs, Des fell asleep during the second one!
December 7th
Guess what............ boring
December 8th
Happy Birthday Kevin!
Drove nearly 300 miles, came home went to Vicky & Kevin's for a "Kevin 's Birthday Drink". Went and swam 60 lengths of the pool (it's only a small pool!)
December 9th
Think I might have got caught speeding on the A20, not slowing from 50 mph as the limit dropped to 40, I looked at the van, saw amber light on the roof assumed it was "road workers" and didn't brake... silly, really silly!
I can't cope anymore, now the never to be sufficiently hate Tax man wants nearly £1000 off me....where am I supposed to find that much? Mind you I think I have found some of it in an error on a tax return in 2001 so maybe.....
December 10th
Des and Ted Go Shopping Again (This time in France) very strange day.... Channel ports are blockaded by French Fishermen, the tunnel is fine ... get to Cite Europe and it's virtually empty.. buy lots of booze.
On the way out of Tesco's (sad but it has a good selection) there is friend and colleague from my days in Smith & Nephew, Angela Shrimpton and just arriving husband David, I'd only seen Angela in a work context maybe three times in the last 5 years ....
The Smith & Nephew Zone 5 Team going to Le Touquet as the Sales Team of the Year.. a few years ago, David & Angela are 3 & 4 from the left, also in shot Chris James (2) Adrian Smith (5) Nitesh Shah (7) Ted (8) Des(9) Jim Alford (10) and Shirley (?) Alford. It was a very windy day on the runway at Biggin Hill, mind you coming back now that was windy.....
December 11th
Des's Christmas Party part one............. so drunk she came home with the wrong coat on.
I went out to get the odd Chrissie pressie or two
December 12th
A Day's Holiday HOORAY no driving in the horrid foggy murk.. Time to add a new rant about speed cameras.
December 13th
A big day for Kevin and his brother Simon as they join the Global Brotherhood, unfortunately they didn't join Ted's Lodge but rather their father Brian's Lodge "Aedile".
Still it was a very impressive ceremony, and a great evening afterwards, many thanks to the Worshipful Master of Aedile Lodge and all his team for their great hospitality.
Des had meanwhile slipped out for an Indian meal.......
December 14th
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Deck the halls with hunks of holly Tra la la la la laaa la
la laa
make the Christmas tree look jolly Tra la la la la laaa la la laa Get the stuff out of the loft ..........................open the box and dust it off |
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And very nice it looks too, well done Des.......
December 17th
Day off work for me hooray!! Words to learn for tomorrow....... bit late I know, More (the last of the) Christmas shopping (a nice set of party dishes for nuts and stuff from Tesco's) and a trip to the gym with all the time in the world for me to enjoy it without having to dash home!
Des was away at Christmas Party 2, "The Extravaganza" at the beautiful , but expensive Chilston Park Hotel. a lot of fun for her, early to bed for me
December 18th
An eventful evening for the members of Pro-Minimis and Marble Arch, half the people meant to be doing stuff went missing in action, but thanks to the excellent memories of a couple of members all went well.
December 19th
Painting doors, filling walls bits of DIY left for me to catch up on...... In the evening Ted went next door to have a guitar jam with Jim and his pal Darren, Ted got back very late ... Des was not pleased!
December 20th
Good news from New Zealand ..... the dispute over whether Bronnie and Josh are allowed to settle in Britain with mum Annie has been settled as far as the NZ courts are concerned... yes they are!!!
December 21st
Ted and Des went to John the Bass Man and the Lovely Glenda's for lunch at an Indian Restaurant in the middle of nowhere, in the evening the three of us went to watch the Lovely Glenda do a reading in her local church's Carol Service. She read well, Des sang very nicely and Ted got confused about the choice of obscure carols, ones that he & most the congregation did not know. OK so most of us only go to church at Christmas (Weddings, Christenings and Funerals excepted) so either they want the likes of me to go more often or they don't..... shutting me out of singing (despite being a good idea in general) won't make me feel welcome I'm afraid lads.
December 22nd
It's been a long time coming but I really enjoyed getting a numb bum for 3.5 hours watching "the Return of the King" An epic!!
December 23rd
I was working down the coast today so I popped in to see the Aged Parents, both appear to be in the pink, despite odd sniffles from Brian's cold.
December 24th
Last minute dash to Brighton saves the day for FK... what a hero Ted is if only they knew how many times I have saved their bacon...
December 25th
The day of mass consumerism... I did quite well on the pressies front, Des bought me a Reflector Telescope so expect to read lots about stars in the next few months. Lots of other bits which I would like to thank the givers profoundly, but I wont name them or the gifts here to avoid embarrassing them. Des unfortunately got little of what she wanted despite my best efforts, bollocks blew it again..
Off to lunch at Ruth's, we were supposed to take "a Des Special," a Chocolate Roulade, which Ted went and dropped! Bollocks blew it again..
Still lunch was lovely... All the Yeoman family bar one were present ( Yes Gareth you are going to have to turn up for one of these dos soon), a bit short on Willens though
December 26th
Due for lunch at Annie's .... the Chocolate Roulade arrived in one piece this time. One of the cars' tyres went flat but stayed up when I put some air in it, the Gills beat Watford so not a bad day really
December 27th
The great present swap begins, full refund on Des' mobile phone, thank you Phones 4U for the excellent service, sorted out a few more bits for Des. In the afternoon went out to change a pair of jeans for Ted, the wrong size in the leg ... no I haven't put on any weight yet! Result the jeans are now in the Sale so for an extra £10 I buy a pair of Cords' Despite being the same size as the now perfectly fitting Jeans the cords are too small (yes around my huge gut this time) C'est la vie!
Pleasant evening at home with Sue and George (Computer problems on the 6th...)
December 28th
Got rid of some of the seasonal rubbish shock horror scandal I did not have to queue at the council recycling facility, there really is a first time for everything.
Marlow Theatre Pantomime ..... what were two old fogies like me an Des doing at a panto? having a good laugh that's what, Excellent show great performances from the big 3 stars Toyah Willcox, Shaun Williamson and Dave Lee
Finished the day off with a very relaxed visit to Darren and Stephanie's for supper and a few drinks
December 29th
The Return to Bluewater.......... an epic journey of nearly 2 hours and all of 30 miles! Still we got there in the end! Returned my Cords, had another stroke of luck the replacements were even cheaper so I had to get more stuff so for £10 I got the chords, a top and a pair of socks..... plus in Zara I found a jumper that had caught my eye while we were in France.. Des managed the odd bargain too.
I finally made it back to the gym tonight too, ended up at Lynda's having a beer afterwards .... so bang goes any weight loss fro the exercise
December 30th
Ted woke up with a rotten cold, Des went to work for a half day just to help keep the place ticking over.
December 31st
I feel so much worse .... I eventually went to bed at 9:30 then again at 11:30 and fell asleep. Des stayed out until 4:30 or so she says.......