Bangor Blog

For This Year I Will....

Sat, 03 Jan 2009 12:00:00 AM GMT

I think for this year i will .........probably do the same as I did last year only a wee tad different. As I have made no resolutions I cannot break them. I have little money left and at the end of this year I can more or less guarantee the same. I found out that after a break of friendship with my pal Dr. Smirnoff he is still not a very friendly person. After thinking that we had made up our differences he creeps up behind and PWCHWAAAACK. I am ill with some very uncomfortable illnesses over a 3 day period. Goodbye old friend.

Apart from that. I had a great time over the Xmas period and New Year. There were friends home from all over the place and even we had a full house with foreigners. The USA were there. Canada was there. England was there. The Republic (Eire / The South / Ireland) was there. Good to see all. One guy in particular was home and nobody was supposed to know. But, you know the saying. Bangor is too small a place to keep any secrets for long. Hence the booze up arranged in Fealty's the other day. Great innit! (but then again not so great as I was the one who ended up ill.

Santa was really good this year. Everything I was given was actually something that I wanted. I think this is a first. (for me anyway) It must have been something to do with all the little hints I kept dropping prior to the day. There were things that I got that were used more or less straight away, especially the gift vouchers, and there were other things that will take me up to this time next year to even start using (all the books) I did go out and buy a CD that wasn't in my stocking though, methinks that because it was such an awkward one to find that nobody bothered to go looking. I walked into the store and there it was. On the shelf about 10 feet inside the door. That was one voucher used up. After hearing about Zavvi and them not honoring their vouchers I thought I better just get this used up just in case.

At the moment our hose is still on the full side. Apart from ourselves we have two from the USA and one from England staying. So, hose full for the moment. I think come this time next Tuesday we will have the hose back to normal again. That means after my household duties I don't have to worry about slobbing around. Great innit!

One thing I did do, I said I would'nt but I did anyway, was..... I went into Woolworths on their last trading day. And yes, I did buy a load of stuff. What stuff I hear you ask. I will tell you. I went round their CD and DVD racks and picked out the items I thought would sell on Ebay. Everything was 80% off. Everything is now on Ebay. Maybe this will be the year for making my fortune on Ebay. But then again. I seem to remember saying something along those lines this time last year. Look what happened there. Wait and see. Wait and see.

For now

Chow

Remember folks. Should you want to comment on any of the above gack just click on the above title and add your very own gack. Some peeps already do so. I love to get newcomers to the blog

Hi's & Lo's 2008

Sat, 20 Dec 2008 12:00:00 AM GMT

Hey there peeps. I hope that you are all ready for the festive cheer that will soon be upon us. Got your pillow ca... (stockings) tacked to the end of your beds? Good. Then i shall begin.

In the following paragraphs I will try and outline the hi's and lo's of the past 12 months. I hope that for every negative I can come up with a positive. It might not work every time, but here goes.

1/ I attended too many funerals this year

2/ I heard about more births of little pink babies

3/ I was hospitalized 4 times this year

4/ My wife had VERY successful surgery on her spine and is making a fantastic recovery even as I write

5/ I left work and became a house husband earlier this year

6/ I am enjoying my household duties more and more

7/ I went on my very first cruise this year (with my wife of course)

8/ It was our silver wedding anniversary while we were on the cruise

9/ We came home from our cruise to find out that there had been a non stop house party in our absence.

10/ The money we won in the onboard casino went towards our excess baggage costs

11/ I am now on 3 different diets, (diabetic, sodium free, low potassium)

12/ Some of the food isn't bad but I really miss the foods that I like (coffee especially)

13/ I came to an understanding with my dietician. (I can have the odd cup of coffee as long as it is made from real coffee and not instant)

There. I am sure that there are other things that have happened but they must not have held rank with what's listed above. No doubt they will come to mind once I have posted this gack.

Oh. 14/ I received a parcel all the way from Oz full of Rolling Stones Stuff. Don't forget folks. After Xmas is over and you're cleaning out your cupboards for space. There is always a good home awaiting ANY Rolling Stones Stuff here. Just mail me and see what happens.

It would be nice to compare notes of a similar ilk. Anybody want to share?

Just hit the title above and sell your soul. There are peeps here who are just slavering to hear from you.

Merry (hic) Xmas and a Happy New Year to youse all!!

Only One Expletive!!!!

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 12:00:00 AM GMT

Well. Only one VERY LOUD one. All the others were only heard by me. Under my breath and in my brain.

Let me elaborate a wee tad. This morning, after my wife had gone out driving for the first time since her surgery, I was going about my usual household chores. Are you with me so far? Well, I was going out to the garage with the daily washing. Going out the back conservatory door to get to the garage where we have the washing machine I was minding my own business when.......whoops! My feet were in the air. My bum was on the deck. My back and side and head were on the 'concrete', yes 'concrete' steps.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, well out of my mouth really, came this VERY LOUD expletive. The whole neighborhood must have heard it. What was this expletive I hear you ask? It was the 'f**k' expletive at mega decibels.(if anyone asks about it i am laying the blame on the builders who are working 3 doors down from our house) I was in agony. I was lying on an icy deck. I was lying there with only one slipper on. I was lying there swearing to myself and at the redhead who thought this was a game running around with my other slipper in her mouth while the blond just stood at the door barking at me.

After lying there for what seemed like an age, I managed to get my slipper back and got back onto my feet with the aid of my hands and knees. (not a pretty sight I can tell you) Now I know why they call them slippers.

Why don't they call them 'deathtraps'? "Yes, I would like a pair of your finest deathtraps size 8 please. What, you don't have any. You only have slippers. OK. They will have to do. Thankyou."

I then gathered up the scattered washing and headed for the garage, very, very carefully mind you and got the washing on. By the time I got back to the house, (only 20 feet away) my side was beginning to hurt a wee tad. This was at 10.30AM. By 3.30 PM I was sitting in the hospital awaiting an examination.

I am now home and the prognosis is. " No, I haven't broken my back" "Yes, you have badly bruised your kidneys and the surrounding area and you may have a couple of broken ribs" "Go home and take some paracetamol and rest up for a few weeks"

More expletives (in my mind only) and a thank you to the lovely young girl who looked at me. It is sore and uncomfortable for me to sit in a chair. It is sore and uncomfortable for me to stand. What is it going to be like lying down in bed tonight? Let me hazard a guess. 'Unfeckingcomfortable'

Anyway, I just thought I would let you all know what sort of day I have had. Can anyone of you beat it?

I look forward to reading any replies. As always, click on the title above to make you comments

Until later

The BIG Shop!

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 12:00:00 PM GMT

How can I now do my Xmas shopping with my favorite store about to close. Where on earth will I spend my sixpence now? All my fond memories of childhood shopping gone just like that. The store with everything a child or adult could want. I always bought my supply of water balloons there. They had the best value in town

Ahhhh. Who am I kidding. Just like all the stores in this town and towns all over the countryside are having problems. As an ex shopkeeper I understand fully what is happening. More and more people are shopping on the internet. I can't remember the last time I bought cd's or books in a shop. Maybe if more and more of the big stores tried a bit harder to compete with the net then they might still be in business. Bur then again, their overheads cripple them. Maybe if the council was made up of likewise businessmen who really care for the town they represent instead of trying to be politicians things might be a bit different. And I don't mean just this town, I mean all towns. Let the politicians stay in Parliament and not in the Town Halls.

Coming back to Xmas shopping. (I just had a wee rant there, nothing personal)My shopping started 2 weeks ago. A wee gift here, a wee gift there. Tomorrow i plan on going on a major hunt for the BIG gift. Yes. The gift of all gifts to give my wife. I have a rough idea, thanks to my daughter, of what would brighten her wee face. (no, not that you dirty minded wee ......) This gift is on show in a particular store in the town and I am going to have a peek see to decide:-

1. Can I afford it?
2. Can I really afford it?
3. Will she like it?
4 Will she really like it?
5. Can I really really afford it?

If the answer to any of these questions is in the affirmative then that means get it or else. I have seen what my wee darling can do once upset. Not a pretty site. Me, that is.

As for me. I have dropped hints all over the place. Some of them subtle, some of them not so. Depending on which member of the family they are directed at. I know that the few hints directed at my wife are taken in and acted upon. Much the same would go for my daughter but not always. As for my son, let's just say I get a total surprise on the day. I think he has the right idea. I love a surprise It makes it more interesting (for a while)

Tomorrow I will also start to write my Xmas cards. Whether i send them is another thing altogether. Not only do I have to think who I am sending to but I also have to hoke out addresses. I know that the last post for worldwide posting is December 5th. I better get a move on. i also better remember to make up an address page for this feckin' machine. It would make life easier for next year. Then again, I seem to remember saying the exact same thing this time last year. If you get a card it means I have your address. If you don't, it means I don't know you well enough or I couldn't find your address.

Away from Xmas now.

As always, I am looking forward to next year. Why? I will be a year older for a start. I will be a year nearer to paying my mortgage off. I will be a year closer to going on my (our) next cruise. I might even be a year closer to hearing those magical words. "Mom, Dad, we're leaving home" No not the dogs, the kids / adults that live here as well.

Want to place bets anyone????

All comments gladly read and enjoyed. Click above and say your stuff.

Until next time

And out in the open et al

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 12:00:00 AM GMT

Indeed. Out in the open and in front of everyone, well me anyway.

I was on the train going to Belfast from dear old Bangor Town. There I was, sitting on the double seats, you know, the ones that face each other. I like to sit there especially on the left side going with my back to the engine. I like to see where I've just come from. Where was I, oh yes. We were just about to leave the station when these two giggly girls got on and sat facing me. I thought, free country, sit where you want, just don't spill my coffee. My COFFEE that I have been looking forward to for over a week now. (I am not allowed coffee any more but I thought, ah stuff it, one won't hurt.)

Seem to be going off at a tangent here. Let's get back to the main story. Yes. Two giggly girls. About 20'ish (I later found out that one of them is 21 on the 21st March next year) Anyway, I'm sitting playing my Nintendo DS just to pass the time. I look up for a moment and out of the corner of my eye I notice that these giggly girls are holding hands. No harm there. Good friends. Then, further along the tracks they start kissing. Very good friends. Not that I could help it, but overhearing, not listening, their conversation pieces I get the total picture. Lesbians! Not that I go out looking for them, after all, they are people. Please don't think I am a prude. The last time I saw Lesbians was in Toronto when I went to see a band called The Dayglo Abortions in a rock joint called Ian's Place in downtown Toronto. No, they weren't in the audience, they were part of the stage show.

Is it me, my age, my train of thought or what? Apart from witnessing this show of affection towards each other both of these girls talked the biggest load of gack all the way from Bangor to Belfast and beyond non stop.

Should there be any males/females of the gay persuasion reading this please don't get your knickers in a twist. Not on my account anyway!

Comments as usual. Click the title upstairs and gack away

Byeeeee

You want some good news then!?

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 12:00:00 AM GMT

OK. You want some good news then? Here it is. This is the best good news that I have had for some time now. No, nothing to do with my wife. Nothing to do with my health. Nothing to do with the economic climate (thank feck!) It might have something to do with a current story about phone calls to an answering machine. Whose answering machine? Think Fawlty Towers for a while. Ce!

Yes, I got 2 tickets for the Russell Brand Stand Up Comedy Show in January. My wife will be able to walk about by that time so I thought she could do with a good laff. Apparently the BBC don't think he is funny anymore. I think they got rid of the wrong man. I don't think Jonathan Ross is all that funny. Maybe his time will come. Anyways. We are looking forward to the Russell Brand show next month. Each to their own when it comes to taste. Bearing in mind, my taste is always better than.....

Away from that. More good news. Halloween is over. No more begging at the door at all times. These kids nowadays, they don't even do it the traditional way anymore. They make it easy for themselves by shouting yet another Americanism at you. My dogs bark at any noise and they certainly scare the feck out of them when i answer the door, yet again, holding a barking, growling pair of dogs by the ruff with just the tiniest threat of letting them go. It's like them telling them that if they let another firework off within earshot of them they will really do damage. (a lot of them's there, wasn't there?)

As my wife get's a wee tad better day by day I am finding more time for myself. After i have done the washing / dusting / hoovering / cooking / shopping / cleaning etc, i now have 3 hours a day to myself. That's 2 hours to sleep and 1 hour to get dressed / undressed / downstairs / upstairs / check mails / check blog gack etc. Not bad eh?

As I mentioned above, I check my blog every day. I really look forward to seeing new gack posted. No matter what it is I like to read what you think of things. Here's one to put your witty minds to. My daughter is going to take me to see the new James bond movie soon. What string of puns can you put together using only the Bond film titles? I look forward to reading your witty gacks.

Don't forget about the Rolling Stones. They are still around. There is still a lot of stuff I don't have. I trust that you are still looking and not just forgotten.

Your comments as usual by clicking above title bar. All newcomers most welcome. I need to know that there are people out there who read this gack

Tarrah for now

She talks, She walks

Sun, 26 Oct 2008 12:00:00 AM GMT

Yeah! She talks and then She walks. Well, She walked to the middle of the room and back to her bed again with the help of two physio's. She bein my wife who has just gone through, yet again, surgery on her spinal cord. The surgeon, yet again, removed a dermoid cyst (not sure about the spelling there, but never mind) from my wife's spine. The good thing is this time, the pain she suffers 24 / 7 might just altogether disappear. we will have to wait and see. Also while he was in there, he fixed up some of her nerve endings. Just like that. Like something you would expect Hawkeye to do in M.A.S.H. 'Oh, here's some damaged nerve endings, let's just fix these up while I'm in here at no extra cost' As a result, my wife can now feel things in her leg that she couldn't feel before. And no, it's not my hands!!

She is surely on the mend. Maybe this time next week she will be home. (Remember. Clean the house, change the bedclothes, throw out the Chinese takeaways, clean the loos, brush the doggies and everything else)

Apart from the regular visits to the hospital, I haven't really had time to do much else. It's just as well I have a half fare pass for the public transport otherwise it would have cost me twice as much (who's the first to see the ridicule in that line?)(answers on a postcard only please addressed to 10 Downing Street) I had no idea that train fares had gone up so much in the past couple of years. Bus fares are just as bad. Why can't we adopt the North American way of ab / using public transport. Get on, pay a dollar and go where you want. At least that's the way I did it when I was last there. Make out you're lost and they take pity on you. Just make sure it's a different driver each time.

Since my wife went into hospital the phone has not stopped. No, it's not people looking for payment of overdue bills. I keep on top of those no matter what. It's just people phoning to inquire about the missus. (note the downgrade from my wife to the missus) When people are on the phone it's always less formal as these are friends. I can afford to be less formal. Unless, of course my good friends Liz and Phil the Greek from Buck House get one of their minions to telephone on their behalf!

All I seem to have done this blog is refer to topics regarding my wife. Here's something different that doesn't concern her at all, until I get back that is. A 35 year Annual School Dinner!!! Or, to be more precise, a 35 year annual piss up with a food fight in the middle. I think this is happening next month sometime. It will be a good chance to meet up with some good and not so good school chums of years ago. Details after the event, maybe!

Well, I better get ready, I need to leave here soon to go for another big train ride. Have a rather hurried lunch, beg my daughter to give me a lift to the station, grab a coffee at the coffee place, buy my half price ticket, get on the train and go.

I must remember to get dressed as well

Choo choo for now

McDuff

WSS (Winter Soup Supply)

Sat, 04 Oct 2008 12:00:00 PM GMT

Yep. That time of the year again. Mickmak shears his sheep. I make my Winter Soup Supply. Carrot & Coriander / Vegetable / Celery / Asparagus / Lentil and others that I think of as the day goes on. I now have one freezer full of Chinese Takeaway containers full of home made soup. I think I have enough to last until maybe the end of December. Not bad for a lay out of ?15.00 for the ingredients. Not only that, it's healthy as well. Have you ever looked a tin of soup and read the ingredients list. Just look at the amount of salt and sugar goes into one tin. With my soup there are only the natural salts and no sugars. I'll outlive you all!!

Many thanks to Mickmak. He gets the gold star and a teachers pat on the head. A package arrived all the way from OZ addressed to a colleague of mine. It contained not just one Rolling Stones item, but a whole 7 items. Yes. Plural. As in more than one. This is what I call good. If only other peeps would understand the importance of the issues at stake. There are hundreds, if not thousands of Rolling Stones items just lying about in peeps attics and basements and garages and cupboards etc. They are not being put to their full use. If they were within my collection then they would be put to their full use. Contact me through the web site to arrange to have your items shipped immediately.

As I write this gack I am in the presence of a television that is switched on. It is Saturday night. It is 8.00ish. It is UTV. Yes. It's The X Factor! I think, now this is only what I think, that everyone who cries should be immediately disqualified. that would make the cut the programme down to about 2 weeks. Then its over. After all, if I can sing without bursting into tears then anyone can. (well I used to be able to sing, usually with 10 pints inside me for a bit of Dutch Courage)

Viking has a new job everyone. He is not allowed to use the t'internet by his boss. Should this be construed as harassment in the workplace? Make your views known at the bottom by clicking on the title bar at the top. If that makes any sense to you. In my last job, the one I had before I retired, I used the t'internet anytime I wanted to. Well, I was the only one there so it didn't really matter!!

I am still making use of the brief spells of good weather to put the garden to rest for the Winter. Almost done. I did manage to get a reliable person to come and measure up for the new fence that I want put up. I have known this guy for a long time now and i have / had every faith in him. He came on Monday, measured up, on his way out he told me he would give me a call the next day. Is tomorrow the next day yet???? I still haven't heard from him. Come to think of it, I haven't even seen the other guy who was supposed to call last Sunday. Maybe he got confused and thinks its next Sunday (tomorrow) or next Sunday (next week)!!!! I might end up doing the feckin' job myself after all. Nobody seems to want to work these days.

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Ta Ta