FRIDAY 31st October 2003 - Thankfully for the first time this week I didn't work any extra hours, although I did manage only a 10 minute lunch break today. I even surprised myself by driving rather sensibly home tonight. Generally keeping to the speed limit and managing a cool 36mph which I was rather pleased about. Only a few times did I have to seriously rev the engine and this included the usual location near Birdlip hill, when my ears are always popping. This of course made me very relaxed for the evening, though extremely tired and it wasn't long after a trip to the local kebab outlet that I started to fall asleep after a tiring week coming to a close - and another month gone. What a month it's been as well, lots of ups and downs, pressure and enjoyment, typical of my life generally!
THURSDAY 30th October 2003 - Why do people think I'm nuts - Vicky and Helena?? I can't understand why, and yes I agree with Vickys description of her inner self, that's very interesting and if she were a fruit or vegetable she would probably be an orange - bursting with joy and brightness, but also having the occasional squinting and spiting of juices when getting angry. Helena, well she would probably be a Strawberry - attractive and flirty on the outside and soft and smooth on the inside. Anyone else.... mmmmm Rich... a coconut, full of taste and adaptable on the outside, but hollow on the inside! he he he. Anyway I shouldn't go down this route any further I may get into trouble....perhaps I'll do some more descriptions another time soon! The day went well today eventually once I'd got going, but many were pleased and complimentary with my presentation, which went well, though it does help when you know what you're talking about (well it came accross like that!). Very tired though, leaving work at 7pm I was lucky I didn't fall asleep, did get back to Malvern safely though and a quiet evening in store which was a god send.
WEDNESDAY 29th October 2003 - Enjoyed breakfast before recommencing training about half a mile from the hotel, which was convenient. The training over the last few days has been really excellent, and I think not only the content was interesting and informative, but of course it always helps when you have good company and a good trainer involved. I must say Andy, the trainer was excellent, striking a balance between a relaxed atmosphere, simple explainations and of course knowing the subject extremely well added to some 'hands on' experience. In the likely event that Andy is reading my diary entry for today (I've given him this website address) - thanks for such an enjoyable two days and I'm hoping to implement many of the features in the near future at the office. And in case Jenny is also reading - good luck on Friday and it was a pleasure spending time with you both.
TUESDAY 28th October 2003 - What a long day!! Having set off from Malvern at 7.15am, getting to Chester for 10am, training until 5pm, then preparing notes and presentation in my hotel room ready for Thursday morning, staying up till 11.15pm, it was tiring. Ohh and a 5 mile run on the treadmill at the hotel tonight was excellent and a welcome relief, in between. It didn't help that my mobile phone didn't have a signal at the hotel, though the restaurant food was pretty good, when I tasted some excellent tuna parcels as a starter. The inhouse gym was good, as you know running I enjoy very much, so of course I was in my prime, 4 miles in around 20 minutes, then a workout on the weights before a 1 mile run on the treadmill to finish off in style!
MONDAY 27th October 2003 - Plenty to do in the office and lots on my mind lately, work wise and personality, though I do think I'm better prepared than ever to deal with all the goings on my life. It was quite complimentary the other day to here from somebody who suggested that I'm taking everything in my stride and organising the schedule well. It means I've done more hours at work than for some time to keep up with the schedule but I'm enjoying every minute at the moment, with some exciting times and plenty more in the near future. I tend to find myself in a little rut occasionaly, though as often happens a quiet reflection or discussion generally perks me up and gets me in a much better frame of mind, that's just typical of me I suppose.
SUNDAY 26th October 2003 - Now the flat is on the market, it means we've got to keep the flat spick and span, which of course is good anyway. Got some spare keys for the Estate Agents who will start to market the property. Its a pity no suitable property has been found to move towards, though I'm sure given time something will crop up - will just have to wait and see what comes along. Ohh and I've seen one of the most realistic adverts on tv lately (yes, I've watched some tv) - It's an advert which dramatises the outer and inner self of people advertising some milk/protein supplement/yogurt - it's really good and made me think of perhaps what my inner self would be..... perhaps a penguin (my favourite animal) or perhaps a banana, how very appeeling!!!
SATURDAY 25th October 2003 - A Visit from one of the local estate agents allowed me to place the flat back on the market almost immediately. Its strange just how quickly things can change, the asking price is just slightly above the original, so hoping to at least an even sale or hopefuly a little bit of profit along the way, which will help when moving on. Will have to wait and see know. In the afternoon made the short journey to Fleet for a Dr Martens fixture, which went pretty well really having the benefit of an Assessor who passed on his words of wisdom... thankfully he talked quite a bit more sense than the last Assessors I've had the 'pleasure' of meeting.
FRIDAY 24th October 2003 - I think the Conservative Party need a major shake-up - I'm not saying I follow Politics very seriously, but it seems to me that they fight within themselves more than anything else over the last 5 years or so... I'm not saying I beleive in the Tories and their policies, but it does look bad on British Politics.
THURSDAY 23rd October 2003 - I always seem to like Thursday's, I obviously can't give you a definitive answer why, I just do. I guess it's because tomorrow is Friday and that means we're heading towards the weekend, I suppose I should like Fridays too... but this is getting me nowhere fast so I'll just shutup now. Anyway, I was listening to a report on the radio today about some footballer that had left a club by 'mutual consent', now I understand this means that both the club and player were satisfied with the conclusion that the player was to terminate his contract.. next thing I hear being mooted around is that the club is accused of being racist, because he happens to be Turkish - what is the big fuss!! He's left by mutual consent, end of story, whay should the racism card have to be played, that is irrelevant - they make stories out of stories, just like the tabloid press, rumour after story after so called 'exclusive' - it's all a lot of tosh if you ask me, but the funny thing is people beleive what is written 'cause it was written in the newspaper' - perhaps people should deal with facts and not 'fiction'. Same applies to most things in life, always take the facts not some gossip or rumour - and most of it your business not anyone elses.
Ohhh today is the start of my star sign "Scorpio" -, now this is what I've been told about Scorpios;
Scorpio is the eight sign of the Zodiac and governs, amongst other things, transformation, regeneration, all things hidden, sexuality, and such fundamentals such as birth, life, and death. It is ruled by Pluto and its element is water, demonstrated through the Scorpio's emotional sensitivity. It's quality is fixed, which signifies those who are stubbornly determined; in the yearly cycle, it indicates the height of the season. When the Sun is in Scorpio, it is Autumn. As the Sun moves through Scorpio, the following energies predominate, affecting the way people relate to one another:
Notable positive qualities associated with Scorpio: Powerful, penetrating, dynamic, intense, passionate, magnetic, attractive, deep, probing, caring, courageous and rescourceful
Notable not-so-positive qualities associated with Scorpio: Self destructive, feels rejected, left out or unloved at every turn, jealous, possessive, intolerant, secretive, furtive, withholding, vengeful, cunning and vindictive.
Now you know all about me and having checked the dictionary for some of the explainations... what do you reckon about me... am I a true Scorpio, do you know me for any of the above qualities? I'd be interested to know.....
WEDNESDAY 22nd October 2003 - I actually feel I lot more upbeat today, things are pretty cool although it was frustrating at the start of the week, I guess the stress did rear its head slightly, but now it's chilled and that's great. Often excercise does the trick for me, it does help me relax and that was ideal to have a game last night, plus I'm picking up lots more games over the coming month so that is pleasing. I also feel disappointed that I can't take the opportunity of my fitness club membership lately, because I know I would use it virtually every day. And if anyone wants to buy me a birthday and/or christmas present combined then a treadmill would be a dream for me.... I just realy like them, you can run, and run and run, and not get wet, cold or have to wear hats or gloves to keep warm from the winter conditions outside... thank you! Ohh they're not that expensive...honest.... ohh and don't you think I deserve one! Better wait till I find a new home first before surprising me, I'll let you know when..... Check out the menu item Travel/Holidays, 2003 - Italy updated today.
TUESDAY 21st October 2003 - Made some better progress today and was pleased to grab an FA Vase fixture in the evening at an unknown place near Basingstoke. Really enjoyed the game and made some new friends in the process, hopefully will bear some fruition from this. I've got quite a bit of holiday leave to take so took the opportunity for half a day today and half a day in the morning, giving me the opportunity to catch up on some rest in the morning at the flat. Talking of home, I must be gluton for punishment looking at property again, however this one is out of my control and to be honest I'm quite enthuisiastic about it, cause I'll be looking in the Midlands, which will be closer to work and my friends and colleagues, which I'll be happier with. It will also give me the opportunity to leave my 'home' for almost 30 years and make the break so to speak properly, rather than living in two places at the moment which isn't ideal. No I don't wish to go through all the stress of this years move, but that's the thing with life, circumstances change which make it difficult to stay rooted, better to move on and find a better place, sad, but necessary and hopefully a long term future assured. So all in all looking forward....
MONDAY 20th October 2003 - When things go wrong at the wrong time and at the wrong place, everything goes wrong, don't you agree!? It wasn't as bad as I make out today, it was just very frustrating when knowing things have to be done, but the resources aren't working properly in order to complete the tasks, whereas on a normal given time they would work... oh dear, stayed on till 8pm at work to clear some stuff, though that wasn't that successful, I probably would of been better staying away. Still these things happen sometimes, it's such a busy period, everyone wants things done yesterday and they think they are more important than anything else, of course that is when you need more time in the day. Geee, this sounds awful doesn't it, poor Marvyn, things will be fine, fine and dandy, its just gonna take a bit more time! Moaning people always frustrate me, and they don't always tend to be female, contrary to my beliefs, however the latest moan "ohh, I bet Tony Blair didn't have to wait long to be seen at a NHS hospital over the weekend" - my god, give it a rest why don't people, everything nowadays is blown out of proportion, until it happens to you directly, why moan and comment, cause you DON'T KNOW! Well that's my gripe out of the way...... I feel much better now....Ariverderci!
SUNDAY 19th October 2003 - Rather a lazy day, though did get quite a bit of work done, helping Wei with some essential housework along the way. Getting ready for the week ahead which is rescheduled into the Office rather than the originally scheduled trips down to Fareham this week. Ohhh and realised that it is only one month away before my birthday, now that is becoming scary! Also some big tasks ahead, and I can forsee another house move along the way. I bet you didn't expect me to say that now, I've only moved in 3 months ago, but circumstances change, life moves in mysterious ways, but realilty also kicks in occasionally and it could be time for me to move on again very soon. More on this later.
SATURDAY 18th October 2003 - Had a little lie in before getting ready for the journey home. Once at the Airport was able to book the same seat on the return journey, as per the outward journey, however it was a different plane, and it was only a third full for the flight which was 20 minutes ahead of schedule, though the circling around London brought the schedule back on track, before a successful landing having flew at 38000m altitude over the Alps, Paris, Calais and the Channel overseeing Dover, which also noticed some the ferries accross the Channel, how weird that was, but a beautiful nights sky. Nice to be back home in the evening after a very nice break and refreshed ready for the months ahead.
FRIDAY 17th October 2003 - Made the 160 mile journey over to Milan, stopping along the way for an excellent lunch which included home cooked lasagne, with parmissan cheese, it was really lovely - very Italian! Once finded the hotel in Milan, after a few deviations, it was a very modern hotel, very new and very nice indeed I began by exploring the City, doing some shopping along the way the very busy streets were packed full of shoppers, tourists and business people mingling around. A very pleasant city, and quite clean really. It's the second capital of Italy, with trams skirting around the city that was quite odd, and some very interesting architecture. Took some more photos along the journey around the City and spent some money clothes shopping and visiting some of the very fashionable shops. On the return checked out a local Chinese restaurant near to the hotel in the evening, which was rather good including sweet and sour soup starter, crab meat, asparagus and mushroom dish with stirfry noodes.... rather nice! After a few hours and before bed took to the treadmill for a 15 minute workout.
THURSDAY 16th October 2003 - Another day exploring the sights of Venice, including a stroll into the local district of Marghera which gave me an insight into the local people and their habits (strange I must say, though perhaps on reflection not so considering I couldn't understand what they were talking about, but nevertheless and enlightning experience!) One old lady in a supermarket was so strange, at the checkout it seems she was moaning about paying too much for her groceries, and that she only had 20 Euros, the shop assistant kept taking items off the bill so she could pay within her budget, and of course a long queue ensued at the check-out. Classic! Just like the guy who bought 24 cans of cat food!! Mmmm, strange....You wonder who is more important in his household? Anyway, the weather continued to be sunny and warm enough for short-sleeves, and took the opportunity to visit the gym in the evening again for another workout. Thanks to those who have left messages on the guestbook, I'll see each of you over the next week, as within 48 hours I'll be back home and on Monday a re-scheduled return to the office!
Looking forward to visiting Milan tomorrow, I might even do some shopping!! Mmmm another watch perhaps (joking, I hope!!)
WEDNESDAY 15th October 2003 - Took to the road after a long rest, which I needed!! Travelling North East towards Venice, stopping along the way to check out the local Pizza.. which was pretty good actually. I also listened to Stings' new album for the third time today.... unfortunately because my Italian isn't very good I can't understand a single bit of the radio stations in the car... at least Sting can speak english that I can understand.... so it's either that or no music... which is okay sometimes I must admit. Made the trip into Venice, looking around this city was rather interesting... in fact the structure of the properties are quite remarkable, considering the city has lots of water around it, they do look in reasonable shape... though their was a lot of revelopment going on, and of course no cars around the place, only boats! Got quite a few more photos taken, before settling in at the hotel and using the gym for a 30 minute work-out on the treadmill, and excercise apparatus.....so here is Venice (below);
TUESDAY 14th October 2003 - Now, where do I start.... from the 24 cans of cat food in the Supermarket a guy was buying (and holding up the queue), to the tower which leaned over 17 feet vertically, to having my ears pop all day because of the high altitude driving, to driving through clouds in the Mountains in a foreign car, to seeing some beautiful landscapes, to realising that some souveneer shops are a total rip-off, to driving through loads and loads and loads of mountain tunnels probably at least 10km worth, to seeing some amazing Italian style driving techniques -quite a lot happened today... I think I've covered it in a paragraph!
Pictured above (taken today) is the hire car to drive around Italy. A Ford Fusion 1.4 zetec. Its pretty good actually, considering it can cope comfortably at 130k on the Autoroute I'm pretty pleased. Quite high up though compared to my car, but cool so far. Ohhh and the bridge in the background I though was rather odd.... it's not even, I mean it doesn't balance at the centre - looking at it now, the left side drops down suddenly, whilst their is a more gradual incline from the right... I'm hopeless at explaining, but I hope you get the drift...
Just changing the subject dramatically, have you ever carried on your life, seemingly normally in the face of other people but underneath living in a totally different way? In given time I will have to realise that things don't always happen as you want them too, obstacles appear seemingly at every point in life which knock you off course, unsettle you, (but hopefully make you a better person because of it).... I've taken a big knock today..... well two of us have taken a big knock over the last 24 hours, it hasn't sunk in yet, I still think I'm dreaming or in 'holiday' mode, but I'm sure when it does hit me I just hope I'm ready for it.... another challenge, another path in the life of Marvyn......
No doubt I shall be taking an ever keener interest in my horoscope for this month which incidently I have updated tonight.... Life in the stars, the future. The never easy, hard route life of Marvyn continues.... geeee why can't I be 'normal' !!!!!!!!!
MONDAY 13th October 2003 - Set off for Heathrow Airport in the morning, after avoiding the usual rush hour traffic arriving with plenty of time to check-in the bags, all done electronically for me, being an e-ticket kept it pretty easy really, it was all automated which suited me down to the ground, even to the point of selected the seat position - for me a window seat right by the exit so I can stretch my legs! I had a few hours to kill before the flight call, so of course what do I do when I visit the airport? Helena will vouch for the fact that, yes I bought a watch, okay I couldn't resist it, it's another one for my collection, thish time manufactured by Diesel. Pretty cool I think, different, just like my Swatch and Fossil watches. Anyway, talking of time, the flight was delayed by 30 minutes taking off, but arrived in Milan only 10 minutes behind schedule. It was a Boeing 767 flying at an altitude of 37,000 feet, and flying over the Alps, Geneva, Switzerland where the scenery was fantastic, with snow peaking on the mountains..... lovely. Once though a surprisingly uninterested Italian Passport control it was off to pick up the hire car, which was in the parking slot ready, no forms, no paperwork... just get in and go... now that's what I like....then a 2 hour drive to the first nights stay in Modena, around 100 miles south east of Milan.
And do you know what I like about Italy so far... the Holiday Inn is signposted along and from the Autoroute, so it was easy to find.... no other Hotels have the same direction signs that I could see. So checking in was straightforward.
SUNDAY 12th October 2003 - After the usual morning household chores and the seemingly usual Sunday trip to get the Sunday Times, it was quite a relaxing afternoon, reading the papers and then enjoying a duck supper before getting ready for the flight tomorrow.
SATURDAY 11th October 2003 - Organised the itinery for the trip to Italy this morning ready for the flight on Monday. Looking forward to visiting Italy, never been before, but always a place I've wanted to travel to, so are taking in a few days around Florence, then over to Venice on the east coast before returning to Milan for the final leg of the journey -well that's the plan anyway...will have to see!! Being a non football day for me today, played tennis for almost three hours in the afternoon, some practicing then a set of doubles, which was fun, then it was a 1.5 mile run on the treadmill to finish off!
FRIDAY 10th October 2003 - Catch up tomorrow, to busy busy busy!!!
THURSDAY 9th October 2003 - Headline news - Rich stayed awake and 'with-it' into the afternoon today, that charge overnight seemed to do the trick! Enjoyed the day spent training on the programming tools for our new computer system at work. Covered a lot today and came away feeling very satisfied with the progress made to date. More to do tomorrow and a further week 'hands-on' in 10 days time for a period of 5 days... so far very enthuisiastic and exciting. Had the gym induction tonight which went well... organising a personal training plan appointment a week on Monday to get myself a unique plan to keep my fitness maintained and improved in a few areas if possible. Looking forward to that.... Covered 2 miles through a combination of running and walking tonight which was cool, and had some tuition on the gym equipment. Must work on my arms....they aren't as strong as my legs that's for sure!! When I got back I made us my infamous fruit salads, though Rich did have Strawberry Angel Delight, apparantly he hadn't had that for years! I really enjoy angel delight, very yummy, though I'm not too sure about the Bubblegum flavour! I normally have one once a week and there are some great flavours... butterscotch, stawberry, banana, blackcherry, vanilla... mmmmmmm They are good with fruit tucked in as well!
WEDNESDAY 8th October 2003 - It was my turn to organise evening meal tonight, so I tried out a local mobile kebab restaurant, ordering three different varieties for us, they were great, and we all couldn't eat them all respectively... I think Rich was blowted and so was Wei and I. However, I will definately buy from them again, smaller portions probably next time, cause they were just too much.... Must make sure I do some excercise Thursday night when I have my gym induction later in the evening. Looking forward to that. The day went reasonably quickly, but it was rather staggered with some hiccups along the way, whilst be trained on programming. I think Rich's batteries ran out in the afternoon (as per usual) - I think he needs a good charge overnight and I've suggested he tries Duracell and not the cheap lot from the Market!!
TUESDAY 7th October 2003 - Really enjoyed the day! Travelled on the train into London Waterloo then underground into Clapham Common where I spent the day on a training course which was very interesting, informative and perfectly structured and organised. I know I've been on many training courses but this one was probably on of the best - great venue (fourth floor, overseeing most of the landscape of Central London, and an outside garden on the roof!), good teacher, good hospitality where I enjoyed a beef stirfry - very well presented and the content was just right, enough to keep you intested so you didn't get bored or fall asleep! Took some newspaper section from the Sunday Times with me and that helped pass the time quickly on the trains, with some interesting reads, including some money and investment tips!
MONDAY 6th October 2003 - I didn't expect to work a 10 and a half hour work shift, but I did today, having arived at the office just after 8.30 and leaving at past 7pm it was a long day! Checked in at my folks for a quick hello then it was travelling back down home, ready for a trip into London in the morning for some more training and with even more training planned for later in the week, its going to be a learning curve this week that's for sure! Nice to get some comments on the website lately including "Fabulous site - very honest and open". That's always nice - to hear comments from people - it keeps me enthuisiastic about the site, keep them coming, and of course any suggestions or ideas, they are always welcome. I did think about having a notice board for Helena so she can spread her gossip (I shan't say any more cause she'd be angry at me otherwise, and Vicky (what about her tales), Rich (Money saving tips and how not to sell a motorcycle and buying a dell laptop), Dad (What the football forecast is EVERY day), Mum (Skittles and Line Dancing fan club), Mick (Mick's computer technical support hotline), Matt (Electrical engineering, off road vehicle tips and jokes), Daryll (How to stack up overtime and earn loads of money working for a living), Christine (How to keep talking, humming and annoying people by interrupting + sponsored silence techniquess for less than 1 minute), Nicky (Providing that wooden spoon for the travel department) Wei (Chinese language classes and tennis coaching, plus use of TV remote control for fidgeting people), Sparky (How to eat loads of food to get bloated, sleep and clean yourself on your owners car) ..... mmmmm, now thats got me thinking...
SUNDAY 5th October 2003 - Sundays for me always seem to go very quickly lately, today was no exception, though it's probably because I don't get up to later in the morning than during the rest of the week, nevertheless after cooking some breakfast and doing the household chores, Wei and I visited a couple of health clubs around the area, the facilities on the whole were extremely good and we opted to join a private club for a 6 week special period, which included us receiving 6 bottles of wine each, so it made it even more worthwhile! The club we've joined has tennis, squash, badminton, fitness suite, gym, sauna, steam room, massage room, running track with excercise grids along the way, 5-a-side football pitch and sunbeds as well as a personal induction which we have Thursday night and a bistro with a restaurant and bar. We made use of the facilities in the evening with an hour and a half of tennis, on an all weather outdoor surface which was rather zippy (that's quick!).
SATURDAY 4th October 2003 - I'd invested in a new kit bag, new kit and some new equipment for my Refereeing career. Of course I made a good impression in terms of appearance, pity my performance on the pitch wasn't up to my highest standard. Though the game didn't pass me by it just didn't go as well as I expected which did disappoint me. I always assess my own performance after every game and today brought up a few flaws that I wasn't happy about. Say I set my standard at 100%, well today I was performing at about 65%, I was missing the zip, the enthuisiasm I would normally expect, I didn't run about as well as I could - even though at the end the knock on my changing room door brought in the FA Assessor who did in fact describe my fitness and positioning as 'brilliant', though I know I could do a lot better.
FRIDAY 3rd October 2003 - A hectic kind of day with plenty of jobs to do but of course never enough time in the day to cover all the tasks. Nevermind there will be another day! Spent some time out of the office to attend a demonstration in the afterrnoon which got my brain cells working overtime with some new ideas. It's funny - when I see demonstrations of various products and workings it often triggers some ideas and suggestion as to how useful they could be in the future. Stayed late at the office before the office cleaners came in and 'swept' me aside with there vacuum cleaners and dusters! Anyway, good trip down home in the evening even 'brushing' aside some very odd and inconsiderate drivers on the motorway - don't they know some drivers are making a three lane motorway into a dual carraigeway by constantly remaining in the middle lane???
THURSDAY 2nd October 2003 - Lots to do today at work and when at my Parents getting all my stuff packed as it will be my last night in Malvern for about 4 weeks, as I'm off living down at the flat for that time, whilst hopefully making a trip over to Italy for a weeks holiday during middle of the month and spending time working down south and in London the rest of the time - whatever happens I'm due a break from work, not having one for a while. I have plenty of days holiday to take before the end of the year, though I almost feel more inclined to work rather than take time off at the moment as is the amount of work to be done.... ah well it's an exciting time and I'll need the energy for later in the year, so its good that I'll have the opportunity to recharge.
WEDNESDAY 1st October 2003 - Busy day, plenty on my mind it was as if I was in a different world sometimes! Anyway got through it okay and with some positive tones. Training was good tonight, though I have realised that I've put on a few pounds over the last week or so, so I've still got some work to do to keep myself in trim. I'm certainly not overweight, though I would like to get back to a more lighter weight.... I'm fit enough when I go training and play football matches, but I know as people get older the training becomes more importatant... it's a good job I enjoy training and keeping fit, though.....I've got my image to think of!!!!! .