A good day

...thats what my son said about yesterday. Well in full what he actually said 'we have had a good day today dad'.

To break the negativity of work I decided to walk into town do some stuff that needing doing but hadn't got round to it yet. the day was proving to be beautiful outside, so my son decided to join me. We walked and talked our way into town. I did the things I had to and said lets go get a coffee, so we ended up below De La Warr Pavillion next to the sea having a 99 flake whilst sitting on the stones. It was blissful, we talked, we listened to the waves coming in, threw some stones, cuddled up and talked some more. It was only 30 mins I guess but probably the best 30mins we've spent together for weeks.

I know not everyone lives by the sea like this, but we should all take a break from what we are doing. Even just 30 mins, so that we can all have 'a good day'. If we don't then we just end up allowing ourselves to be victims of circumstance. People that get to the end of the day and huff, just glad that its over and that we can go to sleep and forget it all. It shouldn't be like this, everyday should be a good day, but we just have to chose to step away from the mundane so that we can make it one. What made the difference to the day wasn't that I had less work stress or that I'd had a financial windfall. Things are really bad for everyone in those areas at the moment including me. What made the difference was stepping out of it for a bit, being with my son and enjoying our little life together.

thanks son! This post hasn't turned out how I had expected. Originally it was just meant to be a note saying we had a nice day.....funny how thoughts evolve.

Tomorrow's World today!

Good news ! The BBC have release some of their archive of the TV show Tomorrow's World on the web, including full episodes!

Something that struck me as I watched an episode was how firstly this technology show was on prime time TV, not stuck on some obscure channel at 3 a.m. Secondly, how although they explain the technologies in simple terms, they didn't dumb it down. For a media that seems to cater for the Sun readers and the Vicky Pollards, it was good to see that they expected people to have some semblance of intellect. Thirdly I thought this show is a wonderful way of reflecting the ideas, aspirations and fashions of the 60s 70s and 80s. Lastly it reminded me what a corker Maggie Philbin was! (a right sausage)

Use the links in this blog to have a look. You could view it as a history lesson, with insight to the opinions of the future from the past. (oops headache) It could be a review of changing techology and seeing the start of things we have come to accept in recent years as normal. OR, just a plain laugh at the fashions, believe me its worth your time to have a look.

Cracking fun lad!

Had a family trip to London yesterday. What was different this time was that the girls did the girly things and went to the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) while the boys went to the Science Museum. My son had a purpose to pursue aswell, and that was to go to the Wallace & Gromit exhibition that was on. I wasn't so keen to be honest, and I felt that way right up until we got to the ticket stand and they said for this next hour entrance is free!! Can you imagine the change I felt? Just saved myself 16 quid, which meant I was now the biggest Wallace and Gromit fan in the whole place. Eee by gum lad I was reet chuffed! (sorry...its the best I could come up with for a kid born in Surrey a place you spend your life apologising for...."what are you sorry about?"...."no I said Surrey" - it only works with the accent)

There was some clever exhibits, and the detail on the sets they had on display was astonishing! I even naughtily went down the kids tube when the officials back was turned. Getting a freebie does lift ones spirit don't you think?! ha ha

I do think the general exhibits in the Science Museum need a bit of a refresh and maybe changing some too. I did look at some things closer this time than I had previously. For instance when we looked at the aircraft, my son and I spent just as long at looking at the display of aircraft engines, all be it with little more knowledge of what we were looking at than ooo aaaahh thats a big one! All in all a good place for boys to go and boys be I reckon, while the girls went off looking at costume and furnishings in the other place, YUK!

Broom brooooooom ....beeeep!

I haven't shared with you my almost perverse interest in mechanical things. Be it planes or cars I have an interest and a certain desire to be sitting in these things swooping or turning to my hearts desire. I've always had a love for the Spitfire. I love how it looks, its sounds and its history and the fact that they took the speed of this plane almost as fast as is possible without it being a jet. If there was just ONE thing I would do if I could ever have the chance, it would be to fly in a spitfire. A possibility that is even less likely due to the fact that there are very few 2 man spitfires in the world. Ashamedly I must admit that when I can I go to airshows and yes I have binoculars around my neck whilst I oooo and ahhh at displays. When I was a kid, liking the red arrows was not cool, but now I love watching them!

Funny thing is this post wasn't meant to be about planes, but rather it was meant as a lead into the fact that I went to the Bexhill Classic Car Show on bank holiday Monday. My wife and daughter couldn't be bothered with it, leaving it up to me and my son along with a friend to get nerdy with the classic car set. I'm going to just show you some photos from it now, along with my comments. Please do not think badly of me, rather understand I have a problem and that as i'm maturing it seems to be getting worse. Oh and yes i'm looking into getting my own classic car for next year...........what a loser!
This is my mate Paul and this is his Morris Minor. Five of us turned up at the event in it, I really don't know how it was possible. I have spoken to him by the way about his attire and how he looks like someone who owns a Morris Minor. That looks like a flat cap to me!! Sorry Pad


My personal taste in cars is more to do with appearance and design outside and in, rather than the performance, this is true with this car. I had some fun with this fella. The car is a Lancia Beta Montecarlo. I was taking a photo when the owner turned up and wanted to go. Firstly I asked if I could get one more photo, to which he said yes. Secondly, I then cheekily asked if I could sit in it with him for the photo above. Finally, I thought stuff it and asked him for a go, to which he said alright then! We went a couple of miles down the road to Cooden Beach where we could listen to the engine rumble as we went under the railway bridge. Excellent! Thanks again to the Mister Man for taking me out in his car. It pays to be a cheeky boy sometimes.

Ahh the Daimler Dart, as modelled by our sons! Genuinely a beautiful car to behold. I can't get over the fact it was a Police pursuit car. You can tell the man who was going to drive it chose it. If he had left the decision to the bosses he'd have ended up in an old Model T Ford. The photo does not do it any justice, you need to look at it side long and you then can see why it was called the dart. If you look at the front you can see the bell that would have been used in a chase...how cool is that!

Can you believe this beauty is a Volvo? What happened to them? They went from this, to making boxes with wheels. This one was used for the original series of The Saint, and would have been driven by the lead character himself. I can't see Volvo being used on any TV programs today other than maybe Countryfile. What a waste of what could have been!