Motorbike Lessons Continued

Lesson #7 - Weather. I've been riding the bike now for a few weeks and experienced a number of different weather conditions. All of which seem to have their own individual problems for your poor bike rider.

Sunshine - Its lovely when the weathers nice but wearing all that gear soon gets very sweaty and smelly. Its fine if you're only nipping down the road, a pair of jeans and a t-shirt feels great, but done up to the eyeballs in boots, trousers, jacket, gloves and helmet is like being in a sauna!!

Rain - Apart from the obvious disadvantage of getting wet there is the added discomfort of not being able to see very much. The visor mists up on the inside and is covered with spray on the outside. You can't raise it up or you'll get soaked and you can't keep it down or you'll be riding in the fog. Not found a good solution for this yet!!

Wind - Ah, lovely wind!! If its not slowing you down in your face its trying to knock you off going right across you. It never seems to be at your back!! On my little bike on the exposed parts of the A13 I get thrown around like a midget in a washing machine!! Its quite scary, especially when there are lorries about!!

I've not had the pleasure of cold weather yet but I am sure it'll be as much of a joy as the others!! And I am trying not to even think about ice and snow!!

Fun day out

Took Harrison to the Science Museum on Friday. I haven't been there for about 15 years, it had changed a lot but was still a brilliant day out with lots to see, do and learn. The emphasis is definitely on interaction with hundreds of touch screens around the place with information, games and demonstrations on them. There are also a number of specific exhibition which you have to pay for but, considering there is no entry fee, is fair enough. We went in to the Spy exhibition, the i-max (dinosaurs 3D) and a Sponge Bob Square Pants simulator. They were all pretty good, especially the Spying and i-max!! I would thoroughly recommend it to anyone with a restless nipper wanting a good day out. The only down side was going in the school holidays, it was pretty busy but well worth queues!!

Wonder Bike v Wonder Pets

Little Arabellas favourite TV show is the Wonder Pets, Linny, Tuck and Ming Ming (guinea pig, terrapin and duckling respectively) save a series of baby animals with the application of a bit of team work. Its lovely, fluffy pre-school kids stuff and its got a catchy theme tune. For some reason she's got it in her head that my bike is called Wonder Bike and she now sings the theme tune swapping Wonder Pets with Wonder Bike. Very sweet, can you spot the difference??

He's been at it again

What I like about these two pictures is that after taking a snap of the whole fridge-freezer he then thought a zoom in on the freezer section was required, genious.....

Bloody football :o(

Its bloody typical isn't it. You sweat through the whole of the closed season with football withdrawal, you find yourself watching almost any football related pap on the telly just for the off chance of seeing a bit of footage, or watching the women's under 19's Asian cup or some such like. The end is in sight, the fixtures are announced, pre-season starts and you can read each result against teams you've never heard of, 4-0, 5-0, 6-0. This is it, this is going to be our year, we've made some storming signings, we've played 7 friendlies, winning them all, scoring 43 goals and conceding none. Then its finally, FINALLY here, the opening day, and even better your team is the first live game on the Saturday midday kick off. You get up early, get everything done so you can sit down and enjoy the opening salvo of a season that will ultimately culminate in silver ware, Wembley, Champions League football and the promise realised after all these empty handed years. And you get beaten by Sunderland, 1-0 in the final minute. Bloody Sunderland.

I hate football sometimes, this is going to be a long season.......

Oh, I almost forgot

I built a cupboard at the weekend. Not a flat pack Ikea jobby but a bespoke, floor to ceiling cupboard with shelves, decorative features all designed by me, on my own with no help!! Not got the doors on yet but thats the next job on the list. I thought I was pretty clever, its a blummin good cupboard too!!

Quiz night let down

After a storming run in The Wharfs Tuesday quiz night last night was a bit of a let down. We'd never finished below 2nd before, usually either winning outright or being joint winners. Last night we flopped to a lowly 3rd with 90 points out of 100. I think its time to shuffle the pack and get some new blood in, the team has had its day!!

On a brighter note we did win "Nicks Naff Raffle". We walked away with a lovely pair of matching 99p shop figurines that will brighten up our mantelpiece a treat. Seen here modelled by the nippers.

My kids are bonkers...

Let the count down begin.....

We are now officially at BabyCon 5, 5 weeks to go and counting!! Not particularly panicking or worried, I feel like this is all going to be a walk in the park, yet strangely at the same time I know that it won't be. Lets forget, for a moment, the trauma and stress of the birth itself (V doesn't enjoy it either by the way!!), straight after which we then have the worry about the little blighter being fit and healthy, having the right number of bits in the right places. Then there's V, the poor thing will (and this is a bit graphic) most likely have been ripped asunder in order to get the little bundle out, she'll be knackered, there'll be blood and shit all over the place and she'll be trying to breast feed while having a cross-stitch done on her particulars. And we're only up to the first hour after the birth!! If all goes according to plan this beautiful little event will take place at home with a couple of midwives in attendance, if not it could just be V, me, some clean water, hot towels and Google ("how + to + deliver + a + baby"). Double worst case scenario is V and the kids but that doesn't bear thinking about!!

Oh well, it'll all be worth it once the little Chester/Ruby is here, and you soon forget about the trauma of the birth once there's something else to take your mind off of it. There are some amazing bits I am looking forward to, like seeing the head come out, cutting the cord, holding the little thing to my chest to keep it warm, its great really, a little scary at times, but truly, breathtakingly amazing!!

PS - Found the review for my motor bike on motorcycle news and I quote "The CG125 is the motorcycle equivalent of spam"........not happy.

One word

Lesson #5 - Sneezing. Blimey, its not nice with a crash helmet on!! Especially when you have a sneezing fit at 60mph on the A13. Had to virtually stop until it was all finished then crack on again. It also led directly to lesson #6

Lesson #6 - Itchy nose (or any facial feature). Is so annoying there is nothing you can do about it, drives you mad!!

Wicked Wedding!!

There is nothing like a good wedding for a fantastic day (and evening) out!! Went to Phil and Alex's wedding on Friday and it was absolutely lovely, one of the nicest weddings I've ever been to. The place was amazing, its up for sale if you are interested, only £8,500,000!! Check it out here... Had a little bit too much to drink but that's what weddings are for, toasting the happy couple!! They really deserve a great day, lovely people with great families and friends and they know how to throw a party!! Good luck Mr. & Mrs Briff!!

Another lesson

After now biking into work 5 times I've found another new thing about biking....

Lesson #4 - Pins & Needles. I keep getting chronic pins and needles in both hands while on the drive in to work. The right (throttle) hand is worse but both suffer. I don't know if I am gripping too tight or if my gloves don't fit but its pretty annoying. Its OK in town because off all the stop/start at lights I can get some feeling back but on the A13 for 20 minutes I can't take my hands off to get feeling back. Answers on a post card for this one if anyone has any suggestions.