From Series 9 Episode 26 broadcast on 29/07/15 The Barrister is on fine form but will Hayley and Dave be able to walk away with £7,000?
The Chase
I was just looking around what’s on my YouTube channel and to be honest there’s not a great deal. However I saw this little nugget of Tv gold and thought I’d share it with you.
Me – on the Chase
Yep that’s me almost 9 years ago when I had most of my faculties about me, what went wrong?
I had my hour of fame to be honest and in the end myself and Hayley came away with a win. My share went towards a kitchen we were installing at the time and I believe Hayley, who was a student nurse at the time was going to put it towards her first car.
Me with Sean Wallace – The Chase
Sean Wallace the chaser was a lovely guy. Nothing like his tv persona, he came and met up with us after filming and was a right charmer. I have met him since travelling on the Bakerloo underground line as I believe he used to live in and around the Willesden area in London.
Perhaps I need to get one of those “I beat the chaser” tee shirts.
It was a fun day and created a lot of good memories.
I’ve just obtained a bunch of photo manuals for cameras and related photography items from the last 40 years or so. Close to 80 of them.
Various Photo manuals
Now I know these aren’t repairable items keeping in harmony with this site, however they are popular, and I just happen to have a few of these cameras available. What I’m thinking is that these manuals would be a nice little addition when I sell on said cameras to the unsuspecting world. It’s just that little bit extra that just could swing a sale.
The ones I have left I can just sell on as they seem to attract a reasonable price on line. Either way, I’m keeping them out of landfill and that is one of the purposes of this site.
I may even be able to make some kind of collage back drop with them or use some old photos as an alternative skin on one of my old cameras. Something arty-farty you know.
Listing them all online is going to take an age. Maybe I could ask the wife to assist in this matter. Now that will cost me a handbag at least.
Do you remember your favorite book from childhood?
See this is what I’m getting at, the prompt from yesterday was not much different from this one for today. The guy that does the prompts at WordPress must be getting right bored.
Cockleshell heroes
Anyway, just as well I read a lot as a youngster. One of my favourite books I read as a youngster was the Cockleshell Heroes by C.E Lucas Philips. This book was published in 1956 about 9 years before I arrived on the scene.
I was a bi product of that period post wartime when the big rebuild of the country and the economy was starting to kick start. As a kid it was all war films and war comics so it was only natural to read war book’s wasn’t it?
It’s another book that I’ve read more than once and as a youngster it’s sheer excitement and intrigue kept me engrossed from cover to cover.
I hope tomorrow’s prompt is another subject, I quite fancy “What did you eat yesterday?”, for a change. (Only joking 🙃)
Anyway have a darned nice day and enjoy the sun if you are fortunate enough to see it.
Yes I’ve just had one of those moments, a silly one I guess. It confounds me how this Blog machine gets its viewing stats, and in a moment of madness I thought I’d just test out how far a stupid blog post actually goes so here it is.
A random battery terminal
This is about my level of silliness at this current moment. A random car battery terminal.
At work last evening I had to attend the old signal box at Mantle lane, a signalling location on the old Leicester to Burton line ELR ref KSL.
Mantle lane looking towards Leicester
I was walking across the official walkway and I stopped at the halfway point and took these two pictures on my Phone. The lines are sparsely used at the moment and only by stone trains taking their loads from Stud farm or Bardon hill.
Mantle lane looking towards Burton
There are public enquiries taking place to reopen this line as a passenger thoroughfare, after being closed many years ago. Personally I can’t see it happening as it would involve massive investment and I can’t see our current government dipping there hands in their pockets for this project.
Just thought I’d put this up to show the two pictures, enjoy.
List three books that have had an impact on you. Why?
Cosmos – Carl Sagan
Cider with Rosie – Laurie Lee
The bitter lemons of Cyprus – Lawrence Durrell
I was a kid of the sixties, one of Apollos children as I lived through those heady days of the space race. Carl Sagan was one of those superb teachers that could bring a highly complex scientific process down to a level every one could understand and there haven’t been that many people who have followed him who can do the same. I have read the book and watched the series many times, I’m sure I will do the same soon.
I love Laurie Lees ability to be able to teleport you into his life as a child growing up in the country. I first read this book at school and then read it again about 30 years later. The things you notice in this book as an adult against what you read as a child shows how much our knowledge and attention grows as you mature. It’s a go to holiday read for me as it’s one of those comfortable books. His other books about the Spanish civil war are also very well written and insightful.
I love Cyprus and everything about it. This book by Lawrence Durrell gives a fascinating insight into the old ways of the island pre-invasion, as he travels around documenting the many people and ways of the island. I must have read this book a good six times now and I never tire of it. I suspect number seven will be coming up very soon.
I’ve deviated from the usual WordPress daily prompt, as today just like many other days they seem very much the same.
Alf in his favourite look out position
Today I have decided to write about things that put a smile on your face, and today at just before 6am this morning I had an incident that made me smile. For the reader you will probably be thinking what the heck is he getting all excited about, however for me it means a lot more, there is a story behind it all so let me bring you up to speed.
I have owned dogs pretty much all my life, in our 33 years of marriage we have had 3 dogs all of the same breed a Bichon Frise.
Our latest incarnation, the little fellah that has been with us for 11 years so far is Alfie, a right little sweetheart who I can honestly say has never growled at anyone in all the time we have had him, I don’t think he knows how to.
Anyway Alf has an autoimmune disease that means his skin is trying to kill him, it’s an affliction called Sebaceous Addenitis, He is on tablets that do the same as organ rejection tablets do for humans, quite nasty little packages that have to be handled with care. He also has tumours around his rear end that need daily dressing and cleansing. He’s not well bless him, but he still shows us a wagging tail, and that really pleases me.
Anyway Alf has deteriorated quite swiftly over the last couple of years, he’s gone from a dog that loved to walk miles to one that just goes out the door to do his business, we are lucky if a walk now stretches to ten minutes when we used to be out hours.
I do shift work and when I’m on a night shift I’m usually arriving home sometime just after 05:30 in the morning. I used to love to come home, I’d know Alf would be waiting at the door and we’d go out for a lovely early morning walk, i absolutely loved these walks as they formed part of my routine and it was precious good time out with my companion.
However as Alf’s illness has progressed he’s no longer waiting at the door when I come in, he tends to be so tired and to be honest he rarely gets out of bed before 10am as he seems to sleep for the biggest portion of the day. I really miss our little early morning walks. I miss my lively little lad.
In fact both my wife and I have noticed we are not getting the exercise we used to but that’s another story.
Imagine my surprise this morning when I roll up onto the drive to see Alf sitting in his favourite place on top of the settee looking out the window. My immediate thought was “What’s wrong?” but my wife then puts my mind at ease by saying she got up early to put some washing out and Alf got up with her. I said that was strange as it’s far too early for him but he seemed so bright for a moment, so I asked him if he wanted a walk, so he went straight to the front door I put his lead on him and we did something we haven’t done for best part of a year. We had that early morning walk.
We didn’t go far, we probably managed 10 minutes, but do you know what, I felt like I’d won the lottery, I actually thanked him for the walk gave him a cuddle and told him how much I’d enjoyed it. For that brief moment I was the happiest man alive, strange isn’t it. The sad part is that this will probably be the last time we do this, but for me, for a brief moment early this morning I felt like the happiest man on the planet. Its made my day and made me appreciate all that I have. It’s those little things that matter.
Sorry to go on about it, it’s probably going to mean nothing to you the reader, but for me this is everything, and I had to write about it.
Have a wonderful day in whatever you are doing, and just rejoice in those small nuggets of happiness we all too often ignore and let them pass us by.
I’ve just brought one of these, it’s a toy and I’m heading for the senior end of adulthood:
Big Trak CE3962
BIG TRAK / bigtrak is a programmable toy electric vehicle created by Milton Bradley in 1979, resembling a futuristic Sci-Fi tank / utility vehicle. The original Big Trak was a six-wheeled (two-wheel drive) tank with a front-mounted blue “photon beam” headlamp, and a keypad on top. The toy could remember up to 16 commands, which it then executed in sequence. There also was an optional cargo trailer accessory, with the UK version being white to match its colour scheme; once hooked to the Bigtrak, this trailer could be programmed to dump its payload.
WikipediA
Here’s what the original listing said:
Item probably does not work. I recall attempting to fix corroded terminals years ago and it’s still not working. I do not have D cell batteries to test now.
EBay
I was just browsing around as I do and this popped up on my timeline, the wife is going to disown me for bringing such junk into the house, however for a split second 14 year old me was in the house and a flood of memories, not all good came back to me. These toys came out in 1979 when I was aged 14. My friend over the way from me was brought one of these for Christmas and I experienced one of my first ever episodes of Jealousy. Back in 1979 I believe they retailed for approximately £39 Gbp, and my parents weren’t about to part with hard earned cash to invest in developing technology like computing – “It’ll never last, it’s just a fad” (Famous last words).
I made every excuse possible to go around his house to play and even offered to look after it for him when he went on holiday, he never let me though and I believe at that moment my friend realised what the term obsessive meant, as he was experiencing it big time with me.
Now I own one, however this is the later version from 2010, it only cost me £9.99 Gbp and its probably a wreck, but I’m really going to treat this like a proper full sized car restoration and I want this to work, crikey I’ve even found out I can buy the original decals from Australia, so it’s patently obvious the obsession is still there.
I can’t say I have genuinely looked so forward to a parcel arriving as much as this one. I sincerely hope I have no regrets…. And I have all fingers crossed.
This is going to be a labour of love and I can’t wait.
Foxes Den 
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