Marksmess

Because..

2011-08-22T10:00:00.004+01:00

Probably the worst reason to do something. For example...

One of the young people came in last week to say he was getting a tattoo along the length of his fore arm. It is a "tribal design", or nondescript lines as I would call it. The problem is that he is 14 years old and no amount of convincing would have him put it off until he was older. His mother was paying for it and in his eyes that made it legal. The law states you have to be 18 years old to have a tattoo done, and the come back is that his mother gave him permission (in the same way it must be legal to drive at 14 with your parents permission). I asked him why he wanted a tattoo, and the reason was "Because." No over whelming reason that he could offer. Just "because". (of course there are reasons that he wanted the tattoo and they were more about pressure to conform t o a certain way of seeming to those around him, but it was hard to articulate for a 14r year old) . "Because" is a lousy reason to do anything. Being a church member and seeing things done in a certain way "because", or offensive parades taking place "because". Because is for when we know the reasons do not hold water when shown the light of day. "Because" is for hiding behind.

That is all well and good to for me to think that way, but last weekend I met a man who was cycling round the coast of Ireland. It was quite inspirational to talk to this man in his late 60's (at least) and listen to him talk about his journey and the ones he had done in the past. Just before he cycled off into the sunrise (well north anyway, but it was a cloudy day), I asked if he was doing this great feet for charity. "No," he said, "just because."

My absolutist argument shot down. I'm glad.

Run out

2011-08-08T13:21:00.002+01:00

I may have stopped running. My knee is sore and I am at the age where that worries me, as I may need it from time to time and do not want to break it.
I enjoy running. I find it liberating to just run in a direction, with only myself to beat and no one to keep up with or wait for. I love putting on my head phones and listening to podcasts such as Amazing Spider-man Classics, and being in my own world for half an hour, and every step making my heart pound in a good way.
But while i want to be fitter and healthier, I do not want to wear out parts. I have an appointment with the NHS physiotherapist, and I will see what happens then.

My other options for cardiovascular exercise are limited by money. Going to the gym would be great but the fees are horrendous. Swimming three times a week is expensive as well. So what to do?

Cycling: This is what I have been doing since I got back from holidays, and yes it is good and non-impact for my knee, but I cannot wear head phones for safety reason, and it does not leave me gasping for breath like running. But I will try it three times a week for a while.

Golf: This was suggested and I really do not have the time to explain why this would be a bad idea. Just no.

The most intriguing was roller blading. Apart from the fear of falling down for the first few week, it sounds like a cool thing to go speading along the pathwasy in the park. The only problem then would be the people who take the whole of the path, and trying to get round them. Lets face it, if the bell on the bicycle does not alert them to me cycling past them (I have no idea what they think the bicycle bell sounding thing is) me screaming at them might not.

I do still want to have a good exercise 3-4 times a week, but it may not be running.

The other side of it

2011-07-26T20:30:00.004+01:00

I'm sitting on what I believe is Friday night and not quite sure. Let me explain...

I worked on Monday, but off on Tuesday. Worked on Wednesday worked Thursday night and again on Friday. This would put anybodies weekly clock out. The reason for my hit and miss week is because of the previous week.

Last week in work we a had a team from Youth For Christ working with is. It was odd being on the other side of teams since I was on a few PCI summer teams both as a member and a leader (and that was over 10 years ago. Where did the time go) and not the one the team was coming to. Ruth and I spent a lot of time working with the team and basically did a double week.

I am still physically tired (thanks to a cold), but also emotionally tired. We had people come in commando style and have more effect on the young people in one week than I have had in the past few years. They have more energy than me, fitter, have more coolness and were able to do more than I could. It is easy to think that I am rubbish and should go and look for another job, but that is the emotional exhaustion talking ( and I was over that by the end of Tuesday, and a day at the beech with Julie and the girls).

What the team brought me was a different view of what I do, seeing other styles at work and the chance for Ruth and myself to try out different programs to see if we incorporate them into the work of the Cornerstone. I got to know the team and they were welcoming to me. Personally, I also got to hang out with christian men. I don't get that chance much. Normally it is either too short a time with men in church or I cannot talk about cars or football/rugby to bond with them. Few talk about comic books, or even God. So it was just good to hang (look at me with all my cool youth talk) and chat and be looked after in a manly, blokish way. It did me good and charged the batteries in a spiritual way.

So to Esther, Clara, Ryan, Elli, Katie, Davie, Lucy, Rheuben or Dan I say thank you.

Early photo

2010-09-10T22:14:00.003+01:00

Talking to some of the young people today and a question came up about how do you know what the Bible says really happened. One question I asked was "How do you know that King Billy existed?"

"There are photos of him." A quick brain in gear and it changed to "I mean there were paintings, and you can't fake them."

Thud, Thud, Thud.

I don't need and answer, I need a simple answer.

20 years ago today....

2010-01-15T21:55:00.002Z

...well, not today, but 20 years ago this month is when I started working (first 5 years as a volunteer) with young people. Redrock and Druminnis Youth Fellowship is where I cut my teeth. I had no idea what I was doing. I learnt many things about working with young people there, mainly from my mistakes, thankfully none of them too serious.

I have grown in the way I work. No longer do I challenge young people to gulp down chilled cola untill they barf, and my focus has turned away from 'young people' to 'young person'. In my tender youth when I had more hair and less waist I looked at numbers as important. I was proud to host a youth rally run by my church and lead the praise. I no longer reach for that, which is reflected in the fact that I am learning to be a counsellor. It is not that youth work has changed in the last 20 years, but I have matured as a youth worker and a man.

I have learnt that I am not a great speaker, I am not cool, and I am not strong enough to do it all myself. But I am able to communicate God's love, I do seek out the lonely, and I am only part of the band of people who work with young people, both in the place I work and around it.

Will I still be a youth worker in 20 years, 10 years or 5 years, only God knows; and as long I keep trusting and following him, I will be growing towards the light.

tooth fairy

2009-06-27T23:08:00.004+01:00

Charlotte had a fancy dress day at school. It was decided that a prncess or fairy was too common, so she went as a tooth fairy.

The toothbrush as my idea.

Also this week, a new cliche is born: "He was the Elvis of our generation." Count how many time you hear this.

Birthday (cake)

2009-06-19T22:35:00.009+01:00

This is really getting to be a stresful month for Julie. Last weekend we went to Sprinhill for a teddybears' picknck, as a birthday treat for Katherine. Sunday was Childrens day, and both girls and parents wee involved. Charlotte sang very well and Katherine nerly fell over when there was a 'touch your toes' action. The church picknick was a washout though.

This week was both Katehrines and my birthday, on the same day. So poor Julie had to make two cakes, wrap two lots of presents etc.

My day was good. I was able to amble around the house for an extra hour and a half in the morning before i went to client work. Roger, I didn't answer the mobile because i was too busy appologising to a client for not turing the mobile off.

katherine was at a Mother and toddler trp to a ball pool, and then had granny and grandad to play with all after noon.

For those who want to know, my cake was home made strawbery shortbread, whilst Katherine went for a rainbow cake (without blue).

More cake (ok, I'm obsessed)

2009-05-03T22:38:00.006+01:00

I am snowed under with course work. This is the big push at the end of term, with essays, exams, journals and supervised practice to get to in the next week or so. That means that my time is tight for everything, and i just cannot get motivated to work.

But...

In the class there are two people getting married in June. We had a bit of a do in tech to celebrate. I offered to make two cakes. Julie and I did well.

The first is a traditional chocolate cake to julies recipie. Really moist.

The second is a rainbow cake, and I was surprised how easy it was to make.

People clambered for the chocolate cake, and then someone braved the other, and a real buzz went round the room at the sight of the colours inside. Really nice to see people surprised at a cake i made.

Happy birthcake

2009-04-02T22:39:00.004+01:00

Julies Birthday is here and as usual I made the birthday cake. So inspired by ruth's kitchen experiments, I give you the birthday cake.

The cake is a standard cake mix. I made it into a marble cake, with one part a chocolate with chocolate buttons in it. the other part was ment to be pink, (but I was unsure of how much food colouring so it ended out a bit more peach colour), with hundreds and thousands mixed in. The iceing was melted mars bars with icing and, because it was hard to spread, a nob of butter. I had help from Charlotte and Katherine helping with the decoration (and they managed to put more smarties and choco buttons on the cake than in themselves).

Nice and moist, while also not too sweet. Julie really enjoyed it.

Tribute to Bee Adams by Howard Gilpin

2009-03-12T22:12:00.001Z

(tribute paid by Howard at my Mum's funeral)

Tribute to Bee Adams (1933-2009) on occasion of Service of Thanksgiving
at Druminnis Presbyterian Church on Wednesday 11th March 2009.
I want to say a word of sincere thanks to Rev. Sam Finlay, minister of Druminnis Presbyterian Church for the opportunity to take part in this Service today and pay a tribute to Bee Adams. Our family (Anne, my wife and Jennifer, our daughter are here today along with Anne’s father John) count it a privilege to be here to thank God for the life and witness of a lady who has meant so much to us over the last number of years but especially during our time here in Co. Armagh. I’m also grateful to John, Roger and Mark for the invitation to give this précis of Bee’s life and for all their help in furnishing me with various facts from Bee’s life. Our heartfelt sympathy today is with John and Jacqueline, Roger and Ruth, Mark and Julie as well as Caitlin, Riona, Charlotte and Katherine, Bee’s grandchildren whom she loved so much. We remember also Bee’s sisters Isa, Eva, Faye and brother Cecil and their families today on their loss.
Olive Beatrice (Bee) Thompson was born in Larne in 1933, youngest of five children of Mary and William Thompson. They moved to Markethill where William was a police sergeant at Markethill RUC station. Bee always remembered her father sounding the air raid siren on top of the police station, and how Gosford was used to house German prisoners and American GIs. While attending Armagh Girls High School, she first met John Adams, a pupil at the Royal School. John knew Bee’s brother Cecil. She finished her schooling in Ballyclare, and enrolled as a trainee teacher in Stranmillis College. She met John Adams again there, and also met her lifelong friends Rita and Laura. After Stranmillis, Bee started teaching in Ballyclare. She married John on 3rd July 1958 in St. John’s Parish Church in Ballyclare and moved to Hamiltonsbawn. She took up a teaching post at Salter’s Grange Primary School where John also worked.
John Junior duly arrived in 1961, followed by Derek in 1964. Derek had Downs Syndrome and sadly died at 18 months. This was a body-blow to Bee and John, a deep sadness that she never lost. Roger was born in 1968, shortly after Bee and John moved to their present house opposite John Senior at the (then) green field site at the top of Hamiltonsbawn. Mark followed in 1971.
The Troubles started in 1968, and were to dominate John and Bee’s life for the next 30 years. John was an officer in the Ulster Defence Regiment and worked in one of the most volatile parts of Northern Ireland, operating out of Glenanne Barracks. Although many friends and colleagues were killed, the UDR also offered new horizons and opportunities, and the chance to meet many people from outside Northern Ireland. Bee was a member of the Wives Club [amazingly un-PC, isn’t it] providing social events and support. It is difficult to imagine the stress of those years, particularly for Bee who was affected by the uncertainty of waiting, wondering and worrying whether her ` husband was safe and secure from the threat of terrorism. However, one of Bee’s proudest moments was attending Buckingham Palace in 1977 where John received his MBE.
Bee spent most of her teaching life in Salter’s Grange, and saw several generations of children through their primary education. She retired in 1985 after approximately 30 years. Unfortunately around this time John was diagnosed with cancer, but thankfully had successful treatment. Bee was a wonderful support to John through all his years of illness, a constant encouragement and companion by his side. Unfortunately John died suddenly in 1997. This brought great sadness to Bee and I’ll never forget that morning in late September of that year when the ‘phone rang in the manse. It was Bee informing me that John had passed away. Earlier that very year Anne’s mother had passed away and it was Bee who had come over without hesitation to the manse to offer her support to us as a grieving family. We will never ever forget her kindness to us through all our years here on Co. Armagh but especially then at a time of great loss to our family.
Bee was like a ‘second mother’ and garndmother to our family. Our children literally adored her and spent many happy hours with her in her home in Hamiltonsbawn. On the very day of my mother-in –law’s funeral it was Bee who looked after our then very young son David for the day. To her it was a joy to do so for that was the kind of person she was. She put herself last and always seemed to put the interests of others before herself.
To me she was someone I could turn to and know I would receive a sympathetic ear. We will forever be grateful to God that He brought Bee Adams into our lives - her deep and solid friendship, her gentle words of mature advice and above all her encouragement especially in times of difficulty were of inestimable and I believe eternal value and cannot merely be put into words. Neither will we as a family forget all her practical help when we moved to Moira in 2001. She came to our new home and literally did a mountain of work helping us in so many ways as we settled into new surroundings. This and in a multitude of other ways, including all her unrecorded acts of love and thoughtfulness we are thankful to Almighty God for today.
Bee was actively involved in Druminnis church life. She had been a member of the choir since 1958, a Sunday School teacher for 20 years, a Committee Member and Church Secretary, and a President of the PWA. I had the wonderful privilege as her pastor and minister here for some 12 years of seeing her grow spiritually. I knew first hand of her faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as her own and personal Saviour, her deep desire to ‘know Him more and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of her own’ as the hymnwriter puts it.
She often spoke to me about spiritual matters and it was always a great joy to see the radiance in her face that was the outward indication of her inward relationship with Christ. Like Ruth in the Old Testament who said to Naomi ‘’Your God shall be my God’ and so embraced the covenant God in that wonderful affirmation in Ruth 1 vs16, so Bee had come to embrace this same God in Jesus Christ as He was offered in the Gospels and experienced personally His life and power for everyday living. What Beatrice Cleland wrote in her poem ‘Portrait of A Christian’ could be said of Beatrice (Bee) Adams also:
Not only in the words you sayNot only in your deeds confessedBut in the most unconscious wayIs Christ expressed.For me 'twas not the truth you taught,To you so clear, to me so dim,But when you came to me,You brought a sense of Him.And from your eyes He beckons meand from your heart His love is shed,'Till I lose sight of youAnd see the living Christ instead.
Bee became ill in April 2004 and spent several months in hospital and Roxborough House, Moy. With the help of Premier Care, and particularly her carers Jennifer and Caroline, she was able to continue to live independently at home for over four years. She took seriously ill around 2 weeks ago and was admitted to Craigavon Hospital. God called her home last Sunday. Someone once said ‘Christians don’t leave home, they go home.’ Bee last Sunday ‘went home’ to be ‘with Christ which is better by far.’

Watching

2009-03-08T00:04:00.002Z

More distractions in lue of a real blog. A near perfect parody of the movie of the graphic novel. Ever so cool. Alan Moore, look away now.

Blueberry Girl

2009-03-05T20:06:00.003Z

With the cahos in my life, it is nice to be diverted by a poem. Neil Gaiman is someone of whom I have heard stories and read the odd comic, but never read a book. Must do something about that this summer.

Hope

2009-02-22T20:18:00.002Z

I am still stressed about my course, and specifically getting enough hours for my supervised practice. I have to date contacted 35 different school, health centres and organisations with little results. The one ray of hope is a high school about an hour away. I went to a meeting with the pastoral care teacher on Friday and they were lovely. They took the time to talk to me and they seem to have a good pastoral care programme and a positive atmosphere comes out from that. The school did have a bad reputation in Julies day, but they seem to have out grown that over the past 20 years. I met with both pastoral teachers and even got to sit down with the head. There is a strong possibility that I will get enough hours there.
The only problem is that they might require a fresh police check. I had one done for the course in December, but the school may need one specific to them. They will let me know, so I am still waiting and worrying.

02:30

2009-02-22T20:08:00.005Z

After the excitement of last weekend with Roger, Ruth, Caitlin and Riona over, Charlotte had more excitement this week.

This was the first time she lost a milk tooth. She was proud and then a bit queasy. She was excited about the tooth fairy coming, and Julie had a book about it stored away just for that cause.

Katherine could not be left out so she got a token payment from the Tooth fairy. And there were poems left.

Dear Charlotte
Underneath your pillow tonight
I found a tooth so clean and bright
I left instead a coin for you
And a little bit for Katherine too!
Love,
The Tooth Fairy

Dear Katherine
You’re only 2 so no wobbly teeth yet
But do not cry and do not fret
I left a little coin for you
So you can spend or save it too!
Love,
The Tooth Fairy

Wet nose

2009-02-11T23:17:00.003Z

I have started the supervised practice in the counselling course. That means that I am out in the world counselling people. Very scary, and probably more so for the clients. The main problem is that I need to do 25 client hours by May, but I am only getting one hours worth a week at the moment. I need to find other placements or this term will be for nothing (over dramatic, but I may have to retake that module). I have called all the schools in the area, and will now be calling GP practices. It is leaving me unsettled in the course this term, and I have moments of doubt about being on the course. I enjoy the class times, but the stress about the placement is taking a tole. This could be why we were taught CBT before we go on placement.

In work I tend to see how far I can get the boys to believe me. The other night there was a conversation about what frogs get you high if you lick them (they were watching something on TV the night before). They had very little knowledge about it and one of them asked me if you could get high from licking a frog. I tried to explain that it was true but only with a certain type of frog, and didn't know what one. Then I said you can get the same effect from licking a dogs nose. I got a moments silence then someone asked "really?" They know my humour. If I hadn't told them the truth, I just wonder how many would try it.

Funny face

2009-02-01T21:55:00.005Z

We did have a good time yesterday which included:-

Irish dancing class (with Julie joining in at the end)
Face painting
Balloon modeling
Buying dancing pumps
Nice Ulster grill for tea

Charlotte declared it a good day.

On the edge

2009-01-31T00:12:00.003Z

I have two great uncertainties in my life at the moment: My mums health and my supervised practice.
My mum is in hospital at the moment and not too well with what the nurses diagnose as being 'comfortable'. Old age and lorry loads of cigarettes have caught up with her in the lottery that theses things seem to be. What we are waiting for is a bit uncertain. I think her health improving so much that she can go home is not an option now.
The supervised practice is for the course. I need to do 25 hours of counselling before May. I have been talking to two local (for Garvagh) schools that agreed last year to give me a placement. Now some doubt has crept in. If I have not started a placement in the next week, I may have to defer for a year on the course. There is a good chance that this will all work out, and there will be lots of calls on Monday, but that nagging doubt is there, and it tends to grow with attention.
Both uncertainties have both Julie and I on edge. I am not alone, as I know both John and Roger are unsure about Mum, and others on the course are stressed about placement. They both are not far from my mind and it makes settling down to do any studying near impossible, with any distraction becoming irresistible (now you know why I am back writing the blog).
We are trying to have good Saturdays to de-stress. Charlotte has her Irish dancing in the morning (just learnt her '1,2,3' and '7's') and having a family activity. last week we got bird feeders for the back garden, borrowed books on birds from the library, and got very excited at one black bird in the back garden (last one we saw). Katherine had to get her step out to see out the window.

"Who would win in a battle between...?"

2009-01-30T09:32:00.002Z

One of the hardest things about working with teen boys is getting them talking. Some are very hard to engage in any type of conversation is usually met with a grunt or two. Remembering what was taught to me by the great Linda Gould, that conversations have different levels, getting the boys to talk about anything is a start, and can lead to deeper conversations as a relationship grows.
So I sometimes come up with stupid questions. The most recent began with the question "who would win in a battle between King Kong and Godzilla?" and between Batman and Spiderman (that would depend on whose comic it was in but would have them fight each other until they discovered that they were being manipulated by the Penguin and the Vulture in an evil avian plot).I then started to ask more obscure versions of the questions, which ended up last night with "Who would win in a battle between Tony the Tiger and Snap, Crackle and Pop?" It was interesting to see them actually debate it for a moment.
I know two things about this. It would not work if they did not know my humour and it is only a starting point for getting them talking.

MP3 dilema

2008-10-19T22:50:00.002+01:00

My trusty MP3 player ended up untrusty by breaking, so I am not on the search of a new one, and cannot decide. On the plus side it gives me a chance to upgrade from 500MB, but it means learning a new control system and how to put the stuff on the player properly.
I have narrowed it down, with a £30ish budget.

Play.com Micro 8GB MP3 Player is a new product from play.com. The pro is that it is 8GB, 16 times the capacity of my old one, but it has not yet got any reviews, so is an unknown as far as reliability and ease of use go.
Creative ZEN Stone with Speaker 2 GB looks good and has the benefit of having an external speaker, an attractive feature for using on my own. At 2GB it is 4 times less capacity of the play.com, but still 4 times what i am used to. It also has no display, and I wonder if that would be a problem.
Creative Zen Stone Plus 2GB MP3 has the display and a FM radio (would I use it?), but is £7 more than the previous. Not sure a screen is worth that.
Creative Muvo T100 4GB MP3 Player is my last choice. If a speaker and display are not needed, then this could be it with a larger capacity and good reviews. The only major down side is that you can only skip folders in one direction.

I have still no idea, but it is amazing how these small inconveniences can take over.

Firsts

2008-09-20T00:01:00.002+01:00

A week of firsts:-

Katherine has a bed. She got it last saturday and has done well. She really enjoys the grown upness of it, and usually stays in bed, apart from halfa dozen potty runs before she goes to sleep.
Sunday School new term. Julie and I are helping as class room assistants, week about, but we both went to the first day, and I was to bring Katehrine down for coffee in teh church, but when we took our eyes off her for a second she had joined a class. Charlottes class of pre-school and P1 had over 16 children. A huge Sunday School for the size of the congregation.
Monday had Charlottes first day at school. She loves it! She woke up on that morning and ran around getting ready. She has really enjoyed it and we have tried to walk to or from school when we can.
Tuesday was my first day back at the course. A lot of hard work this year with Ethics and CBT this term and Supervised practice starting after Christmas.
Today I gave my first Police statement. We had our telephone wire pulled down from the outside of teh Cornerstone last week and we are hoping that the town CCTV picked up the perp. It was shear vandelism and we don't want to let the person(s) away with it if we can.

There you go.

Embrace change

2008-09-17T20:03:00.001+01:00

I think this is something we should all think about.
www.embracechange.org

Even more MP3

2008-09-09T20:47:00.004+01:00

Haven't blogged in a long time mainly due to laziness, so I will jump right in with my MP3 listening.
I am still listening to escapepod and that has brought me to Podcastle and Clonepod, both of which dish out a weekly short story. The best storeys to come out of these are the Union Dues storeys.
I have also been listening to podcast books. Christina Ellis podcast two of her books, the fantasy Nina Kimberly the Merciless, and the sci-fi Space Casey. These are funny and light, and i enjoyed them both, but Space Casey had better pace. For a full on adult (as in violence and language) story i spent the best part of a month listening to J C Hutchins read his thriller trilogy 7th Son. Brilliant writing that kept me on the edge of my driving seat. One part I even slowed down in the car so i wouldn't get home before the scene was over.
For more intellectual stimulus I have Podquiz, a weekly 20 question quiz. If i get 10 out of 20 I am doing well. Karl Kruszelnicki is a bit of a smarty pants and I tend to get my pop science from three of his podcast. BBC Science with Dr Karl, Science on Mornings on triple j and Great Moments in Science. In the first two of theses he takes live questions from Joe public. I find him both entertaining and informative. And the automotive wizards at Car Talk. An American podcast that has Tom and Ray diagnose car trouble for callers, who usually have to make the relevant noises. It is a lot of fun and can get annoying if you listen to too many at one time. Not sure how much I am learning about car maintenance.
For comedy i did listen to BBC Ulsters Funny Stuff, but it became dull rather quickly and the only bright spot was the bits from Gerry Anderson, so i now listen to his best bits instead. And the BBC Friday night comedy is good fro a laugh. I did find a gem of a site with great MP3 down loads. Internet archive:audio archive has a huge selection of old radio shows. What makes this site different is that it contains classic BBC radio comedies such as I'm sorry i haven't a clue. It is well worth roaming the site for other shows. Enjoy!
I love the fact that all this is free, given to us by companies, individuals and nutters, it makes my journeys from work more relaxing after young people are skiving school, drinking with guys in their 40's and tearing out our phone wires from the outside of the building (it was a BAD day).

oddness and stupidness

2008-05-26T23:31:00.002+01:00

I was woken at 1.30am today by Julie kicking and telling me that there was somebody at our front door, ringing the bell. Being just woke up i headed to the door to open it up only to be stopped. We had three choices.

answer the door. But who knows who it might be, i mean are axe wielding murderers polite enough to ring the door bell?
Call the police and have that embarrassing situation where you go "there is someone ringing my door bell, what should i do?"
Hide. I have seen too many bad movies to do anything else.

We have no idea who it was, or what they wanted.

In work tonight we had one of our boys who joined the army (the one who stayed more than a week) on leave. He was boasting about how much he drinks (seemingly spending up to £1000 on booze a month, and i don't think it's because of his expensive taste in wine) and he was asked about pay. He explained that the higher the rank the more pay. One bright spark asked :

Mathematical idiot: "How much does a Sargent earn? I suppose around £50,000."

Army drunk: "About £2000 a month."

Mathematical idiot: "Wow, as much as that!!!"

Freedom

2008-05-16T19:45:00.002+01:00

I have now finished the first year of my course. I Had an exam on Tuesday night, and it went really well. All the information i tried to cram into my diminutive mind actually went in and stuck, until I sat infront of the paper and it flooded out. Of course, i may have finished the year, but I don't know if I have passed it yet!
This now give me more free time. I have been revising, writing, journaling and compiling in most of my free moments over the past while, and it is now like being on holiday. But i am still working a full time job, and a family. I have started to read a book that is not about counselling (The Scarlet Pimpernel) and watch lots of TV. OK not so constructive but I have the time to do the garden and relax a bit more.
I will miss the class over the summer for the stretching it has been doing to me both mentally and emotionally, but I will also miss the comradely of my class mates.
But i don't have to think SO much now, he he.

Bad cook book and stupid shop.

2008-04-07T22:49:00.002+01:00

Two links.
Worst. Book. Name. Ever.

This is just plain funny. I wonder how many they sold before they were with-drawn.

Easter break

2008-04-05T22:38:00.009+01:00

We headed down to Enniskillen for three nights over Easter.

It didn't start too well. Going through Cookstown the car started to chug and a warning light went on. Julie looked at the book to see what it meant and it said to consult the local renault dealer. Fortunatly we came to one on the way into Omagh. The man in the service desk said we shouldn't drive the car, and, being Easter, they had no mechanics to fix it. This is the point Julie came in with screaming kids, and the man took pity (and the keys) and fixed the car himself. The rest of the break was great.

I read, the girls played in various styles of parks, fed ducks etc,

and Julie knitted. The cottage was very good.

Warm, clean and comfortable. The owners had left us a large basket with loads of goodies, including bread and milk. Really nice of them.

The weather was good, as it raind at night and (mostly) dry during the day. But Katherine wasn't convinced...

Car troubles

2008-02-27T21:07:00.003Z

I was driving home from my course in Antrim last night in the Cleo. I was happily listening to a Dr Who book when I lost power to the engine. I pulled over to the side of the road and tried unsuccessfully to start the engine. I hate that feeling when you know you can do nothing, but phone for the RAC (which we are members).
A very nice lady tried to find me on the map, being well aware that we in Northern Ireland give roads names, not numbers. While i was on the phone, a break down man came, and offered me help. I told him I was calling the RAC, and he said "I'm an RAC contractor, let me speak to them." In stead of a 30 minute wait, I was on the back of his lorry within minutes. It did mean trying to find a way out of a homophobic rant, as i didn't want to challenge his view and walk home pushing the car.
The car has a broken timing belt, which means that the engine is probably badly damaged. Our friendly car fixer man tells us anything between £300 and £600 to fix. The car is 10 years old, and we have been humming and ha-ing about getting it replaced, so this brings that forward.
Today i went out to see the price range. A lot of garages didn't have people to come and talk to me, but a couple did, and we are in a good position without a trade-in. It can knock up to £1000 off the seen price. Also went to Peugeot, who, when I told him i was replacing a Cleo, asked if it was for my son or daughter. How posh.
It means that we now only have one car to get me to work, Charlotte to Nursery, and Julie to her groups (and take the kids out to stop them going ga ga). It will be fun until we get a replacement.

tell me why (I don't like Mondays)

2008-01-21T22:52:00.000Z

In work we have a porch light. It costs £10.50 to replace. I know this because that's how much it cost to replace 6 months ago when someone put a lighter to the cover and blew the bulb. It has happened once since until today. To day it was smashed twice. Of course no-one saw it, but i persisted in investigating. Th three main suspects were C, G and J.
I waited for each to cone in again. The first was C and he had an air tight alibi, his mother.
J was the main suspect, he has been a lot of trouble to us and it is his style. But some one came in and was an alibi for him. This younger YP told us that they were sailing around a car together, and he noticed that the light was on when J got in the car, and the light was off when J got out of the car. That struck me as unusual. You do not notice the usual (the light being on) but the unusual (the light being off). I needed more info.
I did get to talk to J and he confirmed he was not there, but that he got in the car just before G hit the light. This was confirmed by others, and G never came back into the drop-in all night.
I am really disappointed it G, a good kid, but is easy to be talked into bad stuff. It pains me to loose confidence in the honesty of him.
The question now is what do we do about it. Of course he will have to pay for the bulbs, and he will be barred for a time, but that is just part of it, the punishment,; but what about the rehabilitation?

Scenic, done it.

2008-01-08T23:49:00.000Z

Over the week end i had to change a break light in the Scenic. This is the first time i have had to change any of the bulbs in the car, and i found it a bit complicated. You need a screwdriver and a bit of force. The Astra just had a hand turned plastic nut. But there you go.
Today, Julie noticed a front bulb gone. So i looked at the book to see how to change it. Then I looked under the bonnet, then I looked in the book again. I went on line. I looked at the car again. The problem is that the recommended way of changing a head light is to drop the wheel arch, which involves putting the car on a ramp. The odd person has taken the battery out. You basically have to put the car into the dealers and get them to do it. What was the design team doing the day that they thought that would be a good idea. It is only one wee bulb, and it is costing me £20 and half a morning. And i know that another bulb will go in a short time...

Christmas '07

2007-12-25T16:23:00.001Z

It's been a long road to Christmas the past couple of weeks. Last week saw the finish of my course for this term, and the completion of the first sixth of it. Two projects, two Journals and a presentation and we are stopped. It is emotionally draining.
In work we made a behavioural contract with a young person, who then broke it the second time he was in after it. We did the high school assembly and i spoke at the staff lunch. We finished with our now annual challenge night. We were under staffed for it so decided that if there was any trouble down stars, we would ignore it (unless anyone was getting hurt). The challenges went well with a different young person winning each challenge, and we were rewarded with the main door down stars having chewing gum over the handle, chewed chocolate over the door and in the lock with added 5p's. Glad of the time off.
Sunday was the nativity play in church, and Charlotte as a sheep. Monday we went car-less and I walked into town for the turkey and we all walked round to the corner shop. We had the treat of the Rountrees round for some festive cheer (i don't know either) and we cut the christmas cake wot we baked. Pretty good stuff.

Today it was Julie that woke excitedly and had to wake everyone else. Charlotte enjoyed the unwrapping, and Katherine just wanted to connect with one or two things. We went to Church and Charlotte was able to show off some stuff to her friends, and Katherine was able to show how much she can squirm.

Just for John, lunch was:-

Turkey and stuffing
wee sausages
Boiled potatoes
boiled sprouts
mashed carrots and parsnips
roast potatoes
roast parsnip
Yorkshire pudding (for Charlotte)

and for pudding', Julies microwave chocolate sponge. We did go for a walk after lunch. it was nice to See the girls enjoy Christmas, and Charlotte understood it better now. They did play nice together most of the time.

After the girls went to bed we enjoyed Dr Who (loved the queen) and Harry hill. As well as a few snacks.

In serious need of an update

2007-12-12T20:38:00.000Z

So here it is.
Charlotte turned 4 last weekend. We had a party for her and some of her friends. The thing to do is to take 20 of her closest friend to an indoor soft play area. But we decided to run it ourselves here. We had a pink party. Really scary having to entertain half a dozen 4 year olds. They all had fun. Julie did her e-bay buying for pink stuff and each kid left with a wealth of pinkness. I even bought a pink t-shirt for the event.

Sunday was her birthday. We bought her a bicycle. When she saw it she was speechless and hugged us both. Happy child. Unfortunately she has only been out on it once, because of a combination of foul weather and a bout of coughing in the house. Julie, Charlotte and Katherine have all a bad cough for the past week or so, and in the middle of the night you can hear it from each room. It's getting so bad i am thinking of putting lambs blood on the front door.

The course hit high gear this month with EVERYTHING due in a few weeks. The last piece of work needs to be handed in next week, so i am well on course for it. I have enjoyed it so far, but it does tend to take over your whole thinking. We are off until the end of January;-)

Work is interesting. We have barred one lad for a month, and he will only bne allowed in next week if he meets to make a contract of behaviour. He has been at the door most times we have been open the last few weeks with questions like "when am i allowed back in?", "what's a contract?" and "what did i do?". Don't get me wrong, but if he felt that you needed to know the answers to these questions, you would think he would remember it for half an hour, instead of asking me a couple of times a night. He also keeps telling me he hates the drop-in.

We also got the TV books yeaterday, he, he.

Anglo Ulsterland

2007-11-23T22:38:00.000Z

In the Belfast Newsletter this week, a letter appeared that suggested that because the name 'Northern Ireland' told the readers that we are Irish, that we should be renamed 'Anglo Ulsterland', because we are British, and some people here are descended from English. Ruth in work came up with a better name. Because a lot of the protestant community have a Scottish family connection (even if they have to go back 400 years), we should be called in this little part of the world 'Anglo Ulsterscotlandland'. If anything, it sounds better than the first suggestion, and it will not confuse the Americans at all. No way. Says exactly what we are.

Weddings, wee'uns and Eugenes

2007-11-06T22:18:00.000Z

The past couple of weeks have been busy with the course, work and family, but you are probably sick of all that.

We went to see John and Jo and their first child Andrew (sorry no pics). Charlotte did enjoy seeing the baby, and held his hand.

Last Wednesday was Alex and Christines wedding, the only one where the groom nearly out dressed the bride. I was best man. It is odd the way people will ask 'did it go well?'. They got married, after that there isn't much that can go very wrong without appearing in the papers or on You've been framed. I always find the partys difficult because you try to speak to people and end up not hearing them. Julie and I did dance some of the night away, and talked the rest.

We did get a visit from some guests all the way from Eugene, Oregon. Anna was a room mate of Julies at Queens (she is from Ballymena) and K is her USA hubby. I like it when you meet up with friends after years and you still get on. The humour and personalities click. I have a few friends that this happens to.

Long week again

2007-09-28T21:25:00.000+01:00

Several things in one week:

Charlotte's first week at nursery school. After the first four hours she was able to take home 10 pictures (and they are beginning to look like things). She has had no major tears and when I took her in this morning she ran in. She loves this sort of thing now and is excited about Sunday School and Children's Church.
I Had my first full day (2-9pm) of my Diploma. It wasn't as hard going as I thought. To tell you the truth, it's a bit like fight club, as in the first rule etc. There is a lot of homework with two journals and projects and reading. But it is exciting.
Our resident trouble maker in drop-in didn't turn up this week. It made such a difference. It meant that instead of being round him, and giving him the attention he craves, we could chat to other young folk. I got talking to a few on Monday and even taught them some sign language. Chatted to some about smoking, and we are now starting a small but eager smoking cessation group. Two really good drop-ins this week.
We have finally got used to our BT Vision box. We are able to record one Freview channel and watch another, pause live TV, and basically make up our own channel with the TV we want to see instead of the TV that is chosen by someone else (so lots of Family Guy for me). We now seem to be in the age that we create our own TV channels and our own radio stations.

Difference between 'stupid' and 'ignorant'

2007-09-16T22:04:00.000+01:00

Friday in Quest I spoke of Viktor Frankl and his time in Concentration camps, and of seeing his wife and parents killed there, and the terrible conditions that were in these camps.
One of the boys, a first year, said 'well, they shouldn't of gone there'. I had to explain that it wasn't a holiday camp, and then went into a bit more detail.
He wasn't stupid, but ignorant. He had never heard of a concentration camp. I, on the other hand, should of explained it better than assuming everyone would know about something 60 years ago. That is stupid.

NI international airshow

2007-09-08T22:36:00.000+01:00

We went to the air show in Portrush today (to be in town hall if wet). Massive event, and had to park miles away. Spoilt a bit that you couldn't hear the commentary on the pa system because there were so many generators running for the 'much too many' bouncy castles. Very noisy for the girls, and we left as the Tornado traumatised Katherine. We weren't there for long, but we did see a bi-plane, spitfire, gliders, display team and the tornado. It was better than I expected, free, and the girls got freebies (as well as me getting a few complimentary squares of coleraine Cheddar) .

Just noticed that no one seems to be looking at the display team, I guess its all part of the peace dividend that this is normal.

Real surprise with Charlotte's art. She hasn't really done anything that looks like anything, but tonight she wanted to copy a picture of her and a friend at a park. So she did it on her magna doodle.

Excellent. I am proud of it (and i originally thought it was Julies).

Talking with Charlotte

2007-09-03T22:12:00.000+01:00

Tail end of a conversation with Charlotte at yesterdays tea time...
Me:...and thats the the way it will happen, you can count on it."
Charlotte: One.
M: ...What?
C: One.
M: What are you doing?
C: One. You say two.
M: Why?
C: We're counting on it.

technology today

2007-09-02T20:54:00.000+01:00

I am not a technophobe, but i do not understand most of modern technology. I do not understand what the list of letters mean; html, ism, http, ncis, rss, although i am pretty sure at least one of these is an American crime show.
I use the technology I need, and can understand. I do not need 15 ways to keep in touch with people. I have telephone, text, e-mail, snail mail, this blog and actually chatting to the person face to face. I do not need Face book, bebo, skype and the ilk. I will use them if I ever need them, and I can figure them out. The pull of bebo and facebook for young people is never being out of contact with our friends, which seems to be a insecurity of not being in this constant communication for some young people.
I do love gadgets, but outside my mp3 an mobile, i don't use much. I still use a diary, mainly because my phone looses everything when you take out the battery. There are a lot of gadgets around the house that never really get used, and there is a big list of others I would like and probably never use. I blame the Batman utility belt.
I looked at Julies phone to see all it had today (and what got me thinking). I found the diary, note book and to-do list, all of which Julie uses in paper form to great effect. There was also a voice recorder. I played about with this for a minute or two, and discovered that you can make that recording into her ring tone, which is where I turn evil. I sang 'I just called to say I love you' (is that really evil), and put it as her ring tone. Julie then changed it to Charlotte singing, but Julie has to sleep sometime, and when she does....

Mixed bag

2007-08-25T22:34:00.000+01:00

I've managed to read a few fiction books over the summer. I did manage to finish the last Potter book. It wasn't the best of all the Potter books, but it was enjoyable. The impressive thing is that Rowling kept the continuity in the series, something that George Lucas has never been able to do. If he was incharge of the Potter francise, he would now re release all the books with slightly different plot points, like Voldimort firing first. But well done JK Rowling.

In work we have had our 'activity week'. It was a good week, and the weather kept fine. We did orienteering on Thursday, set up by someone else. I always fancied it as a nice easy sport that brings you out door in a gentle sort of way. I must of been thinking of something else. I am still aching. (Maybe geocaching is something to try.) It is a pity that the boys in the drop-in never came to the activity week. They stay clear of anything that is outside of their comfort zone.

Went into town today, and discovered that is was the last Saturday. Nearly got caught up in it. The town did make an effort. The farmers market was on with lots of lovely junk for sale. There was also free face painting and balloon modeling. I will post a photo.

We did venture in and see the bands. It just reminded me of why I stopped going to such things. Mainly all blood and thunder bands, with names that included the words 'loyal', 'sons of' and 'defenders'. Most of these ones carried flags in front in a proto military style, and one had UVF flags. A lot of people watching word Rangers tops, which must of confused the hell out of any tourists.

Anonymous

2007-08-07T21:05:00.000+01:00

I like it when I get comments on my blog, it shows that people are reading and that what I say is sometimes understood. I don't expect it in every post, and am not disappointed. But I have been getting a few comments from anonymous. I am sure most people do, as he seems to be popular on many forums. I do not publish these comments for three reasons.

They do not really add anything to the topic. They are usually comments of someone who is desperately trying to be either funny or clever, but ends up just annoying.
I have no idea who this is. This blog is for friends and family to keep up with my life, so anyone who does not want to give their name either in the ID or body of the comment makes me nervous, and therefore...
Its a bit creepy that anonymous is looking on the blog, at my life, and pictures of my family. Feels at best like a stalker. At worst...

So if you are anonymous, either name yourself (wont guarantee your comments will be published, but makes you less creepy), don't leave comments, or have me continue to edit the comments, and continue to be 'that creepy poster'.

It's a funny old wife

2007-08-04T22:07:00.000+01:00

Julie is really funny at times. Take today. On the way to the butchers, we noticed Charlotte had her trousers on funny, but she ran away from Julie when she tried fix it. I called over to Charlotte ' look at that monkey' and Charlotte stopped to see the 'monkey', leaving Julie to fix the trousers, but Julie was looking for the monkey too.
Also when we spell things out so Charlotte does not understand. e.g.
Me:Julie did you get the C H O C O L A T E?
Julie: (thinking out loud) C H O C..., oh you mean the chocolate?
Bear in mind that she knows hoew bad my speeling is.

reinactment, big stones and Mary Peters

2007-08-03T20:38:00.000+01:00

Yesterday we went to the Giants Causeway. I was really surprised by two things.

The amount of tourists. The place was packed, and mainly by pleasant, clean and eloquent people (so obviously not locals, a the Nolan Show had an article about racist abuse for tourists in Bushmills that day). Really nice to see.

How many photos Julie took of rocks (and us).

Also yesterday Katherine had a reenactment of the 'incident' on Tuesday. So if you were a witness to this ...

Today we were in Coleraine and stumbled across an 'Olympic 2012' event, getting Kids interested in winning medals and stuff. Charlotte signed up to a challenge to learn how to skip by 2012. I also saw Mary Peters! I was so Star struck that I just couldn't go up to her and ask for a photo. Julie just laughed. But it really was amazing to see such a genuine local celeb.

Pirates, bees and clowns (oh my!)

2007-07-31T22:50:00.000+01:00

Now on holidays. We arn't heading anywhere, but delighting in our local delights.

Charlotte and Julie went on a pirate cruse on Saturday morning. Seemed to consist of a lot of dressing up and looking for treasure. They both had good fun.

Monday we were at W5, an educational place with lots of fun stuff. It is mainly toys to play with with some science thrown in, and a lot of adults playing with them. We did have a dander to the custom house square to see the fountains.

Today we went to the Early Learning Centre in Ballymena for their craft time, and then a picnic in the Peoples Park. That is where the bee comes in, right on Katherine's lip and does that sting thing. So a quick trip to A&E, and by that time Katherine had forgotten all about it and was wondering why these strange people were wanting to see in her mouth. Back at home again for some face painting. I have never actually painted any ones face before, but i think I did a reasonable job with Charlotte. When she did my face, it was a work of art, yea, a Picasso.

Spoilers included

2007-07-23T20:13:00.000+01:00

So there I was, minding my own business, reading Harry Potter and the what-you-ma-call-it between caring for customers in the coffee shop, when a teenage girl jumped up and squealed 'I've read that' at no one in particular while pointing at my direction, and then proceeded to tell everyone who could still hear after the squeal, the names of the characters who had died in the book. Thanks a lot. Really, really, selfish thing to do. I never told anyone that Darth Vader was Luke's Dad.

Starship Troopers

2007-07-21T23:26:00.000+01:00

In my little quest to read books that they turned into films (there by making the film more famous than the book) I read Starship Troopers by Robert A Heinein. The film was a special effects block buster with not much of a story. The book, as always in these things, is different.
Written from the point of view of one trooper, you get what amounts to an explanation of why solders fight. Not why they choose to fight particular battles, that is up to the politicians, but what keeps them in the battles. The writing style never lets you get emotionally attached to the characters except for Johnny Rico. You follow his reasons for joining, why he didn't quit in basis training and his reactions to the boardness, and the loss of friends.
Really liked it and the different view of war than a lot of films portray around the time of publishing (1959). War portrayed as death, not glory.

Now I have finished this one I will move on to the next novel, which makes Charlotte worried about why her Daddy is reading about a Hairy Potty.

Caravaning

2007-07-14T22:28:00.000+01:00

We had a chance to do a few days of caravaning, so we did. we booked into Carnfunnock outside Larne ( I don't think I have ever gone away to a holiday in the same county I live in).

Staying in a caravan is something that grows on you. We had a few wet days, but it was still fun. Things you should know about staying in a touring caravan:-

The ground sheet does not necessarily stay dry. We found that out a few minutes into our stay. The awning is a great ides, basically doubling the area you have inside, but it was wet under foot for us.

You will use the loo in the caravan, no matter what. I went last thing at night in the toilet block, having drunk nothing for hours, but as soon as I got into the sleeping bag, i needed a pee.

Caravaners are the friendliest people you will meet. We never met a grumpy person at the site (including staff). One guy I spoke to said that it is the most relaxing holiday he does. Of course that is after the awning is put up ( a lot of shouting and words I had to look up).

The girls really enjoyed it. It was the first time Katherine was able to look out the window, and the nosy girl did that a lot. Charlotte loved playing outside either in the play park with Rachel, kicking a ball in the green. We went to Ballygally beach, which Charlotte loved to bits.

So here are a few pics.

Fete and Mayor

2007-06-30T21:29:00.000+01:00

We decided to take in the cultural delights of Ballymoney as a family. We were in luck. The local C of I had their Garden Fete this morning. It was free, so we went. We bought Jam (gooseberry), delved into the bran tub (stickers and pencil), we got books and Cd's, and looked at the pet show and listened to the band. A nice relaxing way to enjoy a morning.

This afternoon was the Mayors Show. Lat year we just watched it pass by, but we decided to go and see the vehicles at the sports centre. Lots of tractors again, with some steam engines (which Julie rightly pointed out were just turning round, so what were they for). Charlotte and Katherine got balloons in the shape of flowers and we all danced to DJ Barry and friends (except Katherine).

Then it was into the town to see the parade. Charlotte waved enthusiastically at the cars, and was rewarded by cartoon characters. Then a cup of tea while waiting for the rest of the floats to pass by in dribs and drabs.

The day really tired out both Charlotte and Katherine.

We watched the final of this seasons Dr Who. It was OK, but I would need to see the whole thing again. Better season than last year, with more plots that mattered, and story lines that weaved through the whole series. Lets hope Torchwood does better as well.

Butterflies, birthdays and kites.

2007-06-24T22:06:00.000+01:00

Saturday

This past week has been like a full flash. OK, not the best description.

Last week was the Sunday School trip, and we went to the butterfly gardens in Seaford, Co Down. We were worried about how the girls would cope with teh long bus trip (2hrs) but they were grand. Katherine slept most of the way (we were able to put her car seat into the bus) and Charlotte loved the buss. She made friends with a girl her age, and they sat beside eachother for a time on the way home, and sang. The butterfly gardens would have been better on a sunny day, but it was still nice. Julie refused to go into the butterfly house, but Charlotte braved it, and was very brave. She loved to see the butterflies, and liked the one that refused to leave my hand. We spent a lovely hour in the coffee shop, complete with open fire and kids play area.

Sunday was fathers day and time for the usual traditions of lie-ins, but Julie eventually got up.

Lovely Birthday on Monday. Nice presents (thank you all). We had a work trip on the same day, so we ended up at the otter Lodge in Cookstown. Nice meal. Not to sound too much like John, but I had the beef in pepper sauce on a bed of rice. The meat was tender and jucy, sauce was hot and the portions were big. It was ofcourse , Katherines Birthday as well. She enjoyed the present opening and the special tea ( I had Caribbean Sausages and creamy pasta, Katherine had some form of mush). Then i went to work that night.

Charlotte and I have flown the wee kite I got (will progress to the barnmstormer). Charlotte loved chasing after it, and when it eventually flew, she near wet herself.

Emotions

2007-06-11T23:16:00.000+01:00

Had an interview for the diploma in Counselling. It was a nice interview, but it made me fear. Will I be able to do the work, and give the time for study at home? The money is also a fear. Workis paying a substancial amount, but there are lots of hidden costs, including extra tuition fees every year, and clincal supervision costs. Fear runs in my veins now.

We have had the smoking sign removed twice today. That makes me angry. The culprit will not let it stay, and knows we will close, so he is playing Ruth and myself against the other young people.

After we closed early this evening, we had a parent tell us off. He said a lot of stuff that was wrong, and in some cases a bit offensive to us; but his point was basicly 'the need of the many out ways the needs of the few', or, we are punishing all the kids for the crime of the one, who is now known to us. Taht is a bit humiliating to get told by someone else that we are wrong, but in that, he had a point. Now we just have to decide what to do about it that will work.

Sunny

2007-06-11T23:05:00.000+01:00

Just a few phots about our weekend in Sunny Ballymoney. Katherine has a bit of a viral thing that keeps her (and me) up most of the nigfht, and the heat isn't doing it much good either. But she did enjoy bits of the weekend.

Grrr....

2007-06-09T22:58:00.000+01:00

We had a meeting on thursday night for the drop-in crowd. We have had the signs, which we have to display about the new smoking regulations, torn down regularly over the past few weeks. Two weeks ago, we decided if it continues to close for a session, in a hope that the other boys would 'have a word' with the ones who were taking the sign down. Last week we were closed half our sessions.
So a meeting was called, and we opened not knowing if any would come, and what mood they were in. Really, it was close to a waste of time. We had around twelve in for the meeting, but the boys decided it was the perfect way of showing a) how little they wanted to be seen to care, and b) how little they know about humour (saying the same one liner that three people have used in the past two minutes is not as funny as you may think). It did highlight that we were serious about the sign.
Some of these boys have squewiff views on life. Reading 'Nuts' magazine tells them taht if a girl does not want to have sex with them, something is wrong with her, the tell each other that taking sweets from the shop without paying is not stealing, and anyone else who is different is fair game. Makes me glad of teh morals that were shown to me when i grew up.

Expressions

2007-05-24T22:43:00.001+01:00

This week in Stormont, one of our SF MLS's sent an internal memo to his department saying that they should not call Northern Ireland by that name, but either 'The North' (how very republican) or 'Here'. What made it worse is that Sammy Wilson took the time of the Assembly to make every concievable joke you can imagin. I'm up to Northern Ireland with those jokes.

The girls are spending a few days down in larne this week, which gives me a chance to men stuff, like watch TV in my underwear and scratch. They are back tomorrow.

Our ongoing battle in the drop-in is that some of teh boys are tearing down the 'It is against the law to smoke in these premisis' sign, that we have to have at the entrance of the drop-in. Last week we replaced it around 15 times. This week we warned that we would close for that session (or the one after) if it is taken down. We were closed on Wednesday afternoon, and after someone burned the sign on tonoght on teh way out, we are closed on Monday night. In my day, we would of take the person responsible aside and quietly 'had a word'. Kids these days tend to blame us. Sometimes this job gets to you!

Race for life

2007-05-07T20:38:00.000+01:00

My two nieces, Caitlin and Riona, are doing the Race For Life to raise money for Cancer Research in memory of their grand father, and my Dad, who died 10 years ago this year. I unashamedly plug their web page for donations.
All the best for it girls.

More MP3

2007-05-05T21:28:00.000+01:00

I am still enjoying my player, especially since I got a new one from Sony, thanks to a deal.
There have been new podcasts to listen to and since Roger showed me how to use Juice to collect them , it has been really easy.
Pendant productions are where I get my comic book fix. They have serialised dramas featuring the DC big three (Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman), where the stories are fairly well upto date with the current comicbooks, so no messy 'origin' story, and the only complaint is that the acting can be a bit ropy in places compared to places like the BBC. They also produce serials of James Bond, Indiana Jones and Star Trek.
The other Sci-Fi podcast is Escape Pod. My science fixion is usually in the popular TV fueled worlds of StarWars, Babylon 5 etc, but Escape Pod brings short Sci-fi stories of a more calssic feel, with stories from famous and unknown authers. They are well read and of high quality. Very few of the stories I have not liked.
My interest in counselling is being fueled not only by the books I am reading at the moment, but the Social Work Podcast. You would really need a pen and paper to take notes because it is in depth in the sublects it covers. Interpersonal phychotherapy, Gastalt therapy and CBT are some of the topics covered. Heavy going, but give an introduction to some of the topics we brushed upon in last years course.
My favourite podcast by far is the One minute how-to. A fantastic idea that gives people who know how to do something a platform to explain it in one minute. Topics that have been covered include How To Order At Starbucks, How To Knock Them Dead In An Interview, How To Teach , How To Read A Story Aloud (by Steve Eley from Escape Pod) and How To Taste Dark Chocolate. There are over 130 now, and most worth hearing either for information or they are soo funny. My favourite was How To Stop Your Shoe Laces From Coming Undone, just for the geekyness of the web site link alone. I callenge you to go to Ian's Shoelace Site and not be amazed.
A lot of these sites I find myself, but some are recomended to me. If you know of good podcasts, do share them.

It's a fair cop!

2007-05-01T22:41:00.000+01:00

We love to watch 'New Tricks' as one of our TV programmes together. The evedence is brought together near the end of each episode and the main suspect (usually the most famous guest actor) such as claw marks on a door and puma poo on next doors lawn, and the suspect owns up to it immediatly.
In the Cornerstone, our boys don't seem to watch these cop shows. They always deny that it was them what did it, no matter what evidence you produce, including seeing them do it.
We bought a PS2 last Wednesday in teh centre. We held back for a long time, mainly due to the attutude there is about stuff. "If it breaks, it's noty mine so it doesn't matter". But we bought a package with the "buzz" games, and the boys were really greatful. Untill last night. One boy waded through the controller cables, sending the console flying and damaging a game. He went back to his seat and giggled. No appology. No helping set it back. No remorse. One broken game in a week. No one cared. We could always buy another.
Today I checked over the system again, and found someone had stuck chewing gum on a controller.
Sometimes the job can be painfull with dissapointment in the human condition.

Smoking Kills

2007-04-20T20:41:00.000+01:00

With the new smoking laws coming into force in NI on 30th April (hurraa!!!) and , while we have no smoking in the Cornerstone, the porch is a haven to the nicotine addicted adolescence. But with the porch being more than 50% walled, we can now bann smoking there. The little darlings will have to hide this from there parents elsewhere.
We have given fair warning, with notice going out last night. Some of the boys were not too sure.

Smokey boy:Why are you starting it on 30th April?
Me: Because that is when the law comes in.
SB: No, it comes in on 31st April.
M: There aren't 31 days in April.
SB: There are in a leap year.
M: [THUD, THUD, THUD]

Fun-packed week

2007-04-15T20:05:00.000+01:00

Tuesday: We just pottered about Ballymoney, had a cuppa in the Clock Tower and bought some planting stuff. Nioce and relaxing.

Wednesday: We went to Lesliehill open farm. A nice quaint farm that caters to children. Charlotte enjoyed the sand pit, the petting bit (rabbits, chicks and rodent things), poney ride and the lamb and calf. Katherine enjoyed her socks (they were nice). The petting bit was weird. With no staff to supervise, some of the kids were nearly juggling baby rabbits. Charlotte enjioyed her first poney ride, and spent the rest of the day smiling.

Thursday: we went bowling. Charlotet insisted in using a pink ball, and scored 115. Her first game. Later we went to barrys. It was soo busy. Julie and Charlotte rode on the carousel, while Katherine was hypmotised to sleep while watching them go round.

Friday: Portrush again, but most of the day was spent on the East Strand. Great weather. We had the suntent up and a picnic. It was great just to relax. The sea was cool, the sand hot and the wind kept everything else even . After a few hours we went to the paddling pool at teh arcadia, and washed our feet.

Life on mars

2007-04-10T20:01:00.000+01:00

We will discover that sam is actually an escaped patient from 1973 who has take on the identity of The real Sam Tyler, who is from the future. Of course by th etime you read this we will know, and my idea will sound stupid.

We had a trip yesterday to HamiltonsBawn to see my mum. She is in good form, but a bit unsteady on her legs. I took her down to the corner shop, and what I found made me think I was in 1973. They were selling golliwoggs. I had one as a child, but I would never dream of buying the girls one, mainly because of the racist undertones. These should of gone out with the Black and White Minstrel Show and Jim Davidsons 'Chalky' jokes. In '70s Northern Ireland to see someone who hadn't a pasty white skin was very unusual, but now we cannot claim this iognorance, especially when there is such a strong NF feeling amongst some groups in Northern Ireland.

During the afternoon we took a trip to the Palace Stables Heritage Centre in Armagh while mum slept. They were haveing a back in time day, not to 1973, but the early 1800's. We were there in time to see a duel with pistolds. It was very entertaining and educational. No one got killed.

Charlotte and Katherine, of course, enjoyed the play park the best.

This week

2007-04-07T21:45:00.000+01:00

Apart from the momentus couple of weeks on both Northern Ireland politics and football, it has been a long coupple of weeks.

Julie had her birthday, with her man made cake and a lovely meal at Charlies. It's Charlotes favorite restraurant. She had been there once before and headed for her usual table. She was very funny there. When the waiter took our plates away, Charlotte made sure he knew to takle hers away by franticly pointing to her plate. You had to be there.

I was off on tuesday and spent most of it in the garden, and found a mutant rubarb plant under my black plastic weed deterant device. The girls have been enjoying this lovely weather, being in the garden. I am just waiting for the first person to say that the warm weather is due to glbal warming. It's just politically correctness gone mad!

Work was quiet. We had to cancel a trip. Just noone about. This happens when you gat the good weather and lighter nights. It was nice only having a few in during the day, and gave us time to just play and chat with them. Two of the boys came in on Wednesday afternoon, soaking wet. They had been jumping in the river with there clotes on. You cannot beat that for entertainment.

First day of spring

2007-03-24T22:03:00.000Z

What a great day. The buzz of lawnmowers showed what a good day it was. I should of mowed the lawn, dug the garden, but instead Charlotte helped me wash the cars.

After lunch we all went to Portrush and parked on the East Strand, where a Surf competition was happening. We spent a while building sand castles. We did have a walk around town, ice creama and the White House (as well as bumping into Alex and Christine).

In work this week..

One of the boys has been peeing round the toilet seat. It happened last friday during quest in teh Coffe shop loo, so a trap was easyto set. To be honest I was fairly certain who it was, but D is a herbitual lier. I mean, if you see him do something, he will still lie about it. So the trap was set yeaterday, he peed in seat, so i went up to him and said "you can either go out now, or clean the toilet seat you peed over". D stood up , said " It wasn't me, I'll clean it" and went on to do a faily good job of cleaning it. I was impressed, and told him so, that he took responsability for what he did wrong. The odd time there are these small victories.

R.I.P. Steve Rogers 1941 -2007

2007-03-10T21:12:00.000Z

Captian America is dead, again. Killed by a sniper under the orders of the Kingpin, our hero is dead. Comic fans have not met tis with shock. Why would we. There uses to be a saying that nobody in comics stayed dead, except for Uncle Ben and Bucky. That was untill Bucky turned up alive and well (in a story line similar to the one happening in DC where Batman's dead Robin turned up alive and well). The doors to heaven are said to be a revolving door in Marvel universe. In my reading time i have had seen nearly every charicter to have a shock death, only to turn up again alive and well. So it is not about if Cap will rise again, but when, ie, when Marvel needs another sales boost.

In other news, Lalla Ward, who played Romana (II) in Doctor Who is married to evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins (who had an interesting interview with William Crawley here.)

Bought 'Bacon Sandwiches and Salvation' by Adrain Plass today, really nice poke fun at the church book that makes you think. Encyclopedia of terms used in church (not origional, but funny).

eg Raised from the dead: (1) restored to life after physical decease (2) brought up as an Anglican.

Funny ha ha.

Bebo

2007-03-10T20:56:00.000Z

After a news story about Bebo being used by young people to arrange violent clashed in LondonDerry made me check out the site and see what it is used for.
I was shocked(which seems to be the way alot of people are).

It was very easy to find people. You can hide your page, but most poepl I tried to find didn't.
Young people put far toomuch detail on, such as full name, age, school, town they live in and photos.
The way it is used by some to promote secctarianism, and to cultivat the justification of this by peer feedback.
It is pandemic of some young people having this tecno age need to be in near constant communication, and the need to be part of a grouping or sub-culture.

I really think this can be a great tool, but is being used as a weapon by too many, and too few adults do not know it is there.

Knock, Knock

2007-03-04T19:59:00.000Z

We were teaching Charlotte to tell jokes and decided to start with a knock, knock joke. She eventually managed to get in the way of it, and laughs at it alot (like most 3 year olds), even if she has no idea what it's about.
Here is the joke, so join in.

Charlotte: Knock, knock.
You: Who'se there?
C: Boo
Y: Boo Who?
C: Don't cry!

Now she has managed that, she has gone on to other jokes.

C: Knock, knock
Y: Who'se there?
C: Cook.
Y: Cook who?
C: Don't cry!

So we are not quite ready for the Empire yet. But at tea time yesterday, without warning, she came off with this one.

Q: Why did the Banana go to the doctor?
A: It wasn't peeling well.

We have no idea where she learn't it, but it was funny.

One, two, tree.

2007-02-24T22:26:00.000Z

The majestic Chestnut tree in the middle of HamiltonsBawn is no more. It was cut down to make way for 50 town houses (or somewhere round that number) with building well underway.
The tree was usually a flag pole for the 12th, and some poor sap had to climb it to fly the union flag. I remember big Mervin swearing he would never do it again. The tree was to be taken down many years ago, due to the damage it would cause if it ever fell in a storm, but the good people of HamiltonsBawn, or H. B. City as the young poeple call it, stopped its destruction.
As we all know the legend that if that tree falls, Ulster will also fall to peddlers of untruth and decievers of the people.
Elections are March 7th.

It's for charity!

2007-02-16T20:10:00.000Z

This years comic relief single is the hard rockers Aerosmith song 'Walk this way'. I liked the 1986 verson with rappers Run DMC, and the video inspired a generation. To do what, we may never know.
This years tries to keep that spirit of faux 'battle of the band' with Sugababes vs Girls Aloud. And there is the problem. Apart from the obvious trouble with words/tune for some of the groups members, the battle between a pop girl group and a pop girl group is slightly non discript. I find it hard to tell the difference between the groups in both look and sound, they both are bubblegum pop, and they all dress in skimpy outfits (PC way of saying they look a bit tarty, especially when they are rubbing them selves up against walls like cats in heat).
But it is for charity, and both groups being at the top of the pop bubblegum tree, will sell well, and I still have my copy of the Bananarama and La Na Nee Nee Noo Noo version of 'Help!'.

Tired

2007-02-05T22:53:00.000Z

Just back from work. Really disapointing night with J. He was barred last week for throwing stones at others in the centre, and told that it was his choice what he did. He has a nasty habbit of causing trouble when he is barred, and was warned that if he chose to caused trouble he would get a longer barring. He did soo well, (and I was proud of him, I really was) right up to tonight, his last session of his barring. He was a nightmare, between spitting, loud swaring, hitting people, constantly trying to get in, trying burn people with his lighter, and generally demanding the worst type of attention.
J is discribed by many as 'just bad'. Should i accept that. 'He is just bad, and there is nothing that can be done with him, so it's best to give up.' Should we barr him fro life, should we give up on him? No, I guess not. It's not the way Jesus delt with poeple. But what do we do? How can we provide what he needs when he does not want it, and we don't know where to start? And what does he need? Is it love? Is it a kicking? Is it realisation that he is not the most important person in Garvagh? Is it understanding?
I don't know. I feel I have failed him. God, give me strength and wisdom, because I have run out of both.

Hanukkah

2006-12-23T22:47:00.000Z

Just further to a conversation this afternoon, a link about the Jewish festival of lights.

Stone cold crazy

2006-12-19T20:17:00.000Z

The infamous loyalist killer Michael Stone was in court today with charges relating to his storming of Stormont in 25th November ( do watch the footage on teh BBC page ) with the seeming attempt to kill Republican politicians. In court today, his loyar was instructed to give the following excuse:
It wasn't about killing anyone, it was performance art. Honest. The man hobbles up to stormont (he is arthritic), plants a few bombs, scralls grafitti on the wall, and was stopped in the rovelving door by two unarmed security guards, but it was perfoemance art. He carried a fake gun, nail bombs, an axe and a garrotte. But it's ok, it was performance art. He also wrote a letter that was later published in the Belfast Telegraph. In the letter dated November 24, Stone describes his "mission to Kill" Adams and McGuinness in detail, giving a description of his intended movements once inside the building, so there would be absolutly no doubt about his intentions if he was killed before he could complete his 'mission' ( Ulsters first sucide bomber?). But it was performance art, so it is ok. The UDA (who stone has been a member) seemingly do not like art, as they have dissowned him, and explain that it was not their idea. So the next time you are cought over the speed limit. rememeber to tell the court you were not speeding, but it was performance art.

I may not know much about art, but stone is a nut.

Baptism

2006-11-26T20:08:00.000Z

Katherine had her Baptism today.
I was worried that she would cry alot, but both our kids were very well behaves.
In the service after the commitment promises from Julie and myself, and the congregation (who mumbled in the traditional way) Kenneth sprinkles water, we sing the Aaronic blessing and then presents Katherine to the congregation by taking her down ine aisle, and up the other. Really nice.
I wore my hatches/matches/dispatches suit, to the hilarity of the Bible Class.
It was really nice having friends and family round for lunch (shepherds pie) and chat ( and out witting Laura was abonus).
Charlotte had her second cousin, Rachel, here, who is a similar age, and they both had a ball. Screams of delight resouinded roundf the house as they jumped on the bed, played with the toy kitchen, read stories and generally had fun. When it came to blowing out the baptism cake, Charlotte told Rachel taht she couldn't blow out the candels as it wasn't her birthday. A bit ahead of yourself there, girl.
Katherine, when she finally woke, girggled and smiled at everyone, while lookinbg as cute a a button.

Slugs and Snails...

2006-10-22T20:29:00.000+01:00

It has been a busy few weeks in work.

The education board has placed a rural youth worker in Garvagh, and we are becoming involved with management meetings. The worker will be detached and working with small groups of 14-25 yearolds in short term projects. It is vital that we are involved, as well as other groups who work with young people in the town, as a contact to send the young people to after the projects have finished. The worker wants to do a project with our older boys, but the boys want me involved, so I will have to tiptoe round that obsticle.

The high school had their prize day, and it is always a pleasure to be invited. We see some of the worst from teh school, sdo it is good to know that thee are some dedicated puples, and to hear what projects the school does offer. Few of the boys we have turned up, which is a pitty.

The 'Let's Talk' (a Question time type programm about Northern Ireland, recorded once a month) studio contacted us to see if we wante dto bring some of our young people to the next recording. It is a good idea, and would give some of our older guys a great experience. I mentioned it to some of our drop-in folk, and one said that it would depend on what the topic was. This is northern ireland, what does he think the topic would be? We will try to get some to go to next months recording.

For the third week in a row I have been to Belfast on Thursday for business (not quite on Ruth's scale of work trips). This weekwas a conference on working with young men. Nothing mind bendingly new, but good networking. (I got talking with someone in the HIV advisery group, and was able to tell within a 100 how many HIV infected people are known in NI. I read a report the week before). As far as young men info went, the point of 'what makes you a man' gave the paradox that in school the 'manly' thing to do is to not work, but later on in life the 'manly' thing to do is to get a good job to provide for your family. It was good fun, and helped inforce thinking.

Local News

2006-10-16T22:46:00.000+01:00

The Ballymoney Times is not the greatest Paper in the world, or even Ballymoney, but it really makes me laugh. In last weeks paper, a page three item was an interview with about a UFO sighting in Ballymoney. It happened a few Fridays ago, after closing time and the time of year that kids are letting off fireworks in a carefree attitude. He assures us that he can identify it as agenuine UFO, absolutly no doubt. I have no doubt. If it is ever identified, it will stop being a UFO and become a FO.

X-ray results.

2006-10-06T22:12:00.000+01:00

I found out the results of my x-ray this week. I have had a on-off sore finger that will become difficult to move. It had beeen treated by antibiotics, but it comes back. It hasn't flared up in a while, but I went to the doc last month after it flared up again (usually lasting between 30 mins and 3 hours) and he sent me for an x-ray.
My ring finger on my right hand, at the base showed up on the x-ray with a 4 millimetre object, with a similar density to bone. The doc explained that it was either a bit of bone that broke off, or a outside object, such as a slither of metal. My suggestion of a government tracking divice was not considered for long. Too much x-files in my younger days, I think. If it flares up again, it comes out (exciting). I wonder if I can get a copy of the x-ray?

On the subject of fingers...
the Ig nobel prizes are out for this year. These are the scientific studies that make you laugh, then think (not for bad science, just science you wonder why people do). My favourate of this years is the Ig nobel prize for medicine about the 'termination of intractable hiccups with digital rectal massage'. Not something to try in public.

Fun Facts

2006-10-01T21:55:00.000+01:00

According to Steve Wright in the afternoon 'factoids', squrrels cannot see red. This is one of those 'honest it's true' facts that is probably untrue. Either that or being a Red Squrrel is the lonliest thing in the world, apart from the voices.
If a body falls from 1000ft, it will hit the ground in about 8 seconds, or so say a lot of the posters on Peter Davids site. There is a lot of calculation in this (If we set the starting height at x=0 and the initial velocity = o, then the formula is x=-1/2gt^2 where g = 32 ft/s^2. So, at t=20 sec, x = 6400 feet downward. At t=30 sec, x = 14,400 feet.
Solving for t, we get t = sqrt(-2x/g). So, if the top is x=0 and the bottom is x=-1000, we get t= 7.9. So, it would take about 8 seconds to hit the bottom after being dropped from a height of 1000 feet). Now try to slip that into a comversation tomorrow, without getting strange looks.
Now to the Coriolis effect. This is the one where the water goes down the plug hole one way in the northern hemisphere, and the other in the southern hemisphere, as popularised by the Simpsons episode 'Bart vs Austrailia'. It does not work that way. It is a pitty, i did like the idea.
The island of Ireland may not have any snakes (no jokes about the polticians please), but we do have a lizard. It is oddly called the common Lizard, as opposed to all the other lizards who don't live here.
Back to Squrrels, and this is why game stations are not that bad a hoby for young people, because it could be worse...

update

2006-09-24T21:03:00.000+01:00

Finally, the desk top is now back on-line, mum's car is sold, had our holidays at home (including Zoo, Farm, Train to Derry, HamiltonsBawn, Ballymena, Coleraine, Cheeky Chimps, Beach, and los more), and back to work. It has all been compounded by lack of sleep and being lent season two of Battlestar Gallactica.
So here are some photos to make this more interesting.
These pictures are take from the train to Derry, and yes, it is that close to the beach.
And various of the zoo and the girls (I will let you figure it out)

Over activity week

2006-09-02T20:51:00.000+01:00

The desk top wireless is still out, and I sem to be thrown from BY voyager help line and the e-machine help line, but thought I shoould blogg anyway. Last week was the Cornerstone activity week, usuaally a busy week, but compounded with St Paul's asking for our help in there Holiday Bible Club in the mornings. Great to be busy just before holidays.
This is the first time the Garvagh's local Church of Ireland has run a Holiday Bible Club, but the new minister is wanting to make an impact in the community (he is hoping to organise guitar lessons later in the year for the community). He brought in the local CEF man to help, and the locl Cornerstone youth workers. Good week, and it was lovely to see the adults in the congregation help out, and to turn from frightened conscripts to confident volunteers.
The Activity week was probably the best we have had for a few years, mainly because of the young people on it (i only wanted to strangle two by the end of the week). It was a mixture of games (church hall, forrest and beach) and activities (banana boating, lagan vally pool and pirates adventure golf). The best bit was the sandcastle compotition on the beach. We never thought the teenagers would keep it up two hours.
The teens we got for the week are traditionally not from the drop-in, mainly because the guys in he drop-in are too scared of what may happen in an uncontrollable (for them) environmant. This year we have had one of the drop-in, and this will, hopefuly, encourage others to join-in next year.

back on-line

2006-07-31T20:47:00.000+01:00

We had a wireless thing put into the computer, and it didn't work for a while, untill the nice man at BT told me what to do (this was the second time I called, the first, the exasperated engineer told me it was a firewall problem, and tried to fob me off to some other company).
This now means that there are no ugly wires from the hallway to the computer in teh living room,a nd that I can surf on the laptop, desktop and talk on the phone at the same time. Still have no idea how to get a podcast downloaded onto my Mp3 player. Ug.

Hve finished reading the Time Machine. Cracking good read, and better than the last H G Wells I read, the Invisible Man. Also ther is the typical turn of the century way of third person monologue. First couple of chapters are how theauther gets to hear the hero tell the story, and the rest of the book is in quotation marks as the hero relates to the auther.

Planet of the apes

2006-07-17T21:27:00.000+01:00

The everyday tale of a french journalist, Ulysse Mérouwho, travels halfway across the galaxy to be stranded on a planet whee apes are the dominant species, and humans are beastial bipeds. Strong morals prevale.
A great read, and the translation only anoyed me as far as talking about 'monkeys', instead of 'apes'.
Any fault lies in the amount of Planet of the Apes films that are out there, none of which follow the origional book by Perrie Boulle, very closley. There is no statue of liberty, as the planet is around a different sun. The humans are truly wild animals with neither clothes or language. Apes do not escape to modern day earth and have a child [Escape from the Planet of the Apes](but the earthman has a child) and the book has an ape world that is advanced as 1960s france.
Because of the movies, there are no real surprises, but it does give an insight into the Tim Burton ending. Well thought out moralistic tale, that i enjoyed.

Good week

2006-07-16T20:22:00.000+01:00

It was a long week with lots of good stuff, especially since I was off.
Monday: Lunch in Coleraine, and a chance to do a bit of shopping. Not vey exciting, but we did it.
Tuesday: Finvoy fun farm enjoyed our patronage. It is basicly a giant play area for children, with a couple of animals to feed. Not too sure about there health and safety. Charlotte enjoyed there slides and the trampoline. A bit of a bump on the head while sitting on a bench.

Wednesday: Being the 12th, we stayed put. We had Jenny Rountree (who has progressed from Charlotte calling her 'Lady' and is now refered to as 'sweet') and her friend Carie. Really nice time.
Thursday: Back to the train at Damnhead. We had a picnic as well, and Charlotte had three rides on the Train. Good fun.

Friday: We went to see my Mum in Hamiltonsbawn and were pleasently surprised at the way she interacted with Charlotte and even took Katherine while she (K) was bawling. It was the first of the really hot days. We had a walk around Hamiltonsbawn, and are not surprised that people never heard of it.

Saturday: We went to Alex and Chriostines for lunch, and a very nice salid, you know the type you would never lay on for your self, but enjoy anyway. We went back hoem a brought out the pool, put some water in and Charlotte and i got very wet. Charlotte really enjoyed the slide in the pool.

Sunday: Over the past couple of days, Katheriane has not slept well, but tosya she slept most of the day. So we spent a lot of time in the garden, in the pool and a BBQ lunch.

Wyrd Sisters

2006-07-07T21:03:00.000+01:00

Now I have finished the course, I have a bit more time to read other books than counselling orientated. I Have finished Terry Pratchett's Wyrd Sisters.
Three witches, who rule with headology in the small kingdom of Larnce, are drawn into a mystryof a dead king, a lost prince and a fool.
Generally concidered to be the first of the disk world books to not just be good, but really good. I have enjoyed Pratchett's books for the past few years, but never tackled thsi one. I found it for 75p in a charity shop, and left it to ferment on the shelf for a year. Even thro this is the first witches book, I have read most of the others. Like Sam Vimes, and now unlike Rincewind, Terry knows how to tackle these characters, and they ahve lasted over the years. The book is loosly based on Macbeth, but with more funny bits.
Really good book.

Customer survice

2006-06-29T22:01:00.000+01:00

During the week i went to Starbucks in Coleraine with Charlotte for a treat. I don't usually go there but i was going to share a large cookie with her. I walked up to the counter. There was no-one in the cue and the staff member was at the till, writing something, with her body in my direction. I counted to 30, and walked out with out the staff acknowledging my presence. I would not of minded the staff saying 'I will be with you in a moment', but to be ignored, even for half a minute?

later I went to the new comic shop. The comic book guy, Marty, spent time speaking with me, and while he didn't have what I wanted, he went stright on the phone and ordered it, so it would be here later in the week. WHen I was in today Marty was on thephone, but came off when I came in. He made sure I was the right guy, and got me my stuff. He chatted for a while, told me of new stuff that was in, and recommended some other books, based on the conversation the last time i was in.

It really surprised me that Strbucks had such poor customer survice. It is a fast coffee house, that in more civilised places (unfair, after all Coleraine has a Comic Book Shop now) I have been served almost before I can think. This seemed to be the Coleraine culture not being used to seeing the customer as the reason they make coffee.

Good service is something new to Northern Ireland shopping, but it is here more and more.

At last... an update

2006-06-24T21:39:00.000+01:00

As you can imigine, the last week has been a tad busy, so the last thing I haev wanted to do after a hard day is to blogg.
But here I am now. Julie and Katherine are fine, both came home on Wed, and we all seem to be falling into a rythem, mostly of not sleeping. Charlotte has taken to the role of BIG sister like a dog to steak, and often has to be dragged off in mid kiss. She is loving the attention, and gifts.

Today was the Ballymoney Mayers show, consisting of one float and 50 tractors sailing round town. There was a Silver band on the back of a lorry, but they were drownd out by the tractors. The country market was expanded to celebrate. There was an ice-cream stall.

It has been a week of good news. The latest it that there is now a comic shop in Coleraine. I will truly believe when I see it, but reporst are from reputablie sources.

And I leave you with the much anticipated pics...

Garage build wk5

2006-06-06T19:53:00.000+01:00

The concrete floor went in today. It looks well with the pebble dash.

I had a Kidney infection last week. I was on a "Volunteer walk leader" course (dull, dull, dull) and got bad pains on the walk. I decided to leave at lunch time. Unfortuntely, I had to go to Ballymena and hand in some work for my course, so a 40 min drive and 2hr wait to see the tutor befor I headed home, and got an emergency appointment for the doc. Got some big blue tablets ("take four tonight to kick-start it") and to bed. Really painfull, especially when I burped, hicuped or shiverred, which i did a lot. The next day I was feeling fine.

Saturday was the Ballymoney Show, and we took Charlotte to see the cattle, sheep, horses and sheep dog show. She was more interested in eating her ice-cream. The child had it all over her, but enjoyed every last dribble (most on her) and was even more delighted to learn that you can eat the cone. But I payed for being out, and was bad again that night. I only went back to work today.

Charlotte is enjoying the weather (hot, hot, hot) even if Julie is suffering it. (any day now, it has to be).

Build week 3 & 4 + other stuff

2006-05-28T22:44:00.000+01:00

The build has gone well, with the roof mostly on and the electrics ready to wire in.

Other news, my course is ending in two Tuesdays time, and I may be able to finish it, with 15 criteria still to fullfill. Really hard at the moment to settle myself to do any of it.
Which brings me to Julie and Charlotte. Charlott spent the day sick, wit a mild lyronitus (sorry for spelling) and Julie is at the stage where she just wants the baby out. Too much going on.
We had Alex and Christine round last night for tea. Charlotte is really taken by Alex, and did her best to impress him. While we basicly ignored the fact that they arrives, she led him in by the hand, and showed how well she culd eat her tea (getting to be a trial at times normally). Cute to see, especially since he is a trojan skin head. But Charlotte did do the washing up.

Garage build wk2

2006-05-14T22:01:00.000+01:00

The good weather helped thje build, so things are progressing much quickly.

MP3

2006-05-09T22:02:00.000+01:00

I'm having a lot of fun finding free MP3 stuff on the web. I like to listen to talk stuff, instead of muic, which is less restrictive with copyright.
AltaVista lets you search specificly for MP3 files, so I have been looking.
There are sites that I cannot get working on my machine. I do not know how to work xml sites, and the BBC works on my computer, but not my mp3 player. Odd.
But there is still plenty out there.
Max Lucado and Tony Compolo sites both give talks for my walks, and found Rob parsons talk at Salt and ight ministries, as well as many other talks by other speakers. These are good quality stuff, but Audio Treasures mp3 Bible is a bit rough in production quailty.
Other rough sites are Audio Books For Free, which has an extensive range of older books, and you can buy better quality recordings, and Free-book sound as if Steven Hawkings sister has provided the voice, but old classics. Kiddie Records has the same quality, but with sometimes strange kids stories.
You expect Old Time Radio Programmes to be poor quality, but it has surprised me so far. Old American radio show, like the Bob Hope show, but mainly obscure shows, in differing genre.

I am compelled with Darker projects, just because they do some Dr Who stories. Not the best acting, but I get my fix.

The gem is PseudoCertainty. Two guys who sit and talk about what conspiricy therioes are out there, and then tear them to shreads. If you ever wanted to slap someone who says the moonlandings were a hoax, or Prince Philip killed Diana, then these are the guys to do it for you.

If you find and better mp3 downloads, let me know.

Garage build wk1

2006-05-06T16:08:00.000+01:00

This should be a 5 week build, and the builders seem keen to get it built in that time. They started on Tuesday, on a very wet day, and contuinued to get foundations dug duing a wet week. I am a bit worried that the concrete wont set, but then I am a youth worker, not a builder.

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

With just 5 weeks to go before the due date for Jr2 (14 June), Julie is now being sick again. We hope the garage is finished before the birth, so every thing can be that bit more ready.

New bed

2006-04-29T19:54:00.000+01:00

Charlotte. as I type is enjoying her first night in a propper bed. My baby is growing up (sob).
The bed was delivered this week, so she had a few days of jumping about the matress before we put it all together, and we involved her in the process of putting together and making the bed.

We decided not to make a big deal of it this evening, but just reminded her that she would be in a bed. She gulped down the bottle and demaned to be put in the bed right away (after her traditional hug and kiss, no time for a cuddle). She was asleep in no time.

I really hope I don't get woken tomorrow by being hit on the head with a hardback version of The three bears.

Most disturbing fact of the week

2006-04-29T19:46:00.000+01:00

I read on a posting that men can breast feed. I now know fear (i mean, do I now have to wax my nipple area?). Please don't tell Julie.
The websites that it uses as examples are babycenter.com and unassistedchildbirth.com. Somebody tell me this is a hoax.

the problem with...

2006-04-25T19:38:00.000+01:00

One of my Bible Class told me that she wouldn't be back to Bible Class because she was becoming a communicant member this weekend. I told her that it was great that she was doing that, but it wasn't graduation from Bible Class, and she was welcome to stay on for as long as she wanted.
The problem with the Presbyterian Church is that it is lost in the past, where children were now ment to see communion (we have no Sunday School on communion sunday), you don't go back to Bible Class when you become a member, you cannot move anything without having a meeting, you wear a dark suit, etc... My Dad once told me taht no one is as catholic as a presbyerian.
Of course this is not an absolute, and many comgregations are changing. The ones that don't change are primarily country congregations that do not have much new blood, so change is hard agains the generations of family tradition.
The big bug for me is the total alien coultur to outsiders. If some young people at work wanted to go to church, they would encounter things that they never have to in any other part of there lives:-

Organ
20 min talk (at least)
Choir
pews
dark suits (the only time they would see this, outside a morning service, is a funeral)
faces like lurgan spades (again, outside the morning service, they can be found on politicians)
Metrical Psalter (some of the language is ancient [For God the poor hears, and will not his prisoners contemn. Psalm 69v33], and rhyming insulting [Because the zeal did eat me up, which to thine house I bear; And the reproaches cast at thee, upon me fallen are. Psalm 69 v 9])

I often wonder if we are members of a living Church, or curators of a museums.
And all this before the theolgy.

Cheesy Easter

2006-04-15T22:20:00.000+01:00

While Tesco do there best to turn Easter into a comercial event to rival Christmas with Easter mince pies and crackers, it's the Christian cheese that tastes worse, just look at the jelly bean poem and frame.

There is a good explanation

2006-04-14T20:03:00.000+01:00

Over the years I have always been disgusted at how much spit the young people at work spread around. This week I found the answer why. I mentioned to a few of them that spit, especially your own, is not a known poison (except, maybe, in poisonous snakes, who were banished from from ireland to make room for the Politicians).
They informed me that they spit because of the awfull taste left by the cigaretts. Of course the option of either a) stopping smoking or b) swalloing anyway, as your stomach has no taste buds, never occured to them.
Also a 12yearold, on a trip to bowling, had to spit out the car window. This was after he had three cigaretts in the previous hour.

tiger, tiger, burning bright...

2006-04-14T20:01:00.000+01:00

Granny Carol was over yesterday, and askedCharlotte 'did you have a lie in today?'
'No,' responded Charlotte, 'a tiger!'
(she says a lot of things with exclamation points.

Sci-fi girl

2006-04-12T20:00:00.000+01:00

Every girl has a 'Princess Lea' moment at one time or another.

Even more crafty Girls

2006-04-07T23:16:00.000+01:00

Julie decided to let Charlotte decorate eggs...

hands...

and face!

Charlotte also test wore the hat Julie knitted for Jr 2 (the default name for unborn children in this house is Jr, so the current one is Jr 2).

Very daper.

Birthday wife

2006-04-07T22:53:00.000+01:00

This is the time of year that, for 70 days, I get to tell Julie that she is one year older than me. How long can I keep saying this without need of good legal advice, I do not know.
We kind of had a Birthday weekend, with the oficial day on Friday, but it spills out onto Saturday and Sunday. Julie is still a bit misseable with the cold and caugh, so it was a good time to have something fun.

She got great presents and Charlotte was able to enjoy the present opening without wanting to open some. And not one but two birthday teas,
a number 27

and a steak feast.

And not frogetting the cake what I made [beaming with pride]

Don't worry, Charlotte ate as well.

Julie is now off work on the sick, between having a llarge bump, the caugh and the larg amount of work due to the change over from ink and quil to holo emitter is taking its tole on the girl. This will most likly be her until after maternity.

I could be sued for being a superhero, if i was one

2006-03-29T23:23:00.000+01:00

Just found this article explaining that 'superhero' is a regitered trademark of both DC and Marvel comics. Bizzar. What a great question for a table/pub quiz.
It remind me of the story of the Marx brothers, when making 'A night in Casablanca', Warner Brothers tried to sue them for using the word 'Casablanca' in the film title, incase people got confused with there film 'Casablanca'. The Marx Brothers responded with threatening to sue Warner Brothers for using the word 'brothers' in there title.

Beard up-date

2006-03-29T21:01:00.000+01:00

New phone

2006-03-26T19:49:00.000+01:00

I live by hand me down phones, and the latest was the O2 x1, which got a recall, saying it might attack the family or something, so they sent me a brand new O2 x2i (i don't think the i stands for injection, but you never know with new technology). The maion drawback is that the zoom on the old camera was x3, and this one is how far you can move your camera towards the object.

We had a quiet weekend. The Ballymoney Farmers market was on Radio Ulster on Saturday morning, and sounded really good, since the council had installed a roof; but when we got there there was the usual collection of painted jam pots, teddybear stalls, grave stones and flax panaceas.

Julie had a nice Mothers day, with Charlotte giving her a flower and book, as well as hand made card.

St paddys day

2006-03-17T23:37:00.000Z

With the whole day off, it gave us the chance to, well, do nothing.
We put Charlotte in the nursery, mainly because we both have colds and needed the rest. Julie has had the cold for a couple of weeks now, and gets anti-biotics for a bad cough. She is a bit misserable with it, but on the bright side, the morning sickness is gone.
Northern Ireland is the worst place in the world (apart from the republic) to celebrate St Patricks day. Traditionally nationalists take the day to rub it up everyone else, mainly with flags and over use of the Irish language, while unionists pretend none of this is happening and go to work and school as usual (this is the first year Garvagh High has had the day off, with our boys not knowing what to do with it, saying 'i'll take the day off, but i'm not celebrating some republicin!').
Now, with our new peaceful country, people are trying to make it 'cross community'. For the first time, Belfast City counsel has funded the parade in Belfast, with organisers asking people to not wear celtic tops, and to only fly the St Patricks cross. But the chukies decided to rub people up the wrong way and fly the Tricolour. Just a few stupid people to make it hard on everyone else. Now the DUP and the UUP are upset, and funding probably won't come next year. Wait 'till the summer, and the situation will be turned round, but just the same.

Being Ulsterish

2006-03-12T19:36:00.000Z

This week had another rash of bigotry. A young man in the older drop-in challenged me when I talked about us being Northern Irish. He objected to the word 'Irish' in it, and wanted to be called either English, or Ulsterish. A short geography lesson occured, which was mostly ignored, and then other stuff that was soo stupid, I cannot justify blogging it.
I begin to wonder why I do not share these views. Was it my up-bringing? I wouldn't say my Mum and Dad were anything close to biggots. For people growing up in mid Armagh in the times, they seem to my memory to be darn right tollerant. I remember my Dad being really cross at the whole Drumcree march, not wanting it to go down Grvaghy Road. And the only thing my Mum ever said was 'Don't get a Catholic pregnant', (advice I still hold to), which was more to do with a split in a family she knew at the time, than her socio-political views, or my philandering at that, or any time.
It my tolerance more due to my faith? Well, there is a lot of bigity in a lot of congregations on both ends. One of the most notorious Loyalists of the '90s was a pastor.
I really don't know. What I dod know is that I try to find out. I look at the questions,and the answers and try to know something that resembles truth. I do not demonise people (that much), because then you are saying I cannot be like that, I cannot understand how a monster thinks, therefore I don't have to, and I can distance myself.
I wish I knew how to open the minds of some of our young people, not to create little post-modern unionist clones of my political thinking, but to get them to think about what they believe, and grow from that.