Welcome to gridlock Britain

I was in Carmarthen when the snow struck, and within 20 minutes Carmarthen was gridlocked.... It looks like our efficient county council hadn't gritted the roads they seem to have been taken by surprise.... or could it be a subtle hang back on the gritting front because there is worse to come ? .....

There's no disputing its been cold Powys has recorded it's lowest ever temperature last night of -18C .... that is cold, and I can confirm that it's bloody cold here in Laugharne so much so our brand new 47Kg bottle of gas froze solid the only thing I could do was pour boiling water over the cylinder until the pressure cranked back up then I gave it a nice towel overcoat to try and keep it's contents above freezing we shall see in the morning if that did the trick.....

Anyway this is all down to the cock eyed jet stream which has missed us yet again this winter and plunged us into unseasonable artic conditions.... I'm still waiting for this global warming malarkey to kick in so I can crack out my flip flops and shorts in November... Alas I think it might be a long wait....

It never ceases to amaze me how the UK is brought to its knees by a few flakes of snow

Xbox boy done good

He's done his BARB test and has scored 75% which is brilliant his three choices are :-

Ammunition Technician

Amourer

Dog Handler/Trainer

I am immensely proud of him, it seems his life is finally snapping into place since dumping the girlfriend who controlled his every move...I think we can safely say she's history and somebody elses problem now and good riddance and of course don't bang your head on the way out of the door :)

Ammunition technician is a pretty dangerous job in civvy speak it's mainly bomb/munition disposal, but it also encompasses supply and safe destruction of ammunition, and he's been told that he won't actually be doing any bomb disposal for at least 18 months after training.... The recruitment staff at Army Careers said that not many make the choice of Ammunition technician ..... because of it's an increased risk occupation... but hat off to Stewart he's determined and if that is what he wants to do then it's not up to us to try and dissuade him.... and at the end of the day somebody has to do it....

It's far from written in stone yet but that is what he is wanting to do and it's his first choice so who knows, he has to get through selection first and he has to build up a bit of upper body strength and endurance, because the Army are only taking the cream of the crop these days. So roll on April 2011.... he'll be in his element and absolutely love it !!! :)

Immensely proud of him :)

As for the other ankle biters .....FOMO boy is due for an attitude adjustment course, which will entail bed by 9:30pm and complete banning of Xbox activities as he is starting to think he is bigger than his boots....He's been having trouble getting out of bed in the mornings and basically dawdling when doing anything, not to mention "forgetting" homework and seemingly muttering under his breath.....

We think he's under the impression that both of us were born yesterday.... where he's got that from I don't know because we are at least four steps ahead of him before he even thinks about doing anything remotely rebellious .... which must be frustrating for him ;¬)

You'd think he would have had a lightbulb moment by now.... but alas no.... I think it's a combination of Xbox exclusion syndrome characterised by the blank stare and twitching thumbs common in so many today...and I'm in Secondary School syndrome characterised by the classic "I know everything there is to know.....therefore I'm not listening to you"

He's also lost his coat because it's "SO NOT COOL" to wear one to school...it must therefore be "UBER COOL" to be drenched to the skin whilst in and outside school....because as everybody knows that's "JUST WAY COOL"

We'll see how cool it is once SS-ObergruppenFuherer D Brabrook and his second in command Oberstleutnant A Brabrook get to grips with him.... abandon hope all wannabe teenagers ... resistance is futile to coin a Borg phrase....

And life goes on...and on...and on

Xboxboy has decided to join the Army after dumping his ball and chain....sorry "girlfriend" ... I really hope he actually does it this time rather than think about it and fail to follow through..(that can be applied to both the Army and the Ex girlfriend)

The only advice I've given him is to go for a trade within the Army that can be used when he eventually joins civvy street rather than going in as a grunt... He seems keen this time, who knows..

He did say something rather funny in that he was commenting on how clean and tidy the barracks were on the DVD and were they all like that .... the penny dropped when I said "Yes they are, but who do you think cleans it ?"

Freya still has this amazing ability to melt both of our hearts sometimes, mainly with the crazy things her imagination comes out with and how she has moulded the English language to suit her.... such as the new english word "Willunt" which is her version of "Won't" She frequently has us in stitches, but that is probably down to living with three other siblings who are almost as barking mad as she is...

I've been married before, but I can honestly say I've never had this much fun or laughter in my entire life, having Freya and taking on three step children and a mad marathoning wife who "gets" me and who I can reduce to laughter in seconds and her me, has given me a new zest for life and I have to admit it is keeping me younger than my years.

like they say "life isn't a rehearsal.. enjoy it while you can"

Marmot

No not the small furry animal pictured to your left but the manufacturer of outdoors gear... I bought a rather expensive (£300 ish) all weather jacket a few years ago and I have to say it's been rather brilliant and it hasn't let me down once...not the slightest hint of wetness getting through.... 

I've only recently re-proofed it after it succumbed to the appalling marble sized hailstones and reservoir like rain up  in Llanberis (I say succumbed in reality the outer sleeves got wet but not on the inside)  for the Snowdonia Marathon...... but when I took it out of the tumble dryer I noticed the rubber sleeve straps had perished... they are still functional but it's only a matter of time before they snap and my cuffs on the jacket will flap around my wrists and when you're on top of a mountain (or indeed battling your way down the highstreet) the last thing you need is a draught up your sleeves ....

Anyway I decided to contact Marmot and see if they could do anything for me... I wasn't holding my breath but much to my surprise after an exchange of emails with a lovely woman called Stephanie and a few photographs describing my problem (for the exact same straps)... a few days later two straps and associated Velcro pads arrived which had been hacked off what looked like a brand new jacket !! (I would have been quite happy for them to send the entire jacket ;¬) )... I was gobsmacked at such brilliant customer service, especially on a jacket that must be knocking 4 or 5 years old...

I will certainly be buying Marmot in future :)

I despair...I really do

We asked the sullen one what she wanted for her christmas present on the way to work this morning....

She replied deadpan "A car.... a combined Christmas and Birthday present" she announced under her breath....

Andrea and I looked at each other briefly and both said in unison "A CAR??"

"Yes" replied the sullen one "it will motivate me to pass my driving test"

At this point Andrea said "You're being serious aren't you?"

"Yes" replied the sullen one "Why are you laughing at me"

I have to admit it was VERY hard not to laugh considering the cheapest decent car is about £500ish then on top of that insurance at well over £2000 possibly more considering she doesn't even have a provisional licence yet and can't until she's 17... then road tax of course.... Then of course you have driving lessons at £18 - £20 a pop...thereabouts....

Even if we were daft enough to get her a car for Christmas so that it could rust outside on the curb while she motivates herself until she passes her driving test.... she'd never be able to afford to run it, and we certainly wouldn't be putting petrol/diesel in it, or taxing it and definitely not insuring it....

We learnt our lesson with Xboxboy when we donated "Duran Duran" to him "whilst he learned to drive" it sat there for months the doors unopened, untouched by xboxboy... the only time it had human contact is when I went out to turn the engine over to keep the battery topped up... we sold it when we moved...and no, Xboxboy didn't get the money from it... if he had no interest in it previously then he had no interest in the cash it generated when sold.

It does make me wonder what school actually teaches them during school hours.... mind you apparently you can get a course in University about Lady Gaga.... So I have every reason to feel despair about this latest generation

Thar she blows....

The wind picked up a bit last night... well I say picked up it blew a gale more like so much so that our enclosed garden took a battering pushed a few chairs over and lifted our closed umbrella clean out of its holder and threw it down the alleyway and it's probably beyond economical repair now... ahhh well forces of nature etc...

Andrea has entered another race, I'm not sure which one they all seem to melt into each other these days, and I'm recovering from a short lived illness... although I think the medicine caused me more upset than the illness.... kill or cure probably !!!

We are starting to get the ridiculous Christmas present requests already ...mainly from FOMOboy who seems to have no idea of the value of money....and yes you've guessed it it's "another" games console he wants to add to his stockpile starting with his Xbox360(no longer working) his Nintendo Dsi (No longer working)...

In fact I think the only console he has that works is his old PS2... so he is jumping into Stewarts room at every opportunity to game on with his brothers Xbox360.... We've told him he isn't having an Xbox live subscription, we aren't letting him go down the same road Stewart did where his life revolves around it...we are determined to get some vitamin D into his sallow skin and break the habit before it starts....

If I had my way I'd chuck every games console we have in our house out into the bin and quite merrily watch them get crushed in the bin lorry... but then again I've never really seen the attraction of wasting hour upon hour of your life staring at pointless shoot-em-up games or any games come to think of it...whilst twitching my thumbs.... each to their own I guess....

The only other news is we ventured out to Manor Wildlife Park near Tenby and Freya encountered her first Wallaby (kangaroo to her) and various other exotics... overall there weren't that many animals in the place and the food in the cafe was extortionately priced ... but we would go back again..... I met Anna Ryder Richardson (the owner...ex changing rooms personality) ... she's much shorter than you'd imagine, but seems nice enough.... We'd go again but avoid the cafe.

Snowdonia Marathon 2010

Well Andrea completed the marathon in a very respectable 4 hours 28 minutes and I am immensely proud of her achievement and the dedication required to get a time like that on what has been called the toughest marathon in Europe !!

She is of course walking like somebody has taken a baseball bat to her legs.... but that will pass... she'll be out pounding the pavements and jumping into the bushes to avoid speeding cars in no time flat...

We stayed in a lovely cottage in Llanberis which had all mod cons and was considerably cheaper than the hotel we had booked... I'd tell you where it is but then I'd have to kill you..... so pointless ;¬)

I was supposed to be meeting up with my best mate Chris in Llanberis but he made a no show, with no reason... just didn't turn up... I supposed something more exciting turned up who knows... it did put a huge damper on the nights proceedings but things turned out ok in the end and a good time was had by all once enough wine and beer flowed in the right direction...

Highlights of the Marathon....

A) Being in awe of the fastest man at 2 hours 36 minutes

B) The cottage

C) The fabulous countryside

D) Pete's Eats

Lowlights of the Marathon....

A) The beer

B) The hailstones the size of marbles

C) The torrential rain (short lived)

D) Chris not bothering to turn up