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Tuesday 31st
Two ships collided in the Channel, the tanker Ece was holed and freighter General Grot-Rowecki suffered no major damage. The crew were taken off the tanker as the ship was listing badly to port. A large French tug arrived to attempt to tow the tanker to port. Hopefully this won't end up like the tricolor incident.
I met my parents at the advanced motorist meeting. I also spotted a couple I know from church. I knew her husband was a driving instructor but I didn't know she had taken her advanced driving test. The guest speaker talked about local historic transport projects. The Birkenhead to Liverpool railway tunnel was the longest underwater tunnel in the world when it was built in the 1800s and none of the workers died during its construction. The main topic for the evening was trams - Birkenhead was the first town in Europe to have a tram system.
Monday 30th
My workout at the gym in the evening didn't go quite as I planned. One of the guys I train with had only just go up and was half asleep. The other guy was having trouble with his elbows.
Sunday 29th
My parents visited me in the afternoon. They had to leave earlier than anticipated as one of my brothers had decided to visit them and had forgotten his keys.
Saturday 28th
There was a ladies brunch at the church building, so I went there to setup the PA.
I felt like some fresh air so I drove to New Brighton and then walked along the river front past Seacombe to the entrance to the Birkenhead / Wallasey docks. I heard some sad news - A man was seen to go overboard from the ferry Lagan Viking nine miles south of the Isle of Man.
In the afternoon my Dad came round and we did some more work on the shed. The shed is now largely waterproof as we have the first layer of felt in place.
Friday 27th
I finished boxing in the back of shed roof. Now all I have to do is work out what to do with the sides.
The clippers started the sixth race. At the start three of the clippers aimed for the same bit of the ocean Liverpool, Cardiff and Qingdao.
Thursday 26th
I boxed in the front of the shed roof and started on the back. After a brief visit to the gym I watched a tv program about intelligent design - an alternative to Darwin's theory of evolution.
Wednesday 25th
The clippers crews will be busy replensing their food stock ready ready for the sixth race. The Glasgow crew will have some additional fruit and veg requirements after their victualler(s) had shopping incident.
My Dad came round and we started work on my shed. By the time that my Mum arrived we had started work on the roof. OK it has a bit more ventilation than usual, guess what I will be doing tomorrow?
Tuesday 24th
When I got up in the morning my house smelt like a woodyard!
Later in the day I heard that 60 more people at the company I used to work at are being made redundant. I can imagine what they are going through as the same thing happened to me last year.
Monday 23rd
I purchased some wood for my shed roof. It is certainly draughty driving home at this time of the year with hatchback open!
Sunday 22nd
I watched the Monaco rally while visiting friends. After watching the rally drivers hurtling around windy roads and spinning on icy patches the drive home seemed slow, but unlike several of the rally drivers I didn't reshape my car.
Saturday 21st
I replaced several rotten floor boards in my shed.
The female northern bottle nosed whale that was spotted in the River Thames on Friday evening died despite rescue attempts.
Friday 20th
I took most of the things out of shed. I ended up going to the local recycling centre with a car load of junk. There is still quite a bit of stuff in the shed but now you can see the floor and the hole where I put my foot through the floor. I inspected the remains of the floor board and discovered the guilty party - woodworm (note all the little holes in remains of the floor board). I will have to do something about the hole in the floor of my shed.
Thursday 19th
I took a few pictures of the historic warships.
I priced up how much a new shed would cost and how much the basic materials would cost to repair the shed roof. Repairing just the shed roof would be the cheapest option, but the whole shed is in quite a poor condition.
Wednesday 18th
I managed a workout at the gym even though neither of the guys I regularly train with were there. Afterwards I went to musicians. Someone had a headache, but that was before the meeting started, so it wasn't my fault (by having the pa too loud).
Tuesday 17th
It seems the historic warships have another battle ahead. The quayside where they are currently berthed at the East Float of Birkenhead / Wallasey docks is getting re-developed in the near future and they need a new home. U534 (shown below) is currently located in what will become the car park for luxury appartments.
Monday 16th
My shed is looking quite sad. As a temporary measure plastic sheeting was covering the roof to prevent it from leaking. Over the weekend the plastic sheeting tore apart.
Sunday 15th
The clippers started arriving in Singapore led by Durban.
Saturday 14th
I put my Christmas decorations away in the loft.
Friday 13th
The last of the clippers passed the finish line.
I helped one of my brothers move house to Warrington.
Thursday 12th
This morning I noticed it was time to do some shopping as the fridge was looking quite bare. I guess things are trickier on the clippers as you can't just go to the supermarket.
More than half the clippers have crossed the finish line, but they still have quite a distance to cover before they reach Singapore.
I painted my fence.
Wednesday 11th
The finish line in the clipper race from Fremantle to Singapore was moved to the southern end of the Selat Sundra (the Straits between Sumatera and Jawa also known as Java). The first clipper across the line was Durban. The yachts are then expected to use a combination of sail and motor to arrive in Singapore on Monday 16th January, where they will berth at Sentosa Cove.
Tuesday 10th
I cleaned the back door and the loft hatch in preparation for painting. By the time I finished the muscles between my shoulder blades were reminding me about yesterday's workout at the gym.
Monday 9th
At the gym I increased a few of the weights I lifted.
I heard about an unusual battle between a man and a mouse. A man in Fort Sumner, New Mexico found a mouse in his house and threw it outside onto a pile of burning leaves. Was this the end of story? The mouse didn't give up, it ran back to the house setting it on fire, destroying the house and everything in it.
Sunday 8th
I heard that the repainted ferry Sea Express I was leaving the docks. Despite it being overcast and quite late in the afternoon I managed to get a couple of pictures.
Saturday 7th
I don't normally mention politics, but since there are a few things going on I thought I would mention them. Ariel Sharon, the Israeli PM is still in intensive care in hospital after suffering two strokes. Charles Kennedy the Lib Dem leader quits after admitting drink problems.
The power supply to the main mixing desk at church stopped working. We managed to get things working using the power supply from the old desk, which fortunately was manufactured by the same company.
I learnt that Jersey clipper had a bit of bother with one of its spinaker sails.
I saw an advert for a ferry company. Notice something missing from the map?
Friday 6th
After a visit to a DIY store I bolted the new fan to back of the computer and replaced the side panel.
In the evening I went with my parents and one of my brothers to see the first episode in the Chronicles of Narnia at the cinema. The tale is about four children who are evacuated from London during the second world war. The children stay in a large house with the professor and his house maid. They discover a wardrope which allows them to enter the land of Narnia...
Thursday 5th
I tried running my computer with one side of the case removed and the fan attached to the base of the computer. This seemed to make the computer more stable.
Wednesday 4th
I purchased a DVD writer and cooling fan for my computer.
After a session at the gym I installed two new microphones before musicians rehersal. The new microphones were much less prone to feedback than the ones they replaced.
Tuesday 3rd
Eight of the clippers got off to a good start on race five. Things were not so rosy for Cardiff and Glasgow.
Monday 2nd
A friend came came round in the evening to show me their holiday photos in Florida. It seemed strange to see pictures of people on the beach on Christmas day.
Sunday 1st
New Year's Day
I managed to get up and arrive at church in time. After church I used sealant to attach the base for my sat-nav system to my car's dashboard. Hopefully the sealant is strong enough. Early in the evening I watched one of the qualifying sessions for the world's strongest man. It looked painful, especially when the British entry herniated a disk lifting too much on the deadlift (owch).
Despite planning to have an early evening to recover from last night, things didn't quite go to plan. I met someone I knew from church who is doing contracting work in France. No I didn't go for a long drive, he was staying in Hoylake so I met him and a few friends in a pub. It was suggested that I should ephasise the Scottish origins of my name and put a picture of someone tossing a cabre on the title page of this web site. I found a picture, but it isn't me.
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