Done it!

As the title says, I've done it. I've signed up for the BUPA Edinburgh 10k I think I have possibly lost the plot! I'm doing it on behalf of the ME Association and this is my JustGiving page.

And my darling wife, on seeing the course, announced that 'You're gonna DIE!' It's nice to have support.

So it's now down to me to get training and properly, none of this messing about. Signed up for a few Skyrides with Connor, so we'll be out on the bikes, I need to start the running and maybe even - whisper it - the gym.

In addition, I've bought myself a cheap wee pair of hiking boots to get in practice for the West Highland Way walk that I'm doing. Plus, I'm organising a team for a 5-a-side tournament to support Learning Disabilities week and I'm now involved in Oxjam, having signed myself up as promoter so now I need to put together some sort of fundraising musical extravaganza. Add in the uni work and the SVQ and I'm not entirely sure when I'm supposed to eat. But I'm looking forward to them all, I feel that for so many years I've just been dissolving into a big fat ball of telly-watching lard, it feels great to get involved with these things, especially as I seem to have some sort of career objective in mind at last and hopefully these things, in particular the Oxjam thing, will help towards that.

So, yeah, feeling pretty positive about these things and hopefully by the time of the Run, I'll be a lean, mean running machine. 3 hours is a good time for 10k, isn't it?

This blog was composed to the sounds of Damian Rice - nice and chilled :-)

Job Hunting

Ain't it fun. I've decided to change direction, as a result of the course I'm doing and quite fancy looking into charity fundraising. It's been on my mind for a while, just what exactly to do with this degree when I finish and this seems like an interesting way to go. So I've fired off a few wee emails to folk looking for a bit of advice on how to get into it and what they are looking for in a fundraiser, so we'll see what that brings back and take it from there.

That's my Discovering Psychology module finished, just waiting for the result of my last essay. It was probably the toughest out of the lot, but I've had pretty good marks so far, so fingers crossed.

The training for the 10k hasn't gone quite as planned - I did start, just haven't followed it quite through yet, but planning on going out this afternoon with Connor on our bikes and still fancy getting wee games of 5-a-sides and basketball organised.

Looking forward to seeing everyone at the Race For Life on Sunday through in Falkirk and in particular trying the buffalo burgers - fingers crossed it's a nice day for the 'girls' And if you fancy sponsoring them click here and if you fancy sponsoring me for my West Highland Way walk, clickety-click here

This blog was composed to the Greatest Hits of Simon & Garfunkel (rock n roll man)

Where is my motivation??

Hmm, I've got an essay due tomorrow, and I'm struggling to find the get up and go to get it done. I think it's possible I need a wee break, the last few months have been pretty full on with uni work and with that stupid SVQ hanging about too, I may possibly have lost my spark. Nevertheless, gotta just keep on plugging away, once this one is done then that's Discovering Psychology done. I start Exploring Psychology later in the year and am still plugging away through Child Development.

In other news, I'm finally pulling my finger out with this training for the 10k - using Adidas MiCoach as my personal trainer which will help track my progress and have it tailored to doing a 10k and I have my 'Assesment Workout' tomorrow which will give me a baseline to work from. It may kill me, but at least I have Victoria Pendleton as my voice coach :-) (that's her on the right ;-)

This blog was composed to the sounds of The Bomb Shelter Sessions by Vintage Trouble. I first saw them on Jools Holland a few weeks ago and I reckon they're gonna be massive. Cracking band.

Viva El Presidente

Or not. So, Scotland has spoken, well around half of it has, and the SNP are sweeping to power with Emperor Salmond at the head. And, quite possibly, Mel Gibson to come as his second in command.
The SNP have promised to freeze Council Tax for their 5 year term - yet they are also freezing the wages of public service workers earning more than £21,000. So, will they freeze the energy bills, teh food costs, petrol prices for these people? There is no saving for these people. But maybe they are the lucky ones, up to 25,000 of their colleagues could be out of a job thanks to the SNPs efficiency savings and compulsory redundancies. Then there are those in the private sector, teh businesses who supply services to teh public secter who will see income decline in line with the efficiency savings. businesses that will go bust and lay off staff themselves. Is this the way to economic recovery?
No, of course it isn't. The way to that is a referendum on independance. OK, maybe that's not the way either, but it is the way for El Salmondo to get himself a nice shiny statue - maybe even bigger than Donald Dewers.
I can promise that the SNP - who last election promised smaller class sizes and thousands of new police keeping our streets safe, yet didn't deliver - will deliver on the referendum promise. Is that really a priority. Is that really what this country needs?

It's Been A While

Well, as predicted, the blog has been sporadic. Actually, that's being generous.

Lately, it's been an up and down time. Skint as always which is rather stressful. But the weather has been rather nice which means that everything feels a little bit better.

The nice man at the garage down the road has offered to fix up the Saab in return for a nice homemade cake, so it's just a case of finding the cash to get the parts.

I spent Saturday being a zombie as an extra in a movie - not quite a Hollywood blockbuster, but it was lots of fun.

Friday was spent shopping in Glasgow and I discovered that unless you have a figure like Keira Knightley, then you can't get any nice clothes. River Island, Levi Store, Gap, Next, H&M, I hate you all. Asda saved the day.

Open Uni is going very well, enjoying the modules I'm doing just now, but the time it takes up never ceases to surprise me.

No gigs or anything on the horizon, but recently went to see Lou Hickey at an SNP concert - she was great, but it was like a Klan rally, weird atmosphere.

Currently building up to a sponsored walk with my work along part of the West Highland Way and then later in the year, hoping to do a 10k in Edinburgh. Planning on doing that on behalf of the ME Association, but I really need to get training!!

Enough for just now, hopefully I'll be a bit more dedicated to this.

This blog was composed to Whitey Ford Sings the Blues by Everlast.

The Joy of Essays

Well, the joy of essays? There are none. I've spent the last few weeks since we got back from France working away on a couple and they're both virtually finished - well one is away and marked, the other just has to be typed up but it is written. I know that the end result will all be worth it, but finding the time to sit down and do these things is nigh on impossible. But such is life.
As a reward to myself, I've been getting some new tunes - Mumford & Sons is a new favourite as are Bad Religion - a band I realy should have been listening to for years! Finally got some more Mogwai stuff and some Tom Petty albums. So I'm a happy boy.
I'm also giving serious consideration to a bit of job-hunting. I had hoped to stick out the place I'm in for a while, until I finished my OU course, but to be honest, it's driving me slowly insane.
Starting, slowly but surely, to get some exercise in. Bit of badminton last week and hopefully get the bike out the shed this week to, for a wee trip along the canal.
Last, butby no means least, the Saab is started and the tyre that kept going flat appears to not be. Gonna try a wee run in it this evening and see how that goes.

This blog was written to the sounds of Recipe for Hate by Bad Religion.

My first blog

Well, I've threatened this for a while and, as I don't have too much to do, I though I better start. When I say not too much, that's a bare-faced lie. I have mountains of things to do, the majority of them far more important than this, but hey-ho.

The first thing I suppose folk should know about me is that I'm not grumpy. Some people think I am, but they are wrong. This is a theme, people around me being wrong. See, I have opinions, which are right, but not everyone agrees with them - I then point out that they're wrong and voila - I'm apparently grumpy.

Second thing - I'm married to a wonderful woman whose mission in life appears to be maintaining my blood pressure at a level just below that where my heart will explode out of my chest. I have two boys, whose mission appears on a par with that of their mothers'. As for the dog, well the less said the better.

Im currently doing a couple of Open Uni courses, an Intro to Counselling, which I'm just coming to the end of and an Intro to Social Sciences, for which I have an essay due. Today. I shall start that shortly. I work as a support worker, supporting adults with learning disabilities. My colleagues are idiots. All of them.

Well, that's this one done I think, who really knows when I'll do another, maybe later today, maybe in three years time. Now to try and figure out how to share this with the world.

This blog was composed to the sounds of Rumours by Fleetwood Mac