Short visit to the UK

Well I am absolutely shattered as I start to type this up but it has been a pretty good week since the last update. Let's get to it.

Saturday sunrise

Playing balloons with Rosie early morning

Two planes flying alongside mine

Tinks made friends with me straight away

First night BBQ in progress

Starting a fun round of crazy golf

Sunday dinner was a Tomahawk steak

Sat with John in my old Blackpool local

Seriously epic pizza with Dan and John

I am far more tired than I look

Miserable Manchester and our plane

Flying over the mountains

Saturday I was flying to the UK and I was up bright and early in plenty of time. I had the chance to play with Rosie before packing my stuff and driving off in Maisie and I made very good time indeed. The flight over was easy (the best bit was looking out of my window and seeing two planes in the distance flying alongside us) and my friend John collected me from the airport with no delays and we headed back to his. It was a really wonderful time and above are a collection of photos as their puppies made friends, we had a BBQ, played crazy golf (and pool and air hockey) and also ate lots of lovely food. I got to meet his 9 month old daughter who was a true sweetie as well. One evening we headed to Blackpool to visit the studio and see my business partner and had a truly wonderful evening of good food, beer and company. This morning it was time for me to return and my alarm went at 2:30am which was just not nice! John again drove me to the airport and after really long queues at security, and then a wait as the plane was delayed, we finally boarded and flew home. I love flying over mountains and took some pictures to show Rosie. I was in Maisie within about 15 minutes of landing and drove home with no trouble. All in all it was a lovely break and so great to get over to see John.

Bekir attaches one of the final fence sections

They are starting to mix cement

End of the day, fence securely embedded

While I was away Angela was tasked with taking some pictures of the building progress and did a fine job. The men were not in (as planned) on Monday however they also didn't arrive Tuesday which was a shame. On Wednesday they were in and first of all finished hanging all of the chain link fence before getting the cement mixer out and starting to pour cement around the base of the fence. We have asked them to embed the chain link into the cement and this is making for a very secure base.

Super secure fence for the chickens

Cement holding the chain link

Simple reinforcement

Today was more of the same and I got home in time to see the men and get some shots at the end of the day. They are about 2/3 of the way around the edge with the cement pouring and have put some metal inside to act as rebar; this is a solid fence indeed. I don't have pictures of play with Rosie but when she got home from school she was very excited to see me in the pool waiting for her but then some wood wasps swarmed at her and stung her, the poor little poppet! Fortunately Angela saw what was happening and ran and dragged her away and dealt with it while I destroyed the aggressive wasps and their nests. I'm not normally one to do that but in this case I had no hesitation. Rosie was a trooper, though of course she was hurting, and once Angela had done her amazing nurse thing Rosie got into her swimming costume and we ALL went into the pool, Angela included, and had a lovely time.

So there it is; it's so good to be home, even though my trip was awesome. Thanks for reading, back tomorrow.

Man Flu and Harrison

Another week past and another period of sitting at the dining table trying to remember the last week and everything awesome and interesting that happened. I'm struggling as per but I'll do my best.

Thumbs up for the bacon butty

I remember Sunday as being mainly about having a massive lie in, typing up the post for last week, and not much else. I was still recovering from the night before though no hangover, just tiredness. The picture above is actually from the Friday of last week and was the bacon butty I made for A just before I made my own bacon and egg butty. It is only in here to provide some illustration before I get into the meat of the update. I really can't remember much about Sunday so onwards.

This was my second week at the new job and I was up and off to work bright and early on Monday morning. Not just normally early, either; I set off in time to get to the office at about 7.15am. My failure to communicated satisfactorily with the bank on Saturday meant that I had arranged to call them back on Monday when an English speaker would be in the office. On the drive I had a brainwave and managed to finally log in to my account so in the end I didn't have to ring Bulgaria again anyway. This was a good thing as I achieved what I needed to but it did mean I lost the opportunity to keep trying to improve my language skills. I still find myself sometimes thinking in Bulgarian and I am hoping that continues as it is months before I get back over there.

With the banking sorted out I rang the estate agent for the house we viewed on Saturday and confirmed our interest so an application process was started. Hopefully this will turn around quickly as I want to get over there and settled as early as possible. This process has been ongoing all week and, despite the fact that they use UK Tenant Data to collect their application details and do the credit checks and this company appears to be staffed by incompetent, illiterate and rude people, A is 100% complete on her application and I am now 90%. I have no idea whatsoever what the missing 10% is so am waiting for a reply to my email (they don't answer the phone. Ever).

The rest of the day was spent working away and finding myself slowly getting more comfortable with what I'm having to do. There was also a rather loud young lady who had been on holiday for a few weeks and who felt the need to share at top volume the same anecdote with every new person to come into the office. How I wished I had my big headphones! Fortunately our plans were to move to a new office and I was nagging my boss about it through Monday.

Happy in the new office

It was in the car on the way home that I started to feel a bit unwell and by the time I got home I was struggling; man flu had struck! I went pretty much straight to bed and, other than getting up for some food, stayed there all night until the alarm went off in the morning. Fortunately it wasn't too bad and I'm fully better now, however I went straight to bed on getting home on Tuesday and Wednesday as well. Tuesday morning we moved to a new office but then were kicked out of it during the afternoon so had to squat on random desks in the office however I think now we are finally fully settled in our new home which is quiet and airy and comfortable.

What with me being so badly on Wednesday I was sadly unable to make it to the Reggae Jam Night at our local however I made sure that A knew she didn't have to stay in with me and so off she toddled for a pint of guiness and to avoid cabin fever. She was tasked with getting some videos so I could feel a little less sorry for myself having missed it and she brought back a few, of which my selection is above. It also sounds like she made some friends up there which is good; it's always nice to have a local where you can go on your own and be made to feel welcome. I am looking forward to getting back up there next Wednesday myself.

The man himself about the carve the turkey

Despite being ill I managed to work the full week and was pretty productive with it and by Thursday I was feeling largely better. Thursday was, as my American readers will know, Thanksgiving and so I set myself on the sofa with Sky's NFL coverage on as is my habit. Cecil "The Diesel" Martin is no longer on their show as often as he used to be but they always get him to come back for this 12 hour long festival of American Football. The main purpose for his inclusion in the show is the huge turkey they get in the studio which he has to carve up and then, later on, he gets to eat one of the turkey legs in slow motion and close up. Yes, I know it doesn't sound very nice but it makes me laugh every time. The game that we watched (Lions vs Bears) was a really good game however the second game (A went to bed) wasn't so good and I turned it off just before half time.

And so to work-from-home Friday which was well timed after NFL (though I wasn't up that late in the end) and the fact I hadn't been well through the week. A has worked super hard this week and Friday was no different; I'm not sure there was much of a break at any stage in her typing away. I was also working hard and actually had to stop on a bit later than usual as I broke the build at the end of the day and wanted to fix it. During the day Ken, who is looking after Rambo, had been uploading videos of him onto Facebook so I asked him to send me some and he did; this is my favourite of the lot and everytime we watch it we laugh so much at the expression on his face. Four months or so til we see him again. A misses him loads but obviously I don't at all. Here is a link to Ken's business, transporting animals and other things back and forwards to Bulgaria

We had arranged to meet up with Shuggy again on Friday night, as his mrs was at a gig, and so we were off into town again that evening. Against all the odds we managed to get a table in Port Street which is one of my favourite bars in Manchester with loads of interesting beers which change all the time. It was a really good night in the end, with my old boss Mike turning up with his mrs and then later in the night A bumped into another of my mates, Rob, and so he came and joined us with his friends. We didn't drink that much, neither of us really being in the mood, however when I woke up the next day I was feeling really rough. A said she was too and later in the day Mike text with the same story so maybe one of the pints we had was off. Anyway, I was delicate all day and it's only now, sat here with a bacon and egg butty and a brew on Sunday morning, that the headache has shifted.

Me sat in Harrison

Huge amount of space in the back

There was no opportunity for lazing around on Saturday morning, though. We were off to Wigan to collect Harrison, the White Van. I drove us there and we arrived dead on time then it wasn't that complicated a process (other than the seller having lost the MOT, saying he'd post it on to me, then just as I was driving off he ran over waving it and had found it in his glove box) and we were off, with A driving Thomas, up the motorway to the studio. Harrison did pretty well on the whole, getting up to about 65mph without any problems and, while he is a bit noisy, he is willing and the bad noise that I was worried about seems to go as you go past 50mph. Our plan at the studio was to get some of the stuff out of storage and into the back of Harrison however we decided against it (partially due to really heavy musical stuff piled in front and partially due to desperate need for breakfast and a brew) and just tidied Thomas then left for the cafe.

Me with my pot of tea for one

I was greeted by the owner with "Hello Mr Tea" and our full Scottish breakfasts were wolfed down in no time, chased by every single drop of tea that she had provided for us. I started feeling a little more human after this but as I say even bacon, eggs, tomatoes, black pudding, potato bread, baked beans and toast wasn't enough to shift this hangover. After eating and chatting with the lady we went to look for a washing machine at the second hand place across the road but he was shut so it was back to Thomas and home. There had been an accident on the M6 which delayed us some but we got back pretty quickly and I was straight to bed and slept for two hours which was just a brilliant decision to have made. I woke up feeling a whole lot better and with energy for the evening.

Steak and chips with peas and mushrooms

First things first, though, and when it was time I started cooking dinner. A had picked up some awesome Ribeye steaks and I did my famous butter mushrooms, chips (which were oven, but were expensive oven, and so were nice) and LOADS of peas on the side. It was amazing! You really can't beat a high quality ribeye steak done bloody so the chips get red. Fantastic.

The main event of the week was a present from A to go and see The Alabama 3 gigging at Academy 2. We did not have to rush at all and strolled the ten minutes to the venue from our house. As we approached there was a MASSIVE queue of young people stretching as far as the eye could see but I quickly worked out that there were far too many of them, and they were all too young, for this to have been the queue for our gig. I was correct and we were able to get a beer (only a small one, and the only one of the night as neither of us wanted another) and some gig t shirts before we headed up and took our places by the sound desk. The support act came on quite early before many people were there and they were really good. They are a local band called The Cornelius Crane and their songs were strong which matched their musicianship and I have decided that I want to see them live again. I really cannot recommend them highly enough and my video does not do them justice so get yourself over to Reverb Nation and if you like them, support them by buying their music. Go on! DO IT!

It made such a difference to have a good support act, after the weird shouty scottish beat poet style weirdness of the Jesus and Mary Chain gig. After they left the stage to warm applause (they deserved more people to have bothered to arrive in time to see them) we settled to wait for The Alabama 3 to start. I had been watching a chap stood next to us for a while and, as I thought, it was The Reverend D. Wayne who had come out from back stage to enjoy the music. I have seen various members of the band do this over the years and I really love the fact that they come out and mingle, chatting to their fans and not being stuck up and hiding away. He was quite pissed and was engrossed in a conversation with another fellow and then had to dash off back stage so I didn't disturb him for a chat or a photograph in the end. Not long after he stumbled his way back stage a roadie appeared on stage shining his torch and beckoning them onstage and there was the Reverend, no longer looking (as) squiffy and polished up nicely in a suit.

What a great gig it was. I was dancing and so was A and the band were on form, after a couple of songs to warm themselves up. This was the first time A had ever seen them live and while she liked their CDs she was amazed at how much she enjoyed seeing them live. After the slightly-unpleasant militant political side the previous time I'd seen them ("burn the tory houses" etc) it was great to see them get back to what they do best which is rock the house and make the entire room dance. The sound on this second video is a lot louder than mine (my phone is broken, basically) and you can really hear just how well they play together live. At one point I hoisted A into the air so she could see a bit better and watch the drummer in his groove; in my opinion he is one of the best drummers I have seen as he holds the groove without ever making any mistakes and is not fussy or over-blown but just does everything that is needed to make you want to jump and dance.

With the last song ringing in our ears (but not as badly as after Jesus and Mary Chain, obviously) we walked home and had a cup of hot chocolate each before heading to bed. Such a rock 'n' roll lifestyle we lead. Now this morning (and it is still morning as I type this) I have made a brew and had a bacon and egg butty made for me and typed this and edited the videos and once this is published I'm going to carry on editing as I put together the pictures and videos which I want to show my Nan next week when we go to see her at my parents house. See you later.

The Last Shift

I am sat in my studio right now for the last ever shift I will have to work here (barring holiday/illness cover).

A month or two ago I handed over my Friday night shifts to Pabz, a lad who has been involved in the studio (mainly as a customer) for most of the time we have been open and today I am sharing my shift with Billy who really has been here from the beginning, even at one point living at the studio while I did; a period of time where the studio became home to a few of us as outside influences took away other housing options.

What a momentous day this is.

The empty unit when we first moved in

When I was fifteen I used to bunk school to go to No Machine Studios and make cups of tea, eventually I became trusted by the owner and ran rehearsal shifts and my own recording sessions. When I left home and ended up in Sheffield and later Blackpool my dream never left me; to have a No Machine of my own. Meeting my business partner put me onto the path which is taking another turn today. We leased a medium sized industrial unit and have managed to build the best recording and rehearsal studio in Blackpool.

The studio as it looks now

And today, with the business starting to be a success after years of struggle, I am taking the next step towards becoming a silent partner and removing the final time obligation to the business.

This does not mean that I will not be coming back; I have taken on a unit across the way to put the trailer and Julian in and to practice loading the vehicles. I also need to keep practicing that reversing of the trailer (going to go and do this after I've finished writing this blog post) which will have to take place here also.

The studio has been a wonderful place for me, as I mentioned before I lived here for quite a long time, with a little bedroom which has just turned into a cafe kitchen in the last week. I have made many friends, had some exceptional times, and the fact I had to go out to earn a large amount of money to pay for it has left me now in the position where that money (no longer funding the studio) has bought my school and will pay for the renovation and hopefully the first year or two of living there.

It has all worked together to put me in a position where I can live the next part of my dream and, fingers crossed, my studio will continue growing as it is now and will be here for me as and when (and if) I come back.

Rambo (our guard dog) when he was a puppy

So I am going to sit here, do a few bits and pieces, watch the NFL and enjoy my last day in the saddle as a rehearsal baby sitter.