my lad is full of surprises...

My son David, who I have previously told you , has moderate learning difficulties and ADHD.
I came home from work today, and I was really proud and surprised when he proudly showed me a button he had just sewn on a pair of my trousers that had just been washed.
People underestimate his talent. He is a very special person, and I am immensely proud of him, and despite him (often) stressing me out and us often arguing (he is Aries and I am Gemini) I love him to bits!!

Leighton Dene, the aftermath...

Just bumped into an old friend in Sainsbury's who I have not seen for several months.
She was employed at Leighton Dene in Fazakerley, but has now been redeployed, along with the rest of the staff.
For those who don't know, this was a day centre in Fazakerley which fully met the needs of it's users. The Liberal Democrats, in their wisdom, decided to close this facility at the last round of budget cuts in April.
My friend tells me the users are getting nowhere near the level of provision that they had at Leighton Dene, and amongst all the staff that have been redeployed, stress levels are high and morale is at an all time low.
The fib dems should hang their heads in shame for making this particular cut to a much needed service.

the week just gone...

Oh well, another week past, another week wiser!!!
Had a very quiet week (told you my life was boring!!) The weather on Saturday morning was lovely and crisp before the downpours came, and I took Toby for a lovely morning fresh walk. It really chilled me out. Watched Liverpool's excellent victory at Chelsea on Sunday, then went for a late lunch with my mum just off Penny Lane, where I was brought up. We went to the Richmond, on Church Road, and I had a mixed grill and she had Scampi. We like going there, but we waited ages for our meals to arrive for some reason this time. This week is the first week of non production at Halewood, my team is in every day carrying out audits, so I look forward to picking up just basic pay a week on Thursday! The only other thing of note is both my son and my sister have said they would like a laptop this Christmas.

chrismas is coming fast!!!

Went to Everton park gym and baths yesterday, but struggled to get a parking space. The spaces were all taken up by shoppers at Paddys Market. The market itself was jam packed, a sure sign that Christmas is on the way!!

visit to HMS Illustrious

Went down to the cruise liner terminal today to see the warship HMS Illustrious before she departed. Now we have the new terminal we get to see a lot more big ships, both cruise liners and naval, close up.
I am looking forward to seeing the giant aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales when it is built in a few years time if god spares me. She is going to be affiliated to Liverpool, and so should be quite a frequent visitor.
The terminal should come into its own next year, with a lot more ships visiting. When it was opened this year, a lot of cruise firms had already planned their 2008 itinerary without their ships calling at Liverpool, but many have included Liverpool in their schedules for 2009. Not many ports in the world can provide berths right in the city centre, with the added majestic backdrop of Liverpool's three graces. We have a really unique selling point.

Taster day at Rice Lane City Farm

Have received this mailshot from V involved. It is aimed at 16-24 year olds interested in voluntary work
Fancy a day on the farm? A taster day is being held in Rice Lane City Farm on 1/11/08 from 10am till 3.30pm.
The site comprises 224 acres of woodland, 11 which are managed.
It is a working farm with a variety of animals.
Contact paul at V involved by e-mail: paul@vliverpool.org or ring him :0151 709 5006

my mum is 84!!!

It was my mums birthday last Thursday. Myself and my son David took her to Damons on the old Speke Airport site for her tea. The portions are huge there, and was even too much for my large appetite!!

My mum has had a rough last couple of years. She has been in hospital three times with a mild heart attack, angina and pneumonia.

She got her first passport when she was 79. Since then she has visited Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Paris, Berlin , Turkey(twice) Malta (twice) and Poland.

Globetrotter or what???

The picture was taken the other week in Krakow.

Happy birthday mum!!!

my routine

This weeks "back in the old routine" has not gone according to plan. I have not been able to make the gym at all yet this week, I have been operating as an unpaid taxi for my son David and our dog Toby. Will try harder next week I promise!!

The Credit Crunch

Is it me, or am I just imagining it? I got off the train yesterday at Central Station, and walked through to St John's precinct. Town felt really empty. I have never seen St John's precinct and market so empty on a Saturday! I also was later by Lewis's and Central station, and had the same feeling of a lack of shoppers. I have never known town to be so empty on a Saturday only 11 weeks before Christmas. Has the new Liverpool 1 shopping development moved the shoppers to that side of town , or are we seeing the real tangible effects of the credit crunch?

back in the old routine

Not looking forward to returning to work after my week off. I am on earlies this week, need to be up at 5am, so may have to tape the last part of Peter Kay tonight!!
I work a week of earlies (6.30-2.45) then a week of lates (2.45-11pm) with an early finish at 1.30 and 8.30 on Friday respectively, however we don't currently work Friday late shift as we are trying to re balance production due to the weakening sales related to the credit crunch.
From work at 2.45, I will hit the gym. I only do 20 minutes on the cardio stuff. I then swim half a mile in the pool . I aim do do this 3 times during the week, and also Sunday. I usually achieve this schedule. Since January 2007 I have lost 19kg, (almost 3 stone!!!) (official statistics from my doctors) however, it must be appreciated that I started off as an extremely fat person(I have moderated my language for this blog!!!) to just a fat person!!! I have set myself a goal of being 17stone by the new year. I feel I can , at 6 feet tall , carry that weight whilst aiming to lose more. I put on weight very easily, I only have to have a couple of pints or a decent meal and my waistline grows!! My job in work helps. I walk 6 miles per shift, and I walk our dog at least two miles every day. Here's to a slimmer, new me soon!!!

Auschwitz-Birkenau

This was the real reason for our trip to Krakow. I have been wanting to visit for several years, but had not quite got round to it. When my mother asked would I take her it was too good an opportunity to miss.
Auschwitz-Birkenau is about 40 miles into the forest, about one and a half hours drive from Krakow. You could not get a bigger contradiction: unspeakable atrocities carried out in beautiful picturesque surroundings. The reason for this soon became clear: The Nazis wished to keep their atrocities very secret.
Everyone has heard the maxim "no birds sing at Auschwitz." This saying is true, I heard no birds sing, despite being in the middle of a forest.
Over one million one hundred thousand people died at the hands of the Nazis in the death camp that is Auschwitz. That is a known figure it could have been as high as one and a half million, nobody knows the exact number as the Nazis destroyed the records.
On the trip itself, nothing was hidden from us, the true extent of the atrocities were put right in front of us.
We saw the barracks where the prisoners were held, and their unspeakable living conditions, the punishment blocks, the gallows and the wall where prisoners were shot. We saw the room where experiments were carried out on fertile women to find the "best method" of sterilisation. We went into the gas chambers and saw the furnaces. 700 people at a time were placed in a room not much bigger than a landing of a semi detatched house, and they took up to an unimaginable horrific twenty minutes to die.
We also saw some of the most shocking exhibits of all: We saw some of the seven tons of human hair that was found, property stolen from the victims on their arrival including artificial limbs, glasses, crutches, and most distressing of all, children's toys. We were shown the zylon B capsules used to gas the victims, and the containers the capsules were stored in.
Everybody was visibly moved by what they saw. It was shocking, but it needed to be seen.
We then went two miles further to Birkenau. This was a concentration (slave) camp as opposed to the death camp at Auschwitz.
The prisoners were made to work hard for twelve hours a day, and get by on starvation rations of 1500 calories a day. They slept 400 at a time in dormitories that were designed as stables for 56 horses. We saw the "toilet facilities"- holes in stone slabs which the prisoners were allowed to use for no more than ten minutes a day, before and after they went to work. There was no separation, privacy or dignity, men women and children had to use the latrines at the same time.
At the end of the war, when the Germans knew they were losing, they tried to burn Auschwitz down to try to hide their atrocities from the world. They failed, and the world could witness their atrocities.
We should never forget, or allow things like this to ever happen again, but sadly, and to the worlds shame, it does in places like the Balkans and Eritrea. When will the world ever learn?
I feel a better person for visiting, I felt I needed to show solidarity with the holocaust victims. On a positive note, I was very pleased to see so many young people visiting.
On a slightly lighter note, I have now made my pilgrimage, I am glad I did, but I can head for the beach next year!!!

Visit to Krakow

I have just returned from a short trip to Krakow. I took my mother along. She is 84 next week, and got her first passport when she was 79. Her first trip in a plane was 12 hours to Los Angeles!!!
The purpose of the trip was to visit Auschwitz-Birkenau , more of this in my next blog article.
Krakow is a very beautiful and cosmopolitan city , the architecture blows you away.
We stayed in the Jewish quarter, an area steeped in history. Oskar Shindler operated from there, helping to save many jews, however 65,000 jews from Krakow alone perished in the holocaust, and there is a memorial garden and stone to comemorate this in the Jewish quarter.
The main square is also lovely, we saw the cathederal where Pope John Paul used to preach from when he was the Bishop of Krakow.
Krakow has a very extensive tram network, something Iwish we had in Liverpool!!!
Where Krakow loses marks are total lack of provision for the disabled. At the railway Station in particular, there are steps everywhere, but no lifts or ramps.
Overal, apart from the sobering part of out trip, it was a lovely city to visit.

Hello!!

Hello and welcome to my brand new blog. I will report from time to time on my otherwise boring existence.
A bit about me. I am male, 52 years old, reside and was born and bred in Liverpool. I am divorced, and my 23 year old son lives with me. He has moderate learning difficulties and ADHD, and can present quite a challenge for me at times!! Oh, I nearly forgot!!! Toby the dog lives with us also. He is a beautiful yorkie crossed with a pomeranian. He is 15 months old. Myself and my son each seperately take him for a walk each day, sometimes to the beach at Waterloo.
I have worked in the car industry on Merseyside for 31 years. The credit crunch is now starting to have a big impact on our industry, with a lot of unscheduled downtime.