Re-joined the gym today

 I quit back in August / September last year as my net income after tax, pension, expenses etc. wasn't quite high enough to give me enough to pay for all my sunk cost plus the play money I need to help me be me.  

I'm due to leave my current place at the end of the month and in theory will be earning a lot more (net) so have joined again.  My theory is that if I go at least once a week for a month I will save enough money to pay for it by not going to the pub at lunch time.

If I drop the kids off at school at their normal time at 7:30, I can head straight to the gym (nearby), do a few hours in the gym then walk the dog at lunch time instead.  That will keep me out of the pub and should get a little healthier and lose a bit of weight. 

I've a few audible credits to spend so need some entertainment whilst working out. Any suggestions?

Tonbridge School now has automated tanks!

 Lawnmower?

Is that a mini gun on the side?

Different route this morning

 Yesterday I tried to take the dog to Dean Woods but when we got out it was far too wet and muddy so drove back and did our usual walk through the playing fields and then into the woods and around the farmers fields.

This morning I did the Poacher and Partridge route (without stopping for a pint).  We walked although the Medway for the majority of the route but also pass through farmers fields and through an orchard.  It was lovely once the sun made it's way out of the fog.

Overall it took me a little under 2 hours and I think it was around 14k steps / 11.5km.

1km walk to get out of Tonbridge, but it's quite pleasant along the canal

Archway

Spiders

Fog's nearly gone

Follow that path

I think they're cranberries

More cranberries

Apples

I'll be back in September to steal some of your apples!

Canal

Slomo canal

The garden's looking fine

 Everything seems to be growing strong after the past winter. We're not sure what to do with the bulbs. Do we cut them back or just let them wilt away? 

Wood delivery

Starting to get low on wood supplies at the end of the cold and wet weather (he hopes) so stocked up this morning. The company is much better than the last one I used as they generally deliver the next day. The previous company I used had slots that you had to book in months in advance. Sod that, when I want to burn stuff I want to burn it now! 

Last u6s rugby session yesterday

 And it rained!  Some luck, it was a shame as there was loads of bits planned for the kids afterwards but i'm sure they had fun anyway.  Next season i'm heading it all up as Arthur is coming through.  2 more years!

We stayed at the club afterwards and had a good few beers which was good fun.  There are some nice people at the club so sure it will fun when it all starts up again in September.

20th anniversary of the Blog

 Today is the 20th anniversary of me writing this blog.  It was originally on a platform called LiveJournal but I moved it to Blogger back in 2008.

What's the point of me writing this blog?  I hear nobody shout.

Other than my mild OCD tendencies it's actually come in fairly useful at times.  My memory is pretty shit these days and I have written about or more likely taken a photo of most of the interesting things that i've done in my life.

Stats

887,104 page views (mostly from bots)

6,615 posts

2024 is predicted to be my most prolific year

August is most popular month for blogging

Will I keep it going for another 20 years?  Who knows?  I might not actually be around... Let's hope i've managed to retire by then though.

Giant d20

I was supposed to get this in January from a kickstarter company but it was stuck in transit from hong kong for just over 2 months.  It finally arrived yesterday and it's pretty impressive!  It came with a free set of yellow dice too!

Only 2 kickstarters left to arrive (more dice).  Then I promise to stop!

Today's cooking

 

Making hot sauce

Chicken wings

Left overs 

Pork belly

My attempt at a poached egg.  I heard that you could sive away some of the whites before putting the egg in the boiling water.  I must have removed all the white and was left with an orange golf ball.

Biggest walk in a while

 April took the kids in to school this morning so I took the dog out early just before 7.  Nearly 17k steps and 13.1km in around 2h20.  Not quite marathon speed / distance but pretty good.  Just got in as it started spitting.

Great month to extend my fixed term contract by a month

 Same monthly pay, but two bank holidays, and 2 pro rata days annual leave.  The annual leave days are mine so I can do what I want!  23 work days, only have to work 19.

FM and D&D crossover

 Looks like you can play Football Manager as a Drow in the latest edition.

Not sure what happened but my avatar in the game turned into a drow when I loaded it up last night,

More weekend cooking

 This time it's Chicken and tarragon pie with sweet potato mash.  Turned out not bad

Arthur's haircut

What a cool dude 

Before

After

Magic beans

 We planted some more beans this morning.  2 of the 9 we planted 2 weeks ago properly sprouted so we planted them outside.  Arthur threw a ball for the dog which obviously immediately broke one of the recently planted beans so we planted another 3.  Hopefully they will all take.

I cooked a steak Ramen for lunch today, yummy

 

Egg cut

Veg

Searing that steak

Lovely criss cross

Soup

Finally put the clock up in the play room

 After the bigs works a couple of years my cat clock has been out of action.  We've finally put it back up.

Final payment made

 We paid the last installment on our jukebox today.  That's £500 extra each month we'll have for the time being.  We had the money at the time but they offered an interest free loan so took it up.  We've obviously spent the money we had before the loan on other things so will be nice to free up a bit of cash.  It'll certainly help with cashflow.  School fees and wrap around care are bloody expensive.

Here's a silly picture of me when we went over to the Bristol showroom to test drive one.

2 weeks left of coaching the kids

 There's only 2 weeks left of coaching the kids rugby on Sundays before it starts all over again in September with me heading up the under 5s and under 6s.  I'm heading up the session again this weekend.  Going to keep it simple and I definitely won't be running the obstacle course as I was in a lot of pain all afternoon after over exerting myself racing against the kids.

I've been offered another month

Which will probably be rolling if I need it.  Still nothing concrete on the contracting front so will sign it once the contract comes through.

The contract is through so will sign it this afternoon

Plus if I end up staying till July there's an extra £2.5k bonus for me.

Poker evening

 We had a poker night upstairs in my local last night.  I was winning at one point, then Stu was winning then Jono took an insurmountable lead and eventually won!  £20 in each, winner buys a few extra drinks at the end of the evening.  

Bristol visit

 

Only £7.10 in Bristol

Where I graduated

Docks looking pretty

The comunal boat / bar opposite my old house

The pub next to my old house

Some new flats next to my old house

My old house (red door)

My old halls

My old room!

You know you've made it when

 Waitrose sends you personalised vouchers for goats cheese

Bristol trip

 I'm enroute to Bristol today.  I'm there to visit my mate John, one of my old uni mates.  Not sure what to expect as we don't really have any plans.  Hopefully some nice food and popping into a couple of my favourite old Bristol Bars.  It's been ages since I was last there so will be fun to see how it's all changed.

Here she is!

 I think she looks good!

What will Arwen look like

 I took Arwen in to get her haircut earlier and have asked for her to have a short cut.  This will apparently get rid of her puppy hair but she's nearly 4 so not really a puppy anyway.  It should mean we won't have to cut her hair as often.  Hopefully she doesn't look too bad. 

Good fun yesterday

 Started off in Chandos, £7.70 a pint!

Finished off with chow mein, sweet and sour chicken and some chicken and sweetcorn soup to start.  Delicious! 

First big walk with the dog in ages

14,000 steps already this morning.  I walked the kids to school and took the dog straight out when I got home. With the kids off for over 3 weeks it's been hard to take the dog out for a long walk.  

London calling

 I've got today off from work as I have a few left to use before I leave work and am heading into London to see my mate James.  We used to meet up everyday for lunch pre pandemic and sometimes after work for a couple of cheeky beers before heading home.  With us both mostly working remotely from home plus having children and wife commitments it sometime hard to arrange a date.  Should be fun.  We're going to have a mini pub crawl around Charing Cross / Soho.  That means it's China Town for dinner before heading home!

An extra month

 Not much news on the job hunting front although I got confirmation on Friday night that they'd like to keep me on for another month which is nice to know.  I'd need to sign up for the whole month but don't have to sign yet in case something big comes up before the end of the month.

Subways

Suported by Indoor Pets.  The first band was the best

Not sure how he managed to play the bass!