GTA IV

Today is launch day for Grand Theft Auto IV. I've got my copy - have you got yours??

There might not be many posts on the blog for a bit with all my exercising and having to keep up with everyone else in GTA IV might not have time to do the blog as well!

Bring on GTA IV! I can't wait to get started on it

21 days to go

I've just had an email from my solicitor to confirm that now I have accepted the offer for my bike claim I should be in receipt of the cheque within 21 days! Ye har.

I'd better a quote to insure the blackbird pretty quick!

Oh what Joy!

Questions that keep me awake at night:

1. Why doesn't Tarzan have a beard?
2. Why do we press harder on a remote control when we know the batteries are flat?
3. Why does the bank charge a fee for insufficient funds when they know there is insufficient funds?
4. Why do Kamikaze pilots wear a helmet?
5. why does someone believe you when you say there are 4 billion stars, but have to check when you say the paint is wet?
6. Why is there an "s" in the word "lisp"?
7. What is the speed of darkness? (keeps me awake for hours this one!)
8. Why do we say we "slept like a baby" when babies wake up every 2 hours for a feed?
9. When the temperature is zero outside and the forecast says it will be twice as cold tomorrow, how cold will it be?
10. Why do people pay to go up high buildings only to look in binoculars at stuff on the ground?
11. Why do toasters have a setting so high that it totally cremates bread to a completely non palatable substance? (Talked about this one recently)
12. why is there a light in the fridge but not the freezer? Doesn't anyone else snack at 2am from the freezer?
13. Why do people point to their wrist when they want to know the time, but wont point to their privates when they want to know where the toilets are?
14. Why do Professionals who see you naked (e.g Gynaecologist) leave the room while you undress.
15. Does repeatedly pressing the buttons in a lift make it arrive faster?

Zen Statements

1. Give people more than they expect and do it willfully.
2. Marry a person you like to talk to. As you get older, their conversational skills will be more important than any other.
3. Don't believe all you hear, spend all you have or sleep all you want.
4. When you say "I Love you", mean it
5. When you say "Im sorry", look the person in the eye
6. Be engaged at least 6 months before you marry
7. Believe in love at first sight
8. Never laugh at anyone's dreams. People who dont have dreams dont have much
9. Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt but its the only way to live life completely.
10. In disagreements, fight fairly. No name calling.
11. Dont judge people by their relatives.
12. Talk slowly but think quickly.
13. When someone asks you a question you don't want to answer, smile and ask "Why do you want to know"?
14. Remember that great love and great achievements involve great risks.
15. Say Bless you when you hear someone sneeze.
16. When you lose, dont lose the lesson
17. Remember the 3 R's - Respect for yourself, Respect for others, Responsibility for all your actions.
18. Dont let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
19. When you realise you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
20. Smile when you pick up the phone the caller will hear it in your voice.
21. Spend some time alone.

A true friend is someone who reaches for your hand and touches your heart.

Honda Blackbird

For those who aren't sure what a blackbird looks like this is it.

Once I have one sitting in my driveway I'll post more pics of it accompanied with my ridiculous grin!

Sunday 27th Weigh in

At last Im losing weight. I've increased my exercise routine, totally cut out rubbish food and haven't used any of the lifts at work so now I know its 82 steps up to the floor I work on and 82 steps back down again! I do that 4 times per day, two of those are in my full bike gear! Wicked.

I lost 2lb this week. I'm still 2lb behind target but I'm losing weight not gaining which is exciting. I've been the same weight since I was 19 years old and since turning 30 the weight is harder to maintain and I have to do a whole lot more just to maintain what I have.

So I set a target to be 14lb lighter than I was at 19 years old just to see if I could do it. Its proving more difficult than I thought it would be, but I'm getting there!

A Week of Good News

Its been an incredible week for good news this week! Funny how it all comes at once. We all seem to notice when things go bad and it all comes at once but we forget to stop and enjoy the good news when it arrives in droves! I've been enjoying this week.

Car Claim Update

Our car that got bashed a few weeks ago (see pics on previous post) is now scheduled to be repaired. We are just waiting for the garage to call us to say the parts are in and we can take the car in to be fixed. Phew, what a relief.

Bike Claim Update

I have been advised of the settlement figure for my bike claim and I'm very happy with it. To celebrate I'm going to buy a Honda Blackbird! Woo woo. I'm so excited. I'll stick some pics on the blog of the bike when I get it. Got to wait for the cheque and money to clear first.

I have been waiting just over 4 years for this claim to be settled it has been an extremely long winded drawn out claim that just never seemed like it was going to come to an end.

As a source of entertainment I asked friends to guess how much I would get for the claim and the closest person to guess correctly (whether they are over or under doesn't matter) will be awarded a coffee and cake with me at Starbucks.
I can confirm the lucky winner is Matthew Spinks! Well done!

Sunday's Weigh In

After my first committed week of weight loss I weighed in and I didn't lose any weight. :o(
I was so upset. I ate less. I stayed away from chocolate - as much as possible. I didn't use the lift at work at all and I work on the 4th Floor. I ran everyday after work and started skipping 300 per day.

However, there were 2 birthdays at work and there were lots of cakes, cookies and yoghurt covered cereal bars. I ate a cookie one day and several yoghurt covered cereal bars! So its my fault.

At least I didnt gain any weight. Target remains the same I now have to increase my efforts because I am 2lb behind. 4lb to lose this week !

New Slideshow feature!

I just found out that we can do slideshows on our blogs so I just had to add one. I will be adding my own photos to it over the weekend but for now...

I've nabbed bluemoonblogs pics! Sorry Andy!

Would you go back to Kuk Sool?

Just been talking to my brother and he has decided to go back to Kuk Sool! I think its brilliant. He once got to brown belt level but that was 7 years ago. We used to train in the same school but now he has moved and will be training at a school in his home town. He's not sure whether he will have to start from white belt again or not.

It is my guess he will, but he is happy with that.

Good Luck Sa Bum Nim Andy Gillingwater when Matt turns up on your door!

Happy 15th Birthday

I have just celebrated 15 years of Kuk Sool Won training! Happy Anniversary.

I started Kuk Sool Won on Wednesday 14th April 1993. I went along with a friend and few family members (yes I was that nervous I took a support group) and haven't looked back since.

I would like to pay homage to KJN's Martin and Alison Ducker for all their kind words of encouragement and unquestionable patience!!

I said it best in my post about "Why I started Kuk Sool Won" dated 19th Sept 2007 to save repeating myself here.

In the last 15 years I have gained; health and fitness, self discipline, mental and physical development but the most important of all is confidence.

It is confidence that I set out to gain and boy I got a whole lot more than I bargained for. Even now, when I think back to the person I was as a 19 year old white belt I get a tear in my eye at how much I have achieved over the years. I am fitter, healthier and happier. I have friends that I trust with my life and I found a beautiful wife to share my life with. I didn't realise I would get all this from Kuk Sool!!

I have been pushed further than I thought I could go and as such I have grown. I am much better person that I ever thought I could be. I would love to go back in time and shake hands with my 19 year old counterpart and sit down and talk about how times will change! He wouldn't believe me if I told him. I had to go through the journey. Im still going through the journey. But nowadays, I smile at the journey rather than feel scared.

If you are a Kuk Sool Won Student, I salute you. You are taking the best journey life has to offer. Thank your instructor, and keep turning up to class, imagine how you will feel in 15 years from now!

I need more practice.

Time to take Enthusiastic Action

At New Year I made a resolution to lose some weight. Not just some weight, but 1 1/2 stone 21 lbs to be precise by 1st June 2008.

I made the commitment and I am dedicated to the goal because I am going on holiday in June with 3 fit women (one of whom I'm married to) and don't want to make the girls vomit when I'm sunbathing.

So I've made the decision.
I know what weight I want to be.
I have the motivation to do it as I don't want to embarrass myself.

So confident I am that I could achieve this weight loss that I did nothing until the end of March! Oops. Running out of time now. I have lost 8lb so far. So 8 weeks til the holiday so I need to lose 2lb per week which I still think is achievable.

From today I am starting running (OH NO! I hate running with a passion. I would rather do Kuk Sool Won for 8 hours than run for 1 hour). As it happens my first goal is to run 1 mile. I've got the route mapped out and I'm going to do it before Kuk Sool classes tonight.

I shall repeat the course every day for a week before I extend the distance. I know 1 mile sounds lame for a 3rd degree black belt, but I really detest running so much and I don't practice it enough on top of my other training, so I'm starting small and going to build up. To me - 1 mile is as difficult as running up a mountain!

Never mind - I must work on the belly, so I'm out to burn some flab tonight!

Bike Shopping is back on!

We have just got the estimate in for the repairs to our car (see post below) at £2500 so it looks as though the car will be repaired rather than written off. Phew!

If the insurance company wrote the car off we would have to add our own funds to replace the car with something of equal stature or better. This means my new bike fund would have to be used for the new car :(



But we are safe! I say we, I mean me! I'm looking at getting a newer bike this year while keeping the gixer to run to work on so here is my short list of 10 bikes to test ride:

1. Blackbird


2. VFR800


3. Speed Triple


4. ZRX1200


5. Bandit 1200S


6. CB1300


7. GSX1400


8. Fazer 1000


9. Hornet 900
   
10. XJR 1300

Any owners reviews of the above will be gladly received! Ta

Crash, Bang and Whollop

While Helen was driving to Cambridge yesterday she was stationery at traffic lights when White Van Man struck and crashed into the back of her.

Fortunately nobody was hurt apart from the usual neck injury and soft tissue damage.

Now we just got to go through the insurance company process and see if the car can be repaired. If its written off it will be doubtful if we get enough money for its value to replace it with a car of similar quality - which defeats the main object of having insurance in the process. Insurance sucks.

Main principle of insurance:

"To put the insured person back into the same position they were in before the event took place"

But how many times does this actually happen where motor insurance is concerned? Household insurance is generally better, if you damage a carpet you get another carpet because home insurance is replaced "new for old". Car insurance will never follow this procedure because vehicles depreciate so quickly. But wouldn't it be fair just once that if a car is written off you were paid enough money to buy the same car, of the same age and specification. But that doesn't happen because we are paid out the "trade" price. How many of us as consumers can buy a vehicle at "trade" price? None.

So how is that fair? Our premiums are expensive enough as it is, surely we should be paid out what it costs to replace the car for one of the same age and condition?

It jarrs me off.

Choose to be Happy, if you want to.

Fred is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, 'If I were any better, I would be twins!' He was a natural motivator.

If an employee was having a bad day, Fred was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation. Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up and asked him, 'I don't get it!'

'You can't be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?'

He replied, 'Each morning I wake up and say to myself, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or...you can choose to be in a bad mood.

I choose to be in a good mood.'

Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or...I can choose to learn from it.

I choose to learn from it.

Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or...I can point out the positive side of life.

I choose the positive side of life.

'Yeah, right, it's not that easy,' I protested. 'Yes, it is,' he said. 'Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations.

You choose how people affect your mood.

You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It's your choice how you live your life.'

I reflected on what he said. I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.

Several years later, I heard that he was involved in a serious accident, falling some 60 feet from a communications tower.
After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, he was released from the hospital with rods placed in his back.
I saw him about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he was, he replied, 'If I were any better, I'd be twins...Wanna see my scars?' I declined to see his wounds, but I did ask him what had gone through his mind as the accident took place.

'The first thing that went through my mind was the well-being of my soon-to-be born daughter,' he replied. 'Then, as I lay on the ground, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live or...I could choose to die.

I chose to live.'

'Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness?' I asked. He continued, '...the paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the ER and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read 'he's a dead man'. I knew I needed to take action.'
'What did you do?' I asked.
'Well, there was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me,' said John. 'She asked if I was allergic to anything 'Yes, I replied.' The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, 'Gravity''
Over their laughter, I told them, 'I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead.'
He lived, thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude...I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully.

Attitude, after all, is everything.

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.'

After all today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Is all I've heard for the last 2 weeks. I've got a virus in my middle ear of some sort. Viral Labrynthitis for those in the know.

It seems a form of tinitus and vertigo at the same time. My ears are ringing all day long. Its not driving me mad (he says sucking his thumb and gently rocking back and forth squatting in the corner of the room).

I've been signed off work and feel terrible all day long. Its not too bad when there are other sounds in the room such as music or tv, but when it goes quiet - especially bed time - there is a dull sound as if I have earplugs in then "weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee" high pitch ringing in my ears. Its a nightmare!!

I've got medication for it which I cant spell, or chew or swallow! It has to be put high up the top lip and absorbed into the gum. The medication makes me extremely drowsy and spaced out. I was given 30 of them (one per day) but have found a small niche in the market to sell the rest! (Only kidding MissMorpheous!).

Anyway, feeling dizzy, hot, nausious and not forgetting the WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE in my ears all day long has now become the norm since Easter. The medication makes me a zombie and so the reason for no blog posts lately is because I've been sitting in my own dribble.

I hate this feeling. I spoke to the doc today who has now changed my medication (haven't taken any yet hence my brain functioned well enough to turn on the computer) and the doc has referred me to Ears Nose and Throat specialist for some further tests. It seems as though I have vertigo - not sure what that is but the people I've spoken to who have had it describe the same awful feelings and sensations. I don't like it and want to get better immediately - but apparently my body will take up to 6 weeks to sort itself out. I beg to differ and will now put some of my positive mental attitude techniques to the test and pull myself out of this mess.

I do not like where I am or how I feel - so I will change it or so help me!!

Right - back to the corner for some rocking and thumb sucking until the noises in my head die down.

Goodnight mr thribble.