21 Dec 2006

Happy Christmas to all my Readers

21 December 2006

Well hello all you kind people who have been following my blog over the last couple of months

Happy for me I am off to see my family in Ireland tomorrow, so will then spend the christmas period with my son and his family, as well as new years eve, then return home the following day.

This is of course subject to the fog at Manchester airport lifting before then, although I was suddenly reminded earlier today that this year when the security alert started on that fateful day I travelled to Ireland with only my papers wallet & the clothes I was dressed in. Lets hope that I am lucky again and manage to get there.

16 Dec 2006

How to Use the Bus by Zorro

Well Zorro has struck again

He has sent from half way round the world this latest missive to help you travellers understand some of the pleasurers of being out there, when all we have to worry about is will it snow for christmas


There being no bus stops all you need to do is look for shade. Normally that is where you & any others will wait for the bus.
Now the hard part.When the bus stops( I use the term "stop" loosely) try to be the first on. It´s real bad luck if you are the only one waiting.The bus has three steep steps. The third step there is a turnstile!!! I am not making this up - this is what the driver does.Assuming you are the only one boarding he will only slow down. You have to grab the handles at the side of the first step and climb into the bus. There is much jolting and lurching that throws you off balance. This is because , apart form the bad roads, the driver is driving and trying to change gear, giving you your ticket and change, and has his cup of terére in another hand.Having got ticket you can negotiate the turnstile.Not good for me as I always have a day pack with me. Any poor soul ( normally me!!) is hanging on the second or first step.All buses get vendors selling Coca Cola, hair clips, batteries, sweets, bread, bananas, oranges, pineapples, etc this is not an exhaustive list . Those with nothing to sell sing or more entertaining tell you about finding god. These vendors do NOT pay bus fare. they climb over the turnstile complete with a dozen bottles of Coca cola etc. As they don´t pay a fare they wait till all the farepaying passengers are on board. This means very often they are running alside the bus while there are two or three on the steps waiting to pay and get through the stile!!! Incidentally young children up about 10 yrs old don´t not pay as long as they climb over or throught the stile.This applies to babes in arms!!

You are now through the stile and trying to keep your balance.You look carefully at the passengers. Where are most sat? Where most are will be the shady and coolest part of the bus. All these seats are taken before those on the sunny side.If there are any spare seats do NOT make a beeline for them. Are the seats over the wheel arches? If so there is no room for your feet. Very uncomfortable on long journey. If there are not near wheel arches examine very carefully. Usually it means the seat in broken and will collapse under your weight. On a journey of half hour or more you will move from a seat in the sun to one in the shade to one near the exit if you are lucky.

Once sat down you can enjoy listening to the venders spiel, feeling the cooling breeze from the open windows. There is always a breeze as the drivers make schumaker look pedestrian.Apart from the violent lurching life is great.

The moment you have dreaded. Time to get off. The bus will stop where ever you want. At traffic lights, in the middle of the road, anywhere. But how do you tell the driver? For you must exit at the rear of the bus. If you are very lucky it will be a bus that only has a turnstile at the front end. That bit of string ( really!!) that is on the roof, always on the right hand side is what you pull. If no string or string is broken there is usually a small button hidden near the rear door.If there are none of these then stand near the door. And wait!

Unfortunately, if you are the only one getting off then you have to get off while the bus is still moving. The kind driver has slowed down to walking pace.Buses are incredibly cheap but are not for the faint hearted!!

15 Dec 2006

Zorros Adventures in Bogata

¡Hola !
You ask what is it like? Awful & dangerous!!!!!! Obviously when travelling independently I have to choose my own hotels.The internet sites They are like house adverts - they never show they are near the steel works or sewerage farm. my hotel was in a very safe neigbourhood, the people there were nice ( on the whole) but nothing worked.

Turning on some of the lights seemed very dangerous!!! The doors on the rooms made me feel that I couldn´t unpack my case and kept it locked at all times. My safe neighbourhood was not near any tourist haunts.

My hotel had lots of colombian tourists , so you can tell it was cheap. 99 pounds for a weeks bed/b.fast, beer, laundry, internet. Taxis I have never found so cheap or as honest as here. But there is a problema. My hotel phones for a safe cab but how do you get back? Everyone drills it into you don´t take a cab on the streets. Using taxis all the time ( buses here are brand new, the roads are great but they are dangerous for robbery Some have been held up!) I got to know the direction of my hotel.

One day I was going to their famous gold museum and I noticed the cab was going towards the mountains - not the city!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Very calmly ( well alright, controlled hysteria ) , I said "This isnt the normal way is it?" The driver , who looked like an film extra who ALWAYS played the cruel Mexican bandit, gave me this smile and said" I am turning left now, señor", which I knew was the right way. You have to be so careful here.

Now I know you will read this the wrong way but nonetheless is true. Within three hours of arrival at my hotel I had a 23year old girlfriend. She was really helpful & taught me a lot (NO! not that!). The woman was a recepcionista at the hotel and spoke no english. SHE paid for the taxis when we went out sightseeing, paid for coffee or a coke ( the drink not the white stuff), always warning me not to get money from my pocket. " You are always showing too much money" she would tell me. She never accepted a share of the fare/bill. Wages are not high here so if there was a scam it didnt cost me anything!!!!!

It is only 2 years since the army was fighting guerillas here in the capital so security is tight. Your bag is X rayed and you have a body search at any shopping mall. At the aeroport on arrival you are body searched by the customs then further along by the police and lastly before exit by the army.There are sniffer dogs all over the aeroport!!! I suspect this is to stop private enterprise rather than to stop smuggling as there were kilos of the white stuff discovered on the national airline, Avianca, when it landed in Madrid some months ago. Found, of course, in the diplomatic pouch no less.

The altitude makes me feel tired by 3 in the afternoon and I can´t wait to get away from here. I been to Avianca´s office this morning to change my ticket to the first available flight.
The weather is T shirt warm during the day but cold at night.On my second day I was caught in a deluge. Stepping off the pavement to cross the road I fell into a foot deep hole and got very wet. Still it wouldn´t be a South American holiday for me if I didn´t do that and twist an ankle. I´ve added that to my bout of sciatica with is probably from my heavy suitcases.

The above is a true account of Zorros adventure since he left the UK, with his permission, I will keep you up to date with any further adventures that he informs me of

10 Dec 2006

How do people get a blog viewed by others

After my previous discussion on blogs & how & why we view them it has been suggested that putting in words that may draw peoples attention, when they search for a chosen subject, may actually work better than the actual content, so i am going to try this with this latest posting for a week, please feel free to leave suitable comments on the idea

I have decided to put in words that friends have suggested such as Ken Dodd which worked last time, Cyclops for those interested in greek mythology, terry wogan & Mr Blobby my heros & my favourite singers at present Nat King Cole Katie Melua Neil Diamond

Because I am interested in photography in particular sunrises & sunsets, which my readers seem to like are included.

My interest in disability issues may also be something which people may be interested in, in particular issues relating to problems of carers of people

Well this will do for a start I will see how I go on in the course of the week and report back adding other words as the week goes on

156 December 2006

This week I have been full of a virus, and am just starting to come round again, so I am a little disapointed that so far the post has not attracted any more viewers.
Possibly another range of interests may draw some more readers, such as the fact I am going to try to read Eric Sykes autobiography over the xmas holidays between all the festivities.

When I visit my family in County Meath, they will hopefully of bought the new version of Buzz, which is an interactive game, on pop music which sadly I never seemed to win last year, apart from when grand daughters & friends who are teenagers helped by pressing my remote because their reactions are quicker than mine.

I suppose I could mention a range of musicals but having done that in a previous post, I suppose it is not worth the time spent typing at present. I could mention some of the artists I worked with in nightclubs when I was young such as Gene Pitney, who had a truelly original voice not changed by amplification & sound effects, another who I am facinated by is Tony Christie who was at his peak, when I had a week listening to him doing sound & lighting back in the 70s. Now thanks to Peter Kay he is back again with the same songs hitting the top spot again.

Other acts that I did the the sound & lighting for back at that time included, The Three Degrees, The Barron Knights,The Grumbleweeds, Matt Monro, & Vince Hill. It was at the time of the Comedians so I had the pleasure of watching Charlie Williams the interesting act of Bernard Manning as well as the rest of their circuit (sadly some names are stuck in my head)

Since my last entry, one of my faithful readers has given me permission to reproduce his e mail showing that even when people such as me are thinking its all right for those who can go abroad for months at a time when the rest of us are shivering in the cold, all is not sweetness & light for them over there, I am so impressed that I have decided to provide a new post just for the tale

So please go to Zorros adventures in Bogata for a fun read

Plans for my 60th birthday at last


I have decided that now is a good time to start telling you about how the plans are going for my 60th birthday in 2007.

For those of you who have been eagerly awaiting this latest episode in my life, here we go.

Well I have sorted out the type of event which is to be fancy dress and the theme is to be musicals.

The next task was to decide a suitable costume, which those of you who have read my blog in detail will remember that I finally decided on a couple of ideas which I hope will work out but so as not to spoil the surprise I will keep secret until the day.

Some of you readers will already have been invited to the event, although I have not yet confirmed the date or venue, which I am hoping to do provisionally with your Christmas cards so you will have no excuse for saying I did not give enough notice.

The venue has been the main dilemma because some of my guests have mobility difficulties, one cannot cope with lifts and everybody has been giving me lots of places that may be suitable.

Well I decided on Radcliffe Civic suite, which was close to most of my guests, decided the price was okay and the facilities fitted my needs, so last week went to book, but was told one room was too big, and guess what the other was to small.

I then tried a range of other venues with little success but now feel at long last I have found the right venue, on a date close enough to my birthday. The only problems now are paying, and sorting out equipment that has to be passed as electrically safe for the disc jockey to use.

I will now have to start sorting out my costume, first to see if I can hire it, have it made, or find something not quite so different or original.

15 December 2006

Great news I have sorted out the venue and date, the provisional invitations have gone out and the deposit is paid at long last.

1 Dec 2006

Another exciting week in the life of a tog


1 December 2006


Good morning all you readers, after that last serious blog I will now return to my usual but unpredictable life adventures, hope you like the photo of sunrise from my bedroom.

According to research it appears that many people give up on their blog quite quickly, one of the reasons being lack of interest by others in the blog, because people are not aware of what a brilliant blog it is. (sorry felt had to say that)

Therefore please readers carry on reading, pass my details on to friends, continue complimenting me on my photos, so long as its true, and a special thankyou to friends in New Zealand Mike Jan Rachel & Abigail (thanks for the card) , Hamster, Amo, Brian, Alan (wherever you are) & Andy

If you have been following my journey you will remember that I have been struggling to resolve issues regarding my insurance claim as well as my neighbours claim.

Well good news for my neighbour finally her TV arrived and even I was impressed with the quality of the set as well as how easy it is to operate. She wanted to tell everybody about it until I reminded her that others may try to steal it because of the world we live in.

For me finally my replacement sound system arrived on Tuesday and I spent 2 hours setting it up, after removing the other system and its 5 speakers, by the way I now have in my home 11 speakers, plus the 5 that came with this system ( if anyone has ideas of what to do with them let me know).

Sadly the system would not work so contacted the supplier, they now want to replace the whole system including the speakers, so guess what I then had to put it all back in the boxes, so today another replacement arrives. So that’s another 2 hours spent, but finally maybe I can listen to a tape or CD , in splendid surround sound .

My car went for its MOT on Tuesday as well, again bad news it failed so I had to pay for a rusty brake pipe to be replaced, total cost £100, which will make a hole in xmas plans.

On a more interesting note at our team meeting 3 of the staff did a talk on Islam, which as well as being very interesting, answered some of the questions we are usually to embarrassed to ask and was a reminder that if we can be more tolerant as well as starting to understand other cultures and religions we can live and work together peacefully.

27 Nov 2006

A Togs thoughts on Blogs & Blogging




As a result of complaints from some of my readers, reluctantly this is going to be a serious Blog, there is a possibility that it will be reflective, that I will cogitate and give readers food for thought on the topic of Blog's.

When I was doing my research into Blog's I spent a lot of time looking at a whole range of other people's Blog's from the very serious through to the very humorous and lastly to the absolutely appalling which I hope my Blog isn't.

I was fascinated at the range of topics that are covered by people in their various Blog's, from one of my favourites the 43 bus to some that were so terrible I would not want to mention them and give them publicity they were that bad.

Friends suggested looking at Myspace and YouTube which I did and found that at YouTube a man in his 70s was one of the top Blog's although the average membership is around the 18 to 25 age group on the site. Further the video of his I saw was of him reminiscing about the First World War. I have a feeling that this will cause confusion to people such as psychologists and PR companies when they are trying to decide what people are really interested in with regard to Blogs.

Another thing that I wanted to look at was how could I improve the chances of other people reading my Blog, also what sort of topics would appeal to the sort of people who search for Blog's on the Internet. Sadly I have not found the answer as can be seen by me when I look at Sitemeter and the number of visitors and where they originate from ( I do wish I could find out who gren with envy, scarlett angel & annonomous are) to find out what drew them to my blog

This weekend in the Sunday Times there was an an article about Internet nuns who have their own Blog's, which will obviously of attracted a whole range of people for different reasons to read the material.

In my own Blog I mentioned a visit to see Ken Dodd which attracted readers sufficiently to make comments on my Blog quite quickly after I had posted the Blog, which show there are people out there constantly looking for information or knowledge about their particular interests and hobbies, often into the early hours of the morning.

Having said that in one of my Blog's I could not sleep one morning so got up at 5am and read the Sunday paper supplement and found an interesting article that then provoked me to then enter a new post on my Blog, interestingly enough nobody in my circle of friends and readers has passed any comment on the subject which I thought was unusual and was worth comment on the topic.

I'm not sure quite why I or any other person would want to sit at a computer for hours on end either typing, or in this particular instance, using speech recognition creating a Blog or posting, that possibly other people may never ever choose to read. Is it because it is a way to convey our thoughts, feelings and experiences to the outside world in a way which we would never ever do in public, because our friends often are not interested in our day-to-day life and interests, or we are reluctant to let people know of these same interests fears & feelings.

Hopefully therefore putting out our Blog for the millions of Blog readers to read, approve and helpfully comment positively as well as possibly giving some of us a sense of satisfaction and fulfilment when this occurs.

What is even stranger is the fact that there are people out there such as me who spend time reading and commenting on other people's Blog's, when there must be lots of other things that we could do to occupy our time. I suppose I can understand people who have shared interests searching for others and their Blog's to increase their knowledge on a particular subject and share with others. It is even understandable that some people use Blog's to convey their thoughts and feelings about the highs and lows of their lives in an anonymous manner to strangers.

What I personally struggled to understand are the people who have not made the effort to write in normal English that people such as I cannot understand or read without great difficulty. Maybe this is as a result of the growth in people using texting as a means of communication, that excludes a proportion of us Bloggers, but may be that is what the intention is.

In my own Blog more people have passed comment in personal conversation and by e-mail on the quality of my photos, than they have on the content of the rest of my posts despite the fact that I spend a lot of time thinking of content for the Blog's and then typing the piece into the Blog.

The question therefore is why on earth bother either reading or writing Blog's, unfortunately art present, I do not have the answer, to make it worse as my readers are aware, I have now with little success created another Blog on MySspace to widen the readership of my blogs, which so far nobody appears to be able to gain access to.

If this is typical of people entering into the world of Blogging and the difficulties they encounter when trying to make a statement or share an interest, is it really worth the effort and what lengths are we prepared to go in the hope of gaining an audience, which I feel maybe is why many such as myself do it.

But even this is a contradiction because I have chosen to use another name so only those who I have informed of the blog actually can identify me, so even if I gained a larger redership, I could meet readers of the blog on the street or elsewhere and none of us would know the other, so is this fame.

I remember a friend many years ago commenting on the fact that I enjoy being behind the scene as in theatre controlling the event, rather than as an actor who people can actually identify, she said there is a name for people such as me and possibly other bloggers, which is "eminence gris" that means "grey eminnce" which fits in with my personality.

Thanks for reading this Blog, I would be interested to hear any of your comments about the content, I do realise for 1 of my readers there is missing punctuation but unfortunately my throat is getting dry and it is now 10:30 PM so you readers will have to put up with the Blog as it is

24 Nov 2006

Problems of setting up a blog with MySpace

Good morning I was bored last night so I thought what can I do, I then thought not many people are reading my blog other than friends, so I decided to widen the chance of someone coming across my thoughts ideas & other rubbish to do with my life, then making comments/ constructive criticism about me and the blog so I decided a new blog on a different site was the answer

This has been achieved by my new blog on myspace I am having problems trying to access it through google at present.

For those of you who are desperate you can e mail me or try typing in "Thoughts on Life as a TOG" to gain access.

I have found the new format a little strange to work with in some respects & worried when a photo of someone called Tom appeared as a friend, fortunately he is a link to help at myspace, so I can see I will need him quite soon.

Despite this please do not be put off using myspace because it was a little late in the day after a rather complex day at work, when I was trying to relax, whilst playing on the computer & still listening to the tv, which just goes to show us males are not quite as good at multi tasking as we would like to think, or at least us older Togs have.

So far I have not tried to put any of my photos on the new blog, so all you nice people who have complemented me on the photos on this site will have to wait a little longer, plus Brian informs me that there is a problem with lots of photos for others to upload the information particularily on dial up (I think thats what he said )

I will later today try to work out how to create a link between the sites or better still ask brian to assist me with the technicality

7.30pm 24 November 2006

Well as Anonymous said in their comments, there are problems & my friend Alan has found the worst one which is that nobody can find my blog on Myspace including me unless I sign in.

I am not sure if it needs more time to appear, or if there is some fundamental mistake I & others are making, which seems unlikely because I have tried my own e mail address, name, blog title, & display name all with no success.

If any of you out there can tell me the answer please let me know, is it because I am a tog or is it the site, I am begining to think I may have to stick with Blogger & my limited audience of readers who now include, my latest reader Anonymous, I wish I could of thought of such an unusual name.

Maybe this is the right time to speak to my only friend on myspace Tom or one of his clever friends

Having said that I still have not found how to have a look at Green with Envys site on Blogger yet, I just worry that these people are those who know me but unwilling to let on they are as sold on my Blog as me.

I will keep you all informed of any progress with Myspace if you have not all given up already, if so please continue with this blog, because for those of you not yet aware, soon I will post a new blog about the progress of my plans for my birthday next year that will make a really good read ( says he hopefully)

20 Nov 2006

What a strange day

Well after a marvelous weekend made better by the fact that someone who I did not know posted a comment ( shows how sad I am) namely scarlett angel, who has an interesting blog of her own, on my comments on Ken Dodds show.

This morning was one of those you do not want for some time. because I was taking a load of paper to be recycled to a church which I put in the car, then went to go out when I realised I had a puncture but could not get at the wheel because of the kerb.

On the way to work I was to have picked up a friend who is one of our volunteeers so decided to ring him to warn of the delay, but could not find his phone number. Eventually with the help of a friend I replaced the tyre and set off, with my friend taking the tyre to be sorted out.

It was one of those days when every traffic light is on red & every junction has a road works, so eventually I picked my friend up & then went to the church. Sadly there was no one to help with the papers then I had to carry onto work where I arrived 1 hour late.

On arriving before I had sat down there was a phone call from somebody that then lasted 1 hour. When I finally got off, other staff were then complaining about problems with the new heaters. I checked them & somebody had messed about with them, so I reset them & started work. Then one of the issues that started last week started again which took the rest of the morning to resolve.

Whatever I did today just took forever, plus I am doing a stall on wednesday so I needed to sort that out as well. Just before I left my boss arrived to tell me he needed some figures before the end of the week although I am only in work thursday afternoon. Eventually I decided to kill 2 birdss by going into work tomorrow whilst I am in town, carry out the task & collect the equipment for the dislay at the same time.

It then started again about the heaters, so I found myself defending myself for something that was nothing basically to do with me.

When I went to the car I realised that I was short on fuel as well as running late so it took forever to get home. Finally I went to meet my mate about the tyre only for him to tell me that he had left it with the tyre man, so I will now have another job to add to tomorrows load.

Because when I assembled my sound system, I found more parts would not work I tried to ring the suppliers, guess what after 10 minutes still no answer so will try again tomorrow.

I am now exausted so will finish this post & settle down, hoping the phone or door keep quiet tonight.

19 Nov 2006

Ken Dodd Happiness Show What a brilliant Night

Well I am just recovering from a night at Tameside Theatre, where I went with Andy to watch Ken Dodds show.

People had warned us that it may be long but I felt it was a load of rubbish, nobody gives that much entertainment for £17 a person.

Well I was totally wrong, I do accept that there was other entertainment, which was also enjoyable, but how Ken can keep an audience for so long was absolutely incredible.

The pace that he set & how he kept it topical, relevent to the audiance that he had, mainly us older generation ( sorry Andy not including you) skowed a marvelous performer a true master of his craft.

The other thing I had forgotten was his singing ability, & how timeless his songs are.

I just wish I had a good memory, ten minutes worth of his act could keep me going for years.

The downside was that when I got home at 1pm I then could not get to sleep quickly and am still suffering for having sat down in one place for so long, but it really was worth it & I can only suggest if any of you out there has the chance go & see Ken.

The only strange thing seemed to be that members of the audiance seemed to come & go which I have never seen before & to me seemed quite ignorant, the only thing I can think is that they were smokers going into withdrawl.

17 Nov 2006

Remember those Old Musicals

Well I thought because Brian keeps whistling tunes from musicals and Alan has shown a wide interest, as well as giving me some interesting information about musicals which I will come back to, I decided why not do a posting on my favourite subject, that takes me back to my childhood and my first musical at the Appollo cinema in Manchester.

The musical was Oklahoma and I was sold for ever, coming out singing the songs from the show, imagining myself as the hero riding off into the sunset with Shirley Jones to live happily ever after. ( what a shame real life is so different from the musicals)

Since that time I have enjoyed seeing a range of musicals from one of my favourites Singing In The Rain,in which never to forget Donald O Conner Dancing up the wall, to Barnum which although great to see did not have a memorable song. The scene that impressed me the most over the years was the scene in Oliver namely the street scene with Who Will Buy as the song in the street scene.

Alan tells me of a musical called Vaseline that he saw advertised abroad, how many of you realised that it was Grease with John Travolta & Olivia Newton John.

As some of you may know (if you have read my previous blogs or had to listen to me on my latest topic of conversation), to show how sad I am I have decided that for my 60th birthday, I am going to celebrate it with a fancy dress party on the theme of musicals, so all of you who are invited, need to start thinking about what costumes to wear for the occassion, there will be some sort of prize for the most original and best costumes ( possibly tickets to see a musical, only joking )

I would appreciate any comments from you readers either on this post or through my e mail address

10 Nov 2006

Moans of a Grumpy, Nearly Old Man ( Tog )

10 November 2006

Well what a period it seems to of been, finally today my aerial has been fixed so when I finally get my replacement DVD recorder, I shall be able to spend my evenings on these dark nights watching all my favourite rubbish & repeats on Freeview TV.

Recently I have been trying to use public transport both to save money, but also to do my bit to help save the environment.

Unfortunately what an experience using the bus and tram is. For instance why should the 98 bus which should be a regular service, go missing then 2 come together.
Twice this week it has stopped at a bus stop for 5 minutes twice on its way, before reaching Bury Interchange, making me miss the tram, resulting in me being late for work.

Talking of the bus why do they all brake so suddenly when coming to a stop, so that people like me with poor mobility are unbalanced, but then instead of complaining actually thank the driver as we leave.

This seems to be the norm with all the bus drivers I have come across in the last 6 months, is it possible that they are re trained in special techniques to upset the passengers, as in their other special skill, accelerating from the stop at great speed, ( I am told that the vehicles are automatic which should make it easier to drive), which is all made worse for us sad people with bad backs, because my spine is constantly shifted at great force from crashing against the seat, to being in mid air.

Also why do people not queue any more? and why does nobody get up from their seats for an elderly or disabled person?

On the trams why does one to Altringham seem to leave at 9.29 just before the concessions come in & people have the chance to buy their tickets from the machine at 9.30 and board the tram?


I realise that the trams have a timetable but could they slow down on the stretch between Bury and Radcliff to ease the noise & swaying for us older sad souls. Again, my poor back goes into spasm as it jerks between the air & the seat back. I suppose it keeps a whole range of health professionals in work putting the damage right.

Yesterday yet again there were problems on the trams with delays, I presume partly due to the problems caused by the crazy situation caused by the dispute between bus services in Manchester, with lots of empty buses queuing up on Mosley Street blocking the progress of the trams.


Last night there was obviously a conspiracy because it took from 4.30 to 6pm for me to travel the 12 miles from Manchester to my home, in fact I ended up going the long way round on another bus route, because the 98 had presumably got lost on its way from Manchester, because as my bus left the queue was still waiting at the 98 stop.

When I finally got home there was another note from my elderly neighbour asking could I call to give some advice. Just for a change I decided to wait until the following day to see her and finally relaxed totally exhausted.

17 November 2006

Well what a week I finally have all the stuff damaged by lightening replaced, but sadly non are the same make or model so I now have 5 new instruction books to work through I have connected up in some sort of fashion but still not sure what all the buttons do on any one piece of equipment, what a shame they do not make compatable easy to use equipment, or that my son does not live down the road so that he can sort it out for me.

Next moan is that I went to get new glasses this week & was told minimum was £140, so went to specsavers who have simple pricing (they say) explained wanted same as I had but not expensive, assistant said no problem but could have 2 for the price of one. Cutting long story short ended up with different glasses at £180, after coming out realise only needed 1 pair because existing pair still okay according to optician, well it keeps them in business.

Whilst wandering round the shops despite being 6 foot 2 tall & 15 stone people will insist in walking into me, but never seem to want to apologize, also why do they aim for the small gap between me and the wall, this has happenned 3 times today, what has happened to good old manners.

To cheer me up I am going to see Ken Dodd hopefully with my mate Andy tomorrow, so if I can remember I will try give a couple of the experiances I have to cheer you all up in the next episode.

I am trying to find some decent english blogs but have been suprised how hard they are to find although I have now found a real British site but it seems to have some very strange stuff on, in that which I have read so far.

5 Nov 2006

Annet van der Voort

5 November 2006

I could not sleep, in the early hours of this morning so decided to have a browse through my Saga magazine ( does anybody out there know if I can obtain payment for all these referances to organisations and publications). When I came across a short article about the photographic work of, Annet van der Voort, with a series of her pictures.

This set me thinking (it was a bad time to do it because I could not then go back to sleep), so I went and had a look at her site, which was very interesting.

But also it fitted in with my thoughts over the years of the amazing transformation from childhood to old age of people as shown by the artist, as well as of them getting up to going out to work or play, at different times of the day and at various different occassions.

My own particular memory is of young women who when I visited sometimes would of just had a bath and be in their dressing gown after having a bath, before getting ready to go out with me.

Whilst I waited at their home, as she dried her hair, put on her makeup, then came back after changing into her clothes, it was a true transformation and the attrative caterpillar became a beautiful butterfly.

At the other extreme when I worked in entertainment,i used to see the beautiful women who came in dressed up early evening, sadly after a night of drinking and partying were the other extreme, when they were drunk, makeup spoilt and loud mouthed. What a shame for all that effort, if only they could of had their photos taken at the end of the evening maybe it would of given them food for thought the next time they went out.

25 Oct 2006

Sad Death of Paul Walters How We Can Continue

As other Toggs I was very sad to hear of the death of Uncle Wally, it is quite ironic because I am in the process of reading Terrys latest book Must'ent Grumbe and last week had been enjoying the various exploits of Terry & Pauly.

As many others have said, what a great programme on monday morning, led by Terry and the rest of the team.

My feeling is that we Toggs need to find some way to mark the loss of Pauly in some more permenant way, so have e mailed to Terry to suggest that maybe a CD of the music played on Monday, plus his other favourite music could be produced and the money raised go to help others in whatever is Pauls favourite charity.

Another suggestion was that possibly a book of celebrity memories as well as those of us TOGGS could be another fundraiser to help remind us of the many ways in which Paul helped to make this a happier pleasanter world.

I just hope that Terry can pass this idea on, if it has not already been considered by the powers that be.

If any other of you Toggs, Tiggs or other fans of Pauly out there read this and agree please let me, or Terry and the team know so maybe we can get this idea off the ground.

Having said this lets also hope his successor will keep up the good work at breakfast on Radio Two.

22 Oct 2006

Photos of Corfu



Top Picture Belle Vista

Left Corfu from boat

Right Paleokastritsa


Sunset Rebecca Village

A Lonely TOGGS New Adventure In Corfu


Friday 13th October 2006

Well I got to the airport was one of the first to check in, asked for a seat with plenty of legroom, after check-in went through security which seems to take longer and longer every time I go away, but it beats hanging around the departure lounge spending money.


Finally got on plane and surprise surprise I had lots of legroom, the downside was that the video that was played in the flight had no sound and nowhere to use headphones so I listened to my MiniDisc player instead. Suddenly there was aloud crash and a woman had fallen between seats. The cabin crew were very quick and efficient at helping her, but then a young woman who would obviously had either too much to drink or eat was sick in the aisle just near her. Now the poor cabin crew had to sort that mess out as well, after that it quietened down.


Finally arrived in Corfu, weather mild, uneventful but long trip to Rebecca Village in Sidari. On the way their I started to think of characters from musicals that I could dress as for my birthday, which helped to pass the time.Checked in receptionist had strange sense of humour because there were no lights on outside the apartment for me to see where I was going which was on the second floor of a block. Unpacked then went on balcony to look at the view which is beautiful as can be seen from my photo.

Apartment was pleasant but unfortunately I was exhausted after ten hours of travelling local time was now 6:30 AM, unpacked then went to bed

14th October 2006

Woke to loud bang, went to door nobody was there, but they were more which I now realised were gunshots in the distance, got washed and dressed and tried to make sense of the rough map provided by reception and set off for the shops. Fortunately very nice man carrying a baguette who I later learnt was called David of the(Adams family) offered me a lift to the supermarket which I was glad to take up so had my first trip to buy food which I later found out would of taken me 30 minutes each way. He also explained the layout of the town and where to rent a car, thanks again David.

Made sandwiches and sat down on the terrace to write up notes for my Blog whilst admiring the beautiful view again. Later went into restaurant at accommodation had breakfast then decided to walk to the shops, took photos on the way, it was a beautiful walk and I was really pleased about having booked the holiday, everything smelled so fresh and the countryside was beautiful greens.

Then got to resort to find it was typical with lots of bars and souvenir shops, not forgetting a local McDonald's, so decided to carry on and find somewhere to buy food from the supermarket that I had previously fled on. Unfortunately it seemed as though I was walking forever.

In true Togg style I then managed to take the wrong turn and ended up totally lost, I stopped to ask local people that their English was as bad as my Greek (none existent) somehow after about an hour when I was totally exhausted, a car stopped and it was that shining white knight David Adams again who apologised that he couldn't give me a left but at least pointed me in the right direction. Never have I been so relieved to see another person in my life I thought I would be wondering the back roads of Sidari for the next few years.

When finally returned to apartment had painkillers and bath then relaxed promising myself not to go and have too many new adventures to soon. Then rested for the rest of the day had a meal then went to bed.

15 October 2006

Unusual for me, I slept for eight hours and had a good night's sleep and woke up at 9 AM. When to supermarket for bread which only took one hour, that had breakfast which I ate on balcony, spent rest of the day sunbathing, listening to my music and reading my book, 1984, which was what I had come away on holiday for.

Went for a quiet relaxing meal unfortunately six unhappy children split a class across three families quickly changed all that circle ate meal quickly and went back up to the room to read my latest book ironically Terry Wogan's “Mustn't Grumble”

16th October 2006

Woke up early couldn't believe how cold it was despite this had breakfast on balcony eventually saw life about 9:30 AM decided to take lazy option still went omnibus to beach not very interesting so returned to apartment had food and realised what a beautiful setting I was staying in, but realised by being on my own that I had not had a conversation and for more than a few minutes which those of you who know me will realise is that unusual.

Went and sat at Pool got chatting to Cassie and her daughter Amy, explained about my Blog and in particular problems I was having trying to buy trainers, they were really helpful and Amy in particular gave me lots of hints about how to find a pair that would suit my needs, so when I return home will try their suggestions.

Whilst having this conversation and I had 2 Tog moments the first was whilst trying to be clever, I could not remember that the capital of West Germany was Berlin, but then I actually showed my real skill and intelligence by losing my glasses, which Amy eventually pointed out I was wearing. After all this effort decided best shut up and sunbathe instead for the rest of the afternoon.
In the evening went into town for evening meal luckily I had remembered my torch because it was pitch black on the approach to the complex, and had another chat with Cassie and Amy returned to room spent an hour trying to find the ticket for my excursion to Albania tomorrow

17th October 2006

Got up early to make sure that I would be one-time for my coach which was already waiting, unfortunately there was no representative on the coach to explain what was happening and when. After various stops to pick up people we finally reached Corfu harbour where a man whose English was not very good explained we were boarding a boat to Albania.

On board the boat was offered extra excursion but refused, journey took 1 1/2 hours, in my haste I had forgotten my coat so with the sea breeze became quite cold, occasionally the representative explained what the various views were, unfortunately his English was poor as was the sound system, so I did not learn very much on the journey. I was not sure if it was just me so I checked with other travellers in case it was another Tog moment but they assured me they had the same problems.

On reaching San Saranda Albania the town seemed very small, we boarded a coach went for a drink, then boarded the coach again, I settled down and we acquired a new courier whose English was much better, he collected the tokens we had but explained to me I had the wrong tokens and it would cost me in 19 euro to stay on the coach, so totally embarrassed I paid the money and stayed on the tour.

We travelled to Butrinti and the courier explained various interesting points on the way. When we got there we spent two hours walking round which surprisingly was quite interesting for me who does not normally enjoy looking at ancient ruins(I am used to seeing one in the mirror each day) and took a series of photos as you can see from this limited selection.

Whilst looking round the ancient site it was interesting that parts of the original structures were still standing that had been built by slaves, when the best that modern workmanship and technology can produce in the present day appears to be a ten-year guarantee bearing in mind that people are now paid to build structures.

Returned to town in coach had meal then saw all highlights of the town including the fountains and the souvenir shop which appeared to be the only shop open, this seemed the total waste of time and possibly was just to take time up until it was time to board the boat again. We then returned to the boat and sailed back which was a great opportunity to take a couple of photos that I think are really good examples of sunsets but still do not do justice to the real thing.

It then seemed very long trip home with lots of people being dropped off all of a sudden the driver realised I was still on board so he had to retrace part of his route to drop me off, finally we reached my destination and in my rush to get off I slipped down the steps in a typical Tog moment losing the tiny bit of dignity that I had left. Returned to apartment had shower then spent a considerable amount of time trying to work out how to switch off the alarm on my watch which I had set that morning unsuccessfully (other Togs beware of clever electronics). Finally went down for meal then joined in general conversation

18th October 2006

woke up late, it was very cold so got up even later when it finally got warmer, decided to have relaxing day so sunbathed for most of the day, and chatted to other residents. In the afternoon when I returned to my room, I realised that I had put after sun cream on instead of protection cream, yet another Tog moment, sadly I was to pay the price for this in two ways, firstly I am still burnt and secondly when I told other residents they were highly amused and I am sure will add it to the list of amusing incidents that I created for them whilst on holiday.

Went with Cassie and Amy for a meal in the town, unfortunately it turned quite cold and the restaurant we went to that should have had a Greek show with a fire show never materialised (possibly that would have kept us warm) so we gave up and went back to the complex to warm up we relaxed by watching Shrek 2 on the TV.

19th October 2006

Got up early again, had breakfast then went to coach, this time much better organised courier was already on the coach, seemed to spend a long time picking people up from various points, unusually it was a double decker coach, we then went to various destinations such as Mouse Island which was very pretty.

We also went to Vlacherena Convent which was also picturesque in a beautiful setting.

We stopped for lunch at Paleocastrititsa which was another lovely little bay with magnificent views.

Finally we go drove up the narrow country roads to the little village of Bella Vista, I was amazed at how the driver managed to negotiate the little winding roads and streets, but when we got there the views were well worth the effort as you can see. Although you cannot see it I enjoyed a beautiful piece of walnut cake with ice cream and syrup whilst enjoying the view.

We then returned and I anticipated telling everybody at the complex about my day out, so had a bath and went down to the restaurant to find it totally deserted, despite this Spiro the waiter opened up the restaurant and arranged for very enjoyable meal for me to eat. After the meal I sat and chatted with some of the other residents who had then appeared.


20th October 2006

For those of you who are now getting bored we are nearing the end.
After a week of lovely weather it was really cold all day. I packed my belongings and moved them into Cassie and Amy's room which we had agreed to share the cost of rather than keep two rooms on until midnight. We then went down to reception who decided this was not a good idea to leave us in their room, instead we were moved to the opposite block on the top floor up three flight of stairs, as were the other residents who were moving out.

Went into Sidari for a break but it was cold and miserable so did not stay too long returned to apartment and spent most of the day just chatting. There was no heating in the apartment so had to put the electric rings on to warm the place up. Went down for meal then afterwards chatted to other residents until it was time to board the coach at 1 PM.

Finally got to airport joined the queue that did not appear to be moving, finally got to front to find that all cabin luggage was also being screened by security. Finally got into departure hall, said goodbye to Cassie and Amy, and went off to board my plane, only to find it was the wrong flight, eventually it appeared my flight was called so joined the queue to find it was another Tog moment it was the wrong airline. Saw another queue so checked and found this was my flight so finally was able to relax on the plane.

For those of you who have good memories you will remember that on the outward flight they played videos with no sound, surprise surprise they did it again. The good news was I could go to sleep until woken by the flight attendant offering a rather strange concoction for breakfast which helped wake me up.

At Manchester no problems my friend Tom arrived promptly to pick me up and his wife Wendy gave me a cup of tea together with some food and a portable TV to keep me going until mine is repaired(see previous Blog)

I would like to say a special thanks to Tom and Wendy for their assistance getting me to and from the airport, and a really special thank you to Cassie and Amy for their time and company putting up with me, tolerating all my strange behaviours, without making me feel foolish.

4 Oct 2006

Rip-off of The Single Traveller




I desperately felt I needed a holiday so off to the travel agent I had used last year, and explained all I wanted was a simple holiday for a week anywhere on a half board basis under £300, which I felt was reasonable, because with all the problems of the world surely holidays would not be expensive out of season in particular when the same travel agent had found me a nice hotel on the beach in Alanya last year for much less without to much effort.

We spent a good 2 hours trying top find a similar holiday but then I finally realised that supplements of up to £100 pound for me as a single were being added to the cost, which does not make sense when there appears to be lots of cheap packages that nobody else is taking up & that most countries other than Britain charge by the room rather than the number in it.

In the end I gave up and went searching on the internet, great there were loads of holidays with all the places I could want to go until I entered the fact I was single, then up the price went again.

Next I thought that I would try the singles holidays sites because surely they would have holidays at reasonable costs for the likes of me.

Sadly yet again the holidays were way out of my reach although some seemed to have interesting sections so you could get over the difficulties of being on your own & arrange to communicate with other like minded people before the holiday commenced so you would not feel so lonely.

In desperation because its only another week before my holidays commence,although could it be that the fact it is friday 13th have anything to do with my dilemma, off to the travel agent again. Amanda who had been very helpful previously now told me that she was busy, so I was dealt with by her college who frantically tried to find me this elusive holiday, sadly with no succes unless I could up the limit to £350 plus for a 3 star hotel in a back street. I therefore gave up the chase & sadly left the shop.

But down the precinct I suddenly thought I would try another travel agent & went in to speak to Dawn who had always been pleasant & obliging, so I explained my dilemma to her and she was great and also instructed her college who was yet another Amanda to help out, because fortunately there were no other people waiting to be served.

Dawn quickly found the only holiday I had been offerred previously which I explained did not really suit my needs, then fantastic, Amanda found 2 others that seemed to fit the bill. Unfortunatley the first could not be found either on the Gazetter or anywhere on the internet so I declined, then she found another all inclusive in a 5 star hotel in Alanya, well done Amanda. We checked it out and there were reasonable reports on Tripadvisor and the price was a very reasonable £350 but the tour company was one I had never heard of called Goldtrail so I said I would have a think and get back to them.

Having thought I have decided first thing today I will go in and book because otherwise I will end up as I did earlier this year at somewhere in England where it will be cold & damp as in my picture of Scarborough in August this year shows.

Well if anyone out there is reading this and can suggest a better idea for my holiday problems for the remaining week I have before the end of the year please let me know, or if there is someone who will start a pressure group for us hard done to singles please let me know.

If you continue to follow this post I promise to tell whether I managed to book & whether it is a bargain or a total disaster

Wednesday evening, sad news I rang to book the holiday and its gone spoke to Dawn & we will try again at weekend

6 Oct 2006

Well done Dawn and Amanda today I went looking for another holiday, thinking there would be no more success, surprise surprise, Dawn and Amanda managed to find me an inexpensive holiday in the resort of Sidari Corfu, I realise that it is only self-catering but at a price of £170 for a week in a nice quiet complex I don't think I could have done any better. Now all I have to do is sort out my clothes and get some money.

I will provide an update on my holiday when I return.

3 Oct 2006

Big Feet No Trainers

I have been trying to buy trainers for the last 3 weeks, I have size 11 feet that are very broad, my last pair of comfortable trainers are falling apart, plus I have 2 other pairs that are fashionable but make my feet ache if I wear them

Why do people like me have such problems trying to find shoes & trainers to fit, when I go in shops I try to make the choice as wide as possible, with no specific brand or type, to increase my chances of finding a new pair, because I have known this problem in relation to shoes all through my 59 years. What do young people with big feet do? are there shops that deal with people like me?

Also why are they so suprised when as I did in desperation find a pair that seemed okay, but later caused my feet to ache? so then back to the store for a another type or refund only to find they have nothing else that fits and "sorry we dont do refunds only credit notes" so I now have a credit note in a shop that sells nothing I want.

Are there shoe shops out there that have staff who are knowledgeable about their product and also cater for us "Odd sizes" because I feel that most of us bigger people just resign ourselves to struggle.

What about a pressure group to change the world for us bigger sizes , maybe we should picket the big manufacturers even create Blogs to raise the issue.

1 Oct 2006

Proms in The Park Manchester 2006



Well the first Blog has gone out so thought I would try another whilst I have your attention so here goes.


This year I and 2 friends decided we would go to Proms in The Park for the experiance of A Lifetime, because we had been watching Last Night of The Proms on TV for years.


Because 2 of us have mobility problems we arrived early to find a suitable place to camp with our table, chairs, food kettle stove etc. The weather was ideal although we had come prepared for a soaking as there had been last year

We checked the platform erected for people with mobility problems which was well placed, sadly the toilets were a quarter of a mile away at the top of a hill, so thinking of our bladders and the time and energy that would be involved we decided to move up the hill to the back for a better view which worked very well the time was now appox 6pm.

The sound was clear & not to intrusive, what it was like at the front I can't imagine, so we settled down for an evenings entertainment, which generally was very good, although, the low point was half an hour of adverts for National Savings and the fact that there were hundreds of people queuing for the toilets ( I think there were about 8 for 10,000 people) but being disabled has its advantages at least they let us use ours.

I was suprised because there did not appear to be that many people at the event early on but as it got darker more arrived including a young couple who decide the best position to watch the entertainment was lay on the floor which i imagine was quite cold, their situation was made worse by the fact that it was now quite dark and people did not appear to of considered that there may be Promenaders so low on the ground.

We finally reached the part we had waited all night for the singing, I was suprised because although the people at the front were singing their hearts out, from about a third back of the crowd it was distinctly quiet and our little groups singing & clapping did not seem to make up for the silent majority ( what on earth were they there for if not to join in).

Eventually we sadly reached the end but just before that 2 of our group me being one needed the toilet which worked out very well because just as we finished our visit to the toilet the fireworks went off at the back of the hall where most of the audience could not see them, so I have include a couple of photos for you to admire.

The evening was a great success & we plan another visit next year well done BBC

Frightening New Experiance of Blogging


Well hello out there in the blogging world, I have consulted The Rough Guide to Blogging, looked at some blogging sites, have talked to some friends, thanks again to Alan, Brian and Andy, so now this is the start of my great new adventure in the blogging world.

I hope this blog will be interesting to you all out there, including sharing the exciting plans for my approaching retirement,as well as my thoughts about my day-to-day life experiences.

Included will be some of my photos past & present with a particular interest of mine in sunrises And sunsets.

It is my hope that the blog will be funny and interesting to anybody reading it.

Please feel free to make any comments, constructive criticism will be welcome

Bloggs to come include

Proms in the Park Manchester 2006,

Why I am having problems obtaining Which best buys

My forthcoming holiday adventures,

Plans for my 60th birthday (honest they are more interesting than you think)

10 October 2006

Last week I was asked if I was willing to be interviewed for one of the local radio stations Tower FM as I am a user of Bury Shopmpbility & have been for the last 10 years.

Of course I said yes this is all part of my new adventure, unfortunately I have managed to contact a nasty virus which has taken its toll so reluctantly I had to cancel my chance of stardom
yet again

Despite all this last night went to a meeting about vandalism by local youths in the area, most of the night had no positive outcome, but then when i objected about a council member of staff being nieve when she felt it would be a good idea for local residents to ask for names & addresses of the vandals, it was a police officer who actually said it needed the problems to be traced to their roots & thqat he intended to start asking for car registration numbers & any other information as well as videoing the offenders then visiting them at home to discuss what their parents were going to do to help resolve the matter, I felt that was a small victory for common sense, lets hope it happens.

Wednesday 11th October

Decided against commonsense to go to work today although I still was not recovered, I took medication to help me keep going, the problem is at work that my voice got worse as the day progressed, which is not much use when your primary role is to answer the phone.

Got home to relax and watch the soaps, was greeted by elderly neighbour wanting help because the TV was not working neither was her phone also the doorbell was not working, said would go and check my flat first, did this at first everything seemed okay, until noticed that was no light on the video television or DVD, so decided to check out why. Remembered I had lent my test lamp to a mate, my neon tester would not work and the battery had gone in my meter. Borrowed battery from my smoke alarm, checked fuses all had gone, rang mate who brought fuses, replaced all fuses plugged in DVD which caused loud bang, checked cables found aerial lead was beyond repair. TV and video still not working.

Remembered house contents insurance with Egg, tried the phone to find that didn't work either luckily I still have my old one so changed it for that, rang claims department, told cannot make a claim until tomorrow morning so much for 24-hour service. (Should have said that going into the TV withdrawal process)

I thought never mind I will listen to the radio or CD, switched on system surprise surprise, that had given up the ghost as well, after a lot of effort I finally found out that it was the amplifier that did not work.

At this point decided to go and see my neighbour, her TV & digi box were not working neither was her phone or intecom on the door, luckily her son was coming next day so said ask him to contact to the insurance company, said I would ring about the phone and inform her son later this evening.

Then spent another hour getting my old amplifier out and connecting it up, I could now listen to a CD, but then I realised that I had not eaten, so prepared snack.

I then rang my son and told him what a brilliant day I had had.

Finally totally exhausted, full of my virus I decided to go to bed, picked up my glasses and the lens fell out. What a great end to a fantastic day.

Thursday the 12th

I woke up still full of flu, so rang work and explained also that I needed to sort out my insurance claim.

Rang Egg spoke to young man who said somebody would ring me back, explained I am on holiday from tomorrow evening.

Rang TV man explained problems, he was very helpful but unable to assist in the short-term.

Rang Lawrence my magic computer expert, who said bring computer he would give me a swift answer, took computer, within half an hour he rang back to say it was the lead total cost an amazing £5 so went and collected it, connected it up and it works. Only problem broadband would not work, so rang Lawrence again absolutely brilliant advice so now back on Internet. Thanks very much Lawrence.


Then spent next two hours trying to sort out my three neighbours telephones with little success.

I forgot to say that I had managed to get an appointment to see my GP later today so will find out whether or not I am going away on holiday.

Next had phone call from Egg, they want to sort out claim but not until tomorrow at 11am, explained I am going on holiday, did not seem to make much differance

Friday 13th October 2006

Today I had an interview by telephone with my insurance company, what I found a bit worrying was that they asked me to tell the story twice which for a TOG is a big order in particular when we struggle to remember what we did five minutes ago. Anyway the good news is that they have accepted the claim and when I returned from holiday I will be able to sort out my TV etc.

Well at long last I will soon be on holiday, but after packing the traffic reports said there were problems on the motorway, so I decided to leave early for my friends Tom & Wendy, who were taking me to the airport. I have decided to start a new post to tell you all of my adventures in Corfu.

So please all you readers out there, now please go and have a look at my new post entitled A Lonely TOGS Adventures in Corfu.

5 November 2006

Having just finished my last post I thought I would have a quick look at a Blog my friend and advisor Brian had suggestewd namely that of the 43 bus
( http://the43.blogspot.com/2006/10/how-it-was.html ) sorry I would insert a link in its proper place but still having problems doing this.

I really enjoyed this, such a change to some of the very strange Blogs I have come across so far, even when looking at the Blog awards.

Have suddlenly realised, it is 6.45 and I am getting cold because the heating has not come on, so now need to decide with all this excitement do I go back to bed and try to sleep, or get up dressed then go for my sunday paper, wait for the next exciting episode, in a Togs new adventure