BlackRat

Buenos Nochas one and all……Last night in Gran Canaria till maybe June, it’s been awesome and long overdue.😀 Hot days, cold beers and fabulous company from all over Europe.🥰 As I’ve said before, as one who has had to crack on during Covid it’s great to be out and about and enjoying life as it should be. Super nite with Germans, Spanish and a new group from Switzerland who really know how to enjoy themselves! Back to Blighty late tomorrow and it’s back to the reality of retirement which means mainly house painting … tho got a message today to say there’s live music up the local on Sunday so…… Best wishes to everyone, another honey rum is calling! Get out there and enjoy yourselves…… OLÉ😉

Superb nite out, great international company and great food……Full of Tapas, vino, honey rum and the odd shot. Life is for living. Muey bueno…… So it’s good nite from me and….

Greetings one and all from a warm and sunny Gran Canaria. Not much to report apart from the beer is cold, and tho not fully back up and running, Maspalomas is busy with tourists from all over Europe. Small complex with a great mix, not many Brits so it’s even better. One couple from Russia and one from Ukraine ( now living in Germany) and they get on very well indeed. I blame the politicos. Great to see so many people enjoying normality, it’s not before time. Cheers, Prost, Olé!

Next year!

Greetings one and all ….. warm already! Up nice and early for a quick dip in the pool…..see a few towels on sun beds already! Beautiful biking weather here……tempted to hit pre one for a few days…..or a automatic scooter ?… talking of automatics etc reminds me of one of my mates bikes….a Honda 250 dream, about 1978/79 which used some form of automatic gearbox. Never really took off, shame really as in their wisdom BMW have placed the clutch in such a position in my bike ( R1200RT) that the bike has to be split in two to change it….. not a job for the feint hearted and a likely bill of about £2,000 to get a main dealer to do it. Youd think they’d learn…..the latest incarnation they’ve done the same with the alternator! Now where’s me cold beer…..

Greetings from a very warm and sunny Gran Canaria…… great to be back on holiday after 2 years attempting to get back to some sort of normal. Booked this holiday over 2 years ago, and rolled it over 5 times till now….still can’t believe we are here. Sunshine, cold beers and tonite dancing around the pool to live music with Germans, Swedes, Dutch, Norwegians, Belgians, Italians, Spaniards of of course Brits. Great to be back to some sort of normality and have a life back. Like many, instead of hiding under the bed I’ve had to crack on and get on with it so it just feels so good to be back to some form of normality…..and even in Spain, the mask regulations are easing tomorrow. Happy days! olé

I had the pleasure of meeting with Haystacks when he was wrestling in the ‘Carlton Suite’ club in Liskeard….. I was on foot patrol of the town at the time, when a large brown Merc pulled up, and it appeared to have no driver! It was adapted so he could basically drive it from the back seat! He asked me the best place to get pasties from, so using my local knowledge I duly directed him. We had a brief chat and he was a very pleasant bloke to talk to. Now as a 6’2” ex Marine I thought I was big ……. I think he was about 7’ and mahooosive as we say!

I know what I was doing, like many others, working as normal. And when I wasn’t….. delivering prescriptions as a volunteer till I realised many of whom I was delivering to just couldn’t be bothered to go the the pharmacy to collect theirs. Did meet some lovely people tho who were genuinely shielding and they were more than appreciative to see me, some on a daily basis. Still was a good excuse to be out on the bike, …. on very quiet roads….…… happy days! Don’t think I’ll see the roads as quiet as that again.

I’ve dealt with addiction and alcoholism with family members and friends and professionally. Every one had a back story. You have nothing to be ashamed of and I hope you get the support you need to get thru this.

Well……. Due to circumstances beyond my control….. I won’t now be at the SWAG Bash but instead I will be sunning myself in Gran Canaria whilst drinking ice cold beer. Some of you I will see before but to everyone else….I’ll see you in 2023!

Pot noodles…. The saviour of shift workers and those on active service. Many’s an occasion it was the only hot meal available in the time. I for one was thankful.

WoW someone’s been busy! They are all looking superb, as I thought they would.

Great work Trev!

A prediction for Gwiver…… now the tests have to be bought, watch the numbers plummet. Have a friend who tests daily, wears a mask in their own house, hardly goes out etc etc etc. He has hoarded tests and thinks he is ok to test daily for several more months……then “We will be in the middle of the worst yet!” I‘Ve offered to buy his bike, which hasn’t been fired up in 2 years!

Well, looks like we are back, not sure it’s a good thing tho… I actually managed to get lots of things done! Hope everyone is safe and well.

Welcome back!

Now that’s what you call a bent rod!

Got the T Shirt!

Morning one an all and greetings from an almost sunny Cornwall. Early start to finish tilling sons bathroom, almost have the end in sight, as the actress said…. Family history can be quite enjoyable and it’s funny how many have ( allegedly) Royal connections….. lol….all that bedding of the downstairs staff. Mind you when you think every generation you go back you double your grand/great/great grandparents etc so you only need to go back a few generations to have thousands of ‘grandparents’ and goodness knows how many distant cousins…… I guess we are all related somehow. No royalty here…… mothers side were the Oatens from Wells….. paupers of the parish allegedly and the O’Sullivans from the Emerald Isle, they came to Wales as part of the great migration and were also skint. Didnt I do well as Brucie would have said. stay safe.

I’ve had problems with my right knee, clicking, locking etc….. the pain would wake me at night. A few weeks ago I was persuaded to buy a neoprene knee brace, thought it wouldn’t work but to be fair it’s been brilliant and most of the pain has now gone……. Well worth a try?

Excellent modelling!

Best compliment I ever had……. “I can’t believe you were a copper!” To be fair, neither could the hierarchy!

Out of mischief I just might

Greetings one and all and apologies for being AWOL…….the last weeks have been a little crazy to say the least. Covid, knackerd knee and elbow ( I blame a mis spent youth in the R.M.), numerous DIY jobs at my sons have all taken a toll on my time so not been here that much. Been on ‘terminal leave’ from work, as I made the decision to leave working for the plod after 35 years. I just can’t stand working for the organisation any more, and being a dinosaur it grates to see the wheel being reinvented….yet again. So after midnight tonight that’s it, freedom beckons and I can rejoin the human race. I Hope everyone is safe and well, or as well as can be and generic greetings, congratulations etc to each and all. Now off to dump what’s left of the plod stuff, happy days indeed.

Good luck with the new career Nick! Having family in teaching, I know what you have been going through, and what the last few years have been. I retire from the plod today ( again) after 35 years, I just can’t stand the environment now and what it has become. Best wishes and looking forward to the Launceston layout!