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Morning Chris

Did that blog post sneak in under the radar (love)?

I really don't know where you find the energy or the time to be on the go so much, and I hope your Sunday night was as relaxing as you wanted it to be and that tonight will be another calm one chez Evans.

Our weekend? Mixed. I've been full of cold since Friday but we did venture out to the fireworks display on Saturday night, which was well ..... fireworky!

Danceclass last night was "Fun" - have you ever tried to tango and rhumba whilst sneezing like a mad sneezy thing!?

Today is well, Monday. Nic starts his new job today so fingets crossed all goes to plan there.

Roll on 2pm when I can go home .....

Muchos Amore, and tequila!

Deevs
x

Well Chris, looks like it's just thee and me. Fancy a cuppa?

x

Good morning all,

Morning Deevs, great news for Nic ,and Here too ,hope it goes well for him.

Bondy, twas great to see you popping by late last evening ,well for us this side of the pond it was .I hope that you and yours are well.

Chris,you are nice and early this morning,and yes I think if your mind is set on it being Sunday evening tonight it will at least feel like it,and the nice roast potatoes will confirm that. And that also means it be a short week for you.

We've in fact had a lovely w/end after two away w/ends it was so relaxing to do just to do a bit of chilling ,in fact Saturday was a pj day for me.

But not today ,I'm off to finalize the new kitchen that we have to have seeing as half of it has to be ripped out due to the leak we found that had been slowly leaking,just the work tops to choose ( nightmare )then that's it .And the new one stats to go in 21st Nov ,so should take a couple of weeks ,just be done in time for the merry time eh!!!.

That's my day sorted ,I hope that yours is too,and that you've got something nice in there as well.

Just been listening to Chris and Father Brian ,Love that man ,like to listen to him on a Sunday evening sometimes .

Have a good day all and take care out there .

Bids.xxx.

Hi Chris: lovely to see you this morning! How I wish it was Sunday again, that would be terrific!

Hi Cheryl: that's excellent news about Nic, he has done very well to get a new job so quickly. Hope your cold gets better soon!

I had a great weekend, really busy and just good fun. I was out for lunch on Saturday with three girls I have worked with in the past. We laughed so much, I thought they might ask us to leave the restaurant! And, to add to the merriment, our waiter was the living image of Ewan McGregor, so you can imagine the teasing he received! He handled it all very well, bless him!

Hi everyone else, hope all is well.

C xx

I'll have a quick brew with you Deev as the lovely Scooby says. Milk no sugar ,is it too ealy for a biscuit ??

Bids.xxx.

Morning Crissie

Always makes you week go well if the weekend went well :) and are you going to joinn myself and Deev in a brew before I have to dash>>>>>>.

Bids.xxx.

I'll have a biccie if you've got any Deeva-lady!

Chris, I know what you mean. I don't feel much like I've had a weekend but the bonus should be that this shouldn't feel like a Monday Morning!! It does though!

Am just planning the rest of my day as the road between work and home is closed all day!

My journey into work already took 25 minutes instead of 5 (more time with Chris and Jeremey though - not all bad!) but i need to run back and forth picking the boys up which means miles and miles out of my way if I go home

I'm thinking my Mum might like me to visit them for another biscuit after work then I can just pick the boys up and make one long journey instead

Not simples!!

All the talk about CiN is making it seem very real - getting excited now!

Sezza xxx

Morning all

I know what you mean about those weekends. We spent saturday during that C word shopping. I think the loft is now doubling as a warehouse for ELC, other children's stores are available!

Then Sunday was extended family lunch for 8 followed by fireworks, although the boy was not impressed, shirvering with fright for most of it!

Not long now to the donning of those CiN T shirts!

A

Hello CE & Everyone.

Cold but calm here on the Wirral peninsula today.

There's nothing wrong with having your Sunday dinner on a Monday Chris. We had ours on Saturday (don't even ask me to explain!) and I was influenced by your last week's blog and did a lamb roast. It was yummy but this won't happen too often because of the price of lamb these days. Also I'm advised to eat little red meat (pork, chicken, turkey, etc. instead).

MM xxx

Ok, so now it officially feels like November.

I don't think it has got properly light all day. The gardener's still working in shorts though so it must not be about to snow

Right, just need to find a whole heap of tissues for Jeremy's rememberance feature this week - think I might need them from his chat with Chris this morning!

Sezza xxx

Afternoon,

I had to scrape the ice off my car this morning. When i got into work , the heating had blown up. As spare heaters were being plugged in , the lights and the machines went off. Just another manic Monday !

Hope everyone is well,

MC xx

Haha MC - I used to work in a building like that. It was an old Georgian town house converted into offices. Everytime you put a fan heater and kettle on together, the building was plunged into darkness!

Happy days.

I'm not here ......

Deevs
x

Hi Deevs et all
I'm not here either!
Nice to see MC popping in but not really had much time to catch up - did have an OMG moment this morning when I looked at my diary and remembered I'm on hols from work next week - which means that CiN is next week too! Crikey!!!!

Sezza, most dark here too all day and against my better judgement heating is on during the day at home!

Just psyching myself up for my flu jab at 4 - god I'm such a baby! Have asked GD if I can have a "left over from halloween" lolly and a sticker if I dont cry!

Right best get back at it. Hope all is well for everyone.

Oh and BTW CLP - have made 2 attempts at Hestons tatties - very crisp on outside, most fluffy ont inside, but I reverted to type yesterday and did them my "normal" way with the chuck, much much more tasty I reckon.

Laters!
debs
x

Warmth Ter ALL...

Bingo Star 'ere...

After the sad news of the crash on the M5 & having been a truck driver for 14 years & driving my car since 17 (20 and a bit years).... I've written an article about roads & road safety for all to read.

A 3 part article over 3 days on the blog.

The reason i've written this is hopefully maybe by just one of two people reading it they might think twice & maybe we can start to imporve road safety further & reduce the 2,000 people that are killed on our roads each year.... Most sadly that need never be killed!!!

It's good deaths have declined from a steady 3,500 per year to under 2,000 in 2010....
( )

This mainly due to stronger & safer vehicles what with higher build quality, built-in crash zones, airbags, sealt belts etc.... But what can be done to reduce the number further.....

PART 1 - In a moment.....

PART 1 – How To Make Our Roads Safer:

VERY sad to see such a bad crash on the M5, And on Friday!!!
Most road accidents always seem to happen on Fridays... I've noticed this in the 14 years I've been a truck driver... Which is why I've written on the blog before about this and even nick name it 'demolition derby day'... It seems that way because every time I work on a Friday nearly always it's the day I will see a road crash/ flashing blue lights at the side of the road.
Friday is the busiest day with a lot of tired people rushing to get home at the end of a long week working. And tired people who don't normally drive much travelling long distance to see relatives for the weekend. Coupled with the fact people now it's the day of traffic jams, which many are caused/ worsened by road accidents. This leads to a greater feeling of tension on the road on Friday in which people rush more to beat the afternoon traffic jams... Thus all these factors leading to more accidents & exacerbating the situation!

I've seen enough over my 20 years of driving & 14 years to make at least a couple of 'Police Camera Action' programmes if I had had a camera recording everything I've seen/ been subjected to.
I've seen a school girl get flung into the air by a car, I've seen a major crash happen on the M5 near Cheltenham in which a HGV driver failed to notice the back of a stationary traffic jam... It ran into the back of the stationary traffic, resulting in a silver Ford Mondeo upside down on it's roof & the HGV up a grass embankment.
Only a month ago I arrived at a crash on the M62 that had only just happened. People speeding in heavy rain had aquaplane out of control. The result a small car hit at force side on by a large Mercedes. They side of the car was very badly destroyed, little left of it... And the female passenger still inside trapped. From the damage I could tell it was not good at all.
The motorway was closed for most of the day after – A sign something very bad has happened.
I've been subjected to road rage & violence from others... I've had my fuel stolen... In fact I've seen most things.
The saddest was a dark evening when 5 horses escaped onto the A55 near Chester. I raced in my HGV up to the next junction & came back on the other side, trying to use my lorry as a road block to stop there being a big crash.
Sadly people would not slow down & were doing everything to get past my lorry. I was driving in the middle of the dual carriageway but cars were undertaking me and swerving half on the hard shoulder to get past me.
The result – Some of the horses were killed outright... All were hit, with the rest being shot right in front of us by police marksmen. I still remember the day very vividly.
We all sat there for 3 hours, including the impatient people who not slow. If only they had given 5 minutes of their selfish little lives by stopping and allowing the owners of the horses to round them up. But no, many people drive with the selfish attitude on the road is all theirs and nobody & nothing should get in their way.
That day as I looked into the eyes of a terrified horse waiting to be shot right in front of my lorry... Something changed inside me. A sadness about why are people so selfish in our society... Especially when it comes to driving.

I do wish I'd documented my 14 years trucking via an always recording video camera – would make an interesting archive of being a truck driver which could be made into a tv programme.

So what caused Friday's M5 crash?

(PART 2 Tomorrow/ On the next blog).

Bingo, you are absolutely right, my OH works with the Roads Dept and he said he can be on the motorway with the crash cushion (the huge big yellow board with the lights and arrow telling drivers to keep over) and he said he has actually seen people running into the back of it and saying "I didn't see it" !!!!!!! Absolutely amazing.

X

Gail.

Bingo,

What a heart felt and very true post and I thank you for it, I've just read it out loud to Mr B,and he totally agreed.

And Friday is a manic day for driving.I find also people drive too fast and too close,yes I can put my foot down when and when I can and still feel in full control.

But I also drive according to the weather ,If it's wet and dark I drive a little slower and I leave a little more room between me and them,and if people wish to over take they can..

That happened earlier this year when we were actually going down to somerset .I was doing a fare speed on the A303 going from single lane to dual carriageway ,thought Id let people go past ..2 minutes down the road ,two cars over the the barrier upside down and all the cars that passed us all stuck at the side of the road.

Like you say ,people are always rushing and don't give a fiddlers elbow for anyone else out there..

The incident of the horses I found very sad indeed, and I don't think I could have driven a car after that ,I'd have felt too responsible for what had happened to those poor horses.

Bids.xxx.

Hi everyone:

Just having a wee check to see what's occurring.

MC: how lovely to see you - I really miss you! xx

Bingo: just a terrific post from you, and it is so sad to read what happened to the horses. I couldn't agree more with what you are saying about the standard of driving. I know I have said it before on the blog, but I had to give up driving when MsS was about a year old. I was on the verge of being flattened by an articulated lorry (I was driving a Mini Metro!) - he was driving far too fast, I had slowed down slightly to read the road signs, and the next thing I knew, he was almost on top of my car. I managed to get away from him, got home safely, and promptly handed my keys to MrS, never to drive again. Some drivers are complete nutters, they seem to have no idea they are actually in possession of a lethal weapon.

My heart goes out to everyone involved in the accident on Friday - I knew nothing about it until Saturday evening, and just could not believe what I was hearing.

C xx

Evening each from a very foggy Fife

Chris, enjoy your roast pots tonight. Not having any dinner tonight as I'm still full from the tea and cakes I was treated to this afternoon from one of my SVQs who has just achieved her certificate.

Bingo, excellent post. I've just arrived home after driving through fog. Honestly, the people who still drive at 70 through thick fog are just stupid - and very lucky to get home safely.

Bondy - so nice to see you. Please come back and let's know how Daphne is.

xxxxx

Hi everyone!

Nice to see you back Bondy!! Try and make it more than an annual visit!! :)

Nothing much to report on here, except Finlay seems to have a bad ear ....again!! Back to the vets methinks!!

Plus still not sorted his holiday accomodation out for Christmas (kennels....Shhhuuusssh!!), and starting to get worried now...!!!!

JG x

Hi all, back again for the second night in a row..... Scary I know. The daphster is good although I haven't seen her in almost 3 weeks as I'm in training for a new job.... Life is ok this side of the pond. Looking forward to getting back to listening to the CLP show and blogging on a more regular basis... :)