Itchy Feet

Hi all you avid fans!!, I thought I'd better put a few lines on the blog as it seems to have been neglected this last week or so, the only thing is having something interesting to write that people might want to know?
I suppose it's a bit like Big Brother, we all think it's stupid and boring but we can't help but tune in when it's on!!
You may have seen a recent mention about Steen and Nicola coming over for a few days, well unfortunately they're not able to make it (seems like Steen has finally bit the bullet and got all responsible and found himself a job), so because me and Matt will be "out of work" at the end of April we have decided to go and see them instead.
Its gonna be a bit of a hectic week for us as it's the weekend before we start our RTW trip, but it'll be a good warm up for us!!
Had a call from our Estate Agents today, they are showing some potential tenants round the flat on Saturday, it's the first viewing we've had so we can't really complain plus we wont be in either so we don't have to make small talk and tell them what a lovely flat it is and how happy we've been there ra ra ra.
Hopefully they will like it and move in, that way we may get our deposit back a bit sooner, that said it took Matt months to get his last one back, it seems that the Estate Agents don't want anything to do with you once you move out so you just have to live in hope that the actual landlord plays ball and doesn't start quibbling over specks of dust on his furniture etc.
As tenants you have no legal standing at all, you are expected to hand over your deposit when you move in according to the terms and conditions of your tenancy agreement, but you can bet your life there will be something that's not right when you move out,the Landlord then disputes the full return of your money and it is then up to you both to come to an "amicable" agreement over what will be returned, it's all a massive con, a few of my work colleagues have also experienced the same problem.
We have booked a hire van to move out all our stuff, we haven't really got any furniture as we purposely downsized everything the last time we moved as we always knew we would be going travelling, so we don't have to worry about paying hefty storage costs while were away.
The one thing I am worried about when we go away is my plants!!, I know that probably sounds strange for all you plant less people, but I've got quite a few sturdy yuccas and cactus that I am really loathe to part with, I'm trying to negotiate temporary accommodation for them while were away, (surely there's a business opportunity there? a plant sitting service?!?!)
The last time I went away for a considerable length of time, I asked my best friend Rachael if she would look after my plants, at that time I had two massive cheese plants, a couple of yuccas and a few quite robust spider plants, anyway Rach agreed that yes no problem she would look after them until I got back, she would keep them in her conservatory til I got back.
I was made up and arranged to take them all round (a task in itself)
Anyway the months passed, we got back home, and I got in touch with Rach to catch up and said that I would be able to pick my plants up, thanks for having them etc... she had only thrown them ALL away, in a SKIP!! I thought she was joking but no, she'd binned the lot, apparently she got sick of them been in the way!!
She remains my best friend though to this day... I'm not one to hold a grudge!!

South Park

Back at work so here's something to keep your spirits up! A mate at work sent me this link to a South Park creator (http://www.sp-studio.de/). Here's a couple of chars I "designed". Recognise them??

No place like home

Well as Matt has already said we are enjoying our week off, whenever we've been off work in the past it's always been to go on holiday, so it's nice to just have a week off and catch up with friends and family.
We spent the first part of the week with Matt's parents in Droitwich, Worcester. Went out on Saturday night with a few of Matt's mates (his Reading Ravers!!), we went into Droitwich into a pub called Spiders, which is by far one of the better pubs there, when we got in there were 4 other people in there, by the time we'd got our drinks and sat down we were the only ones in there, and were for the rest of the night. That's about as busy as it gets in Droitwich on a Saturday night, which is good for us as you don't have to queue to get to the bar :o)
Yesterday we drove "Up North" to see my folks, it's been freezing cold and snowing since we got here, although it's a getting a bit warmer now, or is it because were becoming acclimatised?!?!
I've been out this morning to the dentist for a couple of fillings and a tooth out that has been giving me problems. I originally had to have a crown fitted to it as it was too badly decayed to be filled, I paid something like £200 to have a porcelain crown about two years ago, just before Christmas I was enjoying a Thortons chocolate covered toffee and it pulled the crown out, and part of the tooth that it was attached too, the dentist said he could try and repair it or I could just have it out. I decided to have it out,as ever since I had the crown fitted I've had all sorts of problems with it, my gums getting infected etc. When I came out I looked like I'd had a stroke, or like somebody had punched me, all the side of my face was collapsed and swollen, I could hardly talk (luckily for Matt the anaesthetic has now worn off and I can chew his ears off again, I think he was looking forward to some peace and quiet :-))
Also took the car in to get a new exhaust (exciting stuff eh??) so all in all I've had quite an expensive morning, I'll probably stay in for the rest of the day!!
It's my parents Ruby Wedding Anniversary on Friday (40 years) so were all going out on Saturday night in our best bib and tucker for some fine wines and a la ca rte cuisine.
Steen and Nicola text us last night, they are coming over from Switzerland in April for a few days, and are going to be staying with us, we are going to get lots of tips and advice about travelling through South America as they did it a few years ago.
I have a feeling it will be discussed after copious amounts of alcohol, as is always the way whenever we see them!
Will be good to get together again as we haven't seen each other since we went up to Nicola's dad's cottage in Keswick for a long weekend in November.
Only back at work for 2 weeks and then it's Easter weekend woohoo!! and only got 46 more days and were off on our trip, that's 46 more days of luxury!!!!

Sponsorship

Well it's great to be off work on Mondays as everyone hates Mondays at work! They start with what seems like 10 meetings to discuss the week that was and then the week that will be, followed by a meeting with the team to keep them on track. I suppose the good thing is, by the time that's out of the way it's time for lunch.

Anyway, this week I spent Monday morning, well afternoon really by the time we'd left the house, at Merry Hill shopping center (nr. Dudley and yes everybody does sound like Noddy Holder from Slade, "Kipper tie, Noddy? Yes please two sugars!") Now as anyone who knows me, I'm not the best shopper in the world, preferring to do mine on the internet or not at all really. Today was completely different from the Christmas shopping jaunts that I usually end up getting sweaty about. No screaming kids, no Mothers with pushchairs stopping right in front of you for no reason causing you to slam into the back of them. No groups of chavs covered in cheap gold and giving out evils and best of all no queues in the shops.

So on to the subject of this post, sponsorship. No, I'm not asking for any money or anything like that, it's about labels on clothes. I think this coming RTW trip I will be better dressed than when I go to work. It's a casual dress policy at our office, and this can mean anything from shirt and tie to shell suits and miniskirts (and that's just the fellas!). My travel gear so far consists of a Karimor Backpack, Oakley sunglasses, Merrell trainers, Quicksilver trousers and a host of other top names. Now I'm not complaining, far from it, but it just seems funny to me that I have all this top gear when I turn up to work in knackered trainers (they are adidas mind), faded jeans and teeshirts that have shrunk, and they have shrunk, it's not my ample girth expanding. However, after writing all of this one has to look the part otherwise there's no point.

Matt

P.S. And I've got a Berghaus waterproof jacket too!

Grrrrr!!

The drive from Berkhamstead to Rickmansworth is always a tricky one, its a 25 mile round trip. When the kids are at school it is nigh on impossible to drive in on the main roads (A41, M25) so we take the back roads instead. This drive would give Colin Mcrae a run for his money believe me, its single track roads, running through built up hedges, full of pot holes (some of them so bad you can see Oz when you look down them) and with far too much traffic, mostly 4x4's with mum's driving their child to school!! Up to now I've been extremely lucky and apart from a bit of road rage from the Post Man (giving me two fingers while delivering the Royal Mail) I've not had any bumps or scrapes.. until today that is!!
We were driving up an incline to take a sharp left down a single track Road with passing places, in front of us there was another car (it looked more like a dodgem it had had that many bumps, broken mirror etc)
Anyway Matt commented and said watch this driver in front as it did appear to be driving a bit erratic, with that the car put on its reverse lights and proceeded to reverse straight into us, she hadn't even looked in her mirror.
By this time we were surrounded by cars in an extremely tight situation, everybody needing to get to work or drop their child off.
I jumped out of the car to see the extent of the damage but because her car was clamped to ours I wasn't able to see anything so we agreed (or shall we say I agreed) that we would drive to a safe spot and discuss it there, which we did, and luckily for us all appears to be in tact (nothing wrong with Vauxhall Corsas!!!) the driver apologised profusely admitting that she was running late, (like that gives her a license to drive like a loon, with a small child in the back too)

Ooooh give me a boat trip down the Amazon any day...

It's so Easy!

This blogging lark is easier than it looks, although saying that this is only my 2nd post as opposed to Michelle who looks to be posting about every 30 minutes! I've been spending some time, (during my lunch hour if anyone from work is reading this) adding the flashy extras that you'll see down the right hand side. Things like the countdown, the Flickr photos and the site stats. It helps knowing and working with internet savvy people, so thanks to James and Kate for help with the flickr and the countdown. I don't want to put too many things on here though as some blogs I've seen take an absolute age to download and I don't want that as people won't read it.

Well anyway, check out the photos on the Flickr account. Although there's no travel related ones yet there are some cool band pics of The Recovery in action. While I'm on the subject, the fabulous Recovery are playing at Egham Cricket Club on the 31st March, with a new improved set list including Arctic Monkeys, Kaiser Chiefs, Duran Duran and more modern classics.

Best be off.. hopefully I'll post tomorrow too (or if not I'm sure Michelle will).

Matt

P.S. In case you're wondering why I'm having to do all this at work, there's no internet access at home now and it's not worth signing up for 1 month.

Daylight Robbery

Did anybody see the BBC Breakfast news this morning?, they were interviewing a politician about the Council Tax increases that are due to be announced soon. They discussed the possibility of people who have a nice view from their home, or a conservatory etc to be charged more council tax than somebody who has a view from their home that looks like something out of the intro to Coronation Street (rows of houses, lines full of washing and cats napping)
Have you ever heard anything so ridiculous..
At work recently we were having a conversation about the term "Daylight Robbery" and where the saying comes from. Well it's very similar to this new proposed way of charging council tax, the bigger your house and the more windows you had, the more you would have to pay in "Window Tax", which basically meant that if you were working class but had lots of windows in your property you would have to pay quite a hefty tax for the "privilege".
To avoid paying this tax, people would brick up their windows, and that is where the saying comes from "Daylight Robbery"
See the attached link for more details.http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/daylight%20robbery.html

Ouch!!

I've just been on the phone to our Dr's surgery regarding our travel vaccinations..
Im not particularly keen on injections as it is, so it's not something I've been in a hurry to do, I have now been told that it is going to cost us in excess of £200 each!!
How do they work that out?, surely if somebody wants to stick needles in you they should be paying us!!
It's not really the kind of thing you can avoid either is it, there are also no budget options for vaccinations (as if there would be).
So what with my trip to the dentist before we go for two fillings and my injections, it looks like my bonus is going to come in extremely handy!!
On a more positive note.. I booked some tickets online yesterday to go up the Empire State Building, it will be my 2nd time up there, 1st time was when I went with my work colleagues in November 05.
Me and Matt both hate heights so were gonna be in for a fun time, I wouldn't mind going up there in the evening actually and see New York lit up.
People at work keep asking me when we actually leave and every time I answer it always seems to be "in about 8 weeks"
I actually had a dream last night that we were away in some far off place and I went into my ruck sack for a change of clothes, and guess what!!, I hadn't taken any!!
I think that's an omen and that my subconscious is telling me to take twice as much, just in case :o)

This time next year....

We could be millionaires!!
Just spoken to my bro Stewart (whose pic I will get on the blog) and he told me that he read in The Times where a woman moved from London to Northumberland, and had her own blog.
Apparently she was such a good writer and the content of her blog was so entertaining that she was approached by a publishing company and was invited to write a book.
I dont know the relevance of the geographical mention as I haven't seen the article, maybe the blog content was of her move from the South to the North?
Speaking of the North and South, check out Stuart Maconie's new book, it's called Pies and Prejudice and is extremely funny.
He is originally from the North (Lancashire), now living in the Midlands, after some time spent working/living in London.
Its a humorous book that discusses the modern reality of the North of England (as opposed to the popular myths).

Tickets to ride!!

Well our tickets arrived on Saturday (GASP!!)
Its great to actually see them in black and white and touch them because it confirms that its really happening and were really going!!!!
We went into Watford yesterday and got the Rough Guide to South America, its a really good book and gives you a great insight into all the different places, climate, things to see, accommodation etc.
These travel guides are all well and good but I cant wait for the day when somebody actually comes up with a light weight version.
The one that we've bought will probably take up most of Matt's baggage allowance its that heavy!
We'll just have to tear pages out as we go along to make it lighter.
Matt been taking the micky because Ive bought a First Aid kit and some expensive trekking socks.
I know for a fact he will thank me for both when his feet are blistered and sore or he gets a cut.
Its easy to laugh about it now in the comfort of our nice flat with all our home comforts around us...
The closest thing we'll get to a home comfort while were travelling will probably be a shared bathroom with hundreds of other backpackers!!

Welcome

Hello and welcome to our new blog. Over the next 10 months we'll be posting some comments and pictures of our Round The World trip.

Our trip starts on the 6th May 2007 when we fly out to New York.

After a few weeks living it up we'll then be backpacking through South America (Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru, Chile and Argentina), Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and South-East Asia.

I hope you enjoy!

Matt