It was pointed out by one of my collegues (the lovely Marie) that other members of staff had been featured on johnsunter.com, and she had not.  She also said that I had been insensitive.

The picture above, isn’t actually a picture of Marie, its some random person I found on with web, who like Marie, is pregnant, has brown hair and has a pretty smile. I think this counts as a featurete, so clears up the first one.

Earlier today, Marie was discussing Caesarian birth. The conversation continued as to the practicalities off the operation. I commented (in my usual bullish style) that the small scars were normally reserved for footballers wives, and that she would look like a Shark had, had her by the time the NHS were finished.

I’d like to apologise sincerely to Marie. My attention grabbing attempts to shock, can sometimes hit the wrong target and this was one of them. I’d also like to apologise to anyone who works in the NHS and performs these kinds of operations, I really didnt mean it.

While I’m on the subject, I may as well clear the air completely.

Later that day, I said I would like a CD made up of different tracks, featuring Noel Edmunds being tortured. The idea was the CD would feature different tracks reflecting different kinds of inflicted torture, which I could listen to while relaxing.

I didn’t mean that either (although I’ll be damned if I’m apologising to that tool).

I hope this clears things up.

John

Well, with the Blue list completed,  its back to normal blogging. I’ve committed to catching up with and keeping up to date with old friends this year, so its fairly friend intensive this week.

Sponsorship from Antique Pine Imports.

I’ve been making a few extra quid doing evening deliveries with my mate Glenn. When we were on the plane to Budapest (budapest 1, budapest 2) Glenn asked me if I had ever been approached with sponsorship of johnsunter.com. Suffice to say, I hadn’t. I know it’s a cliché, but if somebody paid for the running of my site, then they might one day try to change it, and I could never let that happen.

As it is, Glenn’s offer, didn’t actually involve money (in fact, it didn’t involve anything, apart from me advertising Antique Pine Imports out of kindness). I’ve decided therefore, that it would be okay to accept “sponsorship” on this basis, and would therefore recommend Antique Pine Imports where I helped out for a couple of days, last year.

For the purposes of full disclosure, Glenn has invited me around to his house and cooked steak twice in the last 6 weeks, and when I helped out delivering furniture, it paid for 2 trips to the pub.

From the mouths of babes.

I was at work the other day, and the subject of what is your favourite animal was raised. My favourite has always been the elephant.

The reason: well, its been proven by zoo’ologists (or whatever their called) that the elephant is the true king of the jungle and in a fight could beat a lion or tiger with ease.

That said, its still a graceful and wise animal, and the traits of power and dignity are what inspires me.

Lisa in our office, commented that she had seen an elephant “taken down” by some Lions, and that my premise was wrong. I was a bit surprised until she pointed at it was a baby elephant, and there were 3 or 4 lions. Its hardly the same is it.

Tone heads for Morocco and solo walking.

Well, my walking partner Tony is off to Morocco at the moment.

He will be climbing Toubkal (>4000m, the highest mountain in North Africa). I wish I was going, as I have always loved Morocco (4hrs flight, yet you will meet people who live as people lived in the bible).

In the meantime, I will be walking on my own for the next fortnight, so if anyone want to some along, then give me a shout. I’ll be starting this Saturday, with the Baker way, from Chester to Delamere train station (13 miles).

I’m going out running on Sunday. I had committed to run 4 times a week, but injured my leg (I told the Dr I had injured it descending Striding edge, but in reality I fell off the train pissed, on Christmas eve !)

Tidying up my house and un-cluttering my mind.

A book I always enjoy reading – Your pocket life coach recommends finding 3 things each week, that irritate you slightly.

The logic is that ultimately, important/serious things in your life will be/have been dealt with due to urgency. Carole argues that the less important things, bang around in your mind, and over time take days off your life.

A significant problem (in a small way) was the untidy cables under my work table at home (I probably spend more time sat there, than I do on the sofa). I had all the tools and equipment to sort it, just never got around to it. When I actually got to doing it, it took about 45 minutes, and looked like this.

My computer and other peripherals don’t perform any faster or more reliably, but my overall experience is significantly enhanced.

On the subject of sorting things out in the house, I polled a few friends about the continued presence of the whiteboard in my living room.

A few comments I received:

“It’s never updated so you obviously aren’t using it”

“You say its useful for explaining things, but you live on your own, are you talking to yourself”

“If I went out for a drink with someone and ended up back at his house and found a whiteboard, it would be the end of the evening”

Tragically, the whiteboard is toast, it will be taken down, and ill use the one in the loft from now on.

Phonak’s own Laura Croft prepares for Adventure.

My friend Lyndsay is going to the Amazon, and to do the Inca Trail.

I have been advising her on what equipment to take and stuff like that.

Lyndsay is doing a creative writing course. You can read some of here stuff in Lyndsay’s Blog

I finally buy a spoon knife.

Its been a while since I did any sort of bushcraft course, although I bore Tony for hours, as were out walking through the woods, explaining what each plant can do (I probably get half of them wrong, and I’ve told him he risks poisoning himself if he ever acts on any of my suggestions.

I also point out tracks and explain what animals have passed this way (he was baffled when I saw footprints and said a heavy drinker in his 70’s with an Alsation dog. He asked how my tracking could be so accurate and I reminded him of the fat man with whisky breath who’d passed us 10 minutes before with his dog !).

After much procrastination, I’ve finally purchased a spoon knife. A lot of people don’t realise, that although you can carve 60% of a spoon with a conventional knife, the bowl requires a crook knife (unless you want the bowl to be square, or something like that).

When I’m doing the baker trail on Sunday, I’m going to find an appropriate piece of wood, and begin the creation of my spoon collection.

A visit from Dave Littlewood, and I find out about Quidco.

My old friend from IBM, Dave Littlewood came down last Saturday. We had a cracking time in some of Chesters more traditional pubs, and a hearty feed at the all you can eat Chinese buffet.

In the evening, we visited the Frog and Nightingale. A shadow of its former self, the band consisted of more members than there were customers, on a Saturday night.

On a practical note, he told me about a website called Quidco. Basicaly, it uses pay per click linking, and allows you to pay yourself (so if you buy a flight from Expedia, the money actually goes to you, as a percentage. Im going to have a go, and tell you all how it works out).

Its still 2 months away, but I’ve been planning my birthday on the 7^th of May. I hope you can all make it.

Near and far, the search for adventure continues…

Firstly, appologies for not updating this site recently. I know that a lot of you are busy all the time, and when you make time, to come here, to read updates and there arent any, it must be slightly annoying.

As many of you know, I completed the Bluelist about 14 months ago, I just never got around to writting up the pages about it, and kept putting it back and back. In the end, I motivated myself by saying that I wouldnt update any part of the website, until the Capetown pages were complete.

I’ve done that now. The culmination of years of my life, I’ve written the final section of the Bluelist. I’ll be back updating  johnsunter.com from tomorrow lunchtime, in the meantime take a look at Capetown 1, Capetown 2 and Capetown 3.

Near and Far, the search for adventure continues…

Evening Bowling.

I’ve never really enjoyed 10 pin bowling. No, that’s an exaggeration, I hate it with such passion, that I imagine only languages which have died out, posses words to properly describe my feelings.

This mainly comes from previous visits. Typically, I have been invited out on “corporate” nights from many different companies. Put simply, I associate it with formal evenings, pretending to be social ones.

In any event, I am hopeless at bowling, and since I mainly have a couple of beers, I can’t help feeling that we should remove the bowling from the equation entirely, and simply have the beers.

The other evening was different. I was invited out by Claire and Lisa, and Chris met us later (so that I wasn’t the only bloke). We got something to eat, had a couple of pints, then headed to LA Bowl. I have to say, there wasn’t much about LA going on in there.

At one point, some Gypsies, had exchanged their shoes for the flat shoes used in the bowling alley. Since they preferred their “new” shoes to the old one, they had decided to leave wearing the bowling shoes. The intervention of a manager, resolved the problem.

Overall though, I was impressed with the setup. The scoring was completely computerised, they had lots of different sizes of ball, and you could order drinks and food at your “lane”.

After about 40 minutes, they dimmed the lights, and the alley looked like a sort of disco. Then a dj started banging out tunes from Now 77. There were a few different gatherings, including a coming out party (they were easy to spot, they were the best dressed men in the building !).

Back to the action. Well, amazingly, I won 2 games out of 3, and did pretty well in the 3rd. The company was interesting and genuine, and overall, I had a fab time, and I have changed my mind entirely, about bowling.

Old friends from Newton Heath come to visit me in Chester.

I ran into my long-time friend Nick (middle of the picture), at my mums funeral. It wasn’t the best time to meet an old friend, so we arranged to meet up again afterwards. I had a pleasant evening in Newton Heath, so invited Nick down to Chester.

Nick brought another old mate, Gary Hilton with him (right of the picture) and another mate called Pete (for the benefit of the thick people reading this who haven’t worked it out by elimination, he is the guy on the left). I first took them back to my house, so they could drop of bags etc.

Unfortunately, I forgot to check if they actually had any bags, which they didn’t. I showed them around my house, and my recent DIY efforts, of which I’m proud. Problem is, these are all practical men, bragging about putting up a small shelf, was received with laughter (although they did like my mountain bike).

We head for the Mill Hotel, and I realise that Gary and Pete, are both Real Ale fans. They were very impressed with the Mill. Nick and I had our usual Lager.

Next off, was Oddfellows. Not the poncy club on Lower Bridge Street, but the basic home of the seasoned drinker, on Frodsham street, near Iceland (Gary had visited Chester before, and knew his way around, quite well). The Frog has re-opened under new management, but its so big, that it always feels empty. We had 2 more pints, then headed further into town.

Turns out, Gary is really into Origami. Above is a shirt, which he folded from a £5 note.

I had told them, about the Albion, but when we arrived it was closed. Heading back into town, we had a couple of pints and something to eat at the newly done up Custom House.

A couple of pints in the Union Vaults, then the Town Crier, before its time to go, and the lads jump on the train. They stayed for several hours, but it felt like half an hour. It was really cool catching up on things at home, talking about old times, and stuff like that.

I’ve lived in Chester now, for 10 years, and couldn’t imagine living anywhere else. That said, I’m from Manchester, and when I go home, it will always be there. Take care lads, and thanks for coming down.

Out of the blue email from Sonja an Jens.

A couple I met in Australia in 2004, and who I describe under the Friends section of my website, as probably the nicest couple I have ever met, got in touch again recently.

Sonja and Jens, what an amazing pair. Sonja, a charming, confident and pretty girl, and Jens, an openly friendly, genuine and resourceful man. They had been reading about the weather problems in Australia, and it had reminded them to look at johnsunter.com and see what I’ve been up to.

Well, since we last met, they have got married, built a house and had a little boy called Lennart. Congratulations, I’m going to Munich sometime this year, I hope I can get over and meet them.

Other crap.

Its said that by the end of January, 60% of people have given up on their New Years resolutions. I have barely had time to start mine. Loads of exciting stuff happening at work, 90% of my plans for the house completed (plans for the whole year, and its only January) and several packed social weekends, havent left much free time.

Things have turned around a bit now. Instead of just using my mindmap, which I’ve used for the last 10 years, I also draw up a monthly to do list (otherwise, some of the easier tasks, end up slipping into the last 2 months of the year, I suppose thats the problem with a yearly plan !).

Couple of random thoughts that hit me recently:

1. Wouldn’t it be cool, if you could go camping, with a tent like the one in Harry Potter.

2. One of Akon’s songs begins  “nowadays seems like everybody want to be cooks”. For those that dont know, this isn’t an aspiration of joining Jamie Oliver and his friends. They are referring to “baking-up” crystal meth amphetamines !.

My brother gave me a printer for printing my own snapshots, which I can now frame, give away etc. Reminds me once, when I went to pick up some developed photo’s. The lady who normally worked around the back, brought the pictures out, and said “so your the pub photographer” turns out, she had developed loads of my pictures, and wanted to see which person in the photo’s I was.

I’m also trying to put myself out there (whatever the hell that means) as suggested by Susan Jeffers in Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway.

I went to the Chester Film Society to see the Lemon Trees on my own. I really enjoyed the film.

I also went to a meeting of the Chester Globetrotters. Part of a world wide organisation, interested in Adventure Travel. There first meeting of the year, was at Chester museum. I went with Amelia and Tony, and we watched a talk by a guy who had lived in Japan for 7 years, and another on the Hill Tribes of Vietnam.

Just goes to show, instead of throwing away the free paper, you should look at the meetings and societies section, to see if there’s anything that interests you.

I am considering joining the Chester Ramblers (although its been pointed out, that I ramble quite well on my own, with no countryside in site !).

Tony and I are going to do the Gritstone Trail, in the next month. Amazingly, it stops of in a village called Rainow, where the excellent Lyndsay lives, so will be meeting her for a pint.

Talking of Lyndsay, she mentioned a really good Anecdote the other day, that I must pass on. People like Susan Jeffers (in  Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway) talk about metaphorically facing your fears and not running away from them.

What if your fear was a Tiger. Should you turn and face it ?. Having seen real tigers on several occasions, running away (if you can outrun it) is very good advise. Forcing a stand-off with the creature, will result in you die’ing a pointless death.

On a more practical note, I don’t like dancing, spending time with teenagers or being in the barbers a moment longer than I have too. Is there any reason why I should do/put up with any of those things if I don’t have to, just to prove something to myself  ?.

I always feel you should never walk away from an achievable goal, but only if its something that you actualy want !.

Its my birthday in 3 months. I’ll be arranging a pub crawl around Chester (this year has special significance, as it celebrates a continuous year of normality in my life).

Finally, I heard that the Student who threw the fire extinguisher got time. Good.

Near and far, the search for adventure continues.

Its been said, that money doesn’t grow on tree’s. That’s true, it doesn’t.

Equally, sofa’s don’t fly into your living room, of their own accord, you usually need a van, and a dependable mate to make that happen.

Since Gareth was kind enough to help with the delivery, and get out of bed at 5am, even though he has a young family, I have decided to shamelessly plug the business he and his brother run, for SEO.

Hearing Aid Warrington

Hearing Aid Cheshire

Hearing Aid repair Warrington

Hearing Aid repair Cheshire

Obviously, I work for the Sonovo group, which has Unitron, Phonak and Advanced Bionics in its stable. If however you want to buy a hearing aid, or have one repaired, by a couple of decent lads, then pay a visit to www.positivehearing.co.uk

Once again, thanks to Gareth for his help (his brother can help when I need an armchair 🙂

John

My new Sofa.

I’ve been getting by with a 2 seater for a while, but now I can lie down and everything, while I’m watching TV.

Just wanted to say a quick thanks to the excellent Gareth, who got up at 5am, to drive to Lancaster and pick it up.

The adventure isnt over, as the Sofa is only half way home, and is presently residing in front of the toilets, next to the Phonak warehouse. Another friend Gwyn, is driving it back to my house tomorrow in return for some computer assistance.

8pm tomorrow evening, I will be happily watching Special Victims Unit in new found comfort.

John.

I’ve completed the pages from my recent trip to Budapest. You can view pages Budapest 1 and Budapest 2.