Andy's Blog

In a kind of “you show me yours, and I’ll show you mine” posting, me and Mr Clayton-Bull have been comparing exercise regimes.

Now I am not, in any way shape or form, a power gym user or even particularly that fit, however the following is something that one of the guys I work with uses – and he’s buff!  So I have decided to tag along with it, and add my karate elements.

…and, Damian, I still manage to get to work on time

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I am in the middle of moving some of the web sites I am running, such as this one, onto a (hopefully) more stable hosting provider.  Quite how well this will work out is anyone’s guess, however we are now committed… eek!

I shall leave it a wee while before I deliver any more stunning prose upon you and work out any bugs that this move will inevitably unearth.  Fingers crossed readers!

Spring has finally sprung, at least for a little while, here in Northampton.  To make the most of the sun actually being up in the sky *and* warm, I decided to forgo the usual swim at lunchtime and instead go for a long slow walk along the River Nene.

Shades on, jacket off, shirt sleeves rolled up, iPhone cranked up listening to Hoobestank, best foot forward and don’t stop until either the music runs out or I get somewhere I don’t recognise.  It’s a good strategy, although you have to make sure your chain of command isn’t around to question the hour of your return… it is called a ‘lunch hour’ for a reason… apparently.

The walk along the river does give time to look back, review and plan ahead.  A kind of mental spring cleaning.  I think it’s certainly time to step back from those things that are causing pain, as they have already done, and stop stalking ideals.

The resolutions are going fairly well too, with the following updates;

Get Fit
Apart from a small period of time with the bust finger, I have managed to get to the gym on a fairly regular basis so far.  Weights in the morning, swimming during the lunch break.

Thankfully my weight has actually started dropping and I am now under the 80kg mark!  The unfortunate side affect of this is trousers that now have a habit of migrating South, which is not clever when you have your hands full at the time.

Two Belts
I am sooo close to my next belt I can almost taste it, however I still need to sort out some stuff before I get the elusive strip of coloured fabric.  Somewhat frustrating, probably as much to my Sensei as it is to me!

Get Offline
My usage of MSN and facebook, very recently, has dropped to very minimal levels.  Some of this is due to circumstance, but I took it as an opportunity; every silver lining has a cloud… or words to that effect. 

Looking forward to the days getting a little longer so I can start getting the mountain bike out and around the Country Park, in the evenings, with some mates.  Definite spring developing in the step, even if it is in the wake of a winter in metaphorical terms as well as seasonal.

Nearly 40 and I have a zit on my forehead! 

I thought I survived this particular stage of life, when I was a spotty oike in the 80′s.  Methinks I am regressing a little more drastically than first imagined.

I am not quite sure how to start this week off, whether I already have in a purely theological sense, or how it will finish.

If there is one thing that sums up life at the moment, like a modern day version of the parable, it’s the game ’Parking Wars’ on facebook.  The point of the game is to shuffle your cars around, trying not to get fined and keeping ahead of your friends.

Personal pride seems to keep you shuffling these cars around, never-endingly, otherwise somebody could overtake you on the leader board.  There’s no other element to the game.. just keep moving.

Methinks a deletion of this app is on the books, I need to get a little more control of things.  This, and some other apps on facebook as well.  Actually I have already started the process in that I am no longer socially taggable.

Going round on the Bike this weekend gave me LOTS of time to think things through, do some personal assessment and generally clear cobwebs.  Unfortunately the Biking was at the cost of some chill out time with friends, but sometimes we seem destined to follow in the wake of others and ride the consequences of their decisions.

However, plans for the week are as follows;

• Finally get back to the Gym, after a week off because of the busted finger, and get back into the rhythm of early starts.  Doing weights BEFORE work definitely gets you more alert for what it throws at you.
• Carry on, *not* as usual, with Karate.  Unfortunately my elation, at getting a medal at the tournament, has encountered the rather hard object that is realism.  I seem to have hit a bit of a personal ceiling in my abilities, and unless I can push through that I am destined to not progress any further through the belts.
• As much as possible, try and fade a little more into the background.  My presence, to some, seems to be a source of discomfort and this is something that I never want to cause.  So it’s time to reduce my ‘presence’ and re-schedule my life.

We’ll see how successful I am by the end of the week.

..and the ‘theological’ reference?  Well I was informed, by the lights of my loin, that the school’s local shaman has proclaimed that Sunday is the start of the week.  I am up for being corrected, but my recollection of the Bible was that God rested on the seventh day and the God botherers thought; “Well if HE needs a rest on the seventh day, then who are we to do otherwise?” …and thus Sunday was born”.

So whilst my body whimpers on the Monday it, apparently, should really have been whimpering on the Sunday instead.  Please feel free to correct my delusions…

Seeing as it’s World Book Day, as Mr Fitchett has kindly pointed out and blogged his current reading list, I thought I would also jump on the proverbial bandwagon and also list out what is on my reading table;

• Moab is my washpot – Stephen Fry (@stephenfry)
• Forgotten voices of the Somme – Joshua Levine
• The war for all the oceans – Roy & Lesley Adkins
• The essential Spike Milligan – Alexander Games (Compiler), Spike Milligan (Author)

…and some books that I have recently finished and can highly recommend;

• Bringing nothing to the party – Paul Carr (@paulcarr)
• Dangerous book for boys – Conn & Hal Iggulden
• The God delusion – Richard Dawkins
• Dead funny – Tom Holt

Enjoy

It’s tough when you lose something that you never actually had in the first place.  The measure of yourself is in the way you deal with it; bitterly, tragically heroic, denial or c’est la vie.

Stunning song from a group I’ve not heard of before, on an album I didn’t know I had and found after pressing a button on the iPhone I didn’t mean to.

Sometimes ‘Shuffle’ mode on the iPhone brings up some absolute pearlers, causing you to stop, appreciate and relate to your own personal moment, which is what all great music should do..

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As highlighted by Mr Fitchett, I think time is being changed by some insidious force somewhere.  Blink and we’re in March already, blink again and I have a class to teach tonight and karate grading coming up this weekend. 

What happened to all the days, hours, minutes and seconds between now and the beginning of the year?

I think losing some of my normal habits is starting to tell.  I haven’t been to the gym this week, Karate yesterday was off because no hall was available and I missed my class on Saturday due to the karate tournament.

Old age is a buggar and a half!

Grrrrrrr!

Well that’s it, I am officially bitten by the bug!  I attended my first karate tournament yesterday, Saturday 28th, to compete in the first GKR Central Zone Tournament of 2009.

I decided on the old “in for a penny, in for a pound” mantra and entered all the competitions I could, which were Kata, Kumite, and Team Kumite.

Now for the uninitiated amongst you these strange Japanese phrases, mispronounced by yours truly on a weekly basis, have the following meanings; Continue reading