Christian Ainley my day to day

 Golf balls sold 376  It was an early start today, after a healthy breakfast of granola and yogurt it was straight into the course work. I was tasked with laying out the evaluation tools to improve a business and explain the measures I would put in place to change its working practices so a full on essay. It was fun to lay it out and write it though and to break down the task into its different elements.  For lunch it was a nice walk to Windsor and Eaton for lunch in Côte Brasserie. It was confit of pork belly with gratin potatoes. Now the pork was very fatty but I guess that’s because it’s belly. But I loved it and the service was good. With a crème brûlée for dessert all was right with the world, a pink lemonade and bottle of tap water was perfect. It was a nice walk home with a new book to listen too.  I came home did some more course work about signs and information management techniques before heading up Gallions path. I’d sold 16 Callaway Speedsoft so needed to...

 Golf balls sold 360  It was a walk up Gallions path today, but I was to late as another golf ball picker had beaten me to it. It was a nice walk up to the top of the path and back. I did find 2 balls on the way back but they were only fit for a value bundle.  Tomorrow I’m going to get some rest after work and let my body recover as I’ve been pushing hard.  Have fun stay safe 👍🏼

 It’s back to the gym today, despite being tired I pushed through. It was cross trainer to kick off and intervals on level 13. 1.49km and 379 calories it was good.  The gym was busy today so it required a bit of skill to navigate and get an effective workout in.  Starting with machine chest press, 20kg building up to 33kg nice and slow to getting things going.  On to incline press and only adding 10kg but good form and descending sets with 12 reps down to 8 and failure. Mainly because I was too lazy to hunt for different plates 😉.  Flys next on the machine and starting light at 35kg and building up to 50kg.  Wide machine press next and starting with 26kg going up to 35kg  Cable flys to finish and nice and light starting with 14kg a side going up to 18kg a side.  It was a nice work out and something to build on.  Have fun stay safe 👍🏼

  Great news about my current course, lean organisation management techniques ! I’ve passed the first unit so I’m a third of the way through the course ! Only two more to go, I have to say it’s a tough course with lots of essays and writing so be sure you have the time to dedicate to it if you’re taking it on ! If you are thinking about a course try the customer service level 2 first to get a taste of online course first !  Have fun stay safe 👍🏼

  It’s out for a walk this afternoon, I wanted to make the most of the sunshine and try to gather more stock for the golf ball business. It was good going today finding 16 balls and I was able to find my twelfth Taylormade tour response so I can finally list a dozen.  I’ve also received my first negative feedback on eBay turns out I posted 24 hiviz ballls via Royal Mail and they only delivered 10. The customer only payed £1.50 for them so I’m not too broken up. It’s been a good day and my burnt arms are settling down with some after sun applied. Have fun stay safe 👍🏼

  Arguably since the Second World War the Middle East has been a constant flash point from the birth of Isreal in 1948  right up to today there’s been constant conflict and political instability.  Jeremy Bowen was the chief Middle East correspondent for the BBC from the late 80’s. Living in Israel when getting a bus could mean losing your life. The end of the Iran Iraq war, the first Gulf war and through the start and ultimately aborted peace process between Palestine and Israel. Of course Jeremy has covered the Arab spring and the decline of Syria. That seems like a lot! I’ve missed more out I’m sure ! Jeremy takes you back to all those moments that shook the world and tells you what it was like to be there. When the Israeli leader is assassinated and he breaks the death to the world or what it was like to be a young reporter and reporting that NATO had made a mistake and killed hundreds of civilians in an Iraqi bomb shelter and receiving the backlash from it. It’s a fas...

  The weather being so nice and having a free afternoon I thought I should take a walk up Gallions path and see if I could find some more stock for my eBay business. I’ve started listening to a new book which I will report on soon.  Some poor soul had broken down in his car on Wexham park lane right on the narrowest point near the point where I cross over. He’d placed the No fly tipping sign a few meters behind his car and this was incurring lots of abuse from traffic that had to avoid it last minute. I should have come home that way to check on the situation but I wanted to pop into the local shop for some supplies.  It was a good hunt today with 11 balls and only one for the junk box ! With 9 hours of exercise over the last two days I’m going to unwind this evening before going back to work tomorrow.  Have fun stay safe 👍🏼

 It’s Slough Town’s final match of the season against the newly minted Dagenham and Redbridge FC and the weather was glorious with even a little bit of sunburn from the late April sun.  Walking to the match as it s only 15 minutes away from my home you get a sense that it’s close by when the smell of burgers and fried onions carry on the wind. I treated my self to a cider expensive at £5.40 but I guess thst how a small club makes its money. There was a small wait to be served but it moved quickly. A novelty for football fans is the ability to take the drink outside within sight of the pitch !  Being a lunch time kick off I also treated myself to a cheese burger and chips. The price £11.40 for a cheese burger with a small portion of chips the picture is what you get.  Now on to the football it’s self, for the first half I stood behind the away goal and that’s where most of the Slough fans gathered. It was a good vibe with drums and wheels bins being drummed and chants...

  After yesterdays long walk this morning I went to the gym, started off with rowing and 3800 metres in 30 mins is good going.  On to deadlifts nothing crazy just adding 20kg then 30kg. Rows next on the machine starting with 42.5kg going up to 55kg Narrow cable rows next and again 42kg up to 50kg Then later pull downs to finish starting with 50kg and dropping down to 42.5kg  Only four sets today as I was a little fatigued after 19 miles of hiking yesterday but I kept the motivation.  Have fun stay safe 👍🏼

 288 golf balls sold  Had a nice lay in this morning until 7am then had breakfast before settling down to some course work. I’ve been putting it off all week because it’s a long essay on how the Kaizen principle can be applied to business which means writing about different tools and methods within the kaizen process and giving examples. I managed to get through most of it, I still have Plan, Do, Check and Act to tack on to the end to make it complete.  I did nip out to drop some golf balls off at the parcel shop 16 Srixon marathon soft sold last night. It’s going well the golf ball business but I’m running low on stock so I’m hoping lots are out tomorrow so I can gather some more stock for sales.  After writing out most of my answer with examples I decided to get out for a walk, I wanted to push a bit further today so set out for Savill garden in Windsor great park, it’s 8.5 miles walking from the flat and I had a nice lunch of haddock and chips with mint mushy peas...

  When anyone thinks of British comedy they go straight to Monty Python, The Two Ronnies, Dads Army or a host of other comedy shows, but they all owe their existence to The Navy Lark.  In the late 50’s and early 60’s Tv’s were expensive to even rent never mind own, so lots of families would listen to the radio instead. The BBC were the only real radio stations so that was the option. Luckily the BBC invested heavily in its programming and bought classics like ‘The Goon Show’ that lunched Peter Sellers to be a household name. The other light comedy on the BBC was ‘The Navy Lark’ it's available on aubible or even for free on you tube and it's the root of that 70’s 80’s and 90’s comedy you can hear it in the shows especially Monty Pyton.  The crew of a fictional Royal Navy frigate find themselves in lot of tricky situations mainly because of the enept crew and swindling Mr Pertwee. Give them a listen and see how much of latter shows you can spot in the writing and performanc...

 Golf balls sold 226  The weather was good so it was an out for a walk, I had to drop off some Taylormade Distance golf balls at the parcel shop and then it was up Gallions path. It was a nice dry walk but there aren’t many mid week golfers so it was only 5 golf balls today and I’m still missing my elusive Taylormade tour response golf ball for my set.  It’s been a nice day and it was good to get some sunshine and feel the warmth. It’s home for some rest before work tomorrow.  Have fun stay safe 👍🏼

 Golf balls sold 204  It back to the gym today and it was straight on to the cross trainer intervals level 14. Not my highest pace but I got through 30 mins. 370 callores and 1.51km.  It was on to tri push down macystarting with 42kg and going up to 57kg. Cable machine next and rope pull downs 16kg up to 28kg. Overhead pulls next and starting with 20kg up to 28kg. Cable bar pull down 16kg up to 28kg. French press to finish starting with 17.5kg down to 15kg. It was a good session I need to keep it going 🤔 Have fun stay safe 👍🏼

 Golf balls sold 156  It's back to work today and lots of walking so I passed on the gym and came home. I put on the new Bergerac on U but I have to confess I dozed through it.  I di want to get out and make the most of the good weather so it was a quick hike up Gallions path after collecting my WeWards. It was good hunting today as there were 16 balls on the path. I'm waiting to get one more Taylormade Tour Response as I have 11 and they sell fast. But it wasn't today! I came home and listed some more for sale so I can shift some stock. It's going well though and the box that holds my stock doesn't look so messy now. It's been I nice day I'm hoping to get to the gym tomorrow after work. Have fun stay safe 👍

 Golf balls sold 136  It's my second rest day and after a nice lay in followed by a hearty breakfast it was out for a walk. The bluebells are really out in force and there are vast areas of the ancient forest that are seas of blue as the the flowers move in the gentle breeze.  Because the weather was so good I decided to extend my hike and do a lap of Blackpark too. It adds another 4 miles on to my hike making it just over 11 in total, of course I had to reward myself with a very overpriced ice cream covered in crushed Biscoff biscuits at £5! It was a nice gentle walk back to the flat, the roe deer where out in numbers I must have seen six different deer on my journey, most of them ignored me and carried on grazing.  I did go up and down Gallions path and today I found 20 golf balls to sort clean and sell. The afternoon was spent on coursework I had to resubmit some questions from the first unit and tomorrow is my deadline. One question took me a while to re answer a...

 Today it was a bit of an adventure, while millions watch the premier league teams of Arsenal and Manchester City and a few even watch Tottenham! There is of course football on your doorstep. Using the grassroots website my friend and I decided to give it a go. The premise is that you pay £25 and 24 hours before a match you are sent an itinerary of where your match is and the local pubs. Our match was in Sutton South London so a train from Windsor and a couple of changes and we were there. It's the last home game of the season for Surton United and it's Altringham a tricky side. We picked up our tickets from the booking office, there was a nice Sutton United badge for each of us and a complementary drink voucher too.   The match it's self was rather good, Sutton scored a goal mid way through the first half and were playing well.  A quick half time pint and it was out for the second half. Unfortunately Sutton dropped off the pace and allowed Altringham to win 1-2 but it wa...

  If you’ve looked at this blog in the past you might recall that I have a soft spot for Berlin. Don’t judge until you’ve been ! It’s a truly cosmopolitan city where nearly everything goes and even though you’ve only been in the city for minutes or hours you feel included. Trust me go and visit.  Well the last time we went for a visit we  went on the Berlin tunnel experience where there was a tour of some of the tunnels that were dug under the Berlin Wall in the early 1960’s. It was good and we even saw one of the tunnels that remains to this day.  Helena Merriman has captured the Cold War and Berlin during those tense years. Giving a history of Berlin and explaining how and why the wall came into being, you are then embedded with a group of former east Berliners who are tunnelling to get their loved ones to the west. It’s brilliantly written and you feel as if you are part of the team digging from that basement.  With Cold War tensions, a love story and the thr...

 76 golf balls sold !  After nearly a month it’s back to the gym, I’m going to be honest it was tough to get back into it. Started off with 30 mins rowing and covered 3661 meters.  Bicep curls next on the machine starting with 20kg going up to 27kg.  Preacher with an ez bar next and started by adding 20kg to the bar then adding 5kg.  Preacher curl on the machine to finish and starting with 15kg then adding 5kg A slow start but hopefully something to build on next week.  Have fun stay safe 👍🏼

  After a busy few days and 28 miles covered I was felling a little run down so decided to rest today. I have sold a few golf balls though 60 in total it’s a good start and a few trips to the parcel shop to get them dispatched.  Hopefully I’m feeling better tomorrow and I can get back to it !  Have fun stay safe 👍🏼

  The weather has taken a turn today and it was wet for most of the afternoon, I headed out in my raincoat and tracked around the estate to find today’s WeWards before going up Gallions path.  The bad weather must have kept the other ball hunters indoors as there was a lot to collect compared to previous days, 9 in total which is about average for the summer, the weather broke and I was bathed in brilliant sunshine on the way back home.  It’s been 21 miles in two days so tomorrow I’m going to head to the gym after work for a change and stay warm. It’s been a good day all in all. Have fun stay safe 👍🏼

  It's my first rest day and I had a nice lay in, well only to 730. I woke up and got stuck into some more course work. I've submitted the first unit of lean organization management techniques so starting the second unit and it starts with Kaizen and continuous improvement.  I completed the first two essays and headed out for a walk. The weather was forecast to be chilly with showers so I put the rain cost on and headed out. It was to Windsor the long walk and lunch in Coté Brasserie today. It was nice but the server forgot I was there.  I've placed some golf balls on eBay and made a sale of some Speedsoft by Taylormade, they are the colourful inked version so I'll be posting them tomorrow. I've also sold some TP5’s at worked so it's a good start.  Have fun stay safe 👍

  In 1970 Paul McCartney was 27 years old and had been a member of the world’s biggest pop group since his late teens, it’s all he’s ever known and it all ends ! The Beatles are to go their own separate ways.  There are a range of options open to him, he’s made enough that he can happily retire and live a comfortable life and for a while he escaped London and the constant routine of legal meetings to wind up The Beatles and decompresses on his Scottish farm with his young family. Briefly indulging in to much whiskey Paul needs an outlet for his creativity and forms a new band Wings.  This documentary takes you inside the process of going from The Beatles to Wings, the struggles and the choices made along the journey and the music that came from it. It’s an interesting documentary that’s will resonate with Beatles fans and anyone who’s had to transition from one life style to another and the period of adjustment. McCartney is open and discusses the highs and lows with equa...

  It’s hard to convey what it was like living in the late 80’s when the Cold War was at its hight. The rhetoric from both sides and being told the end of the world is only four minutes away. Both sides staring each other down in Berlin and each performing exercises that put the other on alert.  Dale Brown the author certainly knew about it, being enlisted on a front line F-111 squadron he was at the tip of the spear trained to to penetrate soviet defensive systems and obliterate the toughest targets deep in the Soviet Union. He brings all that knowledge to the page, this is an early book so it’s not polished but the aerial sequences are really well written and put you inside that aircraft with the fears and tensions of the crew and the manoeuvres of the aerial ballet making you clench as the unfold.  The story is good a little bit embellished but that’s the whole point of the book and the imagination of the author. Patrick Mclanahan who would go on to have a 18 book seque...

  The weather is nice and warm and I didn't feel like being cooped up in the gym so I headed out for another walk. Only me, an audio book smd the warmth, it felt so good afternoon that cold winter.  Only 7 miles today and 2 golf balls there was another collected there so I missed out. It's now a nice chilled evening. Have fun stay safe 👍

 The weather was really warm today so I headed out for a walk at lunch time. It was around the estate to start to collect my WeWards for the day and then up gsllions path, I decided to continue on up to BlackPark and do a lap of the lake.  Blackpark was absolutely jam packed with familys enjoying the sunshine. There was a very large radio controlled yacht but it was being packed up when I got round to that side of the lake and I didn't want to annoy the owner by taking a picture.  It was only six golf balls today but that's not bad. It was so nice to get out in the warm and enjoy the sunshine, I think I even picked up a bit of a tan too!  Have fun stay safe 👍

  For those of us old enough to remember in the mid 90’s a medical drama came to our screens called ER, it was written by Jurassic Park writer Michael Crichton and followed the drama of an inner city ER in Chicago. It was gritty, dynamic and bloody, ER took on the difficult topics such as H.I.V and A.I.D.S and bought the reality of those conditions to our screens. Noah Wyle was at the centre of the series playing a student doctor who progresses year on year through the hospital. For its time it was a good watch and every episode bought drama, romance and heartbreak. Ok I'm a fan and I've watched all 331 twice.  The Pitt tries to follow that line with a bit of 24 thrown in as you watch each hour as it develops in the hospital in sequence. I've watched the first few an I think it's ok, it's not as good as ER because that was always intense to watch but it's good to see the characters as the develop over a shift. If you like medical programs and you were a fan of E...

  The weather was nice considering it's a bank holiday, after a light breakfast it was out for a long walk. Starting down the canal and then heading up into Langley park. I picked up my WeWards along the way and we stopped off for an ice cream an the San Remo cafe £5 is a bit steep for a ice cream so be ware!  We crossed the road and headed up Gallions path, it was very busy with horse riders and another golf ball hunter. Lucky he wasn't very good an we found 12 balls, I'm going to have to start listing them on eBay soon. It's The Masters golf tournament next weekend so I'm sure the demand will pick up after that!  We did bump into a stag roe dear, it's rutting season so he was brave as his horns have come through. It was a nice day walking and it was good to get done sunshine.  Have fun stay safe 👍

  Ok I know they're not the best numbers and I'm hardly setting the internet on fire, but I'm learning and developin (hopefully). Do this is a post to say think you for reading and taking the time to decipher my poor English.  Thank you 👍

  If you’ve grown up in the Uk during the 70’s or 80’s then you’ll be aware of  Sir Ranulph Fiennes the adventurer and explorer. Making a trip from pole to pole traveling overland by his own power. Solo attempts to get to both poles in record times and running 7 marathons in 7 days on 7 continents for charity. He was also a member of the S.A.S until he tried to blow up the set of Dr Dolittle in 1967 (no I’m not making this up !)  Throughout history civilisations have developed and groomed elite fighting units to protect their empires. Persians, Trojans all the way up to modern units like the S.A.S and Navy SEALS. Sir Ranulph Fiennes explores those units from their development and battles to their downfall within these pages. There are also times when he’ll explain his own experiences and reference events with his own life that reflect the trials that these elite warriors go through to achieve their status.  It’s a really good book and gives good insight into how elit...

  I woke up late this morning and dived into the course work, I’d made a little progress in Poland working through the first two questions now I worked through some more. I ploughed through a three essays later it was time for lunch. I decided to walk to Windsor and see what I felt like, I did consider Cotè de Brassiere but thought better of it.  In the end I was five guys and a little cheeseburger, fries and a Coke. It was nice and I left a blog card behind. I made my way home and while I was out I picked up the WeWards for today.  I came home and did a little more course work the first unit is split into three sections, I’ve worked through the first two I have one left. I’m going to look at that over the next few days, I have till the ninth to submit it.  It was nice to get out and my headache is starting to ease off.  P.S the toilet code for Windsor five guys is currently 2248 !  Have fun stay safe 👍🏼