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Showing posts from May, 2026

Rest

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  I’ve been having a bit of knee trouble all day so I’m not going to push it today. Just a quick walk to get done we wards and then see where I am tomorrow. Hopefully I can go for a golf ball hunt although looking at the skies I don’t think there will be many people playing golf ⛳️  Have fun stay safe 👍🏼

Back to the gym Tri’s

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  It’s a return to the gym today and cross trainer to start with intervals on level 13. My knee was a little swollen on the left bu I pushed through. Not the best pace today 1.48km in 30 mins.  It was on to Tri’s and the tri press machine to start, starting high at 50kg going up to 55kg. A bit over confident early.  On to the cable station and my usual cable was fixed today so it was pull downs with a bar first. A low weight but slow pace starting with 16.5kg working up to 23kg.  Over head pulls next with a rope starting a bit higher at 20kg going up to 28kg.  Rope pull downs next and starting with 16.5kg nice and slow going on to 20kg  It was French press next and starting with 17.5kg nice slow presses and dropping down to 15kg and failure.  It was a good work out, I’ve got a long way to go to get back to where I was but I must stay focused and make the gym a habit.  Have fun stay safe 👍🏼

Out for a walk

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  I got home from work had a quick snooze and then got changed and headed out. It was a quick tour of the estate before heading up Gallions path. I wore my long rain coat and was glad of it when a heavy spring shower hit.  It was a nice walk I found 8 golf balls to add to my stock, I’ll sort them out tomorrow and hopefully I can list some.  It’s been a nice day all in all, have fun stay safe 👍🏼

Rebels For The Cause, An Alternative History To Arsenal Football Club. Jon Spurling

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  Firstly it has to be noted that this book was published after the 2004 season, and it's interesting to look back at that time. Arsenal had just won the league and everyone looked at Chelsea and the Russian money and how it was going to change football and the model of how a club can become successful.  It's always good to look at the history of something you're passionate about and the history of Arsenal football club was an interesting read. The early years as Dial square in the royal armouries and the move to North London and the politics that saw a neighbour (Spurs) relegated while Arsensl remained in the football league. It looks at that dominant 1930s team all the way through to that famous 0-0 at Old Trafford where six Arsenal players were charged with misconduct.  It's a well written book and if you're an Arsenal fan or you like sports in general you should add this to your collection. It would be interesting for the author to revisit a look how football de...

Gym day

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The weather has declined so rather than walking in the sunshine it's back to the gym. It was rowing to start with a good place 3888 meters over 30 minutes.  It was on to biceps to start with preacher and an ez bar, I started off with 10kg a side going up to 12.5kg a side. It was ok.  On to preacher with plates and kicking that off with 15kg going up to 20kg.  Cable curls next and my usual machine was broken so it was onto the one next door. Starting with a slow 15kg curl and dropping down to 12.5kg again slow.  Machine curls next and starting with 27.5kg and then dropping down to 20kg.  Bar curls to finish and 20kg down to 17.5Kg to finish off.  Not the best session but it was good to be back, I'm going to try and find a balance now I'm free of course work. Hopefully not many resubmits to work on so I can concentrate on walking and gym.  Have fun stay safe 👍

Six Days Of War, June 1967 and the making of the modern Middle East, Michael B, Oren

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  The state of Israel was born with blood in 1948. With little resources using equipment that was surplus from World War Two it managed to survive against all odds. All of Israel’s neighbours plotted to destroy the new state and constantly harassed the plucky neighbour. War came again in 1954 and Isreal made gains and grew in size but the shift came in 1967 that was the year that defined Isreal as a Middle East power and from which all modern Middle Eastern politics can be traced.  Egypt, Jordan and Syria sponsored by rich Arab countries where planning the ultimate downfall of Isreal, with modern weapons supplied by the USSR there were various plans being made on how to accomplish the destruction of Isreal. It started off with small cross border raids and harassing Israeli settlements. Mossad Israel’s security service was being overwhelmed with information of a planned attack. Israel decided to be bold and take the front foot, in probably the most audacious piece of military o...

Long walk, golf balls and new born calf’s!

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 Golf balls sold 420 It’s my first rest day, I know I haven’t posted for a while but I did knuckle down and I’ve submitted my last unit for the lean management course, I’m waiting for it to be marked and any resubmits.  Today it was a long walk up Gallions and around Black park. Not very successful at the ball hunting with only 7 today but I did manage to get through my book.  When I get some feedback from my course I’ll keep you updated I think I’ve made a couple of mistakes but let’s see.  Have fun stay safe 👍🏼

Checkpoint Charlie, Iain MacGregor

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  Of the three checkpoints between West Berlin and East Germany check point Charlie is probably the most famous and notorious. Being in the center of Berlin it’s the focus point of two army’s that are on the brink of war. It’s also the staging point for all the ‘diplomatic crossings’ to east Berlin and where tourists rom the west can enter East Berlin for sightseeing trips or to take advantage of cheaper goods that can only be bought in the east such as Dresden and Mason tableware.  The author delves deep into the politics of post World War Two Germany and the reasons behind the creation of the Berlin Wall before taking you through the history of the only checkpoint to link East and West in the city. He’ll guide you through what it was like to use the checkpoint as a tourist or journalist knowing the the East German secret police Stasi are watching you’re every move with suspicion. The ‘diplomatic’ missions sent into the east to gather information and the hair raising chases a...

Course work, restocking golf balls !

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  I got home from work and immediately started the last unit of lean organisational management techniques. The last unit is about teams and team leading which is ironic as I’ve just finished a course on that. I wrote an essay on what makes an effective team and then headed out.  It’s a bank holiday weekend and the weather is great which means golf for lots of people ! This in turn means many of them will be buying expensive golf balls and systematically distributing them in to the local flora and fauna around the golf course. Being an enterprising golf ball reseller I had to go and take advantage. It was a good haul today of 34 which makes 72 for the weekend and nearly a 20% replacement of my sold stock. Not bad ! I’ll sort them out, clean them and start listing them on eBay.  A good day all in all !  Have fun stay safe 👍🏼

Old Jamaica Ginger Beer

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  No when I was 11-12 Sunday afternoons were about getting out for a cycle with my dad. We would cycle up to Burnham Beeches and have a soft drink from the Spa shop in Farnham Common. I would have a Coke-Cola but he would have an Old Jamaica Ginger beer.  So when I saw it in the local shop I thought I’d give it a go. I wasn’t a fan back then it was not appealing to my sweet tooth. Now it doesn’t seem as strong and I think it might grow on me. I’m not running out to buy another one but I might try a different brand to see how they go. Give it a try it's a unique soft drink!  ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Have fun stay safe 👍

Productive day

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  I came home from work and knuckled down to finish off my second unit in my lean organisation management techniques course. The last few questions were about standard working documents and their use in the work place, I’d already drafted my own standard document based on a restaurant opening process so it was a case of answering the other questions.   Once all was submitted I had a little snack and headed out up Gsllions path. With a long bank holiday weekend I was hoping that plenty of players were out. I headed up and it was a good haul 26 balls today when added to the 11 from yesterday that’s 10% of my total sales replaced.  I’ve started a new book on Audible so look out for that blog otherwise it’s been a nice day, the only downside was ripping I T-shirt hunt for balls but hey.  Hopefully there aren’t that many revisits on my course work, let’s wait and see.  Have fun stay safe 👍🏼

Brighton day trip !

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  Today we woke up and decided to have a day out, now the question was where to go ! We considered a few options Oxford, Portsmouth or just staying local but eventually we decided on Brighton. It was a nice drive down with little traffic and just over an hour latter we were parking, I think I found one of the most expensive car parks near the lanes. The seafront might have been a bit cheaper if you’re deciding to go.  We explored some of the lanes first, it’s mostly jewellery stores and a few boutique stores but worth a look. It was then looking at the pavilion for the pictures. There were some morris dancers as it’s May Day today. We had a look at some of the shops. We headed down to the sea front and the weather was gloriously sunny. A walk up the pier which cost £1 we weren’t tempted by the arcade and fair ground.  We had a walk down the beachfront for a bit and even looked for some sea glass on the beach but they were only small pieces and the tide was high. While we ...