Jay, the toothless wonder!!!

Bring on the tooth fairy, there is a new kid losing teeth in town.

5 years, 6 months, 14 days, 2 hours and 47 minutes after he first arrived with us, Jay has lost his first tooth!!! Bless him, he is ecstatic!!! He immediately put the tooth under his pillow and when he returned, it was gone!!! The tooth fairy works fast these days eh!! The fairy has not been back with money yet but in these times of economic downturn, I am sure the tooth must be banked before the release of any equity!!!

Then it all got a bit overshadowed as I spotted he had used a green marker to draw on his carpet and I opened a huge can of whoop on his tiny ass but all the same, its a time for Jay to be happy still!!!

Smile!!!!

Its OK, I am not dead!!!

I just wanted to thank the legion of people who took the time today to text me to ask if I had died following the news of my namesake passing to the other side.

As you can gather it wasn't me and I am not dead.

It brings me onto thinking about the unique relationship I have with Michael Jackson, just by sharing his name, or my name as the case may be. You see from a very early age, I started to get stick on a daily basis about my name and in my younger years, names did hurt and on the odd occasion, I was genuinely upset at taking the brunt of his antics.

As I grew, the name had less of an effect on me and I realised that in fact, this albatross of a name had given me the strength to take any form of verbal abuse on the chin and never rise to it. Much as people loved to taunt me, I have never risen or lashed out in anger because of it.

I got a little older and I began to realise I could use the name to my advantage, as a sales person, you use any trick you can to get in front of people and a lot of times my name actually got me through a door, usually into a torrent of stick but by this time it was water off a ducks back.

Then, a few years ago, everything took a dive again as he faced child abuse allegations. The level of verbal taunting towards me was taken to a new level and this time it had a cruel and uncomfortable side to it. Since that point, any stick has generally been about child abuse and the torrent of text message jokes that I received today reflected that fact.

So now, every time I turn up somewhere in future, I will get "I thought you were dead" which is better than "Hide the kids" so the legacy will remain with me for life.

A few years ago, I wondered if anyone would ever try and sue Mr Jackson for emotional trauma due to sharing the same name as him. I think in America, you could make a case out of it but now we will never know.

In summing up, am I sad he has died? Yes, I have a little sympathy for him as he was obviously misunderstood but did himself no favours. I have long gotten over being spiteful of my name and I have grown to love it over the years and I cant imagine suiting any other name better. So reluctant as I am to say it, Michael Jackson, RIP.

Happy Birthday Mum!!!

Today, Nanny June celebrates her birthday, she is the same age as Elton John, David Bowie, Alan Sugar and Glenn Close so she is in some good company there!!!

My main PC is playing up at the moment so I cannot put a photo of her up here so instead, I hope you approve that I provided a link to watching Liverpool FC beat Man Utd 4-1 earlier this year!!!

Happy Birthday Mum!!! We all love you lots!!! XXXXX

Sports Day!!!

Jay does it again!!! For the 3rd (or it may be the 4th) successive year in a row, he went out there and won his races like the star he is!!! Below you will see the wonders of the Skipping Race and the Flat Race.

Sorry about the quality of the footage, it was taken using my phone as Kerris has taken the camera on holiday with her and Luca has lost the charger for my old camera!!! Anyway, we survived!!!

Well done Jay!!!

All by myself.....and the kids!!!

Kerris has left me....

Well, Kerris has left me and the kids back home while she has a lovely holiday in Greece with her friend Marie.

Originally, I told Kerris that we couldn't really afford to go on hols this year as a family and that if there was a chance then she should go with her mate as I know she cannot function without some sun related action every summer!!!

So feeling like the saint I am, I gave her my blessing and now she has gone for a week and to be honest, I think its not going to be too bad on me!!! I am 24 hours into it and my energy is high and I feel good about the fact that I can do the school run, cooking, cleaning, washing and general housekeeping. I think that Kerris makes it all up being hard work (cue an argument on her return!!!).

So here I am fighting fit but counting the days until next Thursday when Kerris comes back. If you are reading this Kitten, I hope its hot, sunny and you are having a lovely time. If you could just miss me a little as well then that would balance it all out too!!!

Greatest lines in songs ever!!!

I was having a chat with Kerris this weekend about songs which have lines in them that are either meaningful, funny or just damn strange!!! It led me to think of my top 5 greatest lines in songs ever, so here they are in no particular order!!!

• "And computer terminals report some gains in the value of copper and tin" - Nothing Ever Happens - Del Amitri
• "I hang my head and I advertise, a soul for sale or rent" - Save Me - Queen
• "It was a cigarette break, and I was gasping, I saw her pushing a wheelbarrow. She said "you got a match" and I said "Yes", "My cock, and farmer Giles' prize winning marrow" - English Country Garden - The Darkness
• "I guess what I'm trying to say is whose life is it anyway? Because living, living is the best revenge you can pay" - Blood Runs Cold - Def Leppard
• "And when I feel my life is falling down, I'm lifted up when I see your face" - Beautiful Day - ME!!!

So there you have it, great and inspired lyrics. They wont change the world or stop the icecaps from melting but they make me smile when I hear them.

Happy Birthday Dad!!!

Here he is, 1 man and his broken car!!! Constantly striving to make it get from A-B with whichever used or broken replacement part he can get his hands on to do the job!!!

Yes, today, my Dad would have turned 62 and wherever you are and whatever you are doing, have a good one and we miss you and love you.

I think for today, I will recall a mechanically related memory of Dad.

A long time ago, when I was in my mid-teens, Andy brought home a motorbike. I think it was Russian and called a "CZ". I don't know where it came from or how much money exchanged hands for it but whatever it was, it was too much as I never saw it work.

Anyway, hindsight is a glorious thing and at such a young age, I was not prepared to accept this fact so 1 day in the school holiday, me and my mate Soffe were running the bike up and down the entry at the back of Milton Road in the vain hope that it would jump start to life.

Dad used to come home for lunch from the tannery back then and he wandered out back to see what progress Soffe and I had made. Assessing the situation, Dad pointed out that we would never get it working.

I asked why? Did he have some nugget of information that would help? Were we missing the blatantly obvious?

The answer....."Because its F**ked".

No more needed to be said!!!

Happy Birthday Dad, lets see what I can conjure up next year!!!

Not a lot....

I know I havent updated the blog too much of late and I worry sometimes that I have lost the will to keep it going.

Its not that I dont have anything to write about because I do, however, I am really sensitive about writing too much about situations as I feel in some cases, I might compromise those around me.

One thing I have learnt since joining Lock-tec has been when the time is right to keep your mouth shut. My boss Glen, lovely fella, is so cautious about what he says, when he says it and whom he says it too and I used to find it a little infuriating when I was working alongside Glen as a supplier. Now that I am one of the team, I fully understand his nature and time and time again there have been occasions where much as it would have been great to spout ones mouth off and put all and sundry to rights, its been a whole lot better to keep ones voice down and not spout off. I think this has passed over onto the blog in some small way.

I would love to tell you about the delicate and intricate relationships with customers and suppliers and the daily toil whereby myself and a colleague now say "well at least today was only a bad day, we can handle that". On reflection, you dont know who reads this and who then goes onto tell another what they have read so to protect all parties, I keep my mouth shut over such issues now.

I would never dream of that at Ingersoll Rand or Onyx so I think that the fact I keep a lid on what my job entails is a huge compliment to what we do in Lock-tec.

Anyway, there should be a fair bit to scribble over the next few weeks, we have birthdays, holidays, sports days, more holidays, isolation and medication to look forward too.

I think what I am saying is, all the exciting and compelling stuff happens in work and sod all else happens to me outside of work and I dont want to write too much about that so lets try and refocus on the daily stuff instead!!!

Brain Surgery

Every now and then, I see a sketch on a comedy show that really appeals to me and we have recently started watching That Mitchell & Webb Look and I caught this gem. I don't know what you sense of humour is but this really tickled me!!!!

Happy Anniversary Mike & Kerris!!!

Its hard to believe that it was 5 years ago today that Kerris and I tied the knot. I know a lot has changed in this short time but my love for Kerris is as strong now (if not just a touch stronger) than it was back then and while we are not exactly living a carefree life of luxury, I am truly grateful for what I have and it keeps me going whenever I have to face any hardship in my life.

It was a wonderful day, sunny and warm, set in a tranquil location of Shorrocks Hill and to this day, I am sure that everyone felt that we looked after them and that the day was a happy one shared by all.

Looking back, all the kids have grown up so much, friends have come and gone but life goes on and I am happy we shared our special day with everyone.

Just for a change, lets roll out my song and have a moment to consider the words and that lady I wrote them for and remind Kerris once more that I love her and she is the most special and fantastic wife and friend that I could ever have hoped for.

I love you Kerris, Happy Anniversary my love XXX.