My invention!!!

You see here my invention. Well I say mine but its a joint effort between me and fellow Lock-tec comrade Glen.

This is the DCB01 Lock-tec door control board and very shortly, the first 50 will roll off the production line and pretty much be installed straight away.

I dont want to divuldge how it works just yet but this clever bit of electronics controls an electric lock in a door and monitors the door to see if it was indeed opened legitimately or if it was forced open. It also squeels like a banshee if the door is left open too long.

Its all about keeping doors closed, locked and secure people!!

So there you go, its taken 35 years but finally I have had a big part in inventing something useful.

You want to buy one you say? Well of course, these babies can be used by anyone for an as yet undecided sum!!! just make the cheque payable to me and I will fill the blanks in!!!

Behold the glory of the DCB01.....one very proud man here!!!!

Chiropractor............CRACK!!!

I thought it was worth try another route to settle my hand numbness and pins & needles sensation so today I visited a Chiropractor for some treatment following a recommendation.

I have to say, this guy showed no mercy and pulled me apart!!!

I came to the conclusion a short time ago that if putting pressure onto my neck increases the sensation then there is a chance that relieving pressure in my neck could decrease it. Obviously the man thinks he can help and took my money for 20 minutes of sheer pain!!!

And the result? I have to say that I may have slight hopes here. No miracles happened but it definitely feels less than it was when I went in there.

so I am up for 3-4 courses to see where it goes. I will keep you updated.

Extreme-ly good show!!!

The first time I saw Extreme was at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert at Wembley Stadium on 20th April 1992. I then saw them again at the GMEX in Manchester in 1994 and then I waited another 14 years until earlier this week to see them again!!

Talk about a band on fire. I went with my mates Nick Bartlett and Phil Ballantyne and we had a great time. I am still deaf 3 days after the event.

These guys really seemed to appreciate their second coming and although at first I was bemused at paying 30 quid to get into a 15 quid (at best) venue I really felt it was money well spent.

I think Nuno is still a guitar God and Cherone is a great singer for the band too. Well done guys, it was good to see you again.

On another note, they were supported by Hot Leg. A band formed by former Darkness front man Justin Hawkins. I was looking forward to seeing them as I saw the Darkness in 2002 before their fame and they blew me away. So anyway, a fall from grace has occur ed and apart from the comedy codpiece with 6 inch nails in it, Justin did not look interested. It was obvious to me. If you dont like it mate, dont do it. Simple as!!!

Melmerby Hall

Kerris and I had a lovely break away at Melmerby Hall, near Penrith in the Lake District last week and seen as though I have not used too many pictures on the blog for a while, please see below..........

Melmerby Hall is a huge old country house dating back to the 1300's and it was a lovely place to spend a few nights.

We had a lovely room called the "Victorian Room" with a 4 poster bed which although looked wonderful, it was hard as a rock!!!

Kerris looked especially good on that bed though.......(hope you dont mind my love!!!).

The highlight of the weekend was a black tie dinner on the Saturday evening which was a great chance to get dressed up. Kerris was the belle of the ball and as always, looked divine.

I say this quite often to Kerris but to me she seems like the kind of woman you see with other men!!! Never in a million years did I think I would have someone who looks this good as my wife. She is also very intelligent too, so not just a pretty face!!!

There were lots of very well turned out pretty women.....

And of course there were a collection of very well turned out men too!!!

Much merriment ensued and lot of wine and beer flowed. Yes, Kerris managed to have a glass too many and completely lost her memory of the latter part of the evening.

Kerris is a true trooper though and managed to get over her hangover the following day to still look hot 1893 feet above sea level at Hartside Viewpoint on the way to Alston for lunch.

And its a good job she did go out exploring because we found a lovely little waterfall where a nice man told us off for ignoring a closed sign!!! How can a waterfall be closed I ask you?

So there you go, less words and more pictures. I hope you like it and as for the sexy bed pic, I have lots more like it, but you aint never gonna see those!!!

God bless America!!!

I purposefully try to avoid commenting on politics. I dont do politics really. I am not Labour, Conservative or Liberal as in my humble opinion, they are all as bad as each other. They only want to find more stealth ways of taxing you and here I am in beautiful Middle England bearing the brunt of the subsidies given to the lesser income families and individuals while at the same taking the brunt of taxes to ensure the rich get richer.

There is not a lot of basis for this sweeping statement but thats my opinion and I am entitled to it.

So as far as I am concerned, politicians in general are here to do no good which is why it worries me that Obama has been elected in the US.

I have no beef with the man but what I do know, and I know it so well is that he is the first black American President.

Seen as though we are little USA and have had this merry go round rammed down our throats for the last 10 months, I feel that I should know the man and his policies intimately....but I dont. All I know is that Barrack Obama is the first black American President.

I am not racist and I dont care for the colour or creed of our leaders but the reason this man got in was because of the colour of his skin and not his policies.

So it seems that in America, their choice of politician is as pointless as it is here.

I hope I am wrong. I really do.

Introducing the "unsocialable" Mr Mike Jackson

Kerris worries about me and she struggles to understand certain aspects of my personality and recently, we have been talking about my apparent unsociable side that comes out every now and then when we are out socialising. I told her that I would put an entry on my blog to explain so here goes....

Now I don't know how many people read the blog who would consider me unsociable but if you do then perhaps this may help. Hopefully, most people who read this will think "what the hell is on about this time".

Well my unsociability comes about from the fact that the career I chose forces me to have to be social to people. I am a sales rep by trade (if you can call it that) and for the last 10 or so years, I have met every man and his dog as I have traipsed up and down the UK peddling my wares to all and sundry.

Now being a sales rep means that you have to learn to kick up a conversation with someone. The amount of people who you meet who are rude, arrogant, abrupt, offensive, defensive and every other word that describes how a person may treat you without being polite is astounding.

Every new person I meet in my sales role could ultimately benefit from what I have to offer and its a waste of my time and theirs if all they want to do is move me on as quickly as they possibly can.

So as you can see, you meet a lot of people. You also meet a lot of nice people but I am not concentrating on them right now. You can generally judge within about 30 seconds whether you are there for some business or you are there wasting your time and that is something that comes with experience.

So when faced with negativity, you try your damnedest to find common ground and you small talk with people about anything or everything trying to find that hook that they will bite at to bring them onto your side. This small talking has created a stigma in me over the years.

So when in a room full of people I don't know, you would imagine that I would be the best in the world at getting people talking? No, quite the opposite, I view it in the same way as I would view a sales situation except in this situation, I don't have to meet a sales target or call quota so therefore I basically have been known, on occasion, to switch off!!!

Hence the unsociable Mr Mike Jackson.

You see working in sales is not natural to me. I never asked to do it, it wasn't what I dreamt of as a youth (I actually wanted to work in the Forestry Commission) and really, I just ended up here!! I make the best of it and I enjoy it. However, sales is not where I excel, I excel in supporting people who need my help and that is where I stand head and shoulders above anyone else in this god forsaken industry!!! I help people!!!

Problem for me is that you have to do the whole sales thing to get to the support thing!!!

So forgive me if I see certain situations and relate them to a small talk sales call, I see a room full of people and sometimes I just sigh and give up without even starting.

I have done this far too many times for my wife's liking and its good that Kerris has pointed it out to me when it happens because those people surely don't deserve to be treated in that way by me, they have not done a single thing to make me look like a miserable sod, its just all inside me.

I am trying to be more sociable and this weekend, Kerris and I are off for a few days staying in a stately home in the lakes with several other couples. There will be drink, fun, a treasure hunt and a black tie dinner. I will bypass the unsociable circuit and smile a happy face.

Apology....

I had to make a heart felt apology to a friend this week and I feel a lot better for doing so.

I don't want to go into the details of the matter but I would like to talk a little about why I acted the way I did as I feel its more appropriate to the situation.

Anyway, the friend in question is Jim Thurgood and yesterday I called him for the first time in months and apologised for giving him the cold shoulder over a matter that -

1. Jim was not even aware of.
2. It was a matter that could have been sorted out very easily if I had spoke out at the time.

Instead, I did something that I know I do far too often. Its my whole "not telling people that I am angry routine".

This routing kicks in with me when something really annoys me but since I am a general all round good guy, I let it sink somewhere deep down and well up for days, months, years before it finally comes out in an extraordinary way.

Yesterday was a break through for me, I did not let the matter consume me, instead, I picked up the phone and talked to Jim about it and then apologised profusely for the cold shoulder treatment and in turn Jim was gutted to hear why I was angry and he also apologised too. we are now great friends again.

I don't have a lot of friends in life, I know lots of people but as far as how many of them I could describe as friends is another matter. Jim is a friend, a great friend and I am overjoyed to have him back!!!