We are off on our next adventure, Scarbourough here we come

3 May 2007

Well what about the location of those interesting photos from Hamster, did you guess well just in case it was I wil l let him describe the location

The near bye town where the KFC is located is called BRINCHANG (BURRR-IN-CHANG) and is in the CAMERON HIGHLANDS, West Malaysia. Once again, anyone who has done this excursion from KL will know this place. BT I did not try the KFC as there was a cracking Chinese Coffee Shop less than a block away where the KFC is, and a hundred other places that would leave KFC wanting.... Even if it does come with Rice as the photo shows ;-)

This bank holiday weekend Brian & I are off to Scarborough for a couple of days, I want to try good old fish & chips followed by jam roly poly & custard, then see a show or just relax. As usual we will try to find some interesting photos for the blog

Well readers here we go again, my health seems to be better, but life seems to of become a bit hectic, so Brian & I went to Heaton Park, there were some interesting local animals so these are some of them i managed to photograph.

The first was a strange sort of animal, that I also captured when on holiday earlier this year, maybe it came over for the warm weather. I am told it is quite a shy creature & prefers to hide amongst the undergrowth, I found it impossible to get a front view.

This next photo was of an even rarer beast that I was lucky to catch because it was ill & a vet known locally as a mechanic had come to make it better.

I am told that again it is a local animal not seen outside the area, also that it has a very unusual name & is called the Number 53 tram but that once they roamed all over Manchester, until as usual progress led to the local authority killing them off apart from a few ones that have been cared for.

Through research I have established that luckily these creatures are thriving in other parts of the world & people have managed to harness them as a form of transport.




Finally when I was just finishing I saw this heron that seemed quite happy & oblivious to all the noise from the people visiting the park, it is hard to think this is so close to a major city

At last things seem to be improving

27 April 2007

Hi readers this week seem to of been very busy, my nose bleeds started again, but we seem to have the answer now, the ENT nurse said it is because I am having showers that are to hot & its increasing my blood pressure causing the bleeds, this is a relief because I was getting fed up of getting out of the shower with a nose bleed & no clothes on & then having to seek help.

The problem I have from this is that my osteopath states I cannot have baths so I will have to become a real dirty old man. This is made worse because if I put smelly stuff on to cover body odours they give me headaches, so I will also be a smelly dirty old man.

I went to the GP to sort out my back, she tells me that I have to go through physio, for a month, painkillers & then finally the consultant may!!!!! decide to do something about the problem.

I have finally got permission to have a new computer, which will work with voice recognition, so beware my posts may get longer & more frequent.

AMO is sorting out a design for my birthday invites so these will be going out in the next week or 2, for those of you who are interested I have put another couple of pictures on my other blog they are quite nice & of Prague, have you guessed where the photo at the top is, well its in Luxor Egypt, not bad an amateur I hope this is just another to finish off this post

Another One of Those Rotten Tog Weeks

Well hello all you readers what a week it has been, on Tuesday I went to submit my divorce papers, I thought it would be a complicated process.

In reality all I had to do was take the papers to court, swear on the bible & give my signature twice, to set the end of our marriage in motion, the solicitor told me by the end of next month we will be divorced.

It seems such a shame after so long but maybe it is the only way we can move on.

The following day I started with a simple nose bleed that got worse & worse, & despite my friend Geoff’s best efforts it would not stop so we ended up at A & E at the local hospital, where I spent the day.

I was triaged very quickly but then left to bleed into a bowl for 1 hour until a nice doctor stuck bungs up my nostrils which was very painful, he then informed me that I was being admitted overnight for observation, so I told Geoff & suggested he go home.

Whilst waiting it was interesting to hear about the problems in A & E with capacity it seems they were on code Amber & a waiting list of 2 hours, but other hospitals wanted them to take their excess capacity, & no hospital appeared to be able to have spare capacity.

Despite all this I waited for half an hour for a porter who never came & in the end a staff nurse had to take me to the ward.

It seemed to take for ever to process me on the ward, then finally I saw the doctor at 3.30pm who cauterised my nostrils & said I could go home in half an hour, in actual fact it was another hour.

This was great but I had set friends off to bring me clothes etc in, so then I had to contact them again to cancel it, lets hope it’s a long time before I have another nose bleed.

As you can imagine I got home & was absolutely exhausted by doing nothing all day & have still not yet picked up.

On a happier note I decided to sort out my costume for my birthday, I think I may of finally found something thats even topical, but very warm, the man at the shop said what about Elvis, well what abot Elvis, far to easy.

I also have started to sort out invitations so they may be with you quite soon

Yet another new Blog where will it all end

10 April 2007

Well all you readers I have finally done it despite all the pain I have created my new blog which you can view through the link. http://fastfood-francisthefearless.blogspot.com/

This is despite all the pain I am having at present, mainly because it had to be done.

Have you guessed where the location was, it was in fact in Ronda, in Spain.

Further good news, as you will know I have contacted everybody & already Hamster has offered to take up the challenge & provide some photos from an exotic location.

My friend Kath told me today that she has one of her photos on show at Manchester Art Gallery so to save you the trip I hope to show it on my Blog in the near future, fancy me having such talented friends.

Now for the bad news, it is possible that I may be arranging another concert for Bury Shopmobility & possibly have my first act, so you will have to put up with the ups & downs of this as the year goes on.

Even worse I will shortly be building up to finding my costume for my birthday fancy dress, also Brian & I went to check the building for the venue was still there yesterday, I will be keeping you up to date on progress, as we get nearer.

3 Togs Adventures On The Costa Del Sol

18 March 2007

Today we started on our adventure, first dropped the car off then on to the airport, of course needed to make sure we had passports tickets, luggage labels & luggage,

Got to check-in young lady did new computerised check-in through machine sent us to put luggage in , then person at desk decided to go through all off process again, despite the fact we already had boarding cards.

Went back to first young lady who was equally amazed, but then to security, joined longest queue I had ever seen, but finally we made it, in time to waste lots of time doing nothing whilst waiting for our flight.

Flight okay luckily Brian adjusted very well to the situation, when we arrived in Malaga nice & warm, no problems with baggage, went outside only to find no coach & lots of disgruntled travellers all waiting for the coaches which unfortunately did not come for an hour, worst complaint was lack of information about what was causing the delay.

Got to hotel much better than I thought for price, 2 bedrooms but also 2 bathrooms!!!! They must of thought we were very dirty travellers. Now both tired so both went to bed & left unpacking until morning.

19 March 2007

I woke up early & made the worst decision of the whole holiday that of going out to get water & breakfast provisions, asked at desk & informed by reception supermarket nearby not open until 10.30, so set off to find another.

Saw people with bags of shopping but because I was to stupid did not ask where they got them from, kept on walking ( as the old song tells of Felix the cat, if you remember the song you must be old) finally got to a supermarket but still not properly opened so carried on although legs & feet now aching.

Finally totally exhausted got to Lidl of all places, picked up goods and started walk back, saw bus stop but did not know how to tell them where I was going so carried on.
On the way back passed 3 supermarkets that I had not seen all close to the hotel, but at least we could have breakfast.

Well that was the start of excruciating pain from the blisters on my feet but then again never mind I could relax round the pool for the rest of the week. Not quite it was nice & warm so we went to the welcome party, a load of rubbish, but then decided we would go to Fuengerola, by bus & train.

Bus good , as was the train, Brian practised his skills in Spanish, when we got there this was not the place I remembered , I had forgotten to bring a hat & it was very hot so part of the time was finding a suitable hat for me, we spent some time there but my feet were hurting much worse now, so we made our way back, Later went out for meal & had Spanish omelette, so Brian could have local food. That evening saw on TV that parts of Spain having deep snow what a contrast.

20 March 2007

Early breakfast, still very windy but sunny, feet still very painful, went with Brian to meet Zorro on the train, which worked well, so then travelled to Malaga, where Zorro showed us the local sites including a visit to a local tapas bar, the calamari was the best I have tasted, eventually was time to go back, so we parted agreeing to meet the next day for a paella.

Problem with pain in feet getting worse, so agreed I would return to hotel & Brian would continue exploring. Later Brian cooked our evening meal & we relaxed.


21 March 2007

Sad to say still problems with feet, Brian up early & out, I went to shops then sunbathed on & off for rest of Day. Later Brian returned after trip walking to Fuengerola, this was in time for us to get ready for evening with Zorro again. Met as planned finally we went to farmacia for ointment for feet & plasters, then sought shop for maps for Brian.

Finally went for paella which we all enjoyed, then parted from Zorro, I caught the bus & Brian went for another walk

22 March 2007

Had another relaxing day sunbathing Brian off out on another trip this time to Malaga, in the evening went out for further meal.

23March 2007

Still having problems walking so went sunbathing today, Brian went for walk to local park took photos of various animals & birds, later went evening meal.

24 March 2007

Today went to Ronda for the day by bus, it was an interesting drive up the hairpin bends, a number of motorcyclists roared past, but a little later there were problems because one of the riders had collided with a car, some of the people on the bus must of felt it was the highlight of their trip they were happily taking photos of the scene.
We spent some time taking photos of the various scenes in Ronda.

Then as a special treat we went for a McDonalds which has now given me inspiration to create a new Blog based on Fast Food Joints I & others have visited around the world. Finally it was time to return back to the hotel, we went to our last meal out before our trip back. Tonight the Clocks went forward 1 hour.




25 March 2007

Last day, unfortunately we had to leave the room at 10. 30am so went for a walk with Brian to the park, took series of photos then managed to lose him, eventually made way back to hotel & sunbathed, eventually found Brian & we spent time waiting for coach to airport.

Plane was an hour & half late we all queued patiently but nobody explained why until we boarded the plane, now quite late, eventually landed back home after I had problems with horrible child sat in seat in front whose idea of fun was to bounce on the back of the seat which created problems for me & my spinal pain. When I tried to explain the mother had no sympathy neither did the trolley dolly, until later when the child spilt its food all over their seat.

26 March 2007

Finally got home quite late on Monday morning, I had the presence to of taken the day off so spent most of it sleeping.

Well now have to start serious plans for new Blog & my birthday

I'm Off To Sunny Spain

Well all you readers at long last Brian & I are off to Sunny Spain tomorrow, I fact I am am told by Zorro that it truely is sunny over there despite the fact here they are predicting snow over the weekend.

Therefore I have a last few things to pack, my trusty camera for new photos for the Blog, plus pen & paper to record any exciting incidents that I have whilst over there.

This is despite all the pain from whatever is causing all the problems with my spine, the fact I signed my divorce papers this week ironically the day after it would of been our wedding aniversary, as well as the week after I learnt that in the not to distant future I may not have a job.

On top of this some more of my guests have now told me that they are unable to attend my birthday celebrations, at this rate there will soon be just me.

Francis the Fearless is back

12 March 2007

Well, hello readers sorry I have been so quiet but as you will remember I have been having problems with my spine so it has been hard to sit down on my chair at the computer.

I am now on stronger painkillers so should be able to sit for while, because of this I have been able to make a trip over to Ireland for my daughter's confirmation.

It was nice to see the family again, and a very interesting experience going to the church, unfortunately the priest did not look a happy man, but the Bishop looked like one of those priests from the old American films who you could tell anything. Common sense though states that to have become the Bishop he must have ambition which doesn't fit in with a gentle person.

Whilst I was ill I took a week off work and looked forward to listening to my hero Terry Wogan, unfortunately he decided to go on holiday at this time. I have to say that listening to Johnnie Walker at that time of the morning does not help me to get up or to relax.

I have now seen my osteopath four times and he tells me that I have a prolapsed disc and possibly a trapped nerve and I need a scan, at present the most comfortable position to sit is actually lying down on my left side with a cushion between my legs, which severely restrict my walking.

Anyway less of these problems I have spoken to Zorro who had to return to Britain because of health risks in South America, but who has now gone to Spain for another holiday, where I hope to meet up in a weeks time with him. So we may have some more interesting issues on the Blog in the next week or two.

The other week I noticed 100 Best Musicals of all time were on TV which I eventually managed to record, I had a look at parts of the recording, and came across a little bit that said ”all people who watch musicals and enjoy them are camp and gay” which I feel is inappropriate both for people who are gay and for us other people who as far as we are aware heterosexual and very definitely not camp, although romantics, because we enjoy a happy story, good melodies, and a happy outcome, which are the main ingredients of my favourite musicals of all time, such as Singing in the Rain, Calamity Jane and Annie Get Your Gun.

Well the other, sort of good news that I have, is that I am debating on creating a new Blog on the theme that I originally decided my Blog was about.

Although I appear to have lost direction totally. Therefore the new Blog will be about the fascinating things that have happened to me in the course of my life both happy and sad and pinching Melanies idea I will put some of my old photos on including my one and only appearance on stage in my pyjamas, apart from the time when I was wrapped in a piece of carpet as a dead body, in a play that won second prize in an amateur dramatic festival, when I was later complemented on how well I had acted the part.

Well I will close the but look out for the new exciting Blog soon.

More Ravings of a Sad Old Tog

26 February 2007

Well hello again everybody what a few weeks it has been, I am really jealous of Melanie all she has to say is that she has lost inspiration and that she is going to waffle & she aquires new followers.

Having said that her choice of images and now music definately make her blog much more attractive than mine.

My excuse is that it is now 2 months since I first started having problems with my spine & other bits so sitting down to work has been quite painful, but tomorrow I am seeing my osteopath so hopefully I will feel much better.

I have been trying to find some new photos in particular sunsets, but unfortunately the sun rises on the wrong side of my flat & I get home to late to see the sunset on the other side, roll on the longer days

Well my holiday is booked, the tickets have arrived, & it is only a few more days before Brian & I go on our latest adventure, both are taking our cameras so i hope we will have some great ones to show you all

Sadly Zorro has not given me any more content for the blog but I am hoping we may meet up on holiday, to see some sites a little bit more different than the average outing.

For some strange reason, although I have just recieved the draft petition for my divorce, plus I still have not sorted out my costume for my birthday, I am off on holiday & have just taken on new work in relation to my job, just before travelling to Ireland for my grand daughters confirmation in 10 days.

Despite all this at weekend I was talking about another concert to raise some funds for shopmobility!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (do I never learn)

Another one of those weeks

11 February 2007

Well what a week its been, I have been in pain which finally was diagnosed as a twisted pelvis, sorted out I thought but now have some other painful thing that I am sure will be sorted out soon.( I Hope)

I never seem to of had time to stop all week, Zorro has been sending me useful information to do with the forthcoming holiday which I must admit I am very grateful for, but sending me e mail that implies what rotten people that do my job are.

Despite my RSI in my right hand & arm I seem to of spent a lot of the week writing, & at work I have been assessed for aids to help me with my hearing, surely another sign of Togdom

On the nice side I read an article the other day that maybe will inspire me, namely threebeautifulthings ( if you have time please have a look) because the concept relates to the fact that the nice things are out there, it is just seeing them ( melanie you will understand that)

Despite that on the metro the other day an obnoxious man behind me talked into his mobile about the most boring conversation, apart from mine in a really loud voive for 20 minutes & when I asked him quietly would he speak quieter or wait till he got to his destination, in true style he paused for breath then continued, what was interesting was the faces of other passengers who appearred to agree with me but felt unable to speak out, what a sad world we live in.

There's No Business Like Show Business

31 January 2007

Well hello to you readers, the concert finally took place after a lot of hard work it. For the last few weeks we have tried to advertise the show convince friends to buy tickets and make sure the performers have not lost interest.

On the day of the show Brian and I went up to Bevs to pick up her sound equipment, when we got there, she told us that she was having problems with a throat infection and she was in terrible pain. Despite this she still managed to get ready and come with us to the venue.

When we got there we then found out that the other singer Jean also had a throat infection but was willing to carry on. Eventually we decided how the show was going to run, Bev managed to set up her sound equipment and integrate it with the other singer's equipment.

I suddenly noticed that the public were already coming into the theatre at least we must of provided some unexpected comedy entertainment for them, we tried using the venue's sound equipment but it was incompatible with Bev's so eventually we decided it was best to switch it off, and rather than clever lighting effects, we decided to have a nice standard of lighting on the stage.

Kate had a great idea on Saturday of providing bottles of water for the acts, which she had brought on the day, but we had no glasses drink out of.

One of the best things all the way through was the time and patience that were shown by the management at the venue, in particular James and Chris, on the day Chris was a star, and put up with our strange demands, the latest was could they let us have some plastic cups to put the water in, bearing in mind this would reduce the profit on the bar, despite this Chris again came up trumps.

One of the good ideas James had previously was to put some tables out for the choir at the back of the room which would make it so that the room would look more full. This worked very well.

The other person who was outstanding was Jackie from the choir who at the last-minute took on the role of compere, providing a cheerful entertaining extra act between the others, bearing in mind that there were no rehearsals prior to the show, if you read this Jackie thank you again for helping to make this show a success.

I realised that the best place for me was behind the stage controlling the curtain so I could avert any disasters, so my view of the show was non-existent apart from looking at a pink curtain and listening to the acts.

Unfortunately this did not work because when I tried to decide how much to wind the curtain back I forgot initially to clear it so the keyboard player could see Jean, strangly the audiance actually noticed when the curtain suddenly started moving again just as Jean started singing.

The other thing I did that I hope nobody noticed was to get a drink from my water bottle which was okay until the plastic started to crackle, to me very loudly whilst one of the acts was singing, for me it seemed to reverberate all across the stage.

I really was impressed by the singer Jean who despite her throat infection managed to give a magnificent performance which I and all the others I spoke to agreed we really enjoyed.

Affetside Choir gave their usual professional performance which we all enjoyed, the Sax group conducted by Ruth gave a similar quality but very different style of musical performance.

Bev gave the audience yet another great performance, again despite her throat infection and pain she was suffering, and managed to get the audience to join in and even to dance along with the songs she sang.

Just to show however hard some of us work to make something a success, at least one person complained that the raffle had been fixed. This resulted in me doing a very rare task for me which was going onstage to explain what had happened in front of the audience, as usual the plug was pulled on the sound system just as I got into full flow. There are those who would say what good thing that was, no wonder I prefer to be backstage.

Well the good news, we managed to make a profit, all the people I have spoken to enjoyed the performance, and people even mentioned having another show.