Happy Halloween

I even got to carve my very first pumpkin, what do you think, now it's time to scare some children...

iPhone UK
The iPhone is coming to the UK on November 9th.

Do I want one yet? - nope, I'm still managing to resist temptation especially as the pricing and tariffs have been announced.

Firstly, you can only supposedly get the phone on the O2 network (I'm on Orange), you have to pay £269 for the phone itself (8Gb) model, and then you're robbed every month with the tariff.

£35 per month gets you 200 minutes and 200 texts
£45 per month gets you 600 minutes and 500 texts
£55 per months gets you 1200 minutes and 500 texts

I currently pay £25 per month and get 500 minutes and 500 texts. and SWMBO pays £35 for 500 minutes and unlimited texts.

So not only are you having to pay over the odds for the privilege of owning an iPhone, there's a premium each month for using it. The tariff does come with an unlimited data allowance although the iPhone isn't a 3G device.

&

I'd rather go for the 160Gb Video iPod (now known as the "Classic") for £229.00 and get a Smartphone on a free upgrade. The iTouch is only let down by the hard drive size (8 or 16Gb).

Wow - Ben ze Kneezeez

My 33rd Birthday came and went without too much trauma, we went to Matlock for the day (well a couple of hours), and SWMBO cooked tea, she does the meanest fry-ups known to man. I'm sure she is destined to work in a greasy spoon cafe one day.

To round off this week, I had my manipulation yesterday and to be honest, I was more nervous about this than anything else I have been through with my knee. I guess this was because this basically HAS TO WORK...

I was advised to be at the hospital for 7.00am as my manipulation was scheduled for 7.45am.

I got there dead on 7.00, and was led straight to my room, gowned up etc. The anaesthetist came to see me to ask about my choice of anaesthetic (Spinal or General) - I chose to be asleep, although I thought the noise of the cracking may be very therapeutic, it would probably make
me pass out.

The surgeon then came to see me to explain the procedure. I was in theatre by 8.00am and awake by 9.00am.

Result.
The surgeon came back to advise the manipulation was a success and they managed to break all of the scar tissue, they broke scarring in both flexion (bending) and extension (straightening), there was a hell of lot or scarring therefore a lot of cracking - I am kind of gutted I didn't get to hear it, but glad too. My heel managed to touch my arse which means a bend of 140 degrees as opposed to 90 before.

I was then put on a CPM machine and had physio, although I was told I would be able to come home , I decided it would be best alround if I stayed in, as NO-ONE, especially SWMBO would be able to move my knee as much as the physio could. I stayed on the CPM machine overnight, the strange thing was, although I couldn't feel my leg due to anaesthics and the nerve block in my leg, I could still feel the pain in my knee and it hurt like hell.

I had a fantastic breakfast this morning followed by more physio and came home at 11.00am.

I now have a lot of exercises to do over the weekend before another visit to the physio on Monday, but already feel a lot better and can bend my knee more than I have been able to do for almost 5 months, therefore the start of my recovery and no more limping,

I can't wait to get this thing over and done with. to say it's dragged on a bit is an understatement

Links
-1- -2- -3-

Well that was a weekend (or should that be "What a bag of sh*te")

If Wednedsdays diabolical effort of a football match between England and Russia wasn't bad enough, we also managed to fail at even more sport over the weekend,
firstly England were seemingly robbed at the Rugby World Cup Final over a was it/wasn't it try, and today Lewis Hamilton failed to end the weekend on a high by winning the F1 World championship*.

Still my baby had a wonderful Christening and had lots of photos taken thanks to Uncle Stuart "Trez".

Cheers for taking the video and the photos Stu, I have told everyone they can purchase copies for £4.95 each...

All in all a rubbish week for English sport, but fantastic weekend for me and SWMBO

* it appears that Lewis Hamilton might actually win the championship as BMW Sauber and Williams are being investigates for irregularities ... We'll see but I'm not holding out much hope.

Come on England, Come on Lewis, Come on Vicar & Minister

What a weekend it's set to be, England v South Africa in the world cup Rugby final on Saturday.
Lewis Hamilton going for world championship status in the Formula 1 on Sunday.
Me... I have a wedding to go to on Saturday which will hopefully have a TV somewehere. (Although I'm feeling a bit ill at the moment and may not be able to attend :-) )
On Sunday we are baptising Leah so I can't really cry off from that, although I might try and rush the mininster through the service, starts at 2.30 and we really should be done by 4.00 (race starts at 5.00).

I could record them but doubt I'd be able to stay away from TVs, radios and people for long enough to avoid finding out the results.

Come on...

The Return of the Knee

Today was my appointment with the consultant to check on the progress of my physiotherapy to get my knee back to its full ROM.

Although I already knew this, I am going to have to go into hospital again to have my knee Manipulated, this is called MUA (Manipulation under Anaesthetic).

The process is quite straight forward, either a spinal or general anaesthetic the surgeon then manipulates your knee by bending and moving it around, that's it, nothing more, nothing less.

A couple of days in hospital is then followed by intense physiotherapy in order to ensure the knee remains fully mobile.

Although this is something I was completely against at first, I realise I need to give in and have it done, at the moment I can only move my knee between 5 and 100 degrees, my other knee moves between -5 to 140 degress, this means I am unable to walk properly, run, kneel down etc, as you can imagine, these things affect me every day.

The longer I leave the operation, the more chance it wont be successful, by manuipulating my knee, the scar tissue simply breaks and allows for the movement to return, over time this tissue begins to get harder and has been described to get as hard as concrete.

I just can't wait for this to all be over... I have never been so desparate to get to the gym or get on my bike, now it's in my interest that I do in order to build muscles back up in my legs and therefore avoid any further problems with my knees.

Sonys' New Bravia Advert

This time feature "ickle" bunnies made from every kids dream toy and every parents nightmare.... PLAY-DOH (have you ever tried getting it out of the carpet).


Doesn't make me want a new TV, but good advert anyway.

Back in Blighty
.
Arrived back yesterday to not so hot weather, a wait for a bus to take us to the airpark followed by a 45 minute drive and we were home (2.30am).

What a fantastic holiday, it was completely different to the usual holidays previously with both the lads and SWMBO, although it wasn't that much of a holiday for SWMBO as she stayed in the shade for a lot of the time feeding Leah, more of a change of scenery.

The In-Laws were great though, taking Leah for walks when she needed to sleep, babysitting while we got ready and generally giving us some together time so thanks for that.

I did manage 1 lads night though on Sunday, and boy did I regret it the day after, out drinking till 5.30am, unable to finish my breakfast the next day and generally feeling shit for the whole of the day. Great night though.....
My knee managed to behave, I managed to walk 2-3 miles a day without too much pain, although stupidly wore a pair of flip-flops for a couple of days, this was stupid as my knee gave way due to the extra work it was having to do to keep the flip-flops on.

The flight home played hell with my knee, as it was only 4 hours I decided I'd be ok.

So back to reality and Physio told me that the usual holiday time has taken me a step back, not only do I need to do extra work, but its's highly likely I'm going for manipulation sometime soon.

I can go back to work on Monday and have a rest....

Ola Mi Amigos

Bloody hell it's hot....

We managed the luggage, packed the travel cot with a ton of stuff so to keep our normal allowance downthe travel cot ended up weighing 22Kg, as well as each of our luggage also being over the allowance of 20Kg, luckily we managed to get away with it. Who'd have thought you'd need so much suff for a baby, and we're using it all.

Middle of September and it's around 34 degrees in the daytime and 24ish at night. I called home and my mum told me it's wet and cold.... YES.

Leah covered in suncream, with a hat on, in a baby tent, under a tree,
in the shade, in the sun.... Protected and happy(ish)

Leah didn't like the heat on day 1, but is now used to it, Father-in-Law still doesnt like the heat but unfortunately won't fit in the baby tent. Although he seems to have re-found his youth here, listening to Hed Kandi on his my iPod and reading Harry Potter.

Listening to Fat Choonz on MY ipod

I can see the sea

The Apartment is great, 2 big bedrooms and 2 big bathrooms with living space and a sea-view balcony, what more coul you ask for.... well for the next resort to turn the bloody music down that's what. Apparently the music goes on till 3.00am, I don't know cos I'm fast asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow.

The Vodafone coverage is great here too. super fast 3G (7.2Mbs) from my 3G card, not to mention the daft spanish that all seem to have unsecured wireless networks. No need to be without my internet....

That's enough for now, I'm off to tend to my sunburnt shoulders..... and have another €2 pint, (where the hell is the euro sign on the keboard).

Tenerife -

As Peter Kay said, we've booked it, packed it and now we're 'Kin Off

Yes, the day is finally here, we are going on our "summer" holiday, 12 days in wonderful Tenerife for I think what is my 5th time and SWMBOs 12th.

This time will be slightly different however, as we are taking our little Leah I'm going to do some proper sightseeing, so rather than Tramps, Linekers, Valentinos, Yates, Harleys etc, it would be nice to see some proper Tenerife stuff. for this I have found a nice site - Secret Tenerife which is aimed at "discovering the real nature of this beautiful, sub-tropical Canary Island".

Don't get me wrong, as soon as we've put Leah to bed with the babysitters grandparents, we'll be hitting Tramps, Linekers, Valentinos, Yates, Harleys etc just found a pub called "Bikini-G's" so will have to try that out, (don't worry, I'll get photos).

In the meantime I have my ipod, book and PDA so I won't bwhile topping up my tan, I just hope the weather stays good for us.

See y'all soon.....

Web Links
tenerife-uncovered - secret-tenerife - tenerifeonline

Knee Update

I thought everything was going fine, my physio was helping improve my flexion (bending) up to 120 degrees and my extension (straightening) was at 0.

Today was my consultant appointment and have shown a different story. He says my flexion is 95 and my extension is only 0.
This has crushed me...

2 days before I go on holiday and I haven't been doing as well as I thought, it seems the Range of Movement (ROM) is based on the amount you can actually move of you own free well rather than being "forced" by someone.

I have been advised told I will need even more physio (I am currently having 2-3 days a week) and if things don't improve within the next 4 weeks, then I have to seriously consider MUA Manipulation under anesthesia before my knee stays like it is... Permanently.
Most people requiring this kind of procedure do so as they have had a total knee replacement (TKR), I can't seem to find anyone that needs a MUA for a "Normal" problem such as mine.

Found a great site about a woman who had MUA, in particular, this post. She couldn't bend her knee past 90 degrees (110 at a push) it seemed to work for her. At least it's given me some hope, if only as a last resort.

I will definately be doing as much as I can over the next 4 weeks, even if 2 of them are while sunning it in Tenerife, who knows, maybe the sun will help too. (I know the large measures of JD & Coke certainly will)

Derby 1-0 Newcastle
About bleeding time. Well done and thank you "Super" Kenny Miller

A Bargain Expensive Holiday

The countdown is almost over, we are a few days away from our long awaited holiday. Fortunately SWMBOs' mother (affectionately known as Monster-in-Law) has timeshares meaning we can use these whenever they are free... So we're off to Tenerife for sun, sand, sangria and more sun

Unfortunately - the In-Laws are coming with us
Fortunately - We now have babysitters.
Normally we save hundreds of pounds using Monsters' timeshare, however with Leah now here, this saving has disapperaed and instead, replaced with "Expense"

As we all know, baggage handlers enjoy throwing luggage as far as possible, so to save our £400 "travel system" that Monster bought for us, we have bought a "cheap" buggy at just £70.

Babies cots in apartments are less than appealing so we have bought one to take with us.
The sun in Tenerife is bloody hot se we have bought a "shade a babe" and a beach tent.
For playing around the pool, we have bought a play nest

There, I think thats it...

Don't get me wrong, I can't wait to get away and am really excited at taking our baby on her first holiday, it also helps "limit" our luggage, as babies don't get extra allowance for luggage we need to travel lighter. Normally I take a few pairs of shoes, shorts, etc. as well as my gadgets (camera, camcorder, laptop, ipod etc), and SWMBO - hairdryer (it has a cold setting apparently), straighteners, crimpers, curling tongs, shower, bath, sink, spare sink - in one case, and clothes in the other, we are both normally at the 20Kg limit EACH ... there and a bit more back (with the alcohol).

Our only real worry is what type of water to use when making up Leahs' milk, Leah is still being breastfed but sometimes has a top-up when necessary, as you can't use the water in Tenerife, and most people advise if you must use mineral water, then only use Evian. The best option is to use spring water, so we'll spend some time looking for spring water (as soon as know how to say it in Spanish). DJs Dylan and Darren, if you're reading this, let me know as you might still be over there .

* I do really love my Mother-in-Law - couldn't eat a whole one though

Another Legend Leaves us.

In the space of less than a month, we have lost great people Jane Tomlinson and Anita Roddick to ill health.
Unconfirmed reports it state Rally ace Colin Mcrae has been killed in a helicopter crash that may have also killed his 5 year old son in Scotland.

Biography taken from McRaes' wikipedia entry

McRae began his rally career in 1986, piloting a Talbot Sunbeam. A regular competitor on Scottish Rally Championship events, he was soon making a name for himself with his speed and exciting style of driving. His driving style drew many comparisons to Ari Vatanen, the famous Finnish rally driver who McRae had always idolised. He soon progressed to a Vauxhall Nova, and then onto a Ford Sierra XR 4x4. His first WRC exposure was in the 1987 Swedish Rally behind the wheel of his Nova, and again in 1989, driving the Sierra and finishing 15th overall. Later in '89, he finished 5th overall at Rally New Zealand in a rear wheel drive Sierra Cosworth. 1991 saw McRae join Prodrive Subaru for the British Rally Championship. He was twice the British champion in 1991 and 1992, soon graduating to 'works' status for the factory team.

Pulling my Finger Out

I have 3 things I really need to do*

1. Re-do my website
2. Sort out Photos of Leah
3. Create a Leah DVD from my Camcorder


1. Redo my Site
I stupidly decided to re-design my website, I say stupidly as rather than do the redesign then upload and replace the current version, I took the site down with a "Coming Soon" message. After a few months, the site is still coming soon, I am intending on using a template site to base it on, with tabbed tops that link to photos, family, gadgets and other stuff. I have yet to find the template to use but will ned to get it done very soon.

2. Sort out Photos of Leah
I have thousands of photos of Leah, I want to pick the best 100 and create a photo album from birth.

3. Create a DVDI now have lots of footage which I intend on creating a DVD from, the trouble with home movies however is the 100 hours of footage you start with ends up being 5 minutes of decent film. I have a HD (Hard Drive) Camera so the transfer to my PC will be easy, I intend on using Sony Vegas to capture the footage, something like Adobe Premier for editing and maybe After Effects for any special effects, titles etc.

I guess it all boils down to a: being arsed and b: having the inspiration/creative flair to do so, Unlike Taoski, I'm far from creative, getting my ideas from t'internet bores the hell out of me.

Therefore

• My website is will be a very basic, quick loading site
• Leahs Photo Album is fairly straightforward, I have messed around ith Photoshop and created some half-decent photos
• The DVD will be a "pre-release" therefore not have any special effects

Any ideas greatly welcomed.


* I actually have about 33 things to do but SWMBO doesn't read my blog so the other 30 "house things" can go on hold.

Anita Roddick - RIPAnita Roddick has died suddenly this evening from a brain haemorrhage, I remember when the Body shop came to Derby, there was a lot of these shops, the anti-animal testing demonstrations etc. This allowed people to choose beauty products that had not been tested on animals, and no doubt changed a lot of things we now take for granted.

The words, inspirational, incredible, dedicated, energetic from the BBC News article only go some way in describing how this woman changed peoples' views of animal testing.

She'll be sadly missed.

www.anitaroddick.com

Alcohol is Healthy - Official
OK, OK not all alcohol, in fact only one drink, but research show Guiness is once again

"Good for you".

Come on now guys, please do more research into Stella, Jack Daniels and Magners.

Madeleine McCann
I have refrained from blogging about this as my I've always thought something isn't quite right

Todays News reports say her parents are being questioned again (separately) in the hope of obtaining fresh information.

Conspiracy theorists always look at the "How, What, Who, When and Why" and this is no exception...

... So I googled "Madeleine McCann conspiracy"

These vary from the whole thing being a hoax to the unspeakable, I won't go into them here but rather link to them here and here.

I'm sure many people have nipped out and left their children at home, I for one would never ever do this, especially in a foreign country, but we must remember these stories are reported in the papers and via the media, so who's to know what is really going on.

I, like everyone on this planet hope Maddy is found safe and well and very soon.

Edit: BBC News update (news.bbc.co.uk)

6 September - Happy Birthday Ryan

It's Ma Boys birthday today, 10 years old - Wow, double figures now.

Happy birthday son - Love Daddy

(Yes these are old photos)

Heroes - Season 2

I guess most of the people here have already seen the first season of Heroes on Sci-Fi or some dodgy alternative (namely torrents). I for one absolutely loved it.

For dodgy people (or those living in the US), there's not long now till Season 2 starts (September 24). I can't wait, I just hope it's not another "Lost" where it starts to lose the plot - literally, and you can't be doing with watching it any more.



Prison Break is also starting over in the good old UK on September 24. Looks like its back to sitting in front of the TV.

Jane Tomlinson - (21 February 1964 – 3 September 2007)

This woman was amazing, first diagnosed with Breast cancer in 1990, which then spread to her lungs and bones becoming terminal in 2000 - she was given just 6 months to live.

This in itself must have been very hard to deal with, but Jane then decides to take up running (and cycling) to raise money for charities (and awareness)

Check out the timeline at dailymail.co.uk

R.I.P. Jane
Janes Appeal - Donate

HTC Tytn II - Back to Geeksville
It's here and more importantly I have one, the follow-up to the wonderful HTC Hermes/Tytn/v1605.

This time with an even faster connection (3.5G), built in GPS, Windows Mobile 6, sliding/tilting screen, finger navigation, 3 Megapixel Camera.

Setup has been easy, put the battery, Mini SD card and SIM Card and turn the device on, you are asked to set your locale, the time and your mobile phone provider, the rest is then setup,

The display is now less colourful, in fact it's black/grey but looks very impressive and seems to work better than with lots of colours, a case of less in more.

The icons are designed for navigating by fingers, meaning you don't have to keep using (and losing) the stylus.
The main screen has icons for home, contacts, weather, launcher and phone settings, each of these having sub-menus.

Home
Shows the time in digital format, emails, text messages and missed calls
Contacts
This is actually called "favourite people" and shows 10 shortcuts to you favourite/mostly dialled people, allowing for photo shortcut, this is something I had on my "OLD" PDA the HTC Hermes, lifted from the Palm Treo 700w
Weather
This is the same as aftermarket software such as SPB Weather and does exactly what is says on the tin, shows todays weather for your chosen location (it even has Derby - Useful only if you live there), clicking again shows the forecast for the next 5 days. Warning : this will use GPRS to update
Launcher
Similar to a start menu, gives you the option of creating shorcuts to your applications and programs,.
Phone Settings
Sound settings, ringtones etc.

All in all I'm very impressed with the device, it's definately a stepup from the Hermes, especially with the buiilt-in GPS which will make it a big seller. The tilting screen is more of a gimmik than useful, but might help in some ways, the keyboard is also improved, the keys are now more repsonsive and you (I) tend to make a lot less spelling mistakes, where you have missed letters out of words.

I've yet to test the GPS /TomTom as people keep calling me, however I'll be installing my aftermarket applications tonight and will update as soon as I can (be arsed).

These are due to replace the V1605 on Vodafone and should be known as the v1615, I guess other providers will follow suit.

Grand Turismo 5 on the PS3

Being a former Playstation (2) fanboy, had Grand Turismo been released at the time of me buying my Xbox then maybe I'd have bought a PS3, however as the release may still be some time away alng with the launch price of the console - no thank you.

The video trailers of the game are nowsurfacing - does it make me want to buy a PS3?...



Well actually... No

Ok so the graphics are superb and the gameplay looks amazing, but the lack of other games and all of my mates already owning the Xbox means a big no thanks... just yet.

A free PS3 with a phone upgrade like Mr Dan Stone then I'll gladly take one rather than "wait for the price to drop" like Mr Wooly. Until the price drops below £200 (including GT5), then I'll stick with my trusted Xbox, besides, when PGR4 comes along and kicks the PS3s ass*, we'll be laughing.



*Maybe

Physiotherapy Todays show is brought to you by the number 95 and the letters R, O and M, (the acronym has changed from CRP to ROM (Range of Movement))

a ROM refers to the amount a knee (or other joint) can bend, when I came out of hospital my ROM was less than 35 degrees, a week later I managed 50, then 70 on Friday, after speaking to the surgeon I though I could just blag it and if I couldn't increase it, then opt for the manipulation - basically take the easy way out.

That was Friday, I got home and as one does, googled knee manipulation, this I'm both glad I did and wish I hadn't.

This varied between causing more even more excruating pain and problems to rupturing the Cruciate Ligament

I decided to knuckle down (pardon the pun), and do more exercises and work harder doing a few hours physio each day, which has definately paid off.

Todays physio session measured my ROM at 95.

I passed the magic 90 degrees...

I have been able to start in the hospital gym (leg pressing 70lb, "nutcracker", spot jogging etc,
my next goal is 100 so I can start using the bikes.
40 degrees more than that and we're even...

Go Leah..... Go

Despite all the shit I am having with my knee, I still have reasons to be happy, like this one for example, I was just saying the word go, no face pulling and no daft moving.



...Bless