Gym… Who’s he?

As most of you will know, I have finally decided to join the Gym to see if I can’t shift some of my excess baggage. I also want to try and build up my confidence and generally feel better about myself. I’ve been going for a couple of weeks now and I’m already feeling better in myself, I don’t think I’ve actually lost any weight yet but all in good time I guess. I’ve joined along with Jill and my Mum, the idea being that we’ll pester each other into going and also inspire a bit of friendly competition to see who is getting on the best.

We all started with the BodyFirst package which includes a pack with useful information in it and also, more importantly, 3 Personal Training sessions. I found these to be very valuable and gave me a very good head start. As a result of them, I am continuing to have regular Personal Training sessions with Liam who is particularly good as he already understands the problems faced by people with Asthma and is soon to learn all about Dyspraxia.

I was always apprehensive about the prospect of going to the Gym, indeed, it was my New Year’s Resolution last year to start at the Gym and it never really happened. This year however I hope the combination of the:

• expense
• fact that my family are also going
• the fact I can watch TV whilst working out
• I can use technology to help me

will all go towards making everything go smoothly!

I will be keeping you updated on my progress, my Personal Trainer has got me using the free MyFitnessPal website to keep an eye on my Calorie intake as well as my weight, exercise etc. The site also provides a widget that I will be adding to the sidebar of my Blog.

Tags: Gym

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

On Friday, I finally got round to having my hair cut. It was long overdue and was quickly coming out of control.

I normally get my hair cut at Scissors on Woodseats but, with me going away on Saturday morning and not having time, I decided to visit a hairdressers in Scunthorpe on Friday afternoon after work. I went to one that James recommended as I had never actually visited one in Scunny.

I normally have Number 3 on the back and sides and then just cut short with scissors on the top of my head. But today, for a number of reasons:

1. I can wait longer before I have another hair cut, and carry on my lazy trend
2. I was tired and couldn’t really be bothered to explain how I normally have my hair
3. I have had pretty much the same haircut for the last 23 years!

 I decided to have Number 3 all over.

Taken on the Open Top Bus on the Isle of Wight

I’m getting a mixed reaction to the new hair. My White Publishing UK Business Partner really likes it, The Cheif Executive of the Victoria College of Music commented on it too. My Mum however hates the new do and says it makes me look even more like my Dad than usual. I didn’t realise I had a big bald patch… Sorry Dad!

Anyway, answers on a postcard please!

Tags: Victoria College of Music, White Publishing UK

Signs of Age

With my 23rd birthday having been and gone, whilst down South in Surrey a few weekends ago, I started to contemplate that fact that I am getting old (as you do). I came to this conclusion due to a number of reasons which I thought I’d share with you:

·         Openly Complaining

Those who know me well will wonder what I’m on about as I’m known for my moaning about pretty much anything. But it’s progressed beyond that, I find myself openly complaining about random things; Instead of complaining quietly afterwards, I’ll complain to the company/persons involved.

For example, on the way down to Surrey a week last Friday, travelling down the M1, I drove past Leicester. My daily dose of Paramore kept getting interrupted because BBC Radio Leicester kept broadcastingthe RDS TA (Radio Data System Traffic Alert) Flag. Normally this is a good thing because you are kept up to date with the lastest Travel News. However, on this occasion BBC Radio Leicester were broadcasting the flag and playing some dire Caribbean/Reggae music. Each time I switched back to my CD, the flag was sent again.

It got to the point where i actually rung up BBC Radio Leicester to complain about it! See what I mean!

·         Referring to my Youth

Now, it’s not quite “When I was a lad, things were diffrerent, young peoplehad respect for their elders.” But, I do find myself reminising days gone by and I often talk about School/Sixth Form/University life as though it was many moons ago when, in actual fact, it was only a couple of years ago.

·         Commenting on Students’ Dress Sense

I know that I haven’t got any reason to talk, I’m hardly the fashion item of theCentury, but I just find some of the clothes that the Students at work wear are completely mental. It’s even just clothes really, for example, there is one Student at work who has bright orange hair. When I say bright orange, it more bright than any orange I can find in the text colour selector. It’s bright highlighter orange and basically looks like they’ve cracked a Stabilo Boss pen over their head!

I mean, I didn’t even think they made hair dye in that colour, I wonder if it was some kind of custom mixture. Although, it’s not like I hang around the Hair Dye aisle of Tesco so for all i know, it would be their best selling Dye!

So, it could just be my old age but I just can’t imagine how that could be thought as looking good. I mean, it must be a good thing for their friends because they’ll never be able to lose her, even if they wanted to! No offence to the Student though, I’m sure she thinks she looks great.

·         Inability to handle alcohol

“Back in the day,” I used to be known for my ability to down drinks rapidly. However, in recent months, I’ve found that this ‘skill’ has somewhat dwindled. Even if I want to, I can no longer down a Pint of Carling like I used to be able to. In fact, it takes me nearly an hour to drink a Pint these days.

·         No idea of who 95% of the people in the UK Top 40 are and have no desire to listen to their ‘music’

I don’t know if this is to do with age generally or just because my taste in music has changed/got stuck in a timewarp over the years. Either way, I couldn’t tell you more than 2 or 3 people that are currently in the UK Top 40, nor could I recongise the songs associated with those artists.

The Real Cost of Going to University

They don’t go on about this at the AimHigher crap at College/Sixth Form, do they!

I worked out that at my current rate of pay, come April, I’ll be paying my loan back at a rate of 45p per month! Jim reckons it’ll take me 7,500 years to pay it off. Great isn’t it!

You’re a bit screwed if you are self employed because if you want Revenue and Customs to calculate your repayments you have to return a Self Assessment Tax Return by 30th September 2007. Lets hope that you did a BSc in Time Machine Making for that one!

Tags: Sheffield Hallam University

“Have you got your ears in?”

For a long time now, I’ve considered myself to be a good listener and I feel honoured that people feel they can come to me if they need to talk to someone.

But who does the listener turn to when they want someone to hear them out; Who listens to the listener?