We had a sit in the sun in the back garden this afternoon rounded off with a drink later on. We may go to The Crown later on but I've a few jobs to get out of the way. More than enough film today to fill two very long running volumes on the lorries, great drivers, great weather which all helped me feel as if life wasn't entirely on hold at the moment. A lot of DVD orders which I'll get ready tomorrow, whether I'm up to posting with Lawrence at the helm I'm not sure, may leave it until Monday. We were think8ingt of go8ing over to Belfast for the rally but see in Buses that it has been cancelled, never affected by the 'troubles' government cuts have eliminated the museum support, I gues there are pl;enty of other places they don't need the museum really. Shorts on the A500 west. I didn't think they were bad for someone with wonky eyes!
It's the first day this week that I haven't been between hospitals and doctors surgeries but what a treat with the weather. I find that with all this light I can easily read and can also watch television with a minimum of squint. Perhaps the prism on Saturday will get me seeing through both eyes together, who knows until you experience these things. Mandy had some appointments today prior to her trip to Ireland so sdhe dropped me on the A50 west towards Crewe one of my favourite spots in troubled times, near home , in the country and plenty of lorries. The sun was a real help as I dint have to alter any settings at all just pan the camera around, I couldnt really see the screen on the video or still camera but I think it has all come out fine , all those years mean I go on auto pilor! I may have ti start getting the screen print a bigger size as I do struggle reading or typing as you will have noticed. Mandy is all packed for the ferry, early start in the morning. We had a sit in the sun in the back garden this afternoon rounded off with a drink later on. We may go to The Crown later on but I've a few jobs to get out of the way. More than enough film today to fill two very long running volumes on the lorries, great drivers, great weather which all helped me feel as if life wasn't entirely on hold at the moment. A lot of DVD orders which I'll get ready tomorrow, whether I'm up to posting with Lawrence at the helm I'm not sure, may leave it until Monday. We were think8ingt of go8ing over to Belfast for the rally but see in Buses that it has been cancelled, never affected by the 'troubles' government cuts have eliminated the museum support, I gues there are pl;enty of other places they don't need the museum really. Shorts on the A500 west. I didn't think they were bad for someone with wonky eyes! Another day of doctors etc, the consultant at the Alexander Hosp was very helpful and reassuring, but I can't get an appointment with his optician until 8.30 Saturday which I guess after many phone calls I'm stuck with. Specsavers at Ellesmere Port have been pretty shabby in their support and going anywhere else means starting at square one over again and ditto for another hospital. I went to the Holmes Chapel surgery first thing, in fact first in the queue, our doctor Claire Taylor was back in but only catching up with correspondence, patient notes etc. They took my blood pressure which remained high , this was an afternoon appointment, waited an hour and got an ECG done. Claire ok'd a low dose blood pressure prescription and with follow up appointments the diary is filling up with medical buph. I got a call from Julie, one of our small group on the ministry course, it was a nice thought and we had a good chat Mandy and I went to fill up her car, saving about a quarter of a penny at ASDA only to find that the pump was going slow! It's unmanned so no one to tell, tried another pump, time wasted beat any saving.We did our shopping in Waitrose with ready meals to see me through while Mandy is in Ireland. I managed to get all the remaining weekend films edited and masters burnt on DVD, I also got the first of the five covers completed. I'm finding that I can do everything I need it is just a little more time consuming and tricky. With the optician not until early Saturday that left me a bit stuck after Mandy leaves for Ireland Friday morning but I've got the temporary fixing of blending tape on my old glasses and I've worn them in the car several times and they should be fine to get me to the Alex and get the temporary prism attached which will be a much better fix for driving, if it looks as if it will be several weeks I don't mind getti8ng glasses made, it takes a week but better with the prism in glass than stuck on in plastic by 3M. With the weather much warmer I managed an hour of gardening, lots more to do, working and walking I really on my eyesight as it is with a bit of squinting it gets me by and I'm sure its a bit better each day. If tomorrow is as promised the sunniest of the week Mandy will drop me at one of my favourite truck spots near Crew in the morning and pick me up later in the day and I'll feel as if I've done something at least. Next week if I'm a lot more mobile driving and the weather stays fair I've a long list of things to do but also appointments and meetings interspersed Lots of clips gone on Youtube from the filmws I edited and here are some Hemel Hempstead shots. It has been a difficult day tearing around seeing double and falling over at regular intervals. The phone never seemed to stop and one call brought sad news of the passing away of a good friend in Scotland, more of which when it in the public domain. I had to go and have my bloods taken for Cheshire Countess and my own doctor, located a consultant at one of the hospitals in Manchester which I've used before, even though it is starting to 'look' a lot better I want to get to the bottom of the cause which I believe ios down to Specsavers at Ellesmere Port who shouldn't have encouraged me to stop wearing my glasses for driving as I'm almost certain that is what provoked the double vision coming on so quickly especially two days after the eye test. I think they should have said gradually reduce the time without using the glasses, the loss of the vario focus might also have been a problem. It's a blessing to be able to look around and see a lot of the room in normal vision as they say you don't know what you've got until it is gone. If the improvement continues I note that the weather on Thursday is forecast as very sunny and warm, Mandy has a prior appointment but if I;'m fit I shall resume the truck filming. They'll be no excuse about my course reading, I had two books arrive yesterday. I've been posting a few shots from my trip to the South East this last weekend, they DVDs are being made, I've already completed the St Albans and Hemel Hempstead / Watford releases and clips should be on Youtube this evening. The recovery on our channel after Easter seems to be a bit lack lustre, I'll get as much as I can on this week and as usual encourage your help in increasing the 'hits', we are doen to about 60k a day, it should be more like 70-80k. Hopefully the photographic offering this evening ( St Albans) won't be as wonky as I am although I am managing to get from room to room now and will have a go at toppi9ng up the bird feeders. Leaving for the hospital about 4.15 via the post office. " DVDs fropm the weekends visits already complete other than covers. The issue rumbles on, very depressed and unimpressed with NHS treatment, will try for priovate appointment tomorrow, Coubntess at Chester didn't even have a prism with would give a qick temporary fix to the situation, antyway as I cant really see to type here are some shots from my visit to Romford on Saturday morning I don't know whats is happening, double vision after my eyetest on Thursday, awful trip back from Cobham and i cant really see to do anything at present so herewith some shots i managed this morning with Cobham arrivals. I don't think they are bad for someone who couldn't see so well. It was good to meet up with some 'old' friends and customers we haven't seen for a while. The entry point for buses was great for photography but a bit slow to get the passengers in. I've managed to get the DVD orders ready to fulfill in the morning Mandy will check that I have read evberything correctly. More photos tomorrow God willing. Click here to
I hope all our UK readers managed to get a taste of the warm weather, we woke on the glorious m25 motorway to a clear blue sky and decided that we needed to tweak our itinerary to suit so we headed round the m25 anti clockwise to avoid the wtetched toll tool that you dint know how to pay and got to romford and had breakfast and I got stuck into filming the buses. It didntd take to long to get an hour or so of film then we headed west and north and got to Harlow where I struggled to get an hour, it certajnlc wasn't what is once was with oodles of deckers and different operators not it is mostly arriva and trustybus. It is an amazing place the heart of poverty in the south of England set in a decaying slum of post war reconstruction and new town planning but now full of foreign immigrants and English is seldom hesrd, it has a rough edge to it and we were thankful to put it behind us. We phoned up another pub to book a place to eat this time we tried the llough at Cobham, quite nice but for the money the cricketers last night son on points awarded for the pistaccio souffle with ice cream although this evening's treacke sponge with blood orange and zest plus ice cream came a close second. I think that both made our local haunts seem god value as over a £100 for dinner seems a bit on the high side. Up sharpe tomorrow to get to brooklands and set up the new tent. I'll try and blog from home tomorrow and give you some pictures An early start but last night we did go tongue crown in lower priced for a couple of drinks it was great to be back in our local after all those years anyway great that the new managers are going to keep it as a village pub and not finally gastro on us. We set off this morning at five ambandcstraight down to start Alban's where I managed to get an hour of film before ten am when we would have needed to move the van. Hardly any deckers left there although plenty of operator variety. Then to hemel hempstead. Id forgotten what a complete dump it is on par with harlow so much for the weakthy south of england plenty of poverty there. It sas interesting ti see that arriva had applied empstthe new log on old wrecks in oast liveries . After a while it was like watching paint dry so we moved on again to Watford, past glories long gone but red rose has new eitheen reg buses in green. Very few uses though but an interesting visit nonetheless and a place we haven't covered for quite a while. Staying overnight at Cobham services days Inn hotel, cheapest we could get in vthen area
It is very strange after wearing glasses nearly all your life to be officially declared safe to drive without. I knew my eyesight was improving but it's put on a spurt in my left eye which is nearly 20/20 well with the right which is nowhere near as good although also a tiny bit improved it may not be that good but enough to satisfy the driving regulations. I've found it easier to film, garden , watch tv, work, read etc without them so I ordered up a new pair after the eye test hopefully they should last many years, plain lenses for long distance night driving etc. Quite chuffed really, also while in Ellesmere Port for the Polio Fellowship Cheshire, Wirral branch I had my hair trimmed and went for lunch in M&S. We've just had dinner, may go to The Crown later for a trial pint, the harridan who used to run it and the snarling dog are now long gone! I'll see if I'm unbanned! The van is packed ready for an early start tomorrow. We'll film buses in St Albans and Hemel Hempstead which we haven't covered for quite a while then down to stay at Cobham services in Surrey and on Saturday filming at Uxbridge and Croydon, hopefully mainly cloudy I gave up last time we attempted Croydon as the low winter sun came out instead of promised light cloud, it does happen a lot. Sunday is of course the Cobham rally at Brooklands, out only London area outing this year, be sure to look out for our new blue PMP branded tent so everything is safe from those unexpected showers like we suffered last year at Heaton Park and Showbus. Next week should see me filming for at least three or maybe four days, I've a list at the ready, mostly trucks , the week after looks like a return to clouds and probably rain when Mandy is in Ireland. I put a while bundle of truck clips from Truckfest 1995 on to our Youtube channel last night, the hits seem to be on the rise after the Easter holiday lull, even the kids should be back at school next week and I restart my evening classes on Monday plus physio visit in the afternoon, and dropping tent cover to have another roll up door fitted so we can open up from front or back and access the van behind us for brewing up etc. I've got todays DVD orders ready to post on our way out tomorrow morning, Mandy bought a stock of large letter stamps before the price went up ( again). Photos for this evening , well I like New Zealand so lets recall my last visit for trucks. Nothing really exciting to bring you this evening, I'll try and upload something to keep people looking at our Youtube channel while we are down at Cobham rally this weekend, I'm also working on another construction archive feature possibly on motorways in Britain. I do also aim to tackle another bus spot ultra production between trips. We've been down and filled up the van at Asda and I've given it a quick wash and even cleaned the windows inside, she is still looking the business although for a van getting steadily elderly but destined to go the distance and see our rally days out, indeed perhaps we'll be displaying the van one day, only 41k on the clock as yet. A massive job done was getting our EBay shop updated with all DVDs through to Detling last weekend of course they are all on our own shop on the site but I know some people have their favourite ways of purchasing, all I can ask is you give preference to our shop as we get the revenue which is all put back into funding future productions. I also updated the Amazon shop,slightly quicker than EBay but still a bit of a chew. I've more or less decided the programme for Friday, it's Hemel Hempstead and St Albans then Saturday Croydon and Uxbridge, we are staying at the Days Inn on Cobham services, it was by far the cheapest option, I've made a list of suitable pubs, might need a drink after erecting the PMP tent for the first time on site. I've also downloaded the next books from Chester University portal for my ministry course and ordered a couple of books from ABE books, some real bargains there, they have links to all sorts of material. Mandy and I need to focus on some theatre recitals , operas etc for the coming months, it's easy to let these things fly by. The girl who was our link at the RNCM for personal giving has left, months after her predecessor left, she's gone to Bolton Lads and Girls club. Lots of material floating around re online data protection,it's easy for us we don't keep electronic data on anyone other than through the shop sales records but not specifically as names, addresses or other personal data. Well going to Hertfordshire I suppose that region makes the objective for tonights slide show speading the net a little further though We look forwards to meeting our many customers and friends from the London area and beyond at Cobham / Brooklands next Sunday. We shall be traveling down on Friday morning fairly early and hope to cover two bus locations that day and two more on the Saturday, certainly including some London content. We shall then be setting up promptly on the Sunday morning doing our best to be ready for action as all the buses are expected to arrive down the hill into the site and I would like to think of it as a return to all those many years we attended the Cobham event. Our new tent is blue with PMP branding in white across the front, we shall have all the latest DVDs up to and including our coverage this past weekend. We'll also have our Kent, Sussex and Hampshire photo stock plus a wide range of surplus DVD stock at 4 DVDs for £20. This will be our only London area event although of course all our shops online or by post are available for your DVD needs. I've been looking ahead to the next week, the weather looks to be more promising than of late, I hope to get Coventry covered plus more from the Midlands and at least two days recording trucks scenes at locations which could include the A50 Uttoxeter, Oswestry or Penrith - all regular favourites. The following week I have possibly three days free to film, if the weather in Ireland was fair for Thursday 26 and Friday 27th I might well be covering lorries in the ROI. Mandy will already be there and I could go out to meet her and then return the following Monday 30th. Another possibility is my return Saturday evening. I also managed to get the last of the DVD covers made this morning for the Orpington DVD. Hopefully once the Easter holiday has finally ended this coming weekend the Youtube hits and revenue will get back to it's upward trend as we need some extra cash as the Russian trip has taken on more costs with my fellow traveler dropping out through injury. So it's all very hectic in this neck of the woods, here are the covers for the latest dozen and a half DVDs, all on our shop - I'll try and upgrade Amazon in the morning. |
PMP Sponsors the North West Vehicle Restoration Trust at Kirkby.
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