I took a chance on today as the weather forecast changed for the better before bedtime so it was up at 5am and over the M62, M18 etc to Immingham. I had breakfast at the truckstop which you now access from the new roundabout going back on yourself, bacon butty the size of a brick which wasn't great but better than the awful all day breakfast we had in M&S at Hedge End the other day, mostly cold - poor quality and value this compounds their year old cakes which arrive freezing ready to defrost no wonder they often taste like bricks. It was great at Immingham, thousands of lorries, I just kept going as long as I could stand eventually calling it a day about 2pm, I don't know how much footage I got but it's a lot, just downloading it all right now. We had a catch up on the TV soaps when I got home, managed to avoid the rush hour and the roads were all clear. Youtube have now deleted advertising on four of the five Egypt lorry films I uploaded yesterday, it seems yet another way of avoiding paying out but as Mandy reminded me we have just had another record breaking day for hits and revenue so no point in moaning too much but if you are a Youtube viewer just note that look at our full DVD list on the shop or news pages as we have a lot more than appears on Youtube with stuff like our pre war visit to Syria etc getting the heave ho by Google. I'll try and find something else a bit less controversial and slightly off the way though meanwhile expect tons of Immingham clips, not a VOSA van in sight. The old railway bridge is still there they have made the bnew one and the old one part of a two lane one way system! We are going to travel down to Cannock tomorrow and attend WNO at the Hippodrome in Birmingham tomorrow night, then its back home Wednesday. I'm going to try and do the buses at Halifax, Bradford, York and Harrogate plus Keighly as soon as suitable weather emerges on convenient days. Photos needless to say from Immingham After church duties this morning I got the lawns mowed and managed to get the birds fed and some sweeping and tidying up outside including pruning roses which were banging against the windows in the wind last night. I've also found a few seconds to get some clips of trucks in Egypt on our Youtube channel although one was immediately blocked so I just deleted it, no point people clicking if it earns no revenue but quite infuriating as there is nothing at all wrong with it and the other four are all there. A very strange beast in Youtube but Adsense gets me a reasonable revenue which helps keep the PMP archive going. No bites on the PMP archive cine films on EBay a few more to go yet but not optimistic really. I got the banners for the Messy church starting on 19th Nov, they look very good. It's a busy week ahead with trips to the opera in Birmingham, a concert in Manchester, a meeting or maybe two on Wednesday evening and I need to book my check up with the dentist. If the weather forecast stays as it is and reality agrees then I'll be filming in Halifax and Bradford tomorrow. Still no luck with Immingham though. Photos tonight from Eastbourne last Wednesday evening, they all tell part of the story of my life! There should now be a full service on the DVD front straight through to February with perhaps just one short trip to France. All DVD orders will be sent out on Monday, there are quite a few which i'll get packed tomorrow afternoon. There was no internet service yet at my sister's new bungalow at Hythe hence no blogs for the last two days. The film show at Eastbourne was a bit fraught as I struggled with the laptop and it ended up having a magnifying glass icon on the second half of the show so I need to get that fixed before our two charity shows later in November. I'm still looking out for suitable filming days for Immingham trucks and buses in York and Harrogate. The clocks change here tonight so a little extra time in bed. I'm giving the 8am service a miss and my fellow warden Keith should be back so hopefully a slightly relaxed morning although we are heading towards the advent season and things will be sure to get busier. It's the second week of my 'half term' break although I've wading through a lot of fairly heavy reading material. Photos from Sussex showing buses and DeLeWar Pavillion in Bexhill and sea defence work which included the Cat D7H MkII We are now in Eastbourne it wasn't as forecast we did head into Croydon but it was far too sunny to film so I gave up and it's back on the list for next year, I had thought of going straight down to cover and covering the trucks it's a pity that I didn't go for that option. We had a very good afternoon cream tea at lindfield and then back through Lewes and then to Eastbourne. We had a bit of time before the light faded so I had a wander around and took pictures of places that reminded me of incidents of times in my youth. Eastbourne is now a bit of a tip, very scruffy and full of foreigners although that was the same over forty years ago when I left. I had to give my nationality at the hotel, behind the counter came from heaven knows where, strange old world. We can see Mandy's car from the hotel room so we can keep tabs on it. We are meeting John and Maureen bishop at the Italian restaurant near the war memorial for dinner, we can go down with the wheelchair it's only a few mins walk away from the hotel. I'm not sure what well do tomorrow although we need to be at the pub ready for the film show in good time and check everything works. After that we drive straight down to Hythe near Southampton tiny sisters new bungalow. Then Friday with Yvonne and hopefully some time as family on Saturday before we get home late on. Next week there is slot on and limited chances for filming, best would be warm and sunny and no wind at Immingham so I could get the trucks done on the new roundabout there. We are in the Midlands Tuesday back home Monday mid-day on Wednesday. Thursday is another possible film day York and Harrogate are well up on the bus to do list. The clocks change this week so it will soon be dark at three pm again, happy day roll on summer but then it never comes. More tomorrow if I get a chance!
We are nearly packed and ready for our trip south, I'm still not sure where we shall stop en route, a possibility is Croydon which I haven't covered for a while. A few seconds of our film went out on German television in September and we've had another enquiry for more. good to see it getting a wide audience. Youtube channel passed another milestone I think we are heading up to 28M views now, it moves so fast it's hard to keep up. I've finished editing the three DVDs which I got from my film work on the A500 near Crew over the past two weeks. Lets hope it keeps fair so I can cover Immingham as planned for months, for buses York and Harrogate are still top of the list. Mandy got back from Ireland last night, we've been catching up on jobs about the house. I went down to the health centre at Holmes Chapel and picked up the pills for the next month, all good fun getting older isn't it. I've packed my projector and Mandy's laptop musn't forget the memory drive with the film shows on we'll need that for the car club on Thursday night. I've done a bit of my college reading today albeit it's half term. I've got another four films listed on EBay for auction, total 8 of the transport material, there copies are all on Youtube as well. We've booked a few concerts for the RNCM in Manchester, next week we are at WNO at the Hippodrome in Birmingham and a chance to catch up with friend Sue. Tonights photos from my marathon sessions by the A500 near Crew, next time I get a good spot and the right weather I'll just carry on as long as time permits as leaving Stobarts Widnes last week saw me nearly grind to a halt in Liverpool. Despite my best intentions I didn't get to bed very early but I still woke up at 8am as I had the alarm set, it was still raining but at least the wind has dropped. I spoke to John Bishop down in Sussex this morning and tied in on our visit, we head down on Wednesday and have dinner with John and Maureen in the evening in Eastbourne , we are staying at the town centre Premier Inn. We were going to meet up with another friend in the afternoon but he has an awful cold and doesn't want to pass it on, I'll second that. So we may well look at the weather and see if there is anything i can tick off on my list on the way down, I did most of my Kent and Sussex locations in the summer but there is always something say like Croydon we could see. Then on Thursday if the weather is pleasant we may have a look at the seafront and then potter over to see john and Maureen and test out the kit. We are doing a film show for the motor club. Then after the show we are driving west to Hythe near Southampton and staying Thursday and Friday night at Yvonne and Grahams new house, its been a job keeping up with their various abodes! I'm sure we'll all find something to do Saturday then its back home to Cheshire so I'm ready for church onm Sunday, I'm skipping my tutorial session with vicar Jane although i do want to keep up with me reading something I might do tomorrow. Mandy will be home in a bit, she is on her way back from Ireland, the ferry gets in about 19.20 ish. At least the crossing shouldn't have been rough. That all reminds me UI should phone up Yvonne and confirm arrangements. The rain did eventually pass although much later than forecast so I decided to go back to the A500 west bound and have another go where I gave up last week. Actually although never really sunny it wasn't too dark and I got a fair amount of film, not sure how much but at least 2 DVDs. Thus no guesses what features tonight. I also loaded more films for sale on EBay and got the clips from them on Youtube first thing this morning.There seem to be a lot of lookers but no bids as yet, they aren't going particularly cheap as I need the funds raised to go on the trips I want next year. So lets have a look at today, I was lucky that a fairground was on the move they had some golden oldies plus at least one classic Foden. I can't believe it getting on for bed time I only just seem to have gotten up. After church business all morning I finally got the first of the two cine reels of transport listed on EBay and put all the unedited footage on Youtube although not many people will ever click on trams or trolleybuses but perhaps it will release some cash to set me off on some more truck material worldwide. I downloaded and filed a lot of film material which could form the basis for some future film shows. Other than that and nearly forgetting to cook my dinner it's been a bit of of whirl. There are quite a lot of DVD orders which I need to put covers on ready to post tomorrow morning. It's fingers crossed that the storms have now past, I had to fix the trellis that came down in the hurricane last week , it was far worse though last night, thankfully the flooding has gone but I think I need to get a lot of moss out of the drains, a messy job. Really it would be hard to pin down what I have done other than this lot , Mandy will be home tomorrow evening, the crossing should be calmer than for the past week. The photos tonight are those I took on Friday when it started to rain when I had a go at trucks on the A500 towards Crewe, thats where I'll start again tomorrow if it works out. I did get half a dozen DVD covers made and the new ones ready to add to the sales stock. I has resigned myself to the fact that it would be a rough day and it lived up to expectations. I'd stayed up very late last night messing around downloading some interesting old films I'd discovered and then I got up late and then at 9am the phone started ringing, I guess people think that PMP will be manning the fort at that time not the bathroom. By 11.30 I'd was up and about with the post ready to go and our regular postie was off so spotting the post van I hung on and thought I could just about get anymore orders done and turned around in the lunch time collection only the lady relief postie took ages so I gave up then wish I hadn't bothered, roll on Dawn being back at the counter on Monday. The orders for Christmas are now starting to come through and being the weekend the Youtube revenue and hits always starts to climb again, well i hope it always does, nice if it didn't fall back on a Monday after all it is half term for some of the youngsters, even me at Chester University gets two weeks well not rest but reading time. Productive day, I've got another couple of old rally first timers on DVD done and have copied a number of the old cine films in readiness to list on EBay although there isn't a sole bid on the other cine all week but some of it has been doing the rounds for a while, I had a look and the same seems to apply to others who sell cine on eBay, very depressed market. Photos tonight are from Sunderland last week,fingers crossed I can get some lorry film on Monday. The wild weather continues, heavy rain overnight, glimpses of brightness late morning, perhaps a chance to film, no forget it-more rain. So another day gone but not unproductive at all. I've got masses of photos filed away and a couple of film projects progressed but not finished although I've saved all that I've done so I can easily pick up and progress further at a later date.I had a meeting with vicar Jane, we try to have one each week to follow progress on my ministry course/foundation. I took delivery of the new PMP Marquee which is in the garage, a dry day sometime in the early spring and we'll have a practice at putting it up, the weights for the legs were fearsome, I wouldn't want one of them dropping on my foot. I've progressed the remainder of the rally films which have never made it to DVD before, on the last stretch now which is 2002/3. After that they all went on to DVD. I think some of them may have been pruned down, like Heaton Park, Manchester which has a lot of cars padding it out, this time they'll all stay in whatever the running time extends to. I got the South Africa material off to my new contact in Durban and put the Durban trolley section on Youtube. There was quite a lot of DVD post to go this morning, it's Dawn's day off so Lawrence had to battle through it, sometimes a painful experience , believe it or not I had another bagful to go round late afternoon, I think the Christmas rush has already started.Tonight I bring you the covers of the most recent DVDs and photos from South Shields I took back in the week. The revenue and hits on Youtube have dipped again , perhaps they pick up at weekends, there is certainly enough material being added although it's a frustrating time to get the trucks updated. We seem to be on the run up to Christmas with furtive calls about DVDs for presents. The magazines are out now for this month and the advertising copy is already done for the December issues out mid November. I cleared the post this morning after a bit of a lay in after my 4am start on the Newcastle trip. I felt quite rested and caught up with the soaps before I went to bed, it was only a couple of hours off being a whole 24 hours on the go. There wasn't much in todays post, a couple of phone calls but either they left no number or in the post random orders for something they'd seen on Youtube. Nothing i could do to help either without the number, the full list is on both shop and news page, I'll upload the very latest list and add the most recent DVDs that I've made covers for on this very wet afternoon. I did try doing some truck filming near Crewe but the rain soon set in and it just kept getting worse all day, I'm doing my best to get some more truck films done but the bad weather that dogged us all summer has carried on. I've done the DVDs for the North East trip but not the covers yet but no queue now so they will soon be ready. I've put the clips on Youtube. The church lych gate incident popped alive again, the transport company manager rang, he hadn't been ignoring us but off sick, it seems it was a hired in driver and possibly hired lorry as well so its taking a bit of tracking. I did the design for the flyer for the St Oswalds Christmas Showstopper at St Oswalds. I must remeber to ask about a second poster for my night at the flicks on the parish notice board outside the store/post office. I did a bit of cooking this evening, even went to Aldis in Norwich and found they had our favourite chocolates back in stock so I got a few bars, aren't those German cheapo retailers dismal dreary places, I can see zero other than price but no consistency or anything attractive that would entice you to buy, check out girl had ring through various bits of visual anatomy, I wonder what else was pierced, on reflection no I don't. The photos this evening at from yesterday at Gateshead. |
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