Tag: trip report

Breaking Stuff and Blasts From the Past

by mkingdon, posted in mkingdon

It has been head down and keep typing this week. It has been as ever interrupted by work, as I was away in Marlow again for a couple of days, but having now completed day eight of the new trip report I am fairly satisfied with the progress.

Bearing in mind the inconvenience of having to work for a living and our Breaking Bad addiction, that is fairly impressive progress! Whether the quality matches the quantity, we’ll see I suppose.

At the risk of becoming a dental bore (in addition to being a bore in general), thankfully on Thursday my current teethy troubles came to an end. Another hour in the chair saw me sweating like a single man at a Barrymore pool party, but at last it was complete.

I do not want to darken their door again for at least six months.

It has been an odd weekend as Louise has been working some crazy shifts in A&E. She was off for three days last week, but has then worked Friday, and yesterday had to endure an 8 till 10 shift. Yes, that is 8 in the morning until 10 at night. She’s in again today from 2 until 10, with similar tomorrow until a well-earned day off on Tuesday.

There is no way on earth I could be a nurse. Even forgetting some of the horrific encounters with bodily fluids, which invariably are someone else’s, those shift patterns are not for me. I tip my proverbial hat to them, and yet reserve the right to moan about my own job whenever I feel like it!

It would appear that it is once again the season for an endless litany of stuff breaking and going wrong. This week alone has seen us spring for a new tumble dryer and for a chap to come and sort some problems out on our roof. We are also waiting for a plumber to come and attend to some boiler issues, and yesterday the electrics in the bathroom seem to have gone all temperamental.  Of course I rise above these minor irritations with grace and good humour as usual.

In no way do I adopt a woe is me persecution complex and look for the nearest cat to take it out on. I think they recognise the signs of broken stuff now and make themselves very scarce.

But really, either we have bought a house which is the English equivalent of the Money Pit, or everyone has the same problems. To allow me to wang on about it, I refuse to believe the second option.

Money Pit
A typical day

Earlier today my Mum came round with some photos she’s found whilst doing a clear out. It was great to see some from our early WDW trips, not only to prove that I once had a fringe but also to see how things have changed. There were also a number of the girls that just show how time flies.

Taken yesterday
Taken yesterday

This one shows Emily and two cousins. Emily is sporting a Phoenix Nights style painted face, but luckily hers came off.

This one is from the first time we took the girls in 1999.

Party like it's 1999
Party like it’s 1999

Sarah, the blonde girl nearest the camera is now in her early twenties, lives with her boyfriend and is studying to be a teacher. Sigh.

At some point my Dad is going to scan in all these old photos to make sure they are safe, and hopefully then I’ll post a few more and you can marvel at my hairline and short shorts in some Disney photos from the late 80’s. Steady yourselves ladies.

There are even some “promo shots” from when I was in a band. It is all pouts and cheekbones. Yes, even I had some.

Right, I am on tea making duty, and there are teenagers faking death to pressure me into giving them food. Clearly they can’t locate the kitchen.

Till the next time…..

Books, Blogging Again and Being Busy

by mkingdon, posted in mkingdon

It feels like a long time since I did my last proper blog. Some might argue that I have indeed never done a proper blog, and I for one would not be one to argue. However, I of course mean that it has been a good few weeks since one of these regular Sunday evening things.

The return to work was truly awful. I don’t mean that there was anything particularly bad this week, rather that it was just soul destroyingly boring and such a jarring contrast to the previous two weeks. It was about mid afternoon on my first day back when I sent Louise a text to tell her I wasn’t sure I could make it until the end of the day, never mind the next week, year or till retirement.

I did of course, as I have to. I’ve hated other jobs and companies far more than I do this one. In fact it is hard to fault where I am now, but of course it is still work, and I do still have to go.

Louise had her own challenges, being straight into irregular shifts at her new placement, this time in A&E. The highlight of the week for Louise has been to watch the removal of a couple of eyes for donation. She’s strange like that.

To make matters worse, after the first week back at work, I have been weekendless, as it just so happened that I had to go away with work. There was a launch event at Celtic Manor in Wales for our whole company, so from early Saturday morning until my about 3pm today that’s where I’ve been.

Celtic manor
To the Manor driven…on a coach

It’s a lovely venue, although I only got to see the inside of a conference room and my bedroom, but still it looked nice. Oh and Wales, let me know when you have a mobile phone signal and 3G and I may come back.

So life feels busy at the moment, and it is stopping me from cracking on with the trip report. I have started, and I think I got up to the part where we take off. So not very impressive progress.

Next week, I’m down in Marlow at head office for a couple of days, so getting anything done next week isn’t looking too good either. Real life does always seem to get in the way.

So far, I have been dodging a few questions about when I’ll post it and where. This is because I don’t know. Or at least I didn’t. Without even realising it, I seem to have sub consciously decided that it is going to be a book. This is because the format in which I started to write it is that, rather than for any forum. As I say, a decision made without me realising it.

This isn’t some attempt to make more millions of pounds from book sales (NOTE: I haven’t actually made millions of pounds from book sales). I think it will force me to do a better job, certainly in terms of spelling and grammar.

I don’t plan to charge for this book. However, Amazon do charge me for “delivering” the book, and as it will contain many photos, so I’ll just have to cover that. This does of course mean that it won’t be ready for a while.

What I might do is post Day One here when it is done. I hope that is OK?

In other news this week, Emily submitted her application for the Disney Cultural Representative Programme.  For those that don’t know, this is the people you see in World Showcase in each of the pavilions. Emily has had this in her mind since about the age of 15, so it is a bit of a big deal.

UK Pavilion
CRP People

Competition is fierce no doubt, but all she can do is give it her best shot and see what happens.

Rebecca starts her college course next week too. She will be studying Media Make Up and Hair at Bolton College. She has small ambitions to end up in Hollywood doing the make up for major movies and stars. Fingers crossed.

Based on my feelings about my last week at work, as ever, I just want them to find something to do that they enjoy and are passionate about. If you don’t, it sure ain’t fun.

So with a following wind and a bit of effort I should be able to get Day One posted at some point next week. If you read it one word a day, it might keep you going until I get the whole thing finished! Consider it the perfect stocking filler for that relative you don’t really like!

Till the next time….

That Book What I Wrote

by mkingdon, posted in dibb, mkingdon, Walt Disney World

What is this madness?  A blog from me on a Saturday?  Crazy I know, but these are not normal times we live in.  For a start, it feels like a Sunday due to the Goodness of the Friday I just had.

What is the reason for this earth shattering deviation from the comforting grip of routine and normality?  Well, I’ll tell you.

Some weeks ago, I undertook a detailed and extensive teaser marketing campaign, as I said…

“As some sort of teaser marketing campaign, I shall …..erm…tease you by letting you know that I am working on a “secret project” at the moment and at some point soon I may reveal it to you.  As an added bonus one or two of you might even give a toss.”

All none of you picked up on this, and I was inundated with absolutely no enquiries as to what I was up to.  As teaser marketing campaigns go, it may not have been the most successful in the history of advertising.

Weighed down by the massive sense of expectation this campaign created, I have been working hard on this project, and can now reveal all to you.

As I said at the time, sadly it is not the annual booking of our holiday.  If it were that would be the least surprising reveal since Duncan from Blue announced he was gay.  It is holiday related, and is in fact the news that I am now a published author!

That sounds grander than it actually is, as frankly anyone can be a published author as long as you can figure out the labyrinth of complexity involved in Amazon’s self publishing programme.  But still, published I is.

So it is with great pleasure that I can reveal to you all my first (and probably only) book, Mkingdon’s Tales of Family, Food and Florida.

Book Image
Mkingdon’s Tales of Family, Food and Florida

Don’t worry, I’m not trying to fund our next trip with the sales of this book.  Believe me, once Amazon and the tax man have had their share I would need the population of China to buy a couple each to be able to fund more than the taxi to the airport!

It is more that I have been meaning to do this for a while now, mainly to preserve them forever on somewhere other than a certain Disney forum.  Who knows when that might blow up or self-destruct in a fire-ball of reclining seats, tipping and right-wing views?  If it did, all the work I had put into these would be lost and I couldn’t have that.  I spend less and less time on there now, so felt that I needed to reclaim them for myself, and of course if I sell a couple (I have already bought one copy, so just one more sale to reach my target) at the same time then that would of course be lovely.

It’s a big book, and should represent decent value for the (random) price. (Amazon’s pricing engine is slightly more complex than space travel).  With ten year’s worth of holidays in it, the page count is as impressive as the photo quality isn’t.  Amazon’s file size restrictions mean they have to be a thumbnail of a thumbnail!

Some of the grammar and spelling will not win any awards.  I have tidied them up a little, but you will still find typos and the like, but hey, that all adds to the charm, doesn’t it??

So, please tell your friends, and even your enemies that such a thing exists, and if any of you are kind enough to invest in a copy, that in itself would be incredible, but should you even enjoy it, then that is what the review system is for on Amazon so don’t be shy to add one!

So there we go, I finally got my arse in gear and created a book from stuff what I wrote.  Enjoy!  We all enjoyed making the holidays that are in it.

Till the next time….