The end is nigh…

The time has come for the last update! When I started this blog I intended it to be a bit of a log for my time spent abroad, something to look back on in years to come and think “oh yeah, remember that?!” to myself and happily reminisce about. Since being back in the UK though I’ve had very little time and/or motivation to keep updating it to be honest so now seems like a decent time to wrap it all up and leave it be. I did try a couple of times but I’ve reached the conclusion that I can’t be bothered!

I’ve no desire to announce to the world what I had for breakfast this morning or what I watched on tv last night day after day, and what occurs between my friends and family is my own business so it all seems a bit redundant; If I were to continue it’d be the same old monotonous affair that can be read in countless other places on the ‘net to be honest.

Some people like to use a blog to express their cynically contrived disgust and moral outrage, smug self-righteousness and sanctimonious finger-pointing whilst nursing perceived grievances on behalf of others whch they exploit for their own miserable ends. It’s usually complemented by the same old run of the mill smarminess that has become expected of these self appointed guardians of morality and to be quite honest I’d rather not be a part of that and leave them to it. Using a blog as a way to substantiate my existence or massage my ego just doesn’t appeal, and my lack of self-loathing negates any need to reassure myself how many brilliant friends I have and what my self-perceived popularity and maturity level is. If you take all that away, as well as the element of what I actually started blogging for in the first place, then what’s the point? If something’s on my mind I agree it’s nice to air the problem, but I’ve come to realise that discussing it with someone or just dealing with it far outweighs the benefits of broadcasting my grievances to the world. Removing all that lot just leaves the purpose of recording my day to day activities, and I’ve got a natural blog for doing that; the grey mushy bit between my ears

I start a new job and new career again next week as well as going back to the gym, I’m in a happy relationship and still devote whatever spare time I get to the sport I love….for all that I’m more than happy and content with and the need to blog purely to engraciate myself with population of the internet just doesn’t figure in my life. Yes I could easily wax lyrical about pet-peeves, fickle friendships and the trials and tribulations of every day life but I’d much rather live my life now than dedicate my free time to writing about it!

Maybe one day in the future if I spawn offspring in to the world or something then I’ll do the blog thing again to record it all for looking back on but for now I’m done. 

For that reason….I’m oot.

Erm….wtf?!

One of the things I was looking forward to the most when thinking about coming back was catching up with old friends, I spent so often reflecting on all the times and experiences that I’d missed..much as I do now thinking about Bahrain now..funny old world eh? Anyway, once I landed on terra firma and got myself “back in the game” so to speak I was really pleased, lots of old faces I’d not seen for a while, and plenty of new ones too. There were a few friends in particular that I was really pleased to see again, especially as they were..well for want of a better phrase “best friends” I suppose, people that I’d missed more than the rest, ones that I’d loved to have been able to show the good times in the Middle East, and be able to talk to them in person through the not so good times. I was amazed to find that my old “going in town and getting bladdered” mate was now so settled….amazed in a good way though, I was chuffed to bits for him that he was married, settled in a nice house and with a new baby on the way. It was also nice to catch up with another best friend too, sure we’d had our moments but always came through in the end and it’s amazing to have someone you can talk to about anything and everything about! 

In relation to this person in particular, there’s been numerous bits and bobs and different theories bounded around the ‘net about why we’re not very close anymore but to be honest, everyone’s entitled to their own opinion and I can’t dispute other people’s feelings. One thing is for certain though, the notion that I “shit on” anyone is a grave mis-judgement but that’s just how I feel. It’s hard to pin point what happened really; I came home and met up with this person a few times and it was great, and I had really missed it, I got introduced to many of her new circle of friends, some I’d known previously and others I didn’t and all was good. Once I’d started going out with a member of this circle, this person no longer seemed to want any part of knowing me (so it seemed to me at least). I continued to go out as I had done previously, and everytime I did, I’d invite her and get turned down, despite saying “there’s nothing wrong”. Now we spoke about it over and over via texts, email, phonecalls etc. and still the verdict was that everything was fine. Things came to a head around Christmas and New Year during her Birthday I guess. Interesting one this, and one that numerous different people have numerous different opinions on so I’ll state mine. A week or so after coming home I’d been invited to a New Year party by a couple I’d been introduced to through my friend, which to be honest was really nice and an opportunity to get to know them and everyone else a bit more. I’d only heard good things about them and from the brief times I’d met them they seemed sound and we got on ok so I thought why not?

Fast forward a few weeks to around Christmas and a group of us went out for this friend’s Birthday, now call me paranoid or whatever but my feeling was that for whatever reason (I suspected it was due to who I was with) I felt that everything was a bit awkward and that I perhaps wasn’t really as welcomed by some people as I first thought so in light of this I made a decision that it wouldn’t feel right attending the party with them. The last thing I wanted was any drama or increased awkwardness so I figured that’d be the sensible choice. A slating via the internet later and I discovered that it wasn’t ok though, the person involved felt hurt (which was by no means intended) as she thought I was snubbing them and being an arse hole for the sake of being elsewhere at New Year, which wasn’t the case at all. This person also implied that I’d “dropped my friend” for the sake of seeing my girlfriend, which I’ll be honest, incensed me as it really wasn’t the case. I spoke to both parties straight away and cleared up (I’d hoped) any confusion over the situation and where my friend was concerned I thought we’d got things straightened out and of the understanding that nothing had changed! After great lengths were made to avoid me in a hope I’d “disappear” by my this person I discovered on a chance trip to the pub that my presence wasn’t welcomed anymore which contradicted greatly with the other party’s sentiment that again…”everything was ok”.

So, the phone comes out once more as I still didn’t understand what the problem with me was and I thought that if anything, I was being dropped like a sack of shit for no apparent justifiable reason, other than the fact that people don’t agree with my choice of girlfriend. Now, considering that all parties involved already knew each other looong before I’d set foot in the country again and got on fine I found this a bitter pill to swallow However, I was told that it was me who’s the shit mate for socialising with certain people (despite the fact my friend was going out regularly with someone who used to be a lot more involved with her “enemy” than I was, so again it didn’t really wash…”Chloe” I believe??). 

Again though, through effort from both sides we decided to put it behind us and go out as a group again which I was more than happy to do as I didn’t (and still don’t!) have a problem with anyone. I (stupidly) thought that it went ok, apart from the initial awkwardness but it’s been brought to my attention recently that as far as the other people involved are concerned it was awful hence I’ve never been invited out since. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out now that both my girlfriend and I will have been slagged off from arse-hole ’til breakfast time over all this but I’m big and ugly enough not to lose too much sleep over it, the thing that gets me is that to this day I still don’t really know what happened! I stand by my comment that I have no problem with anyone and that whether I have a boyfriend, girlfriend or make love to a 4 legged beasty has no bearing on how much time I have for my friends.

That lot may have seemed very long winded and detailed but it’s nice just to be able to let off some steam over it all, despite the fact that it’s pretty much a given that nobody involved will get to see it. I’ve had contact with this friend briefly over recent months and it’s been ok, I can’t deny I miss it or more correctly “how it was” but at that time I didn’t realise her true opinion of the matter…..now I do. It’s pretty clear that I’m not very well received by her or her “married friends” which is pretty much as I suspected from the start, but I’ve got a good bunch of mates who like me for me and don’t summise their opinions based on who I go out with so it’s each to their own on that one. If people actually took the time to get to know me instead of rushing to conclusions then perhaps they’d realise there are a lot worse people about!! To those that already knew me………well, they should know better.

Hmm….maybe I should get my phone out again ………….

 

Remember me?!!

What a difference 6 months makes eh?! I know it’s an age old cliché but time really does fly, I can’t believe how distant my last entry seems and how much things have changed over that period….to be honest I don’t really know where to start!

Not really sure why I’ve taken to the ol’ blog again, in total honesty I’d forgotten all about it, I originally started it so I could have a reminder of my time abroad in years to come; which is why it’s been pretty stale since. Thing is though, like I’ve said, it’s been 6 months since I last updated and it’d be nice to keep some sort of record before my brain turns to soup! Besides which, it’s always nice to get a few things off yer chest eh?! I doubt I’ve got the time nor inclination to update and catch up in one go so no doubt I’ll add bits in as time allows.

May as well pick up where I left off I reckon, so…….back to Blighty! I must admit it was tough when Morgan and Doris dropped me off at the airport for the last time, there were a million and one things running through my head, the foremost thought being “am I doing the right thing?”. To be honest though the thought of seeing friends, family and of course good ol’ Finky again kept me optimistic and it was just time to start a new chapter. Half a year on and I can’t deny I miss it….to the point of distraction at times, it’s very difficult not to think “what if?”….what if I’d have stayed? What if I’d just come back on holiday for a bit instead? What if I’d never gone in the first place?? The long and short of it is though that you have to stick by your guns in life and I’m happy to say I’ve got no regrets (erm, honest! ). Sure the weather over here is piss-poor but at least I don’t have the pleasure of working for Arabs anymore! Not only that, but it was nice to leave a lot of erm…”eventful” memories of my previous relationship behind too.  I did contemplate going back around the turn of year, I decided against it in the end but I’ll come to that bit in a later post me thinks.

So then sports fans (being waiting for a chance to drop that in somewhere for a while ), the Firebird! Or “Death Proof” as it was christened. The truth of the matter is that it was cold (no heater), uncomfortable, impractical and drank worse than George Best and Oliver Reed combined but I loved it! Any car than can cause a middle aged bloke to run half a mile from his house in his pants and vest @ midnight to tell me to switch it off is fine by me ha ha! Also, how can I forget the time it made me a local celebrity?! (albeit for the wrong reasons and just for the day!); whilst cruising through a local village on the way to work at rush hour I suffered from sporadic (and quite spectacular) transmission failure that transformed me and the car in to a 2 tonne road block and made me famous on traffic reports throughout the county! Yes it was an unorthodox mode of transport and a pretty stupid one at that but it was just what I needed when coming home, alas however it was a short lived affair….needs must sometimes and big brother (Rat Fink) was sat needing an engine rebuild so “Death Proof” made her way to Surrey and was soon replaced by a set of con-rods and piston rings!

Between fuel refills I’d managed to find time to start work at my new place and with that has also come a complete turnaround. With Mercedes everything was so regimental, right from being a first year apprentice (“sweep there, but never there…and don’t go near my tools. Right, kettle on!” ) to supervising the workshop in Bahrain everything was so clearly laid out and structured; this was your role, you do this, this and this, but never get involved with that etc. Whereas at this place it’s all a bit of a free for all to be honest, if your hands are free then you do it, there’s no structured role as such..you just kind of show up and do what needs doing. There’s nothing wrong with that, and it makes for a lot more relaxed envronment, but it does take some getting used to. Needless to say that half a year down the line and I’m still here so it can’t be bad, depsite working next to Mr. Bubbles and Onslow day in day out

That’s all I can muster at the minute but I shall do a bit more catching up later….

The last supper……..

Well here we are then, my final blog as an inhabitant of Bahrain; at midnight tonight I shall venture to the airport for the final time and have only my memories. Now the time has come I feel a bit numb to be honest, it’s definitely now how I’d envisaged leaving; the master plan was always for me and the ex to spend a few years out year together and build for a decent future…….best laid plans and all that eh?! I’m not going to dwell on that though and as far as I’m concerned all the crap from that relationship will be left behind too. I’ve met some amazing friends, had some amazing times and above all I gave it a go.

On Sunday night it was Chris’ mate Rich’s Birthday who was over here for a couple of days. To mark the occasion the three of us along with Graham went for a cracking bit of snap at Monsoon. I’ll miss that place for sure, I was never really in to Thai food when I came here but that place is absolutely spot-on. The night followed the usual course of random chats and a few pints before I headed off home for the night. We did stop off at Cocoon on the way home though and I wasn’t overly fussed. It’s an attempt at a bit of a trendy bar type affair but there was no atmosphere and it didn’t really work, I was happy to go in though out of pure curiosity before I left.

Last night was “the last supper” at Bam-Bu. Morgan, Doris, Lee, Laura, Chris, Derek, Lorraine, Steve and Graham all joined me for my leaving do type thing and it was a really good night. It’s hard to remember anywhere else I’ve ever been where there’ve been so many different types of character around one table! As is usual at Bam-Bu we all went for the “all you can eat and drink” deal so vast quantities of grub were consumed as well as more than a few Stellas. It actually got to the stage where the staff had to switch the lights off and ask us to leave before we were finished for the night! I don’t really think it’s sank in fully yet; that was the last time I’d be sat with that lot, I guess you take it for granted at the time but good friends are worth their weight in gold and I don’t think it’s going to fully register how much I’ll miss them until I’m back in England.

Tonight is going to be a bit of a mad dash I’m sure, I’ve got to nip to the hypermarket on the way home and buy myself a small case I can use for hand-luggage as “the shiney cow” case is now at maximum capacity! I’ve also got to nip to the bank, then to the exchange to send some cash home before getting back and sorting the last of my packing. Hopefully I’ll get time to nip to the Warbler for one last pint with everyone too but I’ll have to see how it goes.

As I mentioned earlier, I don’t think the last 12 months are going to truly sink in until I get home so no doubt I’ll have plenty of things to reflect on in the coming weeks. For now though that’s it, the next time I blog I shall be back in the rain and snow, but I’m really looking forward to seeing friends and family again and catching up on everything.

Farewell Bahrain………….It’s been emotional.

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The weekend that was……..

As mentioned before, Thursday and Friday was my last “weekend” in Bahrain, and what a weekend it was! I left work on the dot at 1pm on Thursday and headed straight for home and grabbed some snap because I was absolutely starving! I decided to go with the tried and trusted Pizza Hutt order, although it let me down big time; with only a few hours before I was due to go out, I felt absolutely dog rough and after fetching the lot back up again I thought the night was over before it had started. Luckily, a few Panadol, loads of water and a power kip later I felt ok so I hopped in the shower and got ready for the night. Once out of the shower and fully awake I didn’t feel too bad so and dressed and headed out to Graham’s place. We had a couple of cans on his porch before heading around the corner to see Morgan and Doris (Louise) who were going to be our taxi in to town for the night, and we cracked open a bottle of champagne to toast their life together in their pad as well as to bid me farewell on my last mad Thursday.

Once in to town we headed straight for JJ’s again, it was supposed to be just for the start of the night but once the drinks started flowing we spent most of the night there! After an hour or so we were joined by the Pikeys (Derek & Lorraine), their friend Waleed, Disco Chris, Tracey and ‘Orrible Phil. There were a few other comings and goings throughout the night too and it was a really good craic. As usual though our American Cousins were causing a fuss and decided that the game for that night was to relentlessly pursue any woman in sight, regardless of whether they were with their blokes or not…it was a busy night for the door staff that night as you can imagine!! I even had to step in between Derek and one of the cretins at one point as they were hassling Lorraine and he was none too impressed obviously. This led to a conversation between me and one of the English RAF lads that was out regarding the mentality of the armed forces and why the US troops seem to be such horrible, arrogant people! I’ve got all the respect in the world for people that put their necks on the line for their country, but in my opinion it doesn’t make them any better than anyone else. As far as I’m concerned it’s what they sign up for, and being stationed in Bahrain isn’t much of a strenuous lifestyle I’m sure. There’s simply no need for the arrogance that some of these boys feel the need to force upon everyone. Anyway, by about 1:30 Graham, Chris and I were the last ones standing and we were pretty much tortured so there was only one thing for it……..chip shop! We grabbed our snap and headed back to Graham’s place where I was bedding down for the night and it wasn’t long before I was unconscious as I was knackered.

Friday morning came and when I surfaced Graham had already left for the Yacht Club to fetch the boat, so I got myself sorted out and sat out on the porch again just watching the world go by. The canal was like a motorway at one point as people headed out to sea on their jet-skis and boats at the same time as people were canoeing back and forth and messing around in dingys and things. After around 30 minutes Graham appeared around the corner on the boat so I locked up and jumped aboard…next stop Morgan and Doris’. Once we’d tied the vessel up and got back on dry land Doris had prepared a slap up breakfast and a pot of tea which was just what the doctor ordered after the night before! It wasn’t long before Andy and his mate turned up along with Chris and his mate Rich who was over for a few days so we headed out to the beach on the boat and Chris’ jet ski while Morgan and Doris got tidied up and things. Once we got out to the beach the water was lovely, there’s a massive break-water encapsulating much of the island and the sea around us was like a sheet of glass it was so calm. As the conditions were so good we spent the next hour or so just taking it in turns on the wakeboard and just having a general cruise around. Once we saw some bodies appear on the beach we headed back to shore where Matt and Kat had arrived along with their new sprog along with Derek, Lorraine, Waleed, Tracey and ‘Orrible Phil. Matt’s Dad who was over from England also joined us too so there were plenty of bodies around and it made for a great day. It wasn’t long before the ringo came back out and it was time for folks to get tortured behind the boat. Chris and Rich had a go first out and managed to stay in despite some close calls so next up were me and Graham. Andy was behind the wheel this time and we managed to discover that there is someone more psychotic at the control of a water craft than Morgan! He’d got his technique sorted in no time at all for creating a massive wash and it was only a matter of a minute or two before the two of us were 6ft in the air bouncing over the waves and gripping on for dear life as he dialed in more and more throttle! In the end the inevitable happened and as we hit a big wave Graham back-flipped, landed in the ring backwards and then got fired out to sea! I managed to stay in but my hands were red raw from holding on so tight! Now it was Graham’s revenge! Andy and his mate were in the ring this time and Graham was doing everything he could to get them out while I was stood at the back of the boat navigating, trying to spot the biggest waves to aim at. At one point there was a real choppy patch of water created and we headed straight for it, the ring crashed in to about 3 consecutive waves in close succession whilst at wide open throttle and Andy had no choice but to start flying! How he never broke any bones is unbelievable as he must have gone cart-wheeling in to the sea at about 60mph! We had to go a good 200-300 yards to go back and get him and were amazed to find him bobbing around and ok! The rest of the day was pretty much the same, with people taking it in turns in the ring and generally just chilling out on the beach with some ale and random conversations. Once night-fall came we got everything packed up again and headed over to Chris’s new place for a bit of a house-warming barbeque. Only problem with this was that the barbeque was still in the box in a million bits! Chris headed off in to town to fetch supplies while Graham and I hit the barbeque construction with a bang (I think we were nominated purely because of our mechanic backgrounds!). We were soon greeted by a floor full of bits and to accompany them, possibly the World’s worst set of instructions. There was only one thing for it; blag it!! Once we got cracking it wasn’t too bad and there was dead cow sizzling in no time. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that alcohol + water side party was a recipe for chaos and it was only a matter of time before most of us were in the water in various states of undress, including naked! By 9:30 I was all partied out to be honest after a full day of it so headed home. It seemed so bizarre walking back in to the apartment after all the commotion; it was so quite…almost eerie. As I mentioned when I last blogged it’s always been such a busy place since Leanne and I moved in all those months ago, what with Leanne’s mate being over for a while, then Morgan moving in followed by Louise and a brief visit from mini-Doris (Sarah), there has never been a time really when it’s been empty. It was at this stage that I decided to look at my feet as they’d been hurting for a while, as I looked at the soles I discovered why; they were minced! In the shallow water near the beach it was like sinking sand and there were allsorts of rocks and coral in there and it’d chewed my feet up good and proper. Once I’d cleaned them up though it was fine and I hit my pit exhausted again, but satisfied at such a cracking couple of days. I’m certainly going to miss that lot, I know that for sure.

That Fri..errm…Thursday feeling!

Well, this is it, my last “weekend” as a citizen of Bahrain. Thursday night is the night over here as we work to a Thursday/Friday weekend and with me being in work Thursday morning, Friday is the only real day off. I’ve got some really good memories of Thursday nights, from Graham getting “confused” by a broad Scottish fellow of the Asian-persuasion in the chip shop one time, to the roof-top party that saw me and Morgan taking a dip in the pool fully clothed and plenty more in-between! There’s nothing really on the cards tonight, I think we’re all just going to meet and see where we end up, which always makes for an interesting time! I’m sure there’s plenty of time for a few more memories to be created!

I think the first plan of attack for this afternoon when I get in is to start packing everything up with a bit more earnest, as I’m amazed at how much stuff I’ve acquired and I don’t want to be stuck at the last minute with no way of getting it home!

The past few days I’ve hardly been at the apartment at all. Morgan and Louise have recently moved out in to their own place at Amwaj Island near Graham’s new pad, and with Chris having sorted a place out up there too I’ve spent most of my evenings this week up there just chilling out by the water with a couple of beers. It seems strange being on my own in the apartment, it certainly seems a lot bigger now, but somehow it just seems soul-less without all the bodies coming and going. In some ways it’s nice to have the place to myself for the last few days, although it’s hard not to reflect on all the bad times I’ve experienced between those four walls either. That first time I walked back in after dropping my ex off at the airport will always stick with me I think, Morgan was at work and the place just seemed so quiet, it felt like it hit my like a ton of bricks at that precise moment that the last 18 month chapter was over and I’m not too proud to admit it. For all the bad times though there have been plenty of amazing nights spent in that place too, like the infamous “Harry Potter” incident for one. I’ll never forget Morgan, Louise and I stood with the windows open throwing fruit at the builders across the road either and even the washing machine episode brings a smile to my face now! I suppose for the next few days I’ll just make the most of having my own space and take in the view; there’s certainly not going to be a seaside view in Mansfield!

In other news I’ve had a few run-ins with the aforementioned ex this week, but it doesn’t really deserve the time or effort to go in to it. All I’ll say it’s amazing sometimes how ruthless some people can be when it comes to twisting the knife, but I know I’ll have the last laugh in the end, because sooner or later she’ll get hurt the same way she hurts others. When it does happen, I’ll be the one with the smug grin disappearing in to the distance.

V8 Muscle……..

After my last blog about some hard decisions going around in my head, I finally made a choice a couple of days ago. That choice is in the shape of a 1979 Pontiac Firebird! There I was merrily scouting through eBay one night and I thought “hmm, I wonder” and searched for Firebirds and Trans Ams as I’ve always liked them and low and behold there was one for sale in Nottingham. It’s far from the super clean stunner that my Camaro was, but it’s a virtual blank canvas and the basis for a great project. The matte black paint and stripped interior may not be to everyone’s taste, but what’s important is that it’s straight and solid. Paint and interiors are easy to come by, if the body’s rotten though then it’s game over, this one is thankfully solid. She should have plenty of grunt too; the stock block has been bored out 0.030” to make it 6.8 litre and there are forged pistons and a good race-spec Crane camshaft inside. Added to the Edelbrock intake, new carburetor and headers they make a good little package and I’m really looking forward to getting behind the wheel. I’m going to start looking for my own place in the New Year, and if somewhere decent crops up I may be forced to sell, I dunno. If there’s a chance I can hold on to her though I will do, as with a bit of work she could be a real stunner. For now though I’ll bolt in a passenger seat and enjoy behind the wheel of a muscle car again. I’m gonna get myself a cheap runabout too for going backwards and forwards to work and things to ease the running costs, I’ve got the feeling the Firebird will be a thirsty girl!!

Decisions, decisions………

I’ve found myself in a bit of a quandary the past few days, trying to figure out what the best course of action will be for when I get home. My first instinct is cars and always will be, and if I follow that I’ll be tempted to go out and buy a nice one straight away, I did line up a project car for my return but it turned out to be a nail so it’s back to the drawing board with that one. Thing is though I’ve got an outstanding loan that I can pay off too, although that wouldn’t leave a lot of cash free for decent motor, I’d probably have to make do with a runabout for a while. Then of course I’ll be wanting a house when I get back too, so do I use what I’ve saved for a deposit, add my outstanding loan to a mortgage and then embark on a debt free start to home owner-ship? The problem with that is that with the wage I’ll be on at home, I’m not sure I’ll be able to get a mortgage large enough to cover a cardboard box, never mind having enough in reserve to cover the loan too, as house prices seem to be continuing there alarming upward spiral and with no other half to share with at the minute it’s going to be a stretch I reckon….hmmm.

It’s been a few days or so since I last blogged and they’ve been pretty good to be honest other than the aforementioned indecisiveness! I spent the best part of Thursday morning poncing around in a pair of McLaren SLR’s which was obviously a pretty good start to the day, especially when explaining to the customer that his new front brake pads were going to set him back the equivalent of 1100 quid! Being able to afford to buy a Supercar is literally only half of the deal; being able to live with one and run it is a whole different ball game. Some of the parts for the SLR are absolutely pornographic when it comes to the cost and the fact that some of these blokes don’t even ask how much the stuff is when they give the go ahead makes me even bitterer towards them! Case in point; one of our customers who’s based in Saudi shipped his SLR over to England so he could use it on holiday (how excessive is that?!) and as he was in the area thought he’d pop in to McLaren’s HQ to see what they could fettle on his car. He decided on a red suede headliner, a new steering wheel and swapped his silver brake calipers for red ones. That little lot came to just over 36K!!! I think the sales guy would’ve been wearing the steering wheel around his neck if he’d have presented me with that bill, but our customer just handed over his credit card and didn’t bat an eyelid!! It really is another world.

On Thursday evening Graham had his Sister over from Dubai for the night so the three of us went to Bam-Bu for their “all you can eat” special. It’s a lovely Chinese place and the all you can eat special includes all you can drink too, all for about 15 quid which is a pretty decent price considering how nice the food is. Needless to say vast amount of fried animals and Stella were consumed before we headed over to JJ’s for the rest of the night. JJ’s is the local Irish bar and probably one of the “hot-spots” in Bahrain. It’s not a bad place to be fair and there’s usually plenty of Brits in there too. It was a pretty cool night actually, Morgan, Louise, Chris, Derek and Lorraine were all there, and we were even treated to a cameo appearance from Mr. Kirkman towards the end too. There was an interesting development that cropped up in a conversation between me and Lorraine too at one point, something that may have me nipping down to London at some stage when I get back, although I’ll say no more for now unless anything more comes if it. By about 1:30am we are all pretty much twisted so we called it a night and headed back. On our return to the apartment Morgan, Louise and I embarked on what has now become somewhat of a tradition when we’ve been out; ordering our own body weight in pizzas, chicken wings and garlic bread and hardly touching any of it before retiring to our pits!

Friday was a pretty steady day, when I got up I just sat in front of the tv and watched Pearl Harbour followed by the original Planet of the Apes (there was nothing else on!) before I started getting a few bits and bobs organized ready to start packing. That evening Graham and I decided we both fancied nipping to the cinema so we just headed on down there without knowing what was on. We ended up watching Rush Hour 3 which I thought was really good. I like those sort of films; easy watching that doesn’t really take any effort to follow, just endless scenes of explosions, fights and drama One thing that never fails to bemuse me is the Arab mentality when they’re in the cinema; phone-calls, crying kids, chats across the rows the lot. I swear I was about 2 seconds from clouting the bloke behind me, I don’t know what he was eating but it happened to be contained in the world’s noisiest bag!! Trying to enjoy a film with what sounds like a Kalashnikov going off behind your head isn’t easy, but luckily the fat git finished in quick time so it was ok.

Yesterday at work seemed to fly and before I knew it 4:30 was here and I was heading to the pub. I got there just in time to catch the second half of the Toon-v-Mackem game and I thought both teams were pretty poor! I think someone was definitely smiling down on Newcastle when Chopra’s header glanced the underside of the bar and came out! I love a good local derby but it seemed a bit flat. The plan was originally to leave after this but the West Ham game started straight after and the pints kept on coming. What started off as one pint and the end of one match turned in to ten pints and wandering out of the pub at 11:00 after the Liverpool game had finished. Oh well

 For tonight I think the plan is probably more of the same, although I doubt I’ll be drinking as it gets a bit tedious after a while. There are a few decent games on this evening that could really shake up the Premiership table so I’m looking forward to some entertaining football. On the subject of entertaining football, I’ve got to give the super Stags a mention for there comfortable 3-0 win in the cup last night, as well as a big shout for the Boulding brothers….keep it up lads!!!

Is it me?…….naah!……

I’ve been on a bit of a downer for the last couple of days to be honest, which for those who know me well is pretty out of character. After a string of failed relationships I’m starting to wonder if the right one will ever come along at all, and whether it’s me that’s the problem…do I have anything to offer someone? Am I really that funny looking? Do I care too much? Not enough? All those things have been going through my head to the point where I’ve almost resigned myself to being on my own. To be honest though, after a flick on the forehead from a mate back home I’ve realised that it’s their loss and they just weren’t the right choice for me, so I shall try and be a bit more positive on that front from now on!

Not much in the way of news to report really, although we’ve had some good news on the sponsor front. After touting our portfolio around various different companies and having mixed reactions, Jagermeister UK have responded saying they’re interested and will be in touch soon so things could be looking good on that front. Something like that would be a really big deal to us and the sport, with a worldwide company like them getting involved it’d really help the profile of the sport and perhaps get other companies to sit up and take notice of what drag racing can offer as a marketing tool. We know that as a team we could do a cracking job for a big sponsor, full uniforms, merchandise, car shows, trade shows etc etc, we just need to be given the chance to shine. Fingers crossed eh?! McDonalds also replied saying they’ll get back to me soon too which was surprise, I was expecting a flat “no thanks” but another door has definitely opened so to speak….maybe we will be able to defend that big number one spot after all?….

I got a call from back home on Monday too, offering me the job that I had an interview for not long back. I’ve got mixed emotions about it to be honest; on the one hand it’s nice to know I’ve got something to come back to now, and it should be a real challenge and something new to try. The company itself seems to be pretty cool and the after having a chat with the gaffer he seems sound enough. On the other hand though, it’s a big departure from what I’m used to and the last step away from the motor trade that I’ve been part of all my working life. It’s a lot of work and a bit of an unknown quantity for me but I’ll give it my best shot. I’ve got a brain in my head and can adapt to most things so I don’t see it as being a problem, I just don’t know if the industry as a whole is up my street so to speak. Time will tell I guess, but I’m expecting a few headaches; nobody like having someone coming in to their place as a new boss or someone in charge so there’s bound to be a few clashes at some stage. As I said on the phone though, I won’t be going to work to make any best mates so if anyone wants to be funny then they’ll get plenty of change back. All I can do is try my best and give it a good crack of the whip and see how it goes, like I said it’s definitely going to be a challenge and it’s the sort of job where something different will happen everyday so on paper at least it sounds good.

It’s Charlotte’s 12^th Birthday tomorrow and I can’t believe where the time’s gone! It took plenty of getting used to at first having a Sister that’s 12 years younger but as time has passed the gap has got closer and closer and I wouldn’t swap her for the world. I feel quite bad missing her Birthday but I guess there’s nothing I can do, I’ve sent her a big bouquet of balloons though and a stuffed bear thing and wrote on the card that I’ll take her out and get her something nice on my return, hopefully she’ll be happy with that.

As I wrote in an earlier post, time is continuing to fly by as predicted. There is just under two weeks left now before I come home and all this will be a memory. What a memory it will be though, there have been plenty of moments out here both good and bad that I’ll never forget. I suppose I better think about getting my stuff together at some point now but to be honest there isn’t a great deal to arrange, although another suitcase may be in order for the pile of clothes I seem to have acquired out here!

Gutted about the Stags result from last night, I really though we were on a role, and we hadn’t lost away at Hereford for over 6 years. To be honest though, the Bulls are a different team this year and after they mullered Darlington over the weekend it was going to be a big ask for our lot. I was pleased to see that we fought back though, in seasons past at 2-0 down away from home we’d often collapse, but we managed to pull a goal back and keep pushing ‘til the end which shows that there is plenty of spirit in the squad now that Keithy Haslam has packed his bags and cleared off at last. With the teams around us losing too it hasn’t really impacted us that hard, and it’s nice to see Lincoln languishing around at the bottom still!  Next up is a match against non-league Lewes in the FA Cup and to be honest games like that always makes me nervous. Although Mansfield aren’t exactly footballing giants Lewes will be pulling out all the stops to show us up I’m sure, and if we take our foot off the pedal at all we’ll get embarrassed. It’s a must win game for one other important reason too…to keep mine and Wiggy’s hopes alive of a 3^rd round tie away at the Emirates!