i wish someone would turn the heating down...

i'm currently sat in gatwick airport waiting to follow the next story (read very happy not to be involved with the celebrity of the moment..) and its bloody boiling! i mean off came the waterproof..the body warmer...the fleece - i must look i'm an arctic explorer who took the wrong bloody plane....

i've been a busy boy recently trying to get my website online and get some new content ready for it at the same time. it really does take a lot of time to tie audio into picture slideshows. i mean there was finding the software which was hard enough and then you have to actually do the work. suffice to say i have now got it rolling and i will upload it soon. for all you avid fans....(hmmm)

in other news..chief snapper of the south west booze union cooked a lovely veg meal for us the other day and then promptly showed me how well he can shine his new bowling ball...nobody fucks with the jesus..



i have had loads of random stuff floating in my head to write down here this week - but then i open up my laptop and i can't remember any of it - typical. although with new random stuff happening on a daily basis for me to get my old man hat on and rant about why delve into the past..

lets take this mornings check in....

"would you like to check any bags sir..?"
'no no i have this lovely camera case which is exactly the correct size.....'
"if you could just place it in the basket behind you sir to check.."
'well if you insist.......uhhh...hmmmm....it doesn't seem to...right - well it is the correct size..'
"i'm afraid i'll have to ask you to check your bag sir"

darn and double darn. but its ok your reporter will be waiting for you.....or she will have overslept....amsterdam here i come! all alone...sans baggage.

noel west..

riding at the forest of dean is fun - and its even more fun in the snow. its not something i ever expected to do, and i can't say it was even on the agenda for today. but is was great and i think the highlight had to be murray who kept raising the bar finding gaps to clear in virgin snow. oh and it was cold and my fingers were frozen.

out with the new and in with the old though and i was glad to find a taxi driver in the forest car park who was willing to load my bike on without looking to grumpy. i think he may be welsh though - so that would be a tacsi driver

cheers noel

oh i do like the snow beside the seaside...

oh i do like the snow beside the sea...

sorry about that i'm getting a little carried away.....although not as much as most people

 in the big smoke it would seem.  my favourite one was boris

 johnson our illustrious mayor who declared that 'th

ey just couldn't get the buses out of the garages....'  hmmm - how about someone shovels the snow out of the way

 - you salt the road and hey presto. oh what do i know - i didn't go to eaton - i'm not running london

some people eh

well while i may not be running london (yet) i have been building snowmen with my favourite snowman builder companion...see here...

is it snowing....yes i think it is...

i guess the story goes a little something like this....

i awoke this morning to a not unusually cold 7am (and subsequently 7.06, 7.10, 7.16 and 7.30am). by ten to eight it was time for porridge - not unusual for this time of year especially if it were snowing....not that it was.  it wasn't until mid to late morning that i noticed a dusting of snow filtering through the thick london air and i was, as always pessimistic about it's arrival and probable swift demise.....

as my tummy rumbled for the second time i was not only ready to eat but also to eat my own words as i looked outside to see what could only be described as a smattering of the white stuff...

so i continued as usual assuming that the next time i looked out the window a large pie of slush would have formed right infront of my car making it almost impossible t get in or out without getting wet and miserable...and then i did look out..right after deciding i would ride to the pub.

then i drove to the pub...which i can honestly say was not the brightest of ideas - although comfortable and warm it was a little slippy and hard to see (anything)...

oh and i climbed out on my roof and took a few snaps for the family album...