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Well not been here for quite a few months, as the Chinese say we live in "interesting times" Mrs O stricken by mystery illness ,she felt bad all weekend and by the Sunday lunchtime doubled up in pain ,took her to the hospital ,suspected Gall Stone ,four days later three of which on starvation diet and a multitude of tests not a clue what caused it! ,still she goe's back for a checkup in February but no pain and hey she lost some weight!!!
Grandad again Mrs O took daughter 8 months pregnant for an ultrasound scan, Doctor say's you aint goin nowhere C Section in the morning !!! Angel born four weeks early 4lb 1 oz now 5lb and some and growing like no tomorrow. Went to see said daughtere in hospital with Mrs O and son (16) only two seats, so hey the parents get to sit down when out of corner of my eye I spot son wavering BANG! front of his head on bed and BANG! back of his head on floor .on maternaty ward so oddly three midwives minister to male, wheel semi concious son across hospital to accident and emergency department where to find out after two hours that it was simply a faint and these things happen with teenagers! I'm a little disturbed bercause I seem to be the only member of this family not to be admitted to hospital in the last few months .
Band pretty much on hold Drummers in Cambodia and Singers Father is ill but back in 2008 better than ever,did a fundraiser for "Autism Networks" in November and frankly we have probably never played better even my better half was impressed! anyway I've recently bought a new PA system so we must gert some use out of it.
Cheshire fire and rescue Circus goes from bad to worse, management now running it on fear, formal discipline now the first stop for any transgression, in fact it's almost impossible to get legitimate time off because of the number of people who have been needlessly suspended from duty. All I can say ( as long as nobody reports me for this!) is two years and two months to retirement, first opportunity I'm out It used to be a job you could be proud of but now due to incompetent and self seeking management, It only succeeds because of the dedication of the boys and girls at the coalface sooner or later someones gonna die, but hey they fiddle the statistics.
Anyway on that unfortunately grim note I'd like to wish all a very happy new year.

Well today I had what should be my last in service medical before I retire in three years, WHOOPEEE!!!!
I passed, apparently I'm not as I thought on the brink of death, BP okay,fitness excellent,hearing better than last time (lost that wax!),and eyesight not as bad as I'd dreaded. they told me to lose some more weight and stop smoking but I passed.
A week has gone by since the we got back from our week in Portugal. hmmm nice but I wouldn't choose the resort of Albufiera again ( to many people trying to con me into timeshare) far to touristy ( is that a word?) got out and about Lagos, cape St Vincent ( to my US friends the most SW point in europe, nothing between it and the US), Sagrez and Faro.The Algarve well worth seeing from the semi desert just in land from the coast up to the mountains and forests around Monchique. Pain in the rear all the new security at the airports though, but well I suppose these days you just have to grin and bear it.
Other news, the beds dissapeared ( for purely political reasons. "our firefighters don't sleep on the night shift,they just rest") from the fire station the other day replaced by reclining chairs, it may be possible to find something more uncomfortable and less conducive to rest ,but it will be a tough hunt! Also had my dreaded "Appraisal" another success HOORAY! for some unexplained reason my line manager Steve thinks I'm great ,and h also unofficialy informed me that I was not one of those to be disciplined over the previously mentioned email saga.So all in all a good week.
Back soon with more from the wierd and wacky world of Cheshire Fire and rescue circus.

Oh why Oh why Oh why do I keep writing this stuff, Does anyone else out there keep thinking " what if!". what if I'd kept that date or, what if I'd payed attention in school. Life would be better than it is now, Well I have a sweet wife, an unremarkable and averagely paid job, a home I can easily afford to keep over our heads, a son bound for better things than I could ever hope for, and yet I have this feeling of deep melancholy, WHAT IF? We all make choices and when I look back at my life I seem to think I made all the wrong ones! I apologise for this ranting!

Well dear readers last night was BST's last foray out for the immediate future, most of us will be going away in the next few weeks so maybe try and find some gigs in August (terrified as I have a medical at the end of July and my hearing and eyesight aint to great and they may tell me to stop) The Broughton Arms, what can I say !, We played our little hearts out and they loved us ( a guy in the toilet rather drunk I'll admit said he'd not heard a band as good in ages!) finished with " I fought the law ".
Back to more mundane matters our station manager,glorious leader,little father ,whatever the rank he wants to assume this week. has informed us that our investigation and interviews will recommence on the 27th, however leave begins for me on the 23 rd and I am not under any circumstances going anywhere near the fire station until I go back on the 13th of July.
Two weeks tommorow until we fly down to Portugal, Oh Boy do I need this break a week of sun, sand cheap beer ( and dont tell Mrs O but a whistlestop tour of Roman ,Moorish and medieval sites!!)

Well here it comes , the one week when I start the working week with the real people ON A MONDAY!!!!, now you may ask why is this such a big deal, well when you only get two weekends off clear in every eight and it means this week I finish at nine on Friday morning and dont have to go back until the following Tuesday....A Long Weekend, it also means it's one of those rare weeks when the family can all be in the same place at the same time,and we can do family stuff ,like last night we went to see Pirates of the Caribbean (frankly disappointed, wasn't as good as the first two) however still feel washed out after last weeks big job, biggest fire this areas known in years and certainly the hardest I've had to work for a long time ,I think I must be getting old! However back to work in the morning and ready to be transformed from hero to zero with the restart of the investigation that I'm sure you must be getting bored with. On a positive note three weeks from now I should be sat in a bar by the sea in Portugal .

Oh dear readers you will now be altogether far to aware of my upcoming Discipline case, and today was INTERVIEW DAY, those of the "Blue Watch seven" on duty, all five of us. were sitting around contemplating our futures, discussing strategy option with our union rep ,at about 12:30 the alarm sounded one pump to investigate automatic fire alarm, usually something of no consequence ,we came out of the doors to be confronted by the biggest blackest smoke cloud I have ever witnessed, even before we got there our OIC Steve was requesting extra appliances
visit here for details http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/staffordshire/6721067.stm'
What followed was possibly the biggest fire I have ever attended got home after six and a half hours totally wrecked, night shift tommorow and I can see us going back for several days, However this did put off the dreaded INTERVIEW DAY, It showed that we do work as professionals when circumstances dictate, and that our management in there desire to cut back get it wrong when ordering ony one appliance to an automatic fire alarm, this being one of the complaints we made to members of Parliament which got us into trouble in the first place. So there you are a fun filled action packed day, luckily no one was hurt although one of my crew was decidedly ill for a short time and the youngest member went on the oxygen set for a while ,whilst us olduns know how to pace ourselves. so it looks like another week in limbo!

Hmmm well last night was a decidedly uninspiring evening, The mighty BST (well in my eyes anyway) played the Red Lion in Nantwich ,a drinking den known for live acts. I suppose we could have chosen a better night, England vs Brazil soccer game on tv ( to my US friends this is really really BIG!!, and if anyones interested it was a 1,1 draw) so the crowd rather thin on the ground. Still we got through it ,played for going on two hours to an audience who seemed rather underwhelmed. Mrs O with me so I could indulge in a sherbert or two however she v critical mostly about the drummer (Mrs O's first husband played bass in a covers band too also his first name was Alan ,like me, he went to the same school as me ,although several years earlier ,his mothers name was Nancy,so was mine,scary or what!! and he ran off with a woman he met while playing in the band,not much chance of this happening though as I cant run fast enough!!).Still, two weeks until our next outing,so maybe weve got time to get a few things right.On a heavier note work on Sunday morning,whats the latest thing that our employers are going to do to us,every week it's something new, ever since the Firefighters national strike in 2002 and we were forced to cave in as the troops were bound for Iraq we have been punished by a government who cares little for it's own citizens, and hey on Monday I get interviewed in an investigation into blowing the whistle on the cuts they've made to public safety.
Monday night I will try to put an update on about what happens next ( if I've still got a job!!) Two years from retirement and I've got to face this C..p after a mostly spotless career. and to cap it all my Ipod died while at the gym today!!! it's rather an old one but still it gripes me,going to Portugal for some much needed RnR in four weeks and I NEED SOME MUSIC so going to have to buy something new. anyway thats it for now.

First Gig last night in about six weeks, four new songs (in fact we only decided to attempt Joe Jacksons, It's different for girls on Thursday night!)played at "The Cotton Tree" which must rank as one of the smallest Pubs in the north of England, been there before and for some peculiar reason they seem to like us, though I dont know why, last time no end of feedback problems and the lead Guitarists amp breaking down...this time he couldn't keep his electric guitars stay in tune.." temperature, humidity blah blah" .I play a twenty five year old Japanese Westone bass and you would have drive over it in a tractor to knock it out of tune!!
First set went well ,no technical probs,played well,muted audience response. Second set started out c..p went down hill from there until " in the midnight hour",audience response ecstatic (alcohol!!!) came back for three more, I don't know why but they loved us! Mrs O didn't attend so yours truly stayed off the sauce and got home about 12.30 with work in the morning.
It all seems to come at once three gigs in the next two weeks!
Work hmmm a week now until I'm investigated over the alleged "whistle blowing " about Cheshire fire and rescue circus,actually I wasn't involved but some of my ideas were in the offending email, also I have proof of the investigating officers incompetance ( he couldn't recall recieving a piece of evidence I gave to my line manager to pass on when evidence exists that it did )Still who cares BST will be rocking the Red Lion in Nantwich on Friday night ,see http://bluesky-thinking.mysite.orange.co.uk/
and having a good time, Mrs O said she'll go this time ,so I intend to have a snifter or two. However this means I did have to agree to have the Grandkids to stay on the Saturday night ( I actually enjoy this but had to have some bargaining strategy).

Finished my last night shift of the week at nine this morning,feeling lousy, got a cold or something, anyway pretty cr*p night shift out and about in the rain so very tired, achey and not feeling at all good. Went straight to the bank and paid credit card bill. Got home turned on computer needed to check mail ,one marked re Graham. Now Graham is my first wife's brother and a really nice guy and despite the fact that we haven't seen each other for nearly 18 years I know he nor his other sister dont hold me responsible for the break up of my first marriage, anyway around New Year I learnt he was very ill with a brain tumour. so not having heard from the mutual friend for sometime who had informed me of this it was quite worrying. I've spent all day putting off opening this message for the fear of bad news (I've been to far to many funerals lately). anyway had a couple of beers and summoned up the courage.HE's IN REMISSION ,absolutely wonderful news. so now will send messages to former Wife and Sister in Law. So maybe it's wrong to always expect the worse,I think I'll try this in future.

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