Definition of a happy grumpy

Someone who finds that Grumpy New Year is being repeated on the Comedy Channel earlier than on the BBC!

Diamond league news

I thought that this was interesting:

http://www.diamondleague.com/en/News/NewsArticles/Global-TV-audience-triples-Calendar-and-Event-Disciplines-distribution-for-2011--Samsung-Diamond-League/?Template=News

Blogging dementia

I included a Facebook page and a Twitter feed on the www.parishwalk.com website and whilst trying to keep the content on these up to date, plus two blogs and three websites, I'm loosing touch with what I am posting where!

My main focus this week however has been the feature on John Cannell on the Parish Walk site. I have wanted to do this one for a long time but his career has been so long that there was so much to cover - I am feel I have still left so much blank.

But I needed some time with the family and of course a few indulgences of my own.

I'm planning full coverage of the Supercards St Johns fell race and was thinking of moving away from the river for a change this year. Then Nigel Armstrong told me that he had been through it and just how tough it is going to be and my sadistic side told me I have to be there for the fallers!

Can't type at 70

I was off work yesterday and spent much of the morning working on a Parish Walk feature (not yet finished) and then went into town to meet Marie, who was finishing at lunchtime.

We met Brian and Judy King in Spill the Beans. I couldn't believe that Brian is approaching 71. I always given  the former St Ninians deputy head teacher for encouraging me to go the English Schools Championships and I repeated these thanks.

I had forgotten that he had also attended a "Typing for Beginners" course at Isle of Man College. When I first Marie she was studying for the teaching qualification required for evening classes and taught shorthand, and other secretarial skills. I'm sure it wasn't fault but whereas I went on to do better things after Brian helped me he told Marie "I still can't type you know!".

A little Christmas cheer

We've not really been celebrating Christmas in our household this year.

Only three people have shared our Christmas table with us in recent years and we weren't expecting any of them to be with us today.

(Younger son) Ben is spending Christmas and New Year in France with his girlfriend, although he came home for a couple of nights two weeks ago. A call via Skype was a welcome start to our day.

My 86 year old mother in law is very immobile, although she enjoys watching some of the summer races from the car parks (multi lap races are good for that). She didn't want to go out in the cold today although we were able to visit her.

(Elder son) Robbie has been getting specialist help outside of home for the past 7 weeks but we were able to have him home for a few hours today, although Christmas dinner was a bit unconventional. Robbie is planning to run in the relay although you might miss - his weight has fallen from 11 1/2 stone to under 10.

Like everyone else, I am fed up with bugs, ice and an expanding waistline but at least I have finished the day happier than I expected. The Royle family always helps!

Snow photos

Thanks to Hilary for her comments on the forum about my snow photos.

I think I have almost exhausted my archive files of snow photos and with the increasing severity of the winter it gets harder to say "its not as bad as when I was young".

I can never remember as much snow in Douglas. I remember it being bad in Kirk Michael when people didn't believe what it was like between Kirk Michael and Ballacraine as there would be sleet in Douglas. But this is different.

And the 1963 snow that lay on the ground for so long "across the water" looks so trivial, especially when the 6 year old can brave it in shorts!

Spot the odd one out in the BBC "lifetime" achievers awards

My very own double decker bus

I got the bus to and from work today and on my return journey from Ballasalla to Douglas found myself with only one other passenger. And she didn't travel as far as me so I had a bus as a taxi until I got off in Groves Road.

My car is still frozen up and, as I was under the weather in more ways than one yesterday, wasn't in a position to do anything about it.

So walking to and from the bus and walking and jogging to another visit that I normally do by car has taken some of the time from my day that I might have spent on the website. I've also "caught up" at last by email to one of my old friends that I have had a number of unanswered emails to for most of this year.

I have a number of small things that I want to do on this site this week but I have been ignoring the other (Parish Walk) website for the past couple of weeks and plan to get back to that soon.

I'm putting aside some time on Christmas Eve to interview one of the event's greats for the featured athlete page - I'm planning to publish it on 28 December.

More snow photos

I've published some of my photos from my saturday afternoon walk if  anyone is interested:

http://manxviews.fotopic.net/c1925521.html

Not doing anymore

I'm afraid that I am out of energy again after doing a bit of work and some emails.

By the way, I don't mind helping people who lose their password for the forum (even though it usually takes a while to sort them out) and I have just done three.

Where I have a very low priority is for people who try and register on the forum without using their real name and then wonder why they have not been approved. Every day I receive via email  several applications to join the forum but most of them are from China with user names such as "fghdi123". I have a simple rule that if the user name is not a real one (and I have a chance to verify it from the email address) I don't approve it.

The forum in the current form has been running for 18 months of my 3 year subscription and I made it very clear in the introduction that people have to use their real names and even with the old forum that was the intention.

I will not run a Manxforums type of system that allows people to hide behind names that cannot be recognised whilst writing libelous rubbish.

I will eventually reply to all my emails (I always do) but I have about 30 of these follow up emails and so I need to batch my reply.

Going back to the use of your real name, if you do not want people to know that you are using the forum then there is very little disclosure other than appearing in the "latest member" field. So if you only want to use the forum as a reader then you have nothing to worry about. But I am assuming that everyone will contribute and therefore I will continue to set my own rules for the privilege of picking up the tab and being responsible for what is published.

Getting back to normal

Against my better judgment I left work early on Friday when everyone started to panic about the roads and only succeeded in contributing to blocking the roads and prevents the gritters getting through. It took me an hour and half to get home to Douglas from Ballasalla but at least I got to within about 30 yards of our house before I parked up.

I really enjoyed walking in the snow between about 8 and 10 yesterday morning and you may have seen the photos I took. But I had to go out again in the afternoon and after another hour or more of walking I was beginning to struggle. We were entertaining last night (one of our friends managed to drive all the way from Southampton to catch the overnight ferry from Heysham whilst we were struggling to get a few miles!) but I couldn't believe it when I felt completely washed out again this morning, the fourth time in about two months that I have been ill. I've only managed to get to the shop in our street today.

I still have some work to do for my employers (what I was working on before I left on Friday) before I get too deep into the website or the 280 emails that have built up again but I have taken the first steps towards doing something by tidying up the front page.

A night without my camera

In the company of illustrious people tonight. The camera would have been enlightening; a microphone even more so. But as the husband of the Third Clerk of Tynwald I can't report what people say when there is no Hansard!

Some first timers in hill league

It took me a while to get to it last night, and there was a bit of a mental block too, but I completed the file with the hill race results for the past 10 years, as you will see from the front page feature. There were a few new names:

Alan Loader
Debbie Loader
Garry Ashe
Nicola Kennaugh
Nigel Maddocks
Tom Hughes
Wayne Hickey

I also have a handwritten report of the hill race series from 1995 to 2006 from Ian Callister which I will transcribe when I get a chance.

Back to work

I'm back to work today after a week at home, a week when I managed to do several important jobs but ran out of time to do them all.

I've had an extra computer on my desk for the past couple of days as I was updating the one from our holiday cottage to Windows 7. It made my desk a little overcrowded on Saturday afternoon (above) when I was editing the video from the hill run on my laptop whilst also following the sport on my desktop.

Once again I have a  backlog of emails and so I want to try and reply to some of these before I start anything grand on the website.I've taken my eye off the Parish Walk entries too to enjoy some family time at the weekend.

Next door neighbours

Steve Gibbons and PJ Wright, who have probably played on the Isle of Man as many times as any visiting musicians, will be sleeping just a few yards from us tonight. But I wish they weren't.

They were pictured a couple of hours ago at a charity concert at the Villa Marina in aid of Phil "Mo" Maddrell, our next door neighbour, who died in July. The concert was organised by his widow, Judy, and her family in aid of the Manx Stroke Foundation.

Mo was involved in the Manx music scene for many years, often doing the sound for local gigs, and Steve and PJ were among the many musicians who played for free in his memory. Judy has a houseful of guests tonight.

Crying time

The first thing I did this morning was to publish a little Parish Walk feature to a) highlight a photo of the late Mark Freeman, b) to draw attention to the feature on Chris Cale on the PW site and c) encourage feedback on my Parish Walk database.

Having incorporated the latest changes I have received, I messed up the Pivot Table that that was producing the second of the reports below. I always struggle to get these to work but the re-built version is slightly different, probably better, but it highlights further inconsistencies. More work! But it will have to wait.

All entrants by name - list

All entrants by name - table

All entrants by ID

I don't know if Marc Almond did an encore

By the time Marc Almond had finished the "g" of "goodnight" tonight Robbie was out the door and into the Villa Marina to avoid the rush.

I enjoyed the concert more than I expected (Robbie bought a ticket months ago and I had to go with him) and was wondering why the early 80s music had largely passed me by. And then I remembered that I had just started my first full time job (October 1979), I'd bought my first house (June 1980) and averaged a 100 miles of training in 1981.

Tonight had a few challenges for me but it I made up my mind about one or two things that I had been half planning for January. With a lack of training this autumn, I won't be going away two weekends in a row in January like I did this year.

Hidden under wraps and lost under wraps

The publication of details of the latest Manx website completes three matters that I had been asked to keep under wraps.

I remember meeting Kevin Deakes in the Strand Shopping Centre during the summer when he said that he would like to use his skills to develop a local database similar to the Power of 10 UK website.

When he started work on the project he allowed me access to the dummy site but didn't want to go public until he had developed it further. I was itching to announce it because it adds so much to the local athletics "experience".

I use the word experience somewhat reluctantly because I remember taking the Micky out of a bank that advertised for a Head of Customer Experience. People who visit banks generally just want to deposit or borrow money etc they are not looking for some wonderful experience. But I believe that a sport can positively affect the quality of people's lives and the enjoyment we take from it is increased if we can anticipate and reflect back on events through the use of good websites.

Kevin's websites will allow us to do that. I have already been from Peel to Douglas this morning - but only on Kevin's Google Map!

When I was asked to keep this under covers I had also been asked not to publicise the appointment of Steve Taylor as chief judge at the London Olympics and the end of the Millennium Way Relay. These are all in the public domain now.

In contrast to the above, I have quite a few emails from which  I meant to publish the details but never did. I'm going to try and deal with these later today.

   The photo is of Kevin Deakes in an 800 metres at Doncaster in 1983.

Velentines Dinner Dance

Media studies

As mentioned on the front page, it is a week of anniversaries.

30 years ago, with Allan Callow, I tried to improve the communication within our club by the production of a newsletter which was largely hand delivered.

10 years ago today I launched the manxathletics.com website. I republished the four objectives which hold true after 10 years. I didn't envisage the use of videos, or even photos to the extent used, but I think they have added to the enjoyment aspect mentioned in the second objective.

And we've just had the 50th Peel to Douglas Walk.

Quite a bit has changed since the first of the Peel to Douglas walks. There are 60% more people living on the Isle of Man, there are several times more cars and there are even a few more walkers. But they still walk the same distance (give or take a bit) and they still cover the same roads - only a few corners have been widened in 50 years.

And it is 50 years of Coronation Street this week.

The first episode featured a bicycle tyre being repaired in a living room, a man being told he was becoming a snob and a debate about whether a shop should give credit.

50 years later, although the actors talk slower, during the same time on screen a woman leaves her husband because she was having an affair with his business partner, the man leading a double life whilst covering up a  death has an argument and murders his lover, panic spreads through the street when a young child goes  missing, a woman about to be married days later is having a liaison with another man, there is a big brawl in a bar, a building goes on fire and a tram crashes off a viaduct.

And people say the pace of life has changed over here!

Corrie was so OTT that it had me in stitches laughing because I was just waiting for the next episode as one by one they all defied death to jump in to the fire. But when I really roared was when a single policeman arrived he said that they had been unable to get there quicker because there was so many other things on including a massive accident on the M62.

You would have thought that with the number of murders, fights etc in that street they would have a rapid response unit.

But at least you never have a problem parking in that street - they only ever seem to let one in at a time!
 

FW: Media Release: Tourism Awards 2010 Announced

Congratulations to Michael and Irene George.

 

From: Byrne, Angela [mailto:Angela.Byrne@gov.im]
Sent: 07 December 2010 16:08
To: Undisclosed recipients:
Subject: FW: Media Release: Tourism Awards 2010 Announced

 

 

 

MEDIA RELEASE

 

Issue date: 7 December 2010

 

Tourism Awards Winners 2010 Announced

 

Isle of Man Tourism’s fifth annual Tourism Awards presentation took place today, Tuesday 7^th December 2010, in the Prince Albert Suite at the Empress Hotel, following on from the success of previous years.

 

The awards recognise the outstanding customer service and dedication provided by individuals and organisations who support the development of tourism on the Island and make a significant commitment to both quality and service.  A record breaking 2,300 nominations were received from the visitors and residents who were asked to identify tourism organisations that provided an enjoyable and reliable holiday experience. 

 

The judging panel consisted of Gary Roberts, Deputy Chief Constable - Isle of Man Police, Sue Gee, Managing Director - TLC Business Solutions, Paul Murphy, Training and Business Development Manager – Isle of Man College and Helen Byrne, Director – Isle of Man Newspapers.  The criteria used for judging was in line with the tourism strategy and vision for the future of tourism on the Island.

 

The guest speaker at the event was Gary Roberts who spoke about the importance of the Tourism Awards and how the judges selected the winners from each of the nine categories.

 

Minister for the Department of Economic Development, Allan Bell MHK, said:

 

‘These Awards celebrate the Island’s very best tourism businesses and I would like to congratulate each and every one of the nominees and winners in all nine categories.  All of the finalists are winners and they should take pride that they are setting the standards for others to follow.

 

‘I would also like to extend my thanks to the four judges, Gary Roberts, Sue Gee, Paul Murphy and Helen Byrne, each of whom have a wealth of experience within the service, hospitality and training industries and had the difficult task of selecting the winners.’

 

Department of Economic Development Member with responsibility for Tourism, Geoff Corkish, MBE, MHK said: 

 

‘We know that in the current climate many businesses are experiencing difficult times and it is more important than ever to provide recognition for the work going on here in the Isle of Man to welcome the our visitors.   These businesses provide first-class products and services and we must not forget how much they assist Isle of Man Tourism to ensure the Island’s economy goes from strength to strength.

 

‘The Tourism Awards celebrate the achievements of businesses and individuals who represent the very best that the Isle of Man has to offer.  Many congratulations to all our 2010 winners and finalists.’

 

The winners chosen in each of the nine categories are as follows:

 

Best Customer Service

HQ Bar & Restaurant , Douglas – Angela McCluskey, Ian Cain, Chris Tomkins

 

Best Eating Out Experience

Tapas the Spanish Restaurante, Port Jack, Douglas – Manolo Segovia and Jill Lovrich

 

Best Accommodation of the Year, Hotel

The Welbeck, Douglas – Michael and Irene George

 

Best Tourist Accommodation of the Year, Guest Accommodation

Kings Guest House, Douglas – Carol Howard

 

Best Accommodation of the Year, Self-Catering

Laxey Harbour Chalets – Brian and Barbara Quirk

 

Best Accommodation of the Year, Campsite/Hostel

Laxey Campsite – Susan Jones and Pete Burgess

 

Best Attraction of the Year

Nautical Museum – Billy Stowell, Visitor Services Assistant         

 

Best Town or Village

Peel – Commissioners Ray Harmer and Peter Leadley

 

Best Event of the Year

Easter Festival of Full Length Plays – Michael Lees and Aalin Cunningham

 

 

Special Award for outstanding contribution to Tourism

This Award went to Billy Stowell, Visitor Services Assistant, The Nautical Museum in Castletown.  Billy was recommended for this Award by the judges as they felt he was an integral part of the attraction and without him the museum would not be quite the experience it is now.

 

Isle of Man Tourism wishes to extend their gratitude to all businesses throughout the Island who have provided excellent customer quality and service to visitors.

   

Ends

Contact:  Angela Byrne, Quality and Service Manager, on 01624 687083

 

Photo caption:  Tourism Awards winners 2010

 

 

Anna Hemy

Communications Executive

Isle of Man Tourism

Department of Economic Development

2nd Floor

St Andrew's House

Finch Road

Douglas

Isle of Man

IM1 2PX

Telephone: 01624 686733

Fax: 01624 686860

P please don't print this e-mail unless you really need to.

mailto:anna.hemy@dtl.gov.im

 

Isle of Man. Giving you freedom to flourish

WARNING: This email message and any files transmitted with it are confidential and may be subject to legal privilege. You must not copy or deliver it to any other person or use the contents in any unauthorised manner without the express permission of the sender. If you are not the intended addressee of this e-mail, please delete it and notify the sender as soon as possible.

No employee or agent is authorised to conclude any binding agreement on behalf of any of the Departments or Statutory Boards of the Isle of Man Government with any party by e-mail without express written confirmation by a Manager of the relevant Department or Statutory Board.

RAAUE: S’preevaadjagh yn çhaghteraght post-l shoh chammah’s coadanyn erbee currit marish as ta shoh coadit ec y leigh. Cha nhegin diu coipal ny cur eh da peiagh erbee elley ny ymmydey yn chooid t’ayn er aght erbee dyn kied leayr veih’n choyrtagh. Mannagh nee shiu yn enmyssagh kiarit jeh’n phost-l shoh, doll-shiu magh eh, my sailliu, as cur-shiu fys da’n choyrtagh cha leah as oddys shiu.

Cha nel kied currit da failleydagh ny jantagh erbee conaant y yannoo rish peiagh ny possan erbee lesh post-l er son Rheynn ny Boayrd Slattyssagh erbee jeh Reiltys Ellan Vannin dyn co-niartaghey scruit leayr veih Reireyder y Rheynn ny Boayrd Slattyssagh t’eh bentyn rish.

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At home

I've taken a week off work.

I am planning a few things on the website but they are secondary to other things I must do. So I will reward myself with some time on the website if the other tasks go well.

I'm glad I don't have to de-ice the car (or wait for a bus) in this continuing cold weather.

Half time

In the past and a half I have gone from having the "raw data" to hopefully completing the Peel to Douglas walk database for another year.

A few years ago it would have taken me twice as long, probably typing the results myself, but I extracted the results (compiled by Bridget Kaneen) from the Manx Harriers website (and Paul Jackson sent me a copy of the spreadsheet).

I had the usual fun just getting the formatting converted to the style that suits me but I'm getting better at that.

As always, when you review the results you spot errors that were there in previous years (when you notice that someone's times do not run in sequence) and in some cases that was just caused by a space at the end of the names in one year.

So, the databases are up to date and republished.

And its 7 years since Kevin Walmsley last took part - I was told off this morning for not knowing this off the top my head!

Sean steaming

I didn't use much of the video from the later stages of the Peel to Douglas walk this morning. I realised a long time ago that making the videos long doesn't mean that any more people look at them.

But it gives me a reserve of unused video for special compilations.

Or I can use the video as one-offs. I thought that Sean Hands was impersonating the steam trains that used to run along the track with this one as he hot breathe hit the sub zero temperatures

Most unfit fit person

I remember when I was training at my hardest (1980 to 1983) and I seem to permanently have a cold or some other virus.

One of my colleagues described me as "the most unfit fit person he had ever known".

In recent years I have been convinced that 75% of colds and minor illnesses are avoidable with a good diet, getting washed and changed quickly after training, getting plenty of sleep, maintaining consistent body warmth etc. Even when I was training hard through 2009 into 2010 I went almost a year with a cold - although it did come just before the London Marathon.

For the past few days I have been struggling again with the third minor illness in just 9 weeks! But all the things I mention above apply. It was just a bad week last week and I didn't take care of myself.

Having got through work last week I spent a lot of yesterday in bed and wasn't sure that I would make it to the walk this morning. Glad I made it though but for selfish reasons I was glad that the cross country was postponed.

"I'm just going to check my email"

I said an hour ago...

Thought I would be something on about the Peel to Douglas, calculated that it is the 25th year of sponsorship from Empire Garage and ended up re-working all the old statistics etc to form a front page feature.

As I have always said, when we have too many events on close together, it leaves me with no space to promote the Manx Gas Cross Country which is on the same day.

We have a living room

All my spare time in the past couple of weeks (and a lot that was not spare) has been taken up with the parishwalk.com website for the past couple of weeks. And when I got to the start line (or was it the finish line) with the publication on Tuesday night I started to feel rough again so its just as well that the weather prevents me from training anyway.

I hadn't shaved for the past couple of weeks and that had to be rectified before I was thrown out of the house but at least I managed to get a couple of hours of relaxation last night, albeit I had the laptop in the living room with me and I was refreshing the Parish Walk entry list.

With three events in the next four days they must all be at the mercy of the weather. I'm going to face it now.

I have added a few more fixtures to the "Fixtures at a Glance" table. As always, let me know in good time if you spot any errors.

PS I have loads of emails again - bear with me.