Best time of year

Premium Lounge on the Manannan. Away for two weeks.

Well dressed dog walker

"We're leaving at 6.45" she said. I had been dashing around all afternoon for various reasons but I kept to my word and was back to the house with 10 minutes to spare, got showered and changed into a suit and was ready on time. Marie drove to the Villa Marina where I noticed men in dinner jackets. "You didn't tell me it was black tie" I said. "Well it has been every other time you have been to this dinner for the past six years she said".

I had to dash back home and change into my fourth suit in three days. After too much food, and certainly too much wine, I was certainly overdressed for a dog walk that stretched into a new day. A day I plan to be up at 5.30.

And then there 8

When I checked last night there were just 9 places remaining for the Tower Insurance 100 mile challenge. This morning there are 8. That means there are 92 entries so far.

Entry list

Website

Marshal appeal

Two lifetime achievers in the family

In April, my elder brother, Mike, who I have often mentioned on my pages, received a special award at Alton Towers. He didn't go into the Black Hole or even have to face the mud of the nearby cross country course, but much to his surprise he was invited onto the stage at a hotel to be honoured by his fellow professionals in the bus and coach industry to receive a life time award. He retired from his position as corporate affairs manager in December after 46 years with National Express.

And you know what they say about waiting for buses and then two come along at the same time? This week my brother in law Alan Gosschalk, a  week after walking  45 miles in the Manx Telecom Parish Walk, received  the Lifetime Achievement award from the Institute of Fundraising for 24 years of fundraising with Help The Aged, RNID, Shelter and Scope.

Alan making an appearance (whilst on holiday) in the Ramsey Park Runs 

The next athletics awards to be presented will be at the Laxey Fell Race on Saturday (I have done a final promotion for that tonight) but I will be all at sea by then. But first I have a day and a bit of being my wife's husband as I continue to play second fiddle to my esteemed family members.

Links:

http://www.civilsociety.co.uk/fundraising/blogs/user/Alan-Gosschalk

http://www.thirdsector.co.uk/Fundraising/article/1188576/action-children-merlin-top-iof-awards/

http://www.ukcoachawards.co.uk/content/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=280&Itemid=195

http://thebuspeople.co.uk/?p=1639

Next challenge

I have just replied to about 15 emails from the past couple of weeks, mainly Parish Walk related, from people asking me how to buy photos or contact so and so etc.

I'm am doing my best but there are still lots that I haven't replied to and this lot was at the cost of missing out on the fresh air I intended to take!

Cheque in the post (almost)

I am pleased to say I have written another cheque for £300 to this Isle of Man Agricultural Benevolent Trust this evening. Its from some of the profits from the photo sales at the Manx Telecom Parish Walk.

I didn't actually take many photos this year (give or take 500!), so thanks to Vincent Campbell, Karen Kneale, Neil Wilson, Ben Lambden and Mike Lambden for their contributions. Altogether there were close to 9,000 photos!

That takes to £1,800 the profits distributed in the past couple of years and working in blocks of £300 it shouldn't be too long until the next.

I have another photo project to announce that keeps getting put off and put off. Unfortunately it has been put off again! This one is less about making money than reinstating some photos that you might have thought you would never see again.

I was going to go to the post with the cheque but I realised that it (and the other post I want to reach local destinations tomorrow morning) can be posted when I get up in the morning as I will be so early. How many people realise that local post collected before 6 am gets delivered around the Isle of Man on the same morning?

Not just the bald statistics

I've just completed one of those overdue tidy ups of the front page and created a few more archive pages. The front page is nice and clear in the hope that I may add some photos tomorrow evening.

Things have remained hectic for me since the Parish Walk and tomorrow I am on the "red eye" for a work meeting in Manchester. I'm back before 6 pm however so I am packing my camera (but not my video) in the hope that I might manage to get to take some photos of the Bushy's Great South Run when I get back.

I chose a photo from the Pier to Pier run last night to promote the 10km run so I apologise to the runner who was edited out.

But to prove that this site doesn't publish bald statistics here is a bad photo from the same event.