pBullox`

Where did it go? 2006 that is! The year started pretty cold with plenty of visits to Cannock Chase with the bike. Started on No1 the Haro, and ended on No2 the Giant , the Giant came along the end of May before my birthday. After its arrival cycling took off big time, July did a sponsored ride around Staffordshire for the Diabetes foundation; later in the year did the Wolverhampton Marathon and the Three hills killer on the Isle of Wight. Countless visits to Baggeridge and Himley when I was practicing for the events. Through out the year have been to Cannock Chase, Wyre Forest, Clent Hills, local and loads of other places. Me and me mate Terry have clocked up a ruck of miles when maybe we could have been doing other really important things. This summer I visited my sister on the Island and guess what… cycled some more. Visited the cool café at the top of Culver Cliff, bacon sarnie and a cup of tea with a fast downhill to finish… Happy days. The Three Hills Killer in September was Ace, ...

Well I wrote it, so Michelle why waste it.... You Racist. Oh yes maybe but in whose opinion? You bigoted bastard. Here goes, tonight I have been deemed to be a racist, being called a racist is to me well who gives a shit? The statement made by me was this, ‘ In the south shop keepers are quite pleasant in comparison to those shop keepers in the north’. In the north some shop keepers fail to give you the old please and thank you’s. So far my experience of shopkeepers in the south is a hell of a lot different. Please and thank you are a plenty. You may find that shopkeepers are predominantly of Asian origin in the UK, I do, and it seems that wherever I go shopkeepers are Asian. Let me make it quite clear now, I don’t give a flying shit but, state that fact to certain cluster fucks and they will try to stamp you down and call you a racist. By saying shopkeepers are mostly Asian and that in the South of England the same shopkeepers are more pleasant than the shopkeepers in the north, I a...

Some pictures of Baggeridge and Himley, cycled a route around the parks this Sunday. It was freezing. True to form I fell off..... twice.... no pain, just covered in mud. A guy asked if I was Ok, I thought no one had seen me, DOH! Took the pics today for the blog, so I can look back when I'm in the south. I have a lot of memories of the countless treks around here this year. Baggeridge Country Park. Visitors Centre view from the football fields. Bridge over the stream feeding Wishing Lake The Great Pool, Himley Park Himley Hall, Front Entrance Visitors centre. Nice bacon sandwich on a cold December morning. Stream on the Left, and the Dare you to go down them steps on the right. Entrance to Bag jumps. Shhhh it's a secret. Pointless fence to make you get off your bike. Bag Jumps. Don't know what that shadow is.

What's that then? Could it be the need for a dump, but your body saying no? No, this I think is constipation. Anal retention or Anally Retentive, I believe to be the ability of certain individuals to find issue with any, yes any given instruction or process. The type of person that would ask twenty questions of a given task for example, go walk the dog. “Oh yes, walk the dog you say” “What if it rains?” “What if the dogs feet get sore on the footpath?” “you do know his feet will get sore don’t you!”. “If I could ask the dog if he wants to walk I’m sure he’ll say no”. “Of course you know that if it rains the sores he might possibly get on his feet might become inflamed and might become even more sore”. I think you get picture here. The type of person that will enjoy giving war and peace as an answer when a simple yes or no would suffice. The type of person that will check all ‘your’ alternatives to the question when a simple yes or no would suffice. The type of person that insists o...

Oh well, week two of the new job. I did three days last week and got to see the new sites I'm working at. They look ok and there is a lot of new stuff to learn. Friday I payed a visit to Sky TV in London and was expecting to see glamourous offices and TV presenters, nothing special though. I still don't know where they park the space ship used to fix the satellite. I stayed at a hotel last week near Reading town centre, it advertised free wireless broadband, it was free but absolutely shite. The connection dropped out more than it was on, I couldn't even check email. This week I am stopping at different place, it seems on first impression to be better albeit a bit more expensive. The wireless broadband works well as you can see from this entry. The owner gave me his password so I can use his connection, thanks Nabeel, just incase you're looking. I didn't need it though I switched on my PC and found four other networks all of them unsecure. I need to find a house now...

Its all happening, changes that is. We decided earlier this year that life needs some changes to spice it all up again. Move house maybe, change of job, location and even my hair doo, well maybe not my hair doo but everything else. So Friday was my last day working here in the Midlands, my new terms and conditions were signed off by the boss man and I accepted a new position as a Senior Headend Engineer working in the Thames Valley. It took a while to get to this stage because of the department being at risk of redundancy and lots of moves happening. I first applied for the position in Southampton but just lost out at interview. A few weeks later it was suggested I apply again for the role in the Thames Valley, so I did and got the job. After a couple of weeks of negotiating I got the terms I wanted and accepted the role. We have decided to move to Newbury so the house will be on the market as of tomorrow (Monday) and the house hunt will begin. I'm thinking I should be a bit stress...

As a Believer you believe the world has almost infinite possibilities. You believe people should be pursuing their passions and not be caught up by what others say they should desire. Your entire life involves continuously having new experiences and learning from them. It is the challenge, the risk, the prospect of what you can achieve that drives you, rather than simply making money. You're a self-motivated individual driven by your passion and so need a job and environment with loose boundaries and maximum freedom.

Carver Wolverhampton Marathon today. I completed the half marathon cycle ride. My time for the 13 miles was 50 mins and 4 secs. I started on the front row and kept pace with the racers for about 300 metres........ then I got left behind by them (LOL). Good ride though around the City, I'll be back next year if I still live here.

I found this whilst reading different things... I know people who are like this. A new hotel employee was asked to clean the elevators and report back to the supervisor when the task was completed. When the employee failed to appear at the end of the day the supervisor assumed that like many others he had simply not liked the job and left. However, after four days the supervisor bumped into the new employee. He was cleaning in one of the elevators. "You surely haven't been cleaning these elevators for four days, have you?" asked the supervisor, accusingly. "Yes sir," said the employee, "This is a big job and I've not finished yet - do you realise there are over forty of them, two on each floor, and sometimes they are not even there...."

Path leading down to the coastal path from the top of Culver Cliff Isle of Wight. The Needles Wish I was back there right now cycling. Just two of the pictures from the Isle of Wight. I may be able to make cycling on the island a regular thing if all pays off. I have just filled out an application form to transfer to the south of England so it could become regular. Its not Australia but it's away from the here.... We'll see what happens.

I've not blogged since June and soooo much has happened and so much is about to happen. I passed my INTRO exam and am moving onto the ICND for my quals. Completed a 25mile sponsored bike ride for a local Diabetes charity, done loadsa cycling at various places but have been too busy to blog it all. Visited family on the Isle of Wight for a week, stayed in a flash hotel and still got to cycle; got some good pics of coastal tracks I cycled. Progressed with my CV and life decisions on where do we go next, new job, new home? Have looked at buying a new build house... this is were I'm at... The job front has recently been bought forward to a more pressing subject, the kick in the ass I needed has arrived in the shape of redundancy. I'm now faced with some critical decisions, I have an option for promotion( if successful ) this would mean moving to the solent area; funny really that's were I have just been cycling and seeing family or, find a new job doing what I really want t...

This is the first entry for a while. There has been lots doing, all is good. Intro exam tomorrow.. I mean today just after lunch. I have been revising hard the past couple of weeks for this so I hope it pays off, if I get the pass today there will be two more weeks until my last exam. Then thats it finished for a while. My CV is all but done in writing so once that's typed up and edited (Job for Kay) I can put myself out there in new job for the boys land. It was my Birthday on Sunday 31.... wow 31... I'm getting old, you wouldn't think that though if you were around on Sunday, Michelle organised a party for me with a bouncy castle... yeh a bouncy castle how cool is that. Had a great time, lots of BBQ, Cake, Wine cheese and pate. Did I mention I was getting fat too. lol.. Well thats it for now. Exam update tomorrow...

Bank Holiday cycling around the canals of Tipton. Took some pics for my sister on the Isle of Wight to see. Blast from the past and all that..... St Martins CofE Primary School. The 'Gulf' not any more though. Brades Lock. Nr Oldbury. Great Bridge Canal, By Total DIY. The entrance to the Netherton Tunnel, this is Tipton Side. I cycled this Saturday, Its still flooded in case you were asking. No Ghosts and the hand rails are not missing and never have been. There; thats the end of that urban legand.

Here are the sunflowers, Josh asked me to put up some more pictures. Here it is below with kermit. Pictured below the flowers before the slug attack. Boy this blog is sad....

Chav Bastard,,,,, Thick stupid ... aaaaaaargggggggghhhhhhhhhh... I will stop right there. Yes I swear, I do try not to but with living life in this insane shithole I feel it gives me a release; I am so wound up at the moment I just need to let this out...... Tonight I arrive home from work, step out of my car open the door to get my laptop... As I turn round there is a stupid C**t on bashed up motorbike screaming toward me. He was riding with his front wheel in the air, the loudest exhaust you ever heard, imagine a bowing 747 in your front room, you get the picture. He goes past and I flag him down,, he bimbles over and says "Wah" Wah do ya want?" I say in my friendly voice.... Imagine ninja Turtle here "Dude,,,,, is there any need to ride like that...... you are scaring the kiddies....! oh yes did I mention there are loads of kids playing, there always is.. the sun shines the kids play... Back to it.... The guy on the bike.... he says " look mate I will run yo...

Giant Trance 4 entry Level Cross Country. An early Birthday and 3rd Wedding Anniversary present rolled into one.

Thats it then, I've done it; booked the Intro exam for Thursday 22nd June 12:45. Note to self (Take ID x 2 and get there 30 mins Prior.) I decided this morning to do the two exams to acheive the CCNA. Each costs £60.00 but with the voucher this comes down to £21.00. Need to crack on now and revise, I am hoping the Intro will focus on CCNA 1 and 2 and the ICND on the remaining modules. After I have took the Intro I'll decide when to do the ICND probabley the following week. Sorry Shell I need to do more study...

Sat the the final exam for CCNA 4 last week passed at 78%, throughout the four semesters my grades decreased. Through semesters one to four the study materials are less but the subject increases in difficulty. Although I have finished and passed all parts of the CCNA academy course this still doesn't mean I have a CCNA. The next step now is to sit an industry recognized exam or exams at a Prometric test centre. I have two options, I can sit the CCNA exam to gain qualification or sit the Intro and ICND to gain the qualification. During the course I passed two voucher exams that will give me discount on the cost of the exams. This is the next step now, to decide which exam or exams to sit. I am told the exams are all time pressured with about 60 questions in each and vary in difficulty. The single CCNA exam I am led to beleive is most difficult with the two exam route having the most questions but more specific in each exam. Doing the two exam route obviously gives you a better chanc...

Finally remembered the name of the Cycle Route at Cannock Chase; Walk The Dog. A seven mile route with a few hills here and there but with loads of fast downhill parts. Had an outing over there with my friend Terry the other day, had to cut it short though because I had some problems with my brakes. The back brake stopped working completely. I fixed it when I got home by adjusting the pads though. Over the past few months I have tried different food and drinks to have before, after and during cycling, I have found the energy drinks from Decathlon to be quite good. The drinks are in powder form and don't taste too bad, the energy bars from the same place are cool aswell. I used to drink about 2 litres of water every 2 hours before I used the powders, now I drink about half that and don't have the thirsty feeling. I can recommend bananas to eat along with the cereal bars, they don't give you heart burn and are supposed to contain loads of slow release energy plus they taste g...

Josh my 5 year old is growing sunflowers this year, we grew Pansies and Cress last year. The first Sunflowers are now starting to show. Sunflowers Joshua ready with his shades for when the Sunflowers come out

What a waste today has been, I have done 4 hours study on and off throughout the day. Completed module 3 exam; had to cheat a bit on this I hadn't finished the material, only 2 questions though. Visited halfords to buy a bike light for the boy, they only had L.E.D. type, these are just pants for lighting things up. Good for being seen but not good for seeing. I am hoping to get out tomorrow on my bike. I was out friday but my back brake failed so I cut the ride short, I'll blog that next, found the secret of disc barakes. The light I have purchased is a Cat Eye; it looks to be quite good albeit a bit expensive at £15.00. On Sunday I want to take my boy on a cycle trip along the local canals. I say local but I mean nearby canals; I live on a hill. The route will take us through various towns for about 25 miles, we will get to ride through the Netherton Tunnel (I'll get some pics) this is were we need lights; a 1 mile tunnel to gain access to Sandwell from Dudley. Ben, my eld...

Out at Cannock again Saturday on my bike; had a good time. Went along with Chris and Mark. Quite a few people on the track this week so there were lots of bottle necks at top of big hills when everyone was nackered. It was good to see that it wasn't just me out of breath, it was nearly everyone. Some nice bikes around though Scott, Specialized and Kona, the track has a bit of a battering over the winter there are lots of potholes and ruts appearing. I didn't fall off this time though. I put that down to my new handlebar grips, seem to have more control of the bike. My fitness is getting a little better, I only got off my bike for a few seconds this time on the hill, next time I'll do it in a oner, hopefully.. Some pics from my phone Left: Chris on his new Specialized Right: Fat Boy(Me)... Nice Legs though. Not! Took these after we had finished, the mud is from the Wyre Forest the day before. Wyre Forest was an outing the other day with Terry from work, that was a good few h...

I think this is well worth a mention. Yes its Grand National Day. Last year I had a small bet on the national but my horse fell at the second fence. The horse I changed on my betting slip actually won last year. Never Mind... Back to it....... This year my fortunes changed because I backed the Winner. Numbersixvalverde. What an horse. I bet £5.00 each way 11/1 so the stake was £7.50 when it came in. Got £78.75 from the William Hill. Very happy my once year bet came in. I was out shopping with her in doors when the race was being run, I took my phone with a radio so I could listen in. Thing is on a Saturday here in the UK football dominates, so the only results I could here on all stations were the football results. Had to wait for the news to find out the winner, next year I'll stay at home to watch it live. Anyway good result for the day.... Picture of the Winner. Which One I hear you ask? The one in front obviously.

Oh yes, Result... Sat the final exam for CCNA 3 for the second time today, Passed... got 89%. Better than a kick in the teeth. Moved straight on to CCNA 4, have got to get six modules completed over the easter holidays thats 3 modules a week. I will be putting my CCNA 4 module notes on to pbullox ccna blog over the next few weeks. Work is very busy at the moment, home is busy too. Her in doors giving it to me in the neck for being busy. I guess she wants it more than I thought... Don't worry Shell good things come to those that don't moan at their husband... Love You.

Oh well, Update of my last post, The CCNA module three exam I took on Thursday I failed. 57 questions took 1hr to get through, I scored 65.2%. What a load of old shite. After the exam the class tutor took us through the questions that the class had got wrong. I was giving the answers to all of them, I can't understand what went wrong. It 's not all doom and gloom though I have got a second chance this Thursday coming. I'll be doing revision this week to hopefully match my previous scores and keep up my average. My wife sent me a text during the exam telling me she had an A in her exam. Guess I'll just have to try harder.

From Hell when it Rained , just wouldn't start, I think he was trying to tell me to park him in a garage..Can cars talk? or is it telepathy. A fter his new Paint Job . 1.0L Automatic. He did 0 to 60 in 3 days if the wind was behind him going down a 1 in 10 hill. The best fun on four wheels. Pictured here alongside the Grand Union Canal, Netherton Tunnel Branch, Tipton

I started studying CCNA September 2005. The course is running until May this year. It is broken down into 4 terms Numbered 1 to 4. Each term is broken up into modules, at the end of each module you must complete the module exam. I did well in CCNA1 maintaining a 92% average throughout and in CCNA2 I managed more or less the same. I have been studying CCNA 3 for the past 5 weeks and am not doing so well. I can't get to grips with the teaching material, although it is presented in the same style as the previous terms it just seems to be so much harder to digest. My grade average is at 79% which is still a passable rate, its just not as good as my previous scores. After I have completed the 4 CCNA class exams to be an Industry Standard CCNA I have to sit the Recognised exams. There are two options, Intro plus ICND, or the CCNA exam. I will be sitting the CCNA this summer hopfully So far on the end of term exams I have had good scores. CCNA 1 was 93% 1st attempt. CCNA 2 was 76% first a...

A walk along the Canal in Coseley. Took the dog out for a walk, my two boys came along. I have lots of memories of canals from when I was growing up. Most of them good, fishing, swimming, dredging, catching newts and sticklebacks. Nowadays walking and cycling... From all the memories I have, one stuck with me in particular. My first time to see a canal... The reputation of canals was not a good one, dead dogs, shopping trolleys and loads of old crap was what I was expecting.. What I saw on my first ever peak over the side into a canal when I was ten years old was the burnt corpse of a Staffordshire Bull Terrier floating over a sunken shopping trolley. So you see it was true. Walking along mindind my own business, what was in the canal amongst the rubbish and shopping trolleys? You guessed a dead dog. As I was saying some things don't change. I ask myself how did this dog end up dead in the canal. Its not the first and won't be the last I'm sure. Here is how, mindless dead ...

The boys, my three sons. As you can see the sulky teenager and his two brothers. They love having their picture taken........ NOT.

Out on my bike at Cannock Chase Forest. Weather was great albeit a bit cold though, have to keep moving to stop yourself freezing. In true style I fell off, got that little bit too confident, had a wobble and fell. I'm Ok though if you were wondering.... just a dent on my knee, (As if you care) had a good laugh at myself after though. Its a good route to ride, loads of downhill runs but of course you have to go up before you can come down so its not so easy. Gives you good workout and gets you nackered. A fantastic place to see, the route takes you off the beaten track through the forest for about 7 miles. I'm trying to get out on my bike as much as possible, practice makes perfect you see and when you are as unstable and wobbley as me you need all the practice you can get. Took some pictures with my mobile phone for the blog, so not the best quality.. Left: This is where I fell. Came off the middle plank, My wheel hit the log and I went over the handlebars and landed in the m...

Training today at Liverpool. Learning to maintain Sea Change V.O.D. (Video on Demand) servers. So far not too hard going I do need to have a look at RAID5 though, cos I don't have a clue how that works and the instructor assumed we already knew. Staying at a Premier Lodge in Bootle in a smokers room, the place stinks, woke up today coughing. Has been a long time since I felt like that after quitting smoking. Time for a room move I say. Oh well thats me for now. I wrote this from my Mobile using the telephone keypad.. Not the best device for typing

Cisco Certified Network Associate program.    

First Post. This could be the start of something quite cool, for me that is. So what's a blog?. I bought a book to tell me but it didn't have the answer. Good book though.. Blogging for Dummies.. So here is my perception of a blog. "Somewhere to record my life and stay in touch". I have a domain name and web space to build a site but can not find a subject or use for it. Maybe this will migrate there one day. Until then... here I am to bore you rigid.