Canada Bob

In response to a couple of comments from Absent Friend, first of all I don't see this as a UK problem, so I can't blame Gordon for that, it's obvious that it's a global problem, but should Gordon be blamed for what's gone on it the UK. I think that's obvious too, he's where he wanted to be, nay begged to be for years, buT even before he was the PM he was responsible for what was going on in Banking, anyone worth their salt would have seen this coming a mile off. So in my book Gordon was either asleep at the switch, or he hoped that it would all go away, or wasn't up to the job. Before anyone gets the idea that I think this is all down to "New Labour" that's not how I see it, even though I can't stand most of the b*stards due to being "Old Labour" myself, I doubt that ANY other party would have done much better, it isn't a matter of Left Wing vs Right wing, far as I'm concerned both ships are over crewed by gobshytes. The blame lays more on us, we voted them in, one gobshyte after another, it came to the point where constituents had little if any say in who would represent {say} Wigan or Bolton, or maybe Inverness. When the parties start parachuting their choice rather than your choice you're likely to get some ambitious b*stard who don't give a damn for the place he's supposed to represent, They are simply in it for what they can get for themselves, not what they can do for you. But folks have tolerated this for at least 30 years, voting {as they say in Wigan} for a "pig on a wall, long as it's wearing a red/Labour tie". The result of this is, there's a stampede to join the Labour Party {et-al} by folks motivated by greed and selfish ambition, so it's our fault for either not caring or noticing what was going on. Many of those who have slithered their way aboard the Westminster gravy train in the last 30-40 years are amongst the most arrogant imbeciles the nation has ever seen, it would be hard to assemble a bigger bunch of crooks. Fair enough they aren't all bad, but if it was a bunch of grapes you were looking at rather than a bunch of MP's, Ministers, Lords and Knights of the Realm, you'd bin the fekkin lot, you certainly wouldn't be paying for them. The root cause of the problem is us, we allowed this to happen, the blame is ours, but it's not just us... The same thing has been going on in the US, how the b*llocks did folks vote in George Bush and then his clone !!! It's hard to find a country where Democracy hasn't been hijacked by folks with their own agenda's {rather than yours}, or incompetent b*stards who can't get their heads deep enough into the trough of taxpayers money. The thing is, when it's a calm sea that we're sailing through any old gobshyte at the helm will do, and when we look at the size of the ship we fool ourselves into believing "they must know what they are doing". Most of them do know what they're doing alright, thieving money hand over fist, for houses they don't actually need or use, or over 500 quid a day that the Lords claim in "expenses" alone !!! Although it's a global problem if we had a competent leader we might have had another option rather than following all the other lemmings over the cliff. But all Gordon can come up with is, "it's not my fault, it's a global problem", yea but, no but , Gordon, FFS we are paying you the big money, you bust a gut to get the job, so steer us clear of the fekkin' rocks, {some chance hey}... Canada may be fairing better than some, but I can't claim {nor would I dream of claiming} that our gobshytes are better than the global gobshytes. The Canadian economy is supported by the Canadian $ being a petro $, fair enough oil is in the bucket rather than the barrel at the moment, but Canada is finding more oil at a time when the North Sea is running out, so Canada will fair better than the UK in the long term, but by chance rather than political savvy. What I think we should be looking at is, where do "we" think this is going, how long do you think these 1% interest rates will last, is it the way out of this recession/depression, or is it the final staggering steps before the leader of the lemmings takes us all over the cliffs ?

My gripe about the banks is the exorbitant charges they impose, I have two small pensions paid into HSBC and when I withdraw them here in Latvia over a third is taken in charges. when I queried it, they said contact the ombudsman. they do what they like under the cover of reasonable charges. That's bloody diabolical, who is making the charge, HSBC ? or a Bank in Latvia ? There has to be a way around that, can't you just keep an account in the Untidy Kingdom and then get your money via a hole in the wall ? Canada Bob.

I don't think the RBS is necessarily a sinking ship..... I wish I was laying 1/1 on Betfair against them surviving in a recognisable form. certainly not one that should be cut adrift. Bigger ships have sunk, if they blew it during what were the good times, then what confidence can you have that they'll sail through the storms yet to come ? we're talking about one of the worlds largest financial institutions (third largest last year, not sure where they sit at moment)....they are the worlds largest company based on assets held. According to this CNN site RBS were the 36th largest company in the world... Down the snakes back, and gathering speed... but bare in mind that when they were being "measured" they weren't exactly telling the truth about their assetts, assets that now are of such value that it'll cost you 3X more to buy a bag of crisps than a share in RBS. When you talk about RBS Group, that includes NatWest, Ulster Bank, Direct Line, Lombard, Tesco Personal Finance (and a host of other "branded" financial companies including many car manufacturers), Mint, Coutts, JamJar, One Account, Churchill, Privilege, Green Flag, Citizens (US), Melon Financial (US), Bank of China and Burma, WorldPay, Isle of Man Bank, EGG, Bibit, NiG...and a shed load more, not counting those they also have a major holding in. Send RBS to the wall and all that goes with them along with all the companies that they don't own but do business for them. I hope they weren't all expecting a bonus ? That, for me, is the reason they are worth saving and why we can't afford to take the "they fecked up, let them die" attitude. So where do you draw the line then, are we to breathe taxpayers money into every lame duck ? It also shows how widespread they are and how, with some sensible decisions, they are well placed and sufficiently diversified to sort themselves out. If I had to gamble my money on {ever getting a return to the taxpayers} I'd be looking for 500/1 against not the prospect of 1/500. I'm no fan of our government...or many of the alternatives to be honest, but I don't think they had any option but to step in here and bail out RBS. As I've said, the alternative would be far more damaging to this country. I'm no fan of any Party these days, but these events just go to prove that Gordons crew simply aren't up to it, anyone can "Govern" in the good times, gawd help us if Gordon stays at the helm... I think these events could well be a watershed for political parties as we know them, I can see radical parties thriving on what's to come.

I don't disagree with anything that's been said about what the banks have done and how it makes the morally (as well as financially) bankrupt. The point I'm making is that if they refuse to pay the bonuses which are due (and I'm not talking about bonuses to those who are responsible for the mess) then it just compounds and adds to the shafting...and two wrongs don't make a right. What's all this nonesense about bonus's !!! The Banks say they pay a bonus for "above average achievement" if that's the case then I want to know what percentage of RBS employee's didn't get a bonus, my belief is that they all {or near damn all} got a bonus, how the hell can they all, or even "most" of them be ABOVE AVERAGE ! Tell us what percentage of employee's didn't get a bonus, and then we'll be able to see that it was a legitimate or deserved reward. Add to that what's all this b*llocks about "hitting targets" if the target is the size of a barn door you'd need talent to fekkin miss it... The targets were simply an excuse to dip their fingers into the bonus till. As for nationalisation....well the RBS is as good as nationalised now, and that's as it should be IMO. Ok, so we've shelled out ?20 Billion, but if the bank can get back to anything close to profits it had been making in previous years, as well as the crack down on overseas banking, then the country will have covered that in only a few years. So it's not a total loss, and it's perhaps a silver lining in what is otherwise a very black cloud. I've no appetite to nationalise a sinking ship, nor do I want any attachment to it as it sinks, so in this case talk about nationalisation is simply to split the camp of folks who are hissed off, it aint the issue at all... Any company/industry which is so large that it's operation has a direct impact on the economy of any country should be nationalised. As above Don, that is a completely seperate topic, played right now by those who don't want us looking at the real problem, that being a Government unable to Govern, that and Vultures picking the bones of the taxpayers clean... When it comes to pensioners, you'll get not argument from me that they get a very raw deal in this country and we should be ashamed of how they are treated. Bloody shameful that our old folks have to live in near poverty after a lifetime of contributing, one way or another, do you know there's more people 55-65 working in the UK now than the 15-25 or the 25-35 age group. I'm not saying that folks 25-35 are work shy, there just aint that many jobs around for them, and the older folks have that attitude of hanging on for dear life to the job they have. Throwing ?20 Billion at RBS is one thing.at least they can expect a return on that, Let's put it this way, IF we have to take a ?20 Billion gamble, I'd rather see my money on Man U to win the Premiership, I'd expect a return on that, but injecting more money into a dieing horse don't enthuse me... but it really does make me cringe when you see the mounting costs of things like the 2012 Olympics.....?9.3 Billion and climbing!!!....and never ever likely to recoup it's cost, let alone make any money for the country. It's bloody scary when you start to look at just how much money we p!ss away on a regular basis....am off for a lie down now. As I've said Don, the reason for bringing this up isn't to trade ideological punches, I sail alone in these left wing waters that I sail, flying no one's flag, but being a socialist I don't want to see working men being swallowed up in this fiasco. My warning is, get rid of any debts that you have while the low interest iron is hot, once that strategy fails. When the interest rate tide turns to 15% or more, anyone in debt will be lucky if they don't drown in it. If/when the shyte hits your fan don't expect a Government bail out, there'll nae be 20 Billion quid thrown at you... Canada Bob.

Hello Rod... You don't know the half of it, {at least about the fuel allowance, being paid to folks in Spain, Italy, Bulgaria etc, FFs} but the links below might fill you in, or do you in when you read them. As the Bankers and other Parasites walk off into the sunshine, they'll be cheered to know they'll be able take the winter fuel allowance with them... Walk into the sunshine with even more tax payers money It's no just the Bankers that are at it either, check out this scum who up the bills while 31,600 pensioners suffer and die in the cold. Stone cold hearts, or no heart at all ? Move to Spain Rod... They're taking the proverbial... It's a bugger when we can't look after our own... 1 in 12 could die from the cold In times like this we soon find out if Government is able to Govern, and although I'm more left wing than any Bevin Boy, it's plain to see that this lot aint up to the job. The only thing they've done so far is "throw money" at every problem that comes along, your money, not theirs... What a joke that was on TV last night, the Pinstripped Puppets all singing the same tune ! is ANYONE taking this seriously, it's just an attemt by the Government to distance themselves from these b*stards. Tell you what, stuff 10 Million into my bank account, plus a Knighthood or better still a Pierage, and I'll say "I'm sorry" too, every fekkin' day of the week, for the next 100 years for that sort of money, plus expenses of course... How do they get away with this ? Having said all that, the reason for me firing off in here is to fire a warning to folks in any kind of debt. If you can pay off what you owe do it now, because this low interest rate strategy will fail, and by the time the Governments run out of money the ones who are left holding it won't part with it this side of 15% or higher than that, so batten down the hatches, don't get sunk by the perfect storm that's yet to come. Canada Bob.

Now that the dust is settling on this debate, here's one for you. Which eye is the glass eye, and how can you tell ! It's the left eye that's a glass eye, how do I know ? It's the only one with a glint of humanity in it...

The best option Scotty is to have both, carrying a Canadian Passport has its advantages, but although I've carried a Canadian Passport for 23 years now I've not noticed any change in my Wigin accent, or my liking of fish an' chips, etc. I feel a lot more allegiance to Canada than I do to England, I had no choice in where I was born, but I had a choice 27 years ago, and it was the best decision I ever made. Canada has given me more than I could have dreamed of, if I'd stayed in the Untidy Kingdom I'd be knackered like most of my mates are. I wouldn't go back to the standard of living my mates have in Wigin, but most of them who didn't get out when they had a chance now wish they'd b*ggered off when I did. The bottom line for me is, I will always have a romantic attachment to Wigan/Lancashire, it's the land of my forefathers, they worked the mines and fought for King & Country in two world wars, so they like many others paid in their "blood sweat & tears" for the land they stood on, and I'll always respect that, but the reality is, they'd have been better of b*ggering off 100 years ago. It's one thing to have a romantic attachment to a country, or even a part of it, {I see folks in here count themselves as Highlanders, great to have a link with your heritage}, but if all that my land can offer me is life in Coronation {or some such similar} Street, why the b*llocks would I stay ? What benefit would I have seen from 50 years of slogging along in the grimy North West, carrying the cost of work shy r soles and ASBO holders on my back, am I glad I got out... It's the romantic attachment {which most of us have} vs the reality of the day, like Passports, it's nice to have both. Canada Bob.

There is a difference. You don't have a Scottish Passport, you have a British one. According to International Law you're British not Scottish. That doesn't mean to say you can't consider yourself Scottish, Im just saying it IS different to France. Yea but, No but, aren't Passports European Passports now ? does that mean we all have lost our Nationality or our connection with our Heritage ? Canada Bob.

They're not "finding billions" though.....the money the banks are getting won't involve the treasury writing them a cheque for ?20 Billion and telling them to get on with it, what the country (Bank of England) is doing is basically underwriting the commercial banks and (hopefully) providing them the breathing space to trade their way out of trouble. If memory serves me right {and I think/know it does} when the shyte hit the fan at RBS and they were close to going to the wall, they made a share offering of 15 Billion quids worth of shares that no one in their right mind would buy. At that point the Government "promised to buy up any unsold shares" that looks like a 15 Billion quid bail out to me, and you can guarantee a cheque was cut. Since then the ante has been upped again to 20 Billion, someone {think Gordon} wrote a cheque for shares that no one else other than the Government {using tax payers money} would touch with a flag pole. Also, there's nothing anywhere that says the people who caused the problem are demanding any kind of bonus, in fact there's nothing that says anyone employed by RBS is demanding any kind of bonus. They don't need to "demand" they wrote their own beneficial contracts, simple as that, you don't need to demand when you have it in writing... What the bank are doing is fulfilling their contractual obligation to pay people in areas of the bank which have performed what they are due. They simply cannot refuse to pay performance related pay to those who have earned it. Yea but, No but, the ship sunk, how could anyone expect fulfillment of a contract when a company goes broke ? how do you think you'd go on ? who the bollocks do they think will stump up the money ? If I recall correctly when the rescue package was announced it was agreed on the basis that none of the banks directors would be able to pay themselves a bonus, so we're only talking about employees and even then it's only employees in areas of the bank that have performed. The ?1 Billion is about half what would normally be paid, so that's a fair chunk of the 100,000+ staff who won't be getting what they may have expected in previous years. How can anyone expect a bonus when the company has gorn bust ? I don't care if they are Directors or the bloke who swept the floor, if they can't find the money from the companies pockets then I don't want them looking in mine... As for the RBS, or RBS staff having a whip round to help others.....they actually have a very well subscribed to scheme where staff can, and do, donate direct from salary. They have also been know to do their bit for others. Here's a link to one of many cases where the bank have "had a whip round" - Clicky Clicky Well, lets' have a look at that then, in 2007 {the latest figures that I have}, RBS had a bad year, but still made a profit of 7.5 Billion, out of that they threw 4 Milion at Edinburgh University and the NHS. Let's look at the scale of that generous that {tax deductable} donation. Put it this way, let's say I had 7,500 quid in my bank account and I gave less than 4 quid towards a Cat Scanner would I be reading about my "good will gesture" in the National Papers ? The 4 Million that RBS gave was 1/2000th of the profit they made in 2007, a TAX DEDUCTABLE donation at that ! I'm not trying to justify the bank having to be bailed out, nor am I excusing the actions of those who caused it. What I am saying is that it's not as black and white a picture as you might try to paint it and it's all too easy to get angry when you see a figure of ?100,000,000 (remember it's not a thousand million here in the UK) being banded around. When you break it down, it's less than ?1000 per employee....but it's a ?1000 that can make a big difference to a large chunk of them. Bare in mind that these Banks now screaming out for a lifeline from taxpayers, have for 50 years or more been finding ways for themselves and their wealthy clients to avoid paying tax in the UK, is there no end to the nerve these b*stards have ? Read all about it... As far as I'm concerned if you run a company into the ground then you shouldn't expect the taxpayers to compensate /reward you for it. I wouldn't mind if during the good times these banks had paid their fair share of tax, but they all found ways to move their money to overseas branches to avoid paying tax, now they want the regular bloke to bail them out, no thanks, do the honourable thing, go down with the ship. Canada Bob.

I don't care if companies pay money out of their own pockets, but RBS was run into the ground by those who are now demanding a bonus for breaking the Bank ! how fekkin' useless or incompetent do you have to be to ruin a Bank, FFS... The British taxpayers had to chip in 20 Billion to save what was left of RBS, odd how "Billion" rolls so easily off the lips these days, but 20 Billion quid is the equivalent of every man, woman and child in the UK stumping up over 3,000 quid each ! As far as sympathy for the poor soles on the bottom rung of the ladder at RBS, should we be giving them more consideration than the millions of other workers in the UK who are shouldering the burden ! Most folks could only dream of the benefit packages that RBS workers got. Times are getting hard, my bet is they'll get a good bit worse over the next few years, it'll soon be every man for himself, but if you come unstuck don't expect a whip round from anyone at RBS. The bottom line is, the Government is putting the taxpayers of Britain into debt for the next 30 years or more. The worst part of it is, I don't think the people who are responsilbe for what happened to RBS were useless or incompetent, the way I see it is they took massive gambles with other folks money, they lost the bet, sunk the bank, and now you all have to bail them out and throw your money after them as they row away into the sun. Odd how the Government couldn't find money to sort out NHS waiting lists, or how NICE wouldn't approve a drug for folks in desperate need, {because NICE had to tow the Governments "affordability" line}. Add to that they couln't find flak jackets, etc, for our lads in Iraq and Afghanistan, or the Governments failure pay a decent pension to OAP's so that they can enjoy their last few years in dignity rather than in poverty. Wha was it they found for the pensioners in the last round, a fiver for a single person and 7 quid for a couple, at a time when according to the Office of National Statistics groceries alone have gone up near 10% in the last year... How many times have we heard that "the Government would like to do this, or that, but we simply don't have the money", when a few millions was all that was needed for a new school, fire station, or a CAT scanner for a local hospital. Yet they can throw your money away like this... Seems obscene to me that all of a sudden they can find BILLIONS to bale fekkin' Banks out ! It's fekkin' DIABOLICAL, if folks stand for this then there's something very wrong with them. Canada Bob.

Just heard about this on the telly, but thought I must have heard it wrong, it would be bad enough to pay any bonus at all to folks who managed to run a Bank {FFS} into the ground, but the b*stards are getting a BILLION quid {I thought at first they said a Million, but you can't believe your ears these days. So a BILLION quid out of YOUR pocket for the "Bank Job" they've done !!! They're taking the proverbial !!! Hard to believe aint it, thousands of decent hard working folks are losing their jobs, with worse to come yet, much of it due to the behavior of these pricks, yet instead of being jailed they are awarded/rewarded with obscene amounts of money !!! Am I missing something here ? Canada Bob.

Few things are ever perfect, but most things are refined over a period of time, so I guess we can always tinker a bit with the Comp. Have to say though I think we've done well since we started up, 3-4 years ago, so there's something to be said for keeping it as simple as possible, last thing we want is folks arguing about who owns the rule book. As for the Cup weeks, there's a big difference between the early rounds and the latter stages, so we need to define a number of games rather than to say it was a Cup week... I think there were enough games played, maybe we should settle on a minimum of 6 games played or the comp is void that particular week. What we need to avoid is calling it off every week that any cup game is played, and then add to that all the weeks when games are off due to bad weather. The games lost are caught up by the teams in mid week, but we only run the comp on week end games, the end result being we could lose 6-8 weeks each season, in my view that detracts from the spirit of the competition. Most folks took the time and trouble to sign in, they have to be respected for that... I think we should add the "6 game" rule, seems reasonable to me, even if there was only 6 games played it presents 18 choices, and that's enough for our small group to have a go at... Canada Bob.

Not at 3:05 though, there were enough games to pick from, maybe we should make that a break point for the future, if 5 games are played then we have enough to pick out of... Canada Bob.

6 games was enough to give folks 18 chances, that's a fair kick at the cat... Canada Bob.

Just got a phone call from Michael, a mate of mine from Kerry, bit of bad news it seems... Michael had been to the Dr's this morning, and was told he'd 6 weeks to live !!! Michael asked if there was anything he could so. The Dr says "well you could try taking a mud bath every day". Michael asked "will it cure me" ? Dr says, "No, but it'll get you used to the clay"...

Ross to Draw @ 3.20

Hmmm, looks a bit bleak this week end, but let's say long as there are at least 5 games played the comp is on ? I'm open to thoughts on that... Canada Bob.

Looks like tough times are coming and for many folks every penny will start to count, so... It might be worth your while to check out the link below for a company that a good few of the lads I know in Lancashire use, from what they tell me you can save 300 to 500 quid or more by consolodating your utility bills. I don't have any connection with the company, so it's not for their {or my} benefit that I pass the info on, just thought it might help folks out. Here's the link that my son sent me, I don't know if the bloke that he works with is just a regional agent or if they have someone specifically for Scotland, easy enough to find out though I guess. Utility Warehouse Hope it helps someone make their money go further... Canada Bob.

Ever wonder why things happen to you ? Well, I'm beginning to, forget the flat tire on Sunday, things are getting odder by the day... While Pauline was doing a bit of washing today, I decided I'd walk down to the local pub {the Half Way House} on the Antrim coast road... It's still a bit storm here, no snow, we missed out on that, but the wind is almost enough to blow you off yer feet, thankfully at 190lbs there's not much chance of that, so I manages to make it to the pub, battered by the wind and splashed by the sea spray, but there in one piece, only to find the place is empty, sigh. I had a couple of pints of Guinness {waiting for the locals to turn up, but no one did} so I decided to head back the couple of miles or so to the Ballygally apartments. I'd got no more than arf a mile when two motor bike cops zoom right in on me, I'm wondering if me bright orange jacket {which some of you'll know} has caught their attention. Anyway, the wind is still almost gale force, I have me hood up, they have their crash helmets on, throw into that mix the only thing I can pick out is a thick Ulster accent, so I've nae idea what they are saying to me. Next thing is, one of them takes off his crash helmet and asks me for my ID ! as he's going through me wallet the other one is frisking me down. I'm wondering what the hell is that all about, {wondering if someone has shopped me for oyster napping}. Luckily my wallet seemed to suffice, maybe the Canadian driving licence, and so on helped, but by this time they've walked me off the road, did I mention there was no footpath}, so there we all are, stood on the shoreline while I'm being investigated, I was starting to feel like "The Jackal" or at least Eli Dingle for a moment. Not wanting to get on the wrong side of these two coppers I just lets them go through me wallet, and answers {best I can} as to who I am, and why I'm there when no one else is around. Finally they seem satisfied and things calm down a bit, at this point I ask them why they pulled me over, to be told... "Prince Charles and Camilla will be coming down this road in 15-20 minutes"... Being of no interest to me, I askes if it's OK for me to carry on then, but they wouldn't let me, I had to stay there with one of the coppers, whilst the other one "reported me, description of me orange jacket and all, to MI5 or whoever, and then he went on hs way, leaving me there with his mate. I decided to phone Pauline {you know what women are like about Royalty}, if I'd hadn't have told her and she'd have missed "Charles & Camilla" I'd never have heard the last of it. So before you know it she's off down to road camera in hand to get a photo of them, but the cop won't let me carry on for whatever reason he had in his head, that may have been due to the narrow road and now footpath, whatever it was he kept me there. It don't take a lot of imagination to figure out the effect that a couple of pints of Guinness and a bone chilling wind might have on a 61 year old, but it's a delicate topic to bring up to motor cycle cop on Royal Duty {as he called it}, anyway, to my relief {sort of} just a mile away we can see the flashing blue lights of the convoy, first of all a 1/4 mile ahead of them are more out riders, about six more coppers on motor bikes, then a big dark blue Range Rover, then the car {bullet proof no doubt} car with Prince Wing Nut and that Hag Camilla, can you believe they actually waved at me, I was so close to giving them my own salute, but I didn't dare, what with the copper right alongside of me. Soon as they'd passed though without another word, the copper roars off, and that was the last I saw of 'em as they diasppeared down the road. Odd how you get days like this aint it, a few things flashed through my mind as I walked the rest of the way back "home", first and foremost being, "where are the IRA when you need 'em" or a Henry Paul look alike, have you any idea what my photo's would have been worth to CNN, but the events turning out as they did I didn't even take me camera out of me pocket, you may read between the lines that I'm no Royalist. I've no time for folks who tell us we are Hero's when we're in the trenches fighting for King and Country, then when the dust settles they quickly revert to calling us Commoners. None the less, it made for another odd day on our travels... Bob.

What a day Sunday was, we'd set out early from Rathmullen to have a look around Derry, and then on to the Antrim Coast, we've moved to here now... You can see Stranraer from here... Derry went well, it's a place and a half, well worth a visit aint it, some history and troubles there, that's for sure... Anyway, we were maybe 4-5 miles outside of Derry on the A6 when all of a sudden "pop", the rear drivers side tire gets a puncture, amazing how a rear tire can find something that the front tire misses, anyway... The traffic was almost non existent, so no problem pulling off the road, I managed to find a gateway to a farmers field, 5 bar gate thing and all that, so I pulled in there to get off the road... Managed that alright, but had to walk up the field to get a decent signal on the cell phone, followed by 20-30 sheep... I got a call through to Casey Car Hire in Castlebar, {amazed anyone was there on a Sunday}, but she wasn't sure if they had anyone in Northern Ireland that you could call out... Over the noise of the sheep I managed to tell her where we were, I then went back to the car to see if I could find a decent bit of ground to jack the car up {still followed by the sheep, sigh}. I found a flat stone big enough to put under the jack and started to jack the car up, by this time the sheep who must have thought I was supposed to be bringing them breakfast, were baa'ing away at me, I muttered a few choice words under me breath I can tell you, 30 or more {by now} sheep all noisily baa'ing away at me, that's all you need aint it, what with the wife going on about "why can't I sit in the car", ffs... By this time we have the suitcases out, {did I mention it was chucking it down}, and rather than get wet on me own I had Pauline acting as a second handbrake while I took the wheel off... Thankfully the spare was a full sized one, so on it went, the flat is now in the boot... Anne @ Casey had done what she could for us, calling me back within 15 minutes, but by the time the AA called us I was already putting the wheel rim back on, so we cancelled them. "It's all go" aint it, grin, well it was once we'd got the spare on, so today finds us on the Antrim Coast, I was thinking of going on that rope bridge, Not today, thanks... but... considering how the day had started I gave it a miss... Canada Bob.

Talk about being hissed off, I near went for Livi after reading the latest news, but thought I'd found a softer spot with Ips fekkin wich... Not only did they let me down, but the Ref did too, hard to believe how Plymouth kept them from scoring, you can imagine what I had to say when I saw the result come up in the pub. The rain was wishing it could have fallen somewhere rather than on me, I was fekkin blisterin', it only made it worse to hear that Livi had won... Canada Bob.

Well that's a first !!! Just nipped down to Ramelton to get me bet on Ipswich, and their coupon says 4/6, I gives the bloke the bet and the money, he looks at the slip then straight away he picks up the Racing Post {the page with all the different Bookies coupon odds in it}, so I thought "here we go, 4/7 coming up" you can imagine how flabberghasted when he says... "The best odds for Ipswich are 8/11, we can lay you that" !!! At first I'm thinking he thinks 8/11 is worse than 4/6, so I says OK, then he says, on any bet over 100 Euro we lay the best published odds !!! I'm staggered, this is a tiny shop, part of a tiny chain {maybe a dozen shops}, powned by a bloke not a corporation and they are offering me "best odds" !!! try getting that in Hills, Ladbrokes, Tote, Corals et-al !!! Anyway, in the bluster of the moment I says... "Well Thanks a Million {I'm learning the language}, that's a double bonus for the bet then". "How do you mean" ? he says... "Well it helps when it's me son is the referree for the game" :thumb04: Wish you'd have seen his face, for a moment he was handing me the money back, until the penny dropped that is, then he says... "I hope your kiddin' me"... "Not at all" I said, "just watch out for the penalty in the first half"... At that point I left afore he could figure it out Be a laugh if Ispwich do get a penalty, grin... Canada Bob.

After scouring the games looking for the weakest link it looks to me as though Plymouth could be the team to bet against. They are away to Ipswich, in the reverse game last October Ipswich were 2-0 up at half time, finally winning 3-1 full time. Ipswich are on a good run in their league, winning their last 3 {or was it 4} whist Plymouth are doing just the opposite, so at 4/6 Ipswich seem to be a value bet to me, off to Ramelton now to chuck 1,500 Euro at 'em, I might even chance a bit on the ht/ft. Canada Bob.

Thanks for the above Braveheart, I was still pondering the game, but knowing they've been paid is enough to put me off backing Ross now, thing is, should I now be backing Livi ? wages tend to give folks a bit of a lift, and that new signing will want to make his mark on the team. Canada Bob.

Just back from Conways Bar in Ramelton, a great night, fiddlers and a lovely wench dancing... Anyway, back to the plot... Fair enough Clacher Livi are Pro's, but have you any idea how mangie a Pro can get when they don't get paid ! Canada Bob.