Lewis Hamilton won the Japanese GP today. Brilliant drive in terrible wet conditions. A day which saw his wanker team-mate Alonso lose control of his car and crash in Lewis' wake.

One thing which I had never seen on the podium was the winning driver, during his national anthem looking behind at his nations flag. I see that as a moment of pride from Lewis. Bloody great stuff. Fingers crossed he'll sew up the championship next week in China!!

GG

Nice start to the day. Rode my horse Carpe. Being a thoroughbred he can be difficult at the best of times but for some reason today he gave me a pretty good ride. In fact I kind of wanted to carry on riding but wigged out.

We hadn't been out for breakfast in ages so after getting done at the barn we headed over to OPH. Bacon, eggs, toast and blueberry pancakes..Perfect!

This afternoon I noticed my old friend in England Mark online via Steam (a gaming IM proggy). We played a little Half Life 2 deathmatch, then Halo 3 co-op on XBOX 360. It was great to talk with him and shoot aliens at the same time. We caught up on a lot of topics. Mark is the same bloke I left in Blighty 12 years ago, we had a great giggle.

 

Now I'm at work and kind of pissed off. Right away there was a disgruntled customer trying to return some merchandise, which just didnt add up to me. For one she didnt have a reciept, also she claimed she had been told by the sales person here that she could return merchandise if it wasn't liked (totally against our policy), also the merch was in my display packaging which we do not sell with the jewelry (also there was a cigarette burn on it!) To be honest I felt like she was trying to return stolen merchandise, then when I told her the return policy she kind of went banana's. She came back 5 mninutes later to tell me that I am an asshole and that she would tell as many people as possible not to shop here. I said "thanks".

GG

 
Video: Birthday girl 

 
Video: bouncy castle arrives 

 
Video: being silly again 

Here's M(andy) and her husband Eddie. They are rather silly..................... 
Video: eee 

Here it is by popular demand, Monteh and his best friend My Little Pwny 

 Just finished re-sodding the back yard. Knackered.

My parents are making their annual trip out here in a few weeks time. They'll be staying with us, and with my brother. Both of them are getting on a bit, 73 I think last count. It's always a little worrying to see how they have changed in a year. I should really go back to England at least once a year to see them and every1 else. Maybe that will be my NY resolution for 2008?

After they leave we are going to Maui for a week. Can't wait. It's just what I will need to freshen up my spirits before the stressful Christmas season.

Can't wait to drink a mai tai on the beach <SIIGGHHHHH>

Now that Alex has started school full time I have almost every morning free to do whatever I want. It's been a while since I regularly rode any of our horses, maybe once or twice a week. Also years ago I would take our old horse Buddy out on trail. He was a absolute rock, fully trustworthy, loved to eat the local foliage. Riding past mustard plants was always rather funny because I could see Buddy eyeballing them before making a lunge. He would do almost anything to eat that stuff.Anyway, Buddy died last year at the ripe old age of 30 so I have not had a trail horse.........Until I discovered our other horse Howie was more than up to the job. The last 2 days I have walked him over to the adjacent polo fields where there is a long track. We walk a little canter a little and then gallop to the end. Brilliant! Such a wonderful feeling galloping along without the confines of a arena. I'll add some pics of Howie at home. He's my new Buddy!

Have been in the wars again with my kidneys. A few weeks ago I took myself to the emergency room after having  progressively worse flank pains. Had a CT scan done which revealed 2 more stones. Been on meds ever since to help the pain, which isn't that bad, at least it doesnt stop me from doing any daily activity. Appt with new urologist on Oct 2.