To baldly go where no man has bothered to go before

Scroll down a bit !!!!!!!!!

Look at the "Wheres Lyndon" picture and the "Wincanton picture" together on the screen.....

Dont we look like an "Away Team".................

Mikey at the back in the yellow top would be the one who never gets any lines and you just know he isnt going to make it back to the ship.

Sorry Mikey 8~)

Is this the way to Amarillo

Oh well its back to work, got up early this morning, phoned in, 2148 is stuck at the meat plant with my load, but should be in the bridge sometime this morning. I got a 2 hitter, first in Kansas "Theres no place like home, theres no place like home" then off down the yellow brick road to Amarillo "tears on my pillow" in Texas.

All sounds like good fun, plenty of time to the first drop and the suns out, wha more could i ask for...................

Oh by the way Jason i got you the cap you asked for and its a good 'un, not sure when our paths will cross though.

Anyhoo, thats about it, normal service has now been resumed and its business as usual.

See y'all laters...........................................

Wheres Lyndon - 017

Beam me up Snotty !

Wincanton Revisited

Well we left the kids back in Swindon and we were heading up to Birmingham ready for the wedding, it was about 23:30n and and we had just headed down the Birdlip hill.

I suddenly had an idea, it was close to my old Wincanton start time so we dived in to Brockworth to say hello to some old friends.

It was as though nothing had changed, still the same people on the same shift, same old trucks and same faces in the office, it was like going back 12 months in time. I didnt stay too long, just long enough to say hello to everyone and answer the same question over and over again, everyone asked excactly the same thing............

and the answer was yes..................... it was the best move i had ever made.

and the other answer was no............ i dont have any regrets.

Anyway you lot it was nice to meet you all again.

Tony sorry i didnt get to see you mate, maybe next time......................

Molineux - The Wolves' Lair

Then

Now

Look at the thin entrance to the stalls

Stan the Man

How much he gave

History
Wolverhampton Wanderers have played at Molineux, Whitmore Reans, since 1889. Their previous home was in the Blakenhall area, and although no signs of the ground remain, a nearby road is called Wanderers Avenue.

The Molineux name originates from Benjamin Molineux, a local merchant who built his home on the grounds. Northampton Brewery, who later owned the site, rented its use to Wolverhampton Wanderers in 1889, who had previously lacked a permanent home. After renovating the site, the first ever league game was staged on 7 September 1889 in a 2-0 victory over Notts County before a crowd of 4,000.

In 1953, the stadium became one of the first to install floodlights, at a cost of around £10,000. The first ever floodlit game was held on 30 September 1953, as Wolves won 3-1 against South Africa. The addition of the floodlights opened the door for Molineux to host a series of midweek friendlies against teams from across the globe. In the days prior to the formation of the European Cup and international club competitions, these games were highly prestigious and gained huge crowds and interest, the BBC often televising such events.
The old South Bank at Molineux is also historically the second largest of all Kop ends closely followed by Aston Villa's Holte End, both of which regularly held crowds in excess of 30,000.

Fluctuating attendances
When Wolves were at their height of success during the 1950s (three league championships and two F.A Cups) Molineux regularly held over 50,000 mostly standing spectators. By the time of their sharp decline during the 1980s, only the newly built 9,500-seat John Ireland Stand (now the Steve Bull Stand) and the much reduced South Bank (15,500) were in use. This reduction in capacity was due to the fact that the other two stands were wood-built and declared unsafe following the Bradford City disaster, in which a wood-built stand caught fire and killed 56 people in 1985. In the days before the Taylor Report, which required British football stadia to provide seating for all those attending, the ground had a capacity of over 60,000; the record attendance for a match at the ground is 61,315 for a game against Liverpool in the First Division on 11 February 1939.

The total seated capacity today is approximately 28,525, making Molineux the twenty-sixth largest in English football, although this was expanded in 2003 by the building of a temporary stand, known as the Graham Hughes Stand, providing capacity for another 900 fans. These temporary seats were removed during the 2006 close season.

Redevelopment
Between 1991 and 1993, Molineux was comprehensively redeveloped. The Waterloo Road stand was replaced by the all-seat Billy Wright Stand, the North Bank terrace was replaced by the Stan Cullis Stand, and the South Bank terrace was replaced by the Jack Harris Stand. By the 1993-94 season the Molineux had a 28,525 all-seated capacity and was one of the largest stadiums in England. But by the time of the 2003 promotion, Molineux was the fifth smallest Premiership stadium. In the previous decade, many of the smaller stadiums had either been expanded or replaced to hold a capacity of between 30,000 and 67,000 seated spectators. For the 2003/04 to 2005/06 seasons, the corner between the Billy Wright and Jack Harris Stands was filled in with temporary seating to create a further 900 seats (called the Graham Hughes by most of the fans and now the club), bringing the ground's capacity to 29,400. For the 2006/07 season the temporary seating was removed.

Millionaire owner Steve Morgan is keen to 'transform the city centre ground into a venue fit for Premiership football'[2] although the scale and speed of the expansion plans will depend on Wolves being promoted to, and stabilising in, the Premier League. Accordingly, the Steve Bull and Billy Wright Stands would be modified, linking all four stands and expanding both side stands to create a 40-45,000+ capacity, making Molineux one of the top ten stadia in England by capacity.

Training ground
The Sir Jack Hayward Training Ground, opened in 2005, is a £4.6m, state-of-the-art site located in Compton, Wolverhampton. It stands approximately one mile to the west of the stadium.
The two storey building has five high-quality training pitches, eleven changing rooms, medical and physiotherapy facilities, gymnasium, and a hydrotherapy pool, one of only a handful of English clubs to own one.

Supporters
Wolverhampton Wanderers have an international support base, with supporters' clubs in Australia, United States, Sweden, Germany, Republic of Ireland, Malta, Iceland and Norway amongst others. They also have supporters' clubs across the United Kingdom.

Fanzine
The Wolves fanzine is called A Load Of Bull (ALOB), in part reference to former legend Steve Bull. The publication was founded in 1989 and is written voluntarily by ordinary Wolves supporters. ALOB is currently edited by long serving editor Charles Ross.

Hooliganism
As with all large city teams the club attracted a number of hooligans in the 1960s. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, a group of teenagers calling themselves "The Subway Army" would ambush fans in the subway adjacent to the ground. They attended only selected games and many of the members claimed that they were not actually Wolves fans. Indeed, on visits to several away fixtures, including Leeds, they stood apart from the travelling Wolves supporters, and the vast majority of Wolves supporters have never had any involvement with hooliganism.

The Subway Army were eventually dissolved due to the large number of arrests and were replaced by other groups. Many of this faction were arrested in one of the nationally organised police dawn raids, under code name 'Operation Growth' or Get Rid of Wolverhampton's Troublesome Hooligans.

Wolverhampton Wanderers - My Team

Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club are a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, in the West Midlands of England. Usually referred to by a shortened version of its name, Wolves, the club is known for its distinctive team colours and long history. The club were founded in 1877 and since 1889 has been based at Molineux Stadium.

Historically, Wolves have been highly successful, being founder members of the Football League, and winning the FA Cup twice before the outbreak of World War I. Wolves really established themselves as a top side under the management of Stan Cullis after the Second World War, going on to win the League three times and the FA Cup twice between 1949 and 1960. It was at this time that the European Cup competition was initiated in the mid-1950s after English newspapers declared Wolves "Champions of the World" following victories against top European sides. Wolves have yet to match the successes of the Stan Cullis era, although they did contest the first UEFA Cup final in 1971 against Tottenham Hotspur, and won the League Cup in 1974 under Bill McGarry and in 1980 under John Barnwell. Since 1984 they have, however, spent just one season in the top division.

History
The team was founded as St. Luke's in 1877 by John Baynton and John Brodie after a group of pupils at St Luke's school in Blakenhall had been presented with a football by their headmaster Harry Barcroft. Two years later, they merged with local cricket and football club The Wanderers, to form Wolverhampton Wanderers. The club was given the use of two fields - John Harper's Field and Windmill Field - both off Lower Villiers Street in Blakenhall in its early years. From there, they moved to a site on the Dudley Road opposite the Fighting Cocks Inn in 1881. The club became one of the twelve founders of the English Football League in 1888 and finished the inaugural season in a creditable third place, as well as reaching their first ever FA Cup Final, losing 3-0 to the first "Double" winners, Preston North End.

The Wolves team that won the FA Cup in 1893Wolves remained as members of the Football League First Division from 1888 until relegation in 1906, winning the FA Cup for the first time on March 26, 1893. They beat Everton 1-0 at Fallowfield Stadium in Manchester. Two years after relegation the team enjoyed another FA Cup win, as a Second Division club, surprisingly beating Newcastle United 3-1 in the final on April 25, 1908. After struggling for many years to regain their place in the top division, Wolves suffered relegation again in 1923, dropping into the Third Division North. Wolves' first promotion was won just a year later, narrowly claiming the Third Division North title at the first attempt ahead of Rochdale.

Inter-war adventures
Following eight more years back in the Second Division, Wolves finally achieved a return to top division football in 1932, claiming the Second Division title and another promotion. In the years leading up to the Second World War, the team became established as one of the leading club sides in England. In 1938, Wolves needed only to win the last game of the season to be champions for the first time, but were beaten 1-0 at Sunderland and Arsenal claimed the title. They again finished as runners-up in 1939, this time behind Everton, and endured more frustration with defeat in the FA Cup Final, losing 4-1 to underdogs Portsmouth.

The Stan Cullis era
When league football resumed in 1946, Wolves suffered yet another heartbreaking failure in the First Division. Just as in 1938, victory in their last match of the season against Liverpool would have won the title but a 2-1 win gave the 1947 championship to the Merseyside club instead. That game had been the last in a Wolves shirt for Stan Cullis, and a year later he became manager of the club. In Cullis' first season in charge he led Wolves to a first major honour in 41 years as they beat Leicester City 3-1 in the FA Cup Final, and a year later, only the goal average prevented the First Division title being won.

The 1950s were by far the most successful period in the history of Wolverhampton Wanderers. Captained by Billy Wright, Wolves finally claimed the league championship for the first time in 1954, overhauling fierce rivals West Bromwich Albion late in the season. In this period, football played under floodlights was still a novelty. The summer of 1953 saw the first set of lights installed at Molineux, which were first tested in a friendly game against a South African XI. Over the next months, Wolves played a series of "floodlit friendlies" against foreign opposition. Beginning with Racing Club of Argentina, they also played Spartak Moscow of the USSR, before meeting Honvéd of Hungary in a game televised live on the BBC.

The Honved team included many of the "Magical Magyars" team who had humbled England twice. Wolves won the game 3-2, beating the Hungarian side despite having been 2-0 down at half time, which led many, including Cullis, to proclaim Wolves "Champions of the World", in spite of Honved's defeat to Red Star Belgrade (then lying seventh in their domestic league) days earlier. This was the final spur for Gabriel Hanot, the editor of L'Équipe, who had long campaigned for a Europe wide club tournament to be played under floodlights.

“ Before we declare that Wolverhampton are invincible, let them go to Moscow and Budapest. And there are other internationally renowned clubs: A.C. Milan and Real Madrid to name but two. A club world championship, or at least a European one - larger, more meaningful and more prestigious than the Mitropa Cup and more original than a competition for national teams - should be launched. ”
(Gabriel Hanot, editor of L'Équipe)

The UEFA congress of March 1955 saw the proposal raised, with approval given in April of that year, and the kick-off of the first European Cup the following season. Later, Spartak Moscow, Dynamo Moscow and Real Madrid all came to Molineux and were beaten. Wolves were also league champions in 1958 and 1959, and in 1960 became the first team to pass the 100 goal mark for three seasons in succession. Coming agonisingly close to a hat-trick of titles and the first "double" of the twentieth century, Wolves finished just one point behind Burnley and had to make do with a fourth FA Cup win, beating Blackburn Rovers 3-0 in the final.

Cullis goes
The early 1960s saw Wolves begin to decline, and Cullis was sacked in September 1964 at the start of a dreadful season during which the club was never out of the relegation zone. The club's first spell outside the top division in more than thirty years would last just two seasons, as an eight game winning run in the spring of 1967 led the way to promotion.

During the summer of 1967, Wolves played a season in North America as part of a fledgling league called the United Soccer Association. This league imported twelve entire clubs from Europe and South America to play in American and Canadian cities, with each club bearing a local name. Wolverhampton, playing as the "Los Angeles Wolves", won the Western Division and then went on to earn the league title by defeating the Eastern Division champion Washington Whips (Aberdeen of Scotland) in the championship match. (This FIFA-sanctioned league merged the following season with the non-sanctioned National Professional Soccer League, which had also begun in 1967, to form the North American Soccer League.).

Cup finals and relegation struggles
The club's return to the English top flight heralded another period of relative success, finishing the 1970–1971 season in 4th place, qualifying them for the newly created UEFA Cup. Stars of this era included Derek Dougan, Kenny Hibbitt and Frank Munro. En route to the final, they beat Académica 7-1 on aggregate, ADO Den Haag (again 7-1 on aggregate), FC Carl Zeiss Jena 4-0 on aggregate, Juventus 3-2 on aggregate in the quarter-final and Ferencvaros 4-3 in the semi-final. Reaching the UEFA Cup final, Wolves lost the home leg against Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 (goal from Jim McCalliog) and drew at White Hart Lane 1-1 with a goal from David Wagstaffe).
Two years later they beat Manchester City to win the League Cup for the first time. Despite relegation again in 1976, Wolves were to bounce back as Second Division champions, and three years later, an Andy Gray goal defeated reigning European champions Nottingham Forest to again bring League Cup glory to Molineux in 1980. Wolves have yet to win another major trophy.

Sharp decline and revival
Wolves went through a bad spell in the 1980s. After bouncing straight back from relegation in 1982, the club suffered three consecutive relegations in 1984, 1985 and 1986, sliding into the Fourth Division for the first time in their history. The nadir came with the FA Cup 1st Round 2nd replay defeat at non-league Chorley (where Wolves were defeated 3-0) in 1986. Ownership of the club changed, and Graham Turner was appointed manager in October 1986, shortly after the drop into Division Four, and by 1989 Wolves were back in the Second Division following two successive promotions.

The key player behind the club's resurgence was Steve Bull who had been signed, along with Andy Thompson, from neighbours West Bromwich Albion for a combined fee of £64,000. He had scored 50+ goals in all competitions during both promotion-winning seasons, and while still a Third Division player he was capped by England and took part in the Italia 90 World Cup Finals. Bull scored 306 goals for Wolves (250 of them in league matches) before retiring at the end of the 1998-99 season.

Playoff agony
In 1990 Wolves were bought by lifelong supporter Sir Jack Hayward, and his money has led to much better times for the club. Wolves narrowly missed out on the Second Division play-offs - and the chance of a unique third successive promotion - at the end of the 1989-90 season. They did not make the playoffs until 1995, by which time the Premiership had been formed and its feeder division was now called Division One.

The club's ageing ground was comprehensively rebuilt to meet new government inspired regulations in the early 1990s with the Stan Cullis Stand erected on the site of the North Bank in 1992, and the Billy Wright Stand replacing the Waterloo Road Stand in August 1993. Both of these stands were reportedly funded by the club owner. In December of that year the ground was completed when the Jack Harris Stand replaced the South Bank and the John Ireland Stand (renamed as the Steve Bull Stand in the summer of 2003) was completely refurbished by the owner.

Graham Turner had quit in March 1994 to make way for former England manager Graham Taylor. Wolves looked set for a return to the big time after beating Bolton 2-1 in the first leg of the play-off semi finals, but a 2-0 defeat in the second leg ended their promotion hopes.
Taylor was ousted in October 1995 after Wolves made a slow start to the 1995-96 season. His successor Mark McGhee inspired a brief turnaround in fortunes and as late as March they were just outside the play-off zone. But their dismal form returned and by the end of the season they had finished 20th - just two places above the drop zone and their lowest league finish since they slipped in the Fourth Division a decade earlier.

Wolves were much more confident in 1996-97, but were pipped to the second automatic promotion place by Barnsley and lost to Crystal Palace in the play-off semi-finals. They reached the F.A. Cup semi-finals a year later but McGhee was dismissed in November 1998 with Wolves slipping out of contention for the play-off places. His assistant Colin Lee took over but the club just missed out on the play-offs. A similar disappointment followed in 1999–2000 and Lee was dismissed in December 2000 with Wolves just a few places above the drop zone.

Former Southampton manager Dave Jones was named as Lee's successor and Wolves improved during the second half of the 2000-01 season, but their dismal early season form counted against them and they were unable to achieve anything more than a mid table finish. Wolves returned to their winning ways in 2001-02 and spent much of the season in the top two places. However, end of season slump saw them being pipped to automatic promotion by deadly rivals West Bromwich Albion. Defeat at the hands of Norwich City in the play-off semi-finals finally put paid to their promotion hopes.

Wolves in the Premiership
Wolves experienced sporadic form during the early part of 2002-03, and thus were never in contention for the automatic promotion places. Following a patchy first half of the season, Dave Jones' side turned the corner with a 3-2 FA Cup win over Newcastle United. The team lost just 2 of their 20 league games after this, securing them 5th place, and a play-off semi-final clash against newly-promoted Reading. Wolves had trailed 1-0 in the home leg but hit back with 2 goals in ten minutes to secure a 2-1 victory. Alex Rae scored the goal in a 1-0 win at the Madejski Stadium, and earned Wolves a place in the Play-off Final against Sheffield United. In the Cardiff final, three goals in the first half from Mark Kennedy, Nathan Blake and Kenny Miller, respectively, were enough to earn Wolves a long awaited place in the Premiership, after 19 years in the lower echelons of British football.
With key players Matt Murray & Joleon Lescott out for entire season and several others like Kenny Miller injured from the start of the season, life in the Premiership was hard for Wolves, they did not win until their eighth match. They did manage some decent results, in particular a 1-0 win over Manchester United in January, but failing to win a single away game meant that their relegation battle was ultimately lost. Wolves finished bottom of the table on goal difference, bracketed together on 33 points with the two other relegated teams - Leicester City and Leeds United.

Setback and fightback
Wolves made a dismal start to the 2004-05 Championship campaign, and at one point sat as low as 19th in the table. Following a humiliating encounter with Gillingham at Priestfield, which Wolves had lost 1-0, Jones was sacked at the beginning of November with the dreaded double drop looking a real possibility.

Coach Stuart Gray was put in temporary charge of the first team for a month after Jones's dismissal, before Glenn Hoddle was appointed on a rolling one-year contract. Wolves lost only one of their final 25 league games but drew 15 of their games and finished ninth in the final table - not enough to qualify for the play-offs.

A lack of fortitude in the striking department, a lack of passion and pride on the whole from the team, and ultimately dull, cautious and bizarre tactics from Glenn Hoddle, including the placing of 6ft 4" Carl Cort on the wing, and 5ft 9" Tomasz Frankowski in the middle, saw Wolves finish a disappointing 7th in 2005–2006. It was a gut wrenching season for the Wolves faithful, many of whom had vowed towards the end of the season that they would not be renewing their season ticket as long as Hoddle was in charge.

Though the board expressed no displeasure with Hoddle, with Jez Moxey affirming his faith in the under fire manager, the season had been frowned on by both local media, and most importantly, the fan base. However, few had anticipated Hoddle's sudden resignation mere moments before England's World Cup quarter-final clash with Portugal.

A new approach
In pre-season 2006, Wolves cut their wage bill in half following the departure of 12 senior players, receiving a transfer fee for only two (the sales of Joleon Lescott and Seol Ki-Hyeon).
Former Republic of Ireland and Sunderland manager Mick McCarthy was confirmed as Glenn Hoddle's replacement as manager on 21 July 2006. Wolves therefore commenced the 2006/07 season with only the bare bones of a first team squad and with the lowest expectations around the club in years. Mick McCarthy acknowledged the challenge, stating to local media "The initials MM on my top stand for Mick McCarthy, not Merlin the Magician".

The manager quickly scraped together a squad, largely from the club's youth ranks, out of contract players and loanees. After an inconsistent first half to the season, an impressive run of form followed and the club eventually made the play-offs, despite earlier expectations. They were paired with local rivals West Bromwich Albion in the semi-finals, where they lost out over two legs, losing 3-2 at Molineux and 1-0 at The Hawthorns. Goalkeeper Matt Murray, voted player of the season by Wolves supporters, broke his shoulder in the final training session, which led to Wayne Hennessey making his Wolves debut in his place.

On 9 August 2007, businessman Steve Morgan finally completed a protracted takeover of the club for £10 in return for a £30million investment into the club, resulting in the departure of Sir Jack Hayward after 17 years as chairman.

After the previous year's surprising play-off finish, hopes were high for the club to go one step further this time. However, an injury suffered by key player Michael Kightly seemed to severely weaken the team's creativity and preceded a dismal Christmas period that saw them pick up just 4 points from a possible 21, leaving them mid-table, and without hopes of an automatic finish. A late rally that saw them lose just twice in their final 15 games, aided by the goalpower of new signing Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, kept them in contention, but the side finished outside the final play-off spot on goal difference, two goals short of Watford.

2008-09 season
The club have continued their recent policy of signing young players with potential from lesser clubs rather than pursuing their heavy investment strategy of early times. The close season saw the likes of Richard Stearman, David Jones and Sam Vokes arrive, along with the experience of Chris Iwelumo, while making a transfer profit by selling off players such as Seyi Olofinjana, Jay Bothroyd and Freddy Eastwood. The squad was also boosted by retaining their most valuable assets in Wayne Hennessey, Michael Kightly and the division's top goalscorer of last season, Sylvan Ebanks-Blake.

Wheres Lyndon - 016 (UK)

Ok, heres the clue, its not in Canada...........................

We were so lucky

Good grief we were a day away from disaster, Zoom airlines has just gone bust and all flights have been cancelled.

We flew in with them yesterday.

Here is the official news:

CUSTOMER ANNOUCEMENT

Zoom Airlines sincerely regrets to advise its customers that it has suspended operations with effect from 19:00 hrs on Thursday 28 August 2008. Both Zoom Airlines Inc and Zoom Airlines Ltd, the Canadian and UK airlines, have started administration proceedings in their home countries.

All Zoom flights have been cancelled and aircraft grounded.For customers who have future travel plans involving a Zoom flight for which reservations and payment have been made, you should refer to your credit or debit card company to apply for a refund. We have set out details of other airlines who operate the same or similar routes to those flown with Zoom in the hope that this may assist you in making alternative travel plans to replace the flights that you had booked with Zoom. If your travel arrangements have been made as part of a holiday package originating in the UK and booked through a holiday company, you may be able to make a claim under the CAA's Air Travel Organiser's Licence scheme. For information on this, please consult the CAA ATOL website at www.atol.org.uk.

Hugh and John Boyle, the founders of Zoom, said tonight: "We deeply regret the fact that we have been forced to suspend all Zoom operations. It is a tragic day for our passengers and more than 600 staff."We are desperately sorry for the inconvenience and disappointment that this will cause passengers and those who have booked flights."We have done everything we can to support the airline and left no stone unturned to secure a re-financing package that would have kept our aircraft flying.

Even late today we believed we had secured a new investment package to ensure future operations but the actions of creditors meant we could not continue flying. Having been unable to complete the investment package the directors of Zoom had no option but to instigate administration proceedings."The suspension of operations is a result of the exceptionally difficult trading conditions which have affected all airlines over the last 12 months. We have worked hard over the last seven years to build up a successful business but have incurred losses in the current year due to the unprecedented increase in the price of aviation fuel and the economic climate.

The increase in the price of oil has added around $50 million to our annual operating costs and we could not recover that from passengers who had already booked their flights."We would like to thank the many thousands of passengers who chose to travel with Zoom during the last seven years and efforts of the airline's staff. We are extremely sorry for today's unavoidable actions."Both British Airways and Virgin Atlantic have indicated that they will be offering special fares to customers whose travel plans have been affected by Zoom's suspension of flights. Please visit www.ba.com or www.virgin-atlantic.com for full details.

Back to reality

It all went so fast, one minute we were winging (as opposed to whinging LOL) back to Blighty then it felt that a few minutes later we were soaring back to the Prairies, we got back yesterday and its hard to believe that so much has happened in the last 12 days.

I wish i could put into words all the experiencies and emotions of going back to our roots and meeting up with all the people we left behind but i wont even try, coz i know i could never do it justice. It was a fantastic whirlwind visit, everyone overdid the hospitality everywhere we went and we are all eternally gratefull for that, like i said, words just cant describe it but at least i can throw out a few thank you's.

Thanks to my Mum & Dad for letting us stay at their place and for not letting us put our hands in our pockets (paying for anything) for the whole 2 weeks. For not minding when we came in at about 2 oclock in the morning, and leaving the inner garage door open so we could get to the beer in there. For taking us out for meals almost every night and not complaining when we said we would be there at a certain time and didnt turn up till 2 hours later. And last but definitely not least, for the bottle of Glenmorangie which all my nearest and dearest know is my favourite single malt whiskey.

Thanks to Claire, Andy, Colin, Tracy, Leo & Faith (the Staffy puppy) for just being there but especially for meeting us at the airport, buying the kebabs, letting us steal Leo for a few hours whenever we wanted. Special thanks to Faith for reminding me just how sharp a puppy's teeth are. Oh yes and thanks to Tracy's mum and dad for not laughing at me when i tried to park the VW on the side walk and couldnt get one of the rear wheels up, then stalled it.

Thanks to Clare & Andy for inviting us to the wedding and thanks to Alan for the directions. By the way Jan was so proud when you opened the Cross stitch present in front of everyone. Also thanks to Alan & Pat for buying the fish and chips when we went round their house.

Another thanks to Mum & Dad for taking us all out for a meal on the last but one day (and i mean all of us) there was Mum & Dad, Jan, Luke & I, Claire & Andy, Colin, Tracy and Leo, Rob, Cath (My cousin and is partner) and their kids Jen and Martin. It was fantastic to get everyone together. Oh yes and thanks very much Rob, for telling my kids how i punched your next door neihbour in the face and broke his nose when i was a kid, hehe only joking, it was a good story though and he really did deserve it.

Our last thank you must go to the unidentified drunken yobbo in Kings Heath for providing the entertainment on our second day, he was off his head in the town centre and started fighting with another drunken yobbo and got a bottle over the head for his trouble. The police officer was holding the bandage against his head while the yobbo was trying to roll a cigarette.... Classy !

All in all it was great visit, i know i dont say many good things about England but it was nice to go back, its not such a bad place i guess (to visit anyways) but trust me when i say i was glad to be back on Canadian soil and even more glad to be back home in my own house and last night i slept so soundly................................

So what next......................

Well i carry on where i left off, i have rekindled an old hobby which i hope some of you out there will find amusing or should i say refreshing......................

More stories and pictures to follow.....................................

Get me to the church on time

Congratulations Clare & Andy

What a fantastic day and we were proud that you wanted us to be part of it.

Oh i had better do some introductions..........

Andy is he son of Alan & Pat........

They are the the brother and sister in law of Jan

Jan is my wife.....................

That makes Andy my nephew...............

And Clare ??

You must be my nephew-wife-in-law

I never was any good a family trees but anyway welcome to the family.

Heres a few pics of the happy day.

Feeding the ducks

Okay heres a question for ya.

What does a North American Trucker and his eighteen month old Grandson have in common ???

They both love feeding the ducks......................

Especially when it includes climbing in the park and a play on the swings......

Even more so when it ends in MacDonalds

Time for a vacation

Well we've been here just over a year now so i guess its a good time to nip round to the other side of the world and see what we walked away from.

This is a trip that was actually planned before we emmigrated, we had a family wedding to go to and it was time to see the family again. I didnt post anything on the blog for obvious reasons, like the house being empty, im sure you all understand. Anyway im back now so sit back, grab a coffee and a bacon sandwich and have a little read about our exploits away from the Great White North.

We were actually away for 12 days, a pretty simple mission involving 2 nine hour flights courtesy of Zoom Airlines, a dark blue VW Passat TDI 130 bhp courtesy of Thrifty Rentals, a lot of peoples fantastic and generous hospitality, a hotel somewhere in Birmingham and a bottle of Glenmorangie.

The flight over there was pretty boring, 2 crap films, 2 just edible meals, some over priced bottles of water and the painted on smiles of the heavily made up (female) and and the not so hetrosexual (male ?) cabin staff.

Well we eventually found Gatwick airport, landed the plane (well the pilot did anyway) and retrieved our luggage. As we were heading out of the terminal someone grabbed Jan's suitcase, as Jan spun round she saw who it was, it was Claire, with Andy a few paces behind. It was a nice surprise to be met at the airport.

We were going straight up to Birmingham but now the plan was changed and our new destination was Swindon. First of all though we had to pick up the rental car, i only ordered a Focus but they offered us the VW for the same price. Considering i hadnt driven a stick shift for over a year i thought i did pretty well despite the mocking of my family when i stalled it and couldnt find the handbrake.

Anyway once the fun and games were over we headed towards Wiltshire and to Claire & Andy's flat for coffee. Driving in England was very strange, everything was so green and close together and all the cars seemed to be driving too close together, oh yes and it was very damp.

Anyway we got to the flat and Claire must have phoned Colin coz he turned up a few minutes after we got there with Tracy and Leo, what a fantastic first day.

After spending a few hours there we headed up to see my parents and thats where we were planning to spend the first night. It was only 90 minutes drive up to Birmingham, after saying our hellos to mum and dad Luke (who was asleep on his feet) crashed for the night and we went out for a carvery with my mum and dad. I think thats the first time Luke has ever said No to a carvery LOL.

That night we cracked open a bottle of Glenmorangie............................

Lyndon goes back to England !!!!

Was it the hard work ???

Nope.....

Was it the Company ???

Nope.....

Was it the weather ???

Nope.....

Was it home sickness ???

Nope.....

Read on and find out..........................................................

H&R Driver - Simeon Martin

Simeon hails from Spain, just north of Madrid and has decided to swap the Spanish truck driving scene for a life on the Prairies. He comes from a deep rooted trucking back ground, his father owns his own trucking business and he is married with 2 children.

I was asked to take Simi out on his USA mentor trip and we went down to Waterloo, up into OshKosh then back to Alberta. The training was a little slow at first coz of the language barrier, Simi's English was pretty good and i am fluent in Spanish in about 6 words, i am proud to say now that i have doubled my vocabulary and i think i've picked up a bit of a Spanish accent.

Anyway we soon got into tune and where words failed, arm signals and practical demonstrations won the day.

We had an interesting delivery in Waterloo, the Security guards (or as Simi and I now call them, "Barrier Monkeys" refused the trailer.

We turned up with the trailer diesel tank full to the brim so the needle was right over the (F). It was dark and when the monkey came out with the torch she said there was no needle and she wouldnt except the trailer till it was fixed. I tried to point out with my torch that the needle was there and showing full.

She got all flustered and stormed off, i went in and spoke to the other monkey who came out and looked at the needle, confirming it was there. She then went back in and spoke to monkey number 1 who apparently claimed to be a manager monkey (this proberbly means she has 1 more brain cell and earns $11 per hour instaead of $10)

Anyway manager monkey comes out and sees the needle, she says its passed the full so its broken, and needs to be fixed before she will accept it. Non manager monkey opologises and says manager monkeys word is final. I went back in to manager monkey and she grudgingly compromised. The compromise was that i run round to the cardlock and top the tank off.

I did this and bought the reciept back to the monkey house. Manager monkey was happy with this and the trailer went in, just in case you were wandering, i put 0.8 gallons ($4) in the tank so you COULD argue that it wasnt full 8~)

Apart from our monkey antics, the rest of the trip was pretty unaventfull, i got Simi to try as many American foods as possible and now he enjoys, corn dogs, big dogs, Dairy Queen burgers & ice-cream , oh yes and we even drunk Root Beer at the Canadian border (the propper Sioux City stuff) Once across the border i introduced Simi to Poutine, that was quite funny coz Poutan (scuze spelling) is Spanish for prostitute. The waitress had no idea what we were laughing at while we ordered lunch......................................

Anyway, it was an interesting and successful trip, Simi now has 1 more training trip and a classroom phase then he gets his charriot and out he goes roaming the great North American Continent.

Safe Journeys Simi, adios my friend.....................

Lyndon