WOW its been some four months since the last post....and a hectic Four months it has been!

Not least because i havent got Dubai out my system!

In fact i have accepted a job out there on a permanent basis and will be flying this Friday.  

Yep old habits die hard and i will be creating another BLOG! and yep, you can get to it from here! See where me ole pal Kathryn has her DAVES DUBAI DAYS top left of my blog page...well....click on Doobers........the return!  to see what i have been upto this time round......i can assure you it will be somewhat tame compared to the 6mth rush to See and Do everything of last time.

I have said my goodbyes to my Cadet Squadron and wish them all the best in the next couple of years. and now the PACKING COMMENCES!

see ya!

Thursday 10th May

CJD was still working hard in Epsom, I was having a big clear out at home.....about time.....haven't needed/missed half the rubbish i have kept for 6 months, so time to file it under B............................(B for Bin.....?!)

Tuesday Eve i had a call from Scott......CJD and I had been working with him in Doobers and he was on leave and came to blighty to see family and mates........Wednesday/Thursday he was up North Wales way and while in this neck of the woods, was going to come over and catch up with us....Nice one!

late afternoon i heard from CJD, she was on for a flyer from epsom, and i went out to meet Scott as it was deemed easier to follow than trying to direct into Widnes...........

Got back to the house and chilled.....churned over a few past events........looked at some of the millions of photos we had from Dubai and decided to hit Cronton's finest for grub.....and a beverage of two!........good idea to eat before going drinking!

CDJ came to meet us............."your not supposed to be here".................have to agree it was weird to be meeting up in UK!!!!............

Back to the house for a couple of bevvies, get changed and wait to leave for the Train.......

At around 20 past 9, i got a call...........a call from Kathryn in Dubai!!! i know that there was a NGS MASSIVE gate crash of the netball meal, and that it was in Movenpick.........and given it was 20 past midnight there, they must be clubbin............answered to be greeted by a drunken rendition of I'm gonna Be by the proclaimers by some drunken NGS peeps..........the SWINES!!!! they had gone to JDs.............this was put on loud speaker so CJD, Scott, and Steve could appreciate it too!!!......................all 57 secs of it!!!

RIGHT! we need to go out....walked...........YES WALKED to the train station and headed to Liverpool. Had researched Chester, but it was touch and go with the reviews of the venues i found on the net....We were in search (AS THE NGS WILL PROBABLY BE ABLE TO PREDICT) of Liverpool's most MATURE CHEDDAR!........Someone Steve works with suggested we head to 1 of 2 places.....Matthew St or a square somewhere.......we hit the square.......................and went in REFLEX!!!!!

walked in the door and the tumble weed could have blown by.....it was empty.....one of those, OMG this is gonna be a bad night, moments! It was reputed to be an 80s bar! didn't look like it downstairs....got a drink and spotted the stairs.........the 80s bar was up those stairs.......

I have never seen so many glitter balls in my life....oh yeah and the pictures of the HOFF EVERYWHERE on the walls.....there was even a small stage and a pole!!!!! and NO we didnt use the pole....but the Pièce de résistance was the Flashing dance floor! this place rocked......except for a couple of hours it was empty........the 80s tunes flowed non the less! so did the bacardi, beer and vodka...............and the shots of sambuca (yes CJD did light it).......We people watched for a bit, and despite a 40 something guy sat over the other side of the floor, many of the people out looked younger than some of my cadets!!!!

although we could have counted on one hand the number of people on that dance flow, we could wait no more........CJD and i Hit the flashing floor (jesus that gets slippy when beer is poured on it!)............followed by the boys.....Such a laugh. Tunes we recognise from our infamous CHEVVY tape.........AND at 01:24 local it was played!!!!..............IM GONNA BE.........to shouts of.....get the phone get the phone.....i repaid Kathryn her kind call...............by this time it was 20 past 4 in Dubai.....and the 4 of us shouted into the phone for spookily.......57 secs too! hope you enjoyed that mate! I vaguely remember being dragged into a huge circle with randoms jumping around like nutters (CJD and I of course) and at some point managed to bruise my ankle......(something that materialised on Friday when the numbness wore off)

The problem was that the place shut at 2.........Not good!!!! your only just warming up by then!!! well our hard core group were anyway! Had to be sensible though.....jumped in a taxi back to Widnes...

I blame the sambuca, but it was touch and go..........bucket needed just to be on the safe side!!

Please excuse the quality of the photos. they were mobile phone efforts......

Friday 11th 7am. CJD had to get up for work....i can only guess how she must have felt.......i could smell the alcohol on her....i still felt drunk and the nausea unbearable! she got up and went to work......MASSIVE PAT ON THE BACK!!! good effort!

I went back to bed for another 3 hours........

Still fragile....the morning was a write off.........Said Goodbye to Scott, he headed back down south, and i just took it easy for the rest of the day..........went out to meet a guy i was at uni with late afternoon........he had an interview in St Helens........hadn't seen him in 5 years.....was great to catch up......by this point i was able to eat so we went for food....

Friday night, had to go to Cadets........worst news possible....our building has been condemned! the floor is rotting through and it bounces........basically the only thing holding it up is the lino! we had to keep all 30 odd cadets in the rain till their parents picked them up as they were not allowed in the building. we have been shut for 2 weeks definitely, and another inspection on Monday will let us know what the deal is long term!

Easy flyer from cadets, early bed to catch up on some ZZZZZzzzzzzzz s

Wednesday 9th May
Poor old CJD.....early doors, catching her train......back to work!
I got up and went through mums camera looking at her Dubai piccies.......and we had a phone call..........mike and mum had to leave straight away.............

Nothing really exciting for the rest of the day........damn dentist appointment....hate the dentist! felt like half my face was numb......went to visit Catherine and little Matthew and could barely talk.......hahahaha felt like i was dribbling.....drinking tea....now that was a challenge!!!!

Tuesday 8th May,

We just had to meet up..........feeling lonely.........Mum, Mike, CJD and I went for a day in Chester....this was CJDs last day before going back to work........and what a first day......straight on the train to another office down south!

The weather was pretty pants to be honest but we dived in and out of some pretty nifty little shops. I love Chester, it is sooooo quaint.........

the sun did make a brief appearance as we headed to the park and ride bus to come home.....

got to mine, had a cuppa and CJD had to nip off to get her train tickets and i had to go out to cadets.

Friday Saturday Steve's brother Dave came up to finish the step in the garden...is a pretty big drop from the patio to where the grass is going.....and i went out to get the bike MOTed and left them to it.....(i don't need an excuse to get out play on the bike......i was off!) Friday night we had to go to cadets, but after we frequented a local drinking establishment! It was an experience i had forgotten about for 6 months....i am NOT a snob....and i know alcohol is the same where ever, but i would prefer not to go back there...........
Sunday was a vague attempt at tidying, day. Dave went home and Mum and mike were coming to visit for a few days........
Sometime during the weekend we had arranged a patio warming party!!! (been in 2 yrs, never had a house warming party and only just finished the patio while i was away)...........Problem is the weather wasn't really playing ball......it rained during the day but luckily dried by evening.....it was pretty chilly but no worries when the beer started to flow and the Chiminea was fully flaming!!!! For those that don't know, a Chiminea is a Mexican stove thing with a chimney and you make a fire in it.........IT REALLY GETS WARM!!!! this one was a cast iron stove and it heated the patio brilliantly (Cheers for letting us borrow it Pete and Joanne!!!).....we also borrowed the BBQ as we still don't have one of those yet!!!
had a really cool evening chatting away catching up.......mum and mike arrived, was really weird not seeing Harley in the back of the car.......
We were treated to some entertainment on the road!!(we have a dual carriageway that runs along the back of the house) a couple were having a domestic on the hard shoulder right at the end of the garden....it must have gone on for a good half hour!!! she driving off, then reversed back, lots of shouting......it was comedy!!!
a bit later, another couple of neighbours joined us (Mark and Elaine)......already half cut they fitted in with our atmosphere perfectly.....had a proper laugh!
We finally retired around 2am.... Unfortunately no photos because.....erm....well........i forgot! and was pretty occupied with smashing up a wooden bed for chiminea fuel!

Monday, we went shopping.....went to Gemini for some retail therapy! clothes, clothes, clothes....... and a new TV! I said i would get a new TV after Doobers, not least so we can have 1 remote to control everything, instead of 50million of them!!!!! (OK so that was an exaggeration!).
Problem.....TV wasn't going to fit in the car with everyone, so we jettisoned the boys, went home to drop the box and went back to have a Pizza.............all i am going to say is........god the service was pants! food was good though!
back home, chilled.......i believe CJD was tidying her house with Julie...........didnt hear from her all day...........

Home!!!
Although I am back I have project related leave…….technically only 6 days but I am having 2 weeks because I have so much holiday left! That means, this blog is only updated for a couple of weeks and it finishes!!! YOU KNOW YOU WILL ALL MISS IT!!!!

Monday, chill out day! Rubbish night sleep cos I am in UAE work time mode! Wake up at stupid o clock! First thing….on the phone to the insurance company…..bike insurance please! Rest of the day (mega sunny, and warm (I use that term loosely as I still wore a THICK hoody))………walked round asda for shopping……is nice to be in a supermarket you recognise! The evening was not so good......Phoned my mum on sunday to see how things were and she had told me that Harley (my beloved Black Lab) was not so good..he was 14 and a half (good age) and basically although he was mobile and alert, inside his body was shutting down.....Monday night she had to make the hard decision of taking him to the vets with my bro. I saw him at christmas and they were coming up to visit this weekend coming, but it was not fair to wait any longer. Completely and Utterly Gutted! will miss ya lots Harley!! xx

Tuesday, insurance papers arrived…..straight to the post office……TAX please! And a long awaited afternoon of getting re-accustomed to my toy! Had the odd text from CJD, but not really spoken to her since we landed. Went to Cadets in the evening…..same old squadron….good to see the numbers have increased in my absence….plenty of new faces both staff and Cdts………..almost like I never had a break!!

Wednesday, BIKE BIKE BIKE! Round Cheshire countryside, stopped at a traditional English country pub for a DIET COKE! And proceeded to play till evening, went to visit some family in Frodsham and realised at 19:10 we were supposed to be at a restaurant for 19:30....oopsss....sufficed to say it didnt take very long to get home ;-) i love bikes!!!!!!……Met up with a load of Air Training Corps mates in the evening…..went for a chinese buffet. Was great to catch up with them, hear the goss etc……Even got a rendition of Happy Birthday sung to me in the restaurant and a cake with candles, because they missed it when I was away…….was soooo funny!

Thursday, Lakes….yeah I am going to blast up on the bike, CJD and her mate in the car….WELL, that was the plan….except Idiot here didn’t check when the MOT ran out! Erm….Wednesday night!!!!! So sheepishly I drove to CJDs in the Beeza……..i also have to admit to getting wildly lost on the way to hers…., bundled in the Merc and went for a lovely afternoon in Ambleside, Windermere and another place that I cant remember the name of, but know we had to cross a lake on a ferry…….nice “warm” sunny day out and about! Julie was in a wheelchair (a wheelchair that I nearly tipped her out of!!!)….she had bust an ankle, so plenty of re-enactments of little Britain sketches (Andy) “don’t like it”………very funny! CJD came to mine in the evening so we could swap all the Doobers piccies over…..i will upload them onto facebook shortly……

Sunday 29th April!
This is it! Final check around the flat, pick up all the cases and head to management to leave the keys!
As soon as we got to the front, we had a taxi……bundling bags, cases, jumpers, waterproof coats we joked with the driver, “can you guess where we want to go???”……….

Check in was fast, so we made our way to Duty Free……a few perfume purchases later we ended up looking for watches…..well……..looking to compare the real prices of our Karama specials!!!!!!
The main problem with not having room in your case is carrying the spare clothes with you!!! Basically walking round like a pack horse…..i couldn’t fit 2 thick hoodies and a waterproof coat, so I had them trailing over my arm….and was getting rather warm…..so out came CJDs Sack in a Pack!!! Or from now on Sack Magic!!!! It was a stripey little number more than big enough to contain our clothing although I looked like an OAP out on a shopping trip!!!
I spotted a sign to Irish Village….well that was it!!! WE HAD to find it! A nice pint and it was time to board!
We were split up!!! I think it may have been a function of our over pleasant nature at check in….well we did have a combined weight of 67.4kg that we didn’t pay any excess for!!!!! He saw we had business tickets and used us as filler for single seats on the plane……SOOOOoooooo bored, I decided to play with the phones and ended up ringing the mad woman that CJD was sat next to by accident!!! OOOooops. It was rather amusing as it meant that CJD had to communicate with her to explain why the phone was ringing! In between this woman flailing her arms in the air as she did her “exercises”????
My film choice was a bit dire and I must have had 10 min sleep…….as we came into approach……I was awoken to put my seat upright! GDI! 7hrs and I finally drop to sleep for only 10 mins and they wake me!Back to Blighty! WOW how green is this place! It was sunny and dry…..thank god, at least it wasn’t raining! Said a quick good bye to CJD and headed to the house!........strange to be back…..but nice to relax………and I have 2 weeks to chill!!!!!!!

As already mentioned, much of Friday was a write off!
I had to nip into town to get the car as we left it there after work and needed it in the afternoon……CJD slept.
The Burj was fantastic…..and I just had to have a look around the new convertible Aston Martin DB9 that was parked out the front…..didnt really like the orange interior but I would still have one!
Saturday 28th, Steve and his mum flew back early in the morning. I dropped them at the airport and picked CJD up. It was the last time to get any shopping in. We had started to pack and had a few concerns about space but still CJD wanted to go to MOE.
I left her at the car park and went on to see Jean and Chris…….they have been fantastic since we arrived in Dubai, never failing to make us feel welcome and I wanted to say goodbye! They had some friends over and we sat by the pool chilling…….. ok so we spent most of the day sat in the pool! It really is starting to warm up…. Not sure quite how it occurred, but CJD lined me up for a race with one of their lads. He is a platinum level swimmer at a local club………was quite an experience…….not as fit as I used to be I kept up with him to the end of the pool……I WAS WRECKED! Love swimming though!
We stayed until late afternoon and decided we had to go and finish off the packing….so much to sort at the flat, not least the amount of food we had in the cupboards!............
I think it was this evening that Kath popped in to say g’bye. And left us with a couple of cards…..nearly choked up……..but composure was maintained….thanks for those cards mate…we will miss you!

PACKING!
How stressful! Deciding just how many clothes we were going to get away with wearing! Bearing in mind we still didn’t have to be at the airport until 12:00 and it was mid 30s……wearing 2 or 3 jumpers was not going to be an option! Consequently some items were sacrificed….. we made a pile of items for the rest of the NGS massive to make use of! Kath had a key to the flat, so after we had gone they could come and raid what was left……
The kitchen side was piled with tins of food that they could share out (I just hope someone cleared the fridge!!!!!!) :-/

THE MOMENT OF TRUTH! Weighing the cases….
To avoid embarrassment at check in we decided to make use of the scales downstairs to see how heavy the cases were and decide if anything needed to be jettisoned before departure…..really didn’t fancy getting the order to repack at the airport!
Both cases 30+kg……….mine was 31.4kg………Hmmmmm a little close to 32 for my liking…..more culling! Eventually got it to 30 and decided that was it….had quite a late night by the time we had finished messing around, but we could have a late lie the next morning!

Thursday 26th April.....THE FINAL NIGHT OUT!
Wow, where has 6 months gone!

Having cleared our desks, almost ready for the off Judy, who has been sooooo much help with our admin gave us gifts....such a lovely thought.........really appreciate it. as we sat at our desks unwrapping our teddies, the rest of the guys wrapped up a gift too...............Presenting us with a small white object wrapped in white paper with selotape and masking tape!! hahahahahaha OH i wonder what this could be, as CJD squeezed it in her hand........... could it be a stapler! hahahahaha so funny! after that we walked!

The boss had arranged a leaving meal at Boardwalk. This is where we went a few weeks before for Andy's leaving. A really nice venue by the creek. some of the guys beat us there, getting a cab from outside work, we ended up walking to the Flora Grand (where we stayed for a week right at the beginning). Eventually we managed to communicate our requirements to the taxi driver and got stuck in traffic.....At least the pitchers were ordered by the time we got there! Again, drinking staight from work (will we never learn!) we we chatting for ages, pitchers coming and goin.....
Now so far CJD and i had been composed, no emotions, just another night out.....even clearing the desks was fine.....but..........a colleague and his fiance arrived and bought us a gift. A few months before, we had been talking about arabic perfume. They had remembered and bought us some. THEY HAD REMEMBERED! that meant a lot and as we opened the package i think its fair to say there were a couple of lumps in our throats. The perfume is really great!
We had dinner, more beer and a small speech and we departed our seperate ways around 11:00......we had a team photo, said our goodbyes and the hard core headed for QDs next door. we had a beer and a sheesha pipe and chilled for a bit on the sofa.............the desire to crack on met us and we headed for the taxi.............can you guess where we headed? oh yes....JD! AGAIN!..........

The rest of the NGS guys went for a meal at dubai marine, and were en route to meet us too.

the strangest thing happened when we got to JD......i suddenly was not in the mood........the first time ever.......but CJD came to the rescue.......there was no way she was going to let me go home......there was more talking and then we hit the dance floor....So many people turned up to see us off......we are so grateful, especially as we know that JDs is not their favourite venue..........3am arrived and thats it! back to the flat!
well back to the flat for a moment......the after party was occuring elsewhere.....totally knackered i jumped in bed and CJD headed out.....in PJs hahahahhahaha.......the next thing i remember is trying to communicate with CJD and her mumbling something about sleeping bags and really not making any sense....quite worrying as she only went out for an hour! She didnt get up till 13:30.........
We had book to go to the Burj Al Arab for our final Afternoon Tea............and it was as good as ever!

Photos to follow!