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July 17 Turkey 2006Just back from a week in Turkey to find it's the hottest day of the year so far in UK. Mind you it's just touching 30c here and it was just about 40c most days last week in Side.
The sea was 22c which was fantastic - warmest I've ever swum in - but the evenings were a bit uncomfortable for sleeping at around 25c.
Stayed at the Kentia Appartments. If you ever go to Side and end up at the Kentia - don't judge it on first arrival! We got there at about 5.30am and thought we'd been dropped in the middle of nowhere. It's not exactly the most developed area of town! And no sooner had we got to sleep after a fairly long dog leg of a flight (from Exeter to Humberside then 4 hours to Antalya before another hour on a coach), than the "Butlins Camp Wake Up Call" is sounding out through the speakers of the poolside disco in an effort to rival Robin Williams in 'Good Morning Vietnam!'.
Add to that the fact we'd been given the wrong appartment and it was beginning to feel like the plot for one of those Holidays from Hell TV programmes.
However a quick chat to our rep, Joel, and the room situation was sorted out (although we never did get our complimentary bottle of wine for the inconvenience) and a quick scan of the map and things started to look better. Blue skies without a whisp of a cloud in sight, a lovely swimming pool, friendly staff, comfortable accommodation, good food and the daily wake up calls (which weren't actually till 10am anyhow) managed to fade into insignificance. We even forgave the guests who got up at 7am to put their towels on the sun-loungers and then never came and sat on them til midday!
Just around the corner, Anatolia Restaurant serves great breakfasts!
Kentia Appartments are about 10 mins from the beach - and the beach is lovely. It's lined with restaurants and bars which, through the day offer you free sunloungers and sunshades in return for you buying the occasional cola, beer or water. We found one called Rainbow (no sign of Bungle, Zippy, George or Geoffrey, thankfully) and were made to feel very welcome. "Ah Een-ger-land," as we were collectively known. "Ow are you?"
At night the same place transforms. The sunloungers are put away and the beach is lit by candles as dinner is served at tables arranged on the sand - with the waves lapping at the shore. Three of us could enjoy a very tasty three course meal with a couple of beers each for around 88 lira - roughly £30! It's the first time I've come back from a holiday with money still in my pocket, rather than the usual trip to the cashpoint for more on the final couple of days.
Side itself is full of ancient history and comes alive at night when the choice of restaurants is overwhelming. We had three great meals in one at the bottom of the town - called The Rising Sun. It's a little more expensive than eating at Rainbow on the beach but still no more than about £18 each.
More than a week and I would have needed to take an excursion or two as I had started to get bored with just sitting on the beach - but a jet-ski ride (with the price knocked down because the owner of Rainbow knew the chap who owned them!) was fantastic fun.
I'd recommend it to anyone who likes lots of sunshine and friendly people. June 01 Land of LimboI'm trying to work out just exactly how I'm feeling at the moment. Mum died unexpectedly last weekend (but quickly and peacefully) and the following week all seems a bit of a blur now. Traveling up and down to Lyme, making arrangements etc etc, it's amazing how quickly everything happens and then a week later I'm back at work.
Coming back to do the first programme on air was weird. Not sure whether I should be upbeat or sombre, should I tell listener the reason for my unscheduled disappearance or keep quiet? I decided I would.
I haven't really cried much at all. Now and again something sets me off but it's short-lived and disappears almost as soon as it arrives. But I'm feeling really prickly. Almost itching for a fight. I know that's a bad thing and I hope it won't last too long, but I find myself saying and doing things that I wouldn't expect. And my eyes feel like I've been crying constantly, even though I haven't.
Working on the radio means you have to sometimes deal with some really nasty people - much nastier than any customers I ever had in the pub or hotel trade. When I took over the late show I was expecting not to be liked by some of the audience, and thought I'd get complaints for several weeks. Thankfully most complaints seemed to die down within about a week and a half - but you would not believe SOME of the emails and texts that arrive. I guess people think that, as I'm paid to do the job, I'm paid to take whatever they throw my way.
Having said that, there have been some REALLY nice ones too. It's just a case of ignoring the shites and taking pleasure in the compliments.
Anyhow - I'm not really sure what I'm waffling on about here. I just thought I hadn't blogged for some time and thought I'd put down a bit of what I'm feeling. Not sure if I've even done that now.
But I do know I have a lot of friends. I just hope I don't piss any of them off with my current prickly state. Just call me Mr Tiggywinky for now!
 January 07 I'm crap at this!Is it really 3 months or more since I last wrote anything here...? Rubbish aren't I?!
Actually I've not really done much online for a while. Work has been pretty busy leading up to Christmas. I've three bands waiting to be added to my SouthWestDemos.com website which I plan to do shortly. I'm still trying to find replacement software/programmes to replace my message board and postcard section which just gave up the ghost for no apparent reason at the end of last year.
I'm desperate to sort out a holiday so that there's something to look forward to but unfortunately I seem to be the only one with any real desire to go anywhere! It's currently only £26 each way to fly to Portugal! Although I have to say I'd quite like to go somewhere different this year like Bulgaria or Croatia. Anyone been? What's it like?
Car is just about to go in to the garage to get brakes checked and reversing lights sorted then it's time for another walk with the hound! And it's pissing down outside so that will be lovely!
Two radio programmes over christmas have had lots of feedback, all good. Back to Portuguese classes on Monday night. Can't decide if I really want to go anymore or if I've had enough. I think it's probably more to do with the dark cold nights than anything else. I probably WILL go back for a second term at least.
Well if anyone's reading this and got any good ideas for adventures - I'm open to all suggestions! I'll try and write again before April! September 25 Back on dry landWhat a fantastic four days afloat. I thoroughly recommend a canal boat holiday to anyone who wants to get away from everything and just watch the world passing by in slow motion. That's not to say it's not hard work, coz it is. But it's also lots of fun once you've got yourselves co-ordinated. It was basically a journey of achievements and embarrassments - most of them within five minutes of each other. No sooner have you managed to do something perfectly - like a three point turn or getting a 55' boat into a 60' lock without crashing - you then do something really stupid like running aground. But it doesn't matter. We were told that it was a contact sport anyhow! When we arrived at the boat house we found that the boat we'd booked had caught fire the day before! So we were upgraded to a 55' long, 1year old. £80k, 6-berth boat instead. It was great! You get about ten minutes of tuition (taken through a lock and one three point turn) and then you're off on your own! lol
PS What's everybody doing for Christmas and New Year? Is it about time we thought about partying?? September 14 In need of adventureI'm crap at spending time on my own. It's ok for the first day (in fact that's often quite nice) but after that I get bored too quickly. I've got a couple of weeks off work. Next week we're off on a canal boat for 4 days so I'm looking forward to that but this week I've no plans and I'm already starting to pull out what little hair I have. Been out for some long walks with Tilly but today it's grey and wet and we've already got soaked this morning so not sure where we'll head next. On Monday we were swimming in the sea - don't think that's going to happen today! I've put together the Quintessential Quiz questions for Saturday - was told they were too easy last week so I've made them a bit more difficult this time. I'm still waiting to hear back from the helpdesk who provided the cgi message boards for southwestdemos.com - it's been playing up ever since I installed it so I'm thinking I might just replace it for another. Any suggestions for easy to install and maintain message boards that can be integrated into the furniture of your site rather than taking you off elsewhere? I'm in need of adventure..... and that's always dangerous! lol August 21 Sunday fundayHurrah it's Sunday - the only day of the week that I'm not working at the moment! AND THE SUN'S OUT!
 Off to Mount Edgcumbe in a bit - Tilly loves it on the boat over (especially if any of the other passengers happen to have bought an ice-cream before boarding!)
Just been checking my lottery numbers. It's ages since I've played but I had the urge to buy a ticket yesterday - but just like most of my urges, it came to nothing!
 Ah well! Thank goodness for credit cards!! Here's something you could help me with... I'm looking for a list of songs that make you feel good, songs that make you think of blue sky and sunshine - the sort you'd play loud in your car with the roof down on a summer day. Any thoughts? August 02 Two ThirtyWhen I was young I had to be given sedatives at the mere mention of the word dentist. I would have to be dragged there kicking and screaming and held down in the seat if there was to be any treatment.
I can't remember when it was that I grew out of that, but thankfully I no longer have such a fear of having someone prod around in my mouth... (at this point you can make your own jokes!). Today I had to have an abscess removed from above one of my front teeth. All done under local anaesthetic, it took around an hour and was totally painless. I'm now having a day or two off with enough painkillers to sink a battleship to keep the aches at bay. I was warned that I'd look like a hamster and feel like someone had punched me in the nose but so far the painkillers have done their job well.
Unfortunately, though, I also have some to take some antibiotics which, if mixed with alcohol, give you the mother of all hangovers, so no tipple for me for the next week or so! Ah well - lucky I'm tee-total then!
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