Winter Wonderland to Sludgy Wales! End of another year!

The Xmas holiday starts with a duvet of snow but just after a few days has turned into a slush and miserable view outside! Not even my camera wanted to take photos of that!

We are coming close to the end of 2010 and I'm sure the year has been a mixture for many. We started the year with heavy snow and finishing the same! The year has been plagued with talks about the cuts and debts of the country. We were inundated with the news about the election running up to May. We entered into the new decade with a coalition government. Our airlines struggled with the eruption of one of the Icelandic volcano. Student riots over the tuition fees and moans about narrowing the eligibility of receiving child benefits. The spectacular loss of England in the World cup and awful results in the Eurovision Song contest - LAST! You can somewhat think that this year's headlines has been inundated by politics and weather. Oh, yes. Leslie Nielsen died and Prince William announces his marriage next year to Kate!

Technology wise - iPad is launched! Windows mobile 7 phones are launched and the newest iPhone 4 comes out with a little hick-up with reception. Broadband speeds reach 100mb in the UK. 3D tv launches for both blu-ray and Television.

On the home front it has been packed with events. Mid-year saw some challenges for the Wood family as a relationship ends and Poor Nan has a fall. A slow and difficult recovery and the dust in general taking time to settle and may not do until next year or so. For Paul and I it has been a shower of exams for his Accountancy course and my Trading standards qualification. It has been a financial squeeze for many and squeeze of jobs. Many have lost their jobs and Paul and I are coming close to the closure of our times at the current role. Not even a bloody holiday this year!!

It has been a challenging year but towards the end it has been a better end. I managed to get a good redundancy package to help choose a much needed next path for my career next year. Paul has good prospects coming up for him next year if he wants to take the route offered. Ruth Wood is to have her first child : ). Mum and dad managed after the Heathrow disaster to get to Australia to have a once in a lifetime 5 week holiday with my brother and Katie. and .... England wins the As

What will 2011 hold for us? The country will still need to adapt to it's financial challenges however for me and the family I am sure it will be a productive one!

I wish u all a happier new year and hope to catch up with u all soon! ; x

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Location:Coed Helen Lodge, Caernarfon

The Big Freeze!!

It has been the coldest spell of weather we have had for decades and we could be in for the coldest snap for over a hundred years. It certainly has been the coldest and the snowiest time I have ever experienced. I wonder if I will ever witness the Thames freezing up?







For many it has been a time to enjoy and have the ability to act like a kid again and to some it has been a nightmare, from difficulty getting to work to getting home for the Xmas period.

I was out with Paul, Arron, Mark and Fraya the other night and we had to go home earlier as it was too cold to stay out, it was -11c in Blackheath. I should have seen this as a warning of what was to happen the following day. That was Saturday the 18th of December. The day London stood still, even Heathrow! The snow came down in the afternoon and seemed like a complete blizzard!! My parents venture to Oz was postponed and they had to crash with us in London until this morning. They have to re-book to try and attempt to go on the 24th of December. I have a feeling it won't happen and that they will have to wait a bit longer. Luckily they have 5 weeks to spare!!








Outside it is still snowing and the forecast is promising more heavy snow on Wednesday for London. It is going to be a worrying time on Friday for my parents and for us as we plan to try to reach North Wales. We might just escape the worst and wouldn't it be nice to have no commitments and that it just snowed like mad and you can fully enjoy it? Well, I can only hope and see!

Happy snow fights for now! ; )




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Location:Horncastle Rd,Greenwich,United Kingdom

Success is going from failure to failure without a loss of enthusiam.

30th of November 2010 will be a very important date for many people who work in the public sector. Some will be waiting for their voluntary redundancies and some will be anxious to hear if compulsory redundancies are needed.

One thing is clear,

No matter how painful these cuts feel and no matter how much people protest, it needs to be done.

Is it worth fighting to avoid the inevitable?

Is it worth not adapting?

Is it worth moaning without alternatives?

My belief is No!

I believe we should use this time as an excuse to be radical, risky, be out of the box. If you're one of the people who are facing uncertainty on the 30th of November then you may need to seriously think what you will need to do. Is it really that bad and is there nothing in your power that can change what many perceive as negative to a positive and life changing opportunity?

You have to think about what would u do if you didn't have a job the next day anyway. What would u do? Wouldn't your survival instinct kick in and help u through it anyway? Can u not work for the private sector? Can u not go back into training or further education? Would it not be exiting and scary at the same time? What's the worst that could happen?

We learn this week what can happen to a country that struggles with it's debt when we look at the Republic of Ireland. Will the will of the people and individuals stop them finding themselves back on their feet? I doubt it! They will pull themselves together and get through this and so can you!

Just having the announcement of William and Kate getting married next year seems to have already lifted the mood of the country. There is so much more that can be done and does not need to break the bank to get us back up there where this nation should be. We've gone through much worse!!

On the 30th of November I will learn whether my VR is accepted or not. The difference between a yes and a no has two clear paths for me. One seems clearer and easier than the other but whatever happens, it's going to be an interesting ride!!

The countdown begins!.......

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Location:London

When not to write a blogg?

I normally feel safer to write a blogg when sober, I ask my self why? It's likely because when I'm drunk more is at risk of being revealed : perhaps. However, is it bad to reveal more or is it safer to keep back some of my inhibitions?










Hmmm, tricky!

Well, a bottle of red wine later let's try it shall we?

The expectations I have of this blogg is that it would be emotionally intense so no point in trying to hold back on that one.

We have a party tomorrow so normally we should be holding back. I think I had a drink tonight because I actually feel quite liberated and quite free. It will not make sense to many that know me at this stage but it will become clear I hope soon if all goes the way I hope it will.

For many years now I have felt that there is this creative, energetic, visionary side of me that is frustrated and wants to get out and show what it can do. It feels like I would be willing to place an enormous bet on how massive this potential is. It feels like I want people to keep an eye out , to watch this space! For so long I feel I have been held back and just waiting to be released and that moment is so near and everything is at stake. One part of me is nervous and begging for the uncertainty to stop where the other part of me is saying "Bring it on!!"

For the first time in my life, I'm not scared of the challenges and not afraid of showing what I can do whether there is a risk of failure or embarrassment. I just want to get on with it and use this energy I have. I have this massive pride on my work on consumer protection and law. I feel I can really contribute to society in making the progress needed work not only for the consumer but also for those risking in those new ideas and innovations. I know I can also tap into my creative side at one stage and take full advantage of my passion for photography. Time will tell.

The clock is ticking and not just one but a colossal amount of shackles are in the brink of being removed. How on earth am I going to feel about this and what do I do if that does not happen. I believe in fate and which ever way it goes, it will shape a route that will allow me to use my full potential!









The 10 year old that took Currys on and won his case is ready! ; )


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Location:Horncastle Rd,Greenwich,United Kingdom

When is it necessary to take action?

When is it necessary to take action?

I have always believed myself to be a person who stands up to what he believes, passionate and driven and some what a Visionary.

But!

What happens when others say that this is not the case? Questions your beliefs? Scrutinises your ideologies? Disagrees with you opinion? Takes your views and actions personal?

What impact does that have?

What happens when people lie to you? Is two faced to you? Deliberately brings u down? Intentionally causes problems for you?


Well,

In people;

You lose faith, you lose trust in them, you distance yourself.

In you;

You lose self-belief, confidence, trust in your capabilities, vision, you lose hope.

When do you take action?

When you have the above symptoms!

I have found that life is about making mistakes and most importantly, to learn from them! That others have valid and interchangeable opinions and beliefs. That others will try to enforce those believes on me. That others have their own fears, self belief and confidence issues. They may also not trust you due to these fears.

You should take action when you start to question yourself without true justifications from others and start remembering what you are all about.

What on earth am I talking about?

Well, I once knew myself and then forgot. I will not be doing that again! ; )

























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Location:Horncastle Rd,Greenwich,United Kingdom

Rain

There's something quite relaxing and soothing about rain but also it can be depressing. To be honest with you , it is actually depressing me at the moment. I don't know about you but I am not ready for the autumn or winter yet! This skin of mine is not looking sun kissed enough for this!

With the uncertainty at the mo net with jobs and prospects it most probably the last thing we need.

You can either let it bring you down or you can use it to hide away your feelings and help soothe those somber moments. I am not sure which affect it is having yet, but if I let it bring me down then I'm surely in for a miserable end to the year.

So what does one do?

I have some ideas but do feel free to let me know ; )



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Location:Horncastle Rd,Greenwich,United Kingdom

Wales Summer 2010

So we're off to Wales for a week of adventure!

Ofcourse as many of you know I originally come from Wales. Caernarfon to be exact.

We have a week of activities. Weekend of relaxation and catch up with the family.

Monday - We will be on
the Llanberis train from Caernarfon ending up on top of Snowdon. Sunny weather up there? I think not! Snow? Perhaps! Lol

Tuesday - We're off to Conwy Castle for some medieval showdown later to Llandudno to see the coast and yachts : )

Wednesday - We're off to Dublin, Ireland by ferry from Caergybi / Holyhead. Never been to Ireland before so should be fun! Guinness here we come! : )

Thursday - Go karting in Caernarfon in the morning and if weather permitting, the beach.

Friday - We'll be off to Chester before meeting up with the Bowses for a night in Wrexham.

Saturday - Nothing lasts forever but at least the weather will be nice in London to return to : )

I Cymru a ni, am hwyl a sbri! : )

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Heatwave!

The heat continues! Well in London anyway : ) just when I was worried of not being able to splash out on a holiday this year. Good weather for weeks now and likely to be around till early September! Nice! I'm sure I'll even have a nice tan by the time we go home to North Wales for a week. I'm sure the cofi's will be pasty and white! He he!

Not much to report recently that's why most probably I'm obsessed with the weather. Nan ( my adopted ) is getting on really really well I'm happy to report. Her strong will and positive attitude worked a treat. I think she will be venturing outside for the first time tomorrow for a barby! Good girl!!

Whilst we wait for these depressing cuts and uncertainty all we should do is focus on a lush summer and the events that come with it.

Wales, watch out! Jonno will be there in a week!







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Hgjlml

At least it is sunny : )

What a year it has been already.

We started with a very white Britain. Freezing temperatures, thick snow and at least in London, misery or complete stand still of the rail network. It was fun at the beginning but unfortunately it started to grain when it was a mission to get to work.





We later than had to deal with deciding which direction the future of the British government was to take. Most of took our opportunity to vote and this ended up with a torn Britain in terms of vision. Nevertheless we ended up with a coalition from the hung parliament result which has worked to try and decide how to tackle the deficit. I am one of many I am sure who's not certain of the future of our current roles and will have to wait a further 3 months.

We came last in the Eurovision song contest even though we most definitely didn't have the worst song.

We didn't even get went near as far as we should in the football, i'm obviously talking on behalf of England but as a nation we still feel it being a loss.

We now end up with Andy Murray not getting through to the finals in the Tennis.









You'd think the mood would be quite somber wouldn't you? Well it certainly does not feel like that. I think ironically we are a nation that thrives in disappointing times and maybe becomes complacent with success and the good times. We seem to be a nation that works best through tough times. That what it feels like to me anyway.





So, it's still warm and sunny so let's embrace this low and start thinking creatively to how we want the further Britain to be like.

















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Location:London

29 , 71 to go ; )

It has been a really good birthday. I am not usually at work for my birthday so it was quite nice having people acknowledge it.

So what happened today. Well my birthday started very weirdly as I have been used to Spanish weather for the last few weeks and to my amazement this morning heard heavy rain. I honestly thought it was just someone in the shower, no it was a monsoon! I had to get a brolly. Mind you it was a nice recovery from the heat. More nice hot weather to come!!

So, I put the iPad to task today. I did start the day on pay as you go but by 11am I managed to download about 60mb already so I decided to call orange to have the 3GB package for a monthly rolling contract of £15. The 3G network works wonders on the iPad. I was lucky to get 2 bars at work on my Sony Ericsson phone. The iPad however gave me full bars and a satisfying 1-2 mb mobile broadband which is great for a mobile device. So far the iPad is getting the thumbs up from me, nothing at all wrong and so much good things to do.

Paul made me steak and potatoes with veg when I came from the gym and I had two puddings! One pink! Lol and the other chocolate! Thanks Paul and thanks to Ruth for helping ; )

I'm shattered now and Paul is complaining do I better go to bed. Thanks to everyone for the messages today, they really mean a lot to me.

Thanks again Paul for the iPad, best present ever!! Xx

A tout a l'heure! : )




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Location:London

First blogg from my IPad

Hi,


I thought I would have a go at blogging on the iPad for the first time. It is quite simple really, using an app called BlogPress. Seems quite easy to type up and is quite fast. I'll have to see how easy it is to add photos and stuff but I'm sure I'll get the hang of it.

So for what is the new iPad like?

It is very compact and very sleek. The apps are great and growing in numbers. I've found some really good apps like the book store and the financial times. The content in the paper is fantastic and the links and quality of the video footages superb.

I have the wi-fi 3G version so when I'm out and about tomorrow I shall see how easy things are to access. I'm also going pay-as-u-go so I can see how much data I really consume.

I look forward to newer apps for the iPad and look forward to see how it can improve my digital and creative life, ; )






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Location:London

Apple mania and England scrape through!

Well it has been a busy week hasn't it??

We

started off with the Emergency Budget. Cuts Cuts Cuts. What did I think? I thought it was just right. I couldn't have done any better myself I'm sure. We all know by now, hopefully that we had no choice to do this. The only thing that wound me up with the reaction of the budget is where people still moaned about cuts to the poorest. I have not heard a single true vulnerable, poorest of

society moan yet, only the ones that take that do take advantage of the system! Good, I hope you realise that you have to take responsibility for your own future and success in life and that welfare is a last resort NOT an entitlement! I feel better now after getting that off my chest!

We had the England game yesterday and I'm glad for the English that they went through. I really hope they gain back their confidence and put some pride back into the game for England. I'm sure my English friends and family would return the support for the Welsh if it was the other way round ;)

Today we had the launch of the iphone 4! Unlike the iPhone 3GS this was quite an impressive improvement and well worth the investment. I will be leaving it for now and not be getting one simply because I have an iPad on the way to feed my obsession with the apps! The iPhone 4 raises the stakes in the smart phone world by increasing the capabilities of phones with it's great camera facilities, HD 720p video, pin-sharp display and very slim design that crams in a lot! Oh, and has two lenses which allow video conferencing on a phone!

This blogg I'm sure you've noticed is very techie today but it has been a very techie week. We also heard of Virgin Media's plan to increase their Cable Broadband speeds to 400mb. People question me on the need for it but I assure you there will be. With developments in IPTV which is television on demand and linear TV over Broadband it will need the speed and bandwidth. If we want to watch say HD programming it will gussle at least 8mbs (8000kbs) per second. Let's say if we wanted to have 3d HD tv then we are looking at at least 22mb. Having that alone shows we will be needing stronger, faster broadband.

Obsessed with finding my ancestors!

It's been a while since I last blogged and all the blame goes to www.ancestry.co.uk It's a site that helps you gather information about your family history and then puts them all together like a jigsaw. I have found so much information on my family, things I never knew and people I never knew or heard of. It is fascinating and very addictive. I've had to go into rehab for a few days otherwise I'll just grow a beard!! There's a lot to on it so therefore I'm going to treat it as a project for the next six months.

I have just ordered my new Ipad. Thanks to my partner Paul of course! A piece of kit that will surely be of use for many things. There's also a lot of hype for the iphone 4 but I'm content for a waiting quite a while and learn on the capabilities of

the ipad. I found a blogger app for it the other day so I'm sure to benefit from blogging on that whilst getting to work.

Talking about work. Cuts, cuts cuts is on the cards but we're not sure where yet. It's unlikely to directly affect me in my role but I have sorted a new CV for myself last week just in case. Quite fancy going private sector for a bit. Not liking the bureaucratic public sector right now.

Poor England the other day. They did play quite badly. It was a shame as I was in a Walkabouts in Temble, London and the atmosphere before the game was amazing! Of course, that energy deteriorated soon towards the end of the game. I hope this is not the direction the team will inevitably go.

Well it's farthers day today so Happy Farther's day Dad (Robert Hunt!) ;)

Summer comes with opening of the World Cup

So the summer starts....

The weather doesn't seem to feel like Summer just yet but crossed fingers!

Yesterday England started their World Cup game against the USA but I'm no strong follower of Football but could see that they could have played better. However, I do believe that it's better to start poor as this tends to make you work harder later avoiding becoming complacent if you started strong. We'll see! :)

I have many of my Welsh friends comment on my support for England in the games. My belief is that if Wales is not in my elegance is with England. Why not? It does make me furious with some of the Celts that have the "Support anyone but England" ( http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8733373.stm ) attitude. It makes no sense! I have seen so many European countries that support their neighbours when they are not playing and they have less in common that each one of our nations have.

I also await for the emergency budget on the 22nd of June. Who cares? some say. Well, you should! Everyone will be affected but If you work in the public sector like I do then you should by now realise what consequence this will have. Necessary cuts, absolutely! Like any debtor will know, increase in your interest rates for the amount you borrow only makes it more likely for you to struggle and default. The UK's debt is not any different. I just hope it doesn't force me to go to the private sector too soon. Although it is becoming more and more likely that that's what I may have to do!

So we're already close to mid June. We've had one burst of a hot weekend so far. I really hope that more is to come. We're not planning a hot holiday this year to finance other things so having hot UK summer would definitely ease the craving of it.

Nan had her operation yesterday and as far as I'm told it went very well. So far so good. :) x

My English Nan

What do you do when you feel a bit lost with all that happens?

Write of course!

It's been a tough week to say the least. They do say however that tough times brings out the strength in people and I do feel this has been the case this week. The ones you think would be the strong ones need the support and the ones you think would crumble shine in strength.

A few things have crept up lately and it seems to be everywhere with no chance of shelter. I have learned however that it is far better to face those problems and also embrace the support of others whilst contributing yourself.

My thoughts above all are with my English Nan tonight. She had a bad fall today and the consequence of that at 90 is far more than if I had fallen.

Nan is what I see as the essence of what it is to be English, the symbol of what it is to be British. Nan is one of those unique people you just don't meet very often but feel very privileged to have done so . She is a lady with amazing stories to tell. Even when she repeats them more often than I would, I never tire of them! Her stories are like a good classic film you just want to watch over and over.

Nan has endless, self-less love to give and always has time for you. Even though she cannot often understand what I say, bless her, she still makes time to talk. She constantly worries for others, constantly offers her support.

While I sit here now writing this blogg, I can't help but hope she's ok, whilst she is on that hospital bed and hope that she is well looked after. She just had her 90th birthday and I managed to make her a photo book showing her the amazing journey she has had over the last 90 years. She has promised me that I will be able to make another book to show her next journey to that big 100.

So Nan, please get well soon so we can start filling those pages.

Love , Jonno xx

My first Blog, hmmmm, what to say?

Well. I would normally write my thoughts in Welsh but I'm sure I'll reach out more if I write them in English.

What do I write about?

My life, umm nope.

The economy,, hmmm. Nope

How about almost anything that crops up. After all, I do live in London a city that always has something going on. My life started in a small but very historic town in the North West of Wales, Caernarfon. From Caernarfon to Newport to Cardiff, to Toronto back to Cardiff then finally to London (so far.....) A lot has happened so far and I'm sure there is more to come!!

Let see shall we? ........