The Boiler Gives Up...

What did I say yesterday. My conspirarcy theory about electrical pulses. Our boiler went down today. It's minus two outside, we're all huddled in the front room with the fireplace on full pelt. The engineer can't come until the morning, so it's a thoroughly miserable day in the Joneses with no hot water or central heating. On the positive side, the Dunkirk spirit has kicked in, we're in a hole and we will jolly well make the most of it. Bring on 2009.

Birthday Girl....

Caroline celebrated her birthday yesterday. We had a great family day in Manchester (Caroline got a bag she had been hankering after for ages), tea at Croma (where I had the Christmas dinner pizza, mmmm) and then on to The Halle where Carl Davis conducted theme tunes from James Bond movies.

We all loved the concert, Honor Blackman was doing the links between the different themes and our favourite (Alex and I) was Quantum of Solace. It was a thumping rendition by The Halle which made the hairs stand up on the back of your neck. How these composers write this stuff, I will never know.

We've a plumber coming later to fix the tap on our kitchen sink, so I'm expecting lots of tutting and headscratching to push up the twenty minute job into at least an hour, with parts, labour, callout and two season tickets to a premiership team of his choice being added onto the bill.

I have a theory that somebody, somewhere, sends out some sort of major electrical pulse, undetected by humans, which interferes with everything in your house from boilers, taps, dishwashers, tumble dryers and washing machines particularly, in order to optimise retail footfall and give all the tradesmen a boost at Christmas. All of our stuff, without exception, always seems to go wrong at Christmas and this years no different. I may have to deploy a "I'm a trading standards officer" when he asks me what I do for a living, always gives them a scare.

I'm going to start re-watching Prison Break today, another one of those epic American TV shows which has become cult viewing, bit like Sopranos, Lost and 24. It's one of those series where I've watched nearly all of it, but missed the odd episode for one reason or another and - as usual - the plot is so complex that tiny fragments of information are often needed to piece together the storyline. So, I'm going to start again, from episode 1 and see it right through.

Battling the Sales...

Having been in the house for a couple of days, we've done the sales today. Predictably, credit crunch aside, they were packed. It wasn't a good start, Alex spotted a game he wanted for his Xbox and we queued for 32 minutes to buy it, incidentally I didn't hear one moan from him whilst waiting to buy something he wanted!

Today's purchases include: -

A new elmer fudd hat to keep me warm when walking the dog

A new brolly to fit in my roller briefcase

Some new leather gloves to keep me warm at the footie

DVD's - I am Legend , The Da Vinci Code, Inside Man

100 Pop Hits of the 80's

Whilst the shops were very busy, I'm sure the overall sale numbers will be down this Christmas, so the bargins should continue well into the New Year.

Biggest hit this Christmas for me, watching the Sopranos on DVD. Just finished series one, now waiting for series two to arrive.

Twelve irritating things people do at Christmas..

I read this in a book I got today and thought it was quite funny, irritating things that people do at Christmas...

1. Tell you that you can always take it back and change it if you don't like it (guilty).

2. Bustle around asking where the forks go.

3. Make a big show of singing louder on the third "O come let us adore him" (guilty).

4. Mingle.

5. Insist on trying to revive the art of conversation.

6. Say "bah humbug" in a jocular voice.

7. Say "oh but you shouldn't have".

8. Forget the bread sauce.

9. Keep reminding everyone that Christmas is for kids.

10.Tidy away the wrapping paper the moment it comes off the presents (guilty).

11. Encourage you to join a sing-a-long.

12.Repeat cracker jokes.

So, three out of twelve for me, how have you done?

Xmas Radio

I was on BBC GMR this morning with a few other folk from the office, getting in the Christmas spirit. You can listen to it here, wind on to 2:48:16 secs to save listening to the whole show.

Xmas Singalongs.....

We went to see the Halle perform their Christmas singalong on Thursday night at the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester. They did all the classics. The highlight was the twelve days of Christmas which became an audience participation number and Alex loved it, diligently performing all the allocated hand and body movements, despite the fact that he was busting for the loo, real grit and determination, that's my boy.

It got us all in the Christmas mood and I'd recommend it to you if you want to do something different which doesn't involve video games, texting, dolby surround sound and popcorn. Bit of culture.

Another thing to get you in the mood if you have young kids is to look at the Norad santa tracking service. A great example that even the most serious establishment can get in the Christmas spirit and do something for the children.

On the family front, Caroline has been in a bad way this week. Her ribs took a real battering after her fall last Saturday and whilst a fracture has been ruled out, they are badly bruised and very painful. The car also took a battering this week, less said the better but an unexpected Christmas expense for me!

The kids have finished school and college respectively. Alex had a school disco at end of term, which he enjoyed and G complained bitterly at the poor scheduling of her last day as she only had one lesson mid-morning, which apparently wasn't a real lesson anyway (when she was trying to get of going), however with some persuasion, she turned out.

So, four days to go, lot's still to do. Have two and half days of work still to do and I'll be flat out right until the final whistle. I'm looking forward to a break.

Quantum of Solace (Repeat)

We went to see Quatum of Solace again last night. We saw it within a week of it's launch, however Alex (bless him) had a bellyache through over-indulgence and we had to go fifteen minutes before the end, so we never got to see the finale.

As someone that loves a good suit, Daniel Craig's wardrobe is simply stunning and I spent most of the film thinking "nice suit, oooh, nice shirt", so 10/10 to the wardrobe people. I had some bespoke suits made a few months back and everyone always comments about how "sharp" my grey one looks, I always feel great when I've got it on and I'm going to get a couple more now.

Mrs J fell over on a pathway yesterday, she gave herself a nasty shock and is a bit battered and bruised. Talking of which, we were at the City vs. Everton game yesterday and the 90th minute header to take the game left us all feeling the same way, so Mark Hughes has (yet) some more thinking to do. Bring on the transfer window as Benjani and Vassell just don't do it for me and £20M Brazilian "Jo", didn't look that inspirational.

We're not far from Christmas now and I'm looking forward to my annual "Godfatherfest". One of the greatest bloke films of all time, the full trilogy gets played back to back. I'm looking forward to watching "The Sopranos" too, as I've got it coming through on my Lovefilm rental.

Talking of TV, I discovered the BBC i-Player whilst away in London this week, it brings a whole new dimension to TV on the move. A really brilliant innovation which I will now use all of the time, particularly when abroad and sick of watching the Sky News or CNN headlines which repeat every 15 minutes. Very fast streaming, plenty of choice, who needs pay TV?

Finally, I wonder how much of your Christmas shopping you've done on-line this year? The shops are struggling (unless there's a sale on) but on-line sales continue to boom, I for one have done most of mine over the web and life is so much simpler than battling through tens of thousands of shoppers, convenient, time-saving and easy to do. Brilliant.

Tea at Croma

The tree is up, it took six hours from start to finish. To reward ourselves for a job well done, we had dinner tonight at Croma in Prestwich. This is a great restaurant concept and if you haven't been to one, you should go. Think posh pizza's with toppings from peking crispy duck, tandoori chicken, caesaer salad etc. Its our clear family favourite. No-one grumbles when it's tea at Croma, everyone's happy (for a change) and the piece de resistance is the Sticky Toffee Pudding with Mascarpone, which is the best going.

We ate tonight with Neale and Eileen who it was lovely to see. Brilliant people, genuine and great company, thanks for your company guys.

Christmas Party Season...

We've finished this week off with my works do.

Without a doubt the best one we've ever done. This year the theme was the 70's and 500 people grooved along to the sounds of "Halle Rock" (who are the funky spin offs from the Halle Orchestra in Manchester), followed by a team of disco dancers who really got the crowd going. Judging by how quickly the dancefloor filled up, the theme was a winner.

We held it for the third year in a huge marquee in the grounds of Manchester City football club, the interior was spectacular, so well done to the team at the club who put a great night on for us all. Caroline and I stayed overnight at the new Yang Sing Oriental boutique hotel in Manchester, you can read my review of it by clicking here.

My party evening was mostly absorbed meeting and greeting people aswell as avoiding as much "work talk" as possible. It's surprising how the Christmas party brings out the "work talk" and despite my best intentions, I managed to get collared by around half a dozen people on the night much to Mrs J's disdain.

This weekend we're putting up the Xmas decorations. A massive job. Our loft is full of stuff and my job tomorrow is to get it all down. I love the end result, however it's going to take some grunt tomorrow after a good nights sleep tonight. If you're flying over Warrington anytime in the next few weeks, you should be able to spot our place if you look out of the window!

There's no place like home

Travelling on business has many great aspects to it. You get to see new places, stay in great hotels, experience new things. Over the years, I've loved travelling and I still do.

But, there are times when it's not so exciting. For example, flying in to a city, staying in an airport hotel, having a meeting, flying straight out again. It can be tiring and a little uninspiring.

Having been away in Copenhagen for three nights, I'm pleased to get home. I couldn't sleep properly in the hotel bed (the pillows were awful, you know the sort, they puff up well but have absolutely no substance to them when you put your head on them). So, I've had three nights really restless sleep which has left me feeling very tired.

Before sitting down to write this, Ive cooked some pasta for dinner, collected Alex and the dog from the in-laws, unpacked and had to send half a dozen e-mails, so I'm still running on adrenalin. Sky+ and the sofa is now calling and I predict a deep sofa sleep!

Donner in Denmark....

One of the nice chappies from Brother Denmark has today given us the two bob tour of Copenhagen, taking in the Queens palace and the and the amazing "little Mermaid" culminating in a visit to one of Copenhagens best Donner Kebab shops, they call is "Sharwami" out here to make it sound fancy.


Now, here's the rub. The Little Mermaid is one of Denmarks most famous tourist attractions, with 75% of all tourists coming to visit. Get ready, "its little", so don't expect anything too much!

As my colleagues said, "what do people expect, it's called the Little Mermaid". One for the minstry of the bleeding obvious.....

Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel...

Born is the king of....Waltham Cross. Happy Birthday to Mr Noel Deady who celebrated his 40th birthday this weekend.

We travelled down to help him celebrate (he's looking very comfortable as the lead singer of The Village People in this photo).

This picture is of Noel and four of his TSG colleagues re-enacting YMCA for all of our pleasure.

Things to think about: -

Why do you look so "at home" in this line-up Noel?

Why do all of your mates look like they've done this before?

Have you been practicing whilst on duty?

Anyway, fab party, wonderfully organised by Noel's hyper efficient wife Jackie who also prepared a world record attempt "biggest ever buffet" for the guests.

Noel spent most of the night having a conversation on the great white telephone when he got home. Great party. Great people. Great to have as mates.

Weekly Wrap Up

It's been a busy old week and we're ramping up for Christmas. We're threatening to get the tree sorted out over the next week or so our annual Jones Xmas Wonderland will soon be in full throw....

Done some interesting stuff this week, saw David Cameron speak on Monday, went to Man City on Tuesday - to help them out with some photo's which they are using for a new web booking service - Wednesday I was in Westminster all day meeting politicans, Thursday (see below) and Friday travelling back home and catching up.

Thursday, I was in London for our annual journalists Christmas lunch. We had three live performances and one of those was a ventriloquist. If you look at my business blog, you can see the three people we hired. Anyway, I showed Alex the ventriloquist act on youtube and we also found another ventriloquist who is hilarious, see him here Achmed the Dead Terrorist. Alex has been howling laughing, so take a look.

Mines a Large Skinny Latte

I'm overdue a letter from the CEO of Starbucks. For a man that spends so much on their coffee, I should be in their "top spending customer" lists. Surprisingly, Starbucks don't know about their "big spender" because they don't have any sort of loyalty scheme, which surprises the hell out of me.

Tesco would give their right arm to know what time I buy my coffee in the morning, that I always have it "venti" and "skinny" and occassionally with sugar free vanilla syrup. When I start "Philbucks", I'm going to sort it and bring RFID to the coffee shop. That way I'll know when you're in, what you're favourite drink is and how often you're buying. Technology can even grow sales in coffee shops you know....

Saturday in the City

We saw City play yesterday. Not a bad show, however Aresenal were a bit lacklustre. I thought we were impotent up front. The partnership of Benjani and Vassell, didn't work. Neither players are prolific goalscorers. The shape looked better when Elano came on. I think Arsenal made us look better than we were.

Today, we've been busy plotting Christmas. Alex has now decided finally on the PS3 vs. XBox360 debate. The XBox360 won, so preparations can now be made by the fella in the North Pole. The traffic and shops are heaving already, it's no surprise to me why web sales continue to grow whilst the stores struggle. I for one am intending to steer well clear.

I'm at a big dinner tomorrow night, with David Cameron of The Conservative Party. I'm going to have a read of their website today. It's funny how the politicians have really embraced the web now, even Gordon Brown is "twittering". I think this might be the future battleground for the parties to win over the disenfranchised younger electorate.

Thank Friday it's Friday

Been a really busy week. Lot's of travel, loads to do, phone has been busy, e-mail has been high. Tonight we're out at a black tie do, nothing special, just a regional event with a hundred or so people there. I won a TomTom satnav in the raffle at the same do last year, so I'm hoping to win again or I'm going home early with my toys and rattle.

I'm pleased to announce that Christmas has officially started on our estate. One house has gone the whole hog and is lit up like that scene out of National Lampoons. FANTASTIC. We're feeling the cheer already. Mrs J is adamnant that strict rules be obeyed and no running out the blocks or you get disqualified.

I got described as "famous" today. That felt nice. It was because my appointment to Vice-President of the Chamber got reported in the Tameside reporter and was spotted by one of the cleaners at the company. Where it goes from there in terms of global superstardom is anybodys guess......onwards and upwards.

To London and Back

Been down to the smoke, there and back in a day. Had the usual "burnt to a crisp" sausage roll on Virgin this morning. For a £300 return ticket, I was expecting an orient express style banquet, Virgin trains always fail to impress when it comes to breakfast.

London was cold, I went to Ladbroke Grove, which was grubby and full of litter. It made me appreciate how tidy the streets are in my locality. My colleague asked me if I would live in London again if offered. My reply was a definite "no". Things have changed a lot, life seems very pressurised, people are very busy, it all seems a bit shallow. Not my cup of tea anymore, I'm now back in the North where life just seems a bit richer.

Amsterdam

I've been in Amsterdam yesterday and today. It's freezing cold and my hotel is freezing too! Saving grace is that I went into the City last night for dinner, just by the palace (above). Had a juicy big rib-eye steak in a lovely little Argentian restaurant and a wander round. It's a very cosmoplitan place, loaded with bars and things to do. Looking forward to coming back when it's warmer.....

Bicycle, Bicycle....

"I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike....." (remember the queen song). I took it to the max yesterday. Inviting Alex out for a run with his dad (on our fab new birthday bikes, see mine in the pic - WOW), I totally overcooked it and took us on a route that seemed short when I drive it in my car, but it took us nearly two and half hours!!

Alex (bless him) was knackered, his little legs were aching and he was so pleased to get home. He'll do anything for a pound and this was my incentive to get him out. When we get home, he didn't feel he had value for money. I'm inclined to agree as I was knackered too!! Alex is wary of any "let's get the bikes out" enthusiasm now, once bitten so they say!

Northern Soul in the Blackpool Tower Ballroom

We joined about 1500 other people on Saturday at a Northern Soul night in Blackpool.

It was held in the Blackpool Tower Ballroom which is one of the most beautiful rooms you can imagine (see the picture). Opened originally in1899, it was designed by a chap called Frank Thatcham, it was a beautiful setting to spend the evening.

For true Northern Soul fans, the quality of the floor is everything and Blackpool Tower ballroom is one of the best. A beautiful parquet floor, super slidy and highly complimentary to the dancing style of Northern soul. The do was what's called an "all nighter". It started at 1pm on the Saturday afternoon and finished at 7am on the Sunday. Whilst we made it through to about half two in the morning on Sunday (it's our age you know), the place was still packed and the dancefloor was full from the time we arrived to the time we left. It was a top night. If you want to find out more about Northern soul, click here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_soul

We stayed at a lovely B&B called Number One South Beach. You can find more about it at the link below. The owners love boutique hotels themselves and have taken all that's great about what they've experienced and reinvented it as a bed and breakfast concept instead. Think tub baths with jacuzzis and in-built bathroom TV's, 42" plasmas, contemporary decoration and with the added bonus of an interesting owner. Visit them if you get a chance. http://www.numberonesouthbeach.com/

Blackpool unfortunately looked run down. Apart from the walk along the South Beach which has been renovated, the rest of it was stereotypically run down B&B's, stag and hen parties and bars. I hope that the place can turn itself around or it will die in time.