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The Cheek of it...

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Wow, it's really been a long time since I was last here, which means as usual I have so much to report that I'll probably forget half of it by the time I get to the point where I may have considered writing about it, and if that is the case I can only appologise in advance for the small amount of detail that is missing regarding the last month of my life!!

Anyway, what was I saying? I forget...  Oh yes...

Aaaarrrggghhh!! I've now officially been waiting over 2 months for my new mobile phone upgrade - that's frustrating enough, not helped by the fact I decided to use Lara's 4yr old phone for a while til it came so I could sell my orange replacement pda phone (the one I lost in France) before it got all scuffed and well used. But now to add insult to injury, I called Orange on Wednesday and amazingly they said they had the phone in stock, it finally got ordered, and I worked from home all day yesterday excitedly waiting to receive it. However, by 4pm I was bored of waiting so I called to get a consignment number in an attempt to track the courier, only to find that (apparently) between being told that it was in stock again, and actually completing the order process, it went BACK OUT OF STOCK!!!   Aaaarrggghhhh!! So still no new phone and a very annoyed Jon to-boot.

So, what else has happened - oh, the CYFC exec agreed to buy me a spanky (nearly) new Macbook Pro, with a budget of just £700, and I managed to find one for £650 with a dodgy keyboard but 1yr warranty left so that got replaced for free, leaving me £50 to upgrade to the latest mac OS (leopard, for those of you that care). Owner/Carer and baby are doing fine, don't know the weight, but you get the idea!!

I would have totally written more about that if I wasn't trying to cover a whole month in one blog entry!!! (incuding the ebay purchase of an unsuitable operating system that I then re-auctioned and sold for a huge profit of -£19.00 (yes, that is a minus sign).

I'm gradually running out of beer. I bought a new kit like 2 weeks ago, and just haven't got round to it, so that's not much of a story.

Our new house is small but warm and the outside light finally works after 2 evenings replacing the whole lot and tracing wiring for faults - it turns out, you have to plug it in as well!! (oops) Lara actually made the discovery whilst trying to find somewhere to do the ironing. @What do you think this plug is for?@ she asks all innocently. Eureka!! (notice the strange quote marks... anyone that every changed from PC to Mac should find that quite amusing.)

And I've discovered a new found passion for the guitar - mainly through many nights with lack of an internet connection and seeing young people who can play better than me.

I really should have broken this down into several entries - do let me know if you need any more info on any of these points.

Oh, 2 other things...

Our house still hasn't sold, and now that our 2yr tracker has run out we're paying £200 more per month for a house we don't live in - GREAT!!

And Work at CYFC is going really well - a few interesting teething issues, but nothing that I wasn't expecting.

And thirdly, (for those of you that don't know where number 2 comes in the numeric system) Zak is having an amazing time at school - he gets so many stickers that we've run out of things to stick them to.

Oh, and fourthly, Lara now works part-time for St Matts as Children's worker, and Maisey has started going to nursery (the Maisey thing should really have its own point, but this is quite frankly getting ridiculous)

And I'll stop there.

Ciao people!!

ps. check out the new Cov YFC website - www.covyfc.org

The All New Dull Blog...

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I just started a community blog (where any realyouth blogger can post stuff).

The idea, simply, is to make it the dullest blog in the world, EVER!!

And I honestly think people will find it hilly-areas!!

So, check it out, and if you regularly find yourself with nothing at all to talk about, let me know - I'll add you as an author and you can tell us all about it.

GENIUS!!

Jon.

Happy StarWars day everyone!!

It's been FAR TOO LONG since my last blog post, but here I am, talking to the world again.

I can't believe how busy my last few weeks have been. I mean, I usually like to keep myself busy, but I remember waking up two Tuesdays ago and just thinking "I have no idea how I'm gonna get to the end of this week".

The three big things have been a 2 day event at Lichfield cathedral called "log on 2 God", seeing around 200 high school pupils wandering round the old cathedral and playing giant versions of Rock, Paper, Scissors with them. I also got the opportunity to speak to many of them about issues concerning self image and how the media distorts what real beauty is.

That was the really fun bit. But then, in the same week I had another trip to the north east for the leadership training course I'm on. It was pretty amazing really, but also baked my noggin within 2 minutes of arriving. More about that (hopefully) on my other blog www.realyouth.net/good2great.

It was a cool few days, and my old friend Dave from Scotland came down so he could travel with me, which meant that as usual he stayed till the saturday, (but got the right train this time).  And finally, on the Friday, my other friend, James, came to visit so he could help with a big puppet training day at a church in Market Drayton last Saturday. It was a really good day - but puppet stuff always is. I've developed a bit of a puppet bug again. they're now all over the house. James left on Sunday after printing a few GrannyMechanics T-shirts and missing his train back to sheffield due to annoying roadworks.

Anyway, last sunday we went to our old church, St James, in the village for a christening. It was weird to be back there after nearly a year, but not a lot has changed.

And that's about all - oh, except for producing a new newsletter to send out to friends and family (if I like you, you should get one in the post - if you don't get one, well, that says a lot doesn't it) and the youth leaders' lunch that I organised for this Thursday - a really productive meeting, even if only 2 of the 8 people turned up.

So, I hear you asking, what has any of that got to do with the title of this blog? Well, let me explain...

The worship leader (Paul) of our present church called on Friday to ask if I'd be willing to play at the service today, and of course I jumped at the chance. As it turned out, every (planned) song was in the key of E, so for some variation I figured I'd get out my old trusty Foote Capo. It's basically a Krysler capo, with the rubber that would normally press down the low E and two high strings cut away. It's really fun to play and produces some lovely drone effects. I've played around with it quite a lot since I made it in 2003, but today was the first time I've used it in a corporate worship setting since I first made it for a youth event in Rugby.

Well, I think that's the last 2 weeks covered. I now have to go and re-format my laptop as it's running slower than a sloath snail. Joy Joy.

May 4th be with you!! 

The Dreaded Dentist...

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Today has been an odd day.

I was supposed to be taking time of in lieu for the toolbox training day on Saturday, so I could crack on with some "forms" I needed to complete. But I hadn't realised that we had dentists appointments booked for early afternoon and my regular slot leading worship at the beacon from 11am for a couple of hours, so I ended up doing some admin stuff from home and and taking tomorrow off instead so I can have some uninterrupted time to get on with stuff.

Anyway, the worship bit at beacon was fine, but the dentist wasn't such a huge success. The good news is that the kids loved it and the dentist was really friendly, so that was good, and Lara only needed a scale & polish which is cool - she thought she'd need some fillings. It turns out it was me that needed a filling - my first one ever!! And stupidly I decided to have it done without any anesthetic. To say I hate needles is an understatement, so lack of anesthetic was fine, until it started hurting, but I survived and now my head feels like it's been squashed in a vice - even after ibuprofen & paracetamol.

And tonight is worship practice @ the beacon again. It should be fun, but more on that in another entry.
 
Anyway, the basic news is we're all fine after our long awaited trip to the dentist, even if I do now have the startings of a nice collection of metalwork in my mouth.

Hey, at least I get to try out the whole "chewing tin foil" thing now - apparently it really hurts!!

Oh, and after an x-ray, it appears that I do need my one wisdom tooth extracted, so we'll wait and see what the hospital have to say about that one.

And please, no horror stories!!

Super(ish) Noodles

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Yesterday I had the ultimate luncheon experience...

Having arrived at work without the forward thinking required to bring lunch with me, by 12.30ish I was really feeling quite peckish, and Tony (the tiger) kindly offered me a pack of his "super noodles", which I have somehow got away with never trying before.

After my initial fear of the cooking (and eating) process, I was guided through the whole experience by the noodle guru himself (Tony (the tiger)) and 6 minutes later was sitting in the NSYFC offices munching down a 1/2 pint of culinary slop (with a slight sweet & sour flavouring).

I have no idea why I decided to blog this, other than the fact that the fear of the noodle was quite a humourous experience and Liz (the boss) said she was gonna leave a comment about it anyway unless I wrote an entry to explain what a noodle virgin I was!!

So there you go.

What I actually should have blogged about is CLOWNS (silly, smelly men in huge underpants and flower filled hats) - More on that some other time maybe!!

Praying It Forward...

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Last week I have this crazy idea - I've just watched the movie "Pay It Forward" and I think "Could this really work?",

The idea is dead simple:

  1. Find 3 people that may value your prayers
  2. Pray for them - into specific things, or general blessing type stuff
  3. Let them know you've been praying for them, so they can "pray it forward".
So I do a bit of web surfing and find that the perfect domain is available, register it, spend a few hours setting up a basic website, and late that evening, PrayItForward is born.

And now there's even a facebook group specifically connected to it (that already has several members after 24hrs).

The big question is, will it work - will people actually start praying for people and refering them to the site so they can Pray It Forward too?

I guess only time will tell.

Check it out for more details & prayer/referal ideas...

www.prayitforward.org.uk

The Bumbling Idiot..

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Hey, I just invented a new word - "Nink"!!

Having driven into Birmingham to deliver Dave (the MLS guy from inverness) to the mega-bus stop, going to the apple store and getting 5 free Crispy Creme's doughnuts from the bullring, we finally found the place where the bus was due to arrive, said our fond fairwells, and departed for my parents house and a quiet afternoon.

Dave's bus was due @ 2:35, so I texted him to check all was well at 2:40pm to check he was on his way home. But then I get a call...

"Jon, I don't think the bus is coming. I've been waiting here, but it never showed up. I think I might have missed it!!"

And the important lesson that Dave will have learned today, is that bus timetables (& tickets) work on a 24hr clock system. Yes, his bus had actually left 12 hours earlier 02:35 this morning.

What a NINK!!

So now, after going to 2 train stations, and then to a cashpoint, he's (apparently) on a train bound for my folks house so he can come back to stoke with us and get the 02:35 (am) bus to Inverness early on Monday morning.

I'm sure his g/f (sorry, fiancee) is gonna be well pleased with him!!

Really can't help but laugh!!

Total Nink!!

 

Curry & Beer - What a Winner...

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So, it happened. I'm officially 31, and what a fun way to remember it.

We had a few close friends round last night for a communal curry and the first (of many, hopefully) official beer tasting evening - and boy, did it taste good!!

To say it was my first ever attempt, we were all slightly amazed as to how good it tasted. Almost like the real thing. RESULT.

And now we're off for a POSH night away at... wait for it.... Cherwell Valley Motorway Services!! Not the most attractive location, but at £15 per night, who can complain?

Anyway, Having seen Rob and James off this morning and putting the second batch of the old brown on to ferment, and hearing that one of our friends from the Church in Audley died yesterday (really sad), we had some lunch at Ikea and picked up a birthday present for my dear old father (we share the same birthday - how odd). And now we're here at the old folks for a cuppa before the last leg of the journey.

More soon, and do pop round for a sample of the dangerbolt any time!!

Cheery Bye

So far, So good...

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Well, We're here at the outlaw's house, and so far things have been pretty good.

I've sorted out the dreaded computer (which is now in the process of downloading 64000 emails that somehow never got downloaded before) and had a nice pie for dinner. I also discovered that high seated disabled toilets have a much larger "splosh-back" production ratio - but you didn't need to know that, did you.

Anyhoo, That's it for now.

Still not sure when I'm gonna announce that I've set up the new "OUTLAW BLOG". Maybe tomorrow? Who knows.

Right then,

Toodle Pip!!

Today is Saturday...

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That title has no relevance at all (apart from the fact that it's totally true).

I'm actually writing this from the Newcastle-under-Lyme library while Zak & Maisey do crafty stuff with Lara, Jess (her sister) and Rick.

I logged in to look at stuff on bass guitar technique, and anded up reading an article on "teach yourself perfect pitch". - Is that actually possible? I never thought so.

Anyway, I finally barrelled up the home brew on Wednesday and now it's just a case of waiting for 3 weeks for it to settle. I'm quite concerned actually, as I tried a bit while I was barrelling it - and let's just say, the secondary fermentation needs to be a fairly miraculous process.

And that's it. Jess & Rick leave this evening, and I'm gonna get back to decorating the bathroom.

Hope you're all still alive!!

Bysee bye!!

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  • Jon Mills posted The Team Outing...
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  • Jon Mills tweeted, "thinking about work, and maybe making cinnamon toast, and swimming tomorrow!! (oh, and listening to the dishwasher)."
  • Jon Mills tweeted, "thinking about work, and maybe making cinnamon toast, and swimming tomorrow!! (oh, and listening to the dishwasher)."
  • Jon Mills tweeted, "loving the whole "Super(ish) Noodles" experience!!"
  • Jon Mills tweeted, "loving the whole "Super(ish) Noodles" experience!!"
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  • Jon Mills tweeted, "Excited about going to the beacon to pray - weird huh?"
  • Jon Mills tweeted, "Excited about going to the beacon to pray - weird huh?"

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