Back to the UK...

Our last day in Gibraltar was Saturday, and Mum and I were flying out at 19:10 (local time - +2 hrs GMT), so we had quite a bit of time to kill..

The morning was somewhat overcast, and the cloud formation on the rock was something that I was determined to get a photograph of:

We decided to head down towards Casement Square to go and get something for lunch, and as we were walking down Main Street, we heard pipes and drums.. I wasn't quick enough with my camera to get the approach, but I did manage to get this picture:

According to one of the locals, they were marching to Casement Square for the ceremony of the keys, which took place every Saturday at 12:00...

Unfortunately, Mum wasn't fit enough to walk down to the square for 12:00, and I was unwilling to leave her to go and see the ceremony.. But I did manage to get this picture of the guards preparing to march back up Main Street:

The rest of the day, Mum and I spent shopping for the usual silly last minute bits and pieces, before heading to the airport... Which was where the fun and games started.

The first part was the total fiasco that passed for check-in. One desk for our flight (Monarch), whilst the BA flight had about four desks... Once that particular hurdle was dealt with, it was relatively painless to go through security and all the other formalities... And then we reached the departure lounge. And I though Jersey airport was primative!

Thankfully, we didn't have too long to wait before our flight, and were able to get semi-comfortable.. (I swear that they'd crammed more seats on the damned plane, but that's another grump that I've always had about travelling!)

The landing at Luton. What can I say, apart from the fact that I swear the aircraft thought it was a kangaroo. It bounced about 4 times on landing, and then it was the fun and games of the hike to passport control. Mum was knackered, and I wasn't much better, and to be honest, I was less than impressed with Luton airport's groundstaff.

They could see that Mum was struggling, and yet when you asked for help, it was a case of "sorry - not my department." I felt like asking them if they knew the meaning of customer service, but I didn't, as I was too damned tired, and all I wanted to do was get the case and get the hell out of there.

Then came the fun with the damned taxi. Neither mum or I were told that the driver would be waiting outside, so that added another 45 minutes to the time that we were stuck in the airport!

Needless to say, the pair of us have said that in future, we will refuse to travel from Luton, as it's a pain in the tail to get to, and a bloody mess.

Suppose I should log off and bog off, as I've got stuff to do around the house.

Back when I get the chance.

Karen.

I walk where others fear to tread

Exploring the gardens..

Friday, Mum and I decided that we were going to go to the Botanical Gardens, as the pair of us are into our exotic plants...

The entrance was by the cable car, and was fronted by a magnificent pair of iron gates:



There was a wide variety of cacti, that I had only see growing under glass .. Things like the magnificent prickly pear - complete with it's stunning flower:



The rest of the garden was filled with plants that Mum and I had seen as conservatory plants in the UK, and occasionally in the wild, on our various travels...



But the one image that sticks in my mind is the famous Dragon Tree:



The hibiscus was the thing that Mum fell in love with, and I threatened to put sticking plasters on her finger nails, in order to stop her taking cuttings!



The rest of the gardens were lovely, and there was a small garden area located by the cafe.. The plants there were all poisonous, and I was quite taken with the idea of putting the cafe by them!




Time to call this entry quits - I'm being summoned for something!

Back tomorrow...

Karen.
I walk where others fear to tread

Jerez de la Frontera..

Thursday, Mum and I went to Jerez de la Frontera. The only thing that I knew about Jerez, was the fact that there was a Formula 1 circuit there, and a famous horse fair that was held in May.

But, there was a lot more to Jerez than I'd realised... It turned out that the area was the sherry producing region of Spain! As far as I was concerned, sherry was the disgusting stuff that my great Aunt used to drink at Christmas...

The first stop on the trip (the one that I wasn't really looking forward to at all) was to the Harvey's sherry Bodega... (See http://www.jerezharveys.com/ for more info)



The main Bodega (pictured above) held about 1.5 million litres of Sherry, and the barrels were stacked five high, with the initials of the taster chalked onto the barrel, and the date that the various types had been tested:


That was a bit worrying for me, as I noticed that some of the barrels were leaking!


The various stages of the sherry making process were explained, and to be honest, I was pleasantly surprised by the taste... The Spanish drink it straight out of the fridge, over ice with a decent lump of orange in it.

The second part of the trip was the bit that I was really looking forward to.. We were going to the Spanish riding school... (See http://www.realescuela.org/ ).

Outside, there was a mounted police officer keeping the traffic moving, and preventing the tourists being run over by the passing motorists:


The school itself was impressive, and there were ushers keeping an eye open for people with cameras, as photography was forbidden...

But that didn't stop me taking photos!



Time to log off and bog off - my dratted mobile's ringing...

Back later, if I get the chance.

Karen.
I walk where others fear to tread

Walking to St Micheal's cave - and playing with more monkeys!

The next point for me to escape to was St Micheal's cave. The signs from the visitor centre at the top of the rock said that it was 20min away... 20 min by car, maybe, but on foot, it was more like 45 min... But that could have been due to the fact that I was stopping every so often to take photographs of things that caught my eye - like this little crocus:



This wasn't growing in someone's garden - this was growing by the side of the road, in a gap in the rock!


The entrance to St Micheal's cave was nothing special - a tourist shop selling the usual bits and pieces, and a small hut where a seemingly bored fella checked to make sure that each visitor had a valid ticket.

The cave itself wasn't spectacular (not when you compared it to places like Cheddar Gorge), but the stactites were beautiful:

One of the stalactites had fallen from the roof, and had a section cut away and polished, which showed the most beautiful markings imaginable:



On the way back, I decided to stop at the so called Apes Den - where the second troop of Barbery Apes lived.. There were loads of signs up telling people not to touch the apes, but it seemed that some of the tour guides took no notice of the signs:


But the one image that did make me smile, was this one:



It was one of the younger monkeys, and had jumped over the fence in an attempt to try and avoid getting beaten up by this monkey:



Hmm - suppose I should go and sort the moggies out.....

Back later, if I get chance.

Karen.
I walk where others fear to tread

Heading up the rock... And playing with the monkeys!

Wednesday, Mum and I decided that we would head up the Rock, and see the monkeys. There were large notices saying that it was a £500 fine for feeding the monkeys, and tourists were advised to keep plastic bags out of their way, as they (the monkeys) associated the bags with food, and would rip them open if they couldn't steal them!

To get up the rock there are several ways - you can walk (a non-starter for Mum), get a tour of Gibraltar (which was expensive - the tours were about £40 per hour!) and the other way was to get the cable car.

That was the option that Mum and I took, and on the way up, I was able to get some really good photographs. (The camera has proven to be one hell of an investment!)

As we got towards to top of the rock, Mum and I spotted what we thought were scrawny chickens... It turned out that they were Barbery Partridges - and are extremely rare!

As we entered the visitor "centre", Mum and I both noticed that there were large signs warning about carrying plastic carrier bags. It turns out that the monkeys associate them with food, and will either snatch them away from you, or will tear them open to steal the food! We saw this happen, unfortunately, I wasn't quick enough with the camera to get the proof!


The views were phenomenal, and as I was looking, I spotted an aircraft... Ok - I thought that it was going to land in Spain, as the approach didn't seem right...


Then , the aircraft banked, and appeared to be skimming the waves!

The landing was something that I was interested to see, as I knew for a fact that the runway was rather intimidating - water on three sides!





The Monkeys were all over the place, and some would even pose for a photograph - if you were quick enough!


Suppose I should log off and bog off - I'm supposed to be getting on with some housework!

Back later, if I get the chance...

Karen.
I walk where others fear to tread

First impressions…

I don’t quite know what I expected Gibraltar to look like. The first day was really wiped out by the travelling, as Mum and I had been up since 03:00 BST…

However, the Tuesday was just spent exploring our surroundings, and trying to find somewhere to eat, as the hotel was on a bed & breakfast basis…

We found a really nice bar / restaurant in the bottom end of town – a square called Casement Square. Until a few years ago, it used to be a car park, but the Gibraltarian government decided that they would demolish the car park, and turn it into the local equivalent of an Italian piazza.

The rock itself dominates the skyline – there are very few places on the rock that you cannot see the rock from.

What surprised me, was the fact that there appeared to be houses bulit quite a way up the rock!

The food at the restaurant was really good, and reasonable – my personal favourites were the sizzling fajitas, and the swordfish steak!

Suppose I’d better call it quits – I’ve got things to do around the house.

Back later, if I get chance.

Karen.

I walk where others fear to tread

Never again!!

What am I saying never again to? Simple. Flying out of London Luton airport, that’s what!

The trip to the airport wasn’t too bad – it was the mess that followed. The ground staff didn’t seem interested, and to be honest, I could see why there have been so many cases of the tabloid papers having reports taking photographs of themselves with various bits of illegal items onboard the aircraft – such as replica hand guns and knives…

What makes me say this? The mere fact that both Mum and I were carrying in our hand luggage what are classed as prohibited items – Mum had a pair of nail clippers, and I had a pair of tweezers.

Then, came the farce that was the gate. Gate? A cattle pen would have more use. The gates were so close together that the various flights seemed to merge into one big lump, and when people thought that you were trying to queue jump, glared, grumbled and generally made things damned difficult to get to the gate so that you could board the flight!

Once you got through the crush, you then had to walk down several flights of stairs, and get herded onto a bus. I swear that if you treated livestock like that, then the RSPCA would be bringing a prosecution against you for animal cruelty!

Then it was the steps upto the aircraft. I could manage, as I’m reasonably nimble on my feet, but poor Mum really struggled, as the steps were quite large, and no-one even thought to ask if she needed any help!

There was one shining spot on the trip outbound – the guy on the check-in desk blocked the row that Mum and I were sitting in, so that Mum could have the aisle seat, and me the window seat... That way, Mum was able to stretch her leg out a bit more and I didn’t have to worry about anyone knocking my arm…

The approach to the runway at Gibraltar is quite an experience – and rather disconcerting when you realise that the runway sticks out into the bay of Gibraltar, and has water on three sides of it! (As you’ll see from later photographs in the various posts!)

The landing though, was one of the worse that I’ve had… I swear that the pilot bounced the aircraft (a B757-200) about four times, before we came to a halt at the airport…

The return trip, I’ll deal with in a later post, as I want to keep this in chronological order…

Suppose I should log off and bog off – I’ve still got to unpack, and get the various bits sorted out…

Back later, if I get the peace and quiet from the moggies...

Karen.

I walk where others fear to tread

Getting in the holiday mood

It's my last day in the office, and I am so glad. I've had enough crap thrown at me this week to last me a blasted month, and all because of one account.

On the positive side, I've been able to spend quite a bit of time with my partner, who has been a real angel. As my shoulder has been giving me an awful lot of trouble, he went to Holland & Barratt (a local health-food / alternative remedy shop), and bought a bottle of Comfrey oil, which he has been kind enough to massage into the shoulder.

But, I will admit to the fact that I'll miss him whilst I'm away, as we spend most evenings talking on the 'phone if we're not together.

Despite this, I'm really looking forward to my holiday, as I've never been to Gibraltar before.. And I've had my share of the rude comments leveled at me by colleagues in the OTR department - most of them being along these lines..

"You going to see your relatives then?"


"I've got relatives buried on Gibraltar, but none living that I know of...."

"I was talking about the monkeys"

Thanks. Nice to know that I'm being likened to a monkey now! And yes - I am aware of the correct name - the "monkeys" are actually Barbary Apes.

Suppose I should think about doing some w*rk, but I am really suffering from a bad case of TNFI......

Back later, if I get the chance.

Karen.

I walk where others fear to tread

Starting to growl...

There are some customers who really make you swear. They complain because you've not done something, and then when you do get the problem sorted, they complain because they weren't ready for the problem to be solved.

To be honest, the faster today is over and done with, the happier I'm going to be, as I'm fed up with being the one that gets the kick in the tail end, because something has gone wrong. Ok - I admit that I'm not perfect - far from it. But it galls me that I'm the one that gets hit from all sides when something doesn't go to plan.

As it stands, it's this one account that gives me all the grief, and to be honest, I'm getting to the stage where I don't want to have anything to do with them at all. But, that's giving in, and that's not what I'm known for - quitting is not my style at all.

But, knowing me, I'll feel better when I've got back off my holiday, and I know that my shoulder is being sorted out.

Ah well, suppose I should think about doing some w*rk, but to be honest, I'm suffering from a severe case of TNFI...

Back later, if I get chance.

Karen.

I walk where others fear to tread

What a weekend...

After the crap Friday I had, the weekend was just what the tiger needed to feel back on top form.

It started off with me going into Stratford with Carole, Amber and Rachel. Amber was being a little monster, and seemed to be determined to see how many tourists she could trip up / kick. The only thing that kept her under reasonable control, was the threat of not getting any toffee bon-bons!

Then, Saturday night, I was out with Julian and co... And Julian and one person who shall remain nameless (or at least until I get the blackmail photos) sang a bloody good version of Ricky Martin's Livin' la vida loca - complete with the dance steps!

Once we'd left the club, we all headed back to Julian's place, and I admit that I didn't go to bed... I stayed up playing GT4 on the playstation, and I don't mind admitting that I was running on pure adrenalin to keep me going...

Hmm - suppose I'd better think about doing some w*rk, but I'm suffering from TNFI already! Must be getting into holiday mode early.......!

Back when I get chance...

Karen.

I walk where others fear to tread

Cor blimey!

Mine is but to post such gems - and this came from my daft hog riding friend!

If you yelled for 8 years, 7 months and 6 days you would have produced enough sound energy to heat one cup of coffee.(Hardly seems worth it.)

If you farted consistently for 6 years and 9 months, enough gas is produced to create the energy of an atomic bomb.(Now that's more like it!)
The human heart creates enough pressure when it pumps to squirt blood 30 feet out of the body. (O.M.G.!)

A pig's orgasm lasts 30 minutes.********** Man 'O' Man!!!
A cockroach will live nine days without its head before it starves to death.
(Creepy.) (I'm still not over the pig.)
Banging your head against a wall uses 150 calories an hour.
(Do not try this at home...... maybe at work.)

The male praying mantis cannot copulate while its head is attached to its body. The female initiates sex by ripping the male's head off.
("Honey, I'm home. What the....?!")

The flea can jump 350 times its body length. It's like a human jumping the length of a football field.
(30 minutes... lucky pig... can you imagine??)
The catfish has over 27,000 taste buds.(What could be so tasty on the bottom of a pond?)

Some lions mate over 50 times a day.(I still want to be a pig in my next life... quality over quantity)

Butterflies taste with their feet.(Something I always wanted to know.)

The strongest muscle in the body is the tongue.(Hmmmmmm........)
Right-handed people live, on average, nine years longer than left-handed people.(If you're ambidextrous, do you split the difference? )

Elephants are the only animals that cannot jump.(OK, so that would be a good thing....)
A cat's urine glows under a black light.(I wonder who was paid to figure that out?)

Starfish have no brains.(I know some people like that.)

Polar bears are left-handed.(If they switch, they'll live a lot longer.)

Humans and dolphins are the only species that have sex for pleasure.(What about that pig??)

Suppose I should think about doing some w*rk...

Back later, if I get chance.

Karen.

I walk where others fear to tread

Getting caught on the hop...

There's nothing like a bit of banter to make me feel brighter... I was away from my desk, and I heard my 'phone bleep, and me being half asleep didn't check the number...

"You didn't recognize my number that time, did you Karen?" came the mocking tone on my 'phone. It was my other half.

"If I'd known it was you, I wouldn't have answered my 'phone."

That made him laugh, and he started having a gentle dig at me because I apparently sounded half asleep! I refrained from saying that I'd been up at 04:30 this morning to go horse-riding!

But, that was my decision, and I don't regret it for a moment, as it was a lovely ride this morning... The birds were starting to sing, and Flame was being an absolute angel - almost as if she realized that I was feeling fragile because my shoulder was (and still is) giving me hell.

Ok - I know that going horse-riding probably wasn't the best thing that I could have done, but I'm not going to give up my horse just yet... Ok - if I have to have the shoulder operated on (and I get a horrible feeling I will do) I'll stop riding, but until it gets to that stage then I'll be in the saddle as much as I possibly can.

Ah well, suppose I should think about doing some w*rk, but I'm not really in the mood....

Back later if I get chance.

Karen.

I walk where others fear to tread

Still fighting..

Well, Coventry airport's owners are appealing even before the final decision has been made about their cattle shed of a terminal.

I can understand why the locals are getting so upset - Coventry airport used to be just a small airfield, with a few light aircraft and the DC10 from Air Atlantique taking off from there. Now, they're subjected to the noise and smell of a B737 taking off.

The best is yet to come, as the planes from Coventry have a maximum height on takeoff of 1500ft, due to the fact that they are in the same controlled airspace as Birmingham airport!

But, if the reports are true, then the shareholders of the company that owns the airport may force them to sell - much to the delight of the locals, with whom I have great sympathy...

Suppose I should think about doing some more w*rk, but the interest level is practically zero at the moment!

Back later, if I get chance.

Karen.

I walk where others fear to tread

Back to the fuel protests..

Well, it's started. What am I talking about? Only the panic buying that's going on for fuel. I'm lucky, as I've got 3/4 of a tank of fuel on board the Pug, and Mum's got about the same on her car as well.

The last time the fuel protests happened, my family was lucky, as Dad was on the essential users list, and because of the petrol mowers, we had about 30l of fuel in the garage in steel containers!

Ok - I agree with the fuel protests, as I'm fed up paying extortionate rates for the luxury of having a car, as I'm in a situation where public transport is a total non-starter, as the location of my office, and the mere fact that I have to go out on business means that I need the car.

In an ideal world, I'd have the Pug converted to an alternative fuel, but at the moment, the minute I do anything like that, Peugeot will say that I have invalidated my mechanical & bodywork warranties, and I'm up the proverbial creek without a canoe, let alone a paddle!

Hmm - suppose I should think about doing some w*rk, but I'm suffering from a case of TNFI...

Back later, if I get chance.

Karen.

I walk where others fear to tread

Trying to get training for a friend

That's one thing that really bugs me. As I'm the main contact for the OTR side of things in the office, I'm the one that the guys in the field speak to, so that they can get the orders and other stuff sorted out.

Ok - that's not an issue - what really bugs me is the fact that the poor sod who's supposed to be my back-up has had absolutely minimal training, and when I'm out of the office (either on holiday or off sick), the back up is next to non-existent.

So, the pair of us have started to gang up on our line manager, and make him aware of the situation. That's not a problem, as he's quite happy to help out, and has agreed that something needs to be done.

The problem (as far as I'm concerned) is the fact that one of the other members of the department can't see why the guys in the field talk to me instead of the other contact.

Without blowing my own trumpet, I get the impression that the reason that they talk to me, is because they know that things will get sorted out, and that I'll keep them in the loop on what's happening with the order / query that they've thrown my way.

But, as things seem to be happening, I've said that I'll hold fire on doing anything like speaking to my partner, as he knows damned well that I was getting worried about what was going to happen whilst I was away...

Suppose I should log off and bog off - I'm supposed to be working...

Back later if I get chance.

Karen.

I walk where others fear to tread

Now this would be interesting......

READ TEXT FIRST THEN LOOK AT IMAGE.

Tired of getting stuck in slow moving traffic?

Want to have your own lane on the M1/M25/M5/M62?

Simple, tie these balloons to your car.

Belt it down the A1 (or any other road you wish to drive fast) and watch other car drivers freak out and simply get out of your way!

When you get stopped by the police, tell them you thought they were real.





Karen.
I walk where others fear to tread

All quiet on the OTR front

Well, things seem to have settled down on the OTR side of things... I've been kept busy sorting out various orders for the guys, and one has even said that as far as he was concerned, today I was walking on water.

Thanks. That's all I need, as you can almost guarantee that it will put the mockers on anything that I try to do for the rest of the day!

Despite that, my friend White Wolf has been e-mailing me, and making me laugh with all sorts of silly jokes - this one being one of my favorites:

This is a quick story about the bond formed between a little girl and a group of building workers.

It's allegedly true and makes you want to believe in the goodness of people and that there is hope for the human race.


A young family moved into a house next door to a vacant building. One day Joe, Steve and a gang of building workers turned up to start building a house on the empty plot.


The young family's 5-year-old daughter naturally took an interest in all the activity going on next door and started talking with the workers.


She hung around and eventually the builders, all with hearts of gold, more or less adopted the little girl as a sort of project mascot.


They chatted with her, let her sit with them while they had tea and lunch breaks, and gave her little jobs to do here and there to make her feel important.


They even gave her very own hard hat and gloves. At the end of the first week they presented her with a pay envelope containing two pounds in 10p coins.


The little girl took her 'pay' home to her mother who suggested that they take the money she had received to the bank the next day to start a savings account.


When they got to the bank the cashier was tickled pink listening to the little girl telling her about her 'work' on the building site and the fact she had a 'pay packet'.


"You must have worked very hard to earn all this" said the bank cashier.


The little girl proudly replied, "I worked all last week with the men building a big house."


"My goodness gracious," said the cashier, "Will you be working on the house again this week, as well?"


The little girl thought for a moment and said........................









"I think so. Provided those c*nts at Jewson deliver the f**king bricks."


Rats - my direct line's ringing - that was one of the worst mistakes I could have made - giving the OTR guys my direct dial!

Back later if I get chance.

Karen.

I walk where others fear to tread

Anyone for flame grilled tiger?

Another day, another foul up with an OTR tyre. This time, it was a crane tyre, and it wasn't something that I knew anything about until one of my colleagues in the OTR department asked who'd told a customer that the tyres were available...

I was able to sort it out, but my colleague was a real angel, and called the customer for me, and explained the situation. The customer (quite understandably) wasn't very happy, but at least it wasn't me getting the ear-ache from the customer for once!

So, to hopefully (emphasis on the hopefully) prevent anymore foul ups on the ordering side of things, I sent the following e-mail...

Hi guys,

If you get a call for a mobile crane tyre of any description, then please speak to either myself or xxx, or if either of us are not available, could you please transfer the call to either xxxx xxxxxx (speed dial xxx) or xxxx xxxxxx (speed dial xxx).

If in doubt, PLEASE speak to either myself or xxx.

So, all I have to do now, is prevent any more hiccups with the OTR side of things!

Suppose I should log off and bog off - my mobile's ringing!

Back tomorrow.

Karen.

I walk where others fear to tread

Trying to avoid a toasting...

Ever had one of those days when you wish you'd turned over in bed and gone back to sleep? Well, I'm having one today.

It got off to a bad start when I managed to leave my security pass in the tack room this morning, and forgot to grab the damned thing. Then when I'd gotten into the office, it really hit the blades. And muggins here was directly in the firing line.

A customer had tried to order a particular tyre, and unknown to myself or my colleague in the department, these tyres had already been sold to another customer. So, as the system was showing that these tyres were in stock, the order was on the system, just awaiting confirmation from the customer of the required purchase number..

Only for me to then find that some of the tyres have been taken by someone in logistics for this other customer! I then had the delightful (?) job of telling the customer that I'd been dealing with that the full quantity that he'd requested wasn't available.

Brown smelly stuff and rotating blades anybody? The fun and games then started when my partner came down to see me, and asked what the hell had gone on with this order.

Needless to say, I was less than impressed, and politely pointed out that the order was nothing to do with me, and the first I'd known about it, was when my colleague had asked if I'd place the same size tyre on order!

The reaction was less than friendly, until I pointed out that I'd spoken to very few people in the OTR department, and had spent even less time on the 'phone than normal, as I was trying to sort out my least favorite account, which had a large order that needed placing onto the system, and then sorting out the stock to make sure that there was enough stock to complete the order.

I wasn't very friendly, and made it plain that I just wanted to be left alone tonight, as I was seriously irritated by the fact that he immediately blamed me for the foul up with the damned tyres. But, at least I got an apology from him, so that made me feel slightly better...

So, as I type this, I'm sitting in the study listening to Planet Rock on my DAB digital radio, and am only now starting to cool off.

Suppose I should log off and bog off - I want to grab a bite to eat before I crawl into my pit tonight.

Back tomorrow if I get the chance.

Karen.
I walk where others fear to tread

Things that make me smile..

My daft hog riding friend has been sending me all sorts of silly things, and I've not had chance to post them, so before I get even more earache than I have already, here's a selection of the things that I've been sent:



The other thing that made me smile was this joke:

One day an Irishman, who had been stranded on a deserted island for over 10 years, saw a speck on the horizon. He thought to himself, "It's certainly not a ship."

As the speck got closer and closer, he began to rule out the possibilities of a small boat and even a raft.Suddenly there emerged from the surf a wet-suited black clad figure. Putting aside the scuba gear and the top of the wet suit, there stood a drop-dead gorgeous blonde!

The glamorous blonde strode up to the stunned Irishman and said to him, "Tell me, how long has it been since you've had a cigarette?""Ten years," replied the amazed Irishman.

With that, she reached over and unzipped a waterproofed pocket on the left sleeve of her wetsuit, and pulled out a fresh pack of cigarettes.

He takes one, lights it, and takes a long drag. "Faith and begorrah," said the man, "that is so good, I'd almost forgotten how great a smoke can be!""And how long has it been since you've had a drop of good Irish whiskey?" asked the blonde.

Trembling, the castaway replied, "Ten years."Hearing that, the blonde reaches over to her right sleeve, unzips a pocket,removes a flask and hands it to him.

He opened the flask and took a long drink. "'Tis nectar of the Gods!" stated the Irishman. 'Tis truly fantastic!!!"At this point, the gorgeous blonde started to slowly unzip the long front of her wet suit, right down the middle. She looked at the trembling man and asked, "And how long has it been since you played around?"

With tears in his eyes, the Irishman fell to his knees and sobbed, "Sweet Jesus! Don't tell me that you've got golf clubs in there, too!"

Hmmm... Suppose I'd better get on with some w*rk, but I'm suffering a case of TNFI again..

Back later, if I get chance.

Karen.
I walk where others fear to tread