BLIND DAVE'S BLOG

21-12-2006

You can see Personal Best our exclusivedocumentary about local marathon runner and charity fund-raiserBlind Dave Heeley on this website from this Friday. First, his weekly blog.

Hi Stirrers

Well they say things happen in three's, or was it thirty three's, I couldn't believe this week yet again, tumbler dryer only three months old, there's that three word again, packed up, service man on his way, hopefully. The shower had a brand new part, which part has broken now! You've guessed it the brand new part! New part on it's way, hopefully and to finish off wanted four pair of hinges to finish the wardrobe doors, the shop I popped into had only got one pair left so I have to wait for the other three pairs, there's that three again, mind it doesn't really matter as we can't wash and dry we wont need a wardrobe to hang up any clothes for the moment and without a shower it's going to be a stinker of a Christmas, still they say things can only get better, I hope I get a lot of anti persperant for Christmas!

One of our last runs for the year was last Sunday 10th, the Snead Christmas pudding run, 10 miler, a lot of runners moan it's a tough course, it is as it has more than it's share of inclines, hills I call them, but surprisingly enough I always seem to have a reasonable run and to be honest it's quite a favourite of mine, finished in 1 hour 10 minutes, a fraction slower than last year but a very enjoyable run considering the weather, wet and cold. Mind we were panicking a bit before the start, or should I say finding the start was the problem, it's called drivers and technology, one of our club members had a Satnav, Mac had also borrowed one from his mate and between them they both managed to get us lost, Mac blaming Neil and Neil blaming some one else, to be honest a simple A to Z springs to mind, it's easier lads you only have to turn over the pages, still we got there with a few minutes to spare. Cant help laughing though, got to the changing rooms and Mac was sporting his new trainers he had bought in New York, it is awful really but he'd have had a good laugh at me, brand new and all the way from New York city with two right shoes, unless we were going in circles they weren't a lot of good and I wont mention his custom made trainers, or should I say the tax he had to pay when they were delivered! Still we got home OK.

Tuesday 12th was an excellent day, we had been invited to the Birmingham Royal Ballet to take the girls and go behind the scenes to see how things happened at the theatre. It was arranged through Jonathan Payn, the lead ballet dancer and Paul the stage director and they showed us around the costume wardrobe and Lilly who was in charge allowed the girls to put on various costumes and had photo's taken in the sugar plum fairy outfits, it was certainly very interesting and educational, there were thousands of pairs of shoes, hundreds of outfits and behind the stage was a rabbit warren of rooms for changing, make up, practise rooms, warm up rooms, it was incredible to think how much preparation goes into one performance of the Nutcracker. In fairness it was as much an education for me as the kids, I was totally surprised when I was given the coat and tail costume of the King rat to hold, which was what Jonathan was to wear and dance in, I couldn't believe the weight, it must have put two stone on his body weight and to think he was then going to dance flat out for five minutes, believe me these dancers are certainly fit, it made me sweat just thinking about it. We were allowed on to the Hippodrome stage to see how the props were assembled and moved around, to my surprise the props were still moved with elbow grease and not buttons, but it was a fantastic feeling to be able to stand on a stage were many famous actors and actresses, dancers had performed over the years and it was quite something to be in the theatre with out the audience, it was an amazing and educational couple of hours, next year it will be nice when the girls are that little bit older to see the show , wonder how much they will remember , but a big thanks to the Birmingham Royal Ballet. We finished off the day with some shopping and dinner in the Bull Ring, my memory banks were put to the test and so were Nan's, I couldn't get my head round where we were, good job Debb knew or I'd still be walking round Birmingham now, still all in all it was a very pleasant day and back from town on the train we pinched a bit of first class travel, well it was only two stops but it rounded the day off a treat.

It's also that time of year, Santa is ready to pack his sleigh and wants to know what to pack for Blind Dave, like the previous couple of years Debb has suggested we have a joint present, smashing I agree, last years joint present was a video camera, “It will be great to film the kids on” I agree, but I'm glad it's got sound or it will be as good as a chocolate fire guard for me, she is brilliant at picking presents for me, the one year she got me a lovely framed picture of my favourite Disney film, Jungle Book, she knew exactly which wall it would look nice on, strange that I thought, but it does look nice I'm told. This year is no different, we've just had the garden rearranged slightly, block paving extended a little, rockery reduced and a slabbed area for where the kids assault shed will go, when I have chance to build it, a summer project and yes you've guessed right, the work is to be our joint Christmas present. Hey Santa! Don't worry about packing my present; I've already got it! Mind Rudolph will at least be able to land the sleigh with out any problems; still I suppose it will save me buying wrapping paper.

Well the week started with a bang and it finished with one, well a flash anyway, I was checking to see if the one set of lights we had was still working, I had the job of tightening the bulbs, off with the star and a gentle twist of the bulb, now me and electric have never gone together but to test a light you need to have it switched on, mistake, for me anyway, un knowing I touched a bare wire, not with one thumb but with two, apparently I moved quicker than Linford Christie, the shock went up both arms and I repeated , deary deary me a few times, it's amazing the kick from a little set of lights, I can assure you if they don't light up first time in future they will only light up the bin, unless some one would like to check them, me and Christmas lights have fallen out.

Right I'm off to stuff the turkey, stay away from Christmas lights and if the missus asks do you want a joint present, make sure she asks in August, you've got time to think about it and say NO! Well I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and a very happy new year, I'm sure there will be plenty to report in the new year, I've got some crackers to pull yet, it doesn't bare thinking about, Blind Dave signing off, bye for now.