I went out last night and it was a good night – we always say that don’t we! A friend that I had not seen in a long time was meeting us and it was good to see him. It is funny, since we hadn’t seen Eddie for about 6 or 7 years but when you start talking it is like you have never been away.

We decided to head into the town centre and we started at Weatherspoons. The lack of music was the thinking behind this choice as we would be able to chat. Fat chance as it was ramajam packed with people. An Irish bar was the next stop which was a little easier on the ear and we were able to get a table and chat away.

It is just really good to see friends that you have not seen for ages and catch up with how your lives have gone in different (and sometimes similar) directions. I am sure that we will keep in better contact from now on.

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View the Photos from the Night

Well done to Sir Richard Branson, the owner of the virgin network of companies and multi millionaire. Why well done? Well he has put up a reward today of $25 million for anyone that can come up with a way of saving the planet from the increasing threat of climate change. Any ideas?

I have to say that finally someone with some sort of clout on this issue has finally stood up and done something positive in order to try and solve this issue. At the moment all the prize money that is available is being fronted by the Virgin company owned by Branson. It is the hope that other governments will match the money that Virgin are putting forward, but we will have to wait and see what happens.

I have said on many previous posts that it is now up to the big players in the world (Bush, Blair and the large multinational companies) to do something to help the program. I recycle and try and save as much energy as possible, thus reducing my carbon footprint but these little things that me and you are doing are nothing compared with what is needed. A pupil said in my class today “what is the point sir? I will be dead in 100 years when the effects are seen, so I am not bothered”. This unfortunately is the attitude of too many and it is only the likes of Branson and Attenborough that can change peoples opinions.

In history man has overcome many a challenge that we have been presented with and I belive that we can overcome this challenge. However scientists can only search for solutions if they are paid and there is an incentive. Thats not being a money grabber it is just life! Me and you are no doubt the same. If the governments of the big world players (USA, UK, Germany etc.) can match Bransons offer then surely someone somewhere will be able to find a solution to solve this massive global problem. Otherwise as I have said before “the future is not bright. The future is very grey”!

For a while now there have been some very good adverts made by Apple Inc. to promote their hardware. They have taken the form of Apple Vs PC. The idea being that there is a real geeky dude dressed in a dodgy suit and then a cool dude dressed casual. The geek being the PC and the cool dude being the Apple. Well it now seems that Apple have gone global with their ads as there is now an English version.

I think that the ads are very well and they do come across with some very valid messages about the Mac and the PC. What I do like is the fact that they have not just said that a PC is rubbish (it’s not!) but its strengths are very different from a Mac. The Mac guy plays up the fact that he is more of a home computer with iLife being the backbone of the things that the Mac can do.

I think that my favourite advert has to be the restarting one were PC is constantly stopping and doesn’t talk because he is supposed to have ‘crashed’ and needs restarting. Good thinking from Apple.

These ads are definately worth a quick look. View them at the Apple UK website.

According to the forecast it is set to snow a somepoint during the day tomorrow. The south should get snow at some point during tonight. I like it when it snows as its is different and it doesn’t happen very often. However this time it is set to snow at the wrong time. Why? Well let me explain.

Being a school teacher there is always the possibility that the snow will mean that the school could be closed. This is a good thing, as much as the next person I don’t at all mind a day off work however in this job the timing is critical. If the school is shut before the day starts then that is fine however if it is clear when the day starts and then it starts to snow during the course of the day, it is usually very unpleasant.

I remember a time when it started snowing around about 10:00am. It was persistent for about 30 minutes and left a thin covering on the ground. The 11:00am onwards there was the constant moaning from the kids “are we going to be going home yet sir?”. Then I had a kid in my lesson suddenly get up and announce that he was going home. When challenged as to why he thought that he could just get up out of his seat and leave the room he told me that his mum had rung and was picking him up in case the snow got too bad. Straight away you have confrontation and problems. All the other kids start winging that it isn’t fair and that they want to go home. Learning stops and there is little point in having the lesson anyway.

The moral of the story being that if it is going to snow then great, but just make sure that the school is closed before the pupils get here!

Yesterday was the first day that we decided to let the rabbits have a run around the garden. We have now had then almost a week and so thought that they would be used to their surroundings now. The garden is completely rabbit proof so they couldn’t escape and get into danger.

George was in his element wandering around the garden investigating all the different nooks and crannies that there is to offer. Jeremy is a little more shy and treads around more carefully. You might say that he is a little less investigative than George. In total they had a good 40 minutes running around which they seemed to enjoy a lot.

Then we got them back into their pen (home) and they settled. We went back into the house and continued whatever we were doing at the time. About half an hour later we looked out of the window only to notice George sat in the middle of the garden. Naughty George had rapidly learned how to scale the sides of the pen and ‘do one’ so that he could run around the garden. Jeremy was still sat in his hutch eating straw.We got George back in once again which he wasn’t too pleased about. This time we decided to shut the garage door so that even if he was sly enough to scale the pen walls he couldn’t escape into the garden.

Later that evening when going to feed the rabbits their tea (they usually get half a bowl of dry rabbit food, a couple of small carrots and an apple) I could only find Jeremy in the pen once again. It was clear that once again George had been a naughty rabbit and done one. We found in wandering around the garage floor investigating all that was around him. It was therefore time for more drastic action to keep the boys (well George really!) in check. I got George back in munching on his tea and then the roof went on the pen. No more escaping tonight young man!

George has clearly learnt how to jump onto the top of the hutch and then get out of the pen that way. Jeremy is a little more of a laid back rabbit and probably either cannot be bothered jumping out or hasn’t yet follolwing in George’s footsteps. Maybe that is to come.

It seems that Liverpool have finally been taken over by investors. However they are not from Dubai as many people would have expected 2 – 3 weeks ago. No, they are from David Beckhams new hunting ground the USA.

The takeover is by George Gillet and Tom Hicks and these will both act as co-chairman. However they are going the leave the existing chief executive Rick Parry to run the club – something which I am sure Liverpool fans will welcome.

They have paid over £400 million for the club. The club itself worth around £175 million and the the £40 or so million of debt they have. Add onto this the £200 million that they are investing in order to build the new stadium and probably some money for Raffa to buy new players (or so the fans hope!).

What was worrying some of the fans was that it was though that the American duo was borrowing the money in order to buy the club which is surely a riskt business. However they have given their assurance today that this is not the case.

Speaking to Liverpool fans that I know they are all for the takeover. They say that there is the need for new investment in order to keep up with the Chelsea’s, Manchester United’s and Arsenal’s of the premier league. There is also the prospect of the new stadium that the club wish to build in Stanley Park. Maybe this can now go ahead.

One thing is definitely sure for the future of Liverpool football club and that is that there is going to be some changes in the near future. Lets just hope that they are changes for the better!

Over the last few days I have been unable to stop thinking about Toby. Toby was our pet rabbit that died on the 22nd January this year. I simply cannot get little Tobes off my mind. There are so many questions going around my head.

Why did he die? Was he on his own at the time? Did he die peacefully? Was it something that we did or didn’t do? Could we have done more for him? Was he unhappy? All these questions at the moment I find hard to answer. There are two sides to the argument I suppose that are milling around my mind.

The first being that we did our best for Toby. He had an excellent home (hutch and run etc.) and he was free to move around the garage and the garden as he pleased – surely not many other rabbits would have this luxury. He had parents (me and my wife!) who cared for him dearly and also he was fed the right diet and got attention from us nearly everyday. He had plenty of room in the garden to run around including a huge digging trough which is did enjoy.

On the other side, we problably could have spent more time with Toby. In winter however he was very reluctant to being handled and did sometimes run away from us. It seemed to us that he had the winter blues. Did we do the right thing by getting him in the first place? Should we have got Toby another rabbit for company? Reading up on the internet it seems clear that rabbits do like a friend. However the pet shop never suggested this which does disappoint me. I was always worried that if we got him another rabbit to give him some company and they didn’t get on then both their lives would have been unpleasant.

All these things are just bugging me. I suppose that I just want to know that I did all I can for him and that he enjoyed his life with us. Are these silly questions and thoughts or they normal? We certainly enjoyed having Toby with us for two years. He is missed dearly and whatever or wherever he is at the moment, I hope that he is happy. As the title of this post says we are ‘thinking of you Toby’ and George and Jeremy will never replace you. Love Mark ane Helen xx