Good morning doesn’t really seem appropriate this morning, unless you are parked before a roaring fire and don’t have to go out. The wind is blowing from the Southwest at about force 8. The weather forecasters say it will increase to force 9 by lunch time. It is also raining and they are saying we will have maybe an inch of rain.
The so-called super seacat isn’t very super and is tied up in Douglas harbour; she neither fights like a Viking nor performs like superman. Meanwhile the Ben My Ch
This has not been my best week. I have been riddled with flaming pleurisy. If you have never had pleurisy, then I hope you never discover it. If you have, you will know how bloody painful it is.
The credit crunch is well and truly with us now, although I am not absolutely certain just exactly what a credit crunch is. Visa cards and the rest of them are still writing to me offering credit. Back in the 60’s and early 70’s we had something called hirer purchase. I remember buying a wireless on
I am not a motor racing fan however, yesterday I found myself listening to the race on the radio. It seems Lewis Hamilton was about to make a pit stop when he received a text message which read. “Lewis if you are calling at the garage, can you pick me up a twix!” I believe his pit stop lasted about 6 seconds, so if he did manage to collect a twix he did well, not to mention the girl who served him. I know from my own experience that Barbara has never managed to fill our car with petrol, change a
Good morning folks. Another weekend has come around once again. We have a fine day today; however we have a South-westerly force 8 and heavy rain forecast for Sunday. Yesterday I was talking about the village of Derbyhaven so I shall just finish off before I move on. Since writing yesterday’s blog it has been brought to my attention that Derbyhaven has its own Mayor. Yes it seems his name is Dave, he is a scouser and a plumber by trade, and married to Jackie. He drinks in the Sidings and has als
Barbara has almost completed a painting of Derbyhaven. She tells me it will be finished today, so I will attach the picture of it to one of next week's blogs. Derbyhaven has always been a very special place to me, unfortunately though, today the village has lost its character and charm. It is almost as if someone came along and selected the right kind of people, built the right type of houses and just super imposed the new Derbyhaven over the top of the old one. When I was a child, Derbyhaven ha
Today I was supposed to be speaking at a cancer seminar at Nobles Hospital. However, for reasons unknown to me at present, it has been cancelled until after Christmas. I had never heard of the word oncology until I began my chemotherapy at the oncology unit at Nobles. I have still never come across a hospital with a cancer department. The word oncology reminds me of the civic amenity centre. We use to call that, the tip!
I used to be a blind child, then I was a blind man. Now, I am visually
Hello folks, I have been thinking about neighbours lately. When I was a kid growing up at Janet’s Corner, the entire housing estate were your neighbours really. The neighbours seemed to spend as much time in your house then, as they did there own. We borrowed, bread, sugar, and even money from each other. I can’t remember anyone being regarded as a bad neighbour. No loud music ever came from next door, but then we didn’t have stereo players. Somehow Jim Reeves and Cliff Richards being played on
Good morning folks. Well I have had a couple of messages sent to me through the forum. Can I just remind you that should you want a reply from me, email me at tomglassey@manx.net. Yes, I can read messages left through the forum; however replying to them through the forum is quite another matter.
This Wednesday I have been invited to speak at a seminar which has been setup for the welfare of cancer sufferers. The idea is that a group of doctors, nurses and consultants have come together and
I first started blogging last February. Before then I didn’t even know what a blog was. Having being diagnosed with lung cancer, and with my future looking pretty bleak, someone suggested I should write a blog. My wife Barbara being something of a computer techy, set me up and I have been blogging away ever since. To date almost 17,000 people have logged onto my blog and I have made friends and established contacts with people from all over the world. Indeed the articles in Manx Tails have only
I have been keeping my eye on the QE2 on the AIS system, as she makes her way around Britain on her farewell cruise before she becomes a floating hotel in Dubai. At the time of writing, she has just left South Queensferry for Newcastle. Last week she called into Douglas bay and many folks got up early to go and take a look at her. I can understand why people would want to go and see such a prestigious ship. I have been ship mad, or at least boat mad, just about all my life. Yet the visit of the
A few days ago, I dedicated the blog to a wonderful Castletown character Gordon Cooil who sadly has now past on. It was heartening to receive emails from various parts of the world from Manxies who have fled the nest and still remember Gordon with such fondness. Steve in New Zealand still recalls being wound up by both Gordon and his brother Juan, in the Union pub. I hope you did not waste too much time looking for those pearls in the Silverburn River Steve that obviously made a fortune for Gor
I woke up at 3am and I have been awake ever since. It started with Skipper wanting out for a pee, and then of course I simply could not get back to sleep again. At 4-30, I gave in trying to sleep and went and made a cup of tea and turned on the radio. I heard someone say. “In America, they have Johnny cash, Bob Hope, and Stevie Wonder! In the UK we have no cash, no hope, and no wonder!” Well I’m not sure what that is supposed to mean but I thought I would share it with you.
I went to the Du
Well this last couple weeks has been a heavy time. I have been working, almost over time. I start a four week trial on 13 October and there are acres of papers and files. Nearly there but not quite. I am enjoying the cut and thrust but it does remind me of why I stood to one side.
On the family front I got news that my uncle by marriage died in September. As most of you will know I am adopted. My adoptive parents were each only children. I have an adopted sister and a niece and nephew. I fou
Sorry folks, no the large vessel seen in Douglas bay this morning was not the Steam Packet’s new fast craft. It was a farewell visit from the QE2. Although as she has never visited us before, I’m not sure why she called it a farewell visit, I guess it must have been a sort of hello good-bye job. Having just checked out AIS, she is now heading for the Mersey bar and making 19 knots. The QE2 arrived from Cork early this morning and set off for Liverpool around 7 a.m., the same time as the Viking w
There I am at Heysham in the Ferry Terminal. God is having a particularly heavy pee on the port at the time. It’s early December 2006 and I’m on my way home.
Heysham Terminal – I wonder why Dante omitted it from his divine comedy – must have been too scary. Actually it’s more Mines of Moria from Lord of the Rings. Dark, damp and full of strange creatures.
The traffic cone is in the middle of the sewage pool designated as the Gentlemens toilet. I heard on Manx Radio several weeks later it
It’s Thursday afternoon. This week has been a real turning point for me. I actually feel now as if I am getting back towards full fitness. A couple of weeks ago, I hit a really bad patch. I was actually in the midst of some severe side effects of radiation. It actually felt much worse than that. I had been warned of the side effects of radiation; however, I was expecting them to arrive soon after treatment or even during treatment. Not three months after, and not all at the same time. My days be
In the last blog I was talking about guns, my brief ownership of a water pistol and cap gun. Another form of a firearm we had as kids was the pea shooter and I had one just like everyone else. It was just a simple piece of pipe about 6 inches long which I’m sure we bought in Peggy Watterson’s toy shop for about a shilling or so. With a bag of hard peas nicked from someone’s mum, we would sit happily picking off shoppers as they made their way home from Castletown. Of course being hit by a hard p
I think Sackers lived in the School Hill end of Castletown. I never knew his real name or got to find out who he really was. I only remember him being about 19 or 20. He never seemed to progress beyond that age. Of course to us 6 or 7 year old kids, he was all but an old man. He was a kids dream, a sort of kid’s handyman, always on hand to fix wheel barrows, boogies or whatever. With a few bits of drift wood found on the beach, a length or two of old rope and an hour later or so, Sackers would h
One thousand years ago or so, men came from the North. They landed in Peel and proceeded to rape and pillage the Island. I am sure that many of these Vikings were good and noble men, and in the passage of time it would appear that they probably brought more to the Island than they took. As a child I knew nothing of the Vikings. I had heard of them of course. But apart from a few boat loads of men running around the Island with horns on their hats, that was about as much as we kids knew, or wante
Last Thursday I visited my consultant to check on how I am getting on. He gave me the all clear for four months. I am told that that it means I’ve made good progress. 6 months ago I came out of a doctor’s surgery having being told I probably only had a short time to live. How life can turn around for you! You just never really know what is in store for you. That is why you should never ever give up hope no matter how hopeless your situation might seem. I remember lying in bed last February and o
I am a fan of the IOM. I have a motor home. I belong to a motor home forum. I always push the IOM as an ideal destination. Here is my guide for a recent visitor (July 2008)
Hello
well you may miss the scooter festival and you definitely miss our national day 5th July, but held on 7th, due to the week end, but you hit race week for the Southern 100 motorbike races.
Arrival day I suggest you stay on the Marine Drive just south of Douglas (along South Quay and then up Douglas Head Roa
I know these entries are sporadic. I am amazed any one ever reads what I have to say. Anyway I felt the need for a catch up, today, now. No idea what prompts it, but here goes
I have not been out to Spain very much this year, been busy at home and I have had jobs to do. I have a four week trial starting 13 October so lots of preparation and I have been working for a client in Bulgaria on and off.
I have had a coupe, of short Spanish trips, suffice to say that all is done now apart from s
Well I have calmed down a little now from when I turned on my radio this morning. The first thing that annoyed me was the announcement of the mansion house dinner tonight. Yes, it seems there is to be a dinner for 200 guests tonight sponsored by the IOM Government. Apart from a few top wigs in our Government, the movers and shakers from the finance sector will all be present. This includes bankers and what have you from the UK. According to our lot, this piece of nonsense is going to bring bungl
