The Philanderer
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Call that a half Simon?
Now a week is a long time in politics, and I think I have said that on here before, but just imagine that one weekend you are attending the Patterdale Show in the Lake District, and then paddling a raft in a race, dressed as a viking.
The next week you are teeing it up with the greatest golfer of modern times, Tiger Woods, in the BMW Championship at Cog Hill near Chicago.
Next week its Brentford v Bristol Rovers, but hey ho!!!
So first the show. Well my mucker 'Off the record' Dick has reported the events at the show and on the river here in his blog of 31st August, and a fine summary it is too. There were sheep and dogs, and shepherds and shepherdesses, if one is allowed to call them such these days. To my mind thought the best Sheep were the Black ones I consumed throughout the evening!!
I was excused duties on the raft to be honest as it was unclear whether our new design would take the weight of five of us. As Dick points out in the end it would only carry three such. Still we took part and by all accounts have kept the race alive following our pirate escapades last year.
So myself and SWMBO arrived home on the Monday to be presented with (almost) the trip of a lifetime. I got a call from the BMW golf office in London telling me there was a space at the pro-am prior to the third leg of the FedEx Cup and could I get there?
Well a quick call on Tuesday to the boss, then Virgin Atlantic and finally to Octagon in Chicago and we are both on our way. We arrived to be greeted with a chauffeur and a logo'd BMW and so it went on for the week....shopping madam? we'll drop you off, just call when you need a pickup.....off to the course sir, let us take you....and for three days BMW did us proud.
The highlight arrived on the Wednesday when I got to play the pro-am. The previous night my German colleagues and I attended the partner party where we got to choose who to play with. They fancied a European, but by the time our number came out of the hat they had all gone.
I suggested we went for Lucas Glover. That would sandwich us between Tiger and his team and Sergio Garcia. It would also give us a first tee start and Lucas is after all the US Open Champion. They went with it and that's how we got to be in reception inthe hotel at 5am with the Tiger man himself. He signed a few autographs and drove himself to the course (in a Buick!!).
We followed his group all the way round, and beat them by 4 shots, coming a creditable 4th out of 52 teams, but sadly just outside the prizes. All in all though, a great day, which I shared with Lucas Glover, my caddie Joe, a Chuck Evans Scholar, and a few hundred other people who were gracious enough on the 18th green to applaud my approach putt.
As I mentioned in my blog only a few days ago, golf is one of those games where you can tread the boards on which perform your hero's. On this occasion I was able to do it at the same time
The next week you are teeing it up with the greatest golfer of modern times, Tiger Woods, in the BMW Championship at Cog Hill near Chicago.
Next week its Brentford v Bristol Rovers, but hey ho!!!
So first the show. Well my mucker 'Off the record' Dick has reported the events at the show and on the river here in his blog of 31st August, and a fine summary it is too. There were sheep and dogs, and shepherds and shepherdesses, if one is allowed to call them such these days. To my mind thought the best Sheep were the Black ones I consumed throughout the evening!!
I was excused duties on the raft to be honest as it was unclear whether our new design would take the weight of five of us. As Dick points out in the end it would only carry three such. Still we took part and by all accounts have kept the race alive following our pirate escapades last year.
So myself and SWMBO arrived home on the Monday to be presented with (almost) the trip of a lifetime. I got a call from the BMW golf office in London telling me there was a space at the pro-am prior to the third leg of the FedEx Cup and could I get there?
Well a quick call on Tuesday to the boss, then Virgin Atlantic and finally to Octagon in Chicago and we are both on our way. We arrived to be greeted with a chauffeur and a logo'd BMW and so it went on for the week....shopping madam? we'll drop you off, just call when you need a pickup.....off to the course sir, let us take you....and for three days BMW did us proud.
The highlight arrived on the Wednesday when I got to play the pro-am. The previous night my German colleagues and I attended the partner party where we got to choose who to play with. They fancied a European, but by the time our number came out of the hat they had all gone.
I suggested we went for Lucas Glover. That would sandwich us between Tiger and his team and Sergio Garcia. It would also give us a first tee start and Lucas is after all the US Open Champion. They went with it and that's how we got to be in reception inthe hotel at 5am with the Tiger man himself. He signed a few autographs and drove himself to the course (in a Buick!!).
We followed his group all the way round, and beat them by 4 shots, coming a creditable 4th out of 52 teams, but sadly just outside the prizes. All in all though, a great day, which I shared with Lucas Glover, my caddie Joe, a Chuck Evans Scholar, and a few hundred other people who were gracious enough on the 18th green to applaud my approach putt.
As I mentioned in my blog only a few days ago, golf is one of those games where you can tread the boards on which perform your hero's. On this occasion I was able to do it at the same time
Labels: BMW, buick, chicago, chuck evans, cog hill, donkin life, patterdale, sticks, tiger woods, vikings
¶ 12:08 AM 0 Comments
Friday, July 31, 2009
I said left, not right......
I am pleased with my new car, and I hate to say it, but one of the best bits in the sat nav. I have always resisted buying a TomTom or similar, as i think part of being a bloke is the right to get lost. its all part of the adventure.
"yes I know where we are", "No you don't, why don't you stop and ask?" "Its fine we will be there is a few minutes", "The kids are getting upset".....and so it goes on. You always manage to get there in the end though, and feel really pleased with yourself.
The sat nav has taken all that challenge out of driving and I must say I quite enjoy it.It calculates the ETA, it lets me know if there are traffic problems and can plan diversions. That was particularly useful in Lancaster last week, and it shows golf courses, petrol stations and hospitals if you want it to. Although now we don't argue about directions, i don't need the last category as much as I used to.
I still take the occasional wrong turn just to upset the lady doing the voice over, but she has not resigned from map reading just yet.......time will tell.
"yes I know where we are", "No you don't, why don't you stop and ask?" "Its fine we will be there is a few minutes", "The kids are getting upset".....and so it goes on. You always manage to get there in the end though, and feel really pleased with yourself.
The sat nav has taken all that challenge out of driving and I must say I quite enjoy it.It calculates the ETA, it lets me know if there are traffic problems and can plan diversions. That was particularly useful in Lancaster last week, and it shows golf courses, petrol stations and hospitals if you want it to. Although now we don't argue about directions, i don't need the last category as much as I used to.
I still take the occasional wrong turn just to upset the lady doing the voice over, but she has not resigned from map reading just yet.......time will tell.
Labels: BMW, Lancaster, sat nav, TomTom
¶ 12:17 PM 0 Comments
Thursday, July 30, 2009
How many can a man have?
Well, a week ago I had no BMWs, and now theoretically I have two!!
Regular readers will recall that in October last year my virtually new BMW was stolen from outside my house in Chiswick, West London. I had the keys so indications were that it had been towed away. The deal was that I had to wait six months for it to be an insurance right off and I could then order a new one. That I duly did and it is sitting outside with 800 miles on the clock having arrived last week.
So you could knock me down with a feather this morning when the Metropolitan Police called me to say the original car had been identified. They had found it in a hotel car park in Dublin Airport.
Well that's not strictly true. The hotel contacted their local BMW dealer to say it had sat there for three months and could they get it shifted. On checking the dealership found it was stolen and contacted the Guarda who contacted the Met. Its still in the car park and the owner of the hotel wants to know who is going to pay for the three months parking charges!!
As an aside, the car was taken from a street about 50 yards from the Chiswick Moran hotel. The group have recently acquired the Bewley chain of hotels in Ireland, and yes you've guessed it, the stolen car was in the Bewley, Dublin Airport, hotel. Seems like somebody wanted a lift home!!!
Regular readers will recall that in October last year my virtually new BMW was stolen from outside my house in Chiswick, West London. I had the keys so indications were that it had been towed away. The deal was that I had to wait six months for it to be an insurance right off and I could then order a new one. That I duly did and it is sitting outside with 800 miles on the clock having arrived last week.
So you could knock me down with a feather this morning when the Metropolitan Police called me to say the original car had been identified. They had found it in a hotel car park in Dublin Airport.
Well that's not strictly true. The hotel contacted their local BMW dealer to say it had sat there for three months and could they get it shifted. On checking the dealership found it was stolen and contacted the Guarda who contacted the Met. Its still in the car park and the owner of the hotel wants to know who is going to pay for the three months parking charges!!
As an aside, the car was taken from a street about 50 yards from the Chiswick Moran hotel. The group have recently acquired the Bewley chain of hotels in Ireland, and yes you've guessed it, the stolen car was in the Bewley, Dublin Airport, hotel. Seems like somebody wanted a lift home!!!
Labels: Bewley hotel, BMW, Chiswick Moran hotel, Dublin Airport
¶ 3:58 PM 0 Comments
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Fore!
I managed to grab a bit of R & R this week, with a couple of rounds of golf round two of the 'name' clubs in England, The Belfry and Wentworth.
The Belfry is renowned as the course which was the home of the Ryder Cup and swung the fortunes of the GB and Ireland team in the early nineties. The course has always been on my list of those to play, as the 10th hole and the 18th hole are in my book of 1001 golf holes to play before you die.
Many people have described The Belfry as an average course with three or four good holes, and sadly the experience of this week has backed that up. The condition of the course was poor even for the early time in the year, and frankly it was no better than municipal standard. The 10th hole was being dug up and reshaped, so we did not get to play that. The 18th was a long par 4 with two carries over water. we both made the first but found watery lies for our approach shots which was a shame. So tricked off the list but no urge to need to play it again.
One of the captains of the Ryder Cup team during its resurgence, was Bernard Gallagher, father of Kirsty, and long term Wentworth member and professional. As we approached the club on Wednesday his statue is the first thing you notice, as it sits on the first tee.
The Wentworth event was a BMW promotional day, with team and individual prizes. it was competed on the greens of the West course, or Burma Road as it is called, and is the track used for the BMW Masters in May and the Matchplay Championship in October. Consequently it is on the TV all the time, so one feels like you know it as you do the Belfry.
There is, however, no comparison. Wentworth is a natural true Brit course laid down bu Harry Colt using the contours of nature. The Belfry is a man made American style course which modern architects need to use little imagination to develop.
We did not win any prizes, but were fortunate to be afforded the facilities for the day as after the BMW in May, all the greens will be remodelled and much of the course will be given a Spring clean in readiness for the 2010 season. The greens are suffering from 70 years of wear and tear and now is the right time to do the regeneration.
It is likely to cost the Wentworth club £3-4million in expense and lost revenue, although with the East course and the Edinburgh course, the members will still have somewhere to play.......good game, good game, as one of them would say!
The Belfry is renowned as the course which was the home of the Ryder Cup and swung the fortunes of the GB and Ireland team in the early nineties. The course has always been on my list of those to play, as the 10th hole and the 18th hole are in my book of 1001 golf holes to play before you die.
Many people have described The Belfry as an average course with three or four good holes, and sadly the experience of this week has backed that up. The condition of the course was poor even for the early time in the year, and frankly it was no better than municipal standard. The 10th hole was being dug up and reshaped, so we did not get to play that. The 18th was a long par 4 with two carries over water. we both made the first but found watery lies for our approach shots which was a shame. So tricked off the list but no urge to need to play it again.
One of the captains of the Ryder Cup team during its resurgence, was Bernard Gallagher, father of Kirsty, and long term Wentworth member and professional. As we approached the club on Wednesday his statue is the first thing you notice, as it sits on the first tee.
The Wentworth event was a BMW promotional day, with team and individual prizes. it was competed on the greens of the West course, or Burma Road as it is called, and is the track used for the BMW Masters in May and the Matchplay Championship in October. Consequently it is on the TV all the time, so one feels like you know it as you do the Belfry.
There is, however, no comparison. Wentworth is a natural true Brit course laid down bu Harry Colt using the contours of nature. The Belfry is a man made American style course which modern architects need to use little imagination to develop.
We did not win any prizes, but were fortunate to be afforded the facilities for the day as after the BMW in May, all the greens will be remodelled and much of the course will be given a Spring clean in readiness for the 2010 season. The greens are suffering from 70 years of wear and tear and now is the right time to do the regeneration.
It is likely to cost the Wentworth club £3-4million in expense and lost revenue, although with the East course and the Edinburgh course, the members will still have somewhere to play.......good game, good game, as one of them would say!
Labels: Bernard Gallagher, BMW, Harry Colt, Kirsty Gallagher, The Belfry, The Ryder Cup, Wentworth
¶ 10:44 AM 0 Comments
Friday, October 17, 2008
I just said 'Blow the Bloody Doors Off'
Have you ever got out of bed in the morning and wondered where you have parked the car? Well that happened to me today, except I had not moved the car for three days, and it was not outside where I thought I had left it.
'That's strange' , I thought, I am sure it was there last night. So some entrepreneur of low moral fibre had tea leaved it for purpose or purposes unknown.
It will be used in a ram raid, or just driven round and dumped when it runs out of fuel said the local old bill I on the other hand had conjured up the image of it being stolen to order and already being resprayed, getting fitted with new number plates and shipped off to Cuba to star in a new James Bond film.
It had a bit of stuff in the boot, and cd's and electrical gismo's, but as I am off to Portugal tomorrow for a spot of golf, my passport and most of my equipment was luckily safely indoors.
So if any of you see a 5 Series blue BMW sticking out of a shop front near you, it could be mine!
'That's strange' , I thought, I am sure it was there last night. So some entrepreneur of low moral fibre had tea leaved it for purpose or purposes unknown.
It will be used in a ram raid, or just driven round and dumped when it runs out of fuel said the local old bill I on the other hand had conjured up the image of it being stolen to order and already being resprayed, getting fitted with new number plates and shipped off to Cuba to star in a new James Bond film.
It had a bit of stuff in the boot, and cd's and electrical gismo's, but as I am off to Portugal tomorrow for a spot of golf, my passport and most of my equipment was luckily safely indoors.
So if any of you see a 5 Series blue BMW sticking out of a shop front near you, it could be mine!
Labels: BMW, Cuba, james bond, ram raids, tea leave
¶ 5:01 PM 0 Comments
Friday, August 17, 2007
Oxymoron
I have had serious toothache this week, and anybody who knows me has been keeping well clear. Grumpy is not in it. To indicate how bad the pain was, I have been popping painkillers like smarties, and I am normally so against them you would not believe.
To a certain extent its my own fault. I knew I needed some treatment, so went to see my regular dental practise, knowing my usual dentist had moved away to start his own.
I found his replacement did not do NHS treatment, and after assessing my dental needs, two fillings and a crown, he quoted almost £400. He also took great delight in showing me his gold fillings and saying they were the way to go and I should have them. I took an instant dislike to the guy, and thought if I was going to pay that amount of money I would rather give it to somebody else.
He was also arrogant and rude to his dental nurse, but I am informed this is not unusual. My wife is in the trade and knows a thing or two about it.
So, I thought I would find a practise taking on NHS patients and rang the local NHS patient assistance line (PALS). They gave me a few names, but before registering with any of them I lodged a piece of wheatgerm in the damaged cavity and pierced into the nerve.......hurt or what!!
So now I am patched up. I found a very pleasant Polish dentist in Acton who assessed me, although he declined me as an NHS patient as the work was not worth his while for the fixed fees he can claim from them. He did quote £250 though and made no mention of crowns, just standard fillings. I mentioned the fact that I played for London Polish RFC in my youth, in Balham, South London and that seemed to help the relationship. he said he could see me on the NHS for checkups and other 'minor' work, so that was a step int he right direction.
The Polish connection reminded me of my embarrassing moment on the H22 bus after a recent rugby match when I engaged a young lady in conversation. She was not too keen to talk and said she did not understand as she was Polish. I then impishly asked her was she a plumber or an electrician....she got off at the next stop!
Talking of teeth, a few weeks ago there was an article about a chap who had crashed his new £125,000 BMW into a lamp post when he took his girlfriend out for a spin in it. Apparently she distracted him while he was driving and he was quoted as being relieved when, on impact, she had screamed!
To a certain extent its my own fault. I knew I needed some treatment, so went to see my regular dental practise, knowing my usual dentist had moved away to start his own.
I found his replacement did not do NHS treatment, and after assessing my dental needs, two fillings and a crown, he quoted almost £400. He also took great delight in showing me his gold fillings and saying they were the way to go and I should have them. I took an instant dislike to the guy, and thought if I was going to pay that amount of money I would rather give it to somebody else.
He was also arrogant and rude to his dental nurse, but I am informed this is not unusual. My wife is in the trade and knows a thing or two about it.
So, I thought I would find a practise taking on NHS patients and rang the local NHS patient assistance line (PALS). They gave me a few names, but before registering with any of them I lodged a piece of wheatgerm in the damaged cavity and pierced into the nerve.......hurt or what!!
So now I am patched up. I found a very pleasant Polish dentist in Acton who assessed me, although he declined me as an NHS patient as the work was not worth his while for the fixed fees he can claim from them. He did quote £250 though and made no mention of crowns, just standard fillings. I mentioned the fact that I played for London Polish RFC in my youth, in Balham, South London and that seemed to help the relationship. he said he could see me on the NHS for checkups and other 'minor' work, so that was a step int he right direction.
The Polish connection reminded me of my embarrassing moment on the H22 bus after a recent rugby match when I engaged a young lady in conversation. She was not too keen to talk and said she did not understand as she was Polish. I then impishly asked her was she a plumber or an electrician....she got off at the next stop!
Talking of teeth, a few weeks ago there was an article about a chap who had crashed his new £125,000 BMW into a lamp post when he took his girlfriend out for a spin in it. Apparently she distracted him while he was driving and he was quoted as being relieved when, on impact, she had screamed!
Labels: balham, BMW, crown, dentist, London Polish RFC, nhs, polish, teeth
¶ 1:45 PM 0 Comments
