Big Al's Spot (& Annie too)

Looking Cute
Big Al

Turbo is a great footballer, much better than a lot of amateur players in my opinion. He can keep the ball up using his nose or kill a bouncing ball with his chest.
Big Al

I've went and put the google toolbar onto my Internet Explorer.

So I thought I'd post up a friends blog just to see if it works and also to encourage a good idea.

woolgathering productivity

I had to come in an edit the page but it does seem to be a pretty useful button

Just had a phone call from someone in the http://www.guardian.co.uk/ about a supplement they are preparing on plus-size retailers, so as of about mid-October 2004 we should see a huge rise in business (fingers crossed). The article is coming out in their Weekend supplement, which should allow us to get orders for the all important Christmas market.

October seems a very long way away, but it will just fly.

Went for a walk near Hampton in Arden with Anna and the dog, it was pretty good weather and I was surprised just how dry it was, considering the amount of rain we have had lately.

Having walked up to Hampton Lakes we called in and had a coffee outside on the picnic benches of http://www.westmidlandsgolfclub.co.uk/ - it even has a sign up on the public footpath saying walkers welcome. Thats a bit of a surprise for a golf club.

Having left the surrounds of the club house we like to let Turbo off the lead and allow him some fun. Turbo being Turbo just took a run and leap into the lake, see
http://www.westmidlandsgolfclub.co.uk/18th_hole.htm as it shows the lake we walk around, so from the 18th hole to the very bottom of the lake, Turbo took great delight in getting into the water and out again. I'm not sure everyone approves, but it was wonderful to see how engrossed Turbo was biting the water, paddling out a bit, getting out, giving himself a shake and then bombing back into the water.

The best part of the day was when Turbo jumped into the river and decided to bound up and down the river like a gazelle. I know we are not supposed to anthropomorphise animals, but Turbo smiles when in the water and he doesn't seem to mind the baths we have to give him either.

Well having had a low key launch of http://www.berkswelldirect.com , we have been making sure that everything on the site is working and unlikely to cause any problems for people using it. So far so good, all the stats we have available to us so far seem to indicate that the site is coping with the traffic being thrown at it so far.

So now to get some more traffic to berkswelldirect.com with a combination of google adwords, a bit of old fashioned magazine advertising, public relations and of course a good high listing on google.

The site has been submitted to http://www.dmoz.org as a starter, I suppose if an editor has seen fit to categorise it, it is unlikely to be spam or a copy of another site with just a few word changes. Apparently a dmoz listing almost guarantees a google listing, but they tend to take ages in actually spidering the dmoz site.

I've also started to look at some business forums like http://www.shell-livewire.com/forums/ and http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/ for possible ideas on getting the site noticed, but to be honest there look to be too many scam artists rather than trully genuine businesses. I've tried to give advice where I feel I'm qualified to do so.

Well after a lot of research, questionaires, hardwork and heartache I'm happy to announce that Annas new business venture and website is now fully up and running and ready to take orders.

You can use either of these two links to go and take a look round the place:

www.berkswelldirect.com/plus-size.html

or

www.berkswelldirect.com

Its a low key launch for the moment, as I'm sure there are likely to be a few teething problems and changes we may not have thought of. Better to be able to cope with these first before crashing and burning, but we don't mind if you tell your friends.

Fingers crossed.

Guess I'd better explain, I love slang words and their use in the local vernacular. I especially like being reaquainted with Northern Irish vernacular that I haven't used for ages.

So having had my Da over, we were talking in the car about our ability to upset the female species with what to us are just terms of endearment. The basic premise that we came to was summed up very aptly: "Men are emotional Hallions" they just don't understand that while you can call your mates or son a gobshite, its best not to say the same thing to a women as they will only dwell on it and you'll never hear the end of it.

Let me elucidate a bit on the word Hallion, it is an old Irish word for “a badly behaved kid or rogue" other examples of usage include:

He’s turning into a right hallion.
When I catch that hallion.....
I'm going to tell them that I've been a rip and a hallion.
Oh, you dirty hallion.
What kind of a dirty hallion is she a'tall?".

I have to say my mummy (yep even at 33 I still call her mummy, its the irish way) called me a dirty hallion a time or two when I was young. It was normally when I had rushed in a grabbed something to eat and rushed back outside again without washing my hands.

It is amazing how time flies when your having fun, since I last blogged (sounds like a confession) I have missed talking about:

My dad being over for two weeks
My 33rd Birthday
My nephew and nieces birthdays
Matthew (Annas brother) and Debbies wedding
Visiting Annas parents down in London
The continuing sagas of a dog called Turbo
Bwwwwyan and Sarahs housewarming

So while I expect I'll do a bit more extensive writeup you'll have to bear with me (had to go check I was using the right "bear" in that phrase).