The Long Journey

I heard a rumour yesterday that a dolphin had washed up on Cleveleys beach - I was doubtful, but here are the pictures to prove it:

http://flickr.com/photos/16972145@N04

Pictures courtesy of Joe Kennedy.

After trying to get the dolphin back into deeper water, without success, the coastguard wrapped the dolphin in a wet blanket and took it away to care for it.

I do wonder if anything like this has ever happened on Cleveleys or Blackpool beaches before. I find it quite unusual but maybe there are a few dolphins around.

If anyone has any further information or stories do let me know.

For those of you that listen to Radio 1 over the internet, this might come in handy:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/wm_asx/aod/radio1.asx

It is the direct link to the online stream, so you can paste this into an application like Winamp, VLC or whatever you use instead of having to keep a browser window open.

I am sure BBC don’t mind you using it like this but the url is buried in the html and is quite tricky to find (because of the frames) so hopefully this will save you some digging.

Just a quick note that the Canon MP210, which I showed previously how you can get for £15, arrived today and is fantastic.

The print quality is great, scanning is top notch and looks damn nice (if a bit on the big side).

It comes with print cartridges but not a USB cable (pick one up from Amazon for £1 or so).

Read the post here on how to get it for £15 with a current Cashback promotion

Canon are doing a Cashback Thing until 13th April on the Canon MP210 Printer, Scanner and Copier.

If you buy this printer, you can claim £20 cashback from Canon - once you have bought the printer you just print out a form, fill it out and send it off.

Its got great reviews and is £35 at Amazon (already reduced!) with free delivery, so you can get this for £15 by claiming the cashback.

I bought mine today but not received it or claimed cashback yet, but many people have without a problem.

I recently some bought some excellent Yerba Mate tea and Green Tea from Teapigs.co.uk and they sent me a 10% voucher code - just enter SPRING at checkout.

Yerba Mate is a quite extraordinary tea and it reallys gives you a pick me up when you need it. It also is reported to have weight loss properties.

I definitely recommend checking out Tea Pigs - they have a great range of teas and if you can look past the quirky-yet-generic name and yuppy, more money than sense image they really offer a good range of tea, with good descriptions and great service.

The prices are generally quite expensive but you do get what you pay for.

If you book tickets in bulk (say 10 or more), you will pay more per ticket than if you buy them individually (in our case £10 more per ticket for 11 tickets).

Thanks Ryan Air, I guess you get what you pay for.

More complaints on the Money Saving Expert Forum.

From a poster seen in an Italian office:

In Heaven…

• the mechanics are German
• the chefs are French
• the police are British
• the lovers are Italian
• and everything is organized by the Swiss.

In Hell…

• the mechanics are French
• the police are German
• the chefs are British
• the lovers are Swiss
• and everything is organized by the Italians.

Found at the excellent What Europeans Think of Each Other article at Daily Candor.

After talking about it for a while, John Stirzaker has gone out and launched his website Donate To John.

The idea is simple - donate money to John via Paypal and when he has had enough of free money the site will be passed on to another John (My middle name is Jon, does that count?).

In Johns words..

Lovely, dig deep.

Check it out at http://www.donatetojohn.com/

Genius. I could just imagine this sign outside the back of Marks and Spencers in Blackpool, where all the pidgeons congregate hoping for scraps of Hampsons pies and pastries.

It has been 8 weeks since my Anterior Cruciate Ligament was reconstructed after a football injury and I am now managing almost a full normal bend of the knee, running, lifting weights and swimming.

It has been pretty tough keeping up the motivation of going to the gym six times a week but it is really paying off now. I saw my physio this morning who has said everything is fine and I am making good progress, so now I will be pushing it harder and moving onto longer running and more weights.

I was fortunate to get private treatment for all this so the physio setup is top quality. Next time I am in I will be testing out the leg strength to identify any weaknesses. It is also said that the Bolton players use the place (Euxton Hall in Chorley) but I am yet to bump into any!

The one difficulty I have had is with my hamstring, part of which was used to reconstruct the ligament. This left it weak and I have tweaked it a couple of times since so I am bit behind on strengthening those muscles.

It feels like I have been working at this forever, but 8 weeks is not really a long time. I have only been at the gym for 4 weeks also even though it is now like a second home.

My aim is to be football training by June, which will be about 5 months after the op and with a target of July/August for a competitive game.

I have learned a lot from this injury, but most importantly I have realised how much I had taken fitness for granted. Before the injury I had spells at going to the gym but never really had a proper plan or goal, meaning I didn’t keep it up properly or didn’t get the full benefit.

So with that in mind, maybe this is the wake up call I needed which means I will be able to keep active for longer and enjoy it more.

Roll on June!