New Prices From Monday

It's not too late to buy a boiler at the current price. But you will have to be quick as there is a price increase on Monday when prices will be raised by a shade over 5%. However, any orders placed before 5pm today for immediate delivery will qualify for the March 2010 price.



If you have visited this blog before you will know that I am a big fan of YouTube. I get an email update of the top virals every Friday but usually find that they have already been on the blog. However, this morning the email linked to one that I had not seen before and it has had over 8 million (yes, million!) views. Obviously with such a huge audience I had to take a look at it and here it is for you to check out. I don't know if I am a big cynic or what but I just don't get it. I was waiting for something to happen. It didn't. But I suppose that now it has been on this blog that will be eight million and five views. I wonder how many more simply thought WTF.





It's yesterday's news but I was delighted to see that Spain is taking another step into the 21st Century with the banning of bullfights in Catalonia. All that is needed now is for the rest of the country to follow suit and stop this barbaric ritual and all those other nasty things like throwing goats off towers and piling onto donkeys until their backs break in the name of "tradition". It beats me how any of it still goes on and perhaps it's time for a Europe wide movement against this cruelty.

I would like to say a big thank you to my Chinese reader who regularly leaves a comment on the blog. I am afraid that I don't speak Chinese and I do hope that the comments are complimentary. That Babel Fish Internet translation service is not up to too much as the translation of the latest comment reads "To have the item of fool law is it possible that in the law: “in an organization's fool, is bigger than permanently is equal to 2/3".I'm not sure that that is what my reader intended to say. Hope it's not me that's being referred to as the fool. Anyway here is a message for him or her courtesy of Babel Fish. Hope it doesn't offend. 谢谢您的评论。 不幸地我讲中文，但是您的到博克的参观是受欢迎的。

Don't forget Magic Numbers with Stephen Mulhern tomorrow evening 8pm ITV1. I've got my fingers crossed that there will be a big winner this week.This week's star act is Scouting For Girls. Never heard of them but I am reliably told by everyone in the office that they are good. Let's see.

Phew. I'm glad that I won't be doing that again.

I have just completed the transition of the payroll from weekly to monthly and what a job that was!I produced spreadsheet after spreadsheet to cross check the figures and am delighted that everybody's pay balanced to the penny bar one. As that error resulted in one member of staff being overpaid the princely sum of £22 I have let it lie and he or she (who shall remain nameless)can have a drink on me this weekend. The payroll is all set up now for August and I hope that everyone can manage the long wait before the next payday. We paid the annual bonus and profit share with the last week's pay so that will make it a little easier for them.



Another thing that will help is the annual pay rise that has been agreed and will take effect on 1st August. We've gone for 2.75% which I think is reasonable in the current economic climate especially as it is not a full year since our last pay round. Some of our staff will now have KPI's (Key Performance Indicators). These will allow us to measure performance and they will be rewarded depending on how well they do in achieving their targets. One of the KPI's will be for someone here to devise an incentive scheme for the rest of the staff.



Whilst taking another mouse to the park this morning (that's two this week), my ears pricked up as a story came on the radio about a medical breakthough with another furry creature.It seems that scientists have managed to repair rabbits' damaged joints by a new method that allows the tissue to regenerate naturally. Being in need of a new hip, I immediately thought that this could be a solution for me but I was brought back down to earth when the doctor being interviewd conjectured that it would be about ten years before the remedy would be available to humans.



With just one day to run in the month I am delighted to see Peter Brindle doing very well in the new sales league table that we have just introduced. Today Peter won an order for ten UCD47Ds. Well done and congratulations Pete.We'll have to get cracking on those KPI's for you.

Great news from son Paul. He has managed to get us tickets for the broadcast of Magic Numbers in a couple of weeks time. We are realy looking forward to it. Don't know who is performing yet. Last week it was Diana Vickers. I thought that she was good.

Seeing Stars

I've been working almost non stop for the last twenty four hours. We had a staff meeting yesterday and I announced a staff production bonus and profit share in respect of the ten months to 30th June. I then had to put this into action and, in addition, calculate the wages on a weekly basis for the last time before we switch to monthly pay with effect from 1st August. I don't think that I have had such a complicated set of calculations in the last twenty years and my head is reeling. I even broached my biggest taboo and worked at home last night to make sure that it was all done in time to meet the bank's payment deadline. I think I deserve some time off now but I have to get cracking on the new computer system and time is precious.

I've been so busy that I am late in reporting the arrival at Instanta of young Tim Isherwood who started on the shop floor a couple of weeks ago. Tim (19)is another local lad and he tells me that,after studying media, he is very interested in computers and computer graphics as well as being keen on badminton and table tennis. Welcome Tim. Apologies for the delay. I hope you have a very enjoyable time working here.



And here are a couple of important visitors who have been beavering away on our audit this week. Big Alan Finch of Moore Stephens has audited our books for six years now and he is always very welcome. It's nice to deal with a true gentleman and Alan is certainly that. This year he is accompanied by trainee charted accountant Patrick McGain. Patrick (25) has been with the firm for four years after completing an economics degree in Northumbria. A keen hockey player, he is also a season ticket holder at Everton but we won't hold that against him. I am sorry that my workload has prevented me from talking to him for long but I hope that he has enjoyed his visit and wish him success in completing his qualification.



I went to the doctor this morning to see if my blood pressure was causing my light headedness and tiredness and to see if I could reduce my pills. Typically my BP was quite high (it always is at the docs - they call it white coat syndrome)so I have to keep taking the tablets. But she decided that my symptoms were being caused by the pain from the bad hip which is affecting my sleep patterns and causing fatigue. So she has prescribed some pain killers and I hope that they do the trick. The last pain killers caused terrible stomach problems so I hope these are more benign.

I'll finish today with a video for our auditors. As they are both Evetonians I though they might like to see a team in blue and white who can score a goal.

Oi. Paper Boys You Might Be On Summer Holiday Now

That doesn't mean that everyone else is. One of my pleasures in life is my daily attempt to complete the Guardian quick crossword in under three minutes before leaving for work. I don't always achieve it but get a lot of fun trying. During term time the newspaper arrives on the doormat at around seven thirty leaving plenty of time to fit in the crossword before leaving to pick up the Instanta post from the post office. But what happens when school has broken up and the kids are on holiday? I empty the dishwasher and go to the door for the paper, It's not there. I prepare breakfast and go to the door for the paper. It's not there. I eat breakfast and go to the door for the paper. It's not there. I tidy up the breakfast dishes and go to the door for the paper. It's not there. I check how my lousy Betfair bets on Big Brother are doing and go to the door for the paper. It's not there. By now you will be getting the gist of things. Today the paper arrived a good hour later than usual and I had to try and complete the crossword whilst brushing my teeth. So come on paperboys (and girls). What's the point of a daily paper if you can't read it in the morning? Not every customer in Southport is a pensioner (even if it feels like it).





We've got a staff meeting later today. This is where I give everyone a quick rundown on how things have gone for the last few months and what we've got planned for the future. We talk about things like wages and bonuses . I used to hold these regularly but this is the first since we were taken over in January as we needed to integrate with our new owners before moving forward. This is now starting to fall into place so I've got plenty of news to report to everyone. And if you phone between 4.40 and 5pm I am afraid that we probably won't be available. Apologies in advance. Our parent company Zip is holding a big annual conference in the East Midlands in a couple of weeks. This is themed on the title "The Best Is Yet To Come" which I suppose is in honour of me and Max who are making a appearance and speaking to the service team at the very end of the conference. It's a pity I never themed my staff meetings in the past. We could have had 'Who Nicked The Brass?" "Any Tips For X Factor?" and "Can Anyone Think Of Something Other Than Bowling For A Night Out?"



I've been treated for high blood pressure for five or six years now. It's been under control but I have had to take four pills every day to keep it there. However, due to the diet that we've been on for the last two months, I'm now almost two stone lighter and I think that this is having an effect on the BP as I have started to feel light headed, faint and very very tired now and then. A quick check has given readings of 110 over 60 which isn't too low but I'm off to see the doctor tomorrow in case my medication needs to be adjusted downwards.



There are signs that our furry little friends have returned to the garage and after one of them took the Green And Blacks organic chocolate every night for the past four nights without being caught (I have a feeling that they have worked out how to open the trap and are using it as a sort of mousy hotel), I bought four of these traps at the garden centre on Sunday and I hope that one of these will do the trick. The garage floor looks like a rodent version of the Crystal Maze. Lets hope that it's lock in tonight. Clearly mice with up-market tastes (none of your Cheddar or Cadburys for them) the old trap was probably not swish enough for them. Let's hope that they prefer the new sparkly white ones. If they don't I may get the following photo blown up and leave it as a warning.




Or maybe this will do the trick. It was banned from the London Tube. Sound effects have been added.

It's Good To Be Trusted

It was a tale of two antique dealers on Saturday at the NEC's Antiques for Everyone. It's a wonderful fair and it live up to its name with antiques on display ranging from a couple of pounds to hundreds of thousands. Marion and I were not planning on buying anything and were just wanting to browse. We didn't take a cheque book with us. Everyone accepts cards now don't they? Well the answer to that question is 'no' when it comes to the antiques trade. So when we spotted this very nice little Liberty pewter carriage clock that would look good in our newly decorated lounge (we needed a clock as we bought a similar new one from John Lewis but sent it back because it was really shoddy)and went on to ask about payment methods it was "cash or cheque". As we had no cheques and insufficient cash I had to hobble across to the other side of the NEC to find a cash machine (which charged £1.99 for the privilege of giving me some of my own money). I'm not complaining. I couldn't expect a dealer to give a complete stranger credit at a huge and busy fair.



Or could I? Later in the day we found this lovely Venetian Murano glass bowl that was just the right colour for said lounge colour scheme. I raised the question."Do you accept cards?" The answer?"No." I resigned myself to another trek to the ATM but the dealer said that it was OK if I had no money. I could take the bowl home and send him a cheque next week. Now that is extremely impressive and trusting. OK it's not priceless but it is a nice bowl and I couldn't see John Lewis or M&S adopting the same policy. So hat's off to Barclay Antiques of Edinburgh. And yes, the cheque is in the post.



Although, when you think about it, Barclay Antiques' policy is not that different to ours at Instanta. Here we send out boilers all over the country and tell the customers to send us the money. And no, the cheque is very rarely in the post the following day.


I enjoyed Magic Numbers on Saturday night. The show included a segment where Alistair McGowan did nine impressions for a studio contestant and she had to say who they were in order to win a prize. I thought his mimicry was quite brilliant and even if the lady answering didn't know the voices there were plenty of clues in the content. She guessed a grand total of three correctly and ended up with poor Alistair visibly deflated. Don't worry Mr McGowan, me and Marion managed eight each. It was a pity that the winner of the phone in competition once again managed to go home (or stay home) empty handed. Mind you,now that TV shows are all squeaky clean and winners are chosen at random so there is no chance of contestants being weeded out for lack of personality, never could a contestant be more deserving of going unrewarded. "So what will you do with the money if you win?" asked Stephen Mulhern."Don't know", the flat response. "Is there nothing that you would like?" the host continued, oblivious to the fact that he was flogging a dead horse,"Not really". The woman was two minutes away from the chance of winning £300k but sounded as if she was on her way to a funeral and ITV's phone call was an inconvenient interruption. Watch next week. It's a very colourful, light and feel good show.

I'll leave you with a warning on The Homosexual Menace. Take care.

A Well Earned Treat

After almost two months on a strict diet we were excited to discover that yesterday's lunch included two squares of dark chocolate. It was delicious but putting away the remaining twenty odd squares of the bar was frustrating in the extreme. According to the diet plan we've got about six weeks before we can have another piece.




I just read that the Liverpool Chairman spent two days talking to Fernando Torres about his future at Anfield. Now I like Fernando and appreciate that he is a wonderful footballer but what is there to talk about for two days? It will be a sad day for us Liverpool fans if he goes but it must be a pain for the rest of the team to be constantly listening to talk about whether he and Steve Gerrard are going or staying. Let's get it sorted out soon and remember that there are eleven players in the side and not just two. It was Dirk Kuyt who played more minutes than any other Liverpool player in South Africa. And you don't hear him moaning.



Congratulations to those who campaigned to stop Nick Griffin getting to take tea with the Queen. Your campaign was successful and managed to give his tiny minority party of thugs, racists and fascists blanket coverage in every newspaper and on every news bulletin. A classic own goal. You should have kept quiet and, with any luck, he might have choked on a cucumber sandwich.

There's a busy day ahead so I'm keeping the blog short. I'm dedicating today's video to friend and true Welshman Mark Jones of Workhouse Marketing of Ribchester.I'm grateful to ITN news for bringing it to my attention. A brilliant parody on Jay Z and Alicia Key's tribute to New York, it's a tribute to Newport. Where else? "Keep your Big Apple. We'll have a tangerine." Priceless.

Joined Twitter But Haven't Tweeted Yet

I like to think of myself as an early adopter of new technology.I joined Facebook ages ago (have since left),had Skyplus and HD tv from the start and was at the Apple store for the launch of the iPad (although they didn't persuade me to buy one). But Twitter is something that I have been aware of but haven't felt the urge to join. However, I noticed that our son Paul was using it a lot when we were with him last week so I decided to look into it. Haven't really sussed it or its potential out yet but I plan to find out more soon. In the meantime if you are a blog reader and you are on Twitter, please get in touch and I will add you to those I am following.If you are interested my tag is lfcchampions (don't ask).



Whilst on the subject of new technology, I keep seeing the adverts at the cinema for the new 3DTVs. I would love to have one of these but is it worth it yet? When we got HD there were only about three channels to watch and it was several years before we got the service that we get today and I suspect that there will be very little to watch in 3D at the moment and the near future. Will probably wait on this one.



Whilst I am twiddling my thumbs waiting for a visit from one of our Zip colleagues I have been having a sneaky look at Max's warranty figures. And very good they are too this month with jobs given out to our agents at less than fifty percent of the target figure. As we set the target pretty low anyway, that is a remarkable result and I hope that I am not tempting fate by drawing attention to it and go on to find out next week that the number of calls has doubled. Well done to everyone for making the boilers so reliable.




Magic Numbers on ITV1 on Saturday night at 8 o'clock promises to be a lot of fun again with X Factor's Diana Vickers performing and BGT judge Amanda Holden joining Stephen Mulhern for the show. Stephen seems to be a very popular choice of host and is very well liked. Nick's daughter Laura is working on the show and she told Nick that she met Stephen yesterday and he was very friendly. I think that the way that they react to humble runners in the production team is a true measure of the star quality of "celebrities" and, from what Paul has also told me, I think that Stephen has a very bright future. I really hope that a viewer wins a huge cash prize this week to shut up the Internet knockers who think that it is impossible - it isn't.

To get an idea of the flavour of the show - remember it's LIGHT ENTERTAINMENT, here is a clip from last week.

Flying Donkeys And Dancing Cows

The tomato stain on my shirt today is a stark reminder that I am getting old. Stains of various size, shape and colour are the hallmark of the old person and seem to be turning up on my clothes with increasing regularity. I suppose that it's life turning a whole cycle with stained clothes being a symbol of both childhood and senility. Whatever it is, it's a bit embarrassing and I haven't even got a tie to cover it and rubbing it with soap and water only made it worse. Never mind. When Nick and I were conducting interviews for the new Southern Sales Manager job, a candidate turned up with an enormous coffee stain on his shirt but didn't even mention it even though it was so big that it was difficult to concentrate on anything else and we went through the interview with a Basil Fawlty like "don't mention the coffee stain" running through our heads.



Young Craig Buckley has been throwing himself into the new job that Nick has created for him in the office. Craig has to co-ordinate the sales team's activities and act as a back up to Nick, Peter and Rob. One of his jobs is to provide Nick with a huge variety of charts from which Nick can judge his team members' performance and I have asked Craig to let me have a copy. I'm not going to give the results away here but they are very interesting and should provide a real insight into how our sales are broken down by region, model, price, discount and profit margin. It's new to Instanta and I hope it proves useful.




I felt like a laugh last night so I watched Mitchell and Webb and then Shooting Stars on BBC2 back to back. Did I get a laugh? Well, much as I love David Mitchell and Robert Webb, I am sorry to say that they didn't crack me up and their show managed to raise just the briefest glimmer of a smile in their "Gift Shop" sketch and I was disappointed. As for Vic and Bob? I was a huge fan of their "Big Night Out" (younger readers won't remember that) with catch phrases such as "What's on the stick Vic?" and I hoped that "Shooting Stars" would recapture some of that mad humour. It did in parts and I did laugh out loud quite a few times but far too few times for a thirty minute show and it was another that won't be on the Skyplus series link. It reminded me of an early edition of "Monty Python" and , whilst that was hailed as brilliant, it was brilliant because it was original.

Hark at me banging on like an old man. They don't make them like they used to. I'll have stains on my shirt next. What! I already have. Oh dear, I'd forgotten that already. Just like an old man. Which reminds me. What does it remind me of? I don't know I've forgotten. No. I know. When I was going to the bank at lunch time I spotted a few local tradesmen going about their jobs. There was a window cleaner, a gardener and a painter and decorator (no this isn't some sort of Englishman, Irishman, Scotsman joke). They were all working hard in the summer sunshine and I thought that when we retire in the next few months, it might be quite nice doing an outdoor job like that to keep the grey cells ticking over. But then I put my foot on the brake and the bad hip kicked in and I realised that my outdoor working days are numbered.I've got an appointment at the hospital on 8th September so maybe I will have a new hip by the end of the year. And that really is old person territory.

I'll finish today with a choice of videos. Which is better - flying donkeys or dancing cows? I'll let you decide.

Toy Story Didn't Disappoint

We wanted to be amongst the first to see Toy Story 3 and I'm delighted that we were. The cinema was packed for the 4pm showing yesterday and the film lived up to all expectations being warm, touching and funny. Pixar pay so much attention to detail that you would need to see the film again to spot everything that is going on.It is a truly lovely film and I defy anyone of any age not to enjoy it. And, fortunately, although there were some of the sad moments that we expected, it is not in the same the sob out loud category as the tragic "Up".



It's good to see that we have a full staff here at Instanta again after a couple of the lads broke bones (not at work I hasten to add). Joey Jones (just behind Jenny) and Rafa Kolasinski (front row centre right) both broke bones in their hands within a few weeks of each other but I am glad to see both back and fully fit. I am twiddling my own thumbs a bit at the moment as I have handed over a lot of my duties in the office in view of our imminent retirement. I even offered to help out in the factory yesterday but there wasn't a rush to find me something to do. I'm getting a visit from Head Office soon and that should leave me with plenty to do as I'm aiming to set up a new computer system here before I leave. But time is running out quickly tick, tick tick.


I decided to steer clear of commenting on many of the major issues in the news recently like "Paul the Octopus" or "Raoul Moat" and Facebook as there are far too many people who are able to express their opinions far better than me and who cares what I have to say? But I have to make mention of the crime of the theft of two bronze plaques from the WW1 war memorial in Blackley for scrap. A scrap value of about £150 to destroy the memory of young men who lost their lives in the most horrendous circumstances. Pathetic.



Having got on my high horse I'm staying on it for a few minutes as, once again, the horrendous practise of stoning people to death is in the news. It's almost two years now since I highlighted the plight of poor Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow who was barbarically "executed" for the crime of being raped but now there are a dozen women on death row in Iran and a couple in Pakistan face the same fate for adultery.It's usually the women isn't it? What about the men? What was it someone said in the bible? "Let him without sin cast the first stone". My personal opinion (not Instanta's) is that even the most humane method of capital punishment is a crime.Any country that sanctions stoning should be shunned by the world.

OK I'm off the high horse now. No more political comment and back to the anodyne daily routine at Instanta.

I like Ridley Scott and just came across this project. Check it out. Looks interesting. And get your cameras ready for 24th July

Small Is Beautiful

The harvest began in earnest at home at the weekend and we duly cut our first courgette yesterday. It may not be very big but it is perfectly formed and I am sure that it will taste delicious with the apple and walnut salad scheduled for the diet tonight.



There's no shortage of salad leaves and it is a pity that there are only two of us at home as we have had enough rocket and other lettuce to feed a small army over the last few weeks, although the plants are now beginning to show signs of exhaustion and I think that the crop will shortly come to an end.


Saturday Night saw the first episode of son Paul's new show "Magic Numbers" on ITV1. I really liked Steven Mulhern (not Mulhearn as wrongly spelled in previous blogs- sorry Stephen) and the show was very entertaining with a great performance from JLS and another from Britain's Got Talent's Twist and Pulse. I haven't looked at the forums or ratings as, when "The Colour Of Money" came out it took me a few weeks to get over the nasty criticism heaped on the show and left us feeling sick after knowing how much effort had gone into its development. I did catch a couple of comments when Googling for today's blog and I have to say that those that I saw were warm and one even went as far as to say that it was "good" - praise indeed for the Internet. It was a pity that the woman who won the opportunity to phone in and win £250k managed to chose a losing box on her final pick and won nothing when she had a one in three chance of winning nothing but a two in three chance of winning £20k or more.



On Saturday we went to see "Inception". Or at least I think we went to see "Inception" or did we just dream it.Am I now writing this blog or dreaming that I am dreaming about writing this blog? We will ever know unless we have a special token such as a little spinning top or a brass chess piece. Confused? Go and see the film and all will become clear. Or will it?


The first thing I did this morning before starting work was rush down to Vue to get tickets for Toy Story 3 which is on general release today. Both tonight's shows were sold out but I was determined to see it today and so I am skipping lunch and going to the four pm 3D showing - can't wait. Marion's got plenty of tissues.

Here's a taster.

A Hosepipe Ban. The Sure Way to End A Drought

Last Thursday Marion was frantically watering the garden in a last bid attempt to save our brown and dying lawn and our withering vegetables before the hosepipe ban came into force. She spent hours making sure that the precious garden was soaked (great now that we are on a water meter). I suppose it was pretty obvious and we should not be surprised at what happened next but ever since we were banned from using the hosepipe we have had no need for it whatsoever with cloudbursts and thunder and lightening punctuating the days at regular intervals.Oh well, the garden is looking very very green now. It's just a pity that we won't be able to sit in it.



It was thirty four years ago tomorrow that Marion and I walked down the aisle (or to be accurate, through the registry office) and it only seems like yesterday. I had hoped that we would be celebrating by visiting a garden near Pendle Hill that opens to the public on Sunday but the weather forecast is looking grim (see above) and we may have to settle for a trip to the cinema.



Where at last, after weeks of drought and a dearth of films to see, there is a new movie with half decent reviews. Inception, the new Leonardo DiCaprio film is a thriller based on dreams and it looks well worth a visit as does...



Toy Story 3 which hits the screens on Monday and is a shoe in for this week's Orange Wednesday choice. As with all Pixar films, it is reported to have a very high tearjerker rating so we will need to go equipped with plenty of tissues. I hope that it doesn't match "Up" on this score as it took Marion almost a week to get over that one. Let's hope that with two worthwhile films this week we are back into a golden period of cinema choice.



A quick word of praise for the BBC in filling the gaps left by the absence of films at the local Vue. It was a brave move to put a four part police thriller on over four nights this week but "The Silence" starring Genevieve Barr (above) as a deaf woman who witnessed a murder was original and highly watchable and the director along with Ms Barr (who is deaf) gave the viewer a real insight into the silent world of the deaf and the frustrations that it must create. Five stars for the Beeb.

I'll finish this week by directing you to The Chip Shop Awards 2010. Nothing to do with fish and chips, these awards are for the advertising and creative industry and offer agencies a chance to show what they are made of. Instanta's agency Workhouse Marketing, who were nominated in the best politically incorrect category, pointed me to the website and , if you have a spare ten minutes, have a look at the wealth of creativity that's out there. Guaranteed to raise more than a few smiles click here to see more.

For an example here's my personal favourite.

A Perfect Day

No blog yesterday and Tuesday as Marion and I were in London to watch the recording of an episode of "Perfection" the new BBC2 quiz show presented by Nick Knowles and, more importantly, devised and developed by our daughter in law Josephine. Here is Josephine on the set. The aim of the show is to achieve "perfection" by deciding whether a number of statements are true or false. If the contestant fails to get a perfect score, a rival group of contestants have the opportunity to do so and thereby gain the chance to select the categories for the money winning final round. They also have the chance to make a deal with the contestant if they think that they know the answers in the money winning round. It's a great quiz. It is fiendishly difficult (you are often wrong when you are certain that you are right)and it is real fun to play along although, being a few feet away from the contestants, we couldn't shout out "you're wrong" or shake our heads in disdain. Nick Knowles is an excellent presenter and the recordings ran like clockwork leaving us time to join Josephine for lunch at Canteen on the South Bank before we left to brave torrential rain on the motorway on the journey home.



I had to take a photo of the running board for London Studios yesterday as, there in Studio 1 was "Magic Numbers" the show devised and developed by son Paul and alongside in Studio 2 was "Perfection" devised and developed by his wife. Now they have been in TV for a few years now and I think I know enough about the business to say that that is pretty amazing.



"Magic Numbers" promises to be a lot of fun. It's on Saturday nights at 8pm and you could win a big cash prize by matching your phone number with numbers generated on the show. It's presented by the popular Stephen Mulhearn and there are some great, big name stars lined up. Marion and I are looking forward to returning to the studios to be in the audience for one of the live shows in a couple of weeks. We had a peek at the set yesterday but it was in bits. However it looks like it will be pretty awesome when it is constructed. To find out more about the show and watch the promo click here

Here in the real world of work, we're very busy trying to keep up with the orders which are continuing to flood in. Because of my bad hip I was unable to go to the staff bowling night last night but everyone tells me that it was a great event and that, as expected, welder and beeman Kirk Harrison won although he did not achieve perfection. Sadly, poor lighting in the new upgraded Southport Bowl meant that I have no photos of the event for the blog.

Don't say that England had no influence on the World Cup. It was good to see the Spanish team celebrating their triumph in true English style -getting plastered, taking an open top bus around the city and gobbing on the older members of the entourage. World class sportsmen and role models.

Belated Birthday Celebrations

I'm always a bit nervous about surprise birthday parties as the person whose birthday it is has a lot of time to think "has everybody forgotten my birthday?" when the event passes almost without comment. So when our daughter Sarah's partner Duncan told us that he had booked a holiday house in the borders to celebrate her 30th I hoped that the small gifts that we sent and the apologies that we couldn't see her as we had to be at work for stock taking would not be too much of a letdown as, let's face it, 30 is quite a milestone in your life. Fortunately everything went well and a group of thirteen of Sarah's friends and family had a very pleasant country weekend in the ancient town of Melrose. Above is Sarah cutting her cake.



Duncan booked a private room in the local Burt's Hotel for a formal dinner on Friday (above)and on Saturday it was home made pizza, strawberries and birthday cake.



And speaking of the cake, I have to make a special mention of Jan Harbon who once worked here in the Instanta office before taking up her new role as a full time foster parent. Jan has always enjoyed making celebration cakes and she kindly made this one for Sarah to our brief. Being a summer baby Sarah has always celebrated birthdays when strawberries are in season and we spent many happy hours with her as a toddler at the local pick your own farm where strawberries would find her basket and her mouth in roughly equal quantities with her trademark saying of "that one's a booty daddy" before it disappeared. We possibly should have weighed her in with our collected fruit. Jan captured this theme with this wonderful celebration of summer and strawberries (and the beautiful fruit cake beneath the decoration tasted as good as it looked). So thank you so much Jan and please put your prices up.



As one of Sarah's birthday presents we made up a photo book of her life for her using the website BobBooks.co.uk (highly recommended - great service) on the Internet and had a lot of fun digging out and scanning ancient photos to go in it. Here's a photo of us as teenagers about forty years ago that we used to start the book. Son Paul says that he doesn't want one when he is thirty but that's not going to stop him getting one.

The visit to Scotland meant that I missed half of the World Cup final but "missed" is probably not the right word. As I said on the blog on Friday, the match was almost guaranteed to turn out as it did and my only regret is that I didn't put my money where my mouth was and put a bet on the nil nil full time scoreline. For me the highlight of the World Cup was this stunning save from Rob Green in the very first England game. Strange how time plays tricks with the memory.