No Room At The (Days) Inn

We went down to Teddington Studios on Wednesday to watch the recording of two episodes of the new season of "A League Of Their Own". We had a great time and enjoyed the shows immensely. Along with the four regulars, the guests were Chris Evans, Dermot O'Leary, Tim Henman and Phillips Idowu and each of them added a very different flavour to the proceedings. It is going to be a very hard job for the editors cutting several hours of footage down to two chunks of thirty minutes or less. Paul took us to the green room after the show but this time Marion was under strict instructions not to ask for her photo with any of the celebs so we left them in peace and I had a chat with James Corden's dad who is a really nice bloke. "What has this to do with today's blog headline?" I hear you ask. Well, as we were unsure of timings and whether we would be taking Paul back to Limehouse we didn't bother booking a motel as I thought that we would be able to choose the most convenient on the way back up north. We started heading towards South Mimms but a quick call informed us that the place was full so a change of direction was in order and it was back through central London and London Gateway on the M1 next. Same story there so on to Luton where the bloke in the service station newsagents told us there was no motel on site only for us to spot one when it was too late and we were back on the slipway and on our way to Milton Keynes.By now it was 1.30 a.m and surely we'd find somewhere to get our heads down there. But no it was the same story. Fortunately the receptionist directed us to somewhere else and at around 2 a.m we finally got to sleep.In future I'll get a confirmed booking before I set off and congratulations to Days Inn, no sign of any recession there.



At the recordings we were extremely impressed with Dermot O'Leary who has real presence and confidence and oozes professionalism and with the always funny John Bishop but I liked Freddie Flintoff best of all. He announced his retirement from cricket the day after the recording which is a pity but he has a very natural way of telling a story, is very self deprecating and naturally funny. It's sad that injury has forced premature retirement but I'm sure that he will have a very long TV career.



Teddington studios back onto a weir behind which are the famous navigational locks. We arrived early and had a walk. I was amazed to see a bright green parakeet in the trees on the river bank and thought that it was an escaped pet. But then we saw another and another and realised that there was a colony of them. I remember reading recently that Ring Necked Parakeets had become naturalised in the south of England but certainly didn't expect to see so many. It was obvious that the locals were used to them as they were given no more attention than the many wood pigeons that shared the tree tops.



The phone started ringing earlier in the week as news broke about a commercial coffee machine exploding in a Sainsburys store in Hampshire. I have been in the business for over twenty years and my family has been involved in producing pressure boilers for most of the past fifty years and this is the first instance of a pressure related accident that I have ever come across. The machine was sold by a reputable Italian firm although I don't know if they still manufacture in Italy or like many have contracted to the Far East. There are tens or maybe hundreds of thousands of expresso machines in use throughout the world and I can't help but think that something highly unusual must have happened to this piece of equipment as most pressure vessels have more than one fail safe device. Our only pressure boilers, the WB2 Supreme models have a safety valve, an operating pressure switch, a safety pressure switch and cut out and taps that would open long before dangerous pressure levels built up so an explosion is well nigh impossible. I am sure that the machine in question would incorporate similar safeguards.I read on the internet that a stuck safety valve was the cause but this alone should not be sufficient and I await the results of the inquest into the cause of the terrible accident.



If all goes well I should hit the target weight at the weekend. I've always wanted to be in one of those slimmer of the year photos, preferably one with a cardboard cut out of the earlier me. Well I haven't got a cardboard cutout so I'll have to make do with that other staple - holding out the waistband of the trousers that once fitted snugly. More on this next week if successful.

A big thank you to Jenny Buckley who, with the help of MCS of Southport (Mainframe Computer Solutions), our very own IT Crowd, has managed to get us back up and running with emails. We've got the internet too after a fashion but it is very slow and I am still trying to get the broadband back up. So thanks again Jenny and Steve and your team. You can't imagine how bad it has been without it - I had no idea what's been happening on YouTube and Twitter for almost a week. We'll soon put that right

Off To Teddington

Marion and I are travelling down to Teddington studios later today to watch the recording of a couple of shows in the forthcoming series of A League Of Their Own. I pinched this photo from Jimmy Carr's Twitter feed. Hope he doesn't mind. We're looking forward to the recordings. Guests include Tim Henman and Chris Evans ( I think) so listen out for us shouting "Come on Tim" when the shows are aired in the autumn. It also gives us an opportunity to see our son Paul who has been heavily involved in the show from the outset. As he lives in London we don't get enough chances to see him and it's a pity that this will be a flying visit as we are back in the office again tomorrow.



And in the office we are still trying to survive without broadband. We have found a new supplier but they can't get us up and running without something called a MAC code from our old supplier who haven't come up with it yet. This one could run and run. Fortunately we have a temporary email server set up but it's expensive and it is not very fast. At least we aren't as cut off from the world as we were last week.



When we get back tomorrow I've got a lot of work to do on the accounts for August. I did the preliminary figures yesterday and they look good. I've just got to complete the VAT return and do some final double checks to finish them off. Then I've got to somehow train someone else here to do the figures when I have retired in a few months time. It's a lot to do but we'll manage- we'll have to.

With no Broadband I have to write this before I get to work. So time has run out now and I'm off. The blogs will have to be short until normal service resumes (unless I start getting up even earlier) by which time I will have probably lost my growing number of readers which will be a pity - mind you when I retire in about ten weeks time the blog will have to retire with me.

I'll Hang Up My Tipster Hat

In my last blog I said that our money was on the dog to win Britain's Got Talent but as soon as Tina and Chandi started to perform on Saturday it was obvious that they would not be taking home the £100,000 prize. They just didn't have the same appeal and the routine was much worse than their semi final performance which led me to my tip. Fortunately I also had a bet on Spellbound which won me a princely £31.50 and, equally fortunately, the impressionist, on whom I had £150 liability, did not win. It's fun watching these live shows with the laptop logged onto Betfair. Throughout the programme on Saturday the odds on the singing Grannie from Scotland were shortening as piles of money backed her and she fell to under 5-1 leading me to wonder if someone knew that her act was going to be a show stopper. Fortunately I didn't fall for the trap of leaping onto the bandwagon as, before she stopped singing, her odds had fallen to 100-1.





I had a rare day off work yesterday and went up to Yorkshire with my brother for a spot of metal detecting. We had researched a new site and were delighted to be given permission by our friendly farmer to search it. We climbed an enormous hill (no fun when you need a hip replacement) to get to the field only to find it full of cows. Metal detecting in a field full of cows is no fun so we had to revert to plan b and search fields that we have gone over time and again in the past. But it goes to show that you can never empty a field completely and I found a Girl Guide Badge, an 18th Century livery button, an interesting and probably Victorian decorated fitting (probably for a book) and this copper alloy lion. I have no idea what the lion used to adorn but he was once gilded and will have looked quite impressive. I guess that he is from the 19th century but would love to know what he was used for. Any ideas?



Three weeks into the diet tomorrow and tonight is a highlight as we are having spaghetti bolognese. From this, my first experience of dieting, it seems that diets are really a matter of self discipline.It is so tempting to add another 5 grammes when you weigh out your 25 grammes of nuts or raisins but no, back into the packet they go. Last night's evening meal of one fishcake and some salad leaves left us a bit hungry for the first time but it's still so far so good and we are both losing some weight.



Here at Instanta, I have carried on with the task of helping Nick to vet the applications that have been flooding in via www.jobsite.co.uk for the position of our new Southern Area Sales Manager. Applications have exceeded a hundred now and, whilst it is not very green, we have printed every one out in full so that we can give them proper consideration. The standard looks to be high although I am leaning towards those who have actually checked out Instanta and decided that they want to work for us rather than those who appear to have sent off their CV without tailoring it to us. We have written to all those we have rejected as there is nothing worse than not knowing and we have asked about thirty more to tell us why they really want this particular job. Some applications are very good but let themselves down with poor English (incite instead of insight was a classic and a letter with I as i from start to finish)but I am not going to reject these as we are looking for a sales person not an English teacher.

I got my Liverpool Season Ticket renewal this morning. They are offering an incredible £52 discount for renewing online. Not sure that it costs them £52 to process an application over the phone but I will be happy to take whatever they offer. Speaking of football, World Cup fever is officially upon us. Now I like James Corden who did a good job of hosting Paul's show "A League Of Their Own" but I'm not sure about the lyrics to his new World Cup song which include the yobbish "Come and have a go if you think you're hard enough". What do you think?

A League Of Their Own Show Two

The second episode of son Paul's show "A League Of Their Own" is on Sky1 and Sky1HD tonight at 9pm. The guest stars in this second episode are Gavin & Stacey actress (and James Corden's co-writer)Ruth Jones and journalist and ex Blair spin doctor Alastair Campbell. This is a great line up and the show promises plenty of laughs once again. Last week's first episode was an hour long introduction but today is only half an hour (just over twenty minutes without the adverts). Don't miss it (but if you do don't forget to check it out on Sky Anytime or on one of the re-runs).



Whilst on the subject of sport, I was disappointed to read Albert Riera's comments on Liverpool reported this morning. The gist of Albert's comments were that Liverpool are in a mess, nobody likes Rafa Benitez and Albert wants out. It doesn't take a genius to realise that Liverpool are in a mess.A 4-1 win against Portsmouth on Monday might have looked encouraging but had it not been for a terrible blunder by the Pompey keeper that completely unsettled them for ten minutes I think that things might have been different and anyone who saw that win as a new dawn might think again after tonight when we are in a league of our own against Lille in the Europa League. 1-0 down it will be a brave fan who bets on Liverpool to go through.I am going with my friend Dave Haworth again. Last time I upset him by referring to him on the blog as my old friend but, as you can see below, he does not look old at all. (memo to self, don't use Microsft paint again for red eye correction - Peter Raymond would have a fit.)





We went to see "I Love You Philip Morris" last night. I saw it described on a film blog as ""Brokeback Mountain" meets "Catch Me If You Can"" which is a pretty accurate description. It's an enjoyable film based on the true story of a gay conman. I struggled a bit with the bloke from the Orange Wednesday adverts taking a serious role but I loved Jim Carrey's character's excuse for becoming a conman "Being gay is just so expensive!" A few people at our screening walked out after one of the gay sex scenes which just goes to show that prejudice is alive and well and living in Southport. I mentioned the blogger's comparison of the film with Brokeback Mountain and Catch Me if you Can, I also saw a brilliant description of Avatar on a blog the other day "Dances With Smurfs" - priceless.



We've just run all the very final tests on the new CT and WM range circuits and everything is running perfectly so we should be in full production next week. This has to be the best water boiler on the market today and a big thank you goes out to our electronics designer John Walkinshaw of KLH Electroncics PLC without whom it would not have been possible.

As today's blog has been quite a sporty one, I'll close with the Swedish ladies' curling team. Thanks to The Guardian for picking this video out for me.

In A League Of Our Own

No, my headline today is not a homage to the mighty? Liverpool who once again put in a magnificent effort last night against a mediocre side and came away with a wonderful 1-0 defeat for the second time in a week My headline refers to son Paul's new show "A League Of Their Own" which aired for the first time last night on Sky1. Paul devised this show and has worked on it for months so, naturally, when it aired, Marion had to put on a bit of a do and here is our conservatory suitably decked out in red and blue for the teams and (if you look closely)with the table decorated with miniature sporting medals and trophies. Our closest friends came to join us and, even if it was not their cup of tea, they were all very polite about the show. Having been at the recording it is difficult for me to comment as I knew what was coming next (and they cut an awful lot out) but I thought that James Corden, Jamie Redknapp, John Bishop and Freddie Flintoff pulled it off very well and raised a good number of laughs.I am not going near the Digital Spy website as they pulled Paul's last show "The Colour Of Money"to bits and made us all feel sick for a week so I'm sticking with my own opinion. Well done son.



Sky's advertising with proud mum's hand penned addition.



There was not enough time to blog yesterday as our new boss Michael Crouch from Australia joined us for a factory visit. He is back again later today so I am writing this in the very early hours of the morning. I will be adding some photos later today after I have been to Preston to collect another of our new Australian colleagues Alan.

49 Today

Here's store keeper and all round nice guy Phil Joce. Today Phil is celebrating his 49th birthday and I would like to wish him the very best. His 40th birthday only feels like yesterday and it's a pity that I won't be around at Instanta when he celebrates his 50th next year as the 40th was a very good do. Phil hails from Ilfracombe in Devon but his accent has mellowed now and you would no longer take him for an extra from Larkrise to Candleford and would see him as a local (honest). Married to Pat, Phil is a big film fan although he prefers watching on the small screen rather than the big screen as he has a second job. Along with his duties at Instanta, Phil works another thirty five hours a week (at least) as devoted baby sitter to grandson Lewis. I mentioned on the blog on his birthday last year that Phil joined Instanta over 20 years ago and has been a model employee since then. His punctuality and sickness records over the last twenty one years are still such that there is just one entry from over 13 years ago. All our punctuality and sickness records are pretty good but Phil's is outstanding. Married for 26 years to Pat, Phil is the proud father to Calvin, Nichola and Kirsty. Have a great day Phil.



When we were away at the weekend I saw that in the pond at the hotel there was one of those duck houses beloved by the Tories.



And then I saw this one too and wondered if this was a Labour one.



The excitement is growing in our household as the launch of Paul's new show "A League Of Their Own" launches on Sky1 (and Sky1 HD) tomorrow night at 9pm. Marion is preparing a small themed dinner party for some friends and the house is awash with red and blue balloons and blown up copies of adverts for the show. The programme was originally scheduled for 8pm but, having gone to the recordings of a couple of shows, I wondered if the humour and language might be a bit strong for pre-watershed. I hope that the editing went well as we (and the rest of the audience) certainly had a tremendously entertaining time. You won't see Paul's name on the credits but he has been heavily involved in the development of this fun new panel game from the outset.

If you can't wait until tomorrow Sky have got a page devoted to the show and there are quite a few clips to watch. You can view them by clicking here

Unashamedly Name Dropping Today

We had a great weekend with a visit to Pinewood Studios to watch the recording of two episodes of Sky 1 HD's new panel show "A League Of Their Own". Son Paul devised this show and kindly got us onto the guest list for the recordings which meant that we found ourselves in the green room afterwards with a host of stars including James Corden, Jamie Redknapp (and Louise), John Bishop, Freddie Flintoff, Georgie Thompson (with Dec), Neil Morrisey and Abbey Clancey. I'm sure that none of them will be blogging today about meeting me and Marion but it was a fascinating experience. The show itself was extremely funny. James Corden is an outstanding host and the only problem I can see is what they choose to edit out to reduce the show to its half hour format as there was a good ninety minutes of genuinely funny material in each recording.

I got chatting to Malcolm Corden (James' dad). He is a genuine and devoted father who was proud of James and equally proud of his two daughters (who were also at the recording). As we discussed our kids, I realised what a close and loving family the Cordens are and I can see them as part of the inspiration behind Gavin and Stacey which , after all, has a great deal of family values in it. Malcolm knew Southport from his job which involves travelling to bookshops around the country.

I did my best to keep Marion under control but she was determined to have at least one photo as a souvenir of the evening and James Corden, the star of the night, very kindly agreed to have his photo taken with her. (Apologies for the blurred image). Tune in to watch the show when it airs on Thursday evenings in March. I'm sure that you will find it a lot of fun.

As someone "who appreciates the finer things in life" I got an invite to an exclusive showroom event being held at the local Mercedes dealership next week.As Mercedes Benz Finance have my account in the hands of a debt collector at the moment I was a bit surprised to get the invite. Maybe I should turn up with a placard " Mercedes Benz Finance 0% interest in their customers". Meanwhile my dispute with them continues. They insist that I owe about £500 for returning the car with a couple of scratches despite it having almost £1,000 worth of optional extras fitted and thousands of miles less than the contract mileage on the clock. Show me a three year old car without a couple of blemishes.



We've been running low on stock recently as we wanted to clear out all our old models before launching our new range next week at Hotelympia. Unfortunately we have sold more of the old units than we envisaged and poor Tony in the factory has been carrying out a juggling act to try and keep the customers satisfied whilst at the same time not building too many of the current range. Our electronics supplier John Walkinshaw from KLH Electronics PLC is coming round tomorrow to demonstrate the new programmes for us so that we will know what we are talking about when we stand on the exhibition next week.

I'll finish today with John Bishop. A really nice bloke. I think you will be seeing a lot of him in the near future.

Another Instanta Birthday

Following close on the heels of welder Kirk Harrison yesterday,more birthday congratulations go out today to Assembly Worker Steve Eyres. Steve will be 32 on Sunday. He joined Instanta half a lifetime ago upon leaving school. In 2007 he had a spell as an entrepreneur and ran his own welding business briefly before returning to the Instanta fold in November 2008 when we were delighted to welcome him back. With my retirement on the horizon I will miss Steve.He is an expert on cars and always spots when tyres are not inflated properly and is a whizz at getting cars with flat batteries started.Cars apart, Steve tells me that he has recently taken up sea fishing. He enjoys this very much although he hasn't caught anything yet. Wishing you a very happy day Steve. Have a great one.



Marion and I are off down to Pinewood Studios tomorrow to watch the filming of a couple of episodes of A League Of Their Own. This is a new panel show with an emphasis on sport that has been developed by our son Paul for CPL Productions. He has managed to get us tickets for the recordings. The show is to air on Sky 1 in the near future and ten episodes are being filmed. Hosted by James Corden, there are two regular captains Jamie Redknapp and Andrew (Freddie) Flintoff together with regulars John Bishop and Georgie Thompson. A number of high profile guests have been lined up and by all accounts the shows recorded to date have been very funny. Hope tomorrows' shows are as good.I just spotted that Sky Creative have issued an ad for the show. You can watch it by clicking here




The clock is clicking down towards Hotelympia 2010. And for once we are all pretty well set and ready to go. Two years ago poor Dave Wilson was frantically attempting to get things finished on the night before the show started but this time he's done it with a week to spare. Well done Dave. We've just got to work out how to cover a tiny blemish in the stainless steel in one of the display models. I reckon a sticker will do the job.

Remember when you were a kid and you would draw stick men on the bottom corners of pages of notebooks and then flick them to make simple animation? Here's one that a student called Jamie Bell did for his AS art course. Makes my stick people look a bit lame.

Jenny Buckley Our Very Own Football Pundit

I've written about our interest in the Guardian's Pick The Score competition. This is the third season that we've been doing it here and it's always a source of fierce rivalry. We have to predict the outcome of the Premiership matches every week and I offer a small prize to the first second and third in the league at the end of the season. In 2008 I pipped Jenny Wright by one point on the last day of the season.In 2009 Store man Tony Lowe ran away with the title and this year Service Coordinator Max Vidal has taken a convincing 12 point lead just past the half way point in the season. But today I have to take my hat off to Office Manager Jenny who this week predicted the correct score in no less than six Premiership matches. That is an amazing achievement which has propelled her up our league and left her in seventh position for the week in the whole country. Well done Jenny. No extra prizes but can you give me a few tips for my bet on Betfair this week?



Just got an email from son Paul. While he is on his honeymoon his company CPL Productions are recording A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN a new programme that he has been heavily involved in.England’s Number One fan and Gavin & Stacey star James Corden will referee proceedings. The brand new format will involve former England footballer and Sky Sports presenter Jamie Redknapp and one other (to be named)as team captains and Paul has managed to get our names on the list to go to one of the recordings. I'm really looking forward to it. His "The Colour of Money" last year was not a huge hit but I reckon that this one has all the makings of a successful panel show.



I don't want to temp fate by saying this a day early but Max tells me that this month's warranty calls are likely to be less than 50% of the number that we recorded in January 2009. And considering that there are more boilers under guarantee today than there were last year I think that's a pretty good result. Well done to everyone in the factory for getting the job right. If we could eliminate a couple of niggles that continue to crop up every couple of months (components that we don't make and that we are sure are the best available) we could get the figure down even lower. Nick told me that he was going to buy me and Marion dinner on the day that we go a month with no warranty calls at all and I intend to hold him to that in the not too distant future.

As I write, poor Marion looks like she is at death's doorstep. She is absolutely full of a cold that she just can't shake off. I keep telling her to go home and try and get better but she won't listen and keeps on taking the tablets.She doesn't want to be ill on the big day in just two weeks.Jenny has been just the same as Marion all week too and she has managed to come in as well. A big thank you to them both.

Being what is known to salespeople as an "early adopter" I always like to get the latest technology. I want one of these now.