Wishing Jenny The Very Happiest 30th Birthday

Here's Jenny Buckley our super office and stores manager who celebrates her 30th birthday tomorrow. Married to Craig in our sales department, Jenny joined Instanta straight from school at the age of sixteen and has now been with us for fourteen years. If pocket dynamo Jenny were to appear on Mastermind with Instanta spares as her specialist subject she would score record points as she knows the part number, price and location of everything we have. Jenny loves going for walks with her puppy and Craig. She is also a brilliant organiser, excellent football score predictor and, I am told, an ace poker player. If you are reading this Jenny (I know you are on holiday so maybe you've got better things to do), have a wonderful day. Best wishes from everyone here at Instanta.



Speaking of Masterminds I had a phone call from a researcher at BBC's Antiques Master show the other night. I was asked twelve questions but I only got ten right so I doubt that I will be going for an audition. That's a pity as the show is being hosted by Sandi Toksvig and she has to be one of the funniest and wittiest people around and I would love to meet her.



And whilst on the subject of funny people, did you see last night's edition of Paul's show "A League Of Their Own" on Sky1? We went to the recording of that show and the edited version was just as funny. I particularly enjoyed Freddie Flintoff's rendition of "Suspicious Minds". I didn't see much of Neil Morrisey in the show - they cut his contributions out. ( I think I would have done the same if I were the editor).



The circuit that was being described in development as the bungee has finally run out of bounce. Others referred to it as the boomerang as it kept coming back but our new range is finally in production a couple of weeks behind schedule. These are the most sophisticated products that Instanta has ever produced and are a fitting high for Marion and me to go out on. The features include

Clock in display

Seven day programmable timers

Built in filter monitor to warn when filter need to be changed (if fitted)

ECO mode to allow users to switch to half capacity in busy periods.

And much much more.

Here's a tribute to the new circuits with thanks to our designer John Walkinshaw.

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.

Isn't She lovely

I'm not a dog lover. I'm not even an animal lover. But even I can appreciate what a lovely little creature office manager Jenny Buckley and husband Craig in sales department have in their new pet Poppy. Poppy, a cross bred King Charles and Springer spaniel was the Buckley's Christmas present to themselves and I'm sure that the little beauty couldn't have found a better home.



After working on the new prices for 1st March during the holiday period, I've been tweaking them a bit more today. We still haven't settled on the exact figures but we are getting close and will be issuing a newsletter next week together with copies of the new price list. Watch this space for advance notification.



The thaw is finally starting to set in. After days of sub zero temperatures we've actually seen positive figures on the thermometer today. I suppose that this is no news at all to you if you are reading this in the UK but it's good to wake up and see that the car windscreen does not need cleaning for once.



My mum's birthday went off well on Friday. The film "It's Complicated" was anything but complicated but it was a bit of fun and we enjoyed it. We took my mum on to Chiquitos where we were joined by my brother and sister in law for a bite to eat. At 84 mum is looking well and is still going very strong.

I'll close today with a dedication to Poppy.