Smoking

After trying to complete the Three Peaks Challenge and failing due to my lungs I have taken it upon my self to finally quit smoking – again!

At first I tried to go cold turkey and completely stop smoking. That didn’t last too long. By 4pm that day I was outside smoking again. Failure. So I decided to go down another route.

I have been speaking to people who are now smoking those e-cigarette things. Asking such questions as how do they compare to proper cigarettes / tobacco. Do they provide the same type of hit that normal fags do etc, and they sounded quite positive about the whole thing.

I wasn’t too convinced at first, but I thought fuck it. I really want to quit smoking and this seems like an option, and by this point I’m willing to try anything to quit, so I went and bought one. It cost me about the same as a pouch of tobacco, which is good.

The lady in the shop help me set it up and showed me how it worked as I have never tried one before. She understood that I was new at it and was very helpful.

IMG_5560

I am now three full days without smoking a single cigarette, and I’m feeling good for it. I still get the craving every now and then, but as long as I’m busy and I chug on this e-cigarette thing I’m generally ok.

They say after 28 days without smoking you’re a hell of a lot more likely to quit for good, and this is what I want. Lets hope that I can achieve it! Wish me luck.

Have you ever tried to quit smoking? Do you use one of the e-cigarettes – if you do how are you finding it compared to a proper one?

Three Peaks – What happened?

As you know I was going to attempt the National UK three peak challenge with several of my colleagues from work. July 4th was the date picked for the challenge, but we decided to head up to Scotland on the 2nd to have some social time drinking and having a look around the local area.

We left from work at 6.30am, which was just after I finished my 12 hour shift. I was quite surprised by the lack of traffic on the journey. We hit the morning rush, but even that wasn’t as bad as I expected it to be.

IMG_0001

We hit the border of Scotland at 4.20pm after a couple of stops to change drivers / breakfast and fag breaks, and arrived at our chalet shortly after 7pm.

IMG_0003

IMG_0004

10930178_10153416564144231_2062352114749465747_n

Our first port of call after checking into the chalet was to find out where the local shop was, and to grab some drinks for the nights entertainment.

IMG_0005

After dinner the drinking games began. I ended up drinking close to three quarters of a litre of vodka, half a bottle of Mikey Finns, and a glass of Disaronno and God only knows what the others drank!

57da296c2a77e4ca74acc1a2cc804f23

db9d973791bc0aa10a1d8cc42b937828

IMG_0007

IMG_0008

Needless to say it got very messy. None of us got any sleep until around 6.30pm the next day.
Continue reading

Three Peak Challenge

On July 4th I will have the opportunity to take part in the three peak challenge with some friends from work. It has been in the planning stage for a while, so I didn’t really want to post about it until it’s all confirmed.

This is a huge opportunity for me to tick a couple of things off of my bucket list. I get to travel to Scotland, and I get to climb a mountain – three in fact!

The total round trip will be approximately 1360 miles, and we are doing it in my car!

Route

We will use our place of work as the base for everyone meeting up, and from there we will continue forward on our journey up to Scotland. We have found an amazing location to stay and prepare ourselves for the first climb in Scotland.

3bedroomchalets

pub1

viewfromchalets4

I am really excited and pumped to be doing this challenge. It will be a real test of stamina and perseverance not only for me but the others in the group as well. The best thing is we are doing this to help raise some money for charity (one has yet to be picked), so if you would like to help then a page will be set up so you can donate if you wish to.

Throughout the entire journey I will be documenting it, but have yet to choose the method so others can view everything we are doing. At the end when we finally reach home I will collate everything and put it up on here for all to see.

Have you ever done the three peaks challenge? How did you find it? Is it something you would like to do again? Did you manage to complete all three peaks in under the 24 hours? If you didn’t what held you up?

The bucket list – Is there any point?

Is there any point in a bucket list these days? Of course there is! We’re not all immortal gods and have unlimited wealth, so some of us mere mortals have to plan for the future and do things to make us feel good before we die.

I have compiled my bucket list below in no particular order. For now there shall only be a few things, but over time the list shall grow and accomplishments shall be ticked off. I hope to do all of them before I die.

bucket list

  1. Reach the peak of a mountain – Mount Snowdon – 05/07/2015
  2. Go sky diving
  3. Fly in an aeroplane – I flew to Switzerland on the 11/11/2015 – Take offLanding
  4. Fly in a helicopter
  5. Travel to Scotland – Attempted the National Three Peak Challenge – 02/07/2015
  6. Travel to Italy
  7. Visit the Colosseum
  8. Visit the Leaning Tower of Pisa
  9. Visit Vatican City
  10. Travel to France
  11. Travel to Iceland
  12. Visit the Blue Lagoon
  13. Travel to Switzerland – I travelled to Geneva to visit C.E.R.N. 11/11/2015
  14. Visit C.E.R.N. – I visited C.E.R.N. on 11/11/2015
  15. Travel to The Netherlands
  16. Travel to Norway
  17. Get my motorcycle licence – Got this on 29 July 2022
  18. Own a motorcycle – Picked this up on 20 December 2022
  19. Drive a super car
  20. Own a house – Bought a two bed flat in July 2017
  21. Walk my daughter down the aisle
  22. Hold my grandchild
  23. See the human race reach Mars
  24. Go to Disney World / Land
  25. Weigh 90 Kg or less
  26. Quit smoking
  27. Learn an instrument
  28. Go scuba diving
  29. See the Great Pyramids in Egypt
  30. Do something for charity – Raised £500 for Charity for the National Three Peak Challenge – 02/07/2015
  31. Visit the Eiffel Tower
  32. Visit the Louvre
  33. Travel to the USA
  34. Visit the Smithsonian
  35. Visit the Lincoln Memorial
  36. Visit the Statue of Liberty
  37. Visit and or tour the White House
  38. Celebrate New Year in Time Square
  39. Own a real meteorite
  40. See an active volcano in person
  41. Witness the aurora borealis
  42. Witness the aurora australis
  43. Go water rafting
  44. Eat sushi– Took my Mum for lunch on 28th September 2016
  45. Try LSD
  46. Go to a concert at the O2
  47. Travel to Peru
  48. Visit Machu Picchu
  49. Hike the Valley of the Incas
  50. Travel to Australia
  51. Visit the Great Barrier Reef
  52. Swim with turtles
  53. See an orchestral performance in the Sydney Opera House
  54. Live near my children so I can see them daily
  55. Go to Alton Towers – I went there for the weekend with Ryan – 25/03/2016
  56. Own my car outright – Paid the final payment on 10th September 2015
  57. Go bungee jumping
  58. Get tattoo sleeves
  59. Go on a ride in a hot air balloon
  60. Learn to use chopsticks
  61. Eat an entire meal with chopsticks
  62. Complete a food challenge – Completed the 32oz Steak Challenge at Flaming Grill – 08/02/2016
  63. Get my tongue pierced again
  64. Summit Ben Nevis
  65. Summit Scafell Pike – completed this with my sister in 2001
  66. Learn how to dance the Tango
  67. Tour the ancient ruins in Greece
  68. Go Zorbing
  69. Take my son camping in the Highlands
  70. Blow glass
  71. Work on a pottery wheel
  72. Read a whole novel
  73. Visit Madame Tussauds
  74. See Swan Lake
  75. Visit a castle
  76. Sleep in a castle
  77. Write a recipe book
  78. Learn the alphabet in sign language
  79. Go rock climbing
  80. Take an archery lesson

Last updated 18/01/2023