Now, finally working under the US Government, Ben has found himself walking among riffle ridden army folk, sharing their space and chatting with them, "I'm not quite so phased by it now, being around the riffles. At first it was scary but I'm getting used to it."Talking to him about his long hours (getting up at 4 for a 6am shift, the lack of alcohol and bacon) he's enjoying his stay and hopes to extend the contract!
Having his services have proven valuable and he has now been offered a place in Germany, doing the same job (fixing up army vehicles) and although (another) chance of a life time has arisen he is holding out for the big one in America.
And all in sinc with back home, and our volcanic ash problems, sandstorms are all the rage in Kuwait. "All these sirens went off, and they were telling everyone to get inside. It was black for about an hour outside, in the middle of the day while the sandstorm was passing us."
Sunday 18 April 2010
Wednesday 14 April 2010
The Land of Scotts
I travelled to Scotland with my parents, boyfriend and car hogging dog. But thankfully me and my bloke took our own car - his car, which is diesel and made the journey on one tank. Good for my bank card to say the least!
We did consider flying, it's only a short half hour-ish flight over a ten hour cruise down the M6, but we opted for the wheels all the same as we thought the road trip could be fun.
Stopping at the Lock Lomond was a treat, and something we couldn't have done had we taken the flight. Glorious snow clad mountains, sunny skies and perfect waters certainly got me singing 'I'll take the high rood and yee take the low rood...' You get the gist.
Being somewhere so...fresh...was mind clearing. Cycling the tiny Isle of Lismore in hopes of seeing some wildlife - and low and behold! Beautiful seagulls. And a few sheep.
But it was sunny, and fun and bottom aching (I actually quite enjoyed it)
Up to the Nevis range for some skiing! We were wary about being told we wouldn't need our poles, but we got the hang of it and saw some lovely views from the mountain. Waterfall walks were a highlight. For me, apart from seeing dolphins about six years ago, the rushing flow of clear, want-to-dance-under-it water makes my day.
Sadly me and Steve didn't stay long enough to visit the Isle of Iona, where my ‘rents saw eagles, otters, seals, deer, and DOLPHINS! Way not fair. I was a tad annoyed at the inconvenience of us leaving.
So that was my holiday to Scootland! Fun, sun, snow and wildlife (after we left) and the road trip was entertaining, confusing sheep for cows in my drowsy just-woken state. They didn’t let me forget it!
We did consider flying, it's only a short half hour-ish flight over a ten hour cruise down the M6, but we opted for the wheels all the same as we thought the road trip could be fun.
Stopping at the Lock Lomond was a treat, and something we couldn't have done had we taken the flight. Glorious snow clad mountains, sunny skies and perfect waters certainly got me singing 'I'll take the high rood and yee take the low rood...' You get the gist.
Being somewhere so...fresh...was mind clearing. Cycling the tiny Isle of Lismore in hopes of seeing some wildlife - and low and behold! Beautiful seagulls. And a few sheep.
But it was sunny, and fun and bottom aching (I actually quite enjoyed it)
Up to the Nevis range for some skiing! We were wary about being told we wouldn't need our poles, but we got the hang of it and saw some lovely views from the mountain. Waterfall walks were a highlight. For me, apart from seeing dolphins about six years ago, the rushing flow of clear, want-to-dance-under-it water makes my day.
Sadly me and Steve didn't stay long enough to visit the Isle of Iona, where my ‘rents saw eagles, otters, seals, deer, and DOLPHINS! Way not fair. I was a tad annoyed at the inconvenience of us leaving.
So that was my holiday to Scootland! Fun, sun, snow and wildlife (after we left) and the road trip was entertaining, confusing sheep for cows in my drowsy just-woken state. They didn’t let me forget it!
Monday 22 March 2010
Working in Kuwait
Being head hunted by the big boss is a flattering thing. To be head hunted for a job as important as fixing up foreign war crafts is another story.
Thursday night he got a call telling him that he bagged the overseas job, and is being transferred on Saturday.
Ben Amos, university graduate of Swansea Met has been offered a work placement of ten weeks in Kuwait, Working for the American Government for lots of dollar and a lifetime experience in fixing their army vehicles.
They dumped him right outside the road that leads into Iraq to begin with. Since, he has been moved to a new apartment, 40 miles from the boarder in a town called Mangaf. "It's good, a brand new apartment with some nice luxuries! It has a gym, swimming pool, a freezer that makes ice cubes, pool table, and a nice TV with satellite! I can't complain now" A nice update from his basic living head quarters he was previously sharing with five people.
However, the USA are taking their time in sorting the admin and although arriving a week ago he is still waiting to start work.
Heading home on the May 30, regardless of when he starts, Ben just wants to get the ball rolling. "I just want to get on with it now, I'm really bored! But the pay will make up for it when I start, and I don't have to pay for accommodation so that's good."
Rifle ridden army folk are on his doorstep, and being in a war zone means early hours and late nights, with awkward afternoon breaks.
On top of that, alcohol and bacon are forboden.
First thoughts? "It's shit scary".
More to come.
Thursday night he got a call telling him that he bagged the overseas job, and is being transferred on Saturday.
Ben Amos, university graduate of Swansea Met has been offered a work placement of ten weeks in Kuwait, Working for the American Government for lots of dollar and a lifetime experience in fixing their army vehicles.
They dumped him right outside the road that leads into Iraq to begin with. Since, he has been moved to a new apartment, 40 miles from the boarder in a town called Mangaf. "It's good, a brand new apartment with some nice luxuries! It has a gym, swimming pool, a freezer that makes ice cubes, pool table, and a nice TV with satellite! I can't complain now" A nice update from his basic living head quarters he was previously sharing with five people.
However, the USA are taking their time in sorting the admin and although arriving a week ago he is still waiting to start work.
Heading home on the May 30, regardless of when he starts, Ben just wants to get the ball rolling. "I just want to get on with it now, I'm really bored! But the pay will make up for it when I start, and I don't have to pay for accommodation so that's good."
Rifle ridden army folk are on his doorstep, and being in a war zone means early hours and late nights, with awkward afternoon breaks.
On top of that, alcohol and bacon are forboden.
First thoughts? "It's shit scary".
More to come.
Thursday 11 March 2010
Jailbreak Journals - Part 2
On a less successful journey, The Great (or not so great) Escape made it to Newcastle...
Lauren Fielding, Chris Davies, Ailbe Moore
University of Gloucestershire
19-21February 2010
Destination: Newcastle! 214 Miles
Raised: £? for Raise and Give - Haiti
Lauren:
9.00am
In the process of filming a documentary and because it has been raining the past two days I absolutely HAVE to film today, so Jailbreak will have to wait.
3.30pm
The trio head to Royal Well bus station after an unsuccessful bus blag at Stagecoach
“We ask the first National Express (to London) if we can board and are point blank refused. Consider sneaking into the luggage compartment, but decide against this. We ask the next coach (to Heathrow) and again are refused (but this time the driver was slightly more sympathetic).
2 hours down already, and a 40minute wait for the next train… so they tried their luck at a petrol station and manage to secure a hitch to Cambridge
“We get in the car. The driver is a lovely woman called Jean, who's only downside is switching the radio station every 3 minutes. She offers to drop us off at Birmingham Airport”
6.20pm
Arrived at Birmingham Airport about 6:20, and are told that they cannot issue free tickets, they have to be arranged in advance “ironic, as when I rang a few days before they told me I had to wait until the day”. They caught the monorail to Birmingham New Street station.
“We decided our best bet is to head to Manchester where we can try the airport. After being turned down a few times we manage to persuade a train conductor to let us on the train, and we sit in the part between the carriages, feeling like proper hitch-hikers!”
At Manchester The Great Escape manage to jump on a train heading to the airport and enjoy a few pictures in First Class!
“At the Airport everywhere is closed! After milling around Terminal 1 for a while, we decide to check in for the night. We head to the nearest hotel, which as we approach realise it looks pretty expensive, but we head for it anyway… Radisson Blu Hotel. Cheapest room - £119. Ouch.
“Our room, situated on the Maritime themed floor is pretty swanky, so we revel in the luxury before heading to bed”
5.30am
5.30am
“The airport is so alive, it's hard to believe it was so empty the night before! We try each and every ticket desk in all three terminals, and are turned away from all of them. We come to the conclusion that airports are useless, and decide to use the trains again”
7.00am
A train heading to Newcastle stops at Huddersfield, so Lauren, Chris and Ailbe decide to try their luck at catching a ferry from Hull. “ We discuss the possibility that once the train starts moving the conductor will come into the carriage with a police officer, and we began to worry!”
“Turns out he is the nicest guy we will meet on the whole hike. He asks us what we're all about. After chatting for a while he tells us to act like first-class passengers to get our complimentary drinks and biscuits from the trolley (to keep our energy up), and suggests us getting off at Leeds. What a nice bunch us Northerners are!”
The train to Hull arrives at the platform. And they are told by an officer that he'll ask the conductor and give them either a thumbs-up or down. After a sigh he says, ‘Well, the bad news is...you're going to Hull’
“After thanking him and giving him a massive hug, we leap on the train (unfortunately not in First Class this time) and settle down for another hour and a half train journey.
Arrive at the Docks, and are unsuccessful in getting a free ride because they don’t want word getting around that they give out free ferries.
They head back to Leeds and arrive at Newcastle, all for free. “We ran to the nearest guards who tell us to use the Metro to get to North Shields, and manage to blag our way onto the Metro”
4.00pm
“Adrenaline is running pretty high as it is a race against time.”
“We get off the Metro and run towards a massive ferry in the distance. We were told it was roughly a 15 minute walk so we run as fast as we can, stopping a few people for directions as we get slightly lost. Again we are refused, and told that all passengers have to have been signed up by 4pm for security checks. It is too much, and I burst out crying.”
Petrol gets me no where!
So, I'm thinking after owning a car fuelled by petrol and bank notes that maybe I should switch to a diesel.
A tenner, keeping in mind the high prices at the moment, fails to put my dial above the quarter mark. I know I have a 1.6, but driving 40 minutes and back to work for a four hour shift makes out to be actually a five and half hour stint, with an hour earning my travel expenses which remain un-covered. Joy.
So, the benefits of a diesel car:
Its 'greener' than wheels on petrol! And lately I've been feeling a little eco friendly. Switching off my lights, 30degree washes and putting the toilet seat down, Not that this contributes, but it's a nice thing to do.
It gets you further, and even though typically and technically it should be more expensive than petrol, my small town home neglects this idea, equalling out the price of the two. Making my switch to another petrol motor, when really I wanted a diesel in the first place but thought it would cost more - a little bit annoying.
I drove a diesel (a very nice brand new Toyota 4x4) to Swansea and back on behalf of the university last year, and despite an ankle full of ache and unsuccessful car park practising, by the time I hit the motorway I was happy enough.
And apparently 'Their diesel engines have higher compression ratios and can generate more power from less fuel' ... but that means nothing to me.
Cheaper road tax AND less flammable, what stopped me getting a diesel in the first place?
A tenner, keeping in mind the high prices at the moment, fails to put my dial above the quarter mark. I know I have a 1.6, but driving 40 minutes and back to work for a four hour shift makes out to be actually a five and half hour stint, with an hour earning my travel expenses which remain un-covered. Joy.
So, the benefits of a diesel car:
Its 'greener' than wheels on petrol! And lately I've been feeling a little eco friendly. Switching off my lights, 30degree washes and putting the toilet seat down, Not that this contributes, but it's a nice thing to do.
It gets you further, and even though typically and technically it should be more expensive than petrol, my small town home neglects this idea, equalling out the price of the two. Making my switch to another petrol motor, when really I wanted a diesel in the first place but thought it would cost more - a little bit annoying.
I drove a diesel (a very nice brand new Toyota 4x4) to Swansea and back on behalf of the university last year, and despite an ankle full of ache and unsuccessful car park practising, by the time I hit the motorway I was happy enough.
And apparently 'Their diesel engines have higher compression ratios and can generate more power from less fuel' ... but that means nothing to me.
Cheaper road tax AND less flammable, what stopped me getting a diesel in the first place?
Wednesday 10 February 2010
Jailbreak Journals: part 1
Universities across the country are raising money for charity through challenges for students. One of these challenges is Jailbreak! See how far you can hitch-hike, with no money, away from your university campus in 36 hours. With the University of Gloucestershire's coming up on February 19th and 20th I'll be posting weblogs of group's successes, or maybe messes...
To launch the UoG's hitch-hike for Haiti, let's look back on past students attempts to go the distance.
Stephen Treacy (18) Tom Hutcings (19) Shimarlie Andrew (18)
UWE
5-6 December 2009
Destination: Gibraltar! 1069 Miles
Raised: £200 for YoungMinds
Stephen:
"To start one of my mates lent us his car which we parked up in some random village a few miles away from Bristol airport, and then stuck our thumbs out to get a lift to the terminal. I managed to get us some free flights to Reus after persuasion! At the airport we carried around a box and busked for transport money, which ended up raising about £20 before we got told off...
While we were flying, we asked the cabin crew if they could make an announcement, which turned out amazingly as when we landed a Ryanair captain gave us a lift to Tarragona station, and gave us 30 euros! We bought bus tickets to Valencia which didn't depart until 11pm, so we explored the town, had a few beers and helped ourselves to a free dinner of olive oil bread samples from the Christmas market!
In Valencia they swapped drivers, so we were a bit bad ass and didn't get off!
11 tiring hours of bus journey and 1 stolen wallet later, we arrived in a town called Jaen in Andalucia, where we got some breakfast and tried to figure out where the hell we were...
We made a Malaga sign and stuck our thumbs out again. Within about 20 minutes we got picked up and dropped off on a footpathless motorway junction, so after walking a while we ended up fixing a ride to Malaga airport from a German "short film" director.
After that we managed to get a lift from an old Spanish couple to Marbella. By then we had about 3 hours left and it was getting dark, so it was really unlikely that we'd hitch another ride, until a Jehovah witness picked us up and took us to San Roque, where we blagged our way onto a bus that went to La Linea.
Once in La Linea, Shimarlie's dad picked us up and took us through the border to her house, where we ate, and slept for free!"
Getting Home
"We tried to stay on a bus that went to Barcelona to catch free flights from Reus, but got kicked off at Granada during the night! It was pretty creepy but we finally managed to find a hotel. We ended up having to pay for flights from Malaga two days later."
To launch the UoG's hitch-hike for Haiti, let's look back on past students attempts to go the distance.
Stephen Treacy (18) Tom Hutcings (19) Shimarlie Andrew (18)
UWE
5-6 December 2009
Destination: Gibraltar! 1069 Miles
Raised: £200 for YoungMinds
Stephen:
"To start one of my mates lent us his car which we parked up in some random village a few miles away from Bristol airport, and then stuck our thumbs out to get a lift to the terminal. I managed to get us some free flights to Reus after persuasion! At the airport we carried around a box and busked for transport money, which ended up raising about £20 before we got told off...
While we were flying, we asked the cabin crew if they could make an announcement, which turned out amazingly as when we landed a Ryanair captain gave us a lift to Tarragona station, and gave us 30 euros! We bought bus tickets to Valencia which didn't depart until 11pm, so we explored the town, had a few beers and helped ourselves to a free dinner of olive oil bread samples from the Christmas market!
In Valencia they swapped drivers, so we were a bit bad ass and didn't get off!
11 tiring hours of bus journey and 1 stolen wallet later, we arrived in a town called Jaen in Andalucia, where we got some breakfast and tried to figure out where the hell we were...
We made a Malaga sign and stuck our thumbs out again. Within about 20 minutes we got picked up and dropped off on a footpathless motorway junction, so after walking a while we ended up fixing a ride to Malaga airport from a German "short film" director.
After that we managed to get a lift from an old Spanish couple to Marbella. By then we had about 3 hours left and it was getting dark, so it was really unlikely that we'd hitch another ride, until a Jehovah witness picked us up and took us to San Roque, where we blagged our way onto a bus that went to La Linea.
Once in La Linea, Shimarlie's dad picked us up and took us through the border to her house, where we ate, and slept for free!"
Getting Home
"We tried to stay on a bus that went to Barcelona to catch free flights from Reus, but got kicked off at Granada during the night! It was pretty creepy but we finally managed to find a hotel. We ended up having to pay for flights from Malaga two days later."
Monday 8 February 2010
Blackpool fool
What's with the hype about Blackpool? I thought it was a sham of a UK tourist attraction, even though, admittedly, I went out of season. But I can't see much changing in the peak seasons of summer except, well, the sun. And nothing in winter apart from the lights - which... actually I heard were quite impressive.
But if you're after a weekend away make sure you do it right, look into it properly, and find someone honest to tell you really if its worth the money, petrol and time.
Blackpool isn't. In my opinion.
The pavements are covered in the excrement of birds, dogs, and probably on duty horses owned by to-lazy-to-clean-it-up coppers. Maybe its because we went in February but even the hotel staff seemed amused that we were checking out early. Lunch in the tower was nice, sauces were free to my surprise, however pleasure beach wasn't open and the streets were tastefully furnished with smoking hooded chavs, sparing a minute to eye up ya' bags. The 'beach' shops aren't really that appealing, the few that haven't been boarded up that is, and are selling crummy, been there for a year rock. Rock? Really? In Blackpool?
However if you need a carpet, hey ho! Plenty of shops to choose from, in fact there seemed to be one every five minutes.
No offense if it's your hometown, I'm from Stroud and that's grown on me, I cringe when anyone takes the mick...but needless to say I won't be going back, I'm not a fool for Blackpool, rather a Blackpool fool.
But if you're after a weekend away make sure you do it right, look into it properly, and find someone honest to tell you really if its worth the money, petrol and time.
Blackpool isn't. In my opinion.
The pavements are covered in the excrement of birds, dogs, and probably on duty horses owned by to-lazy-to-clean-it-up coppers. Maybe its because we went in February but even the hotel staff seemed amused that we were checking out early. Lunch in the tower was nice, sauces were free to my surprise, however pleasure beach wasn't open and the streets were tastefully furnished with smoking hooded chavs, sparing a minute to eye up ya' bags. The 'beach' shops aren't really that appealing, the few that haven't been boarded up that is, and are selling crummy, been there for a year rock. Rock? Really? In Blackpool?
However if you need a carpet, hey ho! Plenty of shops to choose from, in fact there seemed to be one every five minutes.
No offense if it's your hometown, I'm from Stroud and that's grown on me, I cringe when anyone takes the mick...but needless to say I won't be going back, I'm not a fool for Blackpool, rather a Blackpool fool.
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