We all like to have a rant sometimes...

Oasis Papagayo, Fuerteventura...Our Holiday

2010-05-27T06:42:00.006+01:00

Room Comfort: In a word - Good. There was ample room for all of us in our apartment. The sofa bed was very easy to fold out for our little girl and the bed for us was huge. The only problem with our bed is that it was actually two single ones together so kept coming apart. We didn't really spend that much time in the apartment though as we were all inclusive so eat at the restaurant or snack bar by the pool. It served it's purpose and having a bath for the kids certainly helped! Rating: 4/5

Food: The variety of food on offer was superb. From breakfast through to dinner we were spoilt for choice. If you're a coffee drinker then take advantage of the machine in the buffet/restaurant hall in the morning! The quality of food however left something to be desired. It wasn't fantastic but hey, it was edible. If you're going to go all inclusive I strongly suggest you book yourself into the restaurant every evening where the quality is higher. We eat there almost each night and the best night was definitely the mexican! Rating: 3/5

Location: Could do with being a bit closer to the beach. It's not a massive walk but if you are planning on taking a toddler on holiday with you and no pushchair then you will certainly need to hire one from reception. Across the road from the resort is Baku Park which is in serious need of new management. It's ridiculously expensive and 3/4 of it is derelict. It's a crying shame because it has so much potential in the right hands (note to Duncan Bannantyne there). It was however a nice walk down into Corallejo town centre so not that bad really. Rating: 3.5/5

Cleanliness: Can only really say 10 out of 10 here!! Rating: 5/5

Travel: We set off from York the day before we were due to travel to stay in a hotel at the airport. If you are travelling with kiddies and your journey to the airport is going to be a long one then I suggest you do the same. Book early! We stayed at Bewleys Hotel http://www.bewleyshotels.com/manchester_airport/ just outside terminal 2 and with a free transfer to your terminal it's hard to complain. If you're on a budget though then the price of the food will give you something to complain about. On the way home after landing at Manchester for about 2am we stayed at the Premier Inn http://www.premierinn.com/en/homeQuickSearch!execute.action which is about 1.7km away so you will need to get a taxi. I'll say one thing here, the sleep I had was possibly the best nights sleep in the whole 11days we were away from our bed. Breakfast was superb and included for the price, the staff were helpful and polite and the room was perfect! The only downside is paying for the taxi but when it only costs £5 (per journey) it seems incomparable to the quality of the hotel! Travelling with Thomson was a pleasure and they made it so easy. From having reserved seats on the plane, to the rep at the airport waiting to guide us to our coach after landing in Fuerteventura. Rating 4.9/5 (-.1 simply because I don't like travelling)

Overall: If you are going to have a family holiday with your little ones then I would recommend Thomson every time! The entire experience, from the super friendly girl at the call centre who advised us how to upgrade our holiday (a lot by the way) for minimal cost to the quality of the resort, was fantastic! It was a pleasure to have holidayed with Thomson and I will recommend this holiday to anyone who asks!!! Rating: 4.08

Le Paris...

2010-02-20T19:38:00.007Z

Our trip to Paris was planned as a Valentines' surprise for my beautiful lady, she had no idea we were going until approximately half hour away (the look on Silviya's face was worth the weeks of secrets) from the airport travelling on the First Transpennine express train from York.

We arrived at Manchester Airport at around 18:00 on the evening of Saturday 13th February 2010. We headed to terminal 2 for our check in with Air France to fly at 19:50. At this point I want to compliment Air France on their speed and efficiency of check in, the automated terminals are easy to use and the staff are extremely helpful. We boarded the flight on time (before boarding I strongly recommend you buy yourself a little map of where you are going as it worked wonders for us!). After taxiing around Manchester Airport for 10 minutes we finally took off. The flight was pleasurable with very little or no turbulence at all complimented by a free coffee and cheese sandwich. We landed at Charles De Gaulle and again taxied around the airport for another 10 minutes. Charles De Gaulle airport is massive by the way and very well organised.

We left the airport after some very friendly advice from the tourist info via train, which was very easy to understand (even in French). After leaving the train at Gare Du Nord we walked through connecting tunnels onto La Chapelle which took us straight onto Victor Hugo tube station or Metro as they call it in Paris. After coming out of Victor Hugo station we got our bearings (not easy at gone Midnight) and headed for the Hotel. It took us 15 minutes to walk to Etoile Trocadero and check in.

This brings me onto our next positive experience. The night porter on the front desk was excellent. We arrived after a long journey, hungry and cold and he took the time out to go the kitchen and arrange food, including some of his own for us to take to our room. The only downside to the first night is that the room was quite small and as it had been freshly decorated the window had been left open so was very cold. The next morning after a delicious continental breakfast we transferred rooms at no cost and no hassle to one bigger and warmer. We then headed out for the day.

The first thing we headed for was of course the Eiffel Tower. This is when we discovered our only negative experience to Paris. North of the Tower, and off in every other direction you have the migrants trying desperately to sell you trinkets. Now I appreciate they are only trying to live but they do get quite frustrating. The best trick we found for avoiding them is put your head down and do not look at them in the eye. We arrived at the Eiffel Tower slightly bemused as it is really not that spectacular during the day. Our next destination was The Louvre!

We walked part way (I strongly advise you take advantage of those two limbs hanging off the bottom of your torso while in Paris) but got the Metro most of it. Le Louvre is amazing. My only disappointment to being there is that we did not have enough time to see it all, you really do need a FULL day. They could probably also do with a nap area because after lunch we were feeling a little tired. I would also seriously recommend that you hire the audio guide while you are there unless you can read French. Other wise though if you are going to do anything in Paris; go and see the Louvre!!! After a rest bite back at the Hotel we then spent Valentines' evening at the Eiffel Tower.

The next day was spent wandering around absorbing different parts of this glorious city. We spent ten minutes at Notre Dame Cathedral and I would say to you if you are not religious, DO NOT GO! It's a Roman Catholic Cathedral and very much so. The one point that stuck in my mind here is a plaque near the back of the Cathedral showing people murdering babies. Now I have no idea what this symbolised but believe you me we quickly left the Cathedral after that. After our scary encounter we headed back to the hotel to collect our bag and then back onto Charles De Gaulle airport for a pleasant journey home.

All in all Paris is a wonderful city and as the rest of the world has it's negative points. Share it with the right person and you will treasure it forever and will almost certainly want to go back! The sights are amazing with an almost perfect Metro and Rail system. Travel with Air France and you won't regret it.

Goodbye 2008...

2009-01-01T12:35:00.003Z

...and hello 2009. Has anyone else had the same sort of fortune I have over the last two years but 2008 in particular?

In 2007 I met the woman I shall be spending the rest of my life with and her daughter Emma who I love as one of mi own and got miself a job I feel I can finally settle in and get a good career out of.

In 2008 me and Silviya had our son Sebastian Alexander on 31st October at 09:42. He is definitely the greatest thing ever to happen to me.

Apparently things happen in 3's. If so bring on 2009!!!

THE BASTARD CREDIT CRUNCH...

2008-10-08T15:40:00.002+01:00

Is it just me or is this whole credit crunch thing being hugely exagerated? I appreciate that it affects the fat cats and the greedy people but fuck that...It's not affecting me.

Yes fuel prices are on the increase and food prices are going up but if we all budget for this then it shouldn't affect us. Change your habits people! Instead of shopping at Waitrose and M&S shop at Aldi and Netto, have you seen the quality of food on offer? Get yourself on internet sites such as Uswitch.com and shop around for better fuel prices. I'm not exactly a high earner and have a baby on the way and know that if I watch the pennies I can make sure that everyone is provided for and I can still enjoy my life. My life will continue on as normal.

The media aren't helping matters by blowing things out of proportion! Every day it's credit crunch this and crisis in the markets that but I re-iterate - it only affects those at the top. I end by saying while we are in a recession there's no need to worry; if we fall into a depression then we should all jump off the nearest 26 storey building. I'll be jumping off the Sunley Tower in Manchester.

Sod's Law Theory - The Theory of Sods Law

2008-03-02T19:00:00.004Z

It isn't a myth - the phone really does ring as soon as you get into the bath and you are much more likely to spill something down your new clothes just before you go on a first date.Now scientists have come up with a formula for the phenomenon known as Sod's Law:

((U+C+I) x (10-S)/20 x A x 1/(1-sin(F/10)).

The theory was formed after an economist,psychologist and mathematcian,commissioned by British Gas,looked at the experiences of 1,000 people and examined five factors - Urgency (U),Complexity (C),Importance (I),Skill (S) and Frequency (F) - to show that if something goes wrong it will go wrong at the worst possible time.They applied a score of between one and nine to each factor,added a 0.7 score for aggravation (A) and then used the formula to find a Sod's Law rating of between 0 and 10.
What are the chances of that?

[Metro Oct. 2004]

Who are M&S kidding?!?!

2008-02-28T21:13:00.005Z

I really have to admire M&S and there new 'carrier bag' policy. The fact they have seen an opportunity to make more money and market it as saving the planet is genius.

The day after one of the country's biggest newspapers does a huge campaign on reducing plastic carrier bags Marks and Spencers jump on the bandwagon and sell it to the public as saving the world. You either pay roughly 3p per carrier bag or if you spend over £5 you'll get a free one. Whoop-dee-fuckin-doo!

Is it just me that's noticed that it is blatantly another item to add to their 'unethical' agendas?

Bravo Marks and Sparks!

http://www.krisyork.blogspot.com/

Tony Blair...Long live the King

2007-05-17T22:14:00.000+01:00

I'm not normally a very political person but over the last 6-12 months have started takin a slight interest in it and that is because of Tony Blair.

I personally believe that Tony Blair is the greatest leader this country has had since Winston Churchill. Finally someone had the balls to stand up and take action. His war may have been illegal but at least he did somert! He didn't just sit back and watch and debate it in the houses of parliament and I do believe he had our best interests at heart. He's done so much for the country. People complain about how open our borders have become but I say fuck that. These terrorists would have made it in regardless one way or another and I believe in open borders.

We all the share the same world as well as countries and cities.

2007-04-21T13:45:00.000+01:00

Breaking News...

UFO Manufacture in York, En-g-land!

A tip off given to local police in York led to a major find of UFO's being made in an old Grain Store in York. The clue came when a ve-h-icle loaded with spiderweb was seen entering the compound.

The Yorkshire Police Constabulary gave this statement. "We entered the old Grain Store in Clifton Moor and entered the old hangars to find a UFO that appeared to be made out of Spiderweb. It was like something from a sci-fi movie."

The find turned up 12 of these 'UFO's' and is something unseen before anywhere in the world. They are infact made entirely out Spider web. Scientists have discovered a way to farm mass amounts of the never before used material. UFO enthusiasts are calling it "the biggest scam yet".

We spoke to a scientist at the local St. John University and he claimed that the reason they would be getting made out of Spiderweb is because it's the strongest substance known to man.

SirK's Rants Copyrighted 2007

America and Iran...

2007-04-21T13:40:00.000+01:00

I've just read an article on America telling the world that Iran are only talking about Iraq to divert attention away from the Nuclear Plant and it shocks me. Do the UN not contemplate telling America to get rid of their Arsenal of Nuclear Weapons? In Britain we are just as bad. We have Nuclear Weapons yet the UN won't impose any sanctions on us.

Why is it so strange that Iran would want to build a nuclear powerstation? In Britain we have Sellafield and in America there are at least 31 of these 'Potential Nuclear Weapons Factories'. A Middle Eastern country tries to take a step into this century (that's what they're saying anyway) and the West gets worried that we will have Nuclear Bombs falling from the sky. I appeal to the UN to demand us in the West to publicly announce just how many nuclear warheads we have. I tell you this, they wouldn't! The reason for this is quite simply that the UN practically is the West. Where were the arrests on Iraq's war criminals? I don't mean Saddam, thankfully he has been caught. I mean Blair and Bush for declaring this illegal oil war in the first place.

Is Americas next step simply to declare war on Iran?

What a strange world we live in!!!!

SirK's Rants Copyrighted 2007

A thought about superstores...

2007-04-21T13:38:00.000+01:00

I don't know about anyone else but shopping really bugs me. I hate having to fight around people just to get some frickin' bananas. People are impatient and it would be so much easier if I was allowed to 'move' them out of my way.

Another thought although would be the following. Instead of the general public being 'allowed' to walk round the store we could install automatic trolleys on rails. Imagine a small bumper car made out of metal 'weeving' (you know what I mean) with legs and 4 not so wobbly wheels with a handle to hold onto and two chairs for the little ones attached to an overhead cable 'gently' pulling the cart along. Now also imagine this...Instead of supermarket attendants it could be run by a fascist army. You would be ushered along at a steady pace whilst quickly trying to grab your groceries and whatever you might want to buy on that particular day. If you went to the customer services desk to comlpain a small man would approach you, take your wallet or purse, remove your driving license and say "Remember, we know where you live" whilst at the same time two tall shadowy figures would emerge as if from the woodwork with two growling, snarling rottweitlers. You would understand and quickly leave without telling a soul.

This would make the whole shopping experience much more pleasurable...

SirK's Rants Copyrighted 2007

Jesus was a drug dealer...

2007-04-21T13:36:00.000+01:00

Think about this one. He was either a drug dealer or an incredibly intelligent man or both. I don't doubt that there was once a man that manipulated the minds of hundreds but I do doubt that he was the son of God. He must have found these drugs that can 'help' people to see what he wanted them to. Walking on water and feeding the 5,000 were all simply illusions caused possibly by LSD or some other hallucenegenic.Have you ever looked down the street on a hot day and noticed that your road looks like steaming water? Is it not possible therefore that this is the case?

SirK's Rants Copyrighted 2007

Racism...

2007-04-21T13:22:00.000+01:00

I'll start by saying one thing - I fuckin hate racism!!! We all share the same world not just countries and cities.

I have been living in York for the last three years and while I love the city itself; it is incredibly racist. I've had people that are shocked when I say this but these are usually people of non white English descent. They don't see it because those that are racist are also too fucking cowardly to admit it. When you are a white English man in York you see and hear it all the time. I used to work in a bookies and my customers knew that I don't tolerate it in the shop when I'm working. I don't want to hear it. I used to work with a guy who openly admitted to me that he voted the BNP in the last general election. When I asked him where he went for food after he'd been out on the piss he replied "I get a kebab or a pizza". Need I say more really?

The other thing that I hate is all the political correctness that comes with it. I mean for fuck's sake kids can't even sing Baa Baa Black Sheep anymore in school. I also tell you this; It was never the 'black man' that introduced this way of thinking. It was the middle class white man saying we can't sing fucking poems and have 'black boards' or 'black bin liners' because it's racist. It's the middle class white man that is breeding racism with all this niave bullshit. My little sister once came home singing a song about a piggy getting killed on a railway by a train driver that didn't care. What sort of world are we living in when children are singing songs about killing innocent animals but can't sing about a sheep that has black wool?!? Come on people wake up!

It is good to know however that racism is becoming more and more un-tolerable in society.
I have something to say to those racist fucks around the world - and I hope you read this; Think about where man originated from, that's right Africa. Also think about the colour of the skin of this man, that's right he was black. Some of the ignorant bastards might say that the first man was white but these were the neanderthals, hunter gatherers that had no intelligence. The first homosapien was indeed black. He was intelligent and learnt how to communicate and work together so effectively that the neanderthals became instinct!

I would just like to add that I myself am white. My heritage lies in the UK, at least as far as I can trace anyway but I'm certain that if I went further back it would definitely be elsewhere in the world and the same goes for everyone else (except those in certain parts of Africa).

Racism - Stamp it out!!!

SirK's Rants Copyrighted 2007

The net step in human evolution...

2007-04-21T13:21:00.000+01:00

I have a new theory in how the Human Race should evolve.

What do you think to people with indicators and brake lights? Think about it it's a quality idea. Your walking down the high street and instead of some pillock stopping dead in front of you and turning into a shop their brain picked up on the impulses and a brake light and an indicator came on.

How much less frustrating would that be?

SirK's Rants copyrighted 2007