Things you learn in your thirties

I have often said to Maz that the person you will be in five years time is not the same person that you are now. Things change and your view of the world adjusts accordingly. What once seemed important fades into the background as you are faced with new challenges and grow as an individual. By the time you hit your thirties many things in your life will have changed. People you love will have come and gone, you will have realised that you are not going to be a rock star and you might even have a partner, spouse or children of your own to worry about. This all got me thinking about what advice could I offer now that my thirties are upon me. Here are the results.

Another one of us hits the big 30

It is that time again as yet another one of us hit’s the big thirty. This time it was Louise’s turn to celebrate and maybe cry a little in private as her twenties were left behind her. To mark the occasion we all gathered in a local pub where Louise’s sister Sarah works. Maz and I stopped the night at Louise’s house and then next day eat pizza and watched the F1 as Jenson Button romped home to victory. As it has become the norm I had with me my trusted video camera to capture it all. Here then are the highlights of the day

Me and a girl called Kate

I have a bit of a confession, there is another woman in my life other than Maz and her name is Kate Nash. For anyone who doesn't know Miss Nash she is a British solo singer and I have been bigging her up for the last few years. She broke into the UK charts a few years ago now and last year she released her second album. I however have been following and raving about her since she first appeared on the scene with her Myspace profile way back in 2007. In short I love her to bits (sorry Maz).  My love for Kate is not something that many people share with me though. Tom in particular doesn’t really get it and I have to admit that her singing voice and vocal style is a real love it or hate it affair. That all said I am firmly in the love it camp and if you are not or have never heard of her then here are my reasons why.

Booze, underwear and perverts. All in a weekends work.

Two main things happened to me this weekend. Namely I completed the game Mass Effect on the trusty Xbox and secondly I got called a pervert. The first of these is pretty simple to explain even if it did take several months to get around to it . The later however is a story of a night full of booze, women in their underwear and partying. All of which I just happen to have on video. 

Christmas comes in June for us gaming geeks!

It might not have escaped your attention that blog posts have been a bit thin on the ground over the last week. Yeah, sorry about that but my attention has been caught up with other stuff. I am and have been since the late 80’s an avid gamer. From the tape loading days of the Commodore 64, through the 16-bit wars between Nintendo and SEGA right up to my recently purchased of a shiny new Xbox. You name it I have probably played it. If then you are fanboy like me then you no doubt know that Christmas for us nerds happens in June each year as the E3 expo rolls into town. Don’t know what E3 is? Let me explain. 

Welcome to the thirtysomething club

This week we have a new member to the thirtysomething club as our friend Paul hit the big 30 on Saturday. To celebrate this landmark of aging his girlfriend Lou organised a surprise party for him at their local pub complete with party games and sumo suits. I was there of course with my video camera and caught the whole thing which you can watch below.  Now that Paul has joined our ranks I feel it is only right to offer some advice. What words of wisdom can I then impart to Paul with  three decades of life under my belt ?

Maz and I (try to) cook deep fried Bounty bars

If there is one thing that I love to do then it is cooking. Cooking and eating new foods is one of life’s little pleasures and I really don’t get people who turn their nose up at trying new stuff. Well based on this idea Maz and I decided a few weeks back to have a crack at cooking deep fried Bounty bars. Although deep fried Mars bars are more the norm we decided to put our faith in Nigella Lawson and give her version served with fresh pineapple a go. Things however did not go exactly to plan.

Welcome to the scrapheap Tom

Today then marks a new start in the life of my friend Tom. Today he is quiting his job. I quit mine a few years ago and have been stuck in limbo ever since. However unlike me who quit because I was really unhappy Tom at least a plan to start a new business. Well good luck to him I say. I am sure it will all work out in the end. Meanwhile I continue on the fast track to nowhere. So what is life like when you are unemployed?

For sometime now I have been unemployed and to be honest it is horrible. There are plenty of people who are happy to live off handouts and who see being on jobseekers allowance as a career choice. Then there are the rest of us who all try really hard to find work but seem to be fighting an endless up hill battle.

Summer time and the barbecuing is easy

The summer is here, the sun is shining and the burgers are grilling. A few beers and a few friends. What more could you ask for? Isn’t it always great to get together with a few friends and slap some meat on the grill when the weather is glorious? Well this weekend that is exactly what we did. Maz and I met up with Tom, Louise, Mark, Lou, Hayley, Chris and an assortment of others cracked open a few cold beers and burnt some burgers to a crisp.

You can’t beat a good BBQ when the weather is good. When British summer time rolls around we usually find ourselves in one of two situations. Either it is raining or we have a hosepipe ban. Well this year it looks like we could be facing the later as the sun has been shining upon us all week long. So being a bank holiday weekend I found myself at the first BBQ of the year (hopefully not the last). The day was spent in the company of good friends lazily munching my way through a weeks intake of meat while putting the world to rights. I could not think of a better end to a bank holiday weekend.