therainbowrun.org.uk

Well the final numbers are in and Team Ruth-Less cannot make it.  A shame because with them here it would have been the first time that the Rainbow Run would all have been together.  Never mind the final number is fifteen!  The full list is;

1. Team Bodgers + Gail Haden.
2. Team Wyrd Sisters + Bryan Talbot & Evelyn Johnson.
3. Team Two Scoops + Judith Maddison.
4. Team Jockland.
5. Team Keating + Maureen Keating.

The venue, The Glendower Hotel, Goodwick, is booked for 1330hrs Sunday the 1st of May.  It is a carvery lunch and comes as highly recommended.  See you all there.

This weather is great not only for me but also for the 10,000 bees just delivered.  I have been hankering for some bees for a year now and despite investing in the hardware, I just haven’t been able to capture any bees – for free.  So I bit the bullet and bought some.

Just had a meeting for the Run on Friday and it was great to see everyone again, it’s been a long time.  The general consensus was that we need to pull our fingers out and make some money.  It’s not long now!  And the remaining time will just fly.  Time to get out and sell some of those shares.

Gail Haden rang me this morning and asked what was happening about the trip to Wood Park!  I have been so bound up in what is happening to poor old me that I completely forgot to let everyone know that plans had changed.

As you can imagine, I am not well enough to spend time in the wilds playing Landrovers.  The problem is that we had arranged to take Janice and anyone else who wanted it, for a days off road driving.  During the past week, Charlie and I had re-arranged delivery of the bus and the off road weekend.

Where it all begins to go pear shaped is – I didn’t let any one else know!  I feel a news letter coming on.  Or perhaps an email.  Watch this space.

I woke this morning with the idea that I have seen the worst of this cold.  However, I have felt this way before and a few hours later the temperature is back and the headache is banging away again.  The periods of being ill versus the periods of “getting better” are getting shorter and less debilitating.

I can see how this would kill you if it were compounded by another illness.  My mate John Davies who was very ill with the H1N1 virus had pneumonia as well.  He was in an induced coma for a while but then that’s typical John.  Never do anything by halves.

The overwhelming symptom left for me to deal with is the tiredness and apathy.  It’s also hard for me to gauge what is a symptom and what is a natural trait for me.  If I am still in bed at 10:30 in the morning, don’t judge me!

I am, for the first time over the past four days, beginning to think that I might survive.  I was diagnosed four days ago, with Swine fever!  I have to agree with those learned gents in white coats, it is a pig of an illness, a real killer.  I don’t think that anything has ever made me feel so bad.  I am now seven days into the illness and I am at the chesty cough – temperature – head ache stage.

The cough is the killer.  I thought the 40.1 C temperature was the killer and then I thought the head ache, sore throat combination would see me off.  However, the cough is the worst.  If you can imagine coughing a lung up, giving it a rub down with a cheese grater and then sucking it back in, you have an idea what it feels like.  Agony!

However, I think I am now on the mend.  Today was definitely better than  yesterday and I am hoping that tomorrow will be better than today, God willing.  Normal Blogging service will be resumed as soon as possible.

All set!  Its 2300hrs and everything is set to fetch Team Keatings Landrover in the morning.  Tow ropes, lighting board for the trailer, ratchet straps and GPS all ready to go, just got to get there and back.  To make life really interesting I woke up with a killer sore throat and a chest that is rattling like a biscuit tin full of marbles.

I feel for my passengers actually.  They stand no chance at all, do they?  Locked up in a car all day with a driver coughing like an asthmatic camel.  If they don’t get it I will be very surprised.  Still, share and share alike.

Dylan is set to take delivery of the vehicle upon return.  I really must have a count up.  There must be five Landrovers there already.  I hope he doesn’t run out of space before we go.

Good in most ways really; last night and the prelude to a week off!  Not only that but we have a breakfast at work on our last night.  Gwyl cooks an egg and bacon roll with sausage and hash browns to go with.  Mmmm….

At long last it looks like Team Keating is making an appearance.  Mike rang me last week and asked if we could go to Bridgend to collect the Landrover he has bought.  It means getting a car trailer from a friend, driving it to Bridgend, getting the (un-driveable) beast onto the trailer and getting it home.

I cant wait to see it on the road.  Welcome team Keating.

The power of the collective mind is a wonderful tool, or so I am led to believe.  We now have an on-line shop with empty shelves, and I am at a loss as to what to put on them.  There is always Rainbow Run merchandise – T shirts, Sweat Shirts etc. but we need to make money here.

If anyone has an idea what we can sell, now would be a good time to stand up and be counted.  So long as it is legal and we can sell it at a profit, I don’t care what it is.  Lots of people make a living from doing this, why does it seem so hard?

I suppose that’s the difference between a businessman and a consumer.  If anyone has any ideas please drop me a line at howard@therainbowrun.org.uk.  All ideas will be given due consideration.

Well that’s days finished and starting nights tonight.  I prefer nights to days I suppose, it leaves the day free for other stuff.  We finish at some time between 0400 and 0600, depending on the workload and if we manage to get away earlier than later, it’s just a late night.

I did have all sorts of things planned for today but the best laid plans of mice and men.  What really threw a spanner in the works was not getting out of my nice, warm bed until 10:30 this morning.  On top of that I forgot that Dagmar was working at 17:00, which means I am car-less from about 16:30.

Never mind.  Sam and I (mostly Sam) had a day on the website and achieved a lot.  The PayPal account is now well on the way to being operative and a few bugs ironed out.  I suppose I will have to be happy with that.

Stena Line is the first Corporate Sponsor to take advantage of the scheme to advertise on the exterior of the Landrovers.  Either £100 a square foot or £1000 for the whole vehicle.  Good value if you consider that the vehicles will be driving around the UK for a year before they go and will reach markets from here to Timbuktu.

SSAF Vinyl Printers, who have produced the door stickers for us have also said they will produce the artwork, at preferential rates for any corporate sponsor.  Really nice people at SSAF, we thank you.  Whilst on the subject I should really thank Stena Line, in anticipation.

Had an email from a bunch of bikers who are travelling to Timbuktu at the same time as us and wanting to travel with us for some of the way.  I think that would be rather nice.  Providing that they are prepared to travel somewhat slowly.  They are called Royal British Legion Riders in Spain.  Welcome Guys.