Kickboxing and Boxing for Noobs.

So you must ALL be aware by now of the cat attack I suffered…. (If not, wake up!!! Where have you been – Catch up HERE).

Whilst in hospital I shared a ward with some very interesting people. Inventors, photographers, programmers, war veterans and a martial arts chap…

I’ve kept in contact with a few of these people – and I have plenty of time for them, for although my cat bite was a serious thing (although kind of amusing), I count myself as very lucky to what other people were in with. Lots of respect to them.

One particular person has had a real major effect on my life. I was never the most sporty of people, mainly due to a knee cap break whilst at school that was fashionably diagnosed at the time as “growing pains”. It stopped my running, swimming, and sports interest in general. 15 years later and an X-ray showed a 15 year old badly healed knee cap.

Add to this my dodgy lungs (of which my January flu pushed over the edge and left me with asthma) plus joint issues, and you start to see I was never exactly at the peak of physical fitness.

Top it all with a back that put me out of work for 3 months and then that cat bite (which has left ongoing issues – including a sporadically weak wrist and potential to land me in hospital again with reinfection even years later), and you start to get a pretty good mental image of where I WAS….

I took up Nordic walking, running, mountain biking to try and help, and to a point it did. I lost a lot of weight, but the general fitness wasn’t improving as much as I liked… then I ended up in hospital opposite John Devaney of Southern Martial Arts.

He told me that he was setting up a boxing exercise class, so would I be interested. I blame either the painkillers I was on, or the hospital food… or more likely the fact of John being a very inspirational man (a snapped leg caused by weakness from chemo from cancer treatment… and he’s still someone who you would really want on your side in a dodgy situation) – but whatever it was, I agreed to go.

Lets face it… he was STARTING a boxing fitness class… I would be in a class as a newbie with a load of other newbies… What could go wrong?

The boxing fitness class was pretty much started for all the SMA martial arts people to improve their fitness levels… So yeah, I turned up and pretty much everyone knew everyone else, and they were all fit. Bugger….

It wasn’t easy… In fact I didn’t think I’d make it past the warm up… but I did. Everyone there made it a great experience, and John is a top notch instructor. I felt the benefits within a few days… so turned up again a week later… and have not looked back.

Then he suggested I join the Kickboxing class he runs. I said no, as I had some pretty valid reasons (in my head)… but then found myself in his kickboxing class and realising how useful it was for me – both physically and mentally. Encouragement from John and other class members got me there – and are keeping me their. Thanks to them all!

The kickboxing is really helping with co-ordination, general fitness and flexibility. After my back went I lost a lot of what (bad) flexibility I had – but SMA kickboxing has totally changed that. I even managed to briefly get my chin to my knees on an assisted stretch at the last session – and my splits are getting a whole lot lower than I ever could do them when I was younger… and I’m 37 now!

Intense energy sessions and press ups still cause me grief due to the lung and wrist problems, but it’s getting better. You can go at your own pace, but you are pushed to better yourself. Lets face it – there’s no point doing something if you are only going to go at it half heartedly.

You get out what you put in.

You can contact Southern Martial Arts at:

JOHN DEVANEY
8 Union Road,
Farham,
Surrey
GU9 7PT

Tel: 01252 821 417

e-mail: johnd@southern-martial-arts.co.uk

Facebook: Southern Martial Arts

Why do I train?

For those I train with – Why I do it… (from 2008): Fitness Starts HERE 2008

Almost immediately after I started getting into this keeping healthy lark I ended up with a work related (badly) screwed back, which I used Nordic Walking to recover from… only to then get hit by a severe infection (leaving me asthmatic on top of the lung problems I already have) and the feral cat attack (through which I met John Devaney…. bloody cat).

Each set back just makes me want to come back harder, but each time I find it physically tougher, although that won’t stop me trying… Next step, KICKBOXING!!!!

I already go to a boxing class run by SMA, where the positive attitude of everyone really helps push me. I’ve never been good at fast, hard training (lungs again…), but if I am to fix that problem (and the dodgy wrist left over from the feral attack), then this class is really a kill or cure. It’s a tough class, no word of a lie!

I’m now going to go to the kickboxing class that SMA run. This should help me with stability, coordination and even more fitness/health issues… Kill or Cure, Kill or Cure!

I will be ready to take on that Arctic Survival for my 40th….

.

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Endometriosis -The Lucy Palmer guest appearance

Once in a while I come across a friend on Twitter who raises awareness in things that often go by unheard of unless people are involved in them (either personally or via a friend/family).

Lucy Palmer is one such Twitter friend. Inspirational in her tweets (and amusing, cutting, serious, educational etc…), she is fighting with endometriosis – and also raising money for Endometriosis UK.

This is an excerpt from her charity page:

Some of you are aware that I, Lucy, have endometriosis. For me, it means a LOT of PAIN. So, it hurts, it stops me being able to do normal stuff, like working, driving, having holidays, planning simple things… many things maybe you take for granted and can do without thinking about.

Endometriosis almost completely controls the lives of millions of women and girls and, sadly, they aren’t always listened to by their doctors or family or friends. Luckily, my Ma, Pa and brother have never doubted me, likewise close friends and my GP. It took 14 years to be listened to by consultants, to be diagnosed, during a laparoscopy, and to receive the appropriate treatment for this horrendous disease/condition.

I aim to run or jog my way round the 5k course in Hyde Park on Sunday 5th September this year. The training is already hard for me to do. The treatment I am receiving, called decapeptyl SR injections, causes joint pain, and for me, that’s in my knees. Constant fatigue from endo and its treatment and HRT, plus the medication for depression, does not make this an easy task for me. It is hard work. It hurts me. A lot.

On top of all she does, she also publishes a blog about how she copes with endo. In a rare blogging moment, I am posting an entry from Lucy as a guest blog within my own.

Please read her blog, visit her charity page and follow her on Twitter…. and spread the word.

Is this the endo my pain?

Probably not, no.

I was lying in my hospital bed on Monday 15th March this year, after the laparoscopy, when the consultant I had seen several times since 2008 came to see me. He had been “in clinic”, over the other side of the hospital. He hadn’t been able to perform the surgery; he was meant to on the previous Thursday but various occurrences meant my operation had to be postponed.

The decision was made, by me, to have a laparoscopy to find out, once and for all, “if” there was anything “wrong” relating to my womb, ovaries and/or ladybits. Some of you may be aware that, from the age of 18, I have been continually told there was nothing wrong and my irregular, heavy, prolonged and insanely agonising periods were something I would “grow out of” or that would “settle down” in time. The pain before and after periods and the bleeding between them was also not something I ought to concern myself about.

Not only have I been told that my pain was “psychological”, I was also told that I was “too young for anything to be wrong with (my) ovaries, darling”. And, that the only thing which would cause the sharp, tight, stabbingly-sharp pains in my lower right abdomen was “endometriosis of the ovaries, which you don’t have”, the non-surgery-performing-but-bed-visiting consultant said.

Still in immense pain after the laparoscopy with my awesome Ma beside me, I was told, by the NSPBBV consultant, that during the operation, the Mega-neat surgeon discovered that there “was endometriosis on both ovaries”. We found out later in the patient copy letter from the Mega-neat consultant who performed the surgery, that it was also present on the posterior uterine wall and the left pelvic side wall. In the letter, it states that the larger right side (ovary) had to be drained. This accounts for, not just the pains with periods and between them (every day, in fact) but also the amount of pain after waking from surgery; he used diathermy to remove the endometriosis he found. That essentially means my innermost ladyparts were burned, hence the incredible agony I felt, not to mention the utterly horrendous “wind” pains in my right shoulder and chest. I mentioned it. Oh.

Less than a second after the NSPBBV consultant said those ground-breaking words, I sobbed. My right hand somehow hurled itself to my eyes, which then started leaking, as well as my nose. Messy. I wasn’t crying because I’d finally been told what was wrong with me, or because I knew what it meant from now, onwards. Rather, I cried because I was so disappointed, I had been so terribly let down by people whom I trusted to help me, but instead, they neglected to do their job. They neglected me, allowed me to suffer so much unspeakable agony for so many years. I knew what was wrong with me, I knew, completely, that endometriosis was the cause of my pain. I’d tried to tell “them” so many times what my pain was like, but I was stopped mid-sentence, ignored, patronised and insulted.

What happens now? What do I do? Zoladex injections, every 28 days andPremique. What are they? Well, click the words and find out! Or, I can tell you, not very coherently. It is late as I type this and really need to sleep, but this is the third draft of this post and I just want to get it done. So, Zoladex will halt to ovaries for a few months, inducing a menopause. The break from periods occurring should (hopefully) give me a rest from feeling so tired. All the time. From aching, head to toe, and feeling like my womb is trying to cut its way out of my abdomen. And the Premique is a form of HRT, to try to counteract the menopausal symptoms.

There are no guarantees with this (unfairly-named, to my mind) “disease”. I prefer “condition”. It is not curable, but can be managed. However, “can” does not mean “will”. Some women are lucky, and have no pain, while others have immense pain which can not be controlled. And even hysterectomies and double oophorectomies are not certain to stop the pain. Some women have hormone treatment for some months and are free from pain. But the condition will still be there, it just may not “happen” again.

Since my surgery (with MEGA-neat stitches and wounds, and now scars. Did I mention? Super stuff! Tiny entry sites. Amazing…), I have had a period – on the Wednesday, just 2 days after the operation. It was bloody painful, if you excuse the pun. Less painful than I expected but still enough to wake me at 5am and make me nearly fall down the stairs to get a Keral in my face. Took much longer to work than the 20 minutes the NSPBBV consultant told me but hey, never mind, EH? It actually took around 40 minutes to work.

And now, I await another period. I haven’t had a day or, indeed, hour without pain. Apart from sleep. If there was pain, I haven’t noticed it, so bedrugged am I with anti-depressants and codeine. (I shan’t go into details – although it may be too late, now – but the amount of codeine I had made for a toilet situation vaguely similar to that experienced by Lisa Lynch in her ASTOUNDING blog, AlrightTit. I am also so stupendously proud to call Lisa an actual real life friend of mine, all thanks to the wonder that is Marsha Shandur, via the world of Twitter. (I went to Lisa’s Super Sweet 30th birthday party in London in September last year with the equally AMAZING Amanda, but didn’t get to meet Marsha. Good news for her…)

For 10 days I have had the familiar pre-period pains and heavy, dragging, relentlessness of my womb and parts. It would seem, then, that the surgery to remove the endometriosis was partially successful; bits were taken away/burned, but the pain of it all is still happening. Bugger. Today is day 30 of my “cycle” and I don’t have a clue when it will start. It may be another 2 days, or 2 weeks. I’m not just impatient with my body (even though I know I can do nothing, actively, to stop it hurting); the sooner the period starts, the sooner the Zoladex injections can be started. Must be administered, subcutaneously (in the stomach), within 5 days of a period starting. As the NPSBBV man said, “(my) body needs a rest”. NOW.

So, altogether now… HURRY FUCKING UP!!

Wise up sucker

Multiblade electric razor sharpeners… and now this…

Dettol have come up with an automatic hand soap dispenser!

Selling to idiots I feel….

The advert shows people getting dirty hands & then TRANSFERING THOSE GERMS (dust mite debris, pet dander, pollen particals etc) TO THE TOP OF THE OLD MANUAL HAND PUMPED DISPENSER!!!!!

O.M.G!!!

Erm…. So what?

Once you’ve pumped soap you don’t touch the top again…do you?

Pump, wash, dry?

Yeah?

Am I missing something?

Do people pump soap & wash their hands… then rub their hands over the pump again before performing surgery on babies brains or before preparing blowfish sushi on a Dettol clean kitchen floor for people with gastric problems?

I understand having taps that you don’t touch, after all you have to turn those off after washing – but an automatic hands free soap pump?

Suckers will buy this for sure.

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Customer service

Apple bent over backwards to help me recently – even though it was outside of their user arrangement  (See here).

Apple are a huge organisation and yet still look after the individual (in my experience anyway). This made me wonder how well other organisations fair in the customer services area… more specifically manufacturers or razors and shaving products.

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A while ago I came up in a rash. I was using several products at the time so contacted the manufacturers. I have sensitive skin and had skin problems before.

Firstly I contacted King of Shaves. Very easy to find a contact on the website.

Will King himself got back to me within a few hours and asked if it had happened before, and then suggested options I could try. Then the King of Shaves Master Barber contacted me and gave me some tips and helped out. Great service.

I then contacted Gillette. Finding the right contact on the website was not so easy.

After a few days I received what could only be called a generic email. It said that all Gillette products are tested and it was unlikely to be any of their products causing the problem. Immediate defence of the product and not one question to me, or advice on what to do – apart from linking me to their “how to shave” page… like duh… I’m 37 and suddenly I have forgotten how to shave. The whole experience was very cold as if Gillette wanted to distance themselves from any problem.

I then contacted Raz*War.

I received a fast response from one of the Directors – much like the King of Shaves, Raz*War took it seriously, and did not go into any defence, but asked if I had any history of skin problems. Polite, fast response and helpful.

So King of Shaves and Raz*War came out tops in that, where as Gillette just didn’t seem to care. Now I realise I might just have got through to the wrong person – but so what? I’m still a customer and should be treated with respect by a corporation no matter WHO I get through to (eventually…).

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I wanted to trial some razors – and seeing as I wanted them to review I would expect some very positive friendly help from the manufacturer.

When I saw King of Shaves were launching a razor (the Azor), I showed interest in giving it a try. I was invited to a launch party by Will King himself (I was a total unknown to Will King – He had seen me on Facebook on a shave group). Live music, barbecue, freebies. Honest discussion about what the user wants and a need for people to speak out if they don’t like the product. This was an eye opener for me. When the Azor M was launched I received one of those for review too – and I didn’t need to ask.

I contacted Gillette several times, through their website and Twitter, to try and get a trial on the new Pro-Glide. Eventually someone got back to me and linked me to some websites where I could apply to get a free razor…. only these were only for the USA and Canada! I mentioned this on Twitter and a Gillette member got back to me saying I should try Amazon when it gets launched in the UK… Needless to say I haven’t been able to test one yet, let alone get my hands on one.

I contacted Raz*War and asked if I could have a sample for testing. Straight away I had a sample sent out – I blogged the results of my tests and the Director came back thanking me for my honest review.

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Now I’m not biased, so I conducted a very simple test on the three manufacturers razors – A full head and face shave – with a goatee trim.

King of Shaves Azor – Easily managed a weeks hair and stubble due to 4 well spaced blades, although trimming around my goatee was tricky. Shave was very close and very smooth. Cartridge price and life is bench setting standard. I can go weeks on one cartridge, and as such they work out far cheaper than a disposable.

Gillette Fusion – Struggled with a weeks hair and facial growth due to 5 close set blades, but goatee was easily trimmed with a very neat and smooth trimmer blade. The shave was smooth but not close at all – in fact It left me with enough hair to shave again with either a Raz*War or King of Shaves blade. Price is… well, stupendous. The blade lasts 3 days for me and I can’t afford a shave of that quality at that price.

Raz*War El Fidel – Struggled with a weeks hair and facial growth due to 5 close set blades, but goatee trimming was easy with the trimmer blade – although that blade was a little coarse and uncomfortable. The general shave wasn’t as close or smooth as the Azor, but I still knew I’d just shaved. I’d say it wasn’t as smooth as the Fusion, but it took off more hair. Cartridge price is cheap and they last me about 3 days.

If you like Gillette, then buy Raz*War (shaves like a Fusion, but closer and far cheaper), but for the best shave – albeit lacking a trimmer blade (somewhat essential for a goatee/moustache), then buy the Azor.

KING OF SHAVES

RAZ*WAR

GILLETTE

This is just one users findings – so go ahead and try for yourself and do a little research. We are all different and may well fair better with a different razor/product to one another.

The Con of the Razor Sharpener

I am seeing snake oil salesmen out there… money for nothing… pays for itself… Bunch of rubbish.

The one I’ve spotted recently is the “cartridge razor sharpener!“

Yes, this device can actually sharpen your expensive cartridge razor blades…. and no doubt will make you rich, able to fly and speak 15 languages fluently… at the same time.

You see, a cartridge style razor cannot be sharpened properly.

The reason is this:
Unless you sharpen a blade on both sides (so as to match the original blade angle), you alter the geometry – which is a mute point as you cannot get to the back of a cartridge blade without taking the cartridge apart and removing the blades….

If you did manage to sharpen the blade and retain geometric integrity, you still alter the dimensions. If you sharpen something, it gets shorter. The only way to keep the gap between the blade rows optimal is to remove each blade, profile it, sharpen it, then re-seat it in a new position!

The other key point is that modern blades have composite materials to give strength and flex. If you sharpen an edge you remove the coating. E.G: A hard micrometre thick external coating gives a sharp cutting edge. An underlying softer material allows for a flex and contour following blade.

If you sharpen that blade post manufacture, you end up removing the edge that does the cutting & are left with a soft, rapidly blunting, flexible metal strip.

NOTE: Composite doesn’t mean carbon fibre or Kevlar etc! It means it is made up of several materials or compounds. E.G: A chrome effect phone is a composite of the plastic phone body and the chrome effect surface. A pencil is a composite of the graphite core and the wooden body.

Sure, there is a way to re-life cartridge blades – but for all the effort involved in stripping the cartridge, symmetrically lapping the blades, remodelling the body to hold the changed blades, re-plating the sharpened blades (and buying all of the machinery & tools to do this), then it’s better off for you to just buy a new cartridge.

It’s engineering fact.

Raz*War Review

Okay, You’ve seen me mention how good King of Shaves razors are, and no doubt think I’m a King of Shaves fan…. well I am… BUT only whilst they make the best shave I can get.

The moment I can get a better shave, then I’ll jump ship. It’s simple really – the shave companies sell things for ME. I don’t buy for THEM. Therefore I buy what is best for me.

Raz*War has popped up on my radar and after a little communication they sent me one of their products to review.

In build quality and “coolness” it surpassed Gillettes offerings, but not the KoS Azor range. Especially the new Azor M – that will take a lot to beat in the coolness and quality race – Azor M is the Apple to the rest of the shaving worlds PC’s.

Raz*War - Better than Gillette

That being said, the Raz*War product is in a different class to the Azor. Raz*War comes across as a tricked up Japanese racer to the King of Shaves Aston Martin DB9. That doesn’t mean it is worse – just different. In the same analogy Gillette comes across as a pathetic compact car with plastic bits stuck on it and a “go faster” loud exhaust…. *yawn*.

The Raz*War “El Fidel” starter kit came with a solid block of shave soap, blades and handle, and a travel bag. A very nice little kit.

The handle felt balanced and the head was… well, it compare to Gillette in design, with multiple razors and a small trimming blade in the back. The blades lasted as long as any Gillette I have tried in the past, but Azor still outlasts them by 75%.

Although the Raz*War blades shave like a Gillette and last as long as a Gillette, the price is a whole different ball park. The blades are cheaper and there is even a special offer that can be obtained through the Raz*War web site. This really impressed me, as Raz*War actually allow you to subscribe to a years worth of blades at reduced prices!

Subscribe and Save

The soap was very good too, although I am against the use of soaps in shaving as they really dry me out. The Raz*War soap, in its defence, didn’t dry me out as much as other soaps, so that’s a good thing to note.

When it comes to the crunch for me though, I’ll stick to the King of Shaves Azor. The price per blade off of the shelf may be more, but it lasts longer and in the end that works out to cost LESS per shave than any other razor I have seen.

If you are one of those people who can’t get along with the Azor though, or are just stuck on the Gillette idea, then I highly recommend the Raz*War to you – It is everything Gillette is, but at a much reduced price (and cooler!).

Losing it

Okay, I realise some people have weight problems due to underlying issues, be those issues mental or physical. Some are overweight but are happy with it – and good on them.

Some people use mental or physical problems as to why they are fat – but actually don’t have these problems. These people really annoy me as they are belittling those that really do have underlying issues.

Some people are overweight and make excuses for it, when if they are brutally honest to themselves they would see that they could do something about it.

Sure, some people comfort eat or graze – I do now and then – but I don’t use it as a crutch to lean on over my weight. Mind you, often instead of comfort eating now, I go out and comfort walk…

I’ve never liked moaners – the type of people who would rather moan and complain than actually do something about the problem. These people just scream “LOOK AT ME!!! I NEED ATTENTION!!!” – And yes, in a few cases this may actually be a medical condition, so I don’t mean those few cases… (We are in a World gone PC mad…).

So if you are overweight and have the possibility to do something about it but aren’t, then I don’t want to hear you moan.

Before you write to complain, please read the above intro again – I am fully aware some people cannot do anything about their weight, and some people are perfectly happy about their weight – THIS ISN’T AIMED AT THEM!

For those that can’t do anything about their weight, then I honestly have no bad feelings against you (why would I?). I can’t begin to imagine how tough it is.

Anyway, I noticed I was become portly (like Southampton…) so decided to do something about it (rather than moan and winge….)

There are lots of fad and proper diets out there, but when it all comes down to basics, people become overweight because they eat too much of the wrong stuff and do too little of the right stuff (Remember what I said at the start please – I don’t include everyone!!!)

Logic really – If you take in more energy (calories in food) than you exert (through exercise and activity) then you’ll put on weight!

For exercise I Nordic Walk (also called Ski or Pole walking – More on that HERE). I generally do an hour a day – It’s easy, low impact and not too tiring (depending how hard you push!)

I currently have a pretty smooth weight loss going on – although now and then it stutters as I hit a plateau for a day or two, and then off it drops again. The important thing is to do it for a good reason, that way you won’t give up at the slightest hardship or difficulty. I’m doing it as I want to be fitter and healthier to enjoy my son – I don’t want to be a Dad who sits and watches because he hasn’t the energy to join in – I also want to be healthy to live long enough and healthy enough to not be a burden on him as he grows up.

I’ve lost almost 3 stone in 7 weeks. This has been done by cutting down slightly on my food intake and just keeping an eye on the calories. I’m not a salad muncher or anal calorie watcher by any means (I do look at calories in food when I buy it, but don’t count them religiously) – I still eat burgers, roast meals and kebabs. I’ve had sweets, ice lollies, crisps, pretty much all I used to eat – but in moderation. I really didn’t need to eat so much, so I just cut down on the quantity of what I ate.

We need about 2500 calories a day on average, so if you pile away 4 cakes with 600 calories in, you’ve pretty much doubled your daily calorie intake! It’s little things like this I look for now.

I don’t eat late at night now (well, not frequently!) as that also doesn’t help with weight issues.

If I do get a bit hungry between meals I’ll munch on a carrot or eat a bowl of Bran Flakes instead of a Mars bar etc. In fact a bowl of a bran rich cereal will really help knock the snacking on the head, as the body digests bran slower than other foods so you end up feeling fuller for longer.

I may just knock back a pint of chilled water instead of eating a snack – as lets face it; most of us eat a little too much and don’t drink enough water! Replace your grazing and snacking with drinking water instead and you’ll re-hydrate, lose some weight (or gain less!) and generally feel better.

Another thing I learnt was to eat slower. It takes about 20 minutes for the body to register it is full – so if you wolf down that king sized kebab in 10 minutes you’ll still feel hungry and pick up that McWhopper…. So take your time and enjoy your food! You’ll eat less and feel less bloated due to unwittingly overeating.

I’m no dietician, I’m not a Doctor or anything – This is just what works for me!

BOGOF Yourself…

Bit of health ranting….

1 EXTRA FREE IN THIS PACK!!!
BUY ONE! GET ONE FREE!!!

Yeah, I get fed up of offers like this because it feels like razor manufacturers are taking me for a mug. Do they think we’re all idiots?

Nothing is free okay?

The so called free things are absorbed into the huge price mark up already on the product. We’re still paying for them – maybe not so much, but I guarantee the companies are still raking in profits.

Telling me it’s free just says:

“We mark our products up sooo much & take sooo much of your money, that we can afford to REDUCE THE MARK UP and tell you that you are getting “free” stuff, but we’re still make huge profits, whilst you think you’re getting a great deal… you IDIOT! mwaaa haaaa haaaa! WE HAVE YOUR MONEY!!!!”

If it’s free, then it should cost nothing. Not reduced, not manufacturing cost price, but NOTHING.

Think about it:-
Gillette (eg) sells 4 cartridges & gives 4 extra away “free”…… You can bet they still make a profit… and that means they are charging WAY MORE than 100% of the price it cost to make the things in the first place.

What they are trying to say is:

We always mug you for your money… but we’re not mugging you quite so hard this time….

Stop with these sham deals and just REDUCE THE PRICE ONCE AND FOR ALL!

That goes to ALL manufactures, shops and products that use these deals – not just razors.

FACEBOOK GROUP AGAINST HIGH RAZOR COSTS

Uncanny

So regulars will know I am looking into taking my Nordic Walking to the next level.

Nordic skiing on snow in the UK is a bit tricky, mainly due to the general lack of snow, but you can buy roller-ski’s that emulate the same characteristics of the various types of skiing.

Now, before I go off and buy a set I want to make sure I can get on with roller ski’s, so I contacted a UK based Nordic/Cross Country ski organisation: Rollerski, where I spoke to Iain Ballentine, who in turn pointed me to the London Region Nordic Ski Club and a chap called Paddy Fields (the Chairman).

It turns that Paddy Fields lives in the next toen to me, they practice weekly in my town, and they used to practice around the lake where I do my Nordic walking, so he knows exactly the terrain I’ll be skiing on.

Funny how these things work out.

I’ll be meeting up with him soon to give roller skiing a go, and then seeing where that leads (to more skiing I hope… or hospital!).