I will echo a recent post by Kerry Wright of www.wrightaboutnow.com that modern technology and applications such as Skype and Facebook are bringing us closer together regardless of ones location.

Today i chatted to my Mom on my Nokia N900 for over 2 hours and it cost nothing. My Mom was at her computer in Windhoek, Namibia and I was logged into Skype on my N900. Skype is built into the N900, which makes it all the more amazing.

The call came through just like an ordinary phone call. When I am home my N900 is automatically connected to my Sky Broadband via wireless, so the entire call was using my broadband, as if I was at my PC.

Now imagine what a call of this magnitude would have cost had we used good old fashion Telekom or BT?

The fact is, we most certainly would not have spoken for so long. Modern technology is amazing and we should embrace it at every opportunity.

Happy birthday Pete. We hope you are having a very special day. Maybe you can steer the ship to a tropical island just for the day.

Are the rumours true? that your ship mates got together and bought you a razor, so you can shave that thing off your face!

All our love,

Mick and Jo

A newlywed couple had only been married for two weeks. The husband, although very much in love, couldn’t wait to go out on the town and party with his old buddies ..

So, he said to his new wife, ‘Honey, I’ll be right back.’

‘Where are you going, honey bunch?’ asked the wife.

‘I’m going to the bar, pretty face.  I’m going to have a beer.’

The wife said, ‘You want a beer, my love?’

She went and opened the door to the refrigerator and showed him 25
different kinds of beer brands from 12 different countries: Germany , Holland, Japan, India , etc.

The husband didn’t know what to do, and the only thing that he could think of saying was, ‘Yes, lolly pop…but at the bar…you know…they have frozen glasses…’

He didn’t get to finish the sentence, because the wife interrupted him by saying, ‘You want a frozen glass, puppy face?’

She took a huge beer mug out of the freezer, so frozen that she was getting chills just holding it.

The husband, looking a bit pale, said, ‘Yes, tootsie roll, but at the Bar they have those hors d’oeuvres that are really delicious… I won’t be long, I’ll be right back. I promise. OK?’

You want hors d’oeuvres, poochi pooh?’ She opened the oven and took out 5 dishes of different hors d’oeuvres: chicken wings, pigs in blankets, mushroom caps, pork strips, etc.

‘But my sweet honey… At the bar… You know…there’s swearing, dirty words and all that…’

‘You want dirty words, Dickhead? Drink your f***ing beer in your Goddamn frozen mug and eat your motherf***ing snacks, because you are Married now, and you aren’t f***ing going anywhere!   Got it, A**hole?’

So he stayed home…………

…….and, they lived happily ever after.

Now, isn’t that a sweet story?

I have 16 invites to Google Wave on offer to family and friends. Please let me know (via email, facebook, skype, msn, twitter, txt) if you would like an invite. If you do not know what Google Wave is, then click on the link or images for an explanation!

If you don’t know me or don’t have my email address, then quite simply don’t waste your time posting a comment saying you want a Google Wave from me.

Mike and Jo would like to wish Mark Aaron a very happy birthday for today. October is indeed a very special month for t he family .  We hope Bridget and family have or are planning to spoil you rotten today. Have a good one cousin.

Jo and Mike want to wish our little nephew Kayden a very happy birthday. It only happens a few times in your lifetime that you double your age, so enjoy your special day.

We hope Mommy and Daddy spoil you rotten and look out for our parcel of goodies.

Lots of love

Aunty Jo & Uncle Mick

Posted by Wordmobi

It’s 10 years to the day when Dad passed away. There is not a day that goes by that I don’t think of him.  The photo below was our last Christmas together.
Rest in peace Dad – 1948 to 1999.

Ten years ago,
I got a call that nearly killed me
Repeat yourself my hands are shaking

When I was told, my friend was gone
I felt so guilty, a thousand questions left unanswered

I’ll bleed if you want me to
I’ll serenade before I do
I’ll bleed if you want me to

On and on although you’re gone
Candles burn without a flame on
Our final call to you I know you’re listening
How could you leave us that way
Where did you go, ten years today

Ten years ago, I stood beside the wood that held you
I must sit down my legs are shaking
We let you go,
With gifts of plectrums for your journey
And melodies to help you on your way

I’ll bleed if you want me to
I’ll serenade before I do
I’ll bleed if you want me to

On and on although you’re gone
Candles burn without a flame on
Our final call to you I know you’re listening
How could you leave us that way
Where did you go, ten years today

I’ll bleed if you want me to
I’ll bleed if you want me to
I’ll bleed if you want me to

On and on although you’re gone
Candles burn without a flame on
Our final call to you I know you’re listening
How could you leave us that way
Where did you go, ten years today
Where did you go, ten years today

Where did you go…

How could you leave us that way,
Where did you go, ten years today

Lyrics by Bullet for my Valentine – Ten years today, an awesome song that often reminds me of him, even though I think Dad would be saying “give me the Beatles any day”.

It’s been a while since the last post, and that is because there has been a lot going on in the Bowen household for the past couple of weeks. My brother Peter was here for a week from South Africa, and last week was extremely busy with work and various client upgrades including one in Paris on Thursday and Friday.

Of course we also had all that snow which brought London and the rest of the country to it’s knees (so much for a 1st world country we live in and they can’t even cope with a little snow). The snow was so bad (chuckle chuckle) that it stopped the entire rail and bus network in London. In fact all the roads around our area were totally snowed up because the council didn’t think that it was necessary to grit the roads. Anyway it was a good week of snow. We built two big snowmen in our garden, which was good fun. Apparently the most snow in 18 years, so it was good to see it.

That is not to say I have not being updating this web site. I recently replaced my Nokia N95 for a Nokia 5800 XpressMusic touch phone. Yes, I finally took the leap and ditched my Nokia N95 for a touch screen phone and as I have promised to my many fans, it would NOT be a crappy iPhone. So that bet of £1000 to whoever saw me with an iPhone is quite safe.

The phone is pretty awesome and I am slowly coming to terms with it’s functions. I have devoted an entire page to this phone and you can find it at the top under the heading 5800.

We have also been very busy planning our next holiday (a snowboarding week in Samoens, France). We have decided to drive there, a 630 mile trip, so we can see France, rather than fly over it and see just clouds. It’s quite a mammoth road trip, which we are going to do in two parts. We have arranged almost everything online (snowboards, accomadation, ski passes, ferry etc). Driving there means we will have to adhere to the French rules of the road and in France they insist that if the roads are covered in snow then one must snow chains for the wheels, so we have had to purchase some. I never driven with snow chains so this is going to be quite exciting.

A hand above the water
An angel reaching for the sky
Is it raining in heaven -
Do you want us to cry?

And everywhere the broken-hearted
On every lonely avenue
No-one could reach them
No-one but you

One by one
Only the Good die young
They’re only flying too close to the sun
And life goes on -
Without you…

Another Tricky Situation
I get to drownin’ in the Blues
And I find myself thinkin’
Well – what would you do?

Yes! – it was such an operation
Forever paying every due
Hell, you made a sensation
You found a way through

One by one
Only the Good die young
They’re only flyin’ too close to the sun
We’ll remember -
Forever…

And now the party must be over
I guess we’ll never understand
The sense of your leaving
Was in the way it was planned…

So we grace another table
And raise our glasses one more time
There’s a face at the window
And i aint never, never saying goodbye…

One by one
Only the Good die young
They’re only flyin’ too close to the sun
Cryin’ for nothing
Cryin’ for no-one
No-one but you

Words taken from "No one but you (only the good die young)" sung by Queen

Rest in peace Dad. Always in our thoughts.

It’s our big sister’s birthday today. We wish Jackie all the best on this special day.