Chernobyl – The Description

The photo in my previous post was taken approximately half a mile away from the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station in the Ukraine, home of the worlds worst nuclear disaster. Even at this distance the alarms on our Geiger counters had started to go off, at this our guide Maxim had calmly turned and suggested we change the warning setting to maximum as “the noise will just start to get annoying”.

The day had started with an hour long taxi ride from our hotel in Kiev to the border post of “the forbidden zone” and on to the town of Chernobyl where we completed paperwork and were given a list of do’s and don’ts which included not touching the cute kittens as they have rabies as well as radiation to contend with. First stop was the power station which was 9 miles away from Chernobyl and had little to do with the town in anything other than name. We were taken into the stations visitor centre and told about the work they are undertaking in decommissioning the reactors which has so far taken 8 years. Here we enjoyed radiation levels around 200 times higher than you would get here in the Isle of Man.

After the power station we moved on to the abandoned city of Prypiat which was home to 50,000 people and was purpose built for the power plant workers to live. The city was evacuated in 3 hours once the extent of the disaster was realised, 22 years on nature has reclaimed a lot of the city which added to the eerie feel. We were the only people in the whole place and the absolute silence was very strange, especially as we made our way through the abandoned school and swimming pool. The saddest part was the fun fair, where dodgems and a ferris wheel stood rusting but still intact and a slowly rotting teddy bear lay on the ground by a stall.

On our way out of Prypiat we stopped at a piece of road that looked no different from anywhere else, the only remarkable feature being that due to the wind direction 22 years ago when the disaster occurred this 50 yard stretch of tarmac was the most radiated area of the forbidden zone at a delightful 450 times higher than back here. Even with Maxim’s new warnings settings all the Geiger counters started to sound their alarms here.

Back at the base in Chernobyl we all went through a radiation scanner to make sure we weren’t too contaminated to leave and had a lovely 4 course meal at the Chernobyl Hotel, it was a tough choice but we decided to go back to our hotel in Kiev rather than stay there for a night. Back in Kiev a couple of hours later we’d all showered and put our clothes in a bin bag, the trip was truly amazing and brought home the reality of something that is easy to forget about due to 22 years and a few thousand miles.

Chernobyl and random lazyness

I am so slack…

That pic was taken on the outskirts of the nuclear reactor in the Ukraine and brilliantly altered for maximum radiation based comedic effect by the marketing guys at work. I am well chuffed by it.

I had written a proper little story about my trip which is promptly hidden in my work emails and I’ll put up later.

In the intervening 10 days I have done lots and thought of even more things to put on here and successfully forgotten all of it…. I rock at this blog crap.

I did an interview for my trip on manx radio which was cool I guess but I come across as some kind of expert on it all which is madness as I didn’t have a clue and was a happily ignorant observer. I am garnering a reputation as some crazy adventurer and 2 people have now made mention to whether I have a blog or not… suddenly I feel this thing should be far more interesting and rammed full of novel worthy anecdotes. ctually having seen Wayne Rooney publish a book about his breakfast habits I do often think I have a good book in me already but who cares about some bearded guy from Ramsey?

I have been marshalling which is both ace and annoying – like meeting up with guys I see once a year and catching up and chewing the fat about the world but annoying as the health and safety red tape is overwhelming it all – if people want to do bloody stupid things let them – if they die it’s darwin awards time. The Black Hut used to have spectators and a friendly atmosphere now it’s just the wind and the sheep and the orange bib brigade… at least it’s not full of the wanker marshals you get in other places… power crazy twats that they are.

Anyhoo hopefully I shall collect my car tomorrow… I am looking forward to having some fun behind the wheel – will have to drive carefully though til I’m used to it.

I need to start learning how to end these blogs like a news report with a “in lighter news” kind of thing… ah well one day.

Sleep Glorious Sleep

As many will tell you I do enjoy a good sleep.

It’s a telling statement that when I was on the phone to my mate Colin who I met 3 years ago driving to Gambia one of the main comments he made in banter was in relation to my borderline narcolepsy. As we discussed bears coming out of hibernation (don’t ask) he dropped in the line “they’re waking from a 6 month hibernation which is even more sleep than you usually get in”. The git.

Of course what makes all this worse is he’s totally right – I look back at my Copenhagen holiday pictures and they are full of me asleep on park benches, I fell asleep in the middle of the day in Leicester Square on a bench and I slept my way across Europe and Africa twice.

Funny thing is I can fall asleep practically anywhere (and do) and once I hit the pillow it’s lights out in 2 minutes flat but… I am shocking for staying up late and frequently start thinking about being too tired to be up around 10pm and find myself crawling into bed around half 12 only to pick up a book for 10 minutes or so.

I just wish I could get up as easily as I fall asleep!

NIMB…Bag

I had a good old fashioned twinge of hypocrisy tonight down the local Co-op (classy I know). I often feel we should do our bit for the environment etc… in that kind of vague sense that most western people do… you’re never going to be found in some hippy commune hugging a tree but you’ll buy something with organic in the title and feel smug knowing you paid 10p more for that pineapple… or whatever.

The point is (before I went on a tangent) that I agree, in principle, that shopping bags are a terrible bio issue and never decompose and we should use less of them. I recycle mine as bin bags and try and stuff as much as possible in my bags when shopping… it’s sod all but it’s easy. So when I go to the co-op and they simply have no bags unless I pay 10p for some reuseable bag I got a bit hacked off internally… mainly because I won’t ever go shopping with a load of bags prepared… it’s never going to be an issue when you’re picking up one or two things but I can hardly imagine going for a big weekly shop with 5/6 bags… what if you don’t have enough room? will you have to buy yet another bag? I can see you ending up with hundreds of cotton organic bags sitting in a cupboard somewhere being eternally forgotten or left at home as you nip in on the way from home.

The worst part about all this is what kind of bastard would stand up and moan about a little inconvenience compared to say… the whole planet? Utter selfish morons aside of course…. actually the more I think about the bloody stupid things I hear on a regular basis from people I await the outcry.

Comics & Cars

I was linked to this stunning comic book today http://www.stanford.edu/group/cwstudents/shakegirl/pageturn.html it made me think of my mother as she used to have a pen pal out in Cambodia but when the Kheml Rouge took over and started killing all the foreign speakers she lost touch with her…. never found out what happened to her but sadly she probably died. I’d like to think that somehow they met up again in some form of afterlife or whatnot but that would require some form of revolution in my spiritual beliefs to really be a genuine thought.

I am worrying about this blogging stuff though – I am a terribly flippant person who struggles to get serious about anything and now I have found 2 things in 2 weeks that are awfully maudlin and serious and shared them on this thing as though it’s some deep meaningful part of me… maybe I’m growing up…. or maybe blogs are just really gay.

In more upbeat boys toys news I got a phonecall from the garage about that potential focus…. they have agreed to the expensive paint job but are gibbering about the windscreen… god knows why they think I’ll happily accept a car with a chipped windscreen just so I can pay for it further down the line. Having said all this I am working myself further and further into a state of needing to buy the car…. time will tell

Popcorn

I totally forgot.

When I went to see Ironman the other week I asked for a medium popcorn – sweet and salt mix… oh but they don’t do that apparently. No reason why… and I couldn’t think of any logical reason either. I mean… what’s the big deal? they have salt and sweet in 2 seperate boxes it’s hardly rocket science to alternate scoops.

Anyway I just solved the problem for them by ordering a small salt and a small sweet and a spare box…. gyppos

Rant On Brother

I went to have a look at a car on Saturday…. I know bugger all about cars despite my 2 driving related adventures so I took Goody along who…. probably knows fuck all toio but it makes me feel happier. Anyway it’s a Ford Focus ST170 which means it’s a sporty hatchback… I figure I deserve to treat myself to some fun driving after being sensible with my Punto and having shit cars for the rallies. Anyway I arrange to head down on Saturday and meet the “salesman” to have a proper look at the car. I was there to purchase an £8000 car… clearly this means nothing to them – maybe cause it’s second hand but… my god he wasn’t interested in trying to make me want it. He knew nothing about the car or its history – the thing is peppered with paint chips on the front like it’s been ragged down a dirt road and the windscreen is chipped. I pointed all these out and said I’d want them rid before I bought the car and all he kept saying was he’d check some prices out… price it up all you want buddy if you want the sale just make it happen. I mean £8000 is a lot of money for me and from all the research I’ve done a lot of money for that model too… ie it’s worth it in mint condition not scratched to buggery. He says he’ll phone me on Monday… beleive that when I see it… I think I’m dreaming of the plate change, tax and a warranty being involved. It’s just bloody typical of manx business though – it’s like they don’t want a customers money. Damn shame cause I really like the car and I have a horrible feeling I’m going to end up walking away from it or paying over the odds and regretting it.

Anyway apart from that minor niggle had a good weekend. Everton made it into the Uefa cup again which is fantastic and almost makes up for the last 15 years of misery!

 Had a great walk on Sunday too. Just straight from my front door 5 minutes and out onto the country roads out to the Garey Ford and back. So easy to get to – where else in the world can you find beautiful countryside just 5 minutes from your door. Makes me proud to live on the island.

First Hurdle

Yeah so as I suspeted my diary esque blogging failed swiftly! Worst thing is I have sat at my PC with inspiration just… not been bothered to actually type. It makes me think to Tom Glassey’s blog once again… he’s not got much to say but he diligently makes the effort to write a blog daily because it’s just another thing to keep him going… it makes me look at how much time I waste sitting around doing nothing and no doubt i the future I will be fighting for every last second when really if I’d use them wisely now… well I’d probably still cling on because I’m a stubborn git but I know what I mean…

Thursday night I had 5-a-side football with some people from work and some from Marty’s work. Was a good laugh but my woeful lack of skill shone through once more as I practically shoulder barged my boss into the wall… thank god my appraisal had been done before then. Plus points are that I didn’t have as many aches or niggles this time afterwards and we went to the cinema to see Ironman which was quite a cool film. Although Mart and I seeing who could say poppycock the loudest beforehand was probably the most fun all evening….sad eh

The weekend was excellent too… scouse came back and we had a great BBQ on the saturday with some Wii games in the evening… I have a good feeling about the summer and having some fun… looking forward to messing about in the Allegro…. really wish Georgia was this year really but holidays etc make it too soon. I think it will be a summer of barbies and having fun

Plus I will hopefully get rid of my unreliable italian junk and get a nice reliable car soon – yay!

Hmm…. that’s about it I think…. short week at work this week which is good I guess… meh… much like my recent presentation at work I have nho real ending to this… gay

Work & Bitterness

Sadly I enjoy my job…. I have after many years got a great boss and a job I enjoy and feel as though I can do something worthwhile not just pile through repetitive tasks. The main annoyance I find now is it is a large portion of my life… 7 hours a day… and I have an unusualy urge to vent on here but of course that would be terribly unprofessional. Which is most annoying… I feel this blog could be a good outlet but of course if I lost my job I would have a lot less to write about.

In other news I was most glad to see Liverpool lost tonight…. I love Everton as much as I hate Liverpool… and the thought of them being in yet another european final sickened me… good times ahead. Tomorrow night I shall be playing 5-a-side and I hope to re-create some of liverpools tactics by flinging myself to the ground and relying upon pure fluke to win.

Bitter? no….

Competitive Bible Action

I was planning on watching a movie tonight… Vantage Point to be precise – I can’t tell you what it’s about but it was on and Helene wanted to see it so why not – I like movies that I have no preconceptions about. Anyway due to it being the Isle of Man they have cancelled the cinema on certain nights so the guild can hold bible reading competitions there instead… this, in my considered opinion, is gay.

I did discover a blog today on Manx Forums by a guy called Tom Glassey, he’s just writing about his day to day life as he battles cancer. I found it pretty touching that it’s just there to be read without much fanfare or big deal.  http://www.manxforums.com/forums/blog/tomglassey/index.php worth a read when you want some perspective.