Mer

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!

RideAddict don't forget to actually rate the avatar!

Confusing/creepy/funny monkey/man face hybrid face thing. 7/10

Jobs to apply for: Library assistant Part time sales advisor in the Cotton Traders section of the local garden centre Either 1 or more roles at Smith & Western (gonna phone tomorrow and see if I can apply for more than one role) Instructor at Go Ape opening in May Trainee zoo keeper at London Zoo As you can see they get a bit more ambitious towards the end I have applied for London Zoo before and didn't hear back but I won't let it stop me trying again. The good thing about applying for a trainee keeper is it's more about experience than qualifications, which goes in my favour. Of course, I'm still aware of how competitive these roles are so I'm not going to assume anything! There seems to be barely anything around me at the moment. I would happily do a bit of admin work but like I said in my previous post, even they seem to want experience! And I don't know where all the cleaning jobs went! I'm glad I thought about looking on the county council website though and found the library job. Part of me wants a "calmer" job that isn't outdoors like pretty much all of just previous jobs have been, the other half still wants to carry on with jobs like that So I'm keeping my options open! I also really want to try and get volunteer work with the National Autistic Society as that is also an area I have considered a career in. It's a shame the nearest place is Croydon! I could see if there's anything similar (doesn't have to be the NAS) nearer to me though. London Zoo would be great for volunteering too, but I check the site daily and they never seem to need volunteers. I guess a lot more people are doing it these days.

Could you translate what Claire said into English, please? Maybe just have a little patience, young James Nobody here seems to know!

There are staff members on this forum (can't mention names obviously!) so hopefully they will be able to help

My brother is very interested and clued up on politics, and I remember him saying that she did do good things for the country. I believe one of them was something to do with council houses and people being able to buy them (can't remember exactly), which is what my parents did in our first house. While I am in no way a supporter of the Conservative party, nobody deserves to die or have hateful things said about them now they're gone. Which is what I have witnessed on Facebook. It reminds me of one time where I overheard a couple talking about Jade Goody when she was battling with cancer. The guy said "Has she died yet?" and the girl said "No, unfortunately." And then they both laughed, so it's not as though she was even saying it's unfortunate because she's still suffering, it was clearly a hateful comment. Again, I wasn't a fan of her - well to be honest, I never give a toss about those types of "celebrities" - but that comment made my blood boil. Wishing someone would die is just cruel. No matter who they are. Infact, this now reminds me of debates about capital punishment. Should people who actually are violent and murderous be killed? Personally, even though I can see where the people saying yes would be coming from, I'd say no. There's the risk of someone actually being innocent or framed, which terrifies me, imagine if it was a family member or a friend! Plus, is it right to take away someone's life just because they've done the same? Or, should they be locked away for life, left with nothing, and left to live with what they've done. Knowing that they have years and years of this, wasting away inside a cell. That to me seems the more punishing option!

Wind, air or water?

I concur, YOU CAN DO IT HAN And you wouldnt have to do the whole journey alone, as there is only one line to Chessie (Waterloo - Chessington South) and I would happily meet you on the train at wherever you get on No pressure of course, but do think about it

Jackstevens217 on Skype when discussing what Welsh TV soaps might be like: "HOW DARE YOU SLEEP WITH THAT SHEEP! THAT WAS MY SHEEP!" Silly but it made me giggle

I shall be joining you people in the Monkey Gardens

Good point, Josh For that, I shall rate your avatar! Saw (I presume) with a grey-ish coloured sky, rather fitting! I also spy a sun burst in the top right corner! 8/10 - because I personally prefer brighter looking avatars and closer up views of rides

Replace three of the Lost City flats with newer models? Rides become old and in some cases, slower. But I don't think Thorpe will spend money replacing them with newer models, only for history to repeat itself and when the money could be better spent Considering Vortex isn't as popular these days it's not going to be replaced with a newer model. Rush is pretty reliable most of the time, the only "issue" is that it sometimes runs on a very short cycle which as far as I'm aware has nothing to do with reliability (although I did hear recently that there are reasons behind the short cycle of late). As for Samurai, it's a fairground ride which is not supposed to be constantly run like it is at Thorpe. Replacing it would solve the issue for a while, only for it to start tearing itself apart again. As much as many of us would love to see it return to its good old days, sadly it won't happen. As for Detonator and Quantum...Quantum used to be more extreme and the gear box completely failed in 07 leaving the ride closed from around summer time onwards As for Detty...just make sure you do have your seatbelt well secured

I still love that indoor drop the best I managed to do this 3 times on Sunday without getting concussion These were all at the end of the day, with only a ride on Loggers between the first and second go. I was determined as I thought I better prepare myself for The Smiler incase it turns out as rough! The second time had quite a bad jolt at the bottom of the drop, but I seem to have found a way to make it more bearable; rather than just sitting in the normal position, I put my feet on that slanty bit above the bottom of the car, not sure how else to explain it! I pushed against it to help brace myself and it seemed to work I have to hold on at said jolt, and on that final turn after the dive loop. It's weird, I used to love this ride back in 09, although it may have just been a case of "New ride syndrome" Then I was like "Meeeh painful ride" for a while and now I'm starting to quite enjoy it again! Even more excited for The Smiler now!

Something I forgot to mention which is sort of related to diet; many thanks to James2 for his knowledge and advice on omega 3 and its skin care benefits Since I've been taking supplements, my skin has been looking great, so clear and smooth

I can really relate to the last part of Mark's post. In 2009 I was unemployed and not myself. Looking back ,I may have actually been suffering mild depression but not realised it. After some extremely bad news in Feb 2010, it somehow spurred me on to better myself and gave me a bit of a confidence boost. I pushed myself to look for work and it was that year I got my job at the cattery. And my attitude has been as strong since It's a shame that there are those on benefits who take the P and give the ones of us that are honest and hard-working a bad image. I end up feeling awful that I only work part-time - which isn't a choice, the cattery don't have any full-time positions going - but it shouldn't have to be like that; I've worked my arse off since I was 16 and when I do have hours at work, I put my time and effort in and I've been told I'm one of the best there. I enjoy working and having something to do. I still have to claim benefits and I really hate it, I spend ages every day looking for either a second job, or a new, full-time one, but as I'm sure you will all appreciate, it's really tough out there. I'm lucky if I find something I can actually apply for (by that I mean there's loads of manager jobs, van drivers, etc etc). And even when I do, because it's so tough they make it harder and you have to have experience. And yes I know about voluntary work, I already do that I appreciate the reality of it all, whereas my brother for example, is relying on this proof-reading course and his English degree to get work to come to him. He's living in a dream world and it drives me mad! He has no excuse to at least not try to look and apply for something. If me and my mum (who suffer with depression and bipolar respectively) can do it and battle through our difficulties, then he should be able to shift his butt! Infact that also makes me and mum a bit of an inspiration for those with depression etc and has made me realise how strong we both are

Aww Peaj, I still say that you look fine But good luck with it anyway, and it's good that you want to do something now rather than later. Never done anything like that...I don't exactly need to But after going through a bit of a crappy time in 2009, I lost a lot of weight and I think the lowest I got to was 6 stone 9!! Baring in mind I always used to be 7 stone 7, and 7st 3 is underweight on the BMI scale. So I've always been slim but yeah, it got bad. My brother has also always been skinny and at the end of 09 he really started pushing himself and calorie counting to put on weight. In around March 2010, I realised I really needed to sort myself out, in some ways a tragic event in February that year I think gave me motivation to better myself. So I endured months of forcing myself to eat more and calorie count. It took a heck of a lot of effort and I eventually got to 7st 5 but then at around the end of the year became clinically depressed, which affected my appetite and as anyone who has truly suffered with depression will know, it also greatly affects motivation, the simplest things such as getting out of bed and getting food became huge effort. Anyway, over 2 years later and I'm still not the weight I want to be, last time I weighed myself I was 7st 4, so borderline normal weight, if I put the effort in that I did in 09 I could do it but arrgh...I think because my weight isn't so extreme, I'm not as determined. But I really don't like how thin I am, especially when people make comments such as "You're so skinny, do you ever eat?" I know I've had a lot of compliments about my figure and I'm not depressed by how thin I am, but yeah, would like to weigh more, I feel so little and bony

Isn't the definition of an inversion an element which turns riders upside down? How can you invert 14 times but not go upside down 14 times? (Or are we on about elements which some people count and some don't?) Also, nice photos EC! I particularly like the first one due to the angle and the blue sky Don't forget to credit which site you got them from though (unless of course they're yours!)

Haha I know, he was so taken back! And I'm glad he prefers Nemesis over Inferno It was running well that weekend actually, smoother than usual but still packing a punch Ooft!

I hope it's something more than just an inversion record. For me personally it isn't that exciting. Colossus, yes... Don't ask me what exactly I AM expecting though as I have no idea, I haven't given it that much thought But yeah, something more unique than an inversion record.

It's such a shame to see it looking so bare The dragon!! Is Buddha still there? As for this "retheme", I don't get why, there was nothing wrong with what they had! Why change something that looked fine as it was? *Sigh* What is happening to my childhood theme park?

Why thank you! It really was an amazing time I keep reading it as it cheers me up so much!

So the parents of the 6 children killed in that Derby house fire are going to be sentenced for manslaughter, along with their friend. It's just...I can't even find the words It was a botched plan to gain custody of the father's other children he had with his mistress, and frame her, but the fact that they took such a gamble with their children's lives is insane. I just watched the Panorama about it on iPlayer and I feel sick tbh Not just because of what the parents did but how they reacted afterwards; one of the wife's sisters was saying that when visitng the eldest in hospital while he was dieing, the parents were moaning that the hospital hadn't provided them with food and were discussing where to order a Chinese from. The wife tried to accuse her dad of abusing her as a young girl, which he didn't, but despite that accusation along with killing her children, he said he would always be there for her, because she's his own flesh and blood, and then he broke down crying Shame she and her husband didn't feel like that about their own children! The husband sounds nasty and like he has no empathy at all. Infact both parents are just sick in the head! Quite frightening when they showed images of the house afterwards too. And when the fire investigators explained that the petrol plus the varnished wooden bannister on the stairs helped it spread so quickly and how little chance anyone would have to survive Oh and hearing the 999 call recording was awful. Really shouldn't have watched that before sleeping but I wanted to and I know that if I hadn't done it there and then I would have forgotten.

Twas on a wet spring night on Friday 15th March, when the rumble of a car engine signalled the return of 4 TPM members back to the theme park, Alton Towers…” If you hadn’t already guessed, here is my trip report for Alton Towers on the weekend 16th – 17th March! After a cold, wet night of riding Swarm 9(?) times, myself, Peaj and Sidders made our way up to Alton Towers, via picking up Jaymie and Ricky (a friend of him and Peaj). Due to roadworks on the motorway restricting our speed limit, service station/supermarket stops, and bad weather, we didn’t actually arrive until about 4am at our Travelodge in Newcastle-Under-Lyme! Needless to say, we went straight to sleep! Instead of having a family room and a double room, we actually had two double rooms. So most unfortunately I had to share a bed with Peaj and Sidders! Sidders originally insisted on sleeping on the floor but we insisted he didn’t…only for him to then fall into such a deep sleep on the bed that we had to move him so I could actually get in! After a much needed sleep (with the addition of dodgy noises emitted by Peaj in his sleep!), we awoke bright eyed and bushy tailed! Well, I did – which is a BIG thing! Usually I am terrible for getting up in the morning and have to be nagged to get ready at these hotel meets. But the moment the alarm went off, I somehow got straight up and in the shower! Which was pretty bad as the water flow was useless so I took ages to rinse everything off properly, and the shower curtain was so short that the floor flooded! Meaning that my clothes were drenched, luckily I had a spare pair of jeans (and people say I pack too much! Better to be safe than sorry!). I should have remembered this as it has happened before! Anyway, onto the park we went! Peaj took a cheeky shortcut, ignoring the road sign that says not to use the road if you are going to Alton Towers, meaning we got there surprisingly quickly! And I have never seen the car park so quiet, what a beautiful sight it was! Onto the monorail we hopped, which was a rather exciting journey for Sidders, especially when he saw Air and Nemesis! We met up with Stuz then made our way over to Forbidden Valley to whore out Nemesis. No really, we did. It was walk on! We went straight on back row, then went back for more, this time front row – barely a few minutes queueing! We then had another cheeky front row ride while Liam and Luke arrived, and I spotted them whilst in the brake run! Lovely to see the Trolley Dolly and Luke again! After seeing that Air wasn’t yet open, we decided to do Nemesis: Sub Terra. I had only done it once before and it was the second version (the one before the maze was added) so I was keen to see how it would compare. I was very impressed and enjoyed it far more this time, probably because I could focus more as I already knew what to expect, plus it didn’t break down this time! The egg scene and the whole ride part were far more enjoyable and I felt far more immersed. The maze afterwards – wow! Very hectic and panicky! Sidders ran for his life after the ride – and I kind of let slip there was more to come in the second lift by saying “What do you think so far?” His response of “So far?!” was priceless! Next up was Air. Not really much I can say on this, Air is Air really! I couldn’t help but think of John Wardley saying “Get a life” when going through that tunnel though, and I had a pleasant surprise when I saw that my ORP for once didn’t make me look like Cousin It! My hair was mostly OFF my face! Duel – loved it as per! I got myself a new high score of 27500, woo! I must thank Peaj for teaching me his fingering technique, worked like a charm Got the Skyride over the Dark Forest, where they have an advert for the Smiler playing now, along with the usual park and hotel adverts. Rather amusing to listen to! Dark Forest – Rita was bearable as I put my head forward, infact it was rather smooth that day! Such an eyesore having all that scaffolding under the launch track though. Then it was off to Th13teen, Liam’s favourite ride. Sidders was not a fan of the Tesla coil! Had a good laugh on this, doing my Marcella Whittingdale impression throughout the ride! The crypt wasn’t a good as usual though as the door didn’t close, which was a shame. After this we crowned Liam for his (belated) birthday! * Group shot: * Next up was Hex – fantastic ride as usual and another ride that Dara hadn’t yet experienced. Bless him, he was SO overwhelmed by it and couldn’t believe the UK has something that good! I loved it when the whole room clapped after the first video too! It really shows how much people enjoy and appreciate it! After this was The Sanctuary, which many of us hadn’t done yet and was walk on! Loved video in the queueline with the brilliant Dr Kelman, and the theming and clinical smell before you go in. The actors were great too! Then we were let through and Dr Kelman himself was there! The actor was fantastic and very mad and funny! I ended up adding him on Facebook, as have many other enthusiasts. The maze itself was amazing, once again another brilliant maze by Alton, so much thought and effort clearly put into it. I personally found it was less about “jumpy” scares and more about how it makes you feel psychologically. Really enjoyed it, especially being marmalised and then the finale. The smells, effects and video in the marmalising scene were great, that video was quite disturbing! And the audio in the finale was great – “SMILE, SMILE! ALWAYS!” Had a bundle of laughs in Katanga Canyon! RMT was good fun, although sadly the operator did not participate in any choo chooing! Despite the fact that we all did it as loud as possible when going through the station! Congo River Rapids – best Congo ride ever! All 8 of us in one boat, we all got a good soaking and a brilliant ORP! Shall post at the end of the report! Had some fun in the shop with Liam... * Pizza Pasta was nomaliscious and it was Liam and Sidders’ first time there. We had to sit in 2 groups of 4 and I wasn’t on Sidders’ table so I’m not sure on his opinion (presumably he enjoyed it though!) but Liam was on our table and he loved it, bless him! I also presented him with his birthday card at this point which I had got a few members to sign the previous evening when we stopped off at the Monkey Puzzle. I honestly had intended to get members sign it during the ERT meet but it was rather hectic and I genuinely forgot, so when I signed it, I also signed it from TPM The Flume…well, it was flumey! Rough old thing, was nice to see the big duck again, and we had a little competition to see which boat could make the most noise on the drop, I think our boat won! Liam was very proud to be wearing the crown and getting it soggy! After this we had the crazy idea of doing Battle Galleons, so we got ourselves all prepared, put loose belongings into bags and whatnot…only to then find the ride was closed! X Sector – Oblivion is looking fabulous with its new paint job! I just love how it all looks so new and fresh! The new restraints really stand out too and they’ve even repainted the logos that are on the supports, up until then I didn’t even know they existed! Plus you could still smell the paint while queuing – not in an overpowering way but in a nice way. Had a great ride on it as usual, but unfortunately the mist wasn’t on. Also the rumours some had heard about them also fixing the issue with the holding brake isn’t true, or at least not yet, only some cars were holding (and still not for as long as they used to, and supposedly they were going to get it to return to that) and our car barely stopped at all! Poor Sidders put his arms up all prepared for a short wait but then BOOM! The Smiler – wow! My first thought when seeing it was “Oh wow, it looks so much bigger in person!” It really is dominating in some aspects without taking over X Sector or ruining it. Was nice to go up to one of the shiny new supports and touch it <3 A few pics (the rest are on my Facebook, if you haven't already added me, do it ): We also got some awesome group photos! * * (I have my marmalised face on it that one ) Next it was off to Spinball, where we strategically planned how to balance the cars in order to get the best spin. Me, Luke, Peaj and Sidders had a WILD spin! I looked like I was being flung out the car in my ORP! For our last ride of the day we did Nemesis (first ride on it for Luke and Liam though), front row as it was still completely dead and made the most of it! We then had a group shot taken by the famous sign! * Then headed back to Towers Street for some browsing and shopping in Towers Trading. The Smiler merch is fantastic! Nice variety of hoodies and t-shirts, even a jacket! The yellow bears smell lovely and sweet – sort of like lemon, but not like lemon? Can’t quite put my finger (or should I say, nose) on it. We didn’t see the other ones with the rotating head though! Love the clocks they do too, which don’t really tell the time as the numbers are in a totally random order! Lots of other usual stuff like keyrings etc, and of course the other new merch such as Nemesis, Air and Oblivion is all looking fab too! Had to save my money for DLP so resisted buying anything, but that shop better watch out when I return in May! After our goodbyes to Liam and Luke, the rest of us headed back to Travelodge, where some people were rather sleepy. Awww! https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/v/862524_10152610976435391_16993205_n.jpg?oh=ccbad1a711447232e2e805494ac628cc&oe=5167FC77&__gda__=1365862166_60d85ce585744e307edfcadb52950af0[/img] We had a chilled evening instead of going out drinking as we were pretty tired and it was snowing heavily (fortunately it didn’t settle). Still had a laugh though with taking random photos, spooning, Pringles, and Peaj having a giggle fit/choking on Naan bread. For once it wasn’t me choking on food through getting the giggles Caj spooning... * That night was just as eventful - for me anyway, and not in a good way! Dara was very fidgety and talkative in his sleep; the best part was where he said “Everything. F**k it!” before digging his elbow into my back Peaj uttered a few things in his sleep too – such as “Nearly there…*dodgy breathing noises*…OK bye!” Dara eventually ended up sleeping the wrong way round on the bed, moving the covers off me in the process and curling up so much that his arse was squashing me Cold and feeling a tad sorry for myself while everyone was snoozing their heads off, I considered taking advantage of Peaj…as in, using him as a human radiator I was wondering to myself how he might react if I cuddled up to him ( 1) Might seem a bit random and 2) considering the crazy things he told us he has done in his sleep!) but then he rolled over and nearly elbowed my face. So I gave up and slept on the floor! Sunday Can’t remember the order of the rides for this day (probably due to only gaining about an hour’s sleep!), but again the park was very quiet. We met up with Mark9, Dan9, Benin and Nicky for a bit too which was nice. Oh and we also met Sid The Sloth and had our photo taken with him! * The highlight of the day was getting Hex all to ourselves – Dara decided not to join us incase he ruined it by going on again, and it was such a shame he missed out! It was SO eerie, especially the Octagon room! Didn’t make it better that a certain someone was in my face when the lights were coming back on! Luckily I wasn’t too scared by it (not as much as I was at The Dungeons but more on that in my Dungeons TR coming soon!). Gah it was just so amazing, this weekend I really appreciated and loved Hex more than ever. Really got me excited for Disney too! We also did Riverbank Eye Spy for the laughs. First time I’d ever done it, have to say it was an interesting experience! Saw some chickens going at it too! * We also did the Sanctuary for a second time, again it was just brilliant. The fireball effect was working this time too! Still no mist on Oblivion today and Nemesis still doesn’t have the red water – I’m guessing this is due to the flooding issue last year? It would be a real shame if it never actually comes back. I didn’t get as good a score on Duel today either, only 23700! I blame the fact that I had nobody next to me. I know this sounds whimpish but I really do get freaked out in there! I think the fact that I have to focus on the shooting aspect has an impact; in a maze where actors jump out at you, all your attention is on that, whereas because the shooting distracts you in Duel you’re not as prepared. Plus the fact that it’s so fast paced and there’s so much going on. I love it really but kinda hate it at the same time. Those damn zombies are the worst! This will always be one of my favourite rides at the park though <3 Soon it was the end of the day and time to leave! I have never had such a great time at Alton Towers before and with such lovely people, was quite emotional at one point I blame the lack of sleep again though But Peaj: The Ride cheered me up! * It was lovely of Luke to tweet saying it was the best Towers trip ever and for Liam to tell me this on WhatsApp: “I have never in all my trips to Alton gone home and thought ‘What an amazing bunch of people’ “ Oh and “Peaj should be made illegal to be around, he is such a nice person lol!” So yeah, there you have it. Thank you to all those who came and made such an awesome weekend and thank you to Peaj for all the driving! *You may have noticed a * next to many of the photos. These photos belong to Stuz, so credit to him for them Apologies, Stuz, for not actually asking you beforehand if I can use them, but I posted this late at night and wanted to get it done after taking so long to get round to it. Hope you don't mind! I shall end this with the awesome group photo on Congo

Sidders - you can walk from Chessington South, only takes about 15 minutes!