A worth cause and a remarkable man.

I often read the blog of a local blogging legend from Brownhills (i have his link to the right). his pseudonym is Brownhills Bob.

Bob is a real local activist for want of a better word. He promotes good causes and highlights the failings of those in power.

Recently he posted up a link to a cancer story with real heartbreaking circumstances.

Having had my mother go through years of treatment for Leukemia, and luckily come out of the other side (if you ever do) 10 years ago, the story touched my heart.

This is the story of a young man who hails from the Brownhills tribe which i hail from.

Gareth has two young boys and a dedicated wife, along with many friends and supporters.

He works tirelessly for charity, and other local good causes even though his own circumstances are unimaginable for most of us.

Gareth tells his story:

Dear Friends,

On the 1st July i will be taking part in the Shenstone Fun Run I’m looking for sponsorship to support a local chairty close to my heart – the Young Persons Cancer Unit at the QE2.

As many of you will be aware since 2008 I have been battling an extremely rare form of cancer which unfortunately is now incurable.

With my own determination and the support of Nina, cloose family and a great friends network I have managed to exceed the initial prognosis in January 2011of less than 12 months life expectancy. However my daily battle continues and It is clear that my life will be short but certainly intend it to be actioned packed.

However hard my life feels at times and periods where despite been positive I feel sorry for myself, I’m always humbled by other people I come into contact with that have similar if not worse daily battles.

One such set of people are the young people at the Young Persons Cancer Unit at the QE2 hospital in Brum, whom I have had the pleasure of spending time with during my various inpatient  treatment programmes.

These young people aged between 15 – 24 tackle their various conditions and daily trials without fuss, with dignity and so much positivity – some of whom at such an early age are facing huge battles including a premature end to life.

These young people are greatly helped during their time in the ward by the excellent dedicated staff and the Teenage Cancer Trust who fund raise to ensure that theye are able to continue with studies during treatment, learn new skills, have access to games consoles, computers, TVs, books, DVDs and special events nights and activities.

Without the hard work of the staff and the Charity none of these key features would be possible.

Therefore on the 1st July 2012 I will be taking part (hopefully alongside Nina) in the Shenstone Fun Run (well walk) to raise money for the Teenage Cancer Unit. This is a great local cause and one as you can see very much close to my heart.

Due to my health achieving the walk will be no mean feat but I’m certainly hopping to give it my all.

I have an ambitious target of raising at least £250 but hopefully closer to the £500 mark between us.

Therefore if anyone would like to sponsor me and or Nina we would be extremely grateful and very much welcomed.

All donations, however small, would be great and thank you for the continued best wishes and support I receive.

Love

Gareth

If you have it within your capability to donate just a little to such a worthy cause please do so.
I wish Gareth all of the best in his fund raising efforts, he is truly a worthy Brownhillian and a gentleman to boot.

woz.

So you don't know which detector to buy hey?

Buying a metal detector is a somewhat traumatic experience in most cases.

You can find yourself wondering around the wide world of detectors for days or weeks trying to make the decision of "which one?" to buy.

Here  I will try to give a usable process of making that decision, which should help in most cases.

Firstly clear your mind of any preconceptions you have about brands and models. It can be very troublesome if you rule anything out of your thought process at the start of your journey, only to find a great machine (of a brand you had discarded) at the correct price when you are about to part with your hard earned.

Firstly you will need to decide if you are going for a brand new machine or a used machine. Once this decision is made you can then begin to eliminate the machines out of your range.

Secondly, set your minimum to maximum budget of what you need to spend on the machine.

Thirdly you will need to choose either Beech Land or combination machine.

Now here comes the hard work. You will now need to start listing all of the detectors within your budget range, be they new or old. That is if you have a budget of £300 with a minimum spend of £200 and are going for a second hand land machine, you will need to write down all of the machines listed on forums and web sites (for sale) in that range.

                                                                                     Used Land Detector list June 2012
Type of machine
BRAND
WHITES
whites xlt £300
LASER
laser rapier £270
laser power max II £200
laser scout £250
C-SCOPE
c scope 3mx £200
c-scopre cs1220 £250
c-scope 1220 xdp £255
TECHNETICS
technetics omega 8000 £265
MINELAB
etera 30 £265
FISHER
fisher f4 £299
fisher 1236 £265
GARRETT
euroace £225






Regton used machines
Metal detecting forum sales link
Joan Allen used detectors.
Staffs detectors, very good site for used machines.
Established Mike Longfield detectors.

Now it’s time to get some revision done, if you have not already done so.

There are plenty of places to glean information from. Metal detecting forums are a very good source of information. You could also use You-tube videos which are plentiful. At this point you will start to put a pencil line through one or two of the brands or models.

The late great Norfolk wolf, legendary  youtube detector reviews. © John Winter.

You will soon have whittled down the numbers to the final 1 or 2 machines. You now could do with giving the machine a test run. If the seller is serious enough about metal detecting, he/she will let you have a go with it somewhere, maybe a garden or local piece of scrub land. This is where you will get a feel for the machine, and how easy/complicated it is to operate.

My advice would be to spend as much as you sensibly can on your machine.

I hope this helps with your choice of machine, it’s always difficult to know if you are doing the correct thing when buying a detector.

good luck and god bless.

Capital coast spa and resort holiday June 2012.

After returning from my 7 days in Cyprus, i thought i might blog the details:

Accommodation.
We stayed in the 4 star Capital coast resort and spa for 7 days beginning on the 26th May.

Positives.

• Rooms were finished to a very high standard.
• Fittings were of high quality.
• Very clean and well maintained.
• Views were fantastic.
• All communal areas of hotel were clean and well maintained.
• Food was ok, with a chef cooking omelets etc to order daily for breakfast.
• Plenty of sunbeds available at all times.
• Pool was clean and tidy.
• Pools were suitable for youngsters, with one pool being 4.6ft deep, and the others shallow.
• Lifts were lightning quick.
• Car parking was ample.
• No insect infestations.
• Coastal walks were on the doorstep and enjoyable.
• Beautiful table settings down on the rocks just meters from the sea.
• Toilets in Lobby area were always immaculate.

Early morning at Capital Coast. © woz.

Negatives.

• There are signs "if you are the type to look for them" that the building was finished in a hurry.
• Some of the finishing to the tiles in the pool are of low quality. In fact if any more tiles were to come a drift i would consider changing the pool to a negative, but perhaps they will get on top of this.
• Attendants at poolside bar lacked charisma, it was like having a drink with cardboard cut outs at times!
• Attendants at poolside bar hovered around you when you had finished your drink, this became annoying.
• They need to get some music on around the pool as it was a little sterile at times.
• Main water feature was not working, however i don't think it was missed.
• Jacuzzi was annoying as it only fired up for 5 minutes before you had to get out and press the button to start it again.
• Some of the rooms in the under belly were beginning to degrade, but there was not really a need to go down there.
• May be a need for the owners to add some sand to the rocks, creating a beach.
• Local restaurants, were hit and miss (see comments later).
• Pool Bar prices, a little unfriendly unless in happy hour.

a typical view of the land between resort and sea, very rocky. © W.PARRY 2012

Synopsis.

A nice clean tidy hotel in a very nice location. Possibly too far away from action for some people, but you can't please everyone.

Facilities are generally good, leaning towards the sun worshipers and not family fun.

It is a holiday location which i am sure will not let 90% of holiday makers down.

A more in-depth view, with answers on some of the bullet points.

The building its self does look like it was hurried at the final stages of its construction. The tiles on the circular pillars in the pool look like they were done by one of the carpenters, with a catapult!

There is paint peeling from the underside of some of the balconies.

In the main reception area, about 15% of the inset lights are out. The ceiling is about 8 or 9 meters high and will take some getting to.

A lot of the glass panels have cracks in the corners.

Our room had all mod cons in it. The fridge was ample and the dishwasher a welcome relief for her indoors. We had no less than three toilets in out apartment. 1 in the en-suite, 1 in the master bathroom and a single toilet room with wash hand basin.

The maids were quick and efficient, only leaving the washing up for us to sort out.

I always find if you can have a laugh and joke with the bar staff you feel a little more comfortable in your surroundings. You want them to understand when you want to be left alone, and alternatively you want them to be able to keep you engaged when you want to talk to them. The guys at poolside were probably the worst bar men i have ever met on holiday. Not because they were assholes or anything, god that would have added to their character. But because they might as well have been vending machines. The one young chap, walked past our table staring at us while our group were having  a chat, about 5 minutes before closing time (6.30pm). He wanted to clear us off so he could finish his shift, well i was not ready, and his staring was bloody annoying.

There were signs for a games room in the basement which we followed, but only found empty derelict rooms. The ceiling tiles were falling from some parts of the rooms, which made me feel that they had aught to keep these rooms away from the guests.

Access to the sea is just bellow the sunbeds, i had noticed that nearby hotels had paid a dredger to pump sand onto the rocks to make a man made sandy beach. This would be a good idea if they could afford to do it as the nearest beach is quite a distance away.

There is a bus stop just above the hotel on the main road. 

A Lidle supermarket is only a 5 minute walk from the hotel, and this has everything you might need.

The Indian restaurant just outside the hotel, was not the best i have ever had. i would not recommend it, but you may find its not too bad. Just past the Lidle is a small row of restaurants and shops, we has a meal in the one nearest to Lidle which was interesting to say the least. No menu, no wine list and you would say no hope. But the guy who was running it was very friendly and managed to cater for all of us, including my veggie wife (at second attempt) who they provided a veggie carbonara with meat! They took it away and brought back another dish with spaghetti and vegetables in it. The only reason we gave it a go was because the previous day the guy in question had provided my wife and our daughter in law with a summer salad each and a bottle of wine for just €13. Anyway, if you should decide to give it a try, be cautious. None of the other restaurants in this area were particularly inviting. 

 Fat momas restaurant is a taxi ride away and has a good reputation, which they try hard to live up to. They have american and Italian dishes on the menu. The kids would like it here as there is some entertainment that suits them.

You can take your pick elsewhere as there are many places to eat, all within a €8 taxi fare.
The resort of Paphos has been developed, especially around harbor area. This however has attracted a few of the local lunatics. On our one night in the harbor, we watched the police moving youths around who were congregating in their hot hatches (cars). They were driving around like they were crazy, smoking their tires and skidding. the police turned up and they moved to a different location in the harbor.

We hired a car from Elephant, this was a smooth easy transaction which ended up with us driving around in a Nissan Note (there are hundreds on the island). 

Should you hire a car i heartily recommend a trip to Latchi near Polis.A quiet little harbour with nice beaches and good restaurants. 

Another good visit in my opinion is the ancient site at Kouron, on the B6 going towards Limasol. Roman site which will occupy at least half  day.

On your way home to uk, think twice before spending your left over € at the duty free in Paphos. The perfume is definitely no cheaper than in the UK.

View from lounge to kitchen, this was room 321. © W.PARRY 2012

To cap off.

Good hotel, good venue, great weather.