Happy Christmas!

Barring any weather- or otherwise related catastrophes, this time tomorrow I'll be at me maw's in Norn Irn for Christmas. One of my first tasks will be to set up her new computer, but given that she's moving on the 1st of January it's doubtful she (or I) will get on to the internet while I'm there.

So, happy Christmas to all and see you in the new year (or, err, slightly after Christmas when I get back to the flat).

Ho ho ho!!!

Flickr

I had 86 views of my photos on Flickr today, which represents a bit of a bloody spike in the figures (usually about 2 pictures get looked at a day. Am sure it must be someone I know, as most of the photos looked at have been on there since I first joined the site and aren't named anything or even tagged, but for a few hours am gonna pretend it's because my photography has finally started to gain the respect it deserves and this is the start of a snowball effect that sees me named as "the Twitter of 2010" by Vogue. Cos, you know, everyone doesn't know who I am at the start of the year but I'm everywhere to the point of irritation by the end. That kind of thing.

In the meantime, feel free to bump up the stats a little further.....


www.flickr.com/tattie_chomper

Almost that time of year again

and I'm starting to get a bit concerned about this rally malarkey. We have, mercy of mercy, managed to send a few emails to vehicle manufacturers of late asking for an ambulance. But rules on what we can and can't take are still way up in the air (latest I've seen - "if it passes for an ambulance in the UK, it'll probably do the same in Mongolia". Eh?) and the responses from the companies were beyond depressing. Ford stated that as we'd contacted the department that deals with charitable requests they were unable to help us (err, what?), Fiat's email address, as detailed on their website, doesn't exist, Volvo sent an autoreply and we are waiting on Mercedes coming back to us "within 3 working days" (in response to an email sent, err, 3 working days ago).

We're well into silly season pre-Christmas now where just about anyone with any sense is off work (I, it stands to reason, am not) so the chances of getting anywhere before the new year are nil. When my mum did her trek to Kenya, she was already about a third of the way to her target by Christmas. I have a less than brilliant feeling about things so far....

But, mustn't let it get in the way of celebrating Chrimbo with maw in Norn Irn! Home for a week, snow and Ryanair notwithstanding, before returning to Lahndahn for New Year. High, high hopes for 2010. I never learn.

Paris! Tres Bonne!

ah, bloody Paris, it was amazing! Hard to believe we were only there for about 36 hours.

Such a beautiful city, and after living in London the quietness of the streets was weird, even a few yards from the main attractions. We ticked off most of the main sights and thanks to the prohibitive price of alcohol (or even coffee), instead of being holed up in a bar we spent most of our time wandering around, seeing stuff and generally enjoying the difference from that other place a few hours up the tracks.

Here, in perfectly laid out format, are a few pics of the weekend.... some of them actually came out pretty well, just wish I knew how to put them on the blog without them looking like shit. Will try and get the rest of them onto Flickr in the next couple of days, These ones are of J outside the "pretend tube" (named after a free newspaper! honestly), me next to some sort of homage to Blackpool (weird), J and me outside an old church in the middle of a river, an old gate with the Blackpool monument behind it, a local cafe (couldn't find a McDonalds) and an old building with a greenhouse outside it.

As you can tell, we really got under the skin of the city during our stay. Magnificentique!

A chooay chooay chooay choo

Guess where I'm posting from? Only the bloody Eurostar, that's where! Ever since I was a small child and watched Maggie Thatcher shake Francois Mitterand's hand through the small gap where the two sides of the tunnel finally met, I've wanted to be on this train. And now I am! Sitting in London waiting to "depart", as they say in France - have been through French Border control already and le driver has just welcomed us aboard "zis train to Parees" as if it's as natural as the 23.04 to London Bridge via East Croydon. So exotic! So jet-set! So early I'll be asleep by Ebbsfleet! Salut maintenant!

Been updating the 'official' blog

We're going to try and get ourselves an ambulance. Hopefully there will be someone out there with a decent wagon they're willing to donate.

We actually have the option of jumping ship and joining on to one of the other two rallies that are taking place next year - one a traditional 'banger' drive where the cars need to cost less than £100, and the other where engine size must be less than 1.2L.

But we want to try and do some good, so an ambulance it is...

Have been adding some pictures to the rally website and will be updating the blog as things start to crank into gear - will also be writing up the 'behind the scenes gossip' on good old See That Tattie Run.... Think of it as the ITV2 coverage to the official site's staid mainstream show.

All we have at the moment are a few pics from the evening after the first rally meet down in Essex. Amazing what you can do with some free merchandise, no dinner and a few glasses of champagne.

http://mongolia.charityrallies.org/ulaanbooktour

gissa tenner

irie ma bredren.....

awfully sorry for the lack of updates on the rally preparations of late. We've had guests staying with us hence have been swept along in a whirlwind of entertaining and drinking for the past week. Highlights were watching the majestic Cottagers (ooer) grind out a tedious 1-0 win over CSKA Sofia on Thursday (but hey, it's still live football), and a trip to Greenwich Royal Observatory and the market on Saturday. J's cousin and her husband were over, a lovely couple and no mistake.

Anyway, that is absolutely, categorically the reason for no news on the rally front - not that we haven't done loads since I last blogged. I've, err, had a quick look on Ebay for ambulances. And I tried to talk to my team mate about the issues we're facing with regard to fund-raising, vehicle restrictions etc. Unfortunately I tried to do the latter whilst a bit the worse for wear one Friday evening; suffice to say it had the opposite effect to the team-bonding I had in mind.

Anyway, we're kick-starting it all now to try and catch a bit of the charitable spirit at this time of year. All we can really do is try to find someone willing to donate a vehicle that meets all the rules - if we can't get hold of one then we need to look for a plan B. At the moment, that involves driving to Ulaan Baatar and back again. Whilst firmly wedging the trip into 'epic' status, it adds an extra week at least on to the trip and means we may well lose one of the team due to financial constraints. Hopefully it won't come to that!

Team Ulaan Bulance! Gooooooooooo!

(err, that's meant to read "go", not "goo" by the way)

Still at a bit of a loss on the vehicular front

Got a summit meeting on Sunday to try and work out what the hell we're doing, get a common focus and try and actually boot this whole adventure into gear. The ambulance idea is seeming like it can work. We just need to get ourselves shipshape and start planning.

In the meantime we have some special guests visiting in the form of J's cousin and her husband and are off to watch the mighty Fulham FC take on CSKA Sofia in the Europa League tomorrow. Beggars, choosers, chance to watch the footie for not much money 'n' all that. And I have Aaron Hughes as an excuse for supporting them. That and the stadium's in a pretty part of town.