On top of all this, my Grandad Derrick Joynes at the age of 85 was under going his 2nd or maybe even 3rd hip replacement on April 1st of all dates. Something didn’t feel right and my conscience got me to ring him in the afternoon wishing him all the best, in particularly remember saying “are you scared” – simply because I knew I was. The sad thing for me is he thought it was Porl who had rung him! All had gone well over the first couple of days but on the Sunday evening he had taken a turn for the worse and the family were advised to come in; instantly thoughts rush around your head of which I knew this was it “bloody Alex hospital has done it again” I remember saying. I knew he wasn’t coming out, not this time. He later passed away just gone midnight on Monday 6th April. A burning question will lie with me for the rest of my life regarding his last few hours. “What did they do to the poor bloke”?
I have never seen a bloke sweat so much trying to revive a man, I had never seen such a frail, pale old man, that was not just my grandad lay there, that was my grandad with the wrong dosage of drugs or something being pumped around him; I still believe they were desperately trying to flush his system of something they had given him by mistake… The family did not want to pursue any further with enquiries so I felt so low and helpless. People argued “it’s not going to bring him back” but my words meant nothing; “it’s not about bringing him back, it is about helping others from our loss”… If this was a horrible mistake how many other people have to go through what we went through? How many had gone through it before? You never know, but all I feel is I was robbed of the best man in my life that night; he was a brave soldier. RIP.
The death of grandad meant I along with all my cousins had a share of my grandad’s wealth which meant I could now afford to get my bike license; of which I completely passed on Wednesday 9th December… So thank you Grandad.

Friday 6th March saw our lives change somewhat as we were introduced to our first foster children; three in fact all from same family. This has brought significant challenges throughout the year and has brought mixed emotions to all of us at various points. We couldn’t have asked for better children to introduce us to fostering but it still hasn’t been an easy ride. Things could be completely different again this time next year so we will see. Due to confidentiality there isn’t a lot I can say there, it is just an opener to the world and amazes me! Mom you are amazing at what you do, it is a difficult job in difficult circumstances, we are all there for one another so stay strong.

Most of the rest of the year was thankfully far more interesting, as we got heavily involved with our 4×4 plans by registering for the Mac4×4 Challenge 2010, creating our own group; Redditch4×4 and of course breaking our Pyrenees virginity which can be read in older posts!
The 4×4 world has brought me some good friends to date, Porl, Clive & Annie, Russell & Pat, Wayne and Don… Hopefully I can take this even further in 2010 as eventually I want to take an expedition out to Africa which requires good contacts. Seeing as though Redditch4×4 was introduced at the end of 2009 we will see where this takes us in 2010.

Work has been particularly interesting in the past 12 months, with Andy coming back and the general mood around the office really improving I feel like I am becoming a stronger and better person. I really enjoy work when it is there and have been fortunate to work with Aston Martin, Bentley Motors, Honda, Land Rover, Lear, Magna, Nissan, and Toyota. It has been a particularly difficult year with the crunch but being a strong minded and capable team we have all managed to scrape through it with special thanks to the directors. 2010 review is happening soon hopefully so I can see the prospects of the next 12 months, I am hoping for something good to come out of it as I am unsure where I am going to be in 12 months time.
Although it has been a difficult decision for my dad, he finally said fair-well to Protective Finishing where he has been working for over 12 years. He is a very committed man to bringing money in for the family, after all he has been doing it since he was 15; so this has been a big blow to him but I admire his inspiration and determination to stand for what he believes in and I think he has made the right choice in the long run. Best of luck for 2010 and hopefully he relaxes a bit more or finds a job – whichever he prefers!

Wow, just reading my review from last year I started the year on a high! Well, some things were achieved, and some weren’t… In particular my inventions were scarce! That still stands that there is a burning ambition inside me to invent… Maybe this time next year Rodders!

Anyway, 2010… We will be participating in the Mac4×4 Challenge 2010 which will be really exciting and rewarding as it is all for charity. Another trip around the Pyrenees is inevitable and will be some time in June.
My saving last year didn’t go too well, but this year it is a must as I will be wanting my own place in the near future; somewhere closer to work so I don’t spend so much time and money travelling.
But first I want to get a motorbike I think, but that is likely to change as the year progresses, it was a Land Rover Discovery and bike not so long ago, but weighing up my options properly I am not realistically going to be able to buy both and maintain all!

I am to be Dean’s Best Man this year too, on Thursday 7th October we see Sara-Kate Smith wed Dean Sas… Lets hope I don’t cock up like I have in the past with speeches! I am a little scared to say the least! … So thank you very much Dean! Despite my usual moaning I feel highly honoured.

Well that’s it for now, Lets hope I write more this year, it is good reading back on things. This has all been a bit brief really and not entirely reflecting on things as well as I could have as I have been reflecting on things over 12 months rather than the last 12 hours for example.
Keep in touch all. Thanks for reading.
Best wishes for 2010, make it a good one.

Reviews of 2008… I think I will just leave that one for my memories, not a productive year at all.

2009 however, lets start optimistic!
Within the next 2 months we will be seeing the final fall of Weberrific as neither of us (Dean and I) have the commitments anymore. I do still intend to keep the site(s) alive and maybe, just maybe actually develop a few… Looking at it, I have nickwilkes.co.uk, where-local.co.uk, redditch4×4.co.uk, wilkesphotography.co.uk. hmm, what to do! Lets review in 12!

Although work has been difficult, I have full intentions of getting to grips with a few things this year, in particular my timing and motivation. We have a lot of work scheduled for the next few months so that has at least taken the strain off things for a while. With Lamborghini and Bently placing large orders with us it stands a chance that things will be quite challenging and interesting for me. This week has also seen my annual review which went very well I feel with a mutual understanding of where I am and what it is next I need to achieve. It was a little dissapointing to hear no cost of living increases planned for the year but under the current climate I guess it was innevitible… There goes the house buying idea! But none the less, I am now a Software Engineer, no longer Junior… thus meaning I now have to show my worth and develop into a more expanded, professional and self motivated role.

That leaves me with pretty much 2 options to leave us with, save save save… haven’t proved to be any good at it in recent years but this is the year of the save! The other option being inventive and dynamic, with my interest in automation significantly increasing I have all these wacky and wonderful ideas in my head which are probably already out there but the fact they are hard to find suggests that it is either in its infancy, or is just a poor idea… Time to investigate (Watch this space)!

Since then my dad, Jon and I have done nothing but work work work on this little beast (aka Roller Skate) to get it ready for Farley Quarry near Much Wenlock, which was on the 20th. A new clutch was required, new battery and alternator and a few legal issues with the trailer.

Started fitting the clutch on the 18th and immediately had problems, we had bought the wrong one, registration of vehicle seemed to be incorrect with engine, no problems, we looked further into it, apparently it had part Fiat, part Spanish Suzuki, with special thanks to Sureparts. Sure enough my dad managed to get it in by late Saturday afternoon and it was suddenly a mad rush to test it all, to my horror I didn’t concentrate properly and wrapped the trailer lead around the front bumper of the SJ… without realising I drove it off the trailer and nearly wrecked some £100 worth of electrics but thankfully nothing was damaged. On a good note the clutch worked a treat. So she was ready just in time for Sunday.

Got to Farley quarry, she started up a treat which was good news as the alternator was not working and we were unsure of the new (old) battery condition. Porl got in and we went around a bit of the grounds to see what was about, I saw something interesting; axle twisters (extremely uneven ground over a short space). Within 5 minutes I had almost rolled the vehicle, we were precariously balancing near on 90 degrees sideways! Driving in this position is quite difficult and stalling really doesn’t help!

Porl decided to go in his vehicle and I follow for a while, this scared me a bit as I was still totally new to it all… I regularly forgot to let handbrake off and have now managed to totally knacker that up. I stalled the car a few times, but was really amazed with her capabilities up the hills.

Not a video of my car, but almost identical to what I did in the same spot (in wetter conditions) – not that I am trying to make excuses! I got my wheel caught too in the same way, causing the vehicle to go up at 90 degrees, but twice, you would have thought I had learnt the first time!

In the mean time however, when I stalled, it wouldn’t restart so I was stuck in this little ditch that is far worse than it looks in video. After trying to get her out for a while, a chap comes over with an electric winch, great, got the straps out and started pulling. All of a sudden, ’snap’ the strap frayed and snapped flying the shackle on the end straight on to the window, smashing it completely.

Got it restarted and went for dinner, had a whopping great big double beef burger with cheese, MMMMM!

After jump starting it down a hill, I just thought that things were going to get worse, but carried on out. Within minutes I was struggling to find gear and managed to stop some way away from the starting position. Had a little look but couldn’t really do much so Porl towed me back to the trailer and we left it there whilst going out for a little longer.

Absolutely fantastic day out (to the point of wetting myself of laughter!) and are now aiming to get it all repaired and better than ever for Sunday 10th February which is at Sibbertoft. Finding someone to deliver a windscreen is impossible so I am going to Chesterfield on Friday all being well, might have to stop in at Deano’s as it appears the scrappy is minutes away from his house, bargain!

How clean does she look considering the dirt she had been in, damn!

My targets for this year were pretty simple; Finish Uni with a 2:1, get a good job and go to more gigs.

Well, I passed my degree with a disappointing 2:2, but none the less I have passed and got myself a really good job working for Sorion Electronics.

… and of course I had tickets to see My Chemical Romance but pulled out, but have been to see Razorlight, The Filthy Habits and Kaiser Chiefs.

This now means I have new Targets to set for 2008;

Even more gigs;
I have tickets for Scouting for Girls, and intend to find even more gigs to go to as I have really enjoyed myself this year.

3 Peaks Challenge;
I do not set myself challenges and I would like to set myself at least one challenge every year, of which has to be somewhat difficult, enduring, for charity and a way of getting fit. So the aim for 2008 is to prepare for the 3 Peaks Challenge sometime in the near future.

Activities;
I would like to be involved in more activities and maybe find a really good hobby that I can enjoy, things such as Photography, 4×4 Off-Roading, Water Skiing, Snow Boarding really sound interesting to me and I aim to get more involved with as many of them as possible in 2008.

So all in all, hopefully a good year ahead but as usual I am sure it wont go to plan, 2007 has been a challenge for me and I don’t regret a single thing as I have learned so much about every day life, friendships, work, education and more importantly myself. I have had some terrible moments in 2007, to the point of shear despair but I have got through them and rose above the bad moments and ended up enjoying myself.