Archive for the ‘OaP’ Category

#50 Barbados – Day 2 (Day 2 of Week 1)

Posted: April 28, 2024 in Another Cruise, Cruising, Memories, OaP, P&O, Podge, Retirement, Travel, Tubbs
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Had a lovely breakfast in the Epicurean. The main man Maître d’ recognised us straight away and had a long chat with us asking how we were and how long were we on board,: Our reply was that we would be staying on for six weeks all the way back to Southampton prior to the Britannia heading to Rotterdam for a refit/refresh. Remembering that we always had a favourite table by the window, this was duly prepped for us: 

This is why we sail P&O.

We then recognised a couple of passengers from the same cruise last year and had a very pleasant breakfast swapping cruise stories and plans: It seems we’re all booked all the way through to 2026.

After breakfast we had a lazy time, apart from visiting shops ( day 2 in Barbados always meant the now traditional trek to the shops to see if there’s anything we need 🥺 there never is but we always seem to come back with something 😅 ). We also took the obligatory photo of our ship after which we returned and made our way to the Glass House: again, we were recognised and got the table we wanted. We ‘warned’ them that we would be back for dinner 🫣

We then retired to our balcony and viewed all the Grockels disembarking before eventually more newbies arrived.  I’ll never cease to be amazed how they can disembark 3000 passengers and embark 3000 new passengers over two days, all while restocking the ship, cleaning and preparing all the cabins ready for the arrivals.

And so it was, we checked out the Sunset Bar, the Bestest Bar. Cocktails today were Pink Gin Spritz and a Mai Tai.  Oh my days: How is it that I’ve taken until now to realise just how yummy Mai Tai’s really are (for yummy, read dangerous). I found myself drinking two for every Pink Gin Spritz that Debbie drank 🥴. Eventually however, we had to return to our cabin and rest before our evening escapades. These really consisted of returning to the Glass House for our evening meal and wines (Bacchus as recommended by Olly Smith as a really, really god alternative to Sauvignon Blanc). Post meal we sat back and enjoyed our evening favourites of Cosmopolitan for Tubbs and Cotswolds Signature Single Malt Whisky for Podge.  By then, we were whacked and called it a day but, not the same day we go up.

This was going to be tiring cruise.. 

The [Pre] Retirement Cruise Starts

Posted: April 25, 2024 in Another Cruise, Cruising, Memories, OaP, P&O, Podge, Retirement, Travel, Tubbs
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#50 Flight and Boarding – Day 1 (Day 1 of Week 1)

3 whiskies and 3 rosés for breakfast then head to gate 571 for boarding. Phew, got the right gate and the right time (unlike a previous occasion). Boarding the plane was actually quite painless except that two passengers went awol though they were finally located but caused us to take off 50 minutes later (when all the blue sky had disappeared!. 

First greeting was with a glass of fizzy pop: So, so nice to be back on a Tui Flight (Premium of course 😋).

Second greeting was complimentary drinks (Johny Walker Black Label for me, G&T for Tubbs) twice, each being doubles. Then, it was time for lunch accompanied by 2 glasses of white wine with a brandy chaser post lunch. Poor Podgeness is feeling weary now while Tubbs is fast asleep. 

One of the passengers spots me and says “I recognise you, you’re Podge”. It seems people have been reading my hints and tips on Facebook! Ooh Err 🥴

Now, one of the hints I had given on Facebook was make sure that they were comfortable before landing as when we alight from the plane, we DO NOT go through the airport terminal: we are taken directly from the bus to the ship where we just check in and go on board. Our luggage magically appears in our cabin after we’ve boarded and, true to form, it all worked perfectly.

Hats off to P&O.

By the time we did reach our suite, we were truly very tired and in need of a long lie down to recover from the journey 🥱 but, before we do, we needed to meet our Cabin Steward (We called him Ninja – more on that in a later post) and our Butler, both of whom would be looking after us for the next 6-weeks. I have to say that we were pleasantly surprised to find our Butler was Asmita who had in fact looked after us on our last Caribbean Cruise: We like to think that Asmita was as pleased as us.

And then, it really was time to hit the hay, as they say. 🛌

Podge v COPD Week 6

Posted: June 1, 2020 in COPD, COPD - Codgers Old Puffing Disease, Cycling, Diet, general, Hadrian's Wall, Health, LeJog, OaP, Podge, Rome-2-Home, training, Travel
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On the 18th May, Podge reported that he’d lost 4 packs of lard: Yay, go Podge Go. On the 25th May, Podge reported that he’d put back on 4 packs of lard: Poor Podge had to go and sit on the Naughty Step 😢. Podge went into meltdown and took drastic measures including the Toal ban on Jammy Dodgers: The ban did also include Anti-Viral Medications (AVMs) but that ban was quickly rescinded. This week, Podge is happy to say that in the past week, he has lost two packs of lard (that’s a loss of 50% in 1-week, of that lost in the first 4-weeks). I therefore conclude from this that Jammy Dodgers clearly encourage Lard and AVMs make little or no difference, 😂🤪 and Podge is sticking by that.

In edition to losing the lard, my BMI has dropped to 30.3 and Body Fat has also dropped to 44.6 while Body Water has gone up to 39.7. The changes are small but, they are all in the right direction: Despite all being, currently, the wrong side of the trend line, all is good in Podge’s world.

Anyway, back to the job in hand. Over the past week, Podge has cycled a total of 74.45 miles and walked a total of 9.4 miles (not bad for COPD St3).

This means that some serious progress has been made on the challenges currently underway (Lands End to John O’Groats [LeJog] and 2020 in respect of cycling and Hadrian’s Wall and the Inca Trail in respect of walking).

I’ve added the Inca Trail purely to encourage Mrs Me to join me on my walks but I don’t report on it. The progress report on Rome-2-Home has been dropped as it is running alongside LeJog and I don’t actually like the route; cycling along major highways just isn’t realistic. For 2021 however I will remap Rome-to-Home to follow the route I would have done if I’d done it for real; as originally planned for at the beginning of the millennium. That route will be sooooo much longer, but prettier.

All rides on Bkool and reported through Strava. All walks measured using my Apple device.

All virtual challenges are tracked through  ‘My Virtual Mission‘ and challenges entered through The ‘Conqueror Virtual Challenge‘ site.

All rides are done in my garage (walks done elsewhere 😋) as my GP has banged me up for a minimum of 12 weeks (reset to start from the 11th May ) due to having Codgers Old Puffing Disease (COPD Stage 3). 😭

Wish me luck – I surely need it.
Go Podge, Go. 

Podge must stop eating

Podge v COPD Week 4

Posted: May 18, 2020 in COPD, COPD - Codgers Old Puffing Disease, Cycling, general, Health, LeJog, OaP, Rome-2-Home, Uncategorized
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This week, His Podgeness has been a very good boy. Not only did he improve in his new weekly mileage goal, but he also lost 1kg in body weight: That’s the equivalent of 4 packs of lard 😋). More about that in a bit.

Over the last week, my four [virtual] challenges became five then dropped back to four. In addition to Lands End to John O’Groats (LeJog)], Rome to Home (R2H), 2020 (that’s 20202 miles during the year 2020) and the Great Ocean Road (GOR), I have now added Hadrian’s Wall (HW) though I’m walking this one by sneaking out unseen to walk round the fields out the back (Naughty Podge).

Over this past week, I’ve cycled just over 73 during which I managed to complete the Great Ocean Road (Good Podge) and have walked just over 3 illicit miles (Bad Podge) for my new Hadrian’s Wall challenge.

In respect of the lard reduction challenge, this last week has seen my weight drop to 92.4kg so that a whole kg of lard gone. My BMI has dropped 0.2% overall, my body-fat has dropped 0.4% and my water content has risen by 0.3%, all of which is good. So, it would seem that Podge is a Good Podge and on the right track to become an Old Codger rather then an Old Podger.

The reduction in anti-viral medication consumption may not be as great as it could be, especially as I discovered a 50% Proof Whiskey 🥃 just in time for World Whiskey Day on Saturday but overall I still think:

Podge Done Good.

All rides on Bkool and reported through Strava.

All virtual challenges are tracked through  ‘My Virtual Mission‘ and challenges entered through The Conqueror Virtual Challenge site.

All rides are done in my garage as my GP has banged me up for a minimum of 12 weeks (reset to start from the 11th May 😭) due to having Codgers Old Puffing Disease (COPD Stage 3)  😢

Wish me luck.
Go Podge, Go. 

Podge v COPD Week 1

Posted: April 27, 2020 in COPD, COPD - Codgers Old Puffing Disease, Cycling, Health, OaP, Rome-2-Home, training
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Many moons ago (actually, 17 years ago), His Podgeness (that’s me) was going to ride from Rome to Home (in the UK) along with two other guys. It was to be a story about 3 guys (all over 50) cycling through three counties on three wheels (yes, we had trikes made just for the occasion) but, life changes happened.

Now, here I am banged up for 12 weeks due to me being deemed considerably vulnerable to Covid-19 as I have #COPD (with an FEV1 of 44% that puts me at stage 3/severe 😞) coupled with A_Fib. I miss my cycling and walking but needs must. Then, I saw ‘My Virtual Mission‘ and recognised a chance for me to still complete my original challenge albeit from within my garage, riding on my trainer in a virtual world.

So, Podge the Puffer (if you’d seen me cycling up hills, you’d understand the Puffer bit) is a cyclist reborn: And who knows, the name Podge may [still] become ironic if I lose enough weight.

So, at the end of week 1 of my Rome-2-Home virtual cycling challenge (week-3 of my 12 week isolation) I have managed to cover just 53.3 of 1198 miles taking 3-hours and 1-minute over 3-rides with each ride longer than the previous. 

To help fight COPD, I do recognise I [still] need to lose weight so I’l also be publishing some stats here which I hope to improve on over time. Well, that’s the plan anyway 🙂 So, here goes: 

  • Weight: 93.4 Kg 
    • Goal: 83.5 
  • BMI: 30.4 (obese 😞)
    • Goal: 24 
  • Body Fat: 44.8% (lardy 😞)
    • Goal: 34% 
  • Body Water: 39.5% (dehydrated 😞)
    • Goal: 55% 

All rides on Bkool and reported through Strava
Wish me luck.
Go Podge, Go.

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