A Job Like No Other

It has been a sad week for members of the Police Service, not just here in the UK, but around the world.
A siege in Sydney left three people dead and a policeman injured. In Liverpool, three off duty policemen were attacked whilst on a Christmas night out and one sadly died of his injuries. It has been reported they were recognised as being policemen and so targeted. In New York, two police officers were assassinated whilst sitting in their patrol car. A number of police officers were stabbed and seriously injured in the 'safety' of their police station, in Tours, France.

Reports of police officers being injured or killed are bad any time of the year but, like any bad news stories, they always seems worse during the Christmas period when traditionally it's about festivities, families being together and we're meant to 'spread goodwill to all men'.

I was in Merseyside Police Special Constabulary 25 years ago and most of my colleagues joined up to be regular police officers and I know some are still in the job.
At that time, I was in an office job earning good money for what I did and didn't really think about making a career out of it. I was happy being a "hobby bobby".
Fast forward 25 years and I'm still working in an office and earning more money than police constables. The only risks I take are walking to work (and the hope I'm not hit by a bus) or the odd mild electric shock.
The police face life threatening dangers every time they go to work or, as in the case of PC Neil Doyle, being recognised on a night out enjoying himself with his mates.
No amount of training can guard you of a random attack by a gang of thugs.

In September 2012, two female police officers working for Greater Manchester Police, Nicola Hughes and Fiona Bone were lured to their deaths with a false report of a burglary. News reports stated they were shot 13 times and blown up by a grenade. Again, what amount of training can prepare you for that?

"Hill Street Blues" is still famous for its weekly quote "Let's be careful out there". These words have never seemed more important.

My thoughts go out to the officers' killed for doing their jobs and my thanks go out to all members of the Police Service for doing a dangerous job in dangerous times.

Center Parcs - Whinfell Forest

This was about our seventh visit to this particular 'center' and by far it was the most frustrating trip and cleanliness was lax.  It now seems very run down.

We stayed in a comfort plus lodge and paid the extra so we could choose the location. Having four kids we wanted to be within five minutes of the Village Centre. 
The lodge could have been a lot cleaner - soap or shampoo all over the tiles in the upstairs bathroom. Cobwebs everywhere (I know it's Halloween season but I don't think this was for effect). Used ear buds down the side of one of the upstairs beds.
The children put the cushions from the couches onto the floor to sit around the very small TV and we were shocked to see what was underneath. It's been a while since the couches have been hoovered. Upon leaving I checked under the couch to make sure we hadn't left anything and found a pair of swimming shorts left by previous occupants.

It seems pointless having two showers in a lodge if they can only be used one at a time due to the hot water being utilised by one. We've never had this issue before.
We had mice or rats living inside the walls which kept us awake for two nights with their constant scratching. We were given a device to plug in which emitted a high pitch noise to scare them away. This eventually worked. Guest Services were very apologetic and offered to move us but to the other side of the complex. This wasn't an option for us as this would have been a twenty minute walk to the Village Centre.

Activity Booking Points - OUT OF ORDER

Cash Machine - OUT OF ORDER

The Village Centre was the main cause of the frustration. The three Activity Booking machines were all out of order as was the cash machine. It was hit or miss whether the card readers would work in the Parc Market, usually it was a miss. Quite often large queues would form as the shopper and cashier struggled. We were forced to pay cash and then visit the Sports Centre (a 25 minute round trip!) to use the only working cash machine. 

Village Centre from across the lake

One of the People Driers in the Subtropical Swimming Paradise was out of order and there were panels missing from the sinks in the gents toilets.

Some of the games machines in the arcade were not working.

At least the bowling lanes were working

On our first day we decided to eat in the Sports Bar. The meals took a long time to come (apparently there is a 45 minute wait but nobody told us this until we enquired after 40) but were OK value except our youngest's meal which was an absolute rip off. One piece of toast and two table spoons of beans for £3.30 and one scoop of ice cream for £2.35.

Again the Activity Booking machine was out of order in the Sports Plaza as were a lot of the pool tables.

Mini Tennis in the Sports Plaza

One of the working pool tables

Some of the lodges are undergoing renovation work in the Seven Pines area. These were originally Comfort Lodges but are being redesigned as new Woodland Lodges (with an increase in price for next year). We were informed that there is to be redesign in Badger Wood too. The children's Adventure Playground has already been changed and looks much bigger and better. 

This may read like we are nit-picking but we paid close to £1000 for this holiday and don't think this time we got value for money. The pricing of Center Parcs for families is very unfair and unfortunately there is no equivalent holiday centre in the north of England. We had an enjoyable time as a family and we have booked to go back next year but if we have the same issues, it will be our last visit to Center Parcs.

What I forgot to mention in my TripAdvisor review was the wristbands. These are not only used to get you into your lodge and to secure the lockers in the 'Subtropical Swimming Paradise' but you can now also use them in certain shops in place of cash once they are registered at one of the pay points. We used ours at The Canopy Cafe (who takes cash into a swimming pool?) and Treats (didn't want to play 'Hit or Miss' with the card reader). Hopefully this will be extended to all shops, bars, cafes, etc as it is a very good idea and avoids the frustration of dodgy card readers.

The highlight of the holiday was the 'Subtropical Swimming Paradise' as always. Lots of flumes, rapids, outdoor pool and waves every half hour. Not to mention hot tubs, Cabanas (at a price of course) and a snack bar. Lots of hours were spent in here.

Not my photo ;-)

More information about this Parc can be found here (but don't take their word for it).

Holiday Village Lanzarote with First Choice Holidays

Our summer holiday this year was spent in the 'Holiday Village' in Playa Blanca, Lanzarote with First Choice Holidays.

Holiday Villages are All Inclusive complex's with a focus on entertainment for the kids. You do seem to pay extra for a Holiday Village than you do for a normal All Inclusive holiday and I definitely wouldn't recommend a Holiday Village unless you are going as a family with young kids.
More info can be found here - First Choice Holiday Villages

The airport transfer was about 40 minutes and we were first to be dropped off as this is one of the extra's you pay for.

When checking in, we were offered drinks, snacks and sweets for the kids. The First Choice staff were on hand to put on the wrist bands which saved time.

We contacted the hotel and First Choice prior to our arrival requesting our two rooms were next to each other. They didn't disappoint. We were also given two card keys per room instead of just one. There was a charge for the safe plus a refundable deposit for the key and the air con remote controls.

The meals in the selected restaurants are pre booked by the hotel but the dates/times could be changed IF there was space available.

We couldn't fault the location of the apartments. On the upper level so got a sea view and only separated by a small, private balcony. We were opposite the “Quiet” Pool and only two minutes from the Main Pool.  

The apartments come with a small kitchen including fridge and microwave.

The rooms themselves could have been cleaner (we found a dirty sock and small pieces of toilet paper on the floor in one apartment) and the finishing wasn't great considering they had only been refurbished a few weeks earlier. The safe we were using wasn't bolted down so could have been picked up and taken away and the curtain rail across the door leading to the small front balcony came out of the wall!  We didn't report any of this as they were only minor gripes and didn't bother us that much.

The shower screens are fixed so the toilet/shower room almost becomes a wet room. We were using the hand towels as bath mats so we didn't slip on the tiled floor.

The maid ‘service’ wasn't great. On the second day, she didn't change the towels but did take away our ‘bath mat’.  The towels were changed a couple of days later and the beds straightened but no clean sheets. The towels were changed again the following day so I couldn't work out the trend. Still no clean sheets until two days before we left (which seemed pointless by now). My gripe here is that I was left to make the beds including putting the quilt cover on. I was on the sofa bed so didn't have a quilt but was left the cover anyway!

On our last day as we waiting around the apartment, the cleaner knocked and asked if we still wanted our two insect repellent machines or if they were for the bin. This seemed very dodgy to us. These were left out on the table and as it was clear we hadn't vacated the room yet, we felt she had no right to touch these never mind remove them from our room.

There is free WiFi throughout most of the complex but connectivity is hit and miss.  An ID and password is required from reception FOR EACH device.

There are four pool areas to choose from.

Main Pool - This is where the main activities take place.  Be warned - it is freezing cold. 
The sunbeds around this pool are chained up until 09:00. Lots of people were down much earlier reserving their spaces with towels.  

This pool seems very small for the amount of guests and when the activities start is unusable. The shallow end is roped off for use during the "Twin Tracks" inflatable activity but you do get the use of the deep end during water polo and canoeing!

There is a smaller pool near by for the toddlers which has a couple of slides and a tipping bucket.

Be wary of the lady braiding hair around this pool. We were quoted €20 for my daughter to have her hair braided but charged €25 because “there was so much hair”.

Activity Pool - This is a laned pool for the more serious swimmers and also where the swimming lessons take place.

Mickey Mouse area - This contained a couple of paddling pools for babies and toddlers. There were a few sunbeds in this area.

Whatsit and Doobley from the Widgets poolside

“Quiet” Pool - Don’t be deceived by the name.  This is only the “quiet” pool as there are no activities here. It is far from quiet.  Also very small for the amount of people that were using it. Gets very full very quickly.  The sunbeds here are not chained up but get down early if you want one.  We were told 30 beds had been claimed by 04:30 one morning. I actually witnessed from my balcony somebody reserving beds at 00:30, obviously before he went to bed.

There is a policy that sunbeds can not be reserved. The lifeguard put notices on beds next to us stating this and that the towels would be removed after 40 minutes. This didn't happen as the people ‘using’ these beds didn't show up until after dinner but had reserved them before we got down there about 09:30.

Tex-Mex Restaurant is upstairs

We went to Tex-Mex for our breakfast every morning which I would recommend. The staff are friendly and the food is great.

We used the ‘Green and Grill’ for our midday snacks.  I won’t comment on the quality or the choice of food as I find this is down to individuals expectations. Let’s just say we didn't starve. I would recommend you get here before the rush otherwise you end up queuing and being shown to your table.  It also gets very noisy. It reminded me of a school canteen and found we rushed our food to get out.

We didn't use ‘The Tavern by the Sea’ or ‘La Bambola’ so can’t comment on these but I would highly recommend the Tex-Mex Restaurant.

The ‘Green and Grill’ is also one to visit. Totally different from the snack time restaurant. Be warned, if you order steak you are ordering for the table! My wife and I both ordered a steak and the chef delivered 7! As only one of our kids eat steak, we had a lot to get through (couldn't let them go to waste!). One table did send some of their steaks back as there were too many.

I would like to thank the lady who worked behind the bar at snack time for sorting out a bottle of sparkling wine to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary.

Our two boys joined the relevant kids clubs but only attended a couple of sessions. Overall we (or they) had no issues and the staff were very professional and the kids enjoyed themselves.

The main night time entertainment was indoors in the Blue Moon bar. The bar staff kept the queues at busy times moving but you do tend to get splashed a lot as they bang the drinks down onto the bar. They are clearly only there to do a job and don't make any effort to interact with the guests. There was one exception to this rule as one of the bar staff also popped up in Tex-Mex & El Chef. He always said hello and had a smile on his face. Unfortunately I didn't get his name.

Gizmo from the Widgets and Lois

On stage, the start of the night is aimed at toddlers with the Widget Workshop.  

Ric and Lois doing a challenge

This is followed by i5Live and kids team games (Reds Vs Yellows). Ric and Lois, the team captains, kept us all entertained and there is a lot of audience participation. 

My much coveted Russell the Brussel T-Shirt

Russell the Brussel - Star of i5Live

Most of the reps after providing the nights entertainment

Adult games are next and again there is a lot of audience participation.  Bingo every night at 21:00 before the main act which was usually Ric, Ant, Lacey & Sophie doing various styles of concerts.  The local acts appeared twice...and twice we had early nights!

Overall, the entertainment team were very good and there were no individuals trying to take over that we've seen in other HV’s.

Ric, Ant, Lacey and Sophie providing one of the best nights entertainment as 'Electric City'

The beach is just a two minute walk from the complex.  There are a few restaurants and shops along the beachfront selling the usual stuff.  Watch out for bikes - the riders don’t care if there are people around and they won’t slow down.

Early morning beach

The beach is empty first thing but does get busy by dinner time, although still far from being overcrowded.  There are no sun loungers or pedalos. The water is very clear (and warmer than the pools) and there are a few small fish to be seen.  The water does seem to get deep quickly but is OK for toddlers if they stay within a few yards of the beach.

The beach at early evening

There was an outbreak of D & V going around by our last day but it would be unfair to blame the hotel as we don’t know what the cause was.  We were just glad we left when we did.

Although we enjoyed it and the week went too quick, we probably wouldn't rush back partly due to overcrowding but mainly because we've done it once and there's more of the world to see.

Would I recommend this particular Holiday Village? If you want to experience a HV and the others are all booked up, probably - but set your alarm clock if you want a sunbed!

Moore - What's it all about

Goodbye Warehouse 13

So SyFy's 'Warehouse 13' has finally ended after five seasons but, unfortunately, it went out with an embarrassing fizz and not a bang.

For those who don't know, Warehouse 13 is about a group of secret agents assigned to collect dangerous artefacts and store them in the secure Warehouse 13.  Yes, there have been 12 before it but they move around.  We don't know when or where to, but that's another story.  It's a light-hearted, easy to follow, paranormal series.

The first four seasons were well scripted, with the usual one-liners thrown in, good story lines and well acted.

Season five, however, was embarrassing to watch and cringe-worthy, save for the first two episodes that tied up the loose ends of season four and they got back to investigating weird artefacts.  The other story lines, unfortunately, seemed thrown together.
Clearly, the writers had ran out of ideas.  The characters being sucked into a TV show where they were all now part of a Spanish soap opera?  They all should have quit whilst they were ahead.  And the tap-dance routine in the finale 'Endless' - Just what was that about?  I was watching in a room by myself and still felt embarrassed in case anybody walked in (NOT for those reasons!)
 

It was as though the actors had decided to give up on everything they had worked for.
The acting throughout this final season wasn't up to much and really, it should have ended at the end of season four regardless of the unanswered questions. We know they can act (CCH Pounder - X-Files.  Joanne Kelly - Hostages) but in my opinion, they didn't want to be there only they had to due to some obligation with their contracts.

If this article is anything to go by - Warehouse 13 Season Finale ‘Endless’ a Recap - it was going to end after season four but the makers gave in to fans' protests.  I bet those same fans regret that decision now.

I shall fondly remember Warehouse 13 but hope someday I find my own artefact to erase season five from my memory.

Goodbye Warehouse 13