Sorry its been so long ....

Lots has happened since I was last here. Some good, some average and some looking not so good.

The NRL rugby league grand final has been and gone. Well done to the Melbourne Storm for winning. Poor Parramatta Eels supporters look like its going to be quite some time before they get to see the trophy sitting in their trophy cabinet. Unfortunately for me, my team the Brisbane Broncos couldn't get past the grand final cup qualifier going down to the Storm. One more win and it would have been us instead of the Storm. Oh well, thems are the breaks. Speaking of breaks - if our playmaker halfback Peter Wallace didnt break his ankle and leg in our 2nd last game we were looking the goods to win this year. With our main playmaker and licker out a loss wasnt a shock. As they say - there is always next year - Go Broncos!!!!

A big weekend ahead here for motorsport with the V8s roaring around Mount Panarama at Bathurst. 1000 kilometres of racing, going flat out all day. Wow! Wish I could sit in the passenger seat. Well I know what channel the TV willl be firmly fixed to for most of Sunday. Will be the last year we hear of Ford fans cheering for the 888 team with them moving over to Holden from 2010 on. Go Holden!!!

My back has still not settled down since my surgery in Sept last year. That's 13 months now since the spinal surgery I thought would put me right again. Some of the stuff I have been reading lately doesn't look good for the future judging by my symptoms mirroring others that have had failed back surgery. I will try write some more on this separately so anyone following my progress and thinking about whether to have a similar operation or not can read it clearly.

I was really hoping my back injury would have settled down enough by now since my surgery so I could go back doing some of the things I love like 4 wheel driving and caravanning too. Looks like they will have to wait. This whole back pain thing has me thinking I maybe giving up these 2 favourite hobbies of mine.

Here are a couple interesting web sites I have been reading. One is from here in Australia, the other from USA.

Exploroz: http://www.exploroz.com/Forum/Default.aspx thats a link to the forum which is really interesting, just like the rest of the site its full of helpful information.

RV NOW with Jim Twamley: http://rvnow.rvtravel.com/ - some pretty interesting reading there too. I loved looking for the similarities and differences in our caravanning (or RVing) habits.

And 1 more for you if you have back pain or a spine problem, take a look at the BadBacks site: http://forum.badbacks.com.au/ - post your question in the forum for some friendly advice or just search for some responses that match your symptoms or back pain problems for information to help you out.

Till next time ....

Holden finishes on top in the V8 Supercars - how sweet!

What a great way to end your weekend, watching Holden come out on top by finishing first in this round of the V8 Supercars held at Darwin in the Skycity Triple Crown at Hidden Valley.

I love few things better than sitting back and watching all the action of the V8s racing. I love it even more when Holden come out on top. It was an exciting finish with the Ford of Alex Davison storming home to finish second to Michael Caruso who won in this his first ever V8 Supercar victory. It is a great result for the team at Garry Rogers Motorsport with Michael Caruso's team mate Lee Holdsworth coming home in 5th position.

It was a great result for Holden with 6 of the top 10 places belonging to teams racing Commodores. The order in which they finished were:

Michael Caruso Commodore
Alex Davison Falcon
Craig Lowndes Falcon
Rick Kelly Commodore
Garth Tander Commodore
Paul Dumbrell Commodore
Lee Holdsworth Commodore
Russell Ingall Commodore
Shane van Gisbergen Falcon
Jamie Whincup Falcon

Another great result for the Holden V8 Supercars - I can't wait for the next round to begin.

Now we just need the Queensland Maroons to come through on Wednesday night by beating NSW Blues and taking a fourth consecutive series victory in State of Origin. Now that would be real sweet. What a pity my son won't be here to watch it with me - he has a school camp to go to. Hopefully he can find a TV somewhere so he can catch some of the action. He will be cheering for his Blues, but I have a feeling the Maroons can do it - sorry mate. Go Queensland!!

Well this is progress. My first blog. Here we go ....

Take it easy on me this is my first go so anything could happen here.

You will soon learn enough about me. How I like 4 wheel driving, going away in my caravan, my fish in my aquariums and my ponds, our dog, my love of footy - rugby league that is, actually I like soccer too, love the V8 Supercars - Holdens only none of that Ford rot - yuk that's a rude 4 letter word starting with 'F', yeah, there's lots to talk about.

Things like my back pain and the spine surgery I needed, the stupid NSW workers compensation system that doesn't give workers and their families a fair go, but I will come to that soon enough.

Anyway, I just wanted to start things off easy before I go crazy writing. So there, that wasn't too hard - see ya later