Inspired but scatterbrained

Oh how my head is BUZZING tonight with ideas, enthusiasm and potential, and I actually logged-on here when it was still daylight outside. It's dark now though as I spent a while e-mailing Daniel and Charley (more about them soon) and my new Kodak printer is taking an AGE to scan a simple photo (a signed photo of encouragement from Ally McCoist, the Glasgow Rangers manager and legend) - maybe the software in the scanner was written by a Celtic fan?

Daniel (introduced in a previous blog) has had a dreadful experience; his brother passed away due to Muscular Dystrophy so he (and his delightful fiancee Charley) have said they'll happily put in a few hours to do 'stuff'. Well I have to say Daniel really doesn't know what he's put himself up for with the promise to target some local companies with leaflets and I think Charley was probably shell-shocked insofar as she never realised a guy could talk so fast, be so random and be thinking so much !! Sorry Charley.

Anyway, suffice to say Daniel and Charley are heading off to the Isle of Man for a well deserved break and have taken the notes with them to discuss what they can (and can't) do.

Before I leave the subject of Daniel and Charley, Charley ..... this is what a 7-seater circular bicycle looks like; the weird clothing and dumb posing are optional.

Speaking of Muscular Dystrophy, Sara told me about www.thebiggive.org.uk and the fact that MDC are a beneficiary of an amazing 'booster' scheme; all donations to MDC via the Big Give will be matched so if I can raise £3000 for MDC by 6th December and pay it in via TBG, MDC get double AKA £6000. You follow me?

Now I also know that a specific campaign for YAA is on TBG as well as MDC (although not sure if YCR,  HRUK or H4H are on there but I have asked via Twitter) so let's see what I can raise and who for. Yes yes I know, anagram bl**dy central !!

Oh here we are ..... 20 minutes after setting the scanner off ..... the scanned photo of encouragement from Ally McCoist; thanks to Mr McCoist and to Sara Benson from Muscular Dystrophy Campaign for getting me this and hopefully one more celebrity to come (better not say who it might be in case it's not).

So come on you other wonderful hard-working charities, who can you bring to the 'photo' party? I tell you if Dora the Explorer gets the signed photo from one of my cricketing heros who is a legend, I'll gladly remove the worms that naughty Diego threatened to put in her pockets today ... with my teeth. 

You know what? I can see that offer coming back to bite me!

Meeting Emily tomorrow, a colleague who has asked if there's anything she can do to help fundraise. Hoping she'll happily take on the challenge of getting me more celebrity photos as well as a wee fundraising challenge too. Oh yes and I need to ask Richard King if he managed to get a signed photo of encouragement from business guru Tom Peters (his bosses' boss no less). That probably means more to me than you but hey, it is my Polar Trek after all.

Hmm nice to see South Korea has had several page views this week as well as someone in Saudi, and Romania and China are right up there too (in fact South Korea this week outstrips the USA). Err are you yawning dear reader? It's not that late (or that boring) surely?

My other brainwave this month was to try to get use the rivalry between my club (Spurs) and their North London neighbours (Arsenal) to my advantage. I know a Gooner at work and I'm hoping he and other Arsenal fans will join in a £1 donation campaign called 'Help Send A Spurs Fan One Way to the North Pole' to raise £1000.

I can then ask my fellow Spurs fans to join a £1 donation campaign called 'Help Bring A Spurs Fan Back from the North Pole'. See? Brilliant .... oh I should be in Marketing. So can you help? Hopefully the team at Spurs will see this as a great angle for their story of my Trek in the matchday programme. Reminds me, I must write to them again now the season has started.

Wonder if I can pull the same angle between Lancastrians and the good folk of Yorkshire? Emily (or anyone), can you help me with this? Mark @ SMileS SMS, can you help  me too?

Training in the last 7 days has been a tyre drag (21kg) for 2.5 miles/4.25km, a 30 minute PT followed by a 45 minute Thai kickboxing class on Saturday morning, a 45 minute circuit on Sunday and 45 minutes last night, primarily on the cross-trainer. Lucia came to last nights' session and did really well ..... maybe she should go to the Pole instead?

I have 27 things to do still on my list this week so tomorrow and Friday (and Saturday) look full of Trek stuff, not forgetting Friday night and Saturday morning are training sessions. And then there's work, which reminds me I need to be in Manchester for 0730 in the morning so I'm going to bed now.

Night (and P.S. to Lesley, hope your son is now okay after his ordeal on Svalbard, and yours waiting to find out he was okay) x