Nearly there...!

It's been a long few days but I couldn't miss out the opportunity to blog from far-off shores. Today I'm reporting not too far from the top of the world, well in North Sea up off Shetland anyway. Life on Brent Charlie has been pretty cool -hectic but fun! I've been out here since Tuesday doing one-to-one lifestyle health checks and some presentations on Men's Health. They are a really nice bunch of guys and I always think it's a shame that there is this image that guys aren't interested in their health because it never seems to be that way when we come offshore to do stuff. Of course you get the guys who sit there and stuff their faces (free food and boredom), the ones who drink way more than is good for them and the ones who couldn't give a stuff about how long they live for once they finish work. You also get the guys who want a good quality of life, who want to learn how to eat well and exercise better, who want to look after themselves. As long as you come out and speak matter of factly to them - plus you don't let them off with taking the piss, it's called giving as good as you get - then they really want the information you can give them. Usually you're just backing up something that their wives or girlfriends have already told them but if it means they make a change then that's great. I actually feel a wee bit guilty for the way I used to slag off offshore blokes before as it shows I was obviously bumping into the nob-ends rather than all the really nice blokes who are out here just to make the best living they can in what can a really horrible environment, especially when they don't get home when they're supposed to. It makes me laugh when they moan about 2-3 weeks in the Big Brother House when there are thousand's of guys doing that length of time in the North Sea all the time. They just get on with it rather than moaning about it - okay, sometimes they moan about it! I think the other thing that's really nice is that you get respect for the knowledge you've gained and how you impart that knowledge to them. If it means one person makes a change for the better or one person is able to catch an illness at an early stage and save themselves a lot of hassle then that's what we aim for. Gotten all philosophical there - definitely time for bed.

Home tomorrow (hopefully) for some R&R and some proper knitting time. I've only done about 3 rows in 3 days - not good enough. Shall we say that my entry into the Knitting Olympics has gone totally pear-shaped and I've achieved a whole 5 inches on the back of Dennis' Aran jumper thus far - sorry Dennis! I will catch-up, I promise...