Evolving Technologies

I am amazed at how things progress, how things have evolved over time. I am not saying that things are moving forward any quicker than when they did, say when my Nan was in her thirties, but it does feel like there is something new every minute.

Is it that never ending need to keep up with competitors and to provide the newest, most stylish,whatever? One minute there is the iPhone and now we are on the fifth generation that promises faster browsing, downloading, uploading and more apps that you could even know what to do with. They talk back to you, plan your day for you and can be used almost anywhere anytime. It is now not just phones but TVs, laptops, lawnmowers, cameras, dishwashers, cookers and intelligent fridges.

With all of this new technology propelling us forward into a time where we are dependent on these items there are still some areas that either refuse to move on or simply can't. Like for instance the scene I witnessed this morning on my journey to work. Picture this - a 60mph road through Virgina Waters with a transit van travelling at approx 20mph with a man hanging half way out of it holding a hose. The sign on the back of the van read 'Warning weed spraying.' Genius!

Metro Blog - Further recognition for British Sailing and Ben Ainslie as he picks up the ISAF World Sailor of the Year Award

For a record fourth year, Ben Ainslie has been awarded the ISAF World Sailor of the Year award after winning it previously in 1998, 2002 and 2008.

Other than a dramatic and public incident at the World Championships in Perth finishing off the 2011 season, 2012 has been Ben’s year. In his determination to win Olympic gold again and to prove to everyone he was the right pick to represent Team GB in the Finn class he brought home the titles. The beginning of the year saw him claim his sixth title at the J.P Morgan Asset Management Finn Gold Cup and be the first person to carry the Olympic torch.

To read the full blog click HERE.

Metro Blog - Is Lord Coe’s ‘Inspire a Generation’ motto about to be left behind as he takes head role at the BOA?

It didn’t come as a shock when it was announced that Lord Coe was the new head of the British Olympic Association (BOA). We all saw this coming after his praised role as chair of LOCOG, delivering the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and support from PM, David Cameron.

Scepticism ran high through Great Britain in the years following the announcement that the Games were to be held in the UK. But if you put aside budget debates and security scandals, a great Games was delivered and in the main was very well received.

To read the rest of this blog click HERE.

Metro Blog - Drama, battles and disappointment at Yas Marina as an eighth F1 winner takes to the podium

I personally, like many others, enjoy watching the Formula 1 Grand Prix because it is exciting, thrilling and amazing to watch the adrenaline-fuelled high speed driving. Yes there are times when it can be lacklustre, when the driver in pole position takes the first corner and leads from start to finish. But the need for championship points that takes over each driver and which results in breakneck overtaking is the most exciting.

To read the full blog please go to my Metro page HERE.

Metro Blog - Will the move away from McLaren bring maturity for Lewis Hamilton?

Recently we have been seeing and hearing a lot of Lewis Hamilton in the press and sadly this is not wholly down to an increased number of wins in the Formula One championship. That ever-present new form of sharing news and opinions, social media, seems to be a new tool for him to vent his feelings. For someone as passionate and perceptive as Lewis, Twitter is not working as the channel to express himself.

For someone who has advanced into one of Formula 1’s driving greats already, he needs to bring that maturity into the rest of his career as a driver. Having been behind the wheel since he was eight years old he has been under the watchful eye of McLaren for the past 14 years with backing from the company going back as far as his karting days at the age of 13. He still remains the youngest ever world karting champion.

To read the full blog please go to my Metro page HERE.

A Tourist in London - Part II

Several more journeys on the muggle wagon into our great capital and I am still surprised, no shocked by the behavior of some of the commuters.

I'm not talking about children or groups of teenagers or those decidedly younger than myself, I am referring to adults, those that come with the title of maturity and 'should know better'. However, common decency and politeness escapes some as soon as they enter the underworld of the tube system. Like hamsters in a plastic environment of tunnels and ladders, we scuttle about in droves on a mission to get back to the surface, to the daylight. And it appears apparent that each and everyone of them is on their own journey with an agenda and therefore no one else can get in the way or distract us from the path.

I have come to understand the etiquette of travelling in the city and so pick up my copy of the Metro and where possible take a seat and read. No eye contact is made, no pleasantries exchanged. There was me thinking that this is what everyone does but how wrong was I and how behind the times I really am. Pulling out the newspaper on the train seems to becoming something of the past. As I sat in a packed compartment four of the South West Train to Waterloo I was the only person with a paper or generic printed material publication. Everyone around me either was reading from an ipad, watching something on their tablet or frantically writing an email on the smallest laptops I have ever seen. What has happened in the last year? I have clearly missed out on this transformation.

I understand technologies are advancing and being adapted into our lives but it will be a sad day when no one is reading a book or paper or magazine and instead is plugged into the latest gadget. Clearly I am still a tourist and have a lot to learn!

Metro Blog - What kind of legacy has Lance Armstrong left for cycling?

After the year of sporting events we have seen not only in the UK but across the world we should be in a period of jubilation and have an ecstatic sense of pride towards our athletes and teams. But sadly I feel there is a dark cloud currently hanging over it all.

Like me, there are hundreds of millions of sports fans all over the world, each with their own preferences and opinions, favourite teams and idolised athletes. We believe in them, support them and urge them to win. We cry with them, get into heated debates for them and are there through it all. So when I previously wrote the article What happened to innocent before proven guilty for Lance Armstrong? I had an allegiance to one of my favourite sportsmen. Up until this time there had been varying opinions from many, results that couldn’t prove without any doubt and statements that were coming under fire. I believed him, wanted to believe him and felt strongly in my opinion that those who are up against matters of this kind should still be treated as innocent until proven guilty.

To read the full blog click HERE.

What A Lot of 'Games'!

17 days, ten medal races and nine reporters producing over 600 quotes. Wow it was a hectic time in Portland recently, but so well worth it. I could complain about the long days but I won't because for me it was just like being at the boat shows but better because I got to work outside.

Having done the test event last year (2011) I felt I was prepared and almost knew what I was coming in to, however so many others didn't have a clue. I was hugely impressed with the media centre and as our base, our home for the weeks that contained the Games it was a great place to be and work and served us well.

The classic British summer-time weather was in full force during the first week and we were doing all we could to stay warm, adding an extra layer under our Games Makers shirts became a necessary. However the sun did come out and by the middle of medal race week we were changing thermals for suncream and rolling up our sleeves embracing the sun.

"Grab this opportunity" I was told before I left and that is definitely what I did. It was so great to see and work with people I know but the bonus was to meet new people and make new contacts. The Metro blogging continued and further writing came my way in the form of the daily Weymouth & Portland Games Maker newsletter. This was all on top of the reporting and quoting we were tasked with.

Given that everyone was working hard and having to produce results and great quotes we worked well as a team and had fun. One of the highlights for me was getting to work in among the broadcast area and helping the various international teams with results and backgrounds. I worked my way in to some great positions in this area to achieve some good quotes while listening in on the BBC, ESPN, OB, Fox, Channel 9.

I enjoyed it more than I thought I would even though we had to wear 'that' uniform and the truly hideous one-size-fits-all, dinnerlady-like, Olympic News Service (ONS) bibs. But it didn't matter as the sailors came through to speak to us and the job got done.

There are many great memories I have taken from this experience, ones that I will remember forever. It has really inspired me to do more, be more and to follow what I want to do. More on that soon.

Now for the Paralympic Games, or as I heard one kid say recently: the Powerlympics. Brilliant!

Metro Blog 2

Read the very latest from me on the Olympic Metro Blogs page.

With only four days to go to the Games the countries excitement, drive and passion is ramping up after a great weekend of sport with the culmination of the Tour de France, golf Open, German F1 Grandprix and the start of the test cricket.

Read my Metro blog here - http://blogs.metro.co.uk/olympics/are-athletes-trying-much/

Metro Blogging

From now and during the Olympic and Paralympic Games this year I will be blogging for the Metro. You will be able to read my pieces on the Metro site covering all things I love; sport, namely sailing, cycling, swimming in fact there is not a topic I won't cover.
Read the Metro Blogs from me here.
Happy reading and enjoy the Games!

A Tourist in London - Part I

Only a year ago I could count on one hand the amount of times I had visited our countries capital and the majority of those visits were to any of the London airports to fly out of the country.

It’s fair to say that I am not the city’s biggest fan and when I do go there I feel like a tourist. Getting the tube literally can fill me with fear and dread, and I am not of a nervous disposition. I can honestly say that I don’t know where I am going and find the tube maps utterly confusing and the locals that are au fait with the system are not the most helpful. I have been hustled and bustled around as I haven’t been fast enough in moving forward or knowing where I am going and the ‘Londonites’ scurry around looking on with distaste like I shouldn’t be there. Similar to the feeling you get when you are not wearing your best and find yourself in Ralph Lauren or Dolce & Gabbana being eye-balled by the immaculately dressed and coiffured woman behind the counter who has already assumed you can’t afford anything.

Then there is the public transport code of rules; don’t make eye contact, don’t start conversation and generally keep out of the way. No one talks to anyone or offers advice if you are clearly lost or even helps if you are struggling with bags that have got trapped in the doors. I have previously made the mistake of asking someone for help once and literally got pushed out of the way. Making eye contact is a prison sentence as the slightest twitch of the eye or connecting with someone else is going to mean your intentions to be polite are taken as a sign you are going to mug someone. When did we become such a pessimistic and worrisome nation?

And not to forget that all Londonites can be distinguished from tourists by the ‘commuter shuffle’. A touch like power walking but with weapons; briefcases, umbrellas, laptop bags etc. If you happen to get in the path of a herd of shufflers getting off the tube there is a high possibility that you will get swept along with them like a gaggle of lemmings and either get taken down or come out with bruises. The shuffler's weapons act as a device to part the crowds and god forbid should you be innocently standing in their path. Bruised, battered and over heating is how I left Waterloo after my first solo tube experience.

Olympic Optimism

There are 24 days to go to the start of the London 2012 Olympic Games and 23 days to go before I have to head off to Weymouth & Portland.

Along with 69,999 others from across the country, I will be working for the first 2 weeks of August with the LOCOG teams to help put on the third Games to be taking place in the UK.

The 30th Olympic Games is due to feature 36 different sports, hosting tens of thousands of athletes across the country. This includes Weymouth & Portland host venue of the Sailing events both for the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

While I am not competing or taking part in the physical aspect of the sport itself it is a huge opportunity to be selected to be part of the Games and I know it will be an experience I will remember for the rest of my life.

To be there in the thick of things for one of the most exciting sports of the Games and to say I had a part in making it great is important to me and I feel that the other Games Makers will feel the same.

I am very optimistic for the Games and feel there is huge potential. Plus I do feel very lucky as I could have been a driver, working in admin or even on security detail, but not only am I going to be at the Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy for two weeks but I am working within the media centre reporting and interviewing the sailors. A real dream to be writing and working with the press for something of this scale, who knows where it will lead!

Watch out for my bylines or you can follow me @emmalyork for up-to-the-minute news.

New Additions

I was slightly nieve to think that after my little sister had produced two children: grandchildren to my parents and great-grandchildren to my granddad, that I would essentially get left alone. How wrong was I?

Why is it always someone else that reminds you of this 'biological clock' that is ticking? Can they hear something I can't? Am I deaf to this sound?   With four sisters I was hoping for some relief in the baby making stakes as they are most definitely likely to churn out a few, keeping my Mother happy. However, two is still not enough and after my nepwhew was recently born, I was told 'don't wait too long'.

It is a conversation I have had many times over the last few years and one that has left a sour taste in my mouth as people have either told me I am wrong or will change my mind. Is it not my right to choose whether I would like children or not and in the times that we are in right now surely I still have plenty of time to decide.

To me I have named it the 'Bridget Jones moment' as it is that very awkward time when I am among couples, mums etc and it gets to the conversation of whether one is married and has children. The 'smug married's' and also the 'smug mums' look on open mouthed. It is lovely that they are really happy and have found that someone and have enjoyed giving birth and now being a mother to someone. This however is not the same opinion for us all and for those of us who are happily unmarried and not a mother, please remember that there is nothing wrong with us, it's not a disease and we are perfectly happy just the way we are.

If and when I want to change I will let you all know, you too Granddad!

Dentist Dilemmas

I always thought that people who were really afraid of the dentist were just being melodramatic like being scared of balloons or dust. I mean really?!

But I am about to change my mind and have to openly apologise for those previous thoughts.
After having recently spent a few trips to my new dentist I am now well aware of how people can feel fear when sitting in ‘the chair’.

Now my dentist happens to be a nice looking man who smells nice and speaks sweetly but this does not deter from his eagerness to pull out a drill or injection needle once I am ‘sitting comfortably’. The line you get given when the foot long needle is about to spear your gum of: “You will only feel a slight tickle” is an absolute lie. Not sure whether the pain of the needle hurt more or when it wore off two hours later.

 The second set of pain came when I had to pay for this abuse. I do not feel any better in fact feel worse than when I went in, my purse is considerably lighter as dentist work is neither cheap or cost effective and I am being punished further by having to go back.

 Sympathy also come in the tiniest forms when you encounter tooth ache or are in pain after seeing the dentist. You can’t see it, hear it and I am damned if I can make it go away and now all I can smell in my mouth is cloves from the horrid solution you are made to swill afterwards. All this complaining aside I really only have myself to blame and should have looked after myself better and cut back on Jaeger Bombs!

 Moral of the story is don’t eat sweets, floss, gargle and brush regularly.

2011 In a Nutshell

When trying to describe moments, memories, things that have happened I find that one word usually does it. But thinking of one word to sum up a whole years worth of adventures is proving a conundrum.


How to sum up a whole year in a single word - enlivening!

I don't think I could have mentally or physically packed anything else into 2011, it was both exciting and hectic all at once starting with a new job and moving to Surrey.

Highlights most definitely include becoming IRC National Champions with the Elaine crew, being part of the press team at the pre-Olympics in Portland and making some incredible new friends.

As with everything there has been a fair number of teeth-pulling stressful days, but then I have survived them all and am still here to tell my tales.


After Granddad got married for the third time, there was a lot to be put into perspective. He is happy and that is all that matters surely. So why do we all work so hard, if not to be happy?
2011 was a happy time for me and I threw myself (literally) through the New Year looking to find more happiness in 2012. So far so good!