Wednesday 2nd September

Can'ardly given the all clear by Jim & Steve at JRS SERVICES yesterday and Steve must have waved his wand over the squeaking shock absorber, cos it ain't squeaking now!
On Sunday the L'aimeDucks & Can'ardly enjoyed a Swine roast at Bloo & Sue's, and managed to convert a Clamping into a £20 donation to Parkinson's from the Clamper Steve from CCC. Good Man!!
Jenny and Zac at THE CHEQUERS, Berrick Salome have joined our list of sponsors.
Well, its now just a case of stowing everything in Can'ardly, packing the bottle opener & a pair of underpants and we're ready for the off!

LUNCHTIME update
Photoshoots at PRINTINCO and the BEETLE & WEDGE completed at 09.00 ish this morning, so all sponsors now accounted for. Time to start panicking - sorry packing!

EVENING update
Well it's absolutely stair rods here - just as I am trying to pack Can'ardly - weather for ducks really - Aaahhh?? - thats all right then!
This is probably the last update before the off tomorrow morning at about 08.15, to pick up the other guys in Shirley & West Wickham. We are booked in on the 12.50 Eurotunnel.
French WIFI willing we will update you next from Reims.
Quack Quack!

Thursday 3rd September - Cholsey & West Wickham to Reims

Jerry left home 08.00 and arrived West Wickham about 09.30 at Mickey's. Picked up Chris & left at about 10.30 for the tunnel.

Managed to get the 12.20 train where a L'aimeDuck sticker was applied to the German car in front. Arrived in France 30 mins later & went to the wine shop to stock up with beer, cheese, ham, wine etc for lunch. Then en route for Reims on the A16.

Stopped for lunch in the boot at a picnic stop near Arras for a french bread, ham & cheese & a beer. Talked to some bemused English tourists going the same way who vowed to go a different way after talking to us. Arrived Reims Tinqueux Formula 1 about 6pm.

Mickey camping out on the floor after seeing the double bed!

Have arranged a taxi to the centre of Reims for 7pm. We are now drinking a quick beer or three before getting Taxi.

Only passed three crumball cars in convoy on the way here the "301 boys" who proceded to race us & then veered off at high speed down a slip road to somewhere - Batmobile, beaten up Volvo, and Merc or Beemer - dangerous!

Taxi driven by buxom french lady wearing knee high boots & short black skirt & black tights (according to Chris). Chris also informed us about the new light installation around his garden pond; the stirling gas displacement engine & various other ailments during the journey.

Back to the rally - Tunnel was a smart option as rough seas had cancelled many ferries and many crumballers were late for registration. A few beers at the Glue Pot a with arriving teams dictated that we should find something to eat after Jerry mistakenly asked some Scots guys when they had left Ireland.

Lots of talk about drop head camshafts & turbo's with allen keys from the petrolheads dictated that we should go for a Pizza before Chris explaned the workings of the Stirling gas displacement engine & his Shastlics ring.

More facts about heating & ventilation ensued, so we had a few more beers and then got the same lady taxi driver - now without the boots & fishnets back as we have an early start tomorrow. A couple of more beers in the room will see us through the night after Mickey has pumped himself up.


ZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzz................

PS
For those of you who are befuddled (like us) as to the workings of the Stirling Engine, see these links:
http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stirling_engine
or http://www.stirlingengine.com/

All will become clear- honest!

ZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzz...................

Friday 4th September - Reims to Chur

Formula 1 Reims at 06.30 in the morning in the dark - breakfast of crunched cereal - care of cereal cruncher and lots of black coffee, then off to the meeting car park for 07.30. About 20
 cars present with crumballers milling around. Grand entrance by us with all flags over Canardly and horns blaring. Off the start line with the complicated quiz instructions and we headed off for Nancy into the pouring rain. The rain increased to tsunami proportions which aided the quiz- spoting numberplates to make up the letters of as many cocktails as possible from as many foreign plates as possible - not a chance of seeing any numberplates in the spray and hurricane rain conditions.

Can'ardly still dry for the morning.

In a clearer moment doing 120kph a nasty flash indicated a speed camera set to 110kph. Await a nice letter from Lycee Palace on our return!!! Weather relented for 30 mins just before Mulhouse so we grabbed a bonnet lunch & Chris went into the woods with a roll of tissue. We considered driving off but relented as we had not heard about the Stirling engine yet today.

Chased into Switzerland in the storm by various Crumballers. Canardly now suffering from the deluges - every time we braked, torrents of water dripping down on Jerry's feet, her colostomy bag seemed to have burst - or the scuttle drains were blocked. Zurich - motorway seemed to end abruptly and found ourselves in the centre - everyone reported the same problem. Then bashed onwards to Chur with the rain easing. Arrived 18.15 after about 400 miles.

Put up our 3 tents in a bog and rushed into town on the bus for the evening check-in at "The Street Cafe" on Grabbenstrasse, where most crumballers were milling. Chris had done a "stirling" job in the back seat with the quiz and we at least had a few answers to hand in. 

Chur an odd Swiss place with the redlight district close to the Cafe and few restaurants open. Had a few beers in with the Guys and gals then could only find a burger bar for food - oh joy! Bus back to tent where we had a luxurious beer crammed in one tent with the rain dripping in the flap.

Captain Oates springs to mind " I may be gone some time"!
Then sleep or maybe?
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz............

Saturday 5th Chur to Fussen

Mickey awoke after 5 mins sleep, due in part to the stentorian snoring of Jerry and Chris, feeling well rested. Other Crumballers camping next to us were up at about 05.30 talking loudly about their tappets.
Showered (except Chris who did something with wet wipes (don't ask!) then got into costumes - Chris as cowboy with leather chaps with no bottom, Jerry as LAPD sergeant, Mickey as Construction worker - all resplendent in stick on Moustaches.

Chris as you can see was totally prepared for this expedition - replete with wind up lamp, camping stove, swiss army cutlery set, wet wipes tea coffee and chaps. We collected our croissant from reception in our garb much to the amusement of Frau Brigette, who seems to like men in uniform?

Off to Churwalden for the days start. A small car park full of Crumball chariots in a quiet Swiss hamlet was transformed with Village people in bottomless jeans, a 6'5 inch Heidi with a beard, Batman and Robin in the batmobile, A bride, a Gorilla and lots of Police, Cowboys and Indians.

Bewildered Swiss locals watched on in pity at the general mayhem.

Finally the Swiss did something useful by giving us a clear blue sky and hot sun, but the satnav took on a Swiss mentality and refused to recognise St Moritz or any other Swiss town so we had to blag a map off an old Swiss garage owner - He gave it willingly to Jerry dressed as a police sergeant!

Then the best day followed as we went up into the alps through the Julier pass, the Bernina Pass and the Stelvio Pass.
The day's challenge was a photo matching affair where we failed miserably apart from Chris who occasionally woke to shout "there it is", at least got us a few points.
Up and down the passes we interacted with other Crumballers - lots of hooting, waving, donuts, and laughter as the batmobile let off a rocket from his rocket launcher, and one team took hammers to the girls pink Volvo to fine tune it for the Stelvio. Sadly after many donuts and handbrake turns the Trewern Wacky Racers broke their radiator and dropped out and the Black Golf died along with one or two others.

Then to the Stelvio - amazing - chock a block with bikers like ants racing up and down the hairpins - a bonnet lunch near the summit with a glacier to our right and sheer drops to our left.
Now Canardly took the ascent in her stride but quacked a bit on the way down the northern side when the brakes began to fade - not good coming down from 9050 ft!

Still - used low gear and a longer and longer braking pedal and managed not to go over the edge. All teams reported the same problem.

Team "Sacarafice (sic) two guys in orange boiler suits, and a third member who also wore an orange boiler suit but who had to be inflated ( Ahem!) were having great fun by trying to knock the bikers and cyclists off the mountain using the third member out of the passenger window.

Then a long drive on good but winding and slow roads through Austria to Fussen in Bavaria for the evening check- in. Found the Camping Brunnen, on a lake overlooked by Neuschwanstein castle - pitched, and straight into a Taxi to Beim Olivebauer for the check in. After a few beers we ate there.

- Our £30 donation from Dave was spent on fried eggs, omlettes, poached and boiled eggs, washed down by europiss and 3 glasses of Pear Schnapps ( At least Dave would have enjoyed that!)
Chris finally turned off the drivel that kept coming in on his mobile from someone in Beckenham which pleased us all.
Taxi back with a Crazy Czech driver who talked to Jerry by looking him in the eye at 70 mph while going the wrong way and bouncing off the kerbs. Back at the tents we walked down to the lake beach and had a final round of beers and wine before hitting the lilo's.
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Sunday 6th Fussen to Prague

Got up late at 0700 amongst endless Krauts running and exercising frantically by the lake under a clear sky. Chris had a shower and finally got out of his chaps and changed his underpants after taking a barrel full of pills and waxing lyrical about the - "Stirling engine". The SatNav now took on a German mentality and refused to work at all, so we were blind on our way into Fussen - but we had plenty of time to ruminate as we were stuck behind a gaggle of cows on a single track road out from the campsite. We therefore arrived late for the check-in at Gasthof Krone.

Picked up another picture challenge - pics of various houses in Fussen to be identified. Fussen is a quaint regional town little changed from the dark ages. During our wanderings, we stumbled across a Grand Sunday Morning Parade of the local burghers - about 2-300 complete with ummpah bands in leiderhosen, banners, blunderbusses, swords and buxum frauleins in dirndels. Chris was in his element - especially with the dirndels.

Managed to get all the answers to the quiz, so had a breakfast of cold croissant - much to the annoyance of Chris who wanted to bring in his camping stove to toast his bread.

Back to Canardly (who incidentally was purring magnificently) and worked our magic on the satnav which proceded to work again. Boring journey on good efficient Kraut road system for about 300 miles to Prague via Regensberg, where we had to pick up the final clue to the challenge near the cathedral.

Ah - problem - we seemed to have lost the answer sheet to the pictures, but non-plussed and with a massive brain cell in operation, we remembered the salient points and blagged help from some other Crumballers Ger & Jane, to enable us to match the final clue and complete the challenge. (wrongly as it 'appens!)

The tedious drive to Prague was enlightened by a lecture from Chris about the "Stirling engine".

Stopped for a bonnet lunch in a restop on the Czech border where we fried bacon on our stove. Two young English students joined us to ask about camping in the area, so Chris told him about the Stirling engine and his Shastlic ring while Jerry and Mickey ogled the young lady.

Team the "Chinless Wonders" who had prepared their car by knocking 6 bells out of all the body work with lump hammers , tearing off all bits and sticking them all back on with gaffer tape in the wrong places, were denied access into the Czech republic by the border police - wonder why? Police presence all along the motorway very heavy, but Canardly sailed by.
Arrived at the airport to drop off Stirling - sorry - Chris - for his 3 hr wait for his plane to Gatwick. He obviously had fun by having a KFC and using lots of tissues. Jerry & Mickey then drove off to the Hotel Kafka, which we found courtesy of satnav. Comfort at last!
Quick change into L'aimeducks gear then into a rip off taxi for the short trip to the Shamrock bar in Wenceslas Sq for the presentations. No surprise, everything was delayed and the presentations started well after 9pm. Yet another burger and a few beers before Patrick and Paul did the presentations amid laughter, tales of breakdowns and escapades.

The Batmobile got best car, the 3 generations team won one challenge, team Sacarafice got an award for helping two cars with mechanical problems - great guys, and Dr Who and his companion won the numberplate challenge.

But the Milko's - the 6'5" Heidi, 6' Heidi and 5' Helga Heidi won the overall rally - all well received & well deserved. The Heidi's stayed in their costumes for the whole trip ..only the Brits!

And as a bonus we heard all of the presentation this year!

During the presentation the compere announced that the "aTOMic CRUISErs" car was in the process of being towed away from a residents parking slot they had used. They rushed out and returned with dark faces - not amused.

A few more beers and we said our goodbyes to individual teams we had met and we left to battle with the pickpockets & public transport system - which we did with relative ease. Tram back to the hotel where we sat on the balcony outside the room with a few glasses of wine to reflect on this years efforts. Collapsed about 12.30.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzz............

Monday 7th September- The Return

Monday 7th September, Prague

Woke about 08.00 and a breakfast of cold meats, salami, frankfurters and cheeses ensures the day will be aromatic. Decided on a lazy morning on the balcony of Hotel Kafka, updating the blogsite and drinking wine etc.
Finally left to tour Prague at about 13.30 to 14.00. Took tram into Wenceslas Sq (Vaclavske Namesti) and then wandered Prague down to the river and Charles Bridge (Karluv Most) – scaffolded.

Over the bridge among hoardes of tourists and up towards the castle ( Prazsky Hrad a Hradcany). Very warm climbing up, so had to take on fluids, and lo and behold a little bar appeared. Sat next to a big fat jolly German we called Helmut. He said – you come from Oxford? – How ‘d he do that? Good chap with a good sense of humour. His wife also joined in. Then they left us and a bunch of Eyties moved in pushing and shoving so we left for the final few hundred

steps up to the castle & St Vitus’s cathedral (Katedrala SV. Vita, Vaclava a Vojtecha). No dancing going on up there?

Lots of stained glass, gold, silver andnoise – not awfully special, but some great views of Prague from the castle walls.

Downhill much easier than up and we considered going into the Jewish Quarter ( Josefov) to see the cemetery, but instead we decided to take on fluids andsolids, and eventually after much wandering

around side streets in Old Town (Stare Mesto), found a little restaurant.
Beers and salads revived us while we watched the young girls pass by. It’s a hard life - better than a cemetery.

Into Old Town Square (Staromestske Namesti) where a few hundred people were staring at a clock waiting for it to go bong. As it was still 10 mins to 4 and being British and not Eytie, we figured we had 10 mins to spare, so had a look at Old Town Square which was full of old buildings. Then a skeleton rang a bell a few times and the clock went bong and all the Eyties seemed satisfied and left, pushing and shoving. Little things please …….?

Then back up towards Wenceslas Sq via the Gestapo headquarters in a side street. A very sinister place which has not been cleaned and is black granite type stone. Quite literally the temperature dropped a good few degrees as we walked past! Spooky or what?

Into Wenceslas Sq to see the old king himself and the memorial to Jan Palach who set fire to himself in protest at the Russian Invasion – sad.

Met the Scots boys and had a chat. The poor old Scots lads were at a loose end not knowing what to do before they went back on Saturday. Suggested Nuremberg and Berlin – wonder where they ended up?

Then back up to the Hotel, a few wines, a Pizza up the road with a couple of beers, then back to the balcony for more wines and a chat to some Norwegians who fancied Mickey (but more of that tomorrow,) then off to bed at about 12.30. A restful and interesting day – a nice change from driving.

ZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzz............

Tuesday September 8th - The Return

Tuesday September 8th, Prague to Reutlingen

Up about 08.00 and in for another protein breakfast at Hotel Kafka, with a Danish couple who had seen Can’ardly in the courtyard. Knowledgeable chap with a pony tail who spoke almost perfect English. Like our Danish really?

After breakfast Mickey was having a smoke on the balcony when he was attacked from behind by the Norwegian lady of yesterday. She was about to hug him from behind when she suddenly stopped, blushed, and giggled. (I think we’d all do the same!) So Mickey had pulled! He spent the next 10-15 minutes chatting her up until her grandson’s arrived – yes, she was in her 80’s and had mistaken Mickey for her son. Poor bloke?

Can’ardly was loaded up and we visited the small grocery store run by some Vietnamese to stock up with beer, wine, schnapps, cheese and ham and cigarettes. After asking us where we were fromand then listing every country in the world, except England, the Vietnamese gladly took our crowns and we had made a couple of new friends.
Back to Can’ardly and off to Reutlingen near Stuttgart.
Fairly uneventful journey, except around Nuremberg where the SatNav didn’t recognise a new autobahn that had been opened and threw a total wobbler. It had us going off cross country over the fields. After a couple of stops and U turns we got it licked and continued, having stopped for a bonnet/picnic table lunch in a Parkplatz.

The SatNav redeemed itself by taking us directly to the door of Gunter and Suzanne, Jerry’s friends in Reutlingen from his student days about 500 years previously. Amazing - Gunter seemed to have aged at exactly the same rate as us, so we recognised each other immediately, and were welcomed by both Gunter and Suzanne with beers on the patio.

After chatting and more beers, they provided us with a great hotplate meal which we all cooked in front of us on the patio table whilst chewing the metaphorical fat.


Then off to Tubingen for a weissbier on the banks of the river Neckar, followed by a trip down memory Lane for Jerry with a trip to the Ammerschlag – a bar he had frequented regularly 35 years previously. Not much had changed at all and Ralf was even sitting at the same place at the bar. A few beers and a few hours later, Suzanne shepherded us back to the car and drove us home where we opened the schnapps we had bought for Gunter and all had a shot – absolutely revolting – we decided after the second one. Bed at about 4am we think – perhaps and maybe?
ZZZZZZZzzzzz..........

Wednesday September 9th - The Return

Wednesday September 9th - Reutlingen to Bar-le-Duc
Ah- we all felt fine when we woke at 09.00 until we were told by Gunter that we had crashed out at 04.00 – then the effects struck. Gunter suggested that he would drive us out to a local fairytale Schloss- and we readily agreed, wanting to delay the start of our driving for as long as possible!

Gunter drove us up to Schloss Lichtenstein, a few miles south of Reutlingen which had to be rebuilt after the Yanks used it for target practice in the mid 40’s ( Don’t mention the W**!)

Pleasant interlude, then off for a beer – Uugghh! - at a restaurant close by, I think in Pfullingen?

What ever? The waitress took a shine to us and took our pictures and was rewarded with L’aimeDuck stickers over her blouse, L’aimeDuck cards, and a large tip.

Now about midday, and time for us to leave, so back to Gunter’s to pack Can’ardly and say our goodbyes.

Then we hit the road for Schloss Hohenzollen, a real fairytale tale castle built by some ma
d German king (King Friedrich Wilhelm IV)
– were’nt they all mad? They were, after all, related to our lot – say no more!

The sign said a 15 min walk from the car park, up steps, so 45 minutes later we crawled up to the castle – how on earth unfit people could do this climb we couldn’t fathom. Splendid views and what looked like a triple wedding, but the old German Mercedes staff car, seemed to have broken down, so the brides had to take the bus down with other fat punters.


Then off on our travels through Freudenstadt & the Black Forest to Strasbourg and then on to Bar-le-Duc, where we intended to use the Camping Municipal.

Now, the bureaucrats in Brussels and Schwabia have decided that all towns and villages should have a 30kph speed limit and they seemed to have arranged for a line of speed limit conformists to be in front of us at all times, so the journey to Strasbourg took for ever. We realised that we were running 4-5hrs late, so Angela was summoned to book us an Etap hotel in Bar-le-Duc, which she did within a few minutes. No further camping – relief for Mickey!

So the ETA for Bar-le-Duc was about 19.45. No chance - as Strasbourg was totally gridlocked – presumably the rush hour, but the locals we talked to in the queues seemed to think it was unusual. No matter, it delayed us a further 60 –90 minutes.

Panic then set in as we realised we had no alcoholic beverages in the car at all and most stores were shut. Jerry blamed Mickey for this gross dereliction of duty  Mickey blamed Jerry.

We pushed on into the sunset, and then our luck changed as we found that the Auchan Superstore in Bar-le-Duc was still open, and not only that but there was our Etap Hotel right across the road/canal/ river and railway, to the Auchan, with a Buffalo Grill next door. (although it took us 15 mins to find it through the warren of minor roads, canals, rivers, railways etc).

With essentials suitably restored and finding our way through the maze again we gladly hit the Buffalo Grill as we had not eaten since breakfast. After feasting on Buffalo steaks and burgers and what the French waiter described as monster beers ( “These are large m’sieur”) but in reality were less than a pint, we retired to our room with a bottle of wine. No corkscrew ( Chris- we needed your multi-tool!) , so a screwdriver did the job!
Sleep at 00.30 ZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Thursday September 10th - The Return

Thursday September 10th, Bar-le-Duc to Boulogne-sur-Mer, via the Somme

Arose early so we could find the Auchan again and stock up with Wines & Beers and Cheeses etc for our return home the next day. Loaded up Can’ardly and set off on small roads for Reims & then Laon, where we decided to have a short stop. Laon is a town perched on a hill-top amid flat countryside & is very pictureskew.

Photo’s of Cathedrals etc etc, then off to the Somme, via St Quentin on typical French roads.

The SatNav was once again affected and insisted that it take us up the smallest of roads with grass in the middle that eventually turned into cart tracks – bow and arrow country for sure (remember Agincourt?).

We finally figured out where we were, about 300 yds from Mesnil Martinsart CWGC Cemetery in Aveluy Wood – The resting place of my Great Uncle, Thomas Batty – Great Uncle Tommy, who was killed on the first day of the battle of the Somme, 1st July 1916. We found his gravestone, where a photograph was left and pictures taken. We toasted Tommy with a beer before we left.

A moving time.

(Poor young Tommy was a Sapper in the Royal Engineers, who got caught out when the Irish 36th Ulstermen were too successful and forged through the German trenches while their colleague units on either side did not. This meant that Tommy and his regiment, the 49th West Riding were called up to support the Irish and they found themselves surrounded on 3 sides by German machine gunners, with the retreat cut off by German artillery barrages. Not many survived including poor young Tommy.)

Then off for a spot of lunch atop the British trenches where Tommy was killed, in front of the Schwaben Redoubt, within a stone’s throw of Thiepval Wood. Wandering around close to Can’ardly munching cheese rolls we both found bits of shrapnel on the ground without really looking.
(Ironic really that Tommy was killed attacking the Schwaben Redoubt, when we had had such a good time in Tubingen with Gunter - Tubingen is in Schwabia).

Once again – moving.

Then, off to find Chris’s relatives at the Thiepval Monument and the Duisans Cemetery.
The Thiepval monument is to the missing of the Somme and contains the names of 72,000 missing soldiers.
Once again – moving.

We found Chris’s man, J Winchester of the Royal Sussex Regiment.

(We went to look at the Ulster Tower, a monument to the 36th Ulstermen, but were quite honestly shocked & disgusted to see a restaurant and café in the tower heavily advertised at the gate to the cemetery. We both agreed not to go in.)

Then across country to Arras, to the Duisans CWGC Cemetery where Chris’s 2nd relative was buried, Bombadier W E Hardcastle, Royal 

Field Artillery, killed October 1918 just a day or 2 before the war ended. A pretty bleak place in open country with the wind whistling through the tightly packed headstones.

Once again – Moving

Finally a sprint cross country to Boulogne-sur-Mer for our final Hotel, Etap, Centres les Ports and a meal in the cheese restaurant, which serves Cheese, Cheese, Cheese or Cheese. Good thing we like cheese.

A couple of local beers washed down the cheese, and we then repaired to the hotel room for a few more beers while we watched the video’s of the rally that we had taken. This revived our Sommebre (pun intended) day, which had been Awesomme (pun intended), so we had a few more beers.

Once again – Moving.

Sleep at about 00.45 ZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Friday September 11th - The Return

Friday 11th September, Boulogne-sur-Mer to Dover to West Wickham to Cholsey





Arose early to breakfast & then up onto the cliffs North of Boulogne, to get a view of the harbour.

Nearing Blighty, the weather returned to its normal state - grey and cloudy with spots of rain

Then we hightailed it to the tunnel, where we blagged our way onto an earlier train, and thence to Dover after having got lost twice on the A20! (Where Jerry was drug up!)
Stopped at the cliff top café at Capel-le-Ferne for a few pics and a coffee and a last look the other way over the channel to the cliffs of Cap Gris Nez.

Then to Jerry’s Mum’s house in Dover for another quick coffee, and to deliver her a box of wine for the week.

Then back to West Wickham where we were met by Chris.

Yet another cup of coffee.

Canardly was unloaded, Chris was briefed on our return journey from Prague, then at about 2pm Jerry set off for home in Cholsey, Oxon.

The worst journey of the trip - M25 solid from J10 to J17 so a diversion was necessary, through Guildford, Bagshot, Bracknell & Pangbourne. Finally got Can’ardly home at about 5pm.

2400 miles on the clock over the last 8 days, through torrential storms, over the Alps several times, crossing 9 borders, through 6 countries with no hassles from the authorities.

Can’Ardly didn’t miss a beat, not one real problem – What a girl!

So, the L’aimeDucks and Can’Ardly are signing off for 2009 ...............

or are they?