Summary: Episode 16 Thank You @TamworthGrice as always for promoting the podcast, and chasing me up to post another episode! Michael Mosley @DrMichaelMosley Very helpful tweets on the "fast diet" or 5:2 diet Simon Mac @simon_macl for tweeting about my relaxation audio Mark S. Jungmann @laffingbuddha for chasing me up to do another podcast And for their tech / app recommendations Scott McQ @Satyr69 recommends SnapChat Heno @86_HENO suggested….. Grindr! Drusilla Bloeme @DrusillaBloeme for helping me enjoy my return to drinking by quoting Poe, about booze being gods way of telling you that he loves you and wants you to be happy ;-) Jon Trouten @JonTrouten and many others for their lovely messages about Marshall News So much has happened since I last recorded a show it's hard to know where to start! I got to see my favourite personal development author Tim Ferris in London. Hearing him speak was a very inspiring experience. He really came across as a nice guy, that really believes in what he's discovered about weight loss, learning and building your own business. I was also lucky enough to get a trip up the highest building in the UK, the brand new "Shard". That was pretty incredible too! Probably the biggest news, we for me anyway, is getting a new kitten. As most of you will know we used to have two cats named after the Ab Fab characters, Patsy and Eddie. Sadly we lost Patsy to cancer late last year. We were devastated. Be I knew there was space in our lives for another cat. So after trying to get a rescue cat but being turned down as we needed an "indoor" cat. We found and bought a kitten privately. Initially we gave him the name of Norman, because the owners were calling him "fat boy" simple to distinguish him from his slightly smaller brother. And Fat Boy Slim, who's a relatively famous DJ, is actually called Norman. But soon Peter decided to go straight to the source and tweeted Jennifer Saunders, yep that's right the writer and star of Ab Fab. Pete asked her for a suggested name as there aren't many main male characters in the show. She instantly tweeted back "Marshal?". So whenever someone asked why the name, we can say "Because Jennifer Saunders named our kitten"! Can't really say no to Jennifer! The week after we took Marshall to the vets for a checkup and without going into too much dirty detail asked about a possible upset stomach. It turned out the poor little thing had somehow picked up e-coli from his previous home! After much fretting and worry I'm pleased to say he's made a full recovery and is growing so rapidly to can almost see the changes daily. Tech of the week http://duolingo.com/ This app was actually suggested by Tim Ferris on his own blog. I've been having quite a bit of fun with it for a few weeks now. Duolingo is a free service that helps you learn languages with your friends while simultaneously contributing to translate real-world content from the Web. It's very game like and lets you each points, unlock levels and help with real world translations. You can learn Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Italian or yes English! Might be handy for a few people I know ;-) It's available on the iPhone, I think they are planning an Android version at some point in the future. But they also have just a plain old Web based version that is totally worth trying out as it have voice recognition too. Very clever! So if you've ever thought about learning a language but have been put off by the costs or finding to too hard, give Duolingo a go. Even if you already speak a little bit of another language, you don't have to start from scratch, you can test your skills and start at a higher level. Don't forget to add me as a friend in the app! Just Being There Even though I professionally coach people all the time, through all sorts of dramas, when it comes to helping a friend it needs to be done with an extra level of consideration.
