Month: January 2025

Laughs & Giggles

List five things you do for fun.

Good morning all. I’m having to get my thinking head on today for this one, not that I don’t have fun, but when put on the spot like this you have to think the answer over. There are probably things that I call fun that others out there would probably find nauseating and strange. Hey, we are all individuals and it would be boring if we were all the same. I’ll do a little list now but it’s not an exhaustive list, this is only a list of things I might do. I’m sure there are plenty other activities I can turn to:

  • Football: Been following my team Leicester City, through good and bad in excess of 30 years now. Unfortunately, now is a bad spell but that’s the trials of being a fan of any sport. And I love having a Balti pie and a pint, or in winter a nice hot cup of Bovril. It’s tradition.
  • Walking: to be honest haven’t done a lot of late but I’m already planning some nice walks to do in the next couple of months. There is nothing better than getting out there into nature and just drinking it all in. You have time to think and clear your mind, and it’s probably one of the best and healthiest activities you can get involved in.
  • Art: I love art and have a genuine appreciation of anyone that gives it a go. I’m really bad at it but I’m a trier. let’s be honest some of the worlds finest artists must have been bad at some point, it’s just I’m making an art of being bad. It gives me immense joy and satisfaction just creating something, so it can’t all be that bad….can it?
  • Holidays: My wife and I have found that since our dog passed away we now have a lot more time and availability on our hands. We are now taking a good few holidays and having more short breaks away. We love each other’s company and that’s a good place to be. We have holidays in Iceland, Uk and I believe we are planning one to the Caribbean later in the year. I say “I believe” as the wife is concocting a plan with her cousin for the big holiday at the tail end of this year.
  • Family days/nights: Our families are quite spread out around the Uk/Sth Africa/ Australia so it is rare to get a good gathering of the clans together. When it does occur as it did around July last year it is pure carnage, but good old fashioned raw fun and laughter. You need this every now and then to charge the memory banks. Here’s to the next one.

And that’s probably that, for now, I think these activities probably rate in my mind as the five things I most enjoy participating in, for fun.

Have a great day everyone, may peace and joy radiate throughout everything you do.

Our total love and devotion

If you could make your pet understand one thing, what would it be?

As I’m sure, anyone at all that pays any attention to what is written in these posts, will know we lost our best friend Alf, our beloved pet dog on 16th August last year. There’s probably a lot of you out there who are probably saying,“ For gods sake man just get on with it”.

Easier said than done I’m afraid. If you read the facts and figures, animal grief is just so real, especially in an animal loving country such as ours.

I’ve never really experienced it in such a manner before, but this time we’ve really struggled. I think I summed it up at its peak here: Is there a cure for a broken heart 💔 . There are a number of other posts about him but this one sums up the raw feelings when we lost him.

We’ve never been able to have children in our life, it’s complicated. Especially when you spend your life with the most wonderful woman who would have made the most fantastic mother, it really is heartbreaking to see her interactions with children and the love she shows them. Then in the quiet moments I really see how it affects her. All I can do is comfort her.

Alf – our little fellah

This is where Alf strolls in. He was to us, what was always out of reach, a kind of surrogate if you like. It was fate how we found him and he had the starring role in our lives for eleven beautiful years.

To answer the question: If I could make my pet understand one thing? It would be:

You were our love, our confidante our life. Our most precious companion. And we miss you so much.

Yes it’s more than one thing I know. But when a kindly loving soul enters your life and has such an effect on it, you just can’t label them with one singular credit, one word, It just can’t be done.

Life is a strange voyage. Sometimes when you can’t have something, you are blessed with the most perfect alternative. I believe we were blessed. His time came and he had to move on. I just hope some where, another couple who have maybe suffered similar issues as we did, are now experiencing some wonderful “Alfie” time. That little fellah truly had wings.

Love you for always lad.

Peace.

It’s all about me

Write about your first name: its meaning, significance, etymology, etc.

Well this is going to be an easy one. Many people have written pieces about my name over the years all the way back through the annuls of time. What’s the point of me mocking their excellent work, so here is where cut and paste works wonders. My name is David….enjoy

Meaning & History

From the Hebrew name דָּוִד (Dawiḏ), which was derived from דּוֹד(doḏ) meaning “beloved” or “uncle”. David was the second and greatest of the kings of Israel, ruling in the 10th century BC. Several stories about him are told in the Old Testament, including his defeat of Goliath, a giant Philistine. According to the New Testament, Jesus was descended from him.

This name has been used in Britain since the Middle Ages. It has been especially popular in Wales, where it is used in honour of the 5th-century patron saint of Wales (also called Dewi), as well as in Scotland, where it was borne by two kings. Over the last century it has been one of the English-speaking world’s most consistently popular names, never leaving the top 30 names for boys in the United States, and reaching the top rank in England and Wales during the 1950s and 60s. In Spain it was the most popular name for boys during the 1970s and 80s.

Famous bearers include empiricist philosopher David Hume (1711-1776), explorer David Livingstone (1813-1873), musician David Bowie (1947-2016), and soccer player David Beckham (1975-). This is also the name of the hero of Charles Dickens’ semi-autobiographical novel David Copperfield (1850).

Courtesy: behind the name.com

Have a super day

Farm work

What’s your dream job?

To be honest I cannot say that there is any particular job that I have a dream of doing. When I was younger I went through all my options and opportunities and to be honest I think I’ve followed the best course of work activity throughout my career so far. That school careers officer knew his job.

It’s the old observation of whether you dream to do a job so much, that in reality, after you have done it for a while it then becomes a chore. I spent a lot of time in my early 30s doing my city and guilds exams in electronics, my choice, as it was a hobby and I wanted to learn more. Many people said to me at the time,“Why don’t you use that set of qualifications to branch out into that business?” But do you know what? I didn’t want to do that as I loved the hobby so much I didn’t want to fall out of love with it, I didn’t want it to become a day to day existence, something to tire of.

As I branch out into my latter years I’d love to work on a farm, I’d love to be a custodian of some land and have responsibilities for its upkeep and the animals and creatures that live there. A big woodland where I tend to nature, monitor and assist with its upkeep. Environmental work, that’s what I’d love to do now.

I could do this on a part time basis, as the local woodland trust actively encourages involvement in such projects in our area. The only issue is that my shifts at work kind of restrict me with taking part. Maybe this is a decision to be taken into consideration when I look at my retirement options within the next few years.

Have a glorious day.

Not a University degree

What makes a good leader?

Sorry if that title upsets a few but that’s exactly how it is in my view. I’m in a business where we actively take on graduates who have come from universities who instantly come into these roles where many years experience is normally the requirement, prior to proceeding in that role.

I’m not knocking the student, but just because you’ve been in study for a number of years and now have a degree in political history, this does not help you in an engineering rich environment. It’s wrong. A leader needs life experience, and I think it is unfair to place an individual with no such experience in a role that needs this expertise along with long gained trust. They need to wait a while, get comfortable and get a few years experience under their belts.

I guess this is my companies fault for pretty much setting these individuals up to fail, but to be honest my company is pretty good at doing this with anyone it employs.

Apparently, and depending on where you search there are a number of traits that make a good leader, here are just five that I believe to be the basic qualities required.

  • Calmness
  • Clarity
  • Objectivity
  • Empathy
  • Decisiveness

I’d also add to that, “Common sense” you can be the brightest button on the earth but have not a single ounce of common sense. I have this in my own family circle it’s not a thing that can be taught, it’s a life learning event, some people have quite a bit of it still to do. It will come with age and experience.

That said we will always assist individuals parachuted in to these roles, however it can be hard on the individual and sometimes tough for them personally. So let’s expand the above list now to seven by adding these two further traits and calling it a day.

  • Common sense
  • Experience

I’ve experienced this now in excess of thirty years within my role. In that time I have had many Managers but I can count the good leaders on two fingers of one hand.

Anyone can be a manager, absolutely anyone it’s just an excuse to throw extra work and responsibility at someone with little remuneration, but only a rare few can be a good leader.

Have a peaceful and pleasant day.

Addiction

If you could un-invent something, what would it be?

I’ve browsed around some of the replies to this prompt and I must say I’m quite surprised. Surprised to see so many people wishing that social media could be un-invented. Now I am with these people 100%, I agree it’s a breeding ground for hatred and vitriol, however as so many are already mentioning social media I feel I should suggest something else because to not do so would make this post quite repetitive and boring.

Well it will probably still be boring but here goes.

Addiction. If only there wasn’t such a thing. Again it’s one of those things that is good to have in certain scenarios but an absolute nightmare to have in others. Let’s talk about the nightmare scenarios.

I guess that somewhere in the top three addictions there would be Drugs, Alcohol and Gambling. In my job these are three of the top addictions that drive people to attempt to end their lives on the railway. I know this personally, I deal with the aftermath far too often and it is a truly tragic situation.

Can you imagine the freedom and excitement these people who are inflicted with such a disabling and horrible condition would feel, if this burden was lifted from their shoulders and it would never bother them again?

I once was heading down the wrong road with alcohol in my late teens. Two things stopped me going there. My job, as we are constantly liable to be drug and alcohol tested as we have a zero tolerance policy here, and my wife. I have always stated that she alone saved my life. She witnessed things that raised her awareness levels and stopped me going down the wrong road. I was fortunate. Others are not so.

So if we could only un-invent addiction. Wouldn’t that be a fantastic thing. Just imagine how many good souls would still be with us today.

Have a peaceful day.

Samsung SQ3000 electronic typewriter

What the listing stated:

Offered here is a good vintage Samsung SQ-3000 electronic typewriter. It powers up and operates when the keys are pressed. However, the symbols printed do not match the button pressed ! The daisywheel may be out of line. Otherwise, good cosmetic condition. Any questions, then please ask. 

EBay

I have again succumbed to purchasing something very retro, a typewriter. Yep it has a fault just as most things I buy have, that’s part of the fun of it all, can I fix it and save another item from landfill? Who knows but I’ll give it a try.

This Typewriter, the SQ3000 was also sold as the Elite S-7500, Hanseatic Europa II, Leader MD, Olympia Textstar MD, Opperman S-7100, Privilege Electronic 2600, Royal RT 7700, Silver Reed EX-133 MD, Smith Corona Wordsmith 200 and Welco EX 260 DS. It was manufactured sometime between 1990 -1995 and was a mass produced low cost typewriter of the time. Personally I think it was around 1995 as this was when regulations insisted that electronic items such as this required wired in power supplies, and this unit is a hard wired unit.

Samsung loosely translated/stands for “Three Stars”Apparently the three represents “Something big, numerous and powerful” and the “Stars” represent “Everlasting and eternal” so there you have it, that is today’s history lesson.

I loved using typewriters prior to the word processor/Pc rendering them useless. There is just something special about them, I can’t quite put my finger on it.

This item looks to be in fantastic cosmetic condition, and I have also checked that the consumables are available, they are so I might have struck lucky. From what I can see in the pictures a number of letters have worn off the keys, hopefully I can source replacements, or decals or I may even repaint them myself.

I have had to download the instruction manual for the Smith Corona Wordsmith 200 as it is the exact same unit under a different name, Samsung just don’t seem to have anything listed or historically available for download.

Looks nice
Seems clean and tidy
Seems to be a potential daisywheel problem

I think I’ve bagged a bargain (if I can get it working) I’ve paid a grand total including the postage of £13:14 GBP and that was after knocking the seller down a few pounds from the original price. He bit my hand off to be honest, so we’ll just have to wait and see what arrives. If all else fails I can certainly use it for spare parts in the future.

Anyway, this now gets added to the long list of other items I have, that need to be repaired. Please check back to view the “Assess and repair” post that will follow, explaining what arrived, its condition and what I will be doing to get it back in working order.

Thanks for passing by.

It’s unconditional

Can you share a positive example of where you’ve felt loved?

It was the 14th February 2018. Happy Valentine’s Day. I was told I had a cancerous tumour.

I was numb. We went out the following day for a lovely walk and all we did was discuss the elephant in the room throughout that whole trip. Even looking at the photos of that day I can see the false smile on my face as well as the concern on my wife’s.

False smile, worry in her eyes, not a good day

I went into serious withdrawal from life, as I knew it. I suffered severe depression. I didn’t share my feelings with the one person who knew me best. I kept it all to myself and it was all too much, I broke down. It was my problem, I’ll deal with it. But I couldn’t. I needed help.

That one person, sat beside me, she cried with me and she comforted me. She cuddled me. She stayed with me and she didn’t let me go.

It was at that point I experienced absolute unconditional love. There was a warmth that went through me, it’s as if she had taken all my worries and concerns and put them away for me, I’ve always said she’s an angel and she has this amazing ability to take away my problems and make my whole life better.

And I didn’t even share my feelings with her. That’s so wrong. I felt so guilty.

Guess what, I share absolutely everything with her now, nothing is held back, the silly issues, the concerns and worries. And you know what, her arms encase me again, that love flows through me as it always does and has done. I feel nothing but love, and it is my life’s task to ensure she feels just the same.

We beat the big C, or should I say it’s at the back of our minds and doesn’t overwhelm us anymore. When we talk about it we use the name “Fred”. The “C” word is no longer used in our home. It’s banished. It’s a horrible word, and my lovely lady did this to make our life less stressful.

My Angel. My Wife. My life.

Peace.

It’s already done

Where can you reduce clutter in your life?

Well, the meaning as explained by those good folk at the Oxford English dictionary states:

Dictionary

Definitions from Oxford Languages · 

verb

  1. remove unnecessary items from (an untied  or overcrowded place).”there’s no better time to declutter your home”

And that’s about it in a nutshell. Now in life you have a number of factors to consider when you consider decluttering.

Poisonous individuals: what do they bring to your life? Probably nothing to make your life any easier or more comfortable, you don’t need these individuals around you, so get them out of your life as soon as you can.

Overpowering entities: These are the ones who control, draining the energy from you and making you feel worthless. Get some control back in your life and bin these people without a second thought for them. They care not about you, why care about them. They are in it for themselves. Get rid.

Hangers on: Probably contribute absolutely nothing to your well being and hold you back. The leeches of society draining you of every bit of surplus energy you have. They need to get control of their own lives, give them a helping hand and move them on.

These are three of the aspects of human behaviour that I believe I have successfully moved from my life. And to be honest, for me, getting rid of social media activities probably rid me of two of these issues pretty much instantly. However each to their own as they say and you do what you have to do. You just don’t need these three aspects of human behaviour in your life. The thing is are you ready to make those changes?

If you are searching for a more happy and peaceful existence, then you have to.

Stay kind, be peaceful.

Rinse and repeat..

What is your favorite animal?

Just like a record on repeat or just like a commercial radio station, or even like a moon orbiting a planet WP starts repeating its daily prompts, you could almost set a clock to it as it has such amazing regularity. This particular prompt was last listed on 23rd November 2024, not that long ago.

So unlike WP I will save the bother of re writing my answer, and just post links to the relevant blogs below. If you are busy and don’t have the time the simple answer is: Dogs are my domesticated favourite whilst Hedgehogs are my wild favourite. There, I’ve saved you some time and gotten myself some brownie points with you.

For anyone interested in hanging around here are some links to previous blog posts including that one for the same question in November last year.

The humble Hedgehog

My World

Is there a cure for a broken heart 💔

These are just three of many posts on the subject. The last one really sums up how I feel after the loss of a wonderful family member. The struggle goes on.

Peace