Category: Random musings

Rockets & Sinking boats

What major historical events do you remember?

There are a few historical events that have featured throughout my life so far, there are some such as the Apollo 11 landing, I guess I must have watched it if we had a tv then, however I’d have only been a few years old so I don’t quite remember it.

I remember the first shuttle launch in April 1981, I was at work and bunked off for about 30 mins with half the workers there to watch it on the company TV.

I’ve witnessed many high profile weddings and funerals, prison releases and successful / non successful legal cases. The one thing that really sticks out is the 9/11 attack in September 2001. We had only been there 9 months earlier and we had even seen the remnants of the last attempt when someone had attempted to detonate a car or lorry bomb at the foot of one of the buildings.

Of course for all of these memorable and historical occasions you did one thing, you collected the headline news papers of the day and I still have a number of these stored away in my home. I used to even have a copy of a paper that was issued the day the Titanic was sunk, this was my fathers and I used to take it to school for show and tell, this however disappeared when he passed away. I suspect it was foolishly recycled or disposed of.

Buying the newspaper today just doesn’t really occur as the news in its majority is now online. We’ve kind of lost a traditional way to pass on these nuggets of history as we used to do in the past.

Peace to all. Have a great day.

I was on the Chase

What’s something most people don’t know about you?

On the 29th July 2015, i was a contestant on the ITV quiz show the Chase. Below are the highlights of that episode.

Yep and we won 👍

My fellow contestant Hayley and I both won £3500 when we beat the “Dark Destroyer” Shaun Wallace.

Me with Shaun Wallace – The Chase

A lovely guy, nothing like his TV persona.

A good day was had by all.

Stay happy.

Yes and no

Do lazy days make you feel rested or unproductive?

I have had to change my way of thinking regarding this prompt from WP. I have always been one of those that even on a day off feels like I have been wasteful if I have not done something productive.

However the other side of me has started to realise that I am not going to live forever, I am slowing down and already experiencing issues that are compounding my mobility, so due to these factors I have now decided that these precious and rare days should be used for what they were designated for. To rest.

There is no doubt that your body knows you the best, if it’s telling you to rest, you need to do just that. Though it is admirable to keep on being productive you have to realise that no one really cares what you are doing and you are not going to be remembered for just “Papering or painting” that one more wall.

Rest, do as your body tells you. If it gains you just another day on the planet, it’s a bonus.

Have a peaceful day.

You and I

When you think of the word “successful,” who’s the first person that comes to mind and why?

Well there are a number of people you could list all the way from the “Z” listers right the way up to the successful business person or uber intellectual.

But this is one where we should take all the credit, yes, you and i.

Look how far we have come, look at what we have witnessed and dealt with, the good bad and indifferent and we are still here. We maybe a little battle scarred and fragile but why give all the credit to celebrities and sudo heroes?

Pat yourself on the back, or get someone to do it for you, and whilst you’re at it pat them on the back and say, “Well done you bloody super successful person”.

Stay great you 👉

Mind your own..

What makes a good neighbor?

I’m quite lucky that I have good neighbours, all different faiths, from many places in this big old world, some I know very little about, others I socialise with and know very well, but we all seem to abide by the following points

  • We mind our own business
  • We don’t gossip
  • We don’t enforce belief’s or opinion on each other
  • We respect our neighbours
  • We look out for each other

And after many years this is one reason that I don’t really want to move away, none of the above are planned points, they just all fell into place, a mutual unwritten agreement and I love it.

But then again, we are very lucky.

Have a wonderful day.

Skiing

What could you try for the first time?

I could try it but I have absolutely no intention of doing so. I’ve never wanted to, as breaking legs for fun doesn’t feature high on my want to do list.

The whole scene around skiing puts me off. I’ve seen relations preparing for trips and the equipment required, the passes and the transport, you name it, it just seems excessive for going down a snowy hill on a pair of sticks.

The snobbery and elitism around it also, does not appeal to me, as a sport accessible to everyone, it certainly is not.

So. As the prompt states, it certainly is something I could try for the first time, but for me it’s a big no.

Apologies if you are a regular skier, it’s just not for me.

Have a great day.

Being persistent

What principles define how you live?

I’m going to list a number of principles that I do abide by, and that I also strive to achieve, however not always successfully.

  • Integrity
  • Live in the moment
  • Selflessness
  • Create your own path
  • Hold yourself to the highest conduct
  • Practice gratitude
  • Avoid negativity at all cost
  • Be generous
  • Give more than you take
  • Time is more valuable than money

As you can see, and if you know me, you will realise that there are some principles here that i exceed in, whilst others i really struggle with, but I’m nothing if not a trier, and persistence is something else that I have buckets of in reserve.

So have a peaceful Sunday, stay safe.

Mañana

What have you been putting off doing? Why?

I’m one of those people who pretty much procrastinates at everything, I love the old Spanish saying of “Mañana” but then tomorrow arrives and now you have a whole stack of stuff to do.

So the thing I have been putting off doing is procrastination, but I’ve even been putting that off until tomorrow. Not good.

So I need to stop doing that now!

However as I’m busy today I’ll maybe look into that tomorrow.

See… I can’t win can I 😂

Here’s until tomorrow, take care.

One frightened lady and a lot of Hedgehogs

If you had a million dollars to give away, who would you give it to?

At this very moment it would be going to help a very frightened lady in my family, my niece bless her. She’s had problems all her life and has pretty much won every fight despite the odds being against her. She’s now fighting the toughest fight of her life as the Big C has entered the ring, she doesn’t fully understand, and he doesn’t fight fair. I think a million would go quite a way to get her the best treatment possible.

But I haven’t won it, I can’t pay for that treatment so unfortunately the fight goes on. But we’re fighters and we will be beside her all of the way.

Hedgehogs. 🦔

There are so many little hedgehog sanctuaries around the Uk constantly fighting a battle to save and protect this wonderful little creature of the night. They won’t hurt anyone, they do wonders to your garden, however we as a population are killing them just by going about our daily lives, butchering their environment for crappy estates and making their existence intolerable. Now I have regular hog visitors to my garden as it has been built around them. They have easy access to water and food and a section of the garden that I have classed as the wild part where I know they live. I see them in the garden as youngsters in the early part of the year and only last night I saw one of them in the garden and he is now a lovely fully grown male, quite a lump. Earlier this year I had three at the food bowl at the same time, a first for me, probably all from the same family, I believe I posted the video here: And then we had three..

I love to see them grow and I am so proud of myself that I’ve developed an environment that they feel safe in. And that’s the problem. I’m not in the country, I’m in a city with two horrendously busy roads and occasionally I see them as victims. However I’m really surprised that the majority thrive, and seeing now that the suspected hedgehog population is now less than 2 million across the UK (it was 5 times that only a few years ago!) we need to protect them.

Humankind in its worst form wipes other species out without a thought. If a million dollars, pounds or whatever currency you use could help stop this rot then there would be no second thought, I’d do it.

But again I dont have it so I’ll just keep doing my little bit to help these beautiful little beasts.

And a lot of praying 🙏

To be the best version

What was the hardest personal goal you’ve set for yourself?

That’s easy. It’s to be the best version of me I can possibly be. It’s what everyone I know and love deserves at the very least.

And I continually fail.

I’m not very good at being the best version of me.

I won’t give up though, you’ll just have to put up with the current version until the updated version comes along.

Sorry about the delay, it’s just so damn difficult at times, and when you think you are getting there something knocks you back.

That’s life, it’s a series of walls put in front of you that you have to climb. It’s just the walls are now getting more difficult to scale.

Peace to your lovely faces.