I’m one of those who’d sooner walk than jump in the car. Yesterday for instance a 3 mile drive would have taken a few minutes and I could have sat at home with my feet up.
No. I walked.
Two years on the trot myself and my dog Alf took on the “Walk 1000 miles” challenge and we smashed it. Unfortunately he is no longer with us and my mileage has dropped considerably as I no longer have that purpose. I need to break that attitude and get back to it as I love walking.
It’s so natural we all do it everyday. I just need to do more of it.
Much that I admire those adventurers who throughout my life have risked all, for the sake of these journeys, I wouldn’t pay a penny for the chance of going there.
Nope, I’m an old fashioned kind of fellah who is quite content keeping his feet on the ground. If at sometime this old world decides to go “Pop” then I’ll also be going down with it.
My sense of adventure doesn’t quite reach to the moon.
What alternative career paths have you considered or are interested in?
From an early age I always wanted to be a chef. Don’t know why, I wasn’t influenced by anyone in particular and my mum, bless her wasn’t a gifted cook but she always kept us well fed. Maybe that was why then!
Anyway that never occurred, as when you get older your choices increase and your preferences change. I was always good with my hands and as an exceptional student in Art, Technical drawing and metalwork I was being edged towards a career in engineering. I took all my entrance exams and interviews to work at Rolls Royce aero engines at Leavesden, however my school were two days late in submitting my course work so that option became a non starter.
I ventured into photographic production, maintenance and lab work and remained there for about ten years ending up as a freelancer.
Then I ventured onto the railway where thirty two years later I’m still employed.
So it’s Been a greatly varied career, however the next move I make is intended to be my best career move yet….
Don’t come here looking for any arty farty top league cuisine, for me the best meal out there is also the simplest – Beans on toast.
My wife often comments that I’m a dream to cook for as I pretty much eat whatever is put in front of me. Gone are the days when a meal is considered to be a full blown meat and two veg, as it was for previous generations, for me especially, just keep it simple.
Want to jazz it up? Just add some grated cheese and you have beans on toast avec fromage 😂
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.
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.
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”.
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.
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.
Foxes Den 
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