I’m hanging up my flying goggles. Feet firmly on the ground from now on. Time to explore the world on my doorstep.
If you had a free round-trip ticket to anywhere, where would you go?
To be quite honest I’m at that point in my life where I am quite satisfied. I live in a country that itself has some of the most beautiful scenery you will see anywhere, not a million miles from my doorstep, but I’ve hardly seen any of it. Why?
I think when you are younger, and some older people still have it, there is a wanderlust in you that makes you want to see everything, see it all as if you are going to be the last person to ever see or experience it. If that’s you, then great, keep it up enjoy it and don’t ever let anyone put you off doing it.
Me though, I’ve hit a point where there isn’t anywhere on the planet i truly dream of visiting. I’m not immensely well travelled, I have done a bit but compared to many I’m a true amateur in the travel business.
To be quite honest I’m now quite content in keeping my feet on the ground and discovering the world on my doorstep. I’m in a country with many undiscovered treasures for me personally, and from now on that’s the route I will be taking.
So a round trip for me would probably be in the form of a coach or train ticket giving me unlimited access to their networks. That would be nice and simple wouldn’t it? With no queuing and herding like sheep at airports….how utterly pleasant.
Have a lovely day, don’t let others bring you down. Stay safe.
A simple recording from 22 years ago, takes me to the breast of the only other woman I have loved. Mother.
What’s one thing you own that holds deep sentimental value?
My dear mum, bless her, passed away in December of 2004, she’d had a hard life living at the beck and call of an evil presence, that being the man known as my father.
One day around Christmas a year or two prior to her passing, they came around to mine and my wife’s property where we had dinner and a few drinks. I had at this point been brought a small dictaphone tape recorder, one of those little portable recorders that were all the rage around the late 90s early 2000s.
Sitting in my living room, and slightly influenced by her choice of tipple, mum started singing to a tune on the radio, that song was “Smoke gets in your eyes” by the group – The Platters. The record button was pushed on that little dictaphone, and there is the one thing that I own that holds the most sentimental value to me.
If ever I am low, feeling out of sorts, in need of some nostalgic revival, in go a couple of new batteries and my mums beautiful, comforting “Slightly tipsy” vocal range comes floating back to me. She was happy, relaxed, and very much loved, and in that one fleeting moment I can hear my mum, with not a care in the world, and that was a very rare occurrence due to the imposing, controlling and angry man that always accompanied her.
I suppose one good sentiment always has to have a bad one to counteract it. Even in death that man is a controlling, cowardly individual.
I had an incident last week where a car was hit by a train. There is good stress and toxic stress. Guess which one is the hardest to handle?
How do you manage stress?
There is good stress and toxic stress. This post will try to get across my point on how a recent incident created a different level of stress, it was good stress.
As I have stated in the past, my job is to keep people off of the train tracks and to keep trains on them. Quite a simplistic view, the official job title is a little grander but I’ll just keep it simple in this case. One day last week I was working nights, when early in the shift I get a radio call stating that there had been a train versus car incident at a road crossing in the region. Stress levels in this incident hit 100% in a micro second as you just don’t know what you are about to witness. I’m a good 20 minutes away and all of a sudden my phones, my radio and emails are now going into meltdown as I am now being supplied with a flood of information as well as the world and his wife trying to make contact with me. I’m not allowed to answer calls whilst driving, it’s against company policy, and if I was to answer a call my Job would be in jeopardy, even more stress has now taken a perch on my already burdened shoulder’s. A quick call, whilst in a lay-by with the engine off, I confirm my ETA to the emergency services and inform them I cannot answer further calls until I am on site, I confirm that an emergency block of all lines has been implemented and that they can access the area, cautiously.
What greeted me on site
Arriving on site, I’m met with a scene of numerous flashing emergency lights and emergency workers moving all over the place and as soon as I’m out of the door I have a queue of people waiting for a piece of me, I can’t see the car, the fire officer tells me it is a quarter of a mile down the line, I ask the welfare of the driver and am told she has gotten out ok and is sitting just to the side of me. A collective sigh of relief is given that no one has lost their life. This lady I’m sure, is very aware of just how lucky she has been this evening.
My first calls are to the signaller ensuring I have a full official block of all lines to ensure the rescue effort can begin, when this is in place, the work can really begin in earnest.
Now I go back to the subject of this post, how do you handle stress? Stress takes many forms, there is that stress that we just let build up inside of us, sometimes overwhelming you to such an extent that you do not want to even leave the house, this is toxic stress, it’s probably the hardest to understand just because we don’t know how it has built to this extent in the first place. The other stress is the immediate stress that comes when an incident is put upon you that requires your total attention. Now I have been trained throughout my career to deal with this sort of incident and I like to think I can handle it considerably well, just reading the feedback from last weeks incident that I have received confirms that for me.
However the first example of stress, the toxic one, that I have highlighted above, I have had no training with and I suffer with that immensely, as do many other people in this big old world. How do I handle that? To be honest I don’t handle it very well, I struggle to be honest, it gets to me, it incapacitates me at times and it’s where my hobbies can sometimes help, but not always.
I have always believed in the old adage of work to live, not live to work and have always tried to separate my work life from my home life. I have been very successful with that however, I sometimes have to resort to the way I handle inherited stress as above, into the way I handle the overwhelming every day toxic stresses of life. Therefore there is some bleed of my work life coming into my private life, I’m aware of it, and it’s probably just me resorting to a way of handling stress that I’m more familiar with and that I know truly works.
I’m in my 60’s now, I think I handle the poisonous stress better than I did, but it is still there and it is always a bane to me. I’ve tried many ways and techniques of eradicating it, but though some methods show short time gains, they only last a short time and the old black dog creeps back into my life again and the age old need to chase it away starts all over again. I am very fortunate that I have a loving wife and family who know when I am in a bad place, they are sometimes all I need to chase the stress demons away, and for that I am very lucky. I know not everyone has that support and I am so appreciative of it.
Back to the incident.
Allegedly the lady was listening to her Sat Nav that told her to take a sharp right that unfortunately took her straight onto the train lines. No sooner had she realised her mistake and put that car into reverse she had noticed that the barriers had lowered and that a train was approaching her at speed. She was able to exit the car to safety just as an empty stone freight train weighing in at 500 tons hit her car and took it a quarter of a mile down the track in emergency braking mode.
The train, with just a few scrapesThe car was not as fortunate
The outcome was good. No one was injured apart from some serious shock I’d guess, and we were able to get the lines back open for services in the early hours of the following morning. It took a big team of personnel, a lot of stress to get completed but it was what I call good stress.
If only toxic stress was as easy to eradicate.
I wish you all well, stay safe. And don’t follow Sat Nav instructions religiously.
What’s a country that’s at the top of your bucket list?
There isn’t now.
As I saunter everyday, further into an old age I realise that I am now quite content with what I have seen in my life. I have visited every country I have ever wanted to visit, and even a few that I wish I’d never even bothered to visit, however they will remain in my mind as a silent reminder that not all travel decisions are particularly good ones.
It feels very unsafe travelling now, well it does to me. I’m not a particularly good traveller and I like a journey to be swift, peaceful and hassle free. However fellow travellers sometimes go out of their way to ensure that this is not always the case.
Everywhere seems to be taken over by the insta-maniacs, those individuals or couples posing and pouting and pretending to be what they will never really aspire to be, it’s annoying and they have no real intention to fit in and enjoy a foreign culture and its ways. It’s all for false likes and a need to be loved and adored.
That’s not the true meaning for visitation of a foreign country. In my view anyway.
A country I have recently visited is now being invested in by two of the most “feared or disliked” countries on the planet – allegedly. The locals feel uncomfortable with this, and personally you can feel the tension building, and that is sad as they are a peaceful, caring and generally happy people.
And this takes me back to saying I now feel unsafe to travel, friendly countries unfortunately become soft targets, and that is what scares me. Good people get taken advantage of and that is not fair or ethical.
No, my bucket list has been achieved, and apart from maybe, going abroad on my yearly vacation, I will be keeping my feet firmly on the ground in the UK.
And even that has become an unsafe environment to be in.
I write for me. For my family. It’s a journal. But feel free to dive in…
How do you write what people actually want to read?
I don’t really worry about what others want to read. I write what I want, if others choose to read what I write then it’s a bonus, but an altogether rare event.
I’ve always written as a journal for my self, that has always been the case. Those who have knowledge of why I write, will realise that every thing here is an extension of the journal I used to write whilst going through hard times. I opened up my journal to my family and this is the platform I chose for them to be able to check in on me. So whilst being respectful and appreciative to those who do pop in and read my ramblings, it was never meant to be that way and as stated was just a way for my family to keep tabs on my wellbeing, and in that respect it has worked very well.
And with my repairs, it is an ongoing work of reference for me as well.
So those pesky “bulk” likers who like about 20 different posts in 30 seconds, just for the hell of it would never know just what this whole set up is about, and to be honest they can just go and take a running jump as they would never really understand.
But like i stated at the beginning, I write for me, my family and that is about it. Anyone else who tags along is most welcome, and appreciated. But at the end of the day this is about me, and I’m pretty basic and boring at the best of times. You are looking into a wellbeing journal, expect some harsh truths, opinions and ramblings. That’s about the cruxt of it all.
It doesn’t have to be complicated. it serves a purpose. It is not a fanzine.
Rest. Recharge batteries and don’t surround yourself with other people’s dramas.
Well, for two weeks at least, and then back to a normal service 😂
And my wife is in full silly mode at the moment. Asks for a taste of my iced tea only to comment, “ugghh that’s horrible, it tastes like cold tea” a real hand palm moment 🤦♂️
We will never be rich financially. But we are wealthy beyond belief in other ways.
How does your mindset affect your financial success?
Says it all
Me and the wife will never be financially “rich”. We both enjoy spending what we have worked bloody hard for over the last 40 years or so, and we kind of enjoy the fruits of our labour.
If we get money we spend it, we love treating others. I just wish others could see the joy that gives to us.
Whilst the wider family berate us for giving items away to charities, when we could have made some money through one dodgy selling platform or another, they don’t quite understand the pleasure we get in helping some other less fortunate soul out.
I think the difference is that we’ve been there. So down on our luck that we didn’t know where the next meal was coming from. We were so good at disguising our situation that no one really knew just how bad things were.
But, about 30 years ago we turned a corner. Luck came in the guise of a job that I worked my butt off to get, and from that time on we have never looked back.
We are not well off, don’t misunderstand me. However we are comfortable, we have experienced extreme lows and come through it all. That’s why I’m happy to give stuff away, if it helps someone up a challenging step in their life, then that is fine by me.
As I said at the beginning, we may never be rich financially, but for the wife and i, we are rich beyond belief in love, appreciation, and experience. And if we can pass it on, and give someone else that step up then so be it. The jobs a good un.
Do you actually read posts or are you a serial liker?
Are you holding a grudge? About?
It’s a wet autumn early morning in the East Midlands and once again insomnia has gotten the better of me, as once again I’ve failed in my attempt to get a good night sleep after a long run of night shifts.
Whilst i was sitting there wondering what i could do without disturbing the wife from her slumber, an idea came to me regarding a post i could write. So up i rise, and off to my room i go and the drivel you are about to endure is a result of that decision. My standards are quite low, my grammar is even worse. Please don’t hold that against me.
iPad on
I turn on the iPad, and the WP daily prompt arises from the internals of the machine. How apt? “Are you holding a grudge?” Now, this wasn’t planned but I couldn’t have asked for a better prompt. Apparently it must have struck a nerve with me in the past as i have already answered it once before.
Anyone who knows me will be quite aware that i write my posts for two main reasons. One is as a wellness journal, it helps keep my overactive brain in check, it allows me to get my thoughts and activities in print, and gives me that release i sometimes require, it allows my family to check in on my piece of mind and to allow them to see what i am getting up to. Secondly, it allows me to have a permanent record of the cameras and items i have repaired. This second reason has proved to be a fantastic resource, as when on the rare occasion that i pass an item on, or sell one online i have a full record of the history of the item that i can pass onto the individual who is purchasing, giving them a full history of the item and its repair history. This has proved to be an excellent and beneficial selling point as such.
The posts are not put together in days, despite how poor my writing style can be, the whole production of that post can take many months. A post that i suspect may in fact be published later today has been in production since late December 2025, getting on for nine months now. Now that doesn’t mean that because it has taken almost 9 months that you will be presented with a 1000 page book, you wont, thats just not me. What you will get is a concise record of what i have had to do over that time to get this item back into a working condition. I currently have 22 posts in a draft format and one of those is still in draft after originally being started in May 2025, that one alone has been worked on now for 16 months, a whole year and four months and it is still a work in progress.
My way of working is that as soon as i get stuck or delayed on one subject, i move on to the next until i either obtain the parts i require (this can take months if the item is unique) or until i have a brainwave on how to complete an activity. Add to that i have a home, a wife and a job that all quite deservedly require my attention, you can now see just what the delays are in getting some of these projects to a final “Print” condition.
I can hear you all now saying, “Just get to the point lad.”
Well, my grudge point is this “like” system that WP insists on using across this platform. The way i work is that when i like a post i will genuinely like it, and if it is worthy i will also post a comment. I follow many bloggers on this platform, all of them exceptional authors with exceptionally good writing ability that i am always in awe of.
Just the other evening my phone pinged constantly for around thirty seconds as an individual touched upon my site and liked almost 20 of my past posts. This is my grudge point. Collectively those 20 posts took up probably the best part of a year of my life one way or another, and this individual read all those posts in less than 30 seconds. Obviously he didn’t.
Now, please don’t get me wrong here, i do not blog for likes, that has never been the point of all this. However i do always appreciate peoples kind words and comments, good, bad and indifferent and especially the constructive ones. It just annoys me that someone feels they can boost their activity via WP at the expense of individuals that spend an awful lot of time getting the content prepared in the first place.
I follow a lot of blogs where English is not the authors first language, i even copy some onto a worksheet and get the content translated so that i can see what has been written, its always nice to reply to these authors, and there has been many a complimentary comment comeback, often showing surprise of the lengths i have gone through to read their posts.
I think WP should have a minimum time put on the “Like” system of around a minute, hence preventing multiple likes of posts. In the case above, the individual would have had to hang around for about 20 minutes to complete that task, and i am quite sure that would have never occurred. So, how about a minimum dwell time of at least a minute, this would at least be sufficient time to get an idea of what the post is about, and this would be an awful lot more respectful for the contributing author. What do you think about that?
I respectfully went back and read the posts of the chap that did the speed liking episode, he’s selling stuff, questionable stuff along with questionable advice, so i guess he has succeeded in what he was trying to achieve, attracting attention to his own page, i fell right into that trap didn’t i?
Sorry that this has dragged on a bit, i really do appreciate you passing by and taking a short time out of your days to spend some time with me. It’s like a virtual cup of tea really, and as i have been sitting here for close on an hour now without a real cuppa, i now realise its time to make one to take up to the wife who should be stirring about now. And i might just have one myself!
A fellow blogger has taken the words from my mouth. So why should I waste my time writing, when she speaks so eloquently.
If you could erase one event from history, what would it be?
I’m firmly with a fellow blogger: Audhdapparently on what she has posted earlier today regarding this subject. There is no point in me posting my feelings when they mirror exactly what she has quite eloquently posted on her own site, so here is a link to that very post:
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