List 10 things you know to be absolutely certain.
You choose your direction in life. Make it good.
Peace to all.
Are you seeking security or adventure?
I have security in particular aspects. My job and my relationship being the main ones.
Adventure, nah I’ve done all of that, I’ve got numerous tee shirts to prove it.
For me it’s now comfort. I have it in my relationship but not my job. I have itchy feet in that aspect.
When I’m in a position to vacate this role I would have then found the comfort I seek.
It will come.
Patience young man….
Retirement beckons
What are you most excited about for the future?
Yeah I’ve mentioned it before, I’m fed up with work and want to retire and all things going well in just over two years that will become reality.
In other news it’s been a busy period recently with the Hedgehogs returning to our garden. So for the first time this season I put the Hedgehog cam out again and it didn’t disappoint. Have a look at this video here:
Even our feral cat who guards the garden sussed the camera out, she knows every inch of her domain. The hogs don’t bother her and they just all go about their business. It really is a lovely sight.
The fact they continue to visit our garden after we’ve developed it as a sanctuary for them always excites me. They are a rare and endangered species that needs our help and support.
Here’s to the hogs.
Have a peaceful day.
What’s your favorite thing about yourself?
I’ve got a few things I don’t like but that’s not what the question asks.
The over riding thing I do like about myself is that I’m not totally reliant on others. I quite like my own company and can quite happily just get on with things without having to have a large contingent of hangers on, or fake friends.
I know who I like and what I like and I’m happy with that.
Keep it simple.
How do you want to retire?
Now this is a prompt I like. I’m in My late 50s and I’m looking into this seriously. My boss knows i plan to retire 2 years from my next birthday and the planning has already started to be looked into.
I want to retire comfortable, not looking at massive amounts but something that will keep us as we are currently. The mortgage is already paid so we are fortunate there, and outstanding debts will all be realised within the next 18 months so in theory by the time I do retire we will owe no one anything, so the need for a higher Income will not be necessary.
I am paying extra into my pension and we obviously have a small amount put aside for incidentals, to be honest the future looks ok. Touch wood (That’s my superstitious side shining through
I may take a little no responsibility, part time job to keep my hand in, but to be honest we want to travel, and just take it easy. Oh and my hobbies and garden can then get the attention they all deserve.
That’s of course as long as fate doesn’t throw a spanner in the works.
Peace all
What notable things happened today?
It’s just after 5 in the morning and the only notable thing that has occurred so far today is that I have woken up.
And to be honest for everyone that’s no mean feat. The fact we have awoken from our slumber is something to be grateful for. You have another day on this planet, another go at trying to have a good day, another day to mend relationships and to forgive those little misdemeanours and mistakes.
Another chance to be a better person.
I’ve had my first cup of tea of the day and my next big decision is whether to make another.
Start the day with a blank canvas, and go paint a masterpiece.
Hopefully you’ll get another go at it tomorrow. You just never know.
Just do it. And enjoy it.
Happy days all.
Who do you spend the most time with?
I spend most of the time with my work colleagues to be honest. Well. Truthfully it’s probably even Steven’s between them and my wife and dog, though it does sometimes feel that I’m more at work than home.
As I can’t show any work pictures on here, please enjoy this delectable little YouTube short of my dog wishing you a happy day.
Enjoy.
Those things that put a smile on your face
I’ve deviated from the usual WordPress daily prompt, as today just like many other days they seem very much the same.
Today I have decided to write about things that put a smile on your face, and today at just before 6am this morning I had an incident that made me smile. For the reader you will probably be thinking what the heck is he getting all excited about, however for me it means a lot more, there is a story behind it all so let me bring you up to speed.
I have owned dogs pretty much all my life, in our 33 years of marriage we have had 3 dogs all of the same breed a Bichon Frise.
Our latest incarnation, the little fellah that has been with us for 11 years so far is Alfie, a right little sweetheart who I can honestly say has never growled at anyone in all the time we have had him, I don’t think he knows how to.
Anyway Alf has an autoimmune disease that means his skin is trying to kill him, it’s an affliction called Sebaceous Addenitis, He is on tablets that do the same as organ rejection tablets do for humans, quite nasty little packages that have to be handled with care. He also has tumours around his rear end that need daily dressing and cleansing. He’s not well bless him, but he still shows us a wagging tail, and that really pleases me.
Anyway Alf has deteriorated quite swiftly over the last couple of years, he’s gone from a dog that loved to walk miles to one that just goes out the door to do his business, we are lucky if a walk now stretches to ten minutes when we used to be out hours.
I do shift work and when I’m on a night shift I’m usually arriving home sometime just after 05:30 in the morning. I used to love to come home, I’d know Alf would be waiting at the door and we’d go out for a lovely early morning walk, i absolutely loved these walks as they formed part of my routine and it was precious good time out with my companion.
However as Alf’s illness has progressed he’s no longer waiting at the door when I come in, he tends to be so tired and to be honest he rarely gets out of bed before 10am as he seems to sleep for the biggest portion of the day. I really miss our little early morning walks. I miss my lively little lad.
In fact both my wife and I have noticed we are not getting the exercise we used to but that’s another story.
Imagine my surprise this morning when I roll up onto the drive to see Alf sitting in his favourite place on top of the settee looking out the window. My immediate thought was “What’s wrong?” but my wife then puts my mind at ease by saying she got up early to put some washing out and Alf got up with her. I said that was strange as it’s far too early for him but he seemed so bright for a moment, so I asked him if he wanted a walk, so he went straight to the front door I put his lead on him and we did something we haven’t done for best part of a year. We had that early morning walk.
We didn’t go far, we probably managed 10 minutes, but do you know what, I felt like I’d won the lottery, I actually thanked him for the walk gave him a cuddle and told him how much I’d enjoyed it. For that brief moment I was the happiest man alive, strange isn’t it. The sad part is that this will probably be the last time we do this, but for me, for a brief moment early this morning I felt like the happiest man on the planet. Its made my day and made me appreciate all that I have. It’s those little things that matter.
Sorry to go on about it, it’s probably going to mean nothing to you the reader, but for me this is everything, and I had to write about it.
Have a wonderful day in whatever you are doing, and just rejoice in those small nuggets of happiness we all too often ignore and let them pass us by.
How do you know when it’s time to unplug? What do you do to make it happen?
There are two ways at approaching this. Are we referring to unplugging from technology or unplugging from life when things start to get on top of you?
In technology apart from using WordPress as I am using currently for this blogging thing, I don’t use any other social platform apart from Twitter or “X” or whatever it is known as now to keep tabs on some groups I follow. I don’t partake in posting on it, it’s a vile, filth filled platform of hate that you only have to log into to witness. I don’t really need it to be honest and can delete it and feel no loss, and the world in my eyes becomes a better place. This is where social media falls down, the low life element of society now has a platform to spread its questionable ideology.
So technology in this aspect can just be deleted. In fact I’ve just this minute deleted Twitter so that’s a positive move, no antisocial media to worry about. Ignorance is sometimes bliss.
However the second aspect of when things start to get on top of you will differ from person to person. Personally for me as I have stated in the past, my job role bleeds over into my private life quite literally and I have now put measures in place to stop that. Previously I was available 24hrs, believe me you cannot do that and enjoy a healthy balance in life. You must stop and make immediate changes.
Work phone goes on when I start work and off at the end of the day. The business has been informed not to contact me via my private phone or email. All company WhatsApp groups have been deleted, I will find out what’s happened when I book on. All overtime shifts have been refused.
Result: my home life has improved, I’m a better person to be around and my priorities have been realigned. I’m resting better, my mood has improved and I’m starting to enjoy a life with my loved ones that I was in danger of jeopardising.
Work to live, don’t live to work.
Shine bright people.
Do you remember life before the internet?
Do I remember life before the Internet?
Oh yes I remember it very well. I came from a generation that was around just before computer technology started to appear. When I was at school I was probably in my fifth year as a senior at around the age of 16 and it was only just then, that computer technology was starting to appear on the school curriculum, as I was preparing to leave education.
When I left school and started my first job I remember my first months wages were spent purchasing a Sinclair ZX 81 microcomputer, wow this was amazing. I was a bit confused at first though because I opened the box and I plugged it in and I just expected it to work, it was a bit of a shock that you actually had to learn how to program the device before you got anything out of it, however I soon mastered the programming of the basic computer language and I was soon able to program some good little games. Next I moved onto the Commodore 20 a lovely little computer but all my friends were buying the better quality Commodore 64. From the Vic 20 I went down the route of trying the Amstrad Computers, i think it was called the 364 or 464 depending on whether you had Green screen or a colour VDU.
To be honest i still look today at buying an old Sinclair ZX 81 or spectrum, little collectors pieces now but I did enjoy it before the Internet kicked in.
I was just a standard youngster of the day who would go out with his friends and be playing football, cricket, marbles or conkers dependent on what season it was. We used to have great life climbing trees, making bows and arrows, catapults you name it. I feel sorry for the kids nowadays because they don’t have that freedom.
I went out for a meal with my wife a few weeks ago and there was a family of five, mum dad and three kids and I should imagine the kids were only About 12 years old ranging down to a youngster that was probably two years old sitting in a high chair. Every single one of them was on a computer device of some kind or a mobile phone or iPad and I just said to my wife at that point,”look at that, the art of conversation has totally disappeared”. There’s an entire family sitting there and not one of them was speaking to each other. They were all too engrossed in what was going on in other peoples worlds, rather than discussing their own families funny moments, concerns, or achievements.
Yes I do miss the time pre Internet. I think everyone was a better conversationalist back then, to say something to someone you had to walk around to their house, knock on the door, see if they were in and then tell them what you wanted to say face to face.
That dosen’t happen now, we have now produced a generation of people who just don’t do conflict unless they are hidden behind a screen and a keyboard, and that is where I believe most of the anger and hatred spouts from nowadays.
There’s no going back and I’m not saying we should, there was a lot of bad back in those days that is probably the reason children especially, don’t enjoy the freedoms today that we had back then.
So it’s horses for courses, we must move forward with the times, yes we probably had wonderful childhoods but we must not get stuck in the past and genuinely have to evolve, however much we dislike it.
I remember my parents fretting about the future back in the 70s, we are just clones of them and the never ending circle of life just trundles on.
Peace to you all.
Foxes Den 
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