Tag: Thoughts

Three favourite songs of all time….maybe. (Subject to change)

What’s your top three tunes of all time…subject to change?

Life is a strange old beast when you look at it. From a very young age you are compiling lists, and that never stops. From an early age it’s for fun and easy to do as you don’t have a great deal to add to those lists, however as you age, the knowledge improves and what was originally on your lists gets bumped in or out depending on taste and preference changes, commiserate with your growth and ageing process.

Now when you get a lot older, and here is where I can relate quite well, you get into similar age groups where the talk sometimes goes around what music you want at your funeral. And yes I speak for my wife and closest members of our family circle in that we all know what we want played at our last big hurrah. These decisions have usually been made after a night of listening to good music and imbibing some questionable beverages.

Hence subject to change in the title.

This got me thinking. What are my three favourite songs of all time and why? It wasn’t a difficult decision to make as they’ve sat in my head for a while now, two of them especially from when I was a very young buck back in the 70s. Now anyone who knows me knows that my musical likes cover anything from Heavy rock through to classical. My favourite group of all time are R.E.M, I just love them, but none of their tunes feature at all in my top three. Believe me though they do have some fantastic tunes in their repertoire.

It seems I was heavily influenced from the seventies, my childhood years, difficult years, quite abusive years but these these tunes helped get me through that pain and anguish, and that’s why they still have a positive impact on me all these years later.

My first is this one by the Doobie Brothers.

Doobie Brothers – Listen to the music

Now if this song doesn’t get you tapping your feet you’ve probably already got no pulse. It’s raw 70s happy music, it’s one of those songs I play when feeling low and I can honestly say it’s probably as close to a musical drug as you can get as it improves my mood no end. I just love it, I love the movement, the double drums, the three guitarists and the inclusion of a bit of banjo indicating its roots in a country rhythm as it goes mainstream. It’s food for a bad mood and should be prescribed by doctors to listen to in my opinion. But hey, it’s my opinion and you probably would feel totally different. But do me a favour first, just check your pulse hey!

Secondly is the Bellamy Brothers.

Bellamy Brothers – Let your love flow

Another 70s crossover song that just like the Doobie Brothers above is just such a happy song. I was about 12 years old when this came out, and it’s stayed with me since. Another one that just oozes good vibes and happiness. Basically two Cowboy brothers that hit the big time with a song that crossed over into the mainstream. In the 70s life was tough with strikes, power cuts and 3 day weeks and songs like this really did lift the mood, I even remember my old man tapping his feet to this tune and he was a curmudgeonly old sod at the best of times.

The third is from the Eagles

The Eagles- Take it to the limit

Randy Meisner just sings this song so beautifully. Again a 70s masterpiece of pure musicianship with super talented masters of musical togetherness, pure musical class. Such a mellow song, superb singing and a great tempo, what’s not to like about it. Peaceful, easy and just beautiful.

As I stated earlier, subject to change. Who knows if I gain more senior years I may well accumulate another tune to displace the third choice, but I know only too well that the first two choices just ain’t gonna budge.

It seems that my choices have been influenced by those informative pre teenage years of my childhood, and fifty years later they are still top of my list. Amazing isn’t it? When you consider all the fine music that has been created within that time period, that these two songs hold their heads above the parapet for me.

What does it for you, and what are your reasonings?

Have a peaceful day.

Home

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.

Mums voice

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.

Stay safe.

Been there. Done it.

Been there done it, don’t want to do it anymore.

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.

You just can’t win.

Have a good day.

It’s all about me

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.

Have a great day.

Out of office

The out of office is on. Holiday mode activated

That’s it, we’ve left the county for a while. Time for some well earned R&R

Over Aurach in the Austrian Alps – Tyrol
Over Sipovo, Bosnia – you can’t see me but I can assure you I’m in the window just above the “i” on the logo
In Cyprus, tea for the ladies and a local beverage for me.

Happy holidays 👍

I’ll never be rich

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.

Like,Like,Like etc,etc

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!

Have a wonderful day. Take care.

Seven days in seven pictures. Week two

Week two of Seven days, seven pictures

Welcome to week two of me documenting my week with one picture every day taken on an old camera that i have previously repaired.

So for week two, we are going to use a Canon Powershot S5 IS Digital Bridge Camera that I repaired back in July 2025 – Canon Powershot S5 IS

Canon Powershot S5 IS

Sunday: it’s the 23rd August. It’s been a nice warm day, we’ve had numerous members of the family visit. It’s been a lovely day. It’s one of those days where I’ve taken a handful of good photos, but for the purpose of this post I have to be brutal and pic just one. So here it is, meet Barney, my nieces dog, we brought him a new toy today that was demolished within about twenty minutes. If it has a squeaker in it, it’s his dog bound duty to remove it, and the balls of stuffing surrounding him shows that this mission has been a success. He never eats the squeaker though, he always leaves that to one side. Mad, but a lovely dog.

Monday: it’s the 24th August. A bit of shopping today. But before we can go out and do any, we have to wait for the Amazon lady to arrive with more shopping. Did I mention my wife loves shopping?

Tuesday: it’s the 25th August. Working today, and whilst I was carrying out some checks in the Oakham area I couldn’t help but notice the amounts of elderberries on the bushes. I remember as a child collecting lots of these, so my father could make his elderberry wine.

Wednesday: it’s the 26th August. Another working day, and today i was carrying out barrier checks on a number of crossings in our area. This one was at Brooksby crossing just outside of Melton Mowbray.

Thursday: It’s the 27th August. The yard at work, and since I’ve never been to Blackpool tower I may as well show this lovely old, still working traction unit class 37 (37407) named “Blackpool Tower”

Friday: it’s the 28th August. No work today “Hooray” it’s one of those days of just catching up with things. I’ve had to fix an extractor fan in one bathroom and adjust the timings on two other fans, I’ve also put a new raised flower bed under the front window in preparation for the spring bulbs that will be planted in the next few weeks, just letting the soil settle for a while prior to the planting.

Saturday: it’s the 29th August. New shoes. Well for attending football at least, hence they have the club badge embossed on the rear. Heading south today to meet up with family so these will get their first outing today. The weathers still very wet, however wet is wonderful as far as I’m concerned.

You know the one

And they lived happily ever after…..or did they?

Which fictional world would be the most fun to vacation in?

It’s taken me a few days to ponder this one, then whilst sitting looking out the window on a wet and miserable, East Midlands day, it suddenly came to me, a quick roll back to my childhood where every book finished with the line:

And they lived happily ever after

That’s the place I’d like to have a vacation in…in fact, sod it, that’s the place I’d love to live full stop. 🛑

Wherever you can experience happily ever after, is the place for me. Who knows I could right now actually be living in that very place. I must admit life is relatively comfortable for me, but considering news reports of late that in themselves are very upsetting, it’s probably not where I am as this news input obviously makes me very unhappy.

Perhaps the happily ever after part is the suffix to your life? When we have no mortal ties, no worries, no control, no commitments it’s maybe the time we reach that happily ever after place?

Maybe the kids books should have ended, “They all struggled through life suffering aches and pains, minor disagreements and argumentative periods, before succumbing to a number of minor ailments before pegging it”.

Doesn’t have quite the same ring to it as happily ever after, but hey, I did say I was looking out the window on a grey and miserable day didn’t I?

Have a peaceful day.