Monthly Archives: January 2024

What’s the thing you’re most scared to do? What would it take to get you to do it?

At this moment of time,I’m most scared of getting on and riding my beloved Supermoto DRZ-400.

Circumstances have meant I haven’t ridden it regularly for almost three years. I’ve hopped on it occasionally to bump start my interest, and every time I fall in love with it and say I must go out for a ride regularly, and then I don’t.

Around here, we have lovely quiet country roads, and what I really enjoy bimbling around on my motorbike.The feeling of freedom,the scenery, and the fact that it’s a mode of transport that epitomises independence.

At the moment, that is the rub, I’m filled with the dread of what might go wrong. What if I get a puncture ? What if I run out of petrol (the tank has only 90 miles)?What if I can’t open the petrol filler cap?What if I leave the choke on and flood the engine.Where can I park it safely? What if the breaks don’t work?What if I miss a gear?Suppose I can’t find neutral?Suppose I press the wrong indicator?

Too much worrying about what ifs,indeed what I need to do is get out and ride along all these lovely roads and enjoy it.I’ll always get home.I’m in the AA. I will do it, and I will learn more about my bike and myself.

What do you complain about the most?

I whinge a lot about most things.At this moment,it’s unpredictable refuse bin collections and waste recycling.

To be honest, I’ve just had the carpet pulled from under my feet today ,as the big black bin and the waste food bin were collected as promised on time this morning.Infact I’ve even had time before I go to work to put them back in their slots in my garden.Result

I whinge about not having enough time,not enough money , that the dog wants to choose his own route on his walk.That a large washing up bottle only lasts a week .I mean, I could go on forever with my list.

…but complain I rarely do that,because I work in Customer Service in a lowly position where I deal directly with customers.I know a genuine complaint when I see one and there are investigative and reporting steps that can be taken to resolve the situation.

Few complaints are genuine,most are just whingeing, and a few are fraudulent. Still, if it’s a whinge,it’s best to listen as sometimes that is all people want.

When I do complain ,look out,because ,I am armed with all the arguments . As I have a strong belief that the customer is always right.It’s my job to make them feel their problem ,as they see it, is addressed.

So my current complaint is with our Members of Parliament who I do not believe are offering good value for money or indeed competence to the general public,they represent.

I will push for parliamentary reform.Close down the archaic House of Parliament(fit now only to be a Museum) and move Parliament to serviced offices in Milton Keynes.

That would rid us of the cronyism that is endemic in the House of Commons and House of Lords, and it would substantially reduce the expense of running parliament.

Complain for progress and to make things better.

What are your favorite sports to watch and play?

Easy question that,watching sport is not a rewarding pastime for me.

Doing something where I have to prepare,plan,be active,learn a new skill,interact with others, and develop a strategy.That’s me, and that is sport.Any sport.

I have envied the ladies playing netball on the local tennis courts.They are all ages, and it is very competitive but fun . I’m just not brave enough to go up and join in.

What would you do if you won the lottery?

The lottery as a tempting,entertaining purchase of a ticket either online or over the counter is not the only lottery.

There is, of course ,the lottery of life, and I am one of the many who have won at that.

For this ,I am grateful ,and in my everyday life, I do something useful with it, as there is so much that is needed.

The other lottery is a valid form of entertainment and can be used for great good or ill.

To win at both would be interesting, and hopefully, the gains would multiply and complement each other.

This is not a fait acompli,however, as a vast amount of money descending from what seems like the Heavens can distract and indeed corrupt.No one is safe from this. It would be a difficult path to tread,but not an impossible one.

For now, I will enjoy my freedom from that particular responsibility and will enjoy my own win and what I can do with it.

Namaste.

What books do you want to read?

Are there too many books out there? I don’t suppose anyone has ever counted how many books there are for every person on the planet. I will have to hypothesise with a simple number .A hundred.

Suppose there was a benevolent global law that said you had to read your chosen 100 books in your lifetime and sit down and discuss each book with a renowned teacher of your native language at a designated time.

For some, this would be a harsh law, compulsory reading,and debate. A waste of time,they would have better things to do, for most though it would be a lifeline into a World that in their day to day grind they had no chance to visit.

The affirmation that the World would care about their opinion on a book that they had read,that there would be a discussion,that there may be other alternatives they had not considered,that their thoughts and their words mattered.Surely that is why books exist.

So,the books I want to read are those that have not yet been written. For we need writers as much as books.

Good,bad,indifferent,we need people to express themselves, and what better way to do it than in writing?

A book can turn into so many things,it’s influence may be negligible or far-reachingA book can be loved, hated, or, I feel, the most dangerous fate treated with derision by scholars.

Have you read a book and thought this author is just going through the motions.

There is no soul in the book,they are showing off their prowess in language, and the thought process regarding the story is not original or they use sex or violence in a gratuitous manner . I have.I can smell a half-hearted effort at writing with each word.

On the other hand, I have soared with some writers, and it is a wonderful feeling.

I’m not on the lookout for the next best thing,but I am on the lookout for something that brings writing and stories forward.

The books I want to read are those with no title yet , they are yet to be written.

Write about a few of your favorite family traditions.

There are so many birthdays in our family . The tradition is the person whose birthday it is always gets a birthday card. If you are below the age of responsibility(eighteen),you might be lucky, depending on family economics ,to get some money folded neatly inside.

However,the important thing, is the Card.The second most important thing is that the said card should have a touch of wit and familiarity in it to make the receiver smile.

Youngsters will get cards of happy pictures of balloons and cakes,or if they have a particular interest like sports , cars ,animals,horse riding, or indeed there is a possibility of a badge with their age on it,if the sender can remember the receivers age.

With adults,jokes about ageing are good.Face up to the deterioration of your physical attributes as time passes.Laugh at the oncoming prospect of dementia and wetting your bed. There are endless jokes about plastic sheets,and the rubberised versions should you, be lucky enough to need a bed bath from your attractive nurse. (he/she/they).

The fact that we know each other well means anything goes.There have been many favourites over the years.

Being a gardener,my favourite is

“The rhubarb needs manure.”

“No, I prefer custard with mine!”

Silly I know.

Name an attraction or town close to home that you still haven’t got around to visiting.

There is a cottage that was part of a big estate here in Victorian times. The estate was broken up in the nineteen fifties , partially to finance Death Duties and partially to fund the increasingly erratic lifestyle of the budding rock star Duke whose inheritance the Estate was.

Flintfall Cottage was the where the infamous late Duke of Rock Heavy Metal Group “Duke” spent his last few moments in an ecstasy of sex,drugs ,and alcohol.

In the end, it was all he owned ,and it was where he and his extensive list of groupies and hangers-on would congregate. Flintfall Cottage had a reputation far removed from the role of tithed quality housing for the loyal workers on the estate . Its name originated from a cliff fall nearby. The fall exposed a seam of flint that was used to provide new roofing for a number of established cottages in the area.

The late Duke’s grandfather had decided on the name Flintfall,and he thought it hilarious to call a two story building with seven bedrooms, a dining room, a library, an extensive living room which acted as a small ballroom for dancing when necessary ;a cottage.

The Rock Star Duke loved Flintfall Cottage, and locally, it became renowned for the role it played in the lead singer of Duke’s success. For it was here Duke recorded their infamous album “Flintfall”.

It’s open to visitors now ,and the cottage is kept just as it was on the last day of the Duke’s life,vomit stains, and all.

It certainly is on my list of places to visit.I’m particularly interested in the “Stay a Night in Haunted Flintfall Cottage” package.

I am saving my pennies as the upfront payment is five thousand pounds. The offer is if you can sleep in the cottage by yourself from 9pm until 9am in the morning without ringing the “Help” button then you will get a full refund.So far no one has been able to .

I’ve some way to go before I reach my target and am looking forward to the challenge of spending one night in Flintfall Cottage soon…….