Share what you know about the year you were born.
I wasn’t born,what an assumption!I was hatched and it took two years.It was such a long time ago I can’t remember……the exact year.
Namaste.Thank you for reading
Category Archives: Short Stories
A Character with Looks to Kill.
Are you a good judge of character?
I asked AI to find a ” Character” for me to write about , the above gentleman ( I am assuming he is a gentle man) was the second “Character” that AI generated, the first had a gun in his hand pointing at me, which I decided with all the gun hate in this World was not appropriate, though, I accept in AI’s innocence it was probably considering the word character as in an ” artistic drama.” My initial thought was would I be able to judge someone’s character who was pointing a gun at me and I being fearful, probably not.
However, “Character Two” ( picture above) is definitely of interest, again with a dramatic edge, which indeed is worth exploring, Very Hannibalisque I would say.
I should just briefly mention ” Character 3″ whom was generated as a cool attractive AI woman with no resemblance to reality. A shallow , sallow skinned, empty headed , pouter with perfect hair and the most piercing green eyes with too much make up and picture enhanced boobs. Yes , AI can’t help itself sometimes. So as I wouldn’t have a lot to think about on that one I binned it.
Now for my Hannibal, I think he would have conquered other Countries with ease, he isn’t from Carthage, more likely from the Far East. The earrings look like cheap curtain pennants, obviously hand made hand and not from precious metals. So probably spending all his money on invasions or searching for Countries with peoples already making quality jewellery and accessories that he can subjugate and basically steal.
The headdress is telling with it’s fiery feathers sticking out on either side. A nice way to frighten someone, even if it’s all for show which it is. The semi-precious stones on the band around his head with the metal work, says he’s short of cash , I mean decorative , but of no value. Though, if he was charging at you on top of a horse pointing a sword at you , you aren’t going to notice his cheap jewellery. It’s all for effect.
He’s not a pointer as he seems to have lost his right index finger in an “incident”. He looks like the type that would sit around in his military campaign tent, drinking with his officers and making up stories about how he lost his finger or to those who don’t know him , doing party tricks to show off his lack of digit. The reality is probably more mundane, that he lost it , playing dare with sharp knives when he was a boy.( It was different times then) and he was lucky he didn’t get blood poisoning .
That luck is part of his character though, and he knows it. He has the confidence to keep moving forward and his brown eyes are also very kind, if a little serious. He loves reading and meeting interesting people from the Countries he invades. He doesn’t do massacres only a little subjugation and it’s only because he wants better jewelry.
He has learned life’s love lessons the hard way, and although he is a conqueror, knows the importance of home life, he has had numerous relationships with women , and maintains a harem ( it’s expected), however, there are two or three “special ones” who are viewed as “confidantes” or ” advisors”. These women and their offspring are important to his psyche and motivate him to improve the world that he lives in. Marriage has not yet been invented, so monogamy isn’t his thing, but as he is getting older and increasing tired from his campaigns, it’s the women he knows the best that soothe his brow on his return. The others are just for show.
Am I a good judge of character or have I fallen into a stereotypical view of people and events . I will let you be a judge of that.
Namaste. Thank You for Reading
Filed under Short Stories
Kicks Heels, I’m free to be!
When are you most happy?
I’m most happy when I don’t have any debt. Lesson to the World. Stop putting an intolerable burden of debt onto everyone.
We can’t keep owing and owing and being fleeced by all sorts of grifters.
Things we need and buy have to be good value and be available.
We are not mindless consumers who need free market economics. Living within your means is a means in itself.
In the olden days Rock Stars were hopeless business people who couldn’t manage money, nowadays business people are Rock Stars who know every trick in the book and see being at the top of some flakey Rich List as their reason to be, that and finding a ready income stream from wherever they can, usually based on debt.
So let’s move on and give people hope that they can get out of bed and not be troubled by intolerable debt.
Filed under Short Stories
Where has all the money gone?
Horizon was Bad , but How about the Private Pension Scam?
It all started with Robert Maxwell, the proprietor of Mirror Newspapers and raider of the very healthy Mirror Newspaper Pension Fund. Also the father of Ghislaine Maxwell who herself made headlines in the new millennium, first as a darling Socialite and then as a woman involved in sexual trafficking of underage girls for Celebrity parties including Royal Guests. Her devious daddy died suspiciously by falling off his luxury yacht and his employees having invested in a very healthy Company pension scheme were left with nothing. Ghislaine is currently in prison in America serving a significant sentence and presumably planning a book ( with film rights) on her exploits once she gets out.
The raiding of the Mirror Pension Scheme rather than being regarded as criminal action , was seen by Politicians over the last 60 years (previously an acceptable age for retirement) as an opportunity to bail out their misguided policies or indeed finance the privileged life that MP’s and Government Representatives including those private individuals appointed as Advisors to Government on significant salaries and non-contributory pensions have led.
Who financed their lifestyles? The Great British Public of course. The ultimate insult is that the Right and Left of Politics want us to regard them as financial icons, as go getting achievers who have the right to live a luxurious lifestyle at our expense because they …… well deserve it. Or infact because they are the greatest grifters and abusers of Power in the History of Public Service.
Perhaps the recent threat of Pandemic and the unseemly rush to supply the NHS with desperately needed ” Ventilators ” and ” Personal Protective Equipment” showed what they were capable of. Health is big business and it attracted the likes of Lady Michelle Mone and Matt Hancock to tout for and divvy out Government Contracts to Suppliers who had no capability to produce a valid product. Or indeed had any experience or indeed were on an approved list of NHS Suppliers .
An early example being Dyson, from Hoovers to Ventilators , thankfully despite Dyson quoting heroically; common sense prevailed and the actual requirement for ventilators was medically assessed as a last resort and one in which the 10% survival rate once the patient reached that stage was deemed inefficient and that other care policies were more successful. Thankfully. Otherwise there would be a lot of redundant ventilators taking up valuable space in hospitals throughout the Country.
There are ongoing Court Cases and Government Enquiries into what has gone wrong that again are costing the Public Purse a fortune. These of course are self-generating and will go on ad infinitum, much like the Post Office Horizon Scandal will continue.
So where has all this money come from? Well when I was in my late twenties, we were encouraged to take out a Private Pension and transfer our payment of National Insurance Contributions to a Government Pension to a Private Company Pension. I do believe the term was to Contract Out. At the time we were told that it was the best option for us and that the pensions would be portable and if we changed job that we could carry our pension with us and that the new employer would make their contributions, very often equalling the contribution that the employee was making, so part of our earning package and something we were putting aside for our future retirement.
Except that was not how it worked. Firstly the Pensions were not portable, each Company I joined insisted that I joined their scheme, there was no option for them to pay into my quite healthy Norwich Union Pension( later Aviva) .Even if you were in a Company , that Company could change the Pension Provider to a new scheme and the frequency with which this happened made me think that someone was getting a cut on this deal, most likely the Company Executives. As a result I ended up with six Private Pensions.
Still that was small fry in comparison to the Government raids on the Profits from these schemes. Yes Maxwell definitely paved the way for that. Initially I was in the Austin Rover Pension scheme , paying a significant amount of my monthly income into the fund only to have the profits from the fund hived off by the Government to support the dying business I was employed in.
I remember when I left , I had £5,000 in the fund and was told the best thing to do was to leave it there, but I wanted it transferred to my Norwich Union pension that my new employer had set up for us. I think it cost something , but if I hadn’t have made that transaction ,I would have lost that money because twenty years later , with a Government Sellout the Rover Group was no more and the Pension fund also disappeared.
Moving on, when I reached 45, I was regarded , like most people as someone who simply was never going to have enough of a Private Pension to finance my retirement , this was despite having paid my contributions. So I was told to contract back in , which I did. I think this must be similar to most people. I could still keep making employee contributions to my Private Pension , and therefore still qualifying for the employers ( tax deductible ) contributions, without the Government contributing , indeed my NI contributions would go to my State Pension this seemed reasonable and frankly as I now realise fortuitous.
As of today, I qualify with current rules for the State Pension, which to be honest wouldn’t buy Lady Mone’s supply of make up and hair appointments for a month, but I and my partner having lived an enjoyable but financially astute life can quite happily live on. Perhaps I am tired, having worked all my life , but yachts, foreign holidays, endless parties and possessions seem pointless, I mean I don’t want to retire to Greece, much as I’m sure it’s very nice.
I really don’t understand that if the economy has boomed over the last 60 years, the financial markets have risen over those years , a lot of money has been made. So why after paying in into a Private Pension over the last 45 years have I been left with a fund that won’t even pay me £20/ month to live on. Is it some kind of bad joke. What happened to the Champagne Charlies who could make million’s by betting against the tide of Black Friday’s and Monday’s stock market debacles. Why weren’t they in charge of my Pension Fund, and why did the Government represented by Gordon Brown regard Private Pension Funds as a source of Government income ( Just like Maxwell) and removed their tax relief to fill the Government Coffers .Wasn’t that the contributors money? Wasn’t it theft, don’t the profits go to the investors?
Surely Pensions and the fact that people like me have been thrown to the wolves, and been forced to pay into something that was never properly regarded as an investment opportunity , more of a way of removing the burden of debt caused by a population who are now expected to work until they drop, but who if the funds had been managed properly could have had a decent retirement at a reasonable age.
In other words, was it a scam? Probably.
It’s worse for those who are going through what I went through forty years ago. The working population today are under so much pressure. Sad to say the figures for a normal person on an average wage today just don’t add up, and just to live is difficult enough without putting money into a Private Pension. I’m not sure what the advice is today on contracting out or whether the Government sees National Insurance as the best solution to financing pensions, but one thing I’m certain of is that Private Pensions for most people were a not fit for purpose.
Namaste and Thank You for Reading.
Filed under Short Stories
Played find the ball with my dog
What was the last thing you did for play or fun?
We had a great day yesterday,
The squeaky ball was far away
He’d not bring it back
No he’d never do that
But he ran and jumped
Sometimes a catch,sometimes stumped,
Mummy shouted “find the ball!”
Because she couldn’t find it all,
And suddenly with a little shuffle
He showed me the ball with a snuffle,
Mummy picked it up and threw it again
Well my good boy,that was ten out of ten.
And so it went on ,for a little while,
My little dog plays catch with such style.
Namaste.Thank you for reading
Filed under Short Stories
Hark the Humble Carrot Buy
List your top 5 grocery store items.
Hark the humble Carrot buy🎶🎵
Glory to the Supermarkets nigh,
Off to Aldi I must trundle
To buy some bread and apple crumble,
When I’m there and nearly done
I’ll grab a simple current bun,
Through the self-check out avoiding the queues
Paying by contactless my grocery dues,
But there’s always something that you forget
Bah-hum bug I’ll get the AA batteries off the
Internet.
Only kidding ,there are 6 days(Time Zone Dependent)
Filed under Short Stories
A man who positively impacted my Life
Describe a man who has positively impacted your life.
A man who made me rethink, about how I came over to other people.Perhaps he was a weak acquiescent creature,but he worked towards his goals and showed me how to better achieve mine.
Almost overnight I got things done which I had never been able to do.
We made each other laugh,but in the end he had to protect his corner and I had to move on to pastures new.
The business we were both working in was falling apart and he stayed and I went.
It was the best solution,he was close to retirement and I had options.
So I moved on,but wherever I went I brought the emotional tool kit that he had shown me, with me.I used it to great effect when dealing with people and it consistently worked.
That, with , my natural willingness to improve things wherever I am,definitely made my life a lot more pleasurable.
Namaste Thank you for reading
Filed under Short Stories
Objects in the rearview mirror appear closer than they are.
Is your life today what you pictured a year ago?
One year ago today , I did not picture my life. I probably had a vague plan to keep everything on track, you know , life’s admin, bills, work , retirement administration, elections and filling in forms or ringing health care services, but a picture ….. No.
Depending how you look at it , looking back either seems an eternity away or just like yesterday. Perhaps it is a picture, perhaps a rosier one that it really was.
In a rear view mirror it’s closer than you think and the clock still keeps ticking away…..
Namaste. Thank you for Reading.
Filed under Short Stories
According to my App Duolingo…..
What skills or lessons have you learned recently?
According to the automatic feedback from my App Duolingo that I use for Spanish.I have improved my ability to speak Spanish
Until recently I could never listen and repeat a sentence without seeing it in writing.
In the last few weeks I have not pressed the”reveal” button and have said the sentence by heart …and by George some of the time I’m successful(well 50%).Up from 0%, so big improvement.
I’m beginning to not be embarrassed by how I sound and indeed am beginning to think in Spanish and manage to include all the words,speak with a rhythm and speed up . Understanding the words and grammar is definitely reinforced speaking.
I also occasionally say my exercises out loud if him indoors is listening to a podcast and I want to practice.This is a new development and puzzles the dog.
Namaste Thank you for reading
Filed under Short Stories
Ha Ha…..Second Bite of the Cherry (Tomato)…..Sandwich City
What cities do you want to visit?
Well Jetpack said I’ve answered the prompt and my PC Version of WordPress said I haven’t . So I get a second bite of the Cherry.
I thought I’d be current, as one of the current scandals in British Politics is the recently elected Leader of the Opposition saying that she does not like “Sandwiches” or damp bread, and that she doesn’t believe in stopping for lunch at all in true “Gordon Gekko” style. Apparently she sends out for steak (most likely at tax payers expense as all the Politicians food is subsidised), for her lunch.
Well dear Kemi,
Let me take you by the hand , through the streets of Sandwich City, it will make you change your mind”. (Apologies Ralph McTell)
I do worry sometimes that Politicians on the right lack the feel for the Common man and Woman which is understandable if you are married to an Investment Banker and are Leader of the Conservative Party. You should though think before you eat, because you may have alienated a significant part of the population who otherwise may have supported your megalomaniac ideas about everything else.
Yes, I know balance sheets and profit and loss results are important, but so my dear are working conditions and for those of us without MP expenses, holidays and whatever other benefits Parliament have voted for themselves. The option of ringing out for a steak delivery for most is just not feasible and for a lot is totally repugnant.
Maybe popping out to Marks and Spencers, or a local Independent Delicatessen , both of who are very proud of their “Sandwich Heritage”. Yes, I know , Politicians policies have destroyed the High Street and lots of people work in Industrial Estates where they need food delivered because there aren’t near any shops.
Kemi, look a High street in Sandwich City, buzzing with people , spending their lunch break , chatting , enjoying their own unique choices , vegetarian, sour dough bread , sipping their coffee, rejuvenating themselves for an afternoon of work.
I mean what is the problem, and not just that how about employment and the profits that come from the Companies that make Sandwiches for the masses. The Sandwich Industry makes a contribution to GDP, do you not think that Sandwich making is an art that is useful employment?
You see this pub the “Earl of Sandwich” , it celebrates the gentleman who is said to have invented the Sandwich. Sandwiches have historical merit that a lot of Conservative Party Members would appreciate.
Interestingly enough what John Montagu , “The Fourth Earl of Sandwich ” is known for is incompetence, although this may have been recorded by scurrilous journalists of the period and passed on into history. (a lesson for all politicians) Apparently he was an inveterate gambler and didn’t want to take a break so asked his servants to bring him some meat wedged between two pieces of bread. Thus the Sandwich was invented.
Yes, Kemi, perhaps you can do without the bread, but that isn’t the point.
The workers need a break and they need time and food to regenerate themselves. Work breaks are just that, they are time for refreshments and refreshing yourself.
Oh and I should just mention , it’s not just eating we do during our lunch breaks , we need toilet breaks too.
In Sandwich City, there is the perfect balance of access to refreshments and the time to take them an refresh yourself. What is so bad about that Kemi?
I hope this has been a useful experience for you Kemi and has given you food for thought.
Filed under Short Stories
thenotsomightyom 