Why, oh why, oh why do we do this to ourselves? I’ve just been down to my local Citizens Advice Bureau for a job interview and I was expecting it to be a grilling but not as tough as it was. I just hope I’ve given a good impression of myself and would like to curl up in a ball now until Monday when I find out if I’ve been successful for one of the advice line positions that they are recruiting for at the moment. It would be really good to get back to earning money but, mainly, it would be good to feel worthwhile and that I’m making a difference.
I like books, I don’t read as much now as I used to, and I’m not sure why. However, I do find that books which keep my attention are the ones which create worlds in word pictures. Whether I am revisiting an oft read classic (Lord of the Rings, for example) or discovering a new multiverse (The Disc World perhaps) the one thing I find is the books tell a story but also describe the world they are set in. (Disc World did this at the beginning of the series in the Colour of Magic but keeps adding new facets with each volume that comes along).
I think I got out of the habit of reading when I started spending my down time with others, focussed more on shared adventures than the written word. Now that I’m alone it seems hard to find any down time, I used to listen to music all day every day and it is still a passion with me but I don’t listen as much today, I find that if I hear something new I still tend to focus on it until I decide that I don’t particularly like it. Mood has a lot to do with my listening habits anyway, so new music which doesn’t fit in with my mood that day won’t be enjoyed as much as on a day when it fits my mood. That’s why I tend to put music I don’t quite get today to one side to pick up again tomorrow or the next day.
I’ve read books which state that to be successful you have to find a passion and follow that path to its conclusion. In other words, find someone who will pay you handsomely for something you would do for free and you’ll never have to work a day again. I gave this my best shot in the 1970’s but it didn’t pay off for me, wrong place, wrong time. The group I was in (The Dogs…) weren’t punk, we could all play for one thing, but we were old school going for extended solo’s on guitar and drums when the world was reverting to old school rock and roll and the 3 minute single. Reproduced in concert and sounding like the recorded tracks. Whether or not the musicians could actually play their instruments or not, our brand of prog was frowned on and we never made it out of the hall into the recording studio.
Given that I’m now 63, unemployed and finding it hard to find something to pay the bills until I can afford to retire (probably at 150 the way everything is falling apart today) I don’t have the money to pay for a streaming service or to buy the music I would like to replace from my many years of collecting vinyl, cassette tapes and compact discs. What is there for a music afficionado? I could create a radio show, but the music I enjoy no longer finds its way onto daytime radio, for a vampire like me that’s not an issue but most night jockeys have chat shows with little to no music, would a radio station take a chance on someone like John Peel today? Probably not, and BBC Radio doesn’t tend to offer DJ contracts to an unknown, even today, for late night shows.
They seemingly learned their lesson the hard way, and even Kenny Everett would find it hard to get a show on BBC radio today. I would welcome the opportunity to follow my music and present this to other like minded people but that isn’t likely to happen anytime soon, if at all.
So I’m asked to describe how I concentrate to write or focus on anything when pain is such a major contributor in my life and a permanent. I thought about it for a second. The doctor had used the whiteboard and drawn “my brain” with pain in the background and words like focus, concentration, motivation […]
Everything seems to be breaking down in the wake of 2016. We had everything going for us then, boom: it all changed and none of it for the better. Bear in mind, dear reader, this is just my take on life in my own back yard and things could well be peachy in your back yard.
I have been applying for jobs only to find that they are not real jobs only training courses which will last for approximately 12 months (taking me ever closer to retirement) with a guaranteed interview at the end of this period (yes that’s right they only guarantee an interview not a job). I have also applied for jobs only to discover that they will pay a fixed amount (National Minimum Wage) for working night shift. Who would work night shift for the same pay as they could get on the day shift? Not me buddy.
Yes I don’t have a job but I do have my self respect and thank you for your offer of a 60 hour week for £100 per week, I’d rather stay on the dole with £73 per week thanks all the same. Life is certainly beginning to get me down at the moment, but I’m trying to keep myself up by thinking it could be a whole lot worse then boom, Drumpf goes and tweets something without thinking it through and makes me laugh. Then I remember he is POTUS and that makes me sad to think he has control of the nuclear deterrent for the entire Western Hemisphere under his control.
What the hell is going on here? The world is going to hell in a hand basket and there’s no longer any way to stop it. If we don’t watch out we’ll all drown in a sea of excrement very soon. If anyone has any thing to say to prove me wrong then please feel free to either link to this post or else post comments below, I will read them and respond to them no matter how long it takes for me to get my act in gear.
Once there was a way to get back home, sleep gently Bradley don’t you cry.
Last Friday, after a 6 year battle with Cancer, Bradley Lowery (age 6) died and will be buried this week. When I look around and see all the pointless violence and disgusting acts going on all around this planet it almost brings me to tears. Then someone loses a battle with a disease we are so close to defeating and that does make the tears come. Especially when that someone is so young and dies before having a chance to live.
There are still so many people affected by cancer, even though they don’t have that illness themselves, than those who die from it. Bradley’s parents spent a lot of time making memories with him and that is now all they have. He will not be forgotten as he has touched so many people across this country and into the world at large. He always had a smile for all who showed him love and gave everyone love, even those he never met. There was a huge amount of love going to his family from everyone I know, I was lucky to have met him at a few family events over the years and he was definitely a fighter who tried to cram a lifetime into everyday. Yes he was often weak, often in pain and suffering terribly, but if you talked to him and saw him smile at you then you didn’t feel pity for him – only love and the desire to take his pain away from him (even if you only did it for a week or a month).
I know his parents probably won’t read this but, if they did, I’d just like to say that time doesn’t heal the pain, it merely makes it easier to remember the good times and put the bad to one side. Bradley was too young to die, but I’m sure he went without showing any pain, with a smile on his face, the pure angelic face of an innocent child. Why am I so sure of this? Because he cared what others were feeling, young as he was and he always put on a brave face with a huge smile no matter how bad his pain was. He loved life and we loved him. Sleep tight Bradley and I hope you continue to enjoy your new freedom and continue without pain.
A voice of reason, offering why President Trump is under the thumb of Putin. If you agree please post comments on the original post and not this repost.
LAVROV/ TRUMP/ KISLYAK/ TASS WAS PRESENT/ IF ANYTHING UNTOWARD WAS SAID, RUSSIA HAS A TAPE RECORDING
Republicans are most likely abetting and and enabling a Russian asset who has been living in the White House. No, this is not “fake news, nor a conspiracy theory but a DOSE of reality.
There are the facts that republican legislators have been refusing to face because too many of them have become fearful of antagonizing the republican President Donald Trump’s ardent supporters who will do anything for him, including follow him if he jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge. Then of course, congressional representatives have been counting on the president’s followers’ votes and monies. And finally, that marginal tax cut/ reform bill that the right has been dreaming about for years has become a definite possibility.
The fact that our President Donald Trump repeatedly claims that he does not have direct financial interests in Russia, is immaterial. Outside of Russia, a favorite…
LAVROV/ TRUMP/ KISLYAK/ TASS WAS PRESENT/ IF ANYTHING UNTOWARD WAS SAID, RUSSIA HAS A TAPE RECORDING 
The fact that our President Donald Trump repeatedly claims that he does not have direct financial interests in Russia, is immaterial. Outside of Russia, a favorite…
barclaydave 