Cold - A Little Unusual

 This is the strangest of colds.  I felt fine late yesterday afternoon and watched some TV and then went to bed.  10 minutes in I started coughing and it was the sort of cough, cough, cough that never clears your throat. Neither was it the sort of thing that could be called tickly although it is today!  I had a bad night's sleep and blow me, after an hour of feeling rough this morning I felt better!

Now, this afternoon I've started coughing again and have a nagging little headache thing going on too.  For someone who rarely (these days) suffers from such things it is a bit annoying.  

I'm going to give it another try tonight and do some Lemsip before bed and see if I can shift it.  It will be a week today that I've caught it and it just hasn't gone away but fades and gets worse in random ways.

Cold From Hell? Thank Your Grandchildren

Something "going around" they say. Indeed.... well I have it and it is most unpleasant as it has those traditional Flu type symptoms mixed in with a cold, sore throat, sneezing, coughing - in fact just about every symptom you can imagine including the headache, muzziness and brain fog.   

"A Ha!, Covid!!" they exclaim but it isn't like that at all as far as I can tell anyway and I'm not buying a lump of plastic to tell me I've got a cold either - when did you ever need a test for that FFS.

So I'm not impressed as I've had this for about 5 days now.  It's bad in the mornings and then late afternoon I feel fine, I go to bed but then I'm coughing, breathing through my mouth as my nose is blocked and every now and then a bout of sneezes to top it all off.

I'm going hot all over as I write this so will take off my fleece because I felt cold this morning.  June is surprisingly cold for summer so far.

Anyway, whoever had a winter cold in summer?  It could remotely be Hay Fever but not with so many symptoms and whilst my eyes feel a bit tired they aren't sore like I sometimes get.

It is also debilitating - trying to do anything physical is exhausting and I'll need a break after writing this.  My hands ache and staring at the screen is also tiring.

Anyway, I know who to thank for this cold although he has no real signs of it apart from the cough.  Also, he's far too sweet to blame him LOL! 

D-Day 80 years ago

 I have just written an article about someone I knew who never mentioned he was involved in D-Day.  It was not until we attended his funeral that it was mentioned in his eulogy.  As a young man aged just 19, he piloted a landing craft running men and equipment into the beaches on the momentous day.

He never spoke about it.  Just imagine what bravery you'd need to do that and how being so young, what horrors and images you saw.  

Amazing, brave men all of them and our they fought for our future.  It's a pity that today's 19 year olds would give it all away without thought. 

Election Incoming

 The late Labour MP, Tony Benn, had a very good observation about politics:

"In the course of my life I have developed five little democratic questions. If one meets a powerful person--Adolf Hitler, Joe Stalin or Bill Gates--ask them five questions: “What power have you got? Where did you get it from? In whose interests do you exercise it? To whom are you accountable? And how can we get rid of you?” If you cannot get rid of the people who govern you, you do not live in a democratic system."

So here we are, a snap election and the main parties are lying through their teeth, putting up smoke and mirror type arguments, coming up with totally unworkable policies and talking about POWER.  They don't want to do what they are meant to do they want, and they openly state it, POWER!

We, the public do not seem to realise what Tony Benn's words actually mean.  The answer to every question he sets is US or ME.  It only works because we let them and these people are meant to be our servants.  It's only that I don't want to sell my soul to become a politician that I vote for someone else to do it.  They think they have a right to govern over me but hold on, that's not how it is meant to work at all.  But here we are, again and again.

Why we put up with this two party system, these useless managers who would never be able to hold down a real job is beyond me.  To quote Edmond Blackadder, "I wouldn't trust any of them to sit the right way up on a toilet!".

The great British public perhaps do not understand that these "Politicians" govern BY CONSENT that's the deal and if you take away your consent, en masse, then what will they do?  We need to become ungovernable and we need to beak the system so it does what we want it to do.

I like that most of my friends think that I am a Conservative and yet whilst I lean towards those principles I find that we live in a world where the tail wags the dog so to speak.  The minority have a major say in how the majority live and that, is not the way it works although it does at the moment.  There will be a reckoning as I recollect the bullies at School all got their comeuppance in one way or another.  There's always a bigger fighter and revenge by victims make take many years but it often times occurs.  I'll leave that there but eventually karma has a way of resolving these things.

In business too, the incompetent and useless managers get found out albeit some wiggle their way up and out many will eventually (not fast enough for me) be rewarded for their bad deeds.  It takes just one of their charges to expose things but it can't be done in the way I'd like but by stealth works well generally and the satisfaction to see the mighty fallen is emblematic of "revenge is a dish best served cold." 

Where am I going with this?  The "people" whinge and moan and yet they perpetuate the state of politics and do not have the courage (or the wit perhaps) to do something different.  I have in the past few elections.  If everyone withdrew their consent it would be interesting - I cannot for a million years imagine it would happen as people are terrified of a labour Government and would hold their noses and vote for Conservatives.  The Greens and Lib Dems have shown themselves to be two sandwiches short of a picnic with bonkers plans made to make us all poorer.  Socialism the way they operate it would soon bankrupt us all.

You can spoil your ballot paper - it gets counted as a spoiled vote and so when they state the results these are also noted.  I see one other person and I did this in a recent council election!  It's not enough of us.  There maybe a protest vote available to Reform party but we wait to see whether this will happen.  Unfortunately there are no charismatic leaders and nothing inspiring at all in these corrupt, worthless, morally bankrupt people.

Perhaps the great British public will awaken from their slumbers and actually do something. I doubt it though.  

The Hokey Cokey. What if that really IS what it is all about?

SO, what's it all about?  Funny isn't it?  Life that is.  I wondered about this as we had a Dog attack on the Sheep in our field at the back of us on Monday night and a Sheep died, leaving a couple of Orphan Lambs and my neighbour went up to confirm what had happened, I rang the Shepherd to tell him the bad news.

The dog owner disappeared.  She let her dog loose and it killed a sheep - I'm sure it is the same dog as the day before that scattered the Sheep all over the place.

People sometimes p1ss me right off.  It's the dog's nature but people, who own and look after dogs, are complete arseholes to let their dog off a lead when livestock are about.  Their dog can get shot for bothering livestock too.  I think the owner should be shot (I know we aren't allowed to) but it is hardly the dog's fault now is it? But they'd be the one destroyed if found.

So this person has run away almost certainly knowing that they have caused a fatality and the Shepherd has lost a Sheep, has two orphaned Lambs to do something with and has the expense and trauma involved.  My neighbours and I also have some trauma to deal with too.  They didn't stop to talk to the Shepherd as they knew that their dog could be destroyed, no compensation for him and all the trouble he's had to breed and look after his flock.  UTTER GITS these people. 

If I see the person again I will take a photo and challenge them.  It's not the first time this dog has run through the field.

These are probably the same people who, by law must pick up their dog's faeces and place in a bag but instead of taking it home or putting it in a provided dog bin decided to flick the bag into the Hedgerow where perhaps some animal might ingest it and die painfully (horses are particularly prone to do this I understand) and what posses these people to come into the countryside and do such things?  Have they no idea what they are doing.  I'm getting fed up of picking up plastic water bottles and cans, crisp packets, MacDonald's packaging, removing dog poo bags and so on.  

I want to yell "WHAT THE F**K IS WRONG WITH YOU?!!!" at these pitiful excuses of human beings.  You just know these are the one preaching "Environmentalism, Electric Cars, Solar Panels, Save the Whales" and all that sh1t.  Proselytising virtue signalling WANK*RS the bloody lot of them.  

Anyway, why are these people allowed to exist in this world?  Why do they do so much damage to the environment around them whilst virtue signalling everyone else that they are the planet's custodians. Hypocritical Bastards!  

World Leading Health Service

 Yes, I kind of owe my life to the NHS (National Health Service) BUT, since COVID it's all turned to sh1t.  I was speaking to a number of older gentlemen last week and one went to the Doctor who sent him directly to A&E.  He spent 18 hours and then overnight in a chair there.  He's had tests and scans and has been back three times each time lasting more than 8 hours.

So why didn't the Doctor's surgery deal with it?  I don't know.  Then another chap was stating how long he waited and it's a recurring thing.   Only the Press think we have a world class service.  If you criticise them you get pilloried and then you hear the Politicians stating that they are "investing" more.  It takes £1/2 Billion a day to run now!  1 in every 22 people in the UK works in the health service!  Throwing money at it doesn't work and no one wants to tackle what's at the bottom of it all.  

They don't actually concentrate on patients at all.  They say don't privatise it but perhaps if it were it would run properly.  Whenever I've been to a private hospital the difference is amazing.  Unbelievably you get seen on time, greeted with a coffee or tea and looked after, kept informed and it's almost like being in a hotel!  Totally different.  It's been decentralised and because previous administrations played a little blinder by selling off the premises and renting them back to the NHS it costs a fortune to run.  Little stock control and appallingly bad management have meant that they concentrate on navel gazing and spreadsheet management and are not "customer focused" that is where the problem lies.  Too busy making sure the planet isn't boiling over - 138 climate change senior director/managers, inclusion officers, HR types and all that malarkey.  There's jobs for the boys everywhere.  

Add to that the waste and incompetence displayed and the useless systems that don't appear to work properly (remember they sent me to the wrong Hospital and then had the temerity to strike me off the list for non attendance at an appointment - knowing full well as I spoke to them - they had sent me to the wrong place).  When you get there, there's no where to park, you have to pay to park and it's a bit rich if you don't know how long you will be, if you get delayed you get a fine for overstaying your allotted parking time.

Having worked there and been a patient, I have seen first hand the level of service and it needs to change but no one has the balls or the inclination to change it.  All the time they spend out money making the mistakes and out money trying to put those right whilst programming in even greater failures to come.  

I really hope that I will not need these people.  It is ludicrous that we have to settle for such poor service and it is getting worse and not better. 

Stranger Times

I'm thinking that I am going through some strange things at the moment.  I am steering clear of TV and limiting Social Media exposure as much as possible.  I have caught myself having too much to drink and so I've stopped that altogether.  I love the taste of beer, always have done but I think having 2 or 3 pints a night isn't perhaps really that good for me.

The Sheep have arrived in the field behind us.  Nice to see new life bouncing around and joyful.  I need to remind myself to be more like that if possible.  I'm actually in this sort of waiting for God stage.  Friends dying, mortality staring me in the face and I suddenly realise that if I pop my clogs now, there'll be a bit of a mess to clear up with all these accounts and things so I need to go a bit morbid and make some sort of arrangements to make things easier.  I don't think that will be soon but you never know.  There are people younger than me dying all around me and it sort of gets you thinking.

Then there's stuff.  All the stuff lying around that I have no idea what it is doing here.  Will I ever use it?  Is it ever going to be useful?  Can I do without it?  That sort of thing.  It's a strange old thing having a reflective period, looking back on my life, for no especial reason but listening to certain songs takes me right back to various times in my life and things I did etc.  

In all of this the one thing that seems missing now is the wonder, the excitement, the life I had back then.  Getting a house, doing it up, my first car, going to gigs, girls, playing in the band, going out, having fun, College, the jobs I did and all that seemed so much more alive and exciting back in the 70s.  Ho Hum.  I need to recapture this for my retirement and do things that I always wanted to do if I had the time. Now I have the time, it is filled with banality and hum drum maintenance tasks.  The couple of granddad trips I did recently were perhaps the right things.  Days at the Zoo, Steam Trains, Diggerland and so on.  

I wonder if I actually need to work on these.  I don't feel much like doing them until I do them and then it is alright.  

Strange Thing That - I Cannot Remember

 This is strange - 2021 and 2022 weren't great and 2023 was pretty bad for me - I think it was all the Covid Sh1t frankly.  I was on and off not well although I only had Covid the twice (I think).

Strange is that I am doing some accounts for two separate entities and there are payments I have made into those accounts that I can find no records for at all.  I see I have made payment from my personal account into the club accounts but not why.  In all other cases I can see my usual notes and records showing what payments are made, who they are for and so on but in three cases now in 2022 are payments with no tag on them, no data at all!

I know they were bad years as I let go the reins on a few things but my mind is a total blank on what these payments were for.

It's got me worried as I have a very good memory and I'm also relatively good at keeping tabsl on things.  I'd better watch what I'm doing I think.  .  

A-Ha!  Well a good night's sleep and a quick look at my calendar revealed that I banked the payments for an event we attended (charity raffle) and for me having a guest at a meeting but unusually I had not entered it on to the control sheet but onto the dining plan!  DOH!!!  So all is well, I just didn't put the information where I usually do! 

To Social Media or not?

 I actually think it has been good for me not to be on Twitter (X) or Facebook for a while.  I am feeling a lot better than I was - Twitter can be a very dark place and can lead you into some pretty unpleasant things although it's not all like that of course.  Facebook is a bit of a cesspit likewise and so I only go on there to see how my close friends and family are doing and wish happy birthday, anniversary and so on.

I was asked to go back on mainly because of my jokes and the like but I think I will do that intermittently.  I'm keeping clear if I can of TV too and the news is - I am sure - designed to make you feel down too.

But here's the thing.  I posted this yesterday and suggested people take a break from Facebook etc.

This short film by Steve Cutts excellently demonstrates why to give your tech a rest.  Also it has Yann Tierson's excellent Amelie soundtrack running throughout.

It's worth considering just giving yourself a break or limiting your time on Social Media if you start to find, like I did last year, quite desperate and down about things.  Dark times last year and I'm gradually getting out of it but I'm still not really feeling great about going  out and doing things.  Forced myself to go to some things that I'd rather not do.  

I have found that doing three or four projects around the house has helped me to feel better about myself and also added to a sense of being useful and productive.  

Active Therapy

 Had some ups and downs this last week but I have found that getting on and doing something has helped quite a bit.

I re-did the electric gates with new improved arms and control panel albeit it's never straightforward is it?  The Post has got a little slanted due to all the wind bashing against  the gates.  So I had to wedge that and I'll need to keep my eye on it.  I've strimmed the whole back lawn - just the front and side to do to complete.  The new LED Lighting is ready to be installed in the snug.  The mirror film for privacy has also been installed and the Bow Window repaired and added support brackets (Who puts in windows and doesn't put in the support brackets FFS?).

I've made an illuminated back box frame for the Stained Glass Window we had spare and used levelling feet but horizontally to fix it into the Chimney Alcove.  It looks great.

So I have been busy as you like which has stopped me doing the inward thinking that's been going on.  I am running through bits of my life that may have turned out differently.  My Angel from 2013 was on my mind then someone from the 1990s who I knew very well and just lost touch with.  There's I suppose the everything happens for a reason or that sort of thing but I don't know about that.  The mind likes playing "what if" and some of it is I suppose to do with the ego trying to get back in control.

I dreamt that I met with a girl I knew when I was 16.  She went on to marry a friend of mine, then they got divorced and she married again.  I don't see her often and perhaps exchange a message once a year or so.  In the dream we meet at some event Wedding/Funeral that sort of thing and she looks me directly in my eyes and her face changes and she says "Oh no, how long have you loved me?"  I say "Since that first day I met you and you held my hand on that late summer walk."  

That my friends is the ego trying to get control of me.  Recognising it as such will stop the pain but the underlying element of truth in that dream is real.  

Getting Out and About

 I is a difficult thing to explain if you've not experienced it but being an INTJ type doesn't help in the first place, getting ill when I did, pushed me further towards not enjoying things (like driving my car, going on a train, going inside crowded places) and last year's out of nowhere Black Dog episodes didn't do me any good at all really.

I much prefer my own company and doing introvert things.  I lack certain empathetic traits.  Someone asked me how my other half was and I said OK but totally forgot to ask how their other half was.  I'm like that all the time.  I'm not being rude but it isn't in my programming to ask such things.  It isn't really relevant to me. 

This week I have actually been out twice and tonight makes it three times!  That's more than I would do in a month.  In fact we are also going out on Sunday too so four times in a week. It's almost unheard of.  Driving into South London was interesting not having done that journey for at least 20 years I'd say.  It's changed beyond belief and is fraught with strange road layouts and crazy London Drivers.  As I was one years ago it was easier for me to drive and my passengers didn't want to drive themselves.  I don't blame them it's sh1t for cure.  Anyways, a good day out and one I enjoyed seeing some superb Victorian engineering at Crossness Engines Trust . It was of great interest to me as I worked at Kempton and Chelsea Pumping Stations when I was a junior project engineer installing electric pumps to supplement the diesel ones they were using.  The Victorian architecture and engineering are staggering in their beauty and functionality.

It's cost me extra money as the Mayor charged me for the privilege of driving in the Sh1t hole that London has become under him.  IN fact twice this week I've had to stump up £12.50 to take my car over some imaginary fairy land border where as you cross it the air quality somehow changes!   It's utter bollocks but there you go.  It's annoying that I can't vote in the mayoral elections.  Taxation without representation indeed.

Anyway, onward, I'm out again tonight and Sunday and what's good about that is I'm not sitting at home in front of my PC and I'm meeting people again.  That helps when you are trying to get away from having your head invaded by the Black Dog(s) and it helps to bring some normality back to me life.  I am accepting invites but don't really want to but I realise that it will do me good just to get out and about so I'm forcing myself to do things.

I've a lot of projects to complete too which will keep me busy around the house and stop me slipping back into my inwardly reflecting natural mode of operating.

If you are feeling down, do try and get out.  It actually helps once you get past the "con't be bothered" stage. 

Anger - Where it gets you?

 Nowhere.  You knew that didn't you?  I've just been explaining to someone that I've got a problem with a supplier and they have had delay after delay.  I could get angry or accept that it is what it is and deal with it.  What would me getting angry actually do?  A momentary release of pent up annoyance I suppose but would it help the situation?  Probably not.  The supplier might just refuse to sort things out or walk away.  That's not what I want, I want my goods.

So get rid of your anger, think it through and approach it in a way that they will feel that they will be able to finally deliver for you.  They aren't being obviously obstructive, they are sorry that things haven't worked out as expected and so I can work with them or we go and have a fight.

It;s easier to make your point and then solicit cooperation to actually get to where you want to be.  Both parties "win" so to speak, a Win/Win situation.  Whilst it isn't ideal, it promotes good will and what do you ever get by being angry or having some sort of altercation?  You just get entrenchment and disillusionment, resentment and the like.

Getting Stuff Done

 I don't know if you have trouble getting stuff done?  I never used to but for perhaps 10 to 15 years now I have let procrastination into my life and as a Project Manager / Programme Director type it is pretty awful.

I often wonder what I am doing sitting at my PC when I could be out or doing something and breaking the social media cycle seems to have helped a bit.  Today I managed to get a number of web articles finished that I started two months ago.  All I needed was 30 minutes and the job was done.

Getting stuff done around the house is the main problem I have.  I just don't seem to get myself charged up enough to begin with but slowly it is turning around. I got stuck into repairing and stabilising my Bow Window - put in without proper Gallows Brackets that I have now installed and I've repaired most of the wood and treated it.  

There are lots of things to do and the key thing is to get started on them and then I can work through it. I'm retired no FFS so should have the time to do these things.

Anyway, as the cycle of procrastination breaks down stuff begins to get achieved and success breeds success as they say so let's see how it goes. 

Should I Go Back To Social Media

 Yes, OK, I'm doing Social Media here I know but what I meant was do I go back to Twitter (X) and Facebook?

Spoke to a friend who says they miss me not being on Facebook and all my jokes and the like.  I'm having a think about it.  I found that I got "Involved" to much and it actually affected me - especially Twitter and all the stories on there.  Neither are real reflections on life though, are they?  What do you reckon, 10% maximum I'd say are on there and I'm sure the rest are trolls and bots.

I think I'll bide my time and might test the water and limit myself to a once a week login.  

Tinnitus Update

It is strange that the Tinnitus disappeared and now is back again but it comes and goes now.  If I do the exercises I can make it vanish for a while or even days at a time and sometimes, I only notice it when I think about it, like right now as I write this.

It sounds very strange if you don't suffer from it I guess.  Overall though the volume of the high pitched screeching in my head is much lower now and so there's quite a relief that I was able to finally find something that worked, albeit intermittently.

I am hoping that I will continue to have this reduction in the sound and volume and the periods of quiet are to be treasured.  There's nothing quite like trying to get some quiet time without thought to just relax than to have the high pitched screeching in the background preventing you from doing so.  

I Don't Know, I Don't Watch It Anymore

 Apparently lots of Programmes and People (Actors/Presenters etc) are getting "called out" for wokeness in their programming and it's becoming quite prominent now for headlines to say "people" are outraged, switching off, boycotting etc.

I don't know because I gave up watching these programmes when they turned into preaching mouthpieces and spouted bollocks as truth.  Living in the country the programme Countryfile has as little to do with the country as is possible these days.  What used to be an interesting watch has now become awful from what I understand.  I gave up when every other sentence was climate change this or climate change that and it was total bollocks and no once was it substantiated.  Sure they say that some animal population decreased by x% but didn't actually give the study that was made by (I don't think you can rely on pressure groups to give you accurate figures as they too are woke and have self interest).  So you can add Spring Watch, Summer Watch, Autumn Watch and Winter Watch which are likewise presented as informative programmes but once again, misleading data is provided.   The nature programmes, your David Attenborough's and the like are interspersed with gloom and doom and so on and whilst I appreciate that habitat is under pressure, you are more interested in blaming humans than actually doing something about it.

If they spent time sorting out those problems rather than trying to work out how to dim our star or reduced the 420 parts per million yes 412/1,000,000 of CO2 then we can see someone is actually wanting to do something about it.  

My dears, electric cars and all that Heat Pump crap will not solve the problem if indeed there actually is a problem.

So I gave up watching these programmes and only choose a very few to watch now and even those are getting less as these complete idiots seem to appear forcing their opinions onto me as fact and the tail wagging the dog strikes again.

They wonder why people are switching off their TVs - I did so a long time ago and so it makes me laugh when the newspapers state that so and so has been accused of being "X" as I haven't got a clue who these people are and that's great - it kills a conversation off nicely when you hear some sort of whinge and you just say "Who?" 

I am glad I no longer watch the TV any more - it looks like it infested with people who probably have to be told which way to sit on a toilet!

Some People

 Don't react like you'd think they would.  I've done a big favour for someone and I've asked to review what happens next.  Favour was meant to last a year, it's now 16 months and I'm still doing whatever it is I'm doing.

You'd have thought that I was some sort of evil mastermind the way I got treated.  It's the wrong time, look at what I've done for you (yet I'm the one doing the favour) and so on.

It's irritating for sure and makes me question helping people out but that's what I do and I've done it before and no doubt will do it again.  I can't help but feeling that as has happened in the past, I get the kick in the teeth for being kind and helpful!  You can't win and it is just so disappointing that we cannot have a grown up conversation and deal with it, it's not as if I'm asking for the favour back!

These Things Happen

 Accidents happen, things get broken, humans make mistakes and it happens to everyone.

It's a fact of life that things go wrong, perhaps service isn't quite up to standard, things break and delays to deliveries happen.  But is there any need to get angry and annoyed and stressed out about them?

We had an incident with a meal at a restaurant where there was a dead Slug in one of our dishes.  We got the staff member to come over, don't rant and rave about it, point out the obvious issue with the food and then see what the resolution will be.  The Manager was horrified (rightly so) and took the meal away, offered a replacement free of charge and also not pay for the spoiled meal either.  Let's face it, they had one job, they failed to deliver and they sorted it out straight away.  We dealt calmly with the situation, they dealt professionally with it and they apologised and offered a speedy resolution that we were happy with.

This is exactly the way to deal with all such things and we would have got nowhere by making a big fuss in the restaurant in front of other customers and neither was that have been necessary because things like this happen despite our best efforts things do go wrong.  So why do some people explode into a rage when the smallest thing goes wrong?  Well, I'll let you read about that in 'A New Earth' by Eckhart Tolle who witnessed one such problem when he was out once.  

I imagine Chef got a bollocking for turning out a Vegetarian Dish with "protein" in it LOL.  I also imagine that they would have looked to have a process in place to resolve the issue in the future.  It was a costly mistake and can have repercussions on the reputation of the establishment.  When I paid the bill I also made sure that I went to see the manager, thanked her for resolving things quickly and gave a tip to the staff who served us - it wasn't their fault and they dealt well with a situation I doubt happens a lot.  If you are dealt with properly, it is only courteous and good manners to recognise their actions (and their obvious embarrassment) and reassure them that all is well.

I remembered "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone" and to my mind, not enough people stop, take a breath, count to 10 slowly and then open their mouths.  You often hear people ranting on and getting all heated and about what exactly?  What did they resolve?  Often they make themselves look ignorant, stupid, thick idiots they truly are.  

Yelling and shouting never leads to a satisfactory outcome in these cases.  Calmness and logical discussion will resolve it and when you are calm you can actually formulate good cases for problems to be resolved in your favour.  Some equipment I had has gone wrong and I was offered (because it is just out of warranty) a replacement at a discount.  The question was though, if the item I had now failed just outside of warranty, what guarantee would they provide that replacing it with an identical item would return a better outcome than what has already resulted from using identical equipment?   So now I have a different resolution by asking a quite obvious question that in the heat of the moment may have been missed by me.  I've now been offered upgraded items at a much greater discount.  I could argue about the Specification and all that but it is just out of warranty and that wouldn't get me anywhere.  

Sh1t happens as they say, all we need to do is to deal with it rationally and thoughtfully and also realise that we are dealing with a fellow human who (if it is there fault) may be embarrassed about it.  Always put yourself in their shoes and treat them how you would want to be treated.  

Make up your mind

 Tinnitus that is.   It's back, not loud but back but then I've not been well for a few days and it is possibly because of this weird head cold.   I'm pretty certain I got it like a chill as I was outside enjoying a sunny afternoon when a squall came through and dumped rain and then hail onto me and with it a bitterly cold wind for around 10 to 15 minutes and I wasn't anywhere near shelter so just had to ride it out.

Once I'd dried out, driven home and gone to bed then I really had a bad night's sleep, a dry throat requiring lots of liquid and a deep around-your-eyes sort of headache.  Getting up, I went downstairs and I slept for two days and didn't eat for almost all that time and just sweated it out with some Lemsips and plenty of water.

Just about OK now but the tinnitus has returned albeit it in the distance, nowhere near as loud as it used to be.

Note to self if going out enjoying the riverside and spring sun, remember that this is the UK and it's as likely to be four seasons in a day as it is to be fine!

Letting YOur Guard Down Unsteady Progress

 Mmm, Tinnitus came back last night and this morning and whilst I've sort of half fixed it, it isn't responding to the treatments for some reason.  It could be that I am a little uptight again today and I shouldn't need to be but things just happen like that occasionally and you've got to just work your way past them.

I find that the silliest things can throw me off course and then I have to settle myself down and reset my mind and I can move on from there.

I have a problem with stupidity, nonscientific people and lying, especially the bare-faced stuff that politicians and the media do.  I should just ignore it of course.

When people ignore data and try and ram stuff down your throat to suit their point of view, it isn't particularly a good thing.  How we can kowtow to a small minority who think that men are women and women are men is frankly bizarre.  If you watch any programme where archaeology is involved and they dig up a Skeleton guess what?  They have never said oh this is a woman's skeleton but it was actually a male!  There are huge differences and the pelvic area should give a clue.  But no, someone got all bitter and twisted yesterday because it was pointed out that they were biologically male or female, I don't recall now which it was.  SO I use the word "pretend" in place of "identify as" as it means pretty much the same thing.

And don't you find that someone who pretends to be something else, like an actor, wants me to change the way I behave, live my life and wants me to address them with their particular pronouns?  Back in my day that would get you a right lumping.  I just want all these people to leave me the f**k alone so I can get on with my life and I want the press to stop placing these 1 percenters front and centre on TV newspapers, no wonder so many of us are switching off, which I now do regularly and leave the room when the "news" is on.  It's all utter crap and the reporting is pathetic and so obviously one-sided.  Whatever happened to presenting me with facts I make up my own mind.  Now you are presented with their facts and opinions and you need to subscribe to their point of view only.

So, enough of that.  I've come here to rant and get it off my chest.  I now need to get on with something, anything really as I'm afraid today has just gone west and I've got little achieved.