Steve from England

              Let us just presume that, for a moment, Time Travel is a thing .... not for everyone, just for us, we have the DeLorean, it's just us doing it. You can go forward or backward, no limitations and as often as you like. The first question would be, and really think about this, would you? You know, you might want to go back time, see a famous event, catch your favourite band before they split up, watch your parents get married or possibly just drop in on yourself years into the future and see how it all turns out ... really, would you? What if you had no choice, you've got to make 3 visits to the past, you're past, you can only travel within your own lifetime. I know a lot of people instantly think about this, they go back, stop themselves doing something really bad, prevent themselves getting involved with the wrong people, perhaps warning a tragically lost loved one and prevent their death. So many things happen to us in life we wish we could change, wish were j

I want (need) to talk about whistle blowing, reporting a colleague at work and my experience of it. Trust me on this, it's not something you would ever really want to do but, alongside that, how can you not? Perhaps we and I know I presumed that if we're ever in that situation then it's going to be the colleague no one likes, we don't like. That we are doing the company and other colleagues a good turn in 'dobbing them in'. What I actually found was quite different to that. I liked the person, they were one of the most popular people in the place and yet, here I was seeing something terrible wrong and not being able to control it. I decided to sleep on it, clear my mind and consider my options. I felt that if I reported the person my employer would likely act, it could affect the colleagues career. My career there had just started. I did not consider their career deserved to be damaged. I valued them enough to know that without the complication of me they would

So, anyway, this Monday I started training for my new job. I am really, truly sad to quit Brook House and look forward to going back for a visit soon. This job though is considerably more local and more money too. Though money is not my driving force, every little helps (thanks Tesco). I don't know as of this moment when I actually start working after this week but hopefully I'll know soon

Bug almost gone ... I say that because, it's like it really enjoys spending time with me. I feel like it has gone and then I am coughing randomly or my temperature is all over the place and then ... back to no symptoms again. Totally bonkers. It's still early days but I sense I am feeling the beneficial effects of the anti-anxiety meds and that has to be good. Not so keen on the side effects but, I guess I can't have it all. The time of work is certain to screw up the finances, not happy about that but hopefully we'll get on track better in 2018. I feel optimistic about that anyway. Me and Dennis watched the latest version of 'The Mummy' and, I really enjoyed it. Didn't enjoy quite so much the effects on the screen size when I accidentally sat on the remote requiring me to Google a solution how to get it back to watchable!

Am looking for something to get rid of this bug I've got. I'd hoped that a few days off then back to work would do the trick. But it's just got worse. It's been nearly two weeks now. I try and work through it but tasks I usually find easy .. like climbing stairs, are proving really difficult. I got clumsy too. Aches, pains, the usual symptoms of a cold coupled with ear pain. I honestly thought I'd burst an ear drum earlier but it seems OK now. Without being too crude, if it is exiting my body then it's most likely yellow :-(  Am just going to sleep until this is gone.

I had my first end of a life moment at work earlier. Those I worked with were amazing. After that, we just carry on as normal Not the best of times to be moving from a late shift to an early as I've not wanted to sleep yet, I have to be again in 6 hours.

Today I can honestly say I have never before been covered in so much poo! It was everywhere and anywhere. A simply helping out of someone seemed to have the inevitable poo outcome but, these are the joys of minimum wage jobs. It is a mystery to me how jobs like this with such a huge personal level of responsibility and, a huge amount of poo, can possibly get paid so little when other far easier and cosier jobs get paid loads. None of this is helped by it costing me around £2000 a year to get too and from work which means I work for an hour a day just to get there and back! Totally bonkers! Don't get me wrong, I love my job, it's just perfect apart from the location and the salary. After all, we cannot just forget that the reason we work is to earn a living, the best we can, it matters. If something goes wrong with the car I am screwed, I cannot get to work and that's not acceptable in any way. So, sadly, I either get a pay rise to cover the costs which will also help me buy

I have heard these words a few times now. Somehow things do seem to be dropping into place at work. It is just making sense and isn't so scary. What a shame it's so far away and so badly paid.

Every school report I ever had said this, every damn report from every damn teacher. It gave me an expectation of doing better whilst also a sense of absolute utter failure that I never achieved more. 'Could Do Better' has followed me around my entire life. I have not excelled at anything that I can think of. Not something that one could call a 'win'. I have no certificates which say I got somewhere, no trophy, no medal. Whatever I try I feel like I 'Could Do Better'. I was always told, 'It's not the winning, it's the taking part' ... it's an easy statement to make from the point of view of the winner. Taking part knowing that in the bottom few, if not the bottom, is not rewarding. The only thing the loser achieves is that they, by taking part, have saved someone else from being the loser. This is my only real achievement in life, I help others. I am sure it is appreciated and has been, quite likely will be but, knowing I might have done ...

There are places around the world I still want to do. Some I have done before, and want to do again, others are part of a set so, I really have to do them all. Case in point, every Disney theme park on the planet! I currently tally 4 so, two left and both in Asia. Asia gets three parks, Europe just the one and the US gets 2. I personally find that quite peculiar!  The Grand Canyon from the top. I have done the helicopter trip which lands down below so, obviously, I've seen it from the top but, I just want to stand there and look down. Palawan, Philippines, it just looks so amazing. Washington DC. It is just so iconic. Of course, I'd rather the orange peril wasn't the sitting tenant of the White House. There is so much to see in the city. Further on the list would be a return to Venice, so unique. I really feel I am missing out by not seeing Greece, Athens and all that. Los Angeles again because there was so much I didn't have time for (and a lot I want to do again). Aus

What happened? When we first moved here in 1995 we loved the place, were proud to have friends and family visit but not any more.  Contributing to the demise is the continued under-investment from Legal & General in the Grosvenor Centre and ridiculous demands on tenants meaning we have lost some really good quality retailers from there. What kind of centre management loses House of Fraser? The Disney Store ... cannot do a deal so that Ed's Diner moves in? BHS went months ago, the building sits empty still a demonstration of what is typical for our town. House of Fraser was replaced by Primark, we gained an upgrade on the store but we already had one in town. Ed's Diner would have taken over from the Disney Store but Vision Express just moved along to do that. Two Seasons has moved to Rushden Lakes and who can blame them? The council decided to open up Abington Street to traffic again, all it did was to totally kill off that end of town ... unless someone is desperate for Sp

Whilst I still wait on my DBS (security check) I cannot directly work but ... today I did start with my training so go to meet some of my colleagues. It was a good feeling. It has been 24 years since I did any paid work ... not that I am entirely sure whether I get paid for today but that doesn't matter!

Whilst laying in the bath I had a thought about a passage from Corinthians ... I had to Google it to be honest with you ... it's 13:11 and goes like this: When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I set aside childish ways. For years that worried me that line. I believed it meant that at some point it was essential to grow up, to quite literally set aside childish ways ... that's a scary thought for someone who loves messing about and having fun with people of all ages not worrying about what others think and then, in the midst of the bubbles my mind worked it out for me. All these years I looked at it wrong. It is not telling me to stop thinking young thoughts, on the contrary, it is reminding me of what it is that children think of. They want to be grown up, it is a dream to be an adult, to have the rights and privileges of being an adult. They don't want to 'just' be children. This is the chil

  I guess what I am meaning with this quote is that my brain tends to need to be exhausted before I sleep. Often times I go to bed at around 02:30 and fall straight to sleep, no thought process at all, just gone. My mind rarely settles until it stops functioning [caption id="attachment_2239" align="alignright" width="1004"] This, to me, applies to friends. I have found that a strong friendship can build and then, in a flash there is zero interest in me. I never know if it was me or if it was them but, I invested my valuable time with people and it wasn't worth my investment.[/caption] This is one of the truest quotes I found today Sadly I do feel this is very true. I acknowledge that I might just not have enough memory of the man but the memory I have is of someone who couldn't take the time, was only interested in sporting success and anything less wasn't acceptable and, I am and always was, so much less than acceptable to him.     This is so