the big 100, My Blog reaches a milestone

I wonder what it is about the number 100, yes the 100th blog done by me, so how has it been. well during the last 100 blogs there have been quite a few changes in my life, I moved out, and moved back home, I moved jobs, had car problems, had plenty of rants about my frustration with life and society.

I have also had a few worries, and to be honest I have been tested to some of my limits, even though the things may have been trivial. I did find moving jobs quite trying, as I had been at my previous employer for 8 years, and I must admit I was very sad to go, I recall descirbing my last ever night as an employee, spending time just standing in the yard, everywhere I looked brought back a memory, The circumstances leading up to my changing of jobs came from various angles, one being the authorities hounding my former employer. Other factors was that I had let the grass grow beneath my feet. I felt it was time to move, even though my move was differant to how I originally planned, but I am with a good company. I also left my previous employer on good terms, and I know if I was passing I would be welcome to drop by.

loads of world events have happend in the time, and I have become quite frustrated with lots of things in life. Lots of things have happened which I do not agree with, and yes I will have my say on such matters. My opinions are exactly my opinions, be they right or wrong, and I do stand by more beliefs and values. I do tolerate other peoples opinions, I we are all individual.

So here is to the next 100 blogs. One thing I havent really talked about is my transport interests, not that I am neglecting those interests, but I do have times where I need to switch off, from vehicles and sitting behind the steering wheel. I do this be watching videos on utube, in particular music videos. I watch the news, and not just that broadcast on the BBC. Sometimes to get the bigger picture you need to go to subversive sources, and I make no apology for this, and I do feel we are sometimes fed news, as if we were mushrooms. You know, being kept in the dark and fed shit. I suppose, having a mind thats on the go all the time doesnt help either.

Some of my friends like to go bus bashing, ie see how many old buses they can see, see how far they can go in a day on an explorer ticket, and how many buses can be photographed in a day.

Now the behaviour of these cranks may appear to be odd to ordinary members of the public, but there is no need to fear them as they are mostly harmless. They even have a language of their own. I used to do it years ago, but now I like to photo the vehicles in my home city, the company I work for, and selected other companies, the rest of the time being sat in a nice warm pub.

I am pleased that the spirit of the basher lives on, and people are no longer chasing Leyland Nationals, Atlanteans and Bristol VRT's. Now it is Leyland Olympians, MCW Metrobuses, Leyland Lynxes. basically anything step entranced. Some good friends are bashers, and I would join them on the odd excursion, however I need to earn money so would sooner earn the cash, I have a car to run, and a Leyland Leopard to restore.

So I have a few things planned for this year, and I would like to open my mind even more to lots of things, maybe learn to relax more and be at one with myself, maybe recement some friendships and relationships. So there you go TTFN

Sunday 30th January 2011

I have had quite a nice day today. I ventured down to the Great Central railway at Loughborough with some good company. There were some rather nice visiting engines, and one of my work colleagues was firing the Great Marquess. I had some good turns including a ride down to Leicester and back in a compartment coach, I can imagine this carriage getting some abuse in the 1970's 1980's, when it was possibly used on the Football excursions.

Another little engine I quite liked was a little GWR tank engine, which was used with an autocoach, It was a nice little snapshot of GWR rural splendour. I found it to be a nice break from the norm, which is what we all need. There are big plans for the GCR, which will exploit commerce as well as the tourist markets, the biggest hurdle at present is to bridge the gap between the 2 railways, but this is looking increasingly on the cards.

End to end the enlarged railway will be 18 miles, and it is hoped at the Ruddington end there will be a link with the tram. So one day things will be looking for the tourist market, which helps the economy of the region.

I got back and watched the Notts County FA cup match which was a draw, now I am not usually one for football, but I watched it round a friends house, with good atmosphere.

So I am sat here writng this and wondering where my weekend has gone, well I did work saturday, so my time has just gone. Tomorrow is the last day of January, hard to believe I was round a friends flat to see in the new year, all but a month ago, one good thing is my dreams and ambitions are coming back with a vengence.

I did here of plans to sell of the forests to help the national debt, but I have a better idea, sell Downing street and Parliament, that will be millions saved, move the prime minister to live in a council tower block, and use the local community centre for the cabinet meetings,.

So back to work tomorrow, wonder what I will be up to this week?

TTFN

Friday 28th January 2011

So after yesterdays rant I am thinking how can I top it, well I suppose the scrap value from those nimrods could be put to use, but I doubt it. The gits will probably squander it, but we are only the voters, the tax payers, we are un important as we dont have millions stashed away in an offshore bank account. We dont come from priviledged backgrounds, where we are introduced to weird masonic rituals in the school dormatory. No we pay while the tossers play.

Alot of the problems are things coming to bite us on the arse, as a nation we have all borrowed too much on credit cards, and therefore spending money we never had in the first place, but this kept the banks happy, because they were safe in the knowledge that the money would have to be paid back.

It is becoming increasingly difficult to live, but maybe that is intentional, keep the people where they are wanted, and as this economy is in the shit, there are increasing ways for loan companies and scam artists to make money out of those who are struggling, if the people are in debt, then they will not complain, they will just take all of the shit thrown at them and be grateful of the basics. It amazes me to think that half of the tossers in government are from priviledged backgrounds, they are also millionaires.

As I write there are more protests planned, with people trying to bring the price of fuel down to a reasonable level, now this would help the economy, as most items in every home, have at one point been in the back of a lorry. With out transportation this country would starve and grind to a halt, well maybe not quite, but not far off. I wish these people good luck with the protests, even though they could be outlawed and illegal, and I know fuel is a valuable resource which is deminishing.

So what else is happening in the world, well Egypt in tatters, The Murdoch empire in a phone tapping scandal, well I dont like the Murdochs they are evil power corrupt tossers when want control of the media. Right soap box definately away.

So it will be Febuary very soon, once this month is out the way, it will be dark at half 5 with the nights drawing out, the weather getting better, flowers start to bloom and blosom, I can make plans for my adventures escapades and projects and that is not when I'm at work. I do have a burning niggling ambition inside of me, so I intend to channel it in to something useful. There will also be work based adventures too, which I am looking forward to. It is just a case to get the dark days out of the way first. anyway TTFN.

Thursday 27th January 2011

David Cameron, George Osbourne and the rest of the Coalition Government, you are all a bunch of tosswits, I have just been watching BBC footage of the Nimrods being ripped apart by bulldozers, what is disgust is that these planes where yet to enter service, 3billion pounds of our money, so not only do you bastards tax us to death, you want to make us earn less money, or make more people jobless which will put even more of a burden on to the tax payer. Times like this I am in dispair, you cant just blame the previous government, the problems go back to the end of the war.

So how the hell is this country going to defend itself, if it was attacked, goodness knows, but it will come to bit us on the arse. What is even more disgusting is there are going to be cuts in healthcare, so thousands of vulnerable people are going to be tossed to oneside. things do not look good for this country.

What is even more enraging is you could have a genuine person who has paid their dues, worked hard, paid their taxes, then they fall on hard times, an accident at work, redundancy, so they make a claim to be told they are not eligable. Then you get some lazy bastard, who sits at home all day watching Jeremy Kyle, live of junk food and claim every benefit going because they can work the system, this person has never done a days work in their life. Where is the justice?. This country is stuffed, society is wrong. No wonder people turn to the black economy, and that is the real thing that keeps this country going.

If this joke of a government wants to do us all a favour, then call in the debts from the banks that were bailed out, if they can afford to pay the bosses obscenely high bonus's then they can pay the government. But no it is pass the burden on to the tax payer. If there are any hoodies out there, go and ask Cameron for a hug, then knee the tosser in the bollocks, although he may enjoyit, because of his public school upbringing. right soap box away, and I feel better for that.

So I have been out in the Scania again, got to Leicester St margarets to find another Scania, just like the one I drive, but one slight problem. No camera. oh well, looks like a trip to Coventry will be on the cards. Some of my bus enthusiast are now taking to photographing and riding on as many step entrance buses, before they are forced off stage carriage work in a couple of years time. Maybe there might be a cheap Scania East Lancs Cityzen for sale then, no dont tempt me.

So it looks like it could be cold over the weekend, I hope it wont be too cold, but we will see. Just hope the weather is good on sunday.

Wednesday26th January 2011

So I am sat here writing this, and watching the Sweeney, I know it is ancient but it is a nice escape from all this wishy washy PC bollocks. The characters are no nonsense men who will call a spade a spade.

It has a great plot, usually a heist, a couple of punch ups, lots of drinking, maybe a scene in a stripper pub, and a cool car chase, usually a Mk1 Granada pitched against a Mk2 Jag. The sound track is groovy too, and you can tell where the influences came from for the Gene Hunt character.

Today at work has been entertaining, and I have been busy, more news coming in about the Sky sports presenters, I really dont care about this one, maybe they should not have voiced their opinions in a room full of recording equipment. However it was their opinions and similar opinions are viewed in the pub on a saturday afternoon. I do believe in equal opportunities, but people are entitled to their own views, however biogtted or outragious they may be. You know my views on the government, and I still think they are a bunch of tossers, but that is just my opinion.

I am looking forward to sunday, I am having a day down the Great Central Railway, it should be good, and I will be going their with my life long,(well the last 20 years), friend, Simon Bramley. Well it is now a month in to the year, and the nights are begining to draw out, So the summer is on its way, well still a way to go though.

So I have the 6 nations Rugby to look forward to, and I intend to watch some of the matches with Mr Bramley, well the England V Wales match, which is always entertaining. Anyway TTFN

Tuesday 25th January 2011

I am increasingly convinced that I am going through my mid life crisis, I know I am only 33, but in lots of ways I feel unsettled in life. Well I am still at home, I drive an old car, and an old bus.

I am also in a job I really enjoy, but I feel there is something missing, a big gap that needs filling. Trouble is I dont know what the gap is, I am not interested in a relationship with someone at the moment, that would only complicate things. I suppose there is one problem doing a job that involves your interests, you have overload, and it can be hard knowing when to switch off.

My way of switching off is to go on facebook and see who is about, I also go on Utube and watch videos on there. I also watch a little bit of tv, but I watch too much, If I do it is usually comedies or discovery turbo. Other ways of relaxing is to meet up with friends but to do this I have to pick the right time, due to my shift patterns. There was a time I was thinking of setting up in business, It was going to be the purchase of a couple of coaches to use on school contracts and a bit of private hire, I even got to the stage of approaching banks to get business plan forms. However, events of last year changed things and Iwas put off the idea somewhat. That is another story.

So as music and photography interests develop I think about whats in store.

The news made me laugh today, with the 2 sky sports presenters getting in to trouble for opening their mouths about women soccer officials,. It is the sort of thing you hear in most pubs on a saturday afternoon. It goes to show that there is nothing really in the news at the moment. It was reported that one of the presenters has been sacked. Oh well, who cares, it is only SKY,.

Other news is that the economy, has stopped growing, so are we in the shit, well the jury is out on that one.

One last thing I hope you like the picture for tonight, it is of Trent Bridge and was taken a couple of weeks ago, whilst I was out for walk at the Embankment, I took quite a few pictures that day. Anyway TTFN

Monday 24th Jan 2011

I had a rest day from work, and decided to catch up with some friends and the local scene in Nottingham. I had noticed a few weeks earlier that Medilink is operating a double decker on their free hospital link service, However it proved elusive, I had also planned to get some shots of the Leicestershire independant operators. However I run out of time and got side tracked, So I will wait until my next rest day.

There is so much I want to photograph, and it is getting round to capture it all, I also have some pictures on my camera phone which need uploading. I dont know if anyone has looked at my fotopic site recently, but I have added a couple of new galleries, one of which will contain some of my non transport pictures. The other new gallery will contain my railway picutres. There is also one for the restoration of the Barton bus I am in the process of restoring.

I also have a large quantity of photographs dating back to 1994, which are variable quality, but they tell their own story, I do have some of my very first pictures which date back to 1987, I was 9/10 ath the time. I hope to bring some of the pictures on to my photopic site in due course.

Other projects I have, which are on hold at the moment, is my life story, which I have charted my life up until the age of 16, I am current researching things that happened from that time onwards, which included the Britpop age, the rise of digital photography, the introduction of low floor buses, prominance of the internet. So it will be interesting to write, I am looking forward to looking out the photos from my collection to add to the project. I know I am not a famous person, but we all have a story to tell.

I must admit I am looking forward to the summer and the new adventures I am going to have, interesting times to come. roll on the summer. Anyway TTFN

Sunday Jan 23rd 2011

So how is life going, well I am tightening my belt for the first few months of the year. The object of the exercise is to put some savings back in to my bank, and pay off any outstanding debts from last year, which consist of my bank loan and some other things, which were put back, due to the on going events of last year. But we are all tightening our belts, as the country is going through its financial crisis. You are fully aware of my views on this subject, but when you have a government run by a load of public school hooray henries and sell out lib-dems, it goes to show how frustrated the nation is.

You listen to all these people moaning about the foreigners taking the jobs, but the jobs in question are the crap jobs, street sweeping, working as chambermaids in hotels etc. The people who moan are usually the ones who do not want to work, and are happy to claim the benefits. Simple solution make these people do the jobs, but it would make Jeremy Kyle jobless as he will have no viewers for his scummy tv show.

So we are nearly one month in to 2011, it is hard to think a month ago we were in the build up to Christmas. We have only another 9 months to go before we have the build up once again. But the build up is for easter and valentines day. Already the shops are selling cadbury's creme eggs, and lovey dovey cards, anything to extract money from the consumers. The latest thing is 3D tv's but technology is moving very fast so within a short space of time these gadgets will become obsolete.

So my first transport event of the year will be next weekend with a visit to the Great Central Railway, for the winter steam gala, although I wont be going to the photographic evening, I went to one of those, and had to endure the wrath of photographers if you even breathed while they were taking their pictures. My camera will be busy that day, as I capture the scene. My fotopic site is having a few changes this year with the addition of a futher 3 galleries, please have a look when you can, but the changes will be noticeable during the course of the year.

So I am going to go for now and I will talk soon TTFN

The weekend

So I am going to go slightly off subject for todays blogg, and I am going to write about city life. As I wirte this at some ungodly hour, the saturday night has turned in to sunday morning, and you can probably guess that the city centres will be full of people.

Some may have gone out night clubbing, just picture the scene, paying an extortionate amount of money to enter a room, playing music so loud that you cant think, to be sold watered down drinks at extortionate prices, So you are there, you are asked to dance but the room is so full to the point that you move 1 inch in any direction and you a stepping on someones toes, you notice the differant people, the dealers doing the deals in dark corners, they sell pleasure in the form of a tablet of a bag of powder. The girls who are looking for someone to take them home, but they will wake up to regret it. The lads out for a laugh, the lads out for a fight. That very loud group of girls who are part of a hen night party.

You venture to the toilets, to enter a squeaky clean environment, you can hear noises coming from the cubicles, maybe they are having a moment of madness, or snorting a bit of coke. you turn to come out of there are the the kind attendant has dried your hands for you, squirted you with joop, and charged you a fiver for the priviledge.

You go to the food establishment, which will turn out to be kebab shop with big slabs of meat dripping with fat, which to consume then you must be drunk, as you wouldnt touch it with a barge pole if you where sober.

You walk down the street which is full of noise from the revellers, taxis police cars, gangs of men arguing about what part of the wall they are going to piss against.

It is either a taxi or the night bus, the taxi will be expensive, so you take the bus, on board there is the gang of idiots at the back, who play chav music on their mobile phones, and get on the nerves of the other passengers, the mad lone drunk man who makes everyone feel uneasy, you look at him and think he is not going to last the journey. There is also the the woman who did not score that night so will hit on the first man who gives her the time of day.

welcome to A saturday night in a town.

I was going to use a similar situation as the start of my book I was in the process of writing. I must admit, I have been in this situation a few times and felt a little uneasy. It is not my scene but we have to experience it all I suppose. Any way TTFN

The rising cost of fuel,

Well this week we saw the fuel prices reach record levels, so running the car to get to work is getting increasingly expensive, it is nearly £1.30 a litre. someone has worked out that the unit coast of the petrol is about 40p, the rest is made up in taxes and money for the fuel companies. So what next, well it is going to cause big problems for transport companies, delivering alsorts, so as a result prices for other items will go up. My personal opinion is that this once great country of ours is financially on its knees. The trouble is with all the cut backs more are going to become jobs, thereby saturating the benefit systems, making the cutbacks counter productive.

Is there a solution to the problem? I dont know, we have practically given away all of our industry to overseas country's, so greedy companies could save on the costs. Hong kong was given over to the Chinese, after we fully developed it. So the cutbacks are across the board, but the ones who seem exempt are the corporate bankers.
Now I wonder if the fact that half of these bankers possibly shared the same public school dormatory has something to do with it? I have my ideas about but I will let you guess.

Now working in the bus and coach industry and also being a bus enthusiast sometimes presents a problem, bus overload, and yes I have times when I get home and I want to switch off. So thank goodness for the likes of you tube, and facebook, infact I like writing these blogs and find them relaxing to write, I make no apologies for my views, after they are mine and no one elses.

I must admit I do like my music, but it really has to be stuff from my life time, ie post 1977, but I do listening to stuff from other genres and eras. I'm not really in to chart stuff, I like to leave that for the teenagers, the times I took an interest in the charts past a while ago. I like to listen to stuff from my past or obscure stuff, usually found on albums done by indie bands, but I will listen to anything once.

Right, I am going to go and enjoy you tube now. TTFN

Time to formulate plans and finally bury those ghosts

The last few weeks have been fairly stressful for me due to a number of reasons but most relate to some of the events of last year, which I have said was quite a hectic year and not necessarily for the right reason. It is not really the time or place to go in to details, but save to say it was a very steep learning curve for me, and it was a case of one step forward 10 steps back.

I moved employers during the year because I felt I had to, inorder to progress in life, However lots of other events happened during the year, which included work personal and family related. It was a year of worry.

I intend to fully bury all the ghosts of 2010, and look forward to the future. I know i will have to be very strict with myself, and be a little bit ruthless, It will take some doing but I will get there, Life is full of little battles, and we all have differant ones, some seem to others to be trivial, but our problems are exactly that our problems.

We all deal with them differantly, some totally shut off to the outside world, become introverts, or they find something and throw themselves entirely in to that, be it work or a hobby. Then some do both, and get to the point where they cant take anymore, then there are those, who let events sprial out of control to the point they just bury there head in the sand. Things get so bad they just give up, and just carry on even though they really should stop. This could be related to going bankrupt, or a major business failiure. There will be a point where action needs to be taken, but that person just shuts themselves away, avoids the problem, even avoids the people who are there for them no matter what. This person maybe screaming out for help, but to proud or stubborn to ask for it. Yes I share most of those traits. So time to do something.

Ok, now on to positive things now, So what does this week have instore for me, well nothing much this week, but the weekend after I am off to my first event of 2011, with my good friend Simon of transport menagerie fame, to the GCR steam gala. He is going for the purpose of an article, I am going just really to experiance the variety of locos and rolling stock. I am looking forward to it.

It amuses me that as time goes on the spirit of transport bashing carries on, where people are prepared to travel miles to travel on a particular buses, and yes they still use words like "hellfire" and describe non bashers as Normals. I have had enquires regarding the movements of my employers Leyland Olympians. It seems they have a big following in some quaters, well looking back it is no differant from me chasing round Leyland Leopards, Nationals, Bristol VR's Leyland Atlanteans and Fleetlines. To everyone reading wondering what the hell I am talk about, they are makes of buses. So there you go, and if you want to know what these look like then you are welcome to look at my photo collection, just make sure you have a load of proplus to keep awake.

On that note TTFN

Do we reap what we sow

I saw a very interesting little film today, done by a canadian film maker, discussing the background of the assassin from the recent events in America. He was very interesting and went on to dicuss the upbringing of children, and the behaviour of the parents.

He used an example of a woman who was retiring from her job of long standing, who found a copy of a news letter that she had missed her daughters birthday party to put together. No one else could remember this news letter, but it brought tears to her eyes, because of the time she lost with her child to produce it.

So we are all guilty of ignoring the important things in life, we dont watch the kids grow up, we dont spend enough time with our loved ones, to the point that we regret it later on in life. We sometimes get so wrapped up in our own little bubbles, that we push friends away and upset loved ones to the point that when we realise what has happened it is too late to do anything, or we try to make things better but in the process we make things alot worse. It has happened to us all at sometime, all for differant reasons because we are all differant.

The things we chase could have an impact on things, where we work so hard to improve things and keep everyone happy, we do the opposite, we also lose focus to the point we end up chasing our own tails. This could be chasing that dream, that promotion at work. It could be to start a business, doesnt matter really. We all go on the chase sometimes and develop tunnel vision.

If you read my blog from last night, I did my own SWOT analysis, because to discover yourself is to look at your own faults in life and see where you are going wrong and where you could improve. I was so focused on several things last year, that I lost touch with events, neglected some friends, good friends and not out of intention. I was so wrapped up to the point time overtook and before I knew it the year was over. We all get older each day, and the time we all lose, we can not get back.

But there are two approaches we can take in life, and one is to carry on to the point we become bitter and twisted and blame everyone else for our problems, or we just try and stop, see where we are going wrong and try and improve things. A word of warning dont leave things too late, because you get stuck in that rut, and it is difficult to get out of. We spend life just trying to make sense of it, and life is full of opportunities, it requires bollocks to take advantage of these opportunities, and we certianly dont know what is round the corner. Life is too short

So maybe it is time to stop worrying about things, say sod it and get on with things. We as individuals are unique, we all play our part in life, and we are all part of that web of society. Yes there are loads of things wrong with this planet, well the way us humans have treated the planet, and the human race is reaping what we sow. The future is in our hands, So do we all want to be carry on and get bitter and twisted, we I would rather enjoy life, in the knowledge that when I get put in the box, I had done things. I'm not worried about the afterlife, life is to be lived

TTFN

Discovering myself. a sort of SWOT analysis

How many people have been so ambitious in what they want to do in life, and they hold high aspirations in life, have high expectation of themselve but, in the process they take on too much in life. I am guilty of this.



Fact of the matter I lack in self confidence and bottle a hell of a lot of things up, But I do have a dogged determination and in a lot of ways I get there in the end even though it might take a bit longer. Why am I writing this, well, if I am to truely discover myself then I need to look at myself and where I have gone wrong in life.



During the 2008-2010 period life has accelerated so much, to the point that I dont know where the time has gone wrong, I had a period of family worries, personal worries, So I threw myself in to work, which in retrospect was the worst thing I did, but I did it and just got on with life.



I tried to sort alot of things out, and sat down and started to formulate a business plan, to run a couple of coaches. I was at the time 30, and wanted a change in life at the time, I was making good progress with the plan . I had got a good plan formulated where I could get a good income and not overstretch things.



However, events of 2010, put a stop to that plan, and as a result I lost a lot of self confidence as a result. But the local industry was going to change, and with the forthcoming cut backs with the budgets the industry is likely to change even more. So during this 2 year period I have made lots of mistakes in that time, but we are all not human if we were perfect. It is human nature to make mistakes.



Now lets look at some of the good things to have come out of that period, well lets see, I got on to the facebook thing, I made lots of friends on there, both in the industry, people who shared an interest. I met some old school friends and even met up on a few occasions. So, I do have networking skills.



Things going for me in life is that I am 33, still fairly young, and fit, so most of my life is still ahead of me, I have my own outlook on life. I like to learn things. I am also naturally interested in the job I do.

And finally my threats are my own lack of self confidence, I tend to go off on tangents and get carried away. I alway try to be helpful, and I do find it difficult to say no to people.

So how many people look at them selves and perform a swot analysis. One thing I do tend to do is read in to things, which can be both a good thing and a bad thing.

Ok on to other things now, I mentioned last week I saw an interesting film on the internet, which was called the Collective Evolution, now one way to look at life is by taking your info from all sources as I have said before, several times. Some times you do have to look outside of the box, and not only listen to the mainstream, but also listen to the alternative. Some of the things they discussed was interesting. It also interests that people with alternative views of life and the world are branded as subversives.

We have had events in Tunisia, with civil unrest, the overthrowing of the president. A prison being set ablaze. Even wikileaks came in to the scene. The country had been a police state, with dictator president who was out of touch with the people.

It looks like the cracks are forming in the coalition government, with the Oldham By-election win for the Labour government, there is alot of people disillusioned with the current administration. I still cant really stand any of them, and I personally vote for independant candidates when the elections come round, infact if the voting choice was the mainstream parties and a blob of slime, well the blob of slime will get my vote. Alot of people my age dont vote, and do not trust politicians, well when you have had several decades of crap governments are you surprised. Stay tuned for more of my thoughts and for now I will say TTFN

Interesting times are afoot,

This is going to be a shorter blog tonight, the one last night start off as a short on and I got carried away.

I found an interesting thing on you tube, well a friend found it and I looked at it, and it basically said that writing is an ideal was of reducing stress, getting over a loss, coping with depression, and dealing with life. It helps some of your skills, and teaches you to be analytical, as you proof read things and alter them.

There was a programme on TV last night, about the use of social networking sites, by people wishing to groom young kids. Now These sites started off innocently, as a way to getting touch with old friends from school, now a good thing in principle, but old bullies could use it as means to open up old wounds. The trouble is kids go on these sites to keep up with their mates, and so do the likes of peadophiles and other unscrupulous people use the sites to groom the said kids.

My use of Facebook, I do have a Myspace account but rarely use, is purely to communicate with people and maybe post the odd video. I post this blog as a matter of cause. just goes to show that things become open to abuse.

Another I like to do during my evenings is look things up, read about world events, and watch music videos on You tube, this helps take my mind off the steering wheel at night, which what is needed some days, especially if you have had a stressful day on the road, or stuck in heavy traffic. The more obscure things I find the better, only this evening I found some rave and acid house music videos from the early 1990's. Now some people bang on about the 60's being a classic time, but the 1980's and 1990's for me is pure nostalgia. As a young kid I would spend my sunday afternoons taping the songs I liked off the radio, yes I know copyright theft, but we all did it back then, and try explaining copyright infrngements to a 10 year old.

As I said It is a short one tonight, so TTFN.

Monday 10th january 2011

We enter the second, full week of the new year, life is getting back to normal, the one show and inside out is back on the tv. Eastenders is carrying on with its morbid storyline, so it is a very normal day. I have had a day of driving a Leyland Olympian followed by a Volvo. It is a new year and my mind are on trying new things this year, first I need to get the first few weeks out the way, which are always financially tight.

It is a tight time for the coach industry, as there is a slump in the Private hire market. A couple of coach firms have already gone bust this year, Diamond Holidays of South Wales is the most notable casualty. Things will pick up in March when the touring season starts.

My attempt at Landscape photography is a new approach to things, I suppose I have a bit of an interest, and to be honest I do like a nice picture, I suppose we all do. With digital photography, things are made easy by the fact that no film needs to be purchased, processed, and the only thing you need is a bit of software to improve the pictures, not compulsory though. I am going to try and make more time for myself and my friends, maybe take in holiday this year, it is nearly 12 years since I went off the France to enjoy a months stay. Now there is a happy memory, and I cant believe that so much water has flowed under the bridge in that time.

To be honest I went to France to escape the jobseekers system, which I hated, I wanted to work at the time, but was finding it difficult stepping on that first wrung of the ladder. The fact that I didnt have a driving licence went against my favour too. So I saved hard and got out. The funny thing is within a month of returning I got a job at Dunn-Line. My career had begun, and I joined during a very exciting time for the company.

I have always looked at life and society, as a giganitc pdgeon hole, and everyone in society had to fit in to that particular place, and life was supposedly mapped out, whereby we start school at a very early age, and the conditioning begins, So we are taught the system, given the skills that will help us get the jobs to keep the factories going, ensuring that the fabric of society does not begin to unravel. After school comes, college, or work.
We are then encouraged to find a partner, buy a house, get mortgaged up to the eyeballs, start a family and live a life where we work hard, pay our taxes, spend disposable income on holidays and goods we dont need, apply for credit cards and basically borrow beyond our means, this keeps the banks in business.

As you can see this is the pattern of lots of peoples lives, and many live structured lives, but there are the ones who do not fit in, be it because they have differant ideas about life, these are the people who wake up one day and think, hang on, I dont want to follow the crowd. I dont want to marry, have kids and many other countless reasons. We need money to survive, but the reason we need it is because society puts alot of things around it, to be honest money is just bits of metal pieces of paper and figures on a spreadsheet, however the movement of it affects everyone in life, and people are judged on how much we have.

I remember studying Maslows pyramid of needs, which structured life in to a hierarchical pattern, where our basic need was at the bottom and self fulfilment is right at the top. How many people actually get to that point, where they reach their own shangrila? possibly not many. We all have differant outlooks of life, some people start families, some completely turn their backs on the rat race and go in their own direction, and good luck to them. Some will find sollice in religion. We all need to find the right one for us.

So at this point you are probably thinking that I am crazy. No I am trying to find who I am and my purpose in life, but constantly questioning it. I will never know the answers, but I intend to have an interesting life, yes there are many things happening in life that I do not agree with, but by questioning them hopefully we are improve on them. I like knowledge, and like to go to lots of differant sources, even some of the so called subversive sights, now take away all the talk about UFO's world wide conspiracy, the Masons, Illuminati etc, there is some interesting info out there, but I also try and get both sides of the story to get a balanced picture.

So on that thought I am going to, before my head explodes. TTFN

Sunday 09 January 2010

I have had an interesting film, it was called the collective evolution, and was basically question alot of the systems in place, such as Money, Education, politics religion and quite a few other things that make up the fabric of society, which could so easily unravel.

As I watched the film I heard that in the US a congress woman had been shot and critically injured, with 9 other people being killed, one of them being a 9 year old child, it just fuels my opinion that politics is a nasty thing at times and causes so many problems. One possible cause is some lterature that has certain, Senators and congress people being shown through the sight of a rifle. God bless America and its wonderful gun culture, the land of the free and if you dont agree we will shoot you. The literature was put out by Sarah Palin, that ignorant, nasty woman from Alaska, who probably is probably imbred, and has fantasies about polar bears. They do say in some states in america some people have 3 or 4 guns, sorry, a country full of god fearing rightwing paranoid warmongerers, hmmm. I'm keeping away.

I had a bit of a break from buses and coaches this weekend, well a couple of pics of coaches crept in, but I enjoyed photographing Trent Bridge at dusk, I really fancy developing my photography skills, to become a hobby within its self. So I have a week of work waiting for me anyway TTFN

2011 so far,

It is hard to believe that a week ago I was at a friends new years eve party, saying goodbye to 2010, and welcoming 2011 with open arms.

So what do we expect from 2011, well within days the government put up VAT to 20%, I suppose it is easier work out, and Osbourne is sharpening his axe. The sad thing is our country has been living beyond its means for a long time, as have lots of people. Things are bad, our industries have been practically been given away over the years, We are all to blame, as well as all governments going back to world war 2. Unfortunately to make things prosper, you need to invest, fat chance of that happening. Nope, we all need to weather this storm. and prey that there is a big fall out in the coalition government.

So politicians aside, and I depise most of them, I just hope one day we get a government who will govern for the people, but fat chance of that happening.

So not looking promising for the country, but anyway, not the end of the world, but quite alot of people believe it will happen in 2012, go on any conspiracy theiroy website and this is what they preach, along with the 911 being an inside job, princess Diana, and lots of other ideas, which may seem far fetched, as they say there is no smoke without fire. I like to have a read of some of these sites, not because I believe them or not, but because to get a good idea of what is going you take in every source of info, and not just the news brought to you by Rupert Murdoch, and his anchor women Kay Burleigh. I like learning about things, and you dont stop learn until the day you meet your maker.

Truth be known is when you take power and want to hold on to it you will do what it takes, look at Stalin and Hitler, but one way to control people is to make the cost of living high, the rates of pay low, and tax them to death in the process. You keep those people at controlable level. It is all about Econmics, and this country is not necessarily going that way, (although the likes of David Icke and Alex Jones will tell you otherwise), but the taxes are rising as is the cost of living certainly are.

Someone once told me it is the black economy that keeps this country going, and I could not agree enough. With rising costs, certain goods will change hand through the back door, and we will be look for that bargain, as us humans are a greedy lot.

So interesting times ahead. so I will leave you on that thought, good night and TTFN

tuesday 4th January 2011

Ok, a another daily rant, or so it my seem, just my thoughts, and there is alot of things going off in this world which I dont agree with, We have a government who like all governments before them made promises then upon being elected, went back on their word. Now we can all argue about the student protests till we are blue in the face, but it is going to put alot of people off going to university. Now here is an interesting thing, in Nick Cleggs constituency there is a high number of students, lets prey there isnt a re-election in the near future hey nick.

VAT rose today, and I am sure George Osbourne is sharpening his axe for the next set of cuts, and the gap between rich and poor is going to widen, his mates the bankers who got us in to this mess are ok, which is a disgrace, as far as I am concerned they wasted our money, which we all paid for in taxes taken from our hard earned wage. Anyway lets leave Cameron, Clegg Osbourne and the rest of those former Etonian tosspots, because of what I was watching last night.

I spent a bit of time in my back yard last night looking up in to the night sky and it was clear, and amazing. Seeing the stars makes me realise just how tiny our planet is, in relation to the universe, We would be a mere speck of dust, in a desert. Our little round ball we all live on is unique, well certainly in this Solar system, so we need to look after it. It is a thing of beauty, and I find it upsetting that people who live on this little round ball are so greedy, lining their own pockets, that they are prepared to pollute it, and cause problems for future custodians of our planet. Now lets look at it in this way.

If the conspiracy therorist are right and the world is controlled by families of industrialist, such as the Rockafellers and the Rothschilds The Illuminati, they think they are powerful, then lets look at in in this context, they supposedly control a speck of dust. Wonder how many look at it in this way.

Ok, on to other things now, Now car has been in for yet another repair, this time the front springs, I had originally took it in for a puncture repair. The tyre was found to be shreaded. So at this rate the only original part of the left will be the wing mirrors. One last I bought a new CD the other day, the 100 greatest indie hits, I must say I was disapointed that "Vapour Trail" by Ride and "Kill your television" by Neds Atomic Dustbin. oh well we cant have everything.

One last thing, did anyone see the solar eclipse this morning, because I didnt due to cloud coverage and snow. Anyway TTFN

81 posts and still going

Hello again, looking through the blogs I have written since august and I have realised that I have written 80 blogs, crikey, well the reason I started writing the blogs was to chart progress of life, but I dont like the usual sort of blogs where they talk about having cornflakes for breakfast. I was also angry about alot of events that had happened both in my personal life, and in the wider world. My opinions are my own, and nobody elses.

I will make it clear that I hold all politicians with the same level of contempt, however, there are some good ones, which usually are the quiet ones who sort the problems out, I dislike the coalition government, but I also disliked the champagne socialist new labour, which had the likes of Blair, Mandelson et al. Prescott was old school labour, and I felt he was a sell out. The type of people who get my vote are the ones who stand by their principles, and dont go back on their word once in power, because once you have it you want to cling to it.

So you add these 2 together, with general observations of the behaviour of people i encounter during the day, the standing back and watching things and taking them for what they are. I try to think outside the box a little bit, its a bit like being in a forest surrounded by trees and thinking I cant see the forest for all the trees. The answer is to take a walk out of that forest turn round and there you go, the forest.

I like a bit of controversy, thats why I found the wikileak thing interesting. Now whether you think the guy was framed or whether he deserves everything he gets, the issue does indirectly affect all of us. This is a small planet we all live on so we need to all get on. I remember listening to a song which describes the world and sums everything up. It is called Eclipse by the Beta Band.

So you add this together with other factors, and there you go you have the blog. I dont wish to offend people, no do I want people to take my every word as gospel, it is me, a tiny cog in this system, sounding off about things. I just want to make people think about things, we are going back to the forest way of thinking.

For tonight my thoughts are with the people in Australia going through a tough time with the floods.

On a lighter note maybe I could one day publish my blogs in to a book one day, dont know if it would be a best seller. only one way to find out. So here I am ready to go back to work, not really hungover from the festivities, but looking forward to the challenges of the year ahead. So keep smiling dont let the thought police get you down, and hears to another 80 blogs.

More thoughts

I have just been watching the news about the riots at Ford prison, and there was a comment by someone probably a civil servant, who said "the majority of the prisoner were of the new breed, who didnt care if they were in prison". this speaks in volumes to me. That society has for so long been dumbing down and listening to these Libral do gooding tossers who poke their noses in and say " you cant do this, you cant do that, you cant say white coffee because that is racist" etc. So the Asbo culture is growing in to young people.

These are the ones with a chip on their should, whose culture and beliefs have been imported from Harlem. Now dont get me wrong each generation brings changes, but when people are scared to say things to people because of a fear of allegation then it is time to say what is wrong.

I can understand people of differant generations growing up in differant times, such as people who grew up in the war and the 1950's-1960's period. But some of these thugs who were in the riot see a prison sentance as a right of passage. What idiots. All I can say is if these are our so called future god help us. I can remember David Cameron coming out with the hug a huddie and I thought what a twat. The whole make up is wrong, society is wrong.

Yes got lots on my mind, So I will continue, maybe the problem with society is that it is media led, with programmes like X factor, aluring people towards a false hope of fame and fortune to make programmes to dumb people down, where the real winners are the TV and people like Simon Cowell. So these young hopefuls have to go through heats and humiliation, so they can have 2 minutes on tv, then wait to see if they are voted off, by the public, who have to ring in at £1.50 a minute for max of 10 mins. Kerching. Infact in some situations this sort of thing would be money laundering and illegal, but because it is for tv then it is acceptable, and Simon Cowell gets his new Ferrari, I wonder if that is to make up for other areas where he lacks, wear your trousers lower and you my not have to make up for it.

I was at one of these shopping villages the other week, and saw the sort of cars polling up, Range Rovers, X3's Volvo cross country, ok ya all very posh. So the people getting out of these cars to go and spend lots of money on expensive shit they dont actually need looked miserable, to have money on this scale makes people miserable, or is it the fact that they read the media, told what to buy and wear, like the corporate lemmings that they are. Well I'm skint and do give a shit, I dont read glorified comics published by media barons who rule their companies with an iron fist, who want to spread paranoia to sell even more newspapers, nor do I read those glossy mags, telling people if they dont look like the models in the mag then they are worthless beings. Bollocks

We are all special, we are all individual we all have an opinion, freedom of speach, although some people would rather we did not, So the next time one of these do gooding liberals says you cant say that, just tell them to shut the **** up. TTFN

Sunday 02 january 2010

Greetings everyone, I gathering you have all recovered from the revellings of new years eve, I have just about. I spend the evening at my good friend Doms flat, and I must say Dom and his wife Clare are wonderful hosts. It was good to catch up with friends and see the new year in with good company. Midnight was marked with a display of fireworks and Chinese Latterns which floated throught the sky like illuminated UFO's

What the people below, the flat were up to was interesting, and they looked like they were performing what looked like was a Pagen ceremony with a giant durex stood up on top of a fire.

I did take some pictures of the fireworks but as I only have a few on the camera, and the fact I dont like to keep upload unless I have a good number, they will stay there for now. Dont know when my next real photo session will be, prob at the GCR steam gala next weekend, I think. I must admit that was orignially going to cover the King Alfred running day down in Winchester, but due to car problems and a couple of other factors, I am giving it a miss. There are some transport events coming up so I will wait for those. Havent really thought about which events I wish to attend.

I have been trying to sort things out for my Website, but I am having a couple of glitches with it, however there is a facebook page, which I am using to build up some hype, please feel free to look. Once the car situation is sorted I intend to crack on with the restoration of my Bartons Leopard coach, so it can be on the road. One thing I intend to do is take my friends out for a piss up in it, and show some of my friends that not all transport enthusiasts are note book carrying anoraks who get an orgasm at the next number 28 bus.

So I am now off to try and sort the car ready for work on tuesday. TTFN