My journey from here to there.

Saturday 12th January, 2019.

This week represents an early test for the diary and for the loyalty of my three regular readers. I really don’t have much planned so I may need to manufacture excitement at certain points, just to get us all through to next Friday.

I wonder if the person who invented the hat had similar thoughts going into the week of their greatest achievement.

Perhaps they had ‘nothing planned’ one day so decided to wile away the time by putting things on their noggin. At some point during the day they realised that this putting stuff on ones head business could catch on and, just like that, the hat was invented.

The lesson here is that, just because we think we don’t have much on, we should never discount the possibility that a quiet week might lead to a game changing invention.

With this in mind I’m currently writing this with a pencil sharpener inserted into my nostril.

It’s early days in the creative process but who’s to say that this exercise won’t end up being a prototype for the next craze in plastic surgery. We might one day put ourselves under the knife so that body parts are enhanced to enable some form of multi tasking.

In this case the nostril would be surgically reconstructed so it could be used to sharpen pencils as well as for sniffing stuff, tapping knowingly when we have a secret and for hanging spoons from.

Sunday 13th January, 2019.

It’s nice to wake up hangover free and motivated to get myself outside for a walk.

Today’s venue was Cannon Hall which is about twenty minutes journey in the car from where I live.

If you’re interested in this type of thing then here’s a link to more information about Cannon Hall’s history.

Cannon Hall.

I liked that it was a breezy morning. Sometimes the wind is useful for blowing away negative thoughts. It’s also good for reminding me that I need a haircut. Job for later in the week me thinks.

Buddy dog had a nice time chasing leaves and introducing himself to many of the other ten zillion dogs frequenting Cannon Hall this morning.

He seemed popular with most until a Jack Russell took exception to him and let him know in no uncertain terms that he wasn’t going to be Buddy’s buddy.

I do like a ‘tea room’ so we headed up to the cafe which is near the big house. Once there I was pleasantly surprised to note that there is now a dog friendly establishment next to the long established cafe.

If you decide to make use of the new facility don’t make the same mistake I did. Dog friendly does not mean you can send the puppy in there on his own while you frequent the posh cafe next door.

Once we’d finally sat ourselves down and purchased Buddy dog a bowl of free water it was time to have some fun with my youngest.

Me: What would you like Max?

Max: What have they got?

Me: They do a nice Alligator.

Max: I don’t want one of those (said whilst rolling his eyes).

Me: How about one of the broken dreams on offer?

Max: I’ll have a Fanta.

Charlie ordered a luxury hot chocolate.

I’ve included a few more snaps from our trip to Cannon Hall below. If you’re ever in the area, it’s well worth a visit.

Monday 14th January, 2019.

For want of a better phrase I need a few ‘mental health days’ between today and the end of the week.

I’m feeling pretty decent but, as I alluded to in last weeks diary entry, I’ve a couple of big business trips ahead so I need to top myself up with wellbeing juice in readiness. In my case this entails:

1. Swim one mile every morning.

2. Walk Buddy dog every afternoon.

3. Drink loads of water.

4. Early nights.

5. Avoid people.

6. No alcohol (until Friday when I’m out).

7. Eat healthily (not including Jelly Babies).

8. Write for me without stressing whether or not anyone will read it.

9. Less social media.

10. Employ some tough looking Bouncer types to stand at the doors to my mind and turn away any negative thoughts. Their names aren’t down, they’re not coming in.

I’m well aware of the fragile nature of my stability. Managing myself is akin to attempting to navigate a loaded tray of crockery through a crowded room without crashing into anything. It can be done but the journey is full of risks that need to be mitigated.

I guess many of us are like that. I know I’m not the only one.

Tuesday January 15th, 2019.

Big day for Brexit. At some point today there will be a vote, in Parliament, on whether to accept an exit deal with the European Union. A deal that nobody really wants or completely believes in, whatever side of the fence you’re on.

If you’re not from Blighty, or have been away on the Planet Zog for the last couple of years, then here’s a quick update:

The posh geezer who was in charge of the UK wanted to stay in the EU but, in order to stay in charge, he promised he’d ask some people what they thought.

He was convinced they’d agree with him but it turned out they didn’t. Because of this he decided he couldn’t be in charge anymore.

A posh geezerette took over and, although she wanted to stay in the EU as well, she promised she’d do what the people wanted.

In order to make this easier she called a general election in order to give her government a stronger position in terms of managing the exit process.

A bit like her predecessor she failed to understand what her people wanted and actually ended up with a weaker position than she’d had before.

She could have been turfed out of the job of being in charge all together if it wasn’t for the support of a few people from Northern Ireland who hate her really.

After a load of messing about she finally agreed an exit deal with the European Union. Although they seemed reasonably happy with the deal, pretty much nobody in the UK likes what has been agreed.

If that wasn’t tricky enough there seems to be several different, and in some cases opposite, reasons as to why the deal is so unpopular.

To be fair to the posh geezerette in charge, even though most think her deal is terrible, nobody else seems to be very clear on how they would provide something better.

It’s also uncertain whether all of the people that wanted Brexit in the first place still want it.

Some other people think all the people should be asked again but a lot of other people don’t. Both sides of the argument get very cross with each other over this particular issue.

✍️

As it turned out the vote to accept the deal was defeated by 230 votes. This is the biggest loss by a sitting government in history.

Despite this the posh geezerette in charge didn’t resign so a vote of no confidence in the government was called by the geezer in charge of the opposition.

This vote is likely to be won by the government and the leader of the opposition, who called it, knows this but he did it anyway.

The vote of no confidence will take place tomorrow but I won’t comment further on it then as I need a long lie down after putting this summary together.

I hope this little stroll around the Brexit landscape makes everything clearer 😳.

My 2018 post on life after Brexit can be read by clicking the link below.

Life after Brexit.

Wednesday January 16th, 2019.

Happy Haircut Day!

Before.

After.

Thursday January 17th, 2019.

The thing about sharing your thoughts and feelings in a diary format is that one day’s entry could be perceived as contradictory to another.

I wrote earlier this week that I was ‘feeling pretty decent’ but that’s not today’s truth. It’s hard to put my finger on why, I suppose it is a journey after all. Mostly I’ve done all the things I know I need to do to in order to maintain my equilibrium but it’s just not happening today.

Like all of us, there are things on my mind that worry me. I suspect I’ll write positively about my upcoming business trips over the next couple of weeks but I struggle with the lead up to things like this. For me, they’re very stressful and take a lot more effort than I think they’re supposed to.

How honest should I be about where my thoughts take me? I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think about suicide but I’m fairly sure I have enough good reasons not to go anywhere near there.

There is a very strong pull to make myself disappear though but, the problem with that, I’d have to take my stupid head with me. My head can be a pain in my arse sometimes, it really can.

I’ve been doing this long enough now to take the advice of pop legends Wilson Phillips and ‘hang on for one more day’ so the plan for the rest of this day is to give myself a lecture on perspective and take Buddy dog for a long walk.

✍️

Perspective regained.

Friday January 18th, 2019.

What’s this I see before me? By Jove, if I’m not very much mistaken, it’s a night out with friends to the bright lights of Wakefield City Centre.

Affectionately known as the ‘MerryCity’, Wakefield has, for centuries, been famous for its nightlife.

Learn more about the birthplace of Robin Hood by clicking the links below:

Wakefield, West Yorkshire.

Robin of Wakefield.

Although it’s probably fair to say that it’s not what it was, it can still provide its share of drunken adventures followed by a hot meal at the popular ‘Pie Shop’.

Down the years I’ve kissed a lot (more than three) of girls in the pubs, bars and clubs of Wakefield. I’ve been punched a few times, I’ve been sick more than a few times and I’ve eaten a lot of pizzas (pre Pie Shop).

I wrote last week about not enjoying drinking as much as I used to but I’m looking forward to tonight. There’s a good crowd of us going and I think it’ll do me good before my busy few weeks ahead.

I’m not looking forward to it.

I’m looking forward to it.

I’m not looking forward to it.

I’m looking forward to it.

Here’s how the evening will go based on the tricky customer that is decision making whilst drinking:

6pm-7pm.

Most decisions will be rational and sensible.

7pm-9pm.

Half of all decisions will be rational and sensible.

9pm-11pm.

I’ll get lucky with the occasional decision proving to be rational and sensible.

11pm-4am.

The chances of a rational and sensible decision being made is zero.

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Time to go. How do I look?

Thanks for reading this weeks instalment of My journey from here to there.

Munich and Bradford next week.

✍️

If you missed the first two instalments of My journey from here to there you can catch up by clicking the links below:

My journey from here to there (1st Jan-4th Jan 2019).

My journey from here to there (5th Jan-11th Jan 2019).

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