“When I’m worried and I can’t sleep, I count my blessings instead of sheep. I fall asleep counting my blessings.”

I’m very proud to have been a teacher. I was not born to sell washing machines and feel privileged to having spent a career helping people and being part of their lives. It’s a huge honour. When mention is made of people serving their country, an accolade notably reserved for the armed forces and politicians, we should also naturally think of NHS staff, social workers, teachers, the police and all people in our communities that make our society a better place to live. With people involved in the military, the ‘service’ tag is fully justified but generally politicians exist to serve their own interests.

I have been nervous for quite some time to what it will feel like to be retired. My job has always been very important to me and it will leave quite a hole in my life that I will need to fill. It’s like you have been anchored safely in a harbour (fitting as we live in a place called Lee!) and now I’m setting sail again and having to turn my attention to some important decisions. It’s a fantastic opportunity but you have to be brave. There’s a requirement to continually look to new challenges and my worries of acclimatising to a decreased income are eased when I think of where Romy and I  have come from. As Bing sings, “When my bankroll is getting small, I think of when I had none at all.”

Thinking positively is an essential life-skill and has helped me to appreciate that I’ve had a good life with no regrets. The rewards of ‘counting your blessings’ when you feel low has never so better been illustrated for me than when dealing with the my present condition of experiencing continual hissing/ringing in the ears, i.e tinnitus. This ailment suddenly came on a few days ago when after listening to some music through some headphones, I couldn’t get to sleep due to this inner noise. The jury is still out whether I am suffering from a temporary block of the Eustachian tube due to a cold, virus or allergy or through more permanent ageing to the small hairs inside the middle of my historically shit ears. The permanent latter seems the more likely.

My initial reaction of panic to this possible irreversible end to absolute serenity and peace has been alleviated in three ways. Firstly by considering those who are considerably worse off by having to endure interminable pain and whose lives are immeasurably less blessed than mine. Secondly by using a fantastic website called White Noise & Co which allows you to create your own bespoke masking white noise that matches your tinnitus and ‘exteriorises’ it in Dolby fashion. This has meant that it is possible to escape the condition. And lastly and more importantly by the wonderful reassuring support of my lovely wife who is my strength and most trusted friend, advisor and confidante.

Counting my Blessings

July 30, 2015

Come to the Edge

“Come to the edge,” he said.
“We can’t, we’re afraid!” they responded.
“Come to the edge,” he said.
“We can’t, We will fall!” they responded.
“Come to the edge,” he said.
And so they came.
And he pushed them.
And they flew.”

Guillame Apollinaire

Many people suffer from’loss aversion’, they feel losses more than they feel gains leading them to pass up very favourable odds to avoid a loss.  Psychologically people feel a loss around twice as heavily as they feel a gain.

I don’t bet (often!) but once I put £100 on a greyhound called ‘Shelbourne Aston’ and followed its fortunes through 4/5 qualifying rounds for a place in the Paddy Power Irish Derby Final. Each race it just managed to get the last qualifying spot as many of the  favoured dogs went out. I noticed that in a one-lap race if two greyhounds brushed each other, perhaps when coming out of the traps, it invariably put paid to their chances. Shelbourne had a habit of leaving it very late. My now believing wife joined me in our local pub to watch the final. I told her in the car park, our dog comes from behind. He’s in trap 3 in the white, you can easily spot him he’s the one hopelessly last by the first corner!

We hadn’t a clue if he had won or not until they interviewed the winning owner who mentioned his name. £3 000 quid winnings for a ridiculous punt that makes no sense.

So, if your brother-in-law tells you on a narrow-boat holiday that he has inside knowledge on this champion greyhound. Get off that excuse for a form of transport, find the nearest village betting establishment and don’t be frightened to fly with something in Ireland that arrives later than Ryan Air.

Come to the Edge

July 7, 2015

Citizenfour

– “If they want to get you , they’ll get you in time..”

The astonishing aspect of Edward Snowden’s whistle-blowing is the absolute bravery and sacrifice of this young man for the common good. This is even more extraordinary if you think that he did all this despite knowing that his actions would inevitably lead him to be punished mercilessly whilst being branded a traitor. We must not allow it!

Governments, the law, the intelligence network and corporations are not serving us. All of our traditional institutional regulatory bodies are routinely bypassed and in fact complicit. Investigative journalism gives us hope and is doing what these agencies, often illegally, are failing to deliver. However, understandably and legitimately, that’s where the hack’s role has to stop and it’s now really up to all of us folks to take back control!

All wars are economic. One easy way to fight this frightening trend towards the attack on freedom and democracy is to immediately stop buying Apple phones, Exxon and Esso oil, to close your bank account with Lloyds Bank and JPMorgan Chase and don’t buy anything off Amazon, GlaxoSmithKline or that’s manufactured by General Electric. That should just about do it overnight. The second thing we could do is to vote, in numbers and intention, like we have never done before to give the clearest message ever given by an electorate. Don’t put your cross next to the blue or the red team but simply spoil your ballot paper – i.e.  ‘None of the above’ – In other words, we want you to …’Think again and come back to us with a better set of ideas and values’

‘The way they control us is to frighten us all the time. They frighten you, they divide you; men and women, black and white, christian, muslim, jew. Then they demoralise you – you don’t understand and they make you cynical, everybody’s a crook.

If you want to win, you mustn’t be frightened, you mustn’t be divided, you mustn’t be demoralised and you mustn’t be cynical. And once people discover that, then it’s astonishing what can be achieved.’

Tony Benn

Citizenfour – ‘If they want to get you , they’ll get you in time..’

March 7, 2015