List of mills owned by the Lancashire Cotton Corporation Limited (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

On Thursday I had a couple of jobs to do for an old lady but she had requested that I should arrive no earlier than 11 o’clock. For me that is usually a bit of a pain as I would have to sit around doing nothing for a couple of hours unless I was fortunate to have a small job locally to kill the time. People don’t realise the inconvenience that can cause. I could have been earning instead of sitting around but as it turned out I didn’t have any other work scheduled for the day. I had to return to a job I had done on Wednesday to receive payment as the client had been away from home whilst I was working there. Following that I had to get fuel for my vehicle and then visit my supplier to purchase some materials so that left me with a half hour to kill before I could go to the job. When I arrived I was greeted at the front door and then it started. She talked continuously until she realised that I needed to get on with the jobs. Even then she found it difficult not to speak but I found her little talks quite interesting nevertheless. I managed to do three of the four jobs for her but needed to purchase a replacement bathroom heater. I invited her to come along with me and she could select one of her choice and pay for it at the same time. We returned home and I had the new heater fitted in fifteen minutes. I ended up leaving the house after four and a half hours but the actual work only took me about two! All she wanted was somebody to talk to but I didn’t mind too much. I learned a lot about herself, her family and the history of the local area, a subject I am particularly interested in. Whilst driving to and from the supplier I was given the run down of almost every building along the route, what used to be there, who lived there and what businesses were in operation when she was younger. She was 82 years of age so she was describing what life was like in the area in the 1930′s. She could certainly talk a glass eye to sleep or talk the hind legs off a donkey as the sayings go! She was an accomplished keyboard player and had an electric organ at home, she was also an accomplished artist and many of her pictures were dotted around the walls. She also had an old wooden spinning machine on which she spun yarn for her embroidery, knitting and tat work. What was interesting is that she had spun a lot of yarn using dog hair!

Despite her reluctance to refrain from telling me every detail of her life I found her very engaging but by the time I wanted to go home I needed to go home! I took the rest of the afternoon off and went to the pub. I  treated myself to a hearty meal and stayed there for the quiz later in the evening.

Shirley Anne

Topographic map of the United Kingdom. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It’s funny how life works out sometimes. Once, long ago, I dreamed of living in some hot climate but obviously not in the UK. Admittedly it can get quite hot even here but it doesn’t last for months on end, more like weeks if we are fortunate. All interest in moving away from where I am now left me years ago. I think many people romanticize about living in warmer climes but not everyone actually uproots and moves away. In my case I had thought of moving to Australia just after my ex and I were married. We spoke about it and made tentative enquiries but decided against the idea not long afterward. Basically it was down to family ties and being able to see family members more easily. We just couldn’t tear ourselves away but had we thought about moving to Spain for instance I cannot be certain the same reason would have prevented the move. E and I are too deeply rooted to the area in which we grew up and have lived all our lives. I think most people feel this way and have no real desire to move away except for short periods such as holidays. Even the thought of moving to another county can be something of a pipe-dream. Fairly recently a friend of mine up-sticks as they say and moved to another county in the south-east of the country but that move was driven by personal circumstances and a need to be located nearer to London for person reasons at least for the short-term. Probably the move will be permanent for I see no reason she should think of returning. She will be able to plant roots and become an established member of the local community. I suppose we could all do the same thing if the wish was there. Sometimes we can be tied to a place for so long and then not be in a position to move even if we wanted to. At this moment in my life I have no such desire to move away from my present location. It is a question of being contented and happy living where we do but when we are not and there is a specific need to move away many find they have no other choice but to move. Breaking the ties to a place can be difficult for some but others have no difficulty whatsoever. To be truthful I think we can all grow to like a new place and be quite happy moving elsewhere but I don’t think we ever forget our roots.

Shirley Anne

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Retirement (Photo credit: Tax Credits)

Over the past few months I have written often about retirement. My attitude is one of fear, not having anything to do would drive me nuts so if and when I retire I would need plenty of things to occupy my time. I say ‘if’ I retire, it may be that I end up dying on the job! Well that wouldn’t be so bad but I’d rather go to sleep one night and simply not wake up the following morning. I guess most of us would like it that way, painless and without worry. At this moment in time I have only my work to keep me occupied for the majority of my day but even that is usually kept to the morning only with just the odd days work lasting into the afternoon. The jobs I have planned at home are on hold. Yes I play my guitar to keep myself occupied but that is for pleasure and is limited to between one and two hours each day depending on how I am feeling.  I exercise on my treadmill and go for walks sometimes. I go to the pub to socialize or go out dining once or twice weekly too but these things are not done every day and there is still an enormous amount of time left. If I was to stop working I am not sure how I could fill all the extra hours. I don’t live to work but I do like working and after almost fifty years doing so it will be difficult to simply stop. I had two colleagues die soon after they retired which may have been due to the sudden change of lifestyle but that isn’t what I fear, it’s the possible boredom! I do get bored very easily at times which could be due to my age. I never felt this way when younger. I know people who are retired and their days are spent in a very routine way. They do the same things day in and day out seemingly without much change. Now that would drive me nuts! I like spontaneity and that is why I like my job, it is different each day. I like doing things on the spur of the moment and when I am in the mood. That is how I write my poems and songs, spontaneously. Like everyone else I do have a routine of sorts but it does vary each day. I never get up or go to bed at set times, I never eat at set times either and do things when I need to or want to. The only exception to that is where I have to keep appointments either for my work or to see the doctor or dentist for instance and they usually upset the best of any plans I might have made anyway. So whether I retire or not is partly irrelevant, it is more important that I am kept busy so that I don’t get bored.

Ecclesiastes 2 (NIV)

²⁴ A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work.   This too, I see, is from the hand of God,

In context:

Toil Is Meaningless

¹⁷ So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. ¹⁸ I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. ¹⁹ And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool?   Yet he will have control over all the work into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless. ²⁰ So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun. ²¹ For a man may do his work with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then he must leave all he owns to someone who has not worked for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune. ²² What does a man get for all the toil and anxious striving with which he labors under the sun? ²³ All his days his work is pain and grief;  even at night his mind does not rest.  This too is meaningless.

²⁴ A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink   and find satisfaction in his work.   This too, I see, is from the hand of God, ²⁵ for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? ²⁶ To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom,  knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth  to hand it over to the one who pleases God.  This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

Shirley Anne

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A woman on a treadmill (Original caption: “Wendy Beeler, Palmer chef, runs on the treadmill in the one-room gym at Palmer Station.”) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Tuesday morning I got up quite early dressed and went down into the cellar to do a stint on my treadmill. I have been quite busy on the treadmill lately so it came as no surprise that I found my session fairly easy to get into. I usually spend between 20 and thirty minutes on the machine burning off plenty of calories but it isn’t so much the calorie burn off that is important as getting my heart to work hard for a time. This builds stamina and keeps the heart and circulatory system in good condition. For quite some time after exercise calories are still being burnt off as the metabolic rate has been increased during the exercise routine. It’s like having a breakfast without the calories! After my exercise I returned to my bedroom to cool off before I could bathe. I watched the news on television for half an hour then bathed and got dressed for the day thinking I was going to be working. No sooner I was dressed I received a call to do an electrical job which I did around ten o’clock before returning home to cook the chicken we had in the fridge. It needed to be cooked on the day so I decided to have my main meal for the day once it was cooked at 12.30. After my dinner I got changed out of my working clothes and into something more appropriate for an afternoon at the pub. I just had to do that because I hadn’t been out of the house throughout the weekend and Monday too. I spent a lovely afternoon meeting and speaking with at least five people I’d never met previously and then with a few friends whom I see quite often. I returned home by 8.30 as I had to get my rest and sleep for a busy day on Wednesday. During my stay at the pub I saw many people coming and going, some dining out for the afternoon or evening and some just coming in for a drink or two. I love people watching, it’s a fascinating hobby of mine and I can almost predict what they will do each time they visit the pub. It was a hot and sunny day on Tuesday and many folk sat outdoors to eat and drink but I stayed indoors, preferring to keep out of the sun.

Shirley Anne

The Nazi origins of the Olympic Flame relay was one of the reasons why Barry Larkin protested against it. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Currently we have the Olympic Torch (Flame) being paraded by runners and others throughout the counties and countries that comprise the UK. There is a lot of hype surrounding this event as with everything that has anything to do with this summers games. It seems we, as a nation, don’t need much of an excuse to celebrate and make a song and dance over any event that we can in any way be a part of. This summer also sees the celebrations surrounding the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee (Anniversary), her reign over this and other lands around the world. Many are encouraged to celebrate both events in their own way. Now it isn’t often we can host the Olympic Games and a diamond jubilee happens but once in a lifetime for anyone. However not everybody holds an interest in either one or both of these things. Personally speaking I am not interested in the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and won’t be celebrating it in any way, probably not watching events on television or anywhere else. The Olympic Games on the other hand will be of interest for me as I like watching sport, well most sporting events anyway, What doesn’t interest me is all the hype surrounding it. I cannot see what it is that people see in looking at someone carrying a flame from one place to another but obviously it is of interest for some. I know it is meant as a symbol reminding us of the games in ancient Greece but in those days it simply meant lighting a fire and keeping it alive for the duration of the games. The practice fell out of use but was re-instated in the 1928 games in Amsterdam. However there was no precedence for carrying a lighted torch as we see today, that was introduced at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. So I shall be watching some of the events, God willing. I take no interest in all the surrounding hype and am not following the Torches progress around the country, not because of its Nazi origins but because I find it all irrelevant and boring. I will say though that the Torch Relay is the source of much fund-raising activities for many deserving charitable causes. In that respect it is a good thing although I feel charitable giving shouldn’t have to rely on such things but that is another story.

Shirley Anne

Cover of Summer (Seasons Around You)

The weather forecast for this week looks good, if you like sunshine and warmth. Although a couple of weeks away some are predicting a hot June ahead. I’ll reserve judgement on that one. Over the last month or so the weather in the UK has not been all that good with only the occasional day of warm sunshine so it comes as a welcome change to have a positive forecast. Worldwide weather patterns have changed since I was born. I can remember very different seasons when I was young compared to what we get now and this is due to the changing global weather patterns. We seem to be experiencing on average, cooler summers and less colder winters. The seasons themselves seem less defined too and we experience sudden warm spells in the cooler months or long periods of cool weather when we expect it to be warm. More recently much of the UK was suffering drought conditions, practically unheard of in Spring but not quite so much in Summer although even then never usually lasting more than a few weeks. This year the UK is hosting the Olympic Games as we all know and it would be nice for the weather to be fine for all the outdoor meetings but we cannot rely on that. In many countries the weather is predictable but here in the UK it most certainly is not. The best we can hope for and predict with any accuracy is only a week or so in advance and even then it can change unexpectedly. Flaming June? We’ll see!

Shirley Anne

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Zimmerman portraying a ghost. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When we were young we entertained ourselves by playing ‘Ghosts‘. We lived in a small prefabricated house that had only a few rooms and a small hallway that had a slight recess to an airing cupboard and doors which led to the bathroom, toilet, and bedrooms with the front door at one end and one that led into the lounge. There were five of us children but at that time only the four eldest of us could run about and play. One of us elected to go and hide, covering ourselves with a white sheet pretending to be the ghost and after we had shouted that we were ready the others would slowly creep out of the lounge and try to make it to one of the rooms before being caught by the ghost. Of course we were caught every time and ran off screaming as the ghost made ghoulish noises whilst waving itself about under the sheet! We seemed to relish the idea of being scared stiff! I don’t know why it is that children like to be made a little scared in this way or like reading horror stories or watching horror movies. As we grow older one would assume that phase of our lives would cease but in fact many adults love horror movies and horror stories and still find excitement in being made a little frightened occasionally. We hear of those who deliberately seek after the spirit realm and go out of their way to encounter an apparition or ghost. Whether such things exist is debatable but I do believe in the existence of evil spirits myself although I would not wish to encounter one. There are stories about houses being haunted and ghosts terrifying the people living there but are they in fact ghosts? Why do you suppose some people like pursuing such things whether real or not? If there were such things and they in fact encountered them would the excitement still be there? I would think not but who knows? There are some strange people in the world!

Shirley Anne

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Unusual Thursday (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

On Thursday morning I had to keep an appointment with a lady who lives a couple of miles from me. She needed some electrical work doing and she had telephoned me a couple of days previously apologising for the state of her house in advance. Now I work in all sorts of places and have seen almost every situation you could imagine when doing my job. There was only ever one time whereby I refused to work in a house. The house had been let into apartments and the task was to completely rewire the whole house. At that time, around 45 years ago, I was working for the local electricity supply authority. I visited the premises and immediately left to telephone the depot that I was refusing to work in the house. The house was an absolute mess, it stank of stale urine in most of the rooms, there was evidence of cockroaches and mice dotted about and how anyone could have lived there was beyond me. My supervisor came to see what the problem was and agreed with me that I shouldn’t have to work in such conditions and the job was cancelled. There has only been one other incident that came anywhere near that one and that was when I visited an old lady a year or two back to do some small jobs for her. I wrote about it on here. She had a house full of cats that were left to come and go as they pleased and left a mess everywhere, and I mean a mess! Her house was filthy and neglected too just as she was. I felt sorry for that old lady because she had a mental problem, no-one to help her and she refused any help she might otherwise have received from the authorities, although I blame them for not being more forceful in seeing that she got the help she required. So two very dirty households, the former being by far the worse. The owners of the first house were just being lazy and were quite capable of getting the property habitable whereas the old lady was not really responsible due to her mental condition. When I went to do the job on Thursday I wasn’t quite sure what to expect but as it turned out the house just needed cleaning out properly and some money being spend on redecoration. Her situation, having been divorced some years back, had left her financially at a loss with two sons to rear. Her sons were now young adults, one with a good job but the other suffering with Asperger Syndrome, never leaving his room. This I could see was a burden to her and the reason she found herself in such a predicament. She was struggling to get things done simply because she was short of cash. She expected my fee to be much more than I actually charged her and I guess that came as a relief. I took her with me to the electrical supplier to purchase a couple of items we needed to complete the job and we chatted much along the way. She kept telling me that it was so good to be able to chat with a woman for a change. I assumed from that remark that she had no access to female company in her daily life and was finding it difficult. I had wondered why she followed my every move around the house but then I realised that she was simply  seeking some company. I finished my work there and returned home for lunch. No sooner had I finished eating I received another request from a woman seeking help with her faulty lights, two of them were not working. I had planned on spending the afternoon at the pub but I went to the house and had the problems sorted out within the hour. It was around 3.30 before I finally set out for my walk to the pub. However, my next-door neighbour was out in her front garden and I found myself chatting with her for the next fifty minutes or so before finally setting off again. When I did arrive at the pub there were only a few people there. I bought my drinks and sat at a table facing the bar. I spent a couple of hours just sitting there watching people going to and fro. As people came in I was acknowledged by most of them as most people who go there know me either by sight or personally. I ended up chatting with many of them and then later in the evening we had the weekly pub quiz. I sat with some friends during that time but just before it was time to count the points to find out who had won I put on my coat, wished everyone goodnight and left! ‘I’ve had enough’, I said, ‘I’m going home’! Although I’d had a lovely afternoon, well late afternoon, and a lovely evening too, I just got bored with it all and had to leave. This is the sort of thing that happens to me sometimes and the reason why I lose interest and cannot be bothered at times as I have written about a day or so back. Occasionally, as the saying goes, my get up and go has got up and left!

Shirley Anne

Fred Neher’s Life’s Like That (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This past week has been far different from the previous one for me in quite a few ways. I am out of the ‘couldn’t care less attitude’ I had, I have been out socialising more, I have met new people and I have been kept quite busy working too! Life’s good as they say but I’ve known that for quite some time. All in all I cannot complain and I plan to enjoy myself even more in the future whilst I am still able. Most of the news I’ve heard this past week has been quite depressing, much like it has been for some time. I hear sad things and have to try to not let it bother me but for a time I find that impossible. A recent example was the family of six children meeting their deaths through smoke inhalation after what now appears to have been an arson attack on their home. I don’t understand how anyone could do such a thing but of course there is much evil in this world. Many good things have happened too I’m sure but it is usually the bad things that we remember isn’t it? The weather has improved too, although it is still colder than it traditionally has been at this time of year and there is talk of June being equally as cold! Perhaps this year is going to be another one with a cool summer but that really doesn’t bother me too much. It won’t change any plans I might make. On a more personal note E and I are still estranged as far as communication is concerned. It has now been almost thirteen weeks since we spoke. I have all but given up on her ever apologising for her behaviour which is very sad indeed. I have to get on with my life and not let it bother me too much although I think about it often during the day. I continue to pray for her. I think about my life and how it has changed over the years like chapters in a novel with each chapter different from the others and how I have had to cope with those changes. It’s all about being adaptable I suppose and making the most of each set of circumstances I find myself in. My life now is far different to what it was even a few years ago. Whether I consider it better, well I’m not sure I’ll answer that question.

Shirley Anne

Just Annoying! (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

At a clients house the other day I was asked why I was acting so cheerfully despite the problems I was having doing a certain job for her. My reply was that it wouldn’t make any difference whether I was annoyed or not, the problem would still remain and I would still have to get round it! I told her that I don’t get upset or annoyed with pretty much everything these days because if I did it would only be me who suffered but there are still some things that I find annoying. What is the point in getting all worked up over things you have no control over though? It just isn’t worth it. I have to say at this point that I have a page on this site dedicated to ‘Annoying things’, those things which indeed do annoy me at times but the main thing is I don’t get upset about them as perhaps I once did. Annoying they may still be but more of an irritation and something we all have to live with and endure at times. There is nothing wrong about having things that annoy, it’s how we react to them that matters. One of my pet dislikes in life are bad drivers, those who cannot handle their vehicles safely, responsibly or skilfully and those who think the rules apply to everyone else but themselves. I dislike aggressive drivers and those who think they own the road. Whilst out driving recently I came across a section of road, about a mile of it, that had a revised speed limit imposed upon it reducing the speed from 40 to 30 miles per hour. The change has been well signposted and reminding signs are dotted along the route affected so there is no excuse for disobedience. The road itself is a major trunk route between my town and the next one some seven miles away and is quite busy at certain times of the day. I observed the speed limit as I drove through the section of road affected but was being tail-gated by a larger vehicle whilst doing so. As the speed limit reverted to 40 miles per hour I increased my speed accordingly but the opportunity to overtake me was there at this point and the following driver couldn’t get passed me quickly enough. As he overtook my vehicle he had to exceed the 40 mph restriction and he then accelerated away at something like 20 mph faster than I was travelling which was 40 mph. The sad thing was that I caught up with him a half mile ahead as he was stuck in a queue of traffic at the next junction. I was in the inside lane driving through and he was in the outside lane to turn right. The point was he had ignored the speed limit and it hadn’t made any difference at all but it could have resulted in someone being injured through his negligence. That sort of driving annoys me but as I am unable to do anything about such incidences I never let it get to me. I won’t allow someone elses bad habits ruin my day. I got the awkward and annoying job done through persistence, perseverance and by having a jovial attitude to it all.

Shirley Anne

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