More needs to be done on Mental Health

 I am often going on about mental illness and I make no apologies for doing it. When I was in my mid twenties I suffered what I now would call a breakdown. In those days mental illness wasn’t even mentioned by my doctor. I was just told take these three times a day and shoved out the door. I will never know how different our lives would have been had someone sat me down and explained what I was going through. The reason I am banging the drum again is I have just read two articles about women being murdered by their partner because of the stress of living under COVID conditions.

Mental health can effect us all and in these extreme times it is just below the surface and waiting to erupt. Yes murder is extreme compared to a black eye or a broken wrist. But talking about feelings can make a big difference. People like the Samaritans are there to help. Always at the end of a phone put them in your contacts 116 123.

Remember that “it’s good to talk “

The last ditch Brexit fiasco

 I have never wanted Brexit but the Brexit that it appears we will have will according to the OBR damage the economy making it shrink around 4%. Add that to the readjust of the Euro immediately after the vote the economic crisis is just getting worse. Johnson can bluster and put on a brave face, mop the brow of the electorate and say a soothing “there there” but even COVID won’t manage to cover up the damage done. Yes we will be okay in the long run but we are not some Gunboat nation we used to sit on the top table but Brexit will not be the one size fits all the tories proclaimed. Yes I put a small t in the front of the name, I can no longer bring myself to say the words. I voted conservative all of my life (yes small c) but Brexit has changed all of that, I am a paid up member of the labour party and until Starmer sorts things out I am using the small letter for them. I have just read a good article by Polly Toynbee in The Guardian that I enjoyed, if you feel so inclined click here https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/nov/30/boris-johnson-deal-betrayal-brexiters-no-deal

It just reiterated the way I feel about the shambles of Brexit. It has none of my anger towards Cameron or my dislike towards Farrage  but if you have five minutes give it a read.

Mudlarking with Nicola & British hovercraft company

I have always loved hovercraft since I was at school and once crossed the channel from Pegwell Bay in one when Hoverlloyd were in existence. Another love of mine would be if I was able to, mudlarking. My wheelchair 🦼 is not equipped to use mudlarking so I will have to make do with memories of days when I could walk and was able to search the shores of our coast for treasure. I never found much but each discovery was a real adventure. I still have fossils I found forty years ago! The reason for this post is Twitter, everything starts with Twitter, I follow Nicola White https://twitter.com/TideLineArt and often watch her marvellous videos on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDQbMQo87F0 is the one I watched earlier today and because it featured hovercraft I was hooked. Nicola had been invited to join fellow mudlarker Simon Bourne https://twitter.com/si_finds on a trip to the River Medway. All of these things and places are special to me I used to work and play in Medway over forty years ago.  This post maybe disjointed but I wanted to mention the British Hovercraft Company https://britishhovercraft.com/  as I said I love hovercraft and once built a model one many years ago. British Hovercraft Company are close to where I live in Thanet. They export the marvellous machines all over the world from Sandwich they are to be found at E: https://britishhovercraft.com/contact/ here is Nicolas Mudlarking video with hovercraft on the River Medway :-E:sales@britishhovercraft.comHere is the video click here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDQbMQo87F0 

Close run thing but sense prevails

 I try and not be bothered by American politics but since Donald Trump appeared four years ago I have found it very difficult not too. I have been concerned that someone with such a scant grip on reality could have become the leader of the free world. From the very get go the man had a different view on the truth and what surprised me most was the American public lapped up his lies! Here is a link to his latest tirade https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/nov/05/trump-record-lies-us-election

I find it amusing that Trump has yet to concede defeat😊 with Biden getting 290 against Trump only picking up 214 electoral college votes. Maybe it is a case of sour grapes our maybe he has trouble with the math, I think that what the Americans call counting.

Remembrance Day again lest we forget

 With each passing year survivors of the war get fewer I only have to look at my own family, aunts and uncles who were born during the thirties and forties are disappearing. Members of the armed forces that survive are now elderly. It is right that we remember the sacrifice made and I find Remembrance Sunday very poignant. 

My own recollection of Remembrance Day goes back to my teens, I recall cold frosty mornings watching the cadet forces parade at the memorial in Faversham. I remember a class mate fainting in full dress uniform and countless other details from fifty years ago. Yet this year due to COVID people up and down the country were unable to pay their respect in the usual way.  I would like to just say Thank You to all of those that have and those that still continue to serve in our armed forces.❤️❤️❤️

Bored waiting for Americans to declare a new President

 After three days and no result am I wrong to be fed up with waiting for the end of this election? I cannot be the only person feeling this way. I know American is a big place but surely they can do better than this? And as for Trump he sounds pathetic and he is the purveyor of ‘fake news?’ His diatribe about stealing votes really makes him out to be a bad looser, he has become a spoilt kid or maybe an even more spoiled kid. I am not a lover of the way we vote here in the United Kingdom and would love to see a proportional vote system but the US voting style seems crazy to me. Well maybe we will get an answer tomorrow until then I am going to get some sleep 💤 nite folks 😴 sleep 💤 tight 🛌 

The second day of lockdown my true love said to me

 “Do you want fish n chips”? Stupid question I always want fish n chips! As days go today was going from bad to worse and it wasn’t even lunch time. The veg box had been delivered the postman had been and the lift repair man was at the door. I had just got out of the shower and waiting to be dressed and Heather to hoist me into my wheelchair. I had thought today was Saturday but even Alexa knew it was only Friday so  that added to my confusion and despair, I wasn’t having a good day. It’s now mid afternoon and we have had our fish and chips with curry sauce, Heather went to Palm Bay Fish Bar read my Trip Advisor review here Cod and chips with curry sauce 😊👍.

I keep a journal 📔 most days I don’t write anything but I wrote Saturday as today’s date in today’s entry twice and as I said it is only Friday. The problem being now I am actually living through the day I thought I had lost. I don’t want to live in through this day but having thought it was gone I am slightly disappointed . My mind is elsewhere  and I’m not sure where it is.  Now to add to the problem I’m not sure That missing a day is a problem at all. I have just discovered voice dictation so this blog is mainly being written by voice and that in its self is Bizarre. When I was a boy even thought about typing by speech I would’ve been regarded as the Deranged. Buck Rogers was talking to Martians And firing laser guns I was flying around the space but now but now science fiction is every day life. 

The day I have lived through (Friday) has included a visit for the lift engineers.He came to fix an ongoing Fault with the door, he never fixed it But actually discovered what the fault is so has ordered some parts. We have had two orders delivered one by post and one by courier and also the veg box arrived from Nash Farm. Our fruit bowl  floweth over with apples and oranges 🍊 grapes 🍇 and grapefruit! And the fridge is full with vegetables 🌶 I can see Heather making more vegetable soup 🍜. One good thing that has happened today is ordering stuff on Amazon. Christmas presents to be posted And even a book for myself.  I’m getting better at this dictation I want to find it bizarre. So I apologise if this post is slightly disjointed but this could be the way forward.

UK mental health helplines

 If you thought a summer lockdown was bad for people already struggling with mental health, a winter one may well be 10 times worse - with cold, dark nights and limited social contact / please keep a lookout for your family, friends and neighbours that are struggling.

The relapse and overdose rate has increased by 30% since March 2020. Mental health issues related to our lockdown and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression.

Shout is the UK’s first 24/7 text service, free on all major mobile networks, for anyone in crisis anytime, anywhere. It’s a place to go if you’re struggling to cope and you need immediate help.

Text: 85258

Samaritans -Provides confidential, non-judgemental emotional support for people experiencing feelings of distress or despair, including those that could lead to suicide. You can phone, email, write a letter or in most cases talk to someone face to face.

Telephone: 116 123 (24 hours a day, free to call)

Goldfinches on the garden feeders

 Our washing line snapped a few weeks back and seeing it was only ever used for the bird feeders Heather came up with an alternative location for them. Here are the birds trying the new feeders. Don’t worry about the washing we have a rotary clothes line so no washing was harmed in the making of this video 😊👍😂. It seems the birds love the new arrangement 🐦 🦅 🦢 

 

Solving puzzles on iPad

 Yesterday my wife Heather downloaded an App for puzzles and I chose a nice winter scene, the only problem was that she clicked 500 pieces. It took me around six hours to get the edges joined up. I came back to it today hand after an hour getting nowhere started it again in a 42 piece puzzle. And? I got it  done in minutes, so 42 piece puzzles are the future😊👍😂

Mental health problems matter

 I am the first to tell someone with mental health issues to seek help. I have been on antidepressants for years and if for any reason I don’t take them for a few days I can feel the darkness gathering.  I suffer from Multiple Sclerosis am captive to my wheelchair 🦼 or my bed and I can no loner stand so have to be hoisted from one to the other. I am catheterised and awaiting a stoma operation. Coping with all of that makes me depressed I am not saying that as a Top Trump it is just for those reading this to get a little background as to why I have needed antidepressants, if I entered a ‘bad health pissing competition’ I would be a long way from  Top Trump. But I know people will read I have been on antidepressants for years And think why does he need medication to cope.

There I go making excuses for suffering from depression, that’s crazy I will never meet you and you don’t know me from Adam. Yet I feel I need to justify myself to you🤔. All I want to say is if you are suffering there is no harm seeking help. Don’t bottle it all up or hit the bottle I can tell you it don’t help. The best thing to do is talk to someone and if that someone is a doctor 👩‍⚕️  👨‍⚕️ male or female all the better. They are trained in helping. I am not as you can tell from this post. I am just a well meaning old man who wants the best for you especially at the moment with Covid and another lockdown about to start.