Vegas & The Aftermath - Diary

[redsimon]

Turning now to more serious matters, a very reliable source - I might even call him a mint source - told me a few days ago that Dave Colclough is or was quite unwell.

He lives in the Philippines these days, but the story went that he was very unwell, & needed to return to the UK for urgent treatment.

I don't have Facebook, but I'd be surprised if Dave does not, so if anyone could check it out, or has any news of him I'd be most grateful. 

Undergoing chemo according to his sister on fb.

[Karabiner]

Turning now to more serious matters, a very reliable source - I might even call him a mint source - told me a few days ago that Dave Colclough is or was quite unwell.

He lives in the Philippines these days, but the story went that he was very unwell, & needed to return to the UK for urgent treatment.

I don't have Facebook, but I'd be surprised if Dave does not, so if anyone could check it out, or has any news of him I'd be most grateful. 

Undergoing chemo according to his sister on fb.

Terrible news, I hope he gets through this.

[tikay]

Turning now to more serious matters, a very reliable source - I might even call him a mint source - told me a few days ago that Dave Colclough is or was quite unwell.

He lives in the Philippines these days, but the story went that he was very unwell, & needed to return to the UK for urgent treatment.

I don't have Facebook, but I'd be surprised if Dave does not, so if anyone could check it out, or has any news of him I'd be most grateful. 

Undergoing chemo according to his sister on fb.

Thanks Simon.

That sort of fits the info I was given.

Terrible, terrible news.

Good vibes mustered, & I hope he is soon fully recovered.

If you see or hear any more, can you let us know, please?

[tikay]

Today is the day that the kids get their A Level results.

We can bet the shop, then, that every newspaper tomorrow will feature staged photographs of excited groups of kids who have done well, clutching the letter & jumping for joy. It's as corny as Olympic Gold Medal winners biting the medal, footballers kissing the trophy, or poker players holding up the winning cards over a mountainous pile of chips.

To those winners, genuinely, well done. Working hard & doing well at school is a great foundation for life, & I wish I had done either, but I did not, & spent the rest of my life paying the bill.

When I see those photos, I always think of those who failed, failing is not always lack of effort, some folks are just not as bright as others, but it does not make them lesser people in any way. I certainly don't subscribe to the view that successful or intelligent folks are any better than anyone else necessarily.   

There have been, in my life, a number of days I will never forget, over & above anything else. When we lose our parents, of course, that is a day(s) we never ever forget.

In my top ten "worst days of my life" was the day I failed my 11 plus. I was a bit backward, shy & introvert, but I had 3 mates who lived in the same street, & I got on great with them, so much so that my stammer went away when I was with them, then returned when I was not with them.   

And you can see where this is going - they all passed, & I failed. Ugh at that memory, & from that very day onwards, life was never the same.

What made it worse is that we all lived a few doors apart in the same street.

Soon, they had their spanking new Grammar School Uniforms, & I had my losers Comprehensive School uniform.

And so I tried to avoid them from then on, instead of walking to school with them every day, I went the other way so as to avoid embarrassment. I never spoke to them from that day to this, & I can still remember their names, Raymond Chillingsworth, Barry Hancock & John Edwards.   

Being a thicko sucks, but the newspaper & Media rubs must really hurt those who failed.

I don't have an ounce of resentment to those who passed, I really don't, but spare a thought for those who failed, often through no fault of their own, due to upbringing etc.



   

[Doobs]

Today's banker

Daily mail pictures of attractive young white girls with exam passes 100%

Daily mail pictures of males, ugly girls, black girls, failures with exam certificates 0%

If only someone would offer odds.

The only possible downside is if they find some failing inner city school which they can illustrate by girls in hijabs.

[doubleup]

Daily mail bbc pictures of attractive young white girls with exam passes 100%

fixed

[MANTIS01]

If I were to express a preference I would like to see pictures of attractive girls rather than ugly girls. What's wrong with that? In fact my preference would be for pictures of naked intelligent attractive girls all frolicking around waving their exam results in the air. So don't really understand the point. Is my preference supposed to be for fat ugly stupid munters in Black Sabbath t-shirts? Well it's not! May God strike me down for my terrible attitude.

[tikay]

When was the last time you wrote a cheque?

We used to carry our cheque book everywhere, & go through a cheque book in about a month.

I can't remember the last time I wrote a cheque, can't even remember where my cheque book is. Strange how something which was part of everyday life disappeared so quickly & quietly.

About the only time we see cheques these days is those comedy cheques in promotions, lottery winners & that sort of thing.

It was always such a pain to record the details of the cheque in that tiny little stub on the left hand side, too.  

[tikay]

I was reminded of this by a note from someone yesterday, after I sent him a small payment via Online Banking.

Despite it being a Saturday, the money showed in his account instantly, (& presumably left mine) the moment I sent it.

It was only £20 or so, but in the days of cheques, I'd write him a cheque, then take it down the post box the next morning. He'd get it a day or two later, post it to his bank, & they'd then take 3 or 5 working days to clear it. Used to take about a week in all.

Now, money moves around in real time.

That old excuse "the cheques in the post" is no good now, either. Think most of us must have used that line a few times.

We could also post date cheques to delay payment, or "accidentally" put last year's date on it, forget to sign it, spell the person's name incorrectly, da de da. We could ring the bank & stop cheques, too. So many dodges.

RIP the cheque book. 

A mate of mine - long standing blonde - banks with Coutts, & when he sends me money, he always mentions that. Status symbol, like a white Beemer I guess.   



   

[tikay]

Now we use plastic for almost everything.

When credit & debit cards arrived, shops used to use a sort of "swipe" credit card reader like the one below, & then they gave you a sort of flimsy bit of greaseproof paper stuff as the receipt.

Now we just wave the card at a card-reader & that's it, job done.

[MANTIS01]

Plastic will soon be redundant as well because lots of people are paying with their phones these days, their bloody phones! Phones have become more important than life itself now. I know if I lose mine, even for a second, I am panic stricken.

Had a guy pay for club membership with his phone yesterday.

On a more serious note he was a massive 6ft plus geezer, loomed over the counter. Taking his details I ask for his date of birth...he goes "two thousand and"....and I'm like I'll stop you there kid, wtf are you talking about?!?

Recently I'm encountering a lot of tall adult looking people who are supposedly born in two thousand and something and tbh I think it's just ridiculous.   

[Rod Paradise]

Had the pleasant surprise of finding an article about my dad in the paper today. Apparently the reporter called him during the week (but he didn't mention it). Haven't a clue how he got the number...

Click to see full-size image.

[booder]

Had the pleasant surprise of finding an article about my dad in the paper today. Apparently the reporter called him during the week (but he didn't mention it). Haven't a clue how he got the number...

Click to see full-size image.

That is terrific Rod.

[tikay]

Had the pleasant surprise of finding an article about my dad in the paper today. Apparently the reporter called him during the week (but he didn't mention it). Haven't a clue how he got the number...

Click to see full-size image.

Fabulous stuff, Rod, & it reminds me now of why you used to tell so many tales of when you lived in the Bahamas.

My Dad went upstairs a very long time ago, but I still vividly remember the pride I had when his name appeared in a newspaper, or even once when his photograph, standing alongside none other than HM the Queen on the footplate of a GWR Loco at Swindon Works, appeared on the front cover of a book.   

By strange chance, today I shall be on a train that goes past Swindon Loco Works. A million memories will be triggered.

Might even do a Tom style travelogue. Readers LOVE photos of Railway Stations. 

[tikay]

Whilst Tom's travelogue was mildly interesting and entertaining, as he regaled us with tales of derring do as he toured Europe on a hair dryer, mine will be so much more exciting.

Might even include some quizzes where you have to guess where I am, or was. Not gonna make them easy though, some bright sorts read this Diary, not just Mantis and Mr Russell.

Here's a starter for ten - you have to guess where I was.