Three Good Things

I’m doing a thought experiment to write down three good things at the end of every day, that occurred during the day, for a week. I thought that I might as well make it pubic. This was from a fair few weeks ago. Sunday: My sister visited for our 3rd socially distanced Sunday gathering. I am limited in my ability to get anywhere so I am exceptionally grateful for efforts in visiting me in Harrow. We cooked Pizza In The Post. Granted, I burnt mine so I was eating burnt pizza, but it was fun and the start of my … Continued

James Went To Stratford. Upon Avon.

I don’t count my blessings every day, but I do count them at times. One such blessing could be that Covid-19 hasn’t affected my health or the health of those close to me. It has, however, affected my social life, my roast dinners, my holidays – in May I was due to visit Japan and were life normal I’m sure I would have had a weekend away in some random European country that only Eurovision Song Contest viewers have heard of. I was also due to go watch the cricket last weekend, England vs Pakistan at Lords. And actually had … Continued

Coronamoaner – Masks

I always get worried when I find myself on the same side of the argument as Donald Trump, so I was relieved recently when I saw him wear a mask – as I am against the imposition of masks. But why can I be against saving lives, I hear the moral crusaders amongst you ask? Firstly, I don’t believe that wearing a mask does save lives. There is much evidence against – albeit there is also some that suggests there might be a tiny benefit to others but nobody is sure. If mask-wearing was really helpful, then how come it … Continued

Coronamoaner: Location, Location…no location

A few weeks ago, well a bit over a month ago, I was really struggling psychologically with the whole lockdown shiznit. One of the main factors was just how much my world had shrunk, how limited my options were and how I was trapped in Harrow. Then the enforcement of facemasks came on public transport and I realised that it would be months, or even a year or two before I could go anywhere on my own volition. Why Harrow? Originally I moved to Harrow because my first developer job was in Amersham, and I wanted to be somewhere halfway … Continued

Corona Moaner: Re-Imagining Life

Lockdown life has become a bit of a struggle at times. I’m now back to my usual cheerful, jokey self and have been for 10 days or so, but I had a good couple of weeks before that where I was consistently really fucking miserable. I didn’t understand at first why I’d become so unhappy the last few weeks. It would have made sense at the start of lockdown, but why late May/early June when freedoms were slowly being granted? Normally in life I am happy most days, at least in the last few years since discovering purpose to life … Continued

Corona Moaner – The Monotony

So what happened this week? Well the same as every week for the last forgettable amount of forgettable weeks with absolutely zero chance of doing anything different. I just had to apologise to 3 of my dearest on a video call for thanking them for the highlight of my week – which was a beer-fueled Zoom call and the best Zoom call so far. Yet the rest of the week was monotony. Wake up. Before 6am. It won’t be long before 5am is a lie in…damn you sunniest spring ever. Go for a walk. I walk through this little nature … Continued

Corona Moaner

Ahhh I should be sat in a beer garden right now, sun-kissed, slightly drunk, wondering if the Met line will develop a signal failure and a tinge of annoyance from yet another average roast dinner. Yet my complaints are trivial. People have lost their lives. People have lost love ones. People have lost jobs. People will lose their jobs once furlough expires. And we will all have a host of problems from the upcoming economic crisis. I could say that I am lucky – I am in some respects though with respects to my job, I chose my career change … Continued

How Successful Is The Government’s Handling Of The Covid-19 Crisis?

I can hear you now, dear Brexit-voting, Boris-worshipping reader, about to go apoplectic over how I dare to even consider whether there should be some criticism for Saint Boris over this perfectly-handled response to the Covid-19 crisis? Oh wait a minute, you’re actually a leftie and still mourning how the country were duped into not supporting a radical programme of democratic socialism – of course this is nothing less than a Tory Genocide. It seems how you view Boris Johnson and the government’s handling of this crisis is rather closely related to how you voted in December 2019. Those that … Continued

Stockmarket Investing. Again.

You may remember that a couple of years I stuck my £5,000 savings into shares. They went up. Then shot down. I panicked and sold with a loss of £1,460.58. I concluded that my biggest mistake was to ignore a good friend who told me to have a diversified portfolio. I had 80% of my money in one company, 20% in another. My other mistake was investing at the top of a stock market rally – investing when they were overpriced as opposed to underpriced. And perhaps another mistake was investing money I couldn’t afford to lose – this was … Continued

Complaint – TFL. Again.

Oh back in the good old days when the worst of my problems was attempting to get to work and home from work. Might be a while before I have cause to complain again. And maybe I will just be happy every time there is a signal failure in future because I am actually allowed to get a tube. For old time’s sake…though it isn’t even funny so I don’t know why I’m posting it. ****** Dear Sir/Madam I hope that you are getting as bored of my complaints as I am getting bored of Metropolitan line delays. Every month … Continued