A non-alcoholic beer?

Not everyone likes to have something forced upon them. It’s nice to have an alternative, sometimes it’s even healthy and refreshing. But to go through a complete process just to remove something at the end seems very costly and unnecessary. People should either respect the original product or do without it. We’ve already gone sugar-free with our fizzy drinks. Will we have opium-free heroin? It’s like an alternative to having fun. We’re already wasting resources. Why waste more? It’s more space taken up with stocking the stuff. Is it going to bring a whole new wave of custom into your business? Not everyone will be able to brew it anyway. A lot of people like to go out for comfort and take pleasure in sameness. If they have to cut out one thing, they’ll try and do away with the whole of it otherwise they’ll just be too tempted to carry on.

Reintroducing Eating Out #watertower 6

At the top of the slope, just behind the railway line, is an open plan area of picnic tables. There’s also a decent playground, and opposite this is a little building. In here is a games room with arcade machines and a pool table, but there’s also cases containing historical artefacts that were claimed to e found on the site of the pub. It’s an interesting area for two rooms to host the same thing, and it’s even advertised as a museum! You can’t help but have a little bit of cynicism and wonder if someone’s trying a bit too hard. The beer wasn’t brilliant and there wasn’t a lot of choice as there were still restrictions on numbers. Our food was also served in takeaway Styrofoam containers with plastic cutlery and we weren’t allowed to sit together as we weren’t from the same household. I don’t think I’ve been back since then, and I now hear that the licensee has since retired.

Pill Pushers

I bought this as a last-minute joke present when a friend of my mother’s started to talk about medication, but it turned out to be quite useful. It all started when Mum took one of her tablets at night instead of in the morning. She also often struggles to remember what day it is when she wakes up. But the compartments are clearly labelled, and it’s also surprising how much medicine each compartment holds.  The buttons open the lids with a nice each pop and they close again with a safe click. There’s also a handy patient card so that you can jot down any information you might need when discussing your medication with a doctor. The only thing that went wrong was that Mum got a bit enthusiastic with it on her first day as she started to pop all her pills out of their packets to sort them, but placed them all into today’s compartment.

Recovering In the Garden #watertower 5

Continuing north through the park, we reached the main road and turned right onto Worcester Road then turned left onto the High Street. Heading west, we walked to the first traffic island opposite Waitrose, then continued north into the park. If the small swing bridge isn’t shut, you can cross the canal a bit further up. Continue north and cross the River Salwarpe and the pub is just in front of you. It’s quite an interesting place. The pub itself is quite small with just a main bar and a small dining room to the side. What makes it unique is its garden. It’s situated on a hill but there’s so many different levels to explore. At the bottom is simple garden furniture with a hideaway cove. There’s small footpaths leading to intimate areas with comfy garden furniture where you can look out onto the road. There’s a long marquee which has been refurnished to look like a Victorian dining car inside. But there’s more…

Clothes Racks

People react differently to textures. Sometimes even the thought of a tight woolly jumper makes me shudder and grit my teeth. The texture of most clothes aren’t that interesting to me though. They’ve come straight from the factory in thin polyethene see-through covers, each with their own hanger. There’s thick material for the winter and thin for the summer. There might be a nice sent of warm fabric but that’s all that gets me excited. I have to picture if I can wear these clothes and what images and situations I can conceive while wearing them. I might have visions of holidays and nights out with friends, but only if I feel comfortable wearing them. What excites me more is used clothes. I can instantly picture good times when I wore them and the memories associated with them. Sometimes there’s even a lingering smell or stain not quite visible that’ll bring back a good memory. Of course, when they’re dirty, I just want them out of sight but once they’re washed and back in the wardrobe a whole new adventure awaits.

The Final Climb #watertower 4

What wore us out the most was a steady upwards climb on this hill. It crossed a main road then as it curved left we continued right on the same road which forked off by a group of oak trees, of which underneath one of them was the waymarker. The water tower lurched behind us like a post-apocalyptic dreadnought. Here we headed north to the junction of Tagwell Road where an opening in the fence led us on a footpath through an orchard. We bore north-east across the playing fields to return to the Lido Park where the car awaited to the east. But we weren’t done yet. We decided to take some time to explore the park on our way to the pub. Continuing north, we followed the main footpath past the tennis courts and playground and took a small tour through the wetlands trail on the right-hand side observing the ducks.

The Magic of Belle Isle

This is a lovely feel-good film with characters that aren’t afraid to tell it as it is no matter who they’re speaking to. There’s some great characters and comic moments that you really warm to as they each attempt to battle their demons alongside a stunning lakeside setting which surprisingly we don’t see that much of as the focus is on the residents, who win Wildhorn’s charm with their innocence, who in turn does good to them. I love his interaction with Karl and the time they spend together. I loved the clown scene at Willow’s birthday party and Monte’s efforts to save the day from any misdoings. It’s nice to think that Wildhorn bonds nicely with Charlotte, but I wasn’t keen when the relationship attempted to head towards a physical aspect. I also like the innocence of the stories, especially when Finn’s passion is brought to him. It’s a story that suggests that there’s hope for us all. We just need to find our inspiration.

Making Our Own Way #watertower 3

With no direction in sight, we cut east across the fairway to join up onto Middle Lane, though we had to walk up Green Lane to find a gap in the fence to get through. Reunited with the route, we followed the road back under the motorway to a T-junction. Back in suburbia, we turned left and continued on Tagwell Road on the righthand side until the pavement sloped away from the road at a cycle junction. Here, we followed the footpath up the hill in a south-west direction through a maze of cul-de-sacs until we hit a T-junction of footpaths in a coppice. Our next direction was to continue in the same direction across some fields to reach Newland Way, but there was a housing development in the way. We had a good view of the water tower, but our surroundings weren’t very scenic. We continued north along a single-track embanked road lined with junctions to the new housing estates.

Hidden Secret #vampress 18

People were nervous that at next dusk something might come through the earth. What could they do to prevent it? They had no choice but to obey their mistress, but the secret would be discovered if something did emerge. More people might come, some with authority, who would try to take over. What would they do without the mistress who had looked after them all this time? Was there a way to keep her safe below ground? Would she still protect them? Was there a way that they could join her after nurturing her after all this time? Perhaps there was a way to be rid of any visitors that came here. Maybe the mistress could take away all their fears and all they would need to do is just keep serving her. Perhaps they could just keep digging and building and create their own world tucked away from everything else.

A Stroll on the Fairway #watertower 2

We followed the Holloway east and turned right at the end of the road. We then headed downhill on Tagwell road where we discovered that the original footpath joined up to a pedestrian crossing further up the hill. Continuing east, the homes started to become hidden by greenery. As the road bent to the left, a power substation appeared on the left-hand side with a footpath sign next to it. This took us underneath the motorway and onto the golf course. It was quite strange to be out for a stroll while watching others tee off, but of course we stuck to the official footpath which head straight up to the golf course bar. Here we continued east and followed the outline of the golf course along a footpath in a semi-circle until we got to a small lake. Here, we were supposed to head south to the main road, but we couldn’t see any waymarkers.  

 

Banking Time #dreamdiary 170

Our company has taken a bank under its wing. As well as gaining several new sites, we’re also expected to offer our usual retail services alongside banking services which means a lot of training for the team. We were told that this would be done in one afternoon. At six ‘o’ clock, we were still learning. People were looking through the glass windows hoping to be let in to find when they were able to do their banking. There was even a policeman banging on the window demanding admittance, but we refused on account that the management thought that he was just seeking shelter because of his trousers being too long. I started to text my mother to tell her that I’d be late home for dinner, but in the middle of this we were ushered to a new venue. I had no idea what was going on, and I found myself in a church and at one point I thought I was attending a ceremony until I picked up a leaflet off a plastic chair to discover that there was yet more training involved.

A Walk without Waymakers #watertower 1

This was a council-devised walk that promised some interesting sights and had some diversions at the time that we set out to complete it. It was advertised as four miles but we somehow managed to add an extra mile and a half. The walk may have since been re-routed, but we did lose sight of some of our waymarkers at times. We started out in a church car park which was next to the town’s beautiful recreational park. There was plenty of room for cars with no fee to pay or time limit, and it was fairly busy as many dog walkers used it too. But instead of heading out into the park, we headed east up the hill back towards the main road. Looking back at the map, we could have headed directly south on the footpath past the church, but instead we turned right at the top and took a suburban tour. 

 

Impressive Force

Is it actually going to be a character or read a quote or play music? Maybe it’s going to be a blast of sound effects featuring lightsabers, amazing spaceships that create loud sounds in a vacuum or robot noises. It’s not going to be very impressive if it’s a recorded voice, especially if it’s going to play the original sound file. I’m impressed that I get a list of characters to choose from. It’s a mocking tone, and I have no idea what some of the aliens are saying. One sounds like a feeble old man and you can’t tell if he’s moaning or farting. But at least it admits that it can’t do some characters. It may even pretend to mishear the pronunciation of others. But the most, it’s a brief refresher of what each character represent in the franchise. But you’re not going to get an intelligent conversation out of this function.

Village Life

This place is tight. There’s just too many people living here, each with their own cars. Some of the buildings have even been turned into flats. Finding a place to park and be a nightmare, let alone a place just to unload. You’ve got to try and find the house first then get near as you can, especially with bigger items. The road is also a two-way road. You’ve got to leave room for other vehicles to pass and hope that nothing comes up to you in the opposite direction. You don’t want to annoy the locals, especially when you may need them to offer a hand. Amazingly, the council haven’t put double-yellow lines on one particular side. They’ve just left it to common sense. I wonder how noisy it gets round here in the evenings, after all, it’s only a little village. Do these people go out and about?

The Secret Philanthropist

Where were you when George Michael died? I was at my aunt’s where we’d just said goodbye to my brother’s visit and put on the radio where it was announced. Like many, I only knew him as a successful singer that had something to do with AIDS. It’s a double tragedy that he died of something completely different. But if that doesn’t persuade you to help keep the faith, many of his actions will. A lot of the royalties of his songs often went to charities; as well as pledges for celebrity appearances on gameshows, even if he didn’t win anything. It just puts things into perspective. Sometimes people do things for a reason and sometimes they do it for a cause. But it’s a nice compromise when they don’t say anything about it until the moment they parted. But when someone has made an effort to make things easier then there’s got to be hope.

Meh

A proper intellectual. Yet you look at him and once you know him, you wander how he even made the effort. He’s tall but without the physique and slightly balding on the top. He likes to dress as an archaeologist for all occasions. A waistcoat will often feature over a shirt. Beige is the main colour. There’s also a small paunch. He knows his way around a menu and often has a mobile kitchen. English isn’t his first language so you’re right to be a bit suspicious of him. He’s studied and travelled a lot. He likes to be independent. He also doesn’t like to splash the cash, though he’s not afraid to do so if it gets him a great experience at the expense of his friends. But he’s also not afraid to compromise. He doesn’t like to be bothered a lot but likes to sample the finer things when they come his way.

Orange County

Why do people turn out so orange? It just makes them look artificial and naïve. They might want to look like a foreigner but they’re beginning to create a new race in their own right. They come here wondering why everything’s so cheap and that there’s lots to experience that they haven’t tried before. They get excited over the smallest of things. Then they go home and just posey about without any inkling of the arduous work that other people have done to make these things happen. When they talk, they use fake posh accents to make themselves sound rich, but it just sounds like a bunch of drunk toffs out at the races. Even the way that they stand looks like they’ve been trained to place themselves for the camera. Everything is written off as a business expense footed by someone else while they use that money to start another company as soon as the funds dry up.

Wandering Free

Everyone’s a citizen of the universe. It’s something that you can’t exclude from them unless they have illustrated something that needs punishing. Every person has the right to experience something and explore for themselves. But it doesn’t necessarily give them power to exercise power over others, even if it’s a lack of knowledge. They might know something else that you don’t and you could both gain from the experience by sharing. The only way to achieve this is to respect each other. Think of them as a new friend to be rather than an opponent. It’s only when people violate the rights of other people that they lose their own rights as punishment and they might have to explore or escape a very unpleasant world with grudges towards them. If the person hindering you claims that he is a gentleman, then his insistence gives you the right to dispose of him in a gentlemanly manner.

What's it all about? #waseleyhills 6

It’s all well and good when you’re following waymarkers along a simple trail. Having them on a single track is a bit pointless as you’re already heading in that direction anyway. It’s when you hit the fields with paths crossing in different directions that you really need help. If you’re lucky enough to get a satellite fix on your phone, you can get back on track if you can identify the landmarks that you should be heading towards. You can even convince people that you know where you’re going by leading them around a landmark and back round the other side of where you came. But it’s fun to make your own way. You might find something unique that’s off the beaten track. It’s what makes it an experience, so long as you’re not dealing with a load of complaints by those who have put their faith in you to lead them through the rain.

Ask about Tax

You just can’t win with tax. There’s announcements that one type of tax is being reduced which will save you so much money, but then tax on amenities increases so you’re no better off. You might even have to pay more. You’re then told that you are earning more money, but only because it was the government that raised it in the first place, and unsurprisingly it’s also an election year. And inflation doesn’t help as it just demotes the value of goods and trade, and cuts into what people can potentially earn, especially when you have to evaluate tax on these too. At least it’s all worked out for you here. It’s good to get people talking about it as the budget is coming up and it also plants a seed within voters as they start thinking about their political allegiances. Many writers have wrote that there’s only one other certainty…

Who would want This? #waseleyhills 5

Who would want to put a great big concrete track right in the centre of a valley? It’s been split open to help other people to pass through but what about stopping off to meet the local people and sample their wares? Are they suddenly not good enough? How do you know if you won’t try them? Instead we’re on a crunch to achieve what we want to do as quickly as possible without encountering any sights or hinderance along the journey. Every tap of the brake is a hazard without taking into account that there are other people on this planet too. There might be some establishments spread near to the road for convenience. But if you take the time to look, you’re not far from some fabulous places and you can even get back onto your route a little further up the road without falling too far behind.

The Others

This isn’t bad for a suspense film. I’d have liked to see a bit of gore or faces appearing rather than random objects appearing out of sight, but once that was put to bed I knew it was going to be a simple explanation that someone was dead. I knew it was going to be the creepy house staff but I didn’t consider the family at all. I also felt that there was little use of ‘Charles’ as a character. I didn’t understand why all the doors had to be kept locked. If they were open, surely it would be quicker to access the room to witness the event in question, especially if you have children left in them? And it bothers me where the curtains ended up. The film also creates an icy cold atmosphere with its lack of music. At least the conclusion leaves it open for a more violent and self-aware sequel.

Motorway Mum #waseleyhills 4

She’s eager to explore the world wherever her feet may take her. She always puts her trust into other people to let them guide the way, though maybe it’s tactical as she only has them to blame if something goes wrong, though she’s never prepared to put herself forward as a guide unless it’s somewhere that she knows and has been there before. She’s cautious of where she puts her feet and often concentrates on the ground rather than the bigger picture in front of her She’s starting to learn the way of paths and where shortcuts can be made and if they are worth it, though she’s reluctant to take risks. She’s always interested in visiting somewhere new. She may even want to go back there someday if it’s nice enough. And she’ll always favour a nice view out of the window rather than a high-speed drive down the motorway, unless she’s going to take a nap along the way.

Weighing it all Up

I’ve bought my mum some bathroom scales for her birthday. I had some great gift ideas for her in the months leading up to her birthday, especially as it’s so near Christmas, all of which I completely forgot in the final few days leading up to it. Then on the penultimate day she began to talk about bathroom scales for me to order the following week. I went online and managed to arrange a set of smart scales for same day collection. It wasn’t a brand that I’d heard of but the reviews were very good. It came in a smart box which was well packaged. It took a few moments to set up as it took a while for the verification e-mail to bounce through for the phone app, but once that was achieved it was simple and ready to use. She loves the fact that she can see a graph to chart her progress at a touch of a button. The only thing that lets it down is that for some reason it isn’t suitable for her osteoporosis, which isn’t advertised anywhere on the outside of the box. But we can’t see why so she’s carrying on.

Source of the Rea #waseleyhills 3

The path dips down beyond the valley and into the earth. You’ll feel like you’re being swallowed up in the thicket. Along the way are paths sloping off to the more developed world. The trail will then rise and you’ll begin to skirt the bottom of the fields on a dirt track with views of suburbanisation below. Keep heading west and you’ll soon encounter the River Rea which has flowed all the way out of Birmingham. There’s not much to look at other than a stream passing in between a field but there is an information board if that’s your thing. The walk will then return you to the car park via the rear of the children’s playground where you can rest or purchase refreshments if you wish. But there’s not much chance of seeing any wildlife, probably because the motorway has scared everything away. But if you want something different with hills and open spaces then this is for you.

Grenade #dreamdiary 169

I’m in the lounge of my house. There’s a man wearing a grey tin helmet lying face down on the carpet. The helmet falls off to reveals a mass of pink flesh beneath. It obviously didn’t do him any good. There’s a grenade lying next him. I’ve got no idea whether this was on his person or whether it’s already detonated but it’s not a good idea to hang about and find out. I head for the door and close it after me. I consider looking for cover, but before I can do so I hear an almighty bang. I wait for the sound to settle so that I’m sure that nothing else is happening, then I venture back inside. Amazingly, apart from some smoke, the room is intact. You’d think that there’d be some broken furniture or some scorch marks on the walls, but it’s all crystal clean. I open a window to let the smoke out and a grenade sails in.

Which Way? #waseleyhills 2

There’s a choice of routes that you can do, all of which are colour-coded and waymarked. The most popular thing to do is head through the kissing gate and climb the hill in front of you while re-enacting a Von Trapp Family scene along the way. There’ll be a series of kissing gate but just keep heading up and you’ll be fine. Don’t forget to stop and admire the view behind you as you climb. At the top is a Trigg point telling you what you can see and how far away it is. Then, if you’re exhausted enough, you can head back down again or continue forward, but bear in mind that you’ll have to reclimb at least half of the hill. Bear east and you’ll come to the edge of the park with a view of the motorway. If you’re lucky you’ll get a great view of the latest jam or smash that’s happening. Keep following the field until the footpath enters the wood.

Park Life

Overflowing bins and rotted pieces of graffitied wood all around me suggests that this isn’t a nice place to stay. There’s grass and trees and open spaces but beyond that is a main road behind a hedge where people chuck their litter as they pass. It looks like the council have given up any efforts to keep the area maintained. Maybe they’ve been exhausted by vandalism efforts or they’ve cut corners to make savings elsewhere. It’d be nice to be in an area that people pass through regularly to observe our fellow kin. It’d be nice to see some seasonal flowers in bloom or a statue rather than a bricked monument which is easier to deface because it’s a flat surface. They could then colour it in for you. Make it robust on a quality pedestal so that they won’t be able to knock its block off or smash it to the ground. Perhaps it could involve play equipment to encourage people to climb on it and use it rather than abuse it. But get it wrong and just one small injury could lead to a huge lawsuit and further draining of funds.

Into the Valley #waseleyhills 1

It sounds like the destination for a glamorous elite TV show. I haven’t met the people but they’ve probably got flash cars as they’re living on the edge of the city. It’d be nice to think that the hills were formed naturally and that the wood’s been there for thousands of years. But the car park’s owned by the council and there’s major roads and a motorway nearby so it’s probably more likely to be reformed land from digging out the valleys for the roads. It’s quite a climb up narrow roads to get to them, but you eventually reach a corner past a long hedgerow where a gated entrance brings you out onto a lined car park. There’s also a small café with a visitor’s centre and a children’s playground at the end. There’s also a fee to pay for parking which is by the hour or for the day.

 

Pop Goes the Weasel #titannabell 18

Sweat began to build up all over the guard. Titannabell had stopped shaking and had turned back over, but he began to slide underneath her epic cervix line. He was looking for something to hold onto, but her skin was so smooth. Down he slid until something caught him right between his legs. It was a tin hat that looked exactly like the one that his colleague was wearing. Where was he while all this was going on? This was a strange device to avoid conception, not that he was capable of penetrating the young lady anyway. He wondered how he would explain this to all his friends back at the barracks and whether anyone would believe him. Titannabell gave a huge sigh and the helmet shot into the distance with a loud pop. Then he started to slide down the gap where it had departed and wondered if there was a chance of him surviving the night.