Day 185

Word of the day MUBBLE-FUBBLES term for feeling despondency and impending doom!

Trump will not go quietly, if he losses he will cause as much trouble as possible, shouting from the sidelines like he still is the President! He will think he is still running the country whether in office or not, probably labelling Biden a false President! No matter how clear cut Biden victory might be Trump will call it fraud and rigged! Just voting him out will not stop his blustering narcissistic pursuit of the spotlight. He has had a taste of real power and he can’t let it go. Will those who supported him abandon him? I suspect they will campaign to change the law to let him run again! I suspect many of his current staff will breath a sigh of relief if he is defeated and quite a few will turn against him, with withering criticism of his time in office? He in turn will claim they were all fools, untrustworthy and are just trying to sell their false stories to the highest bidder! The tax return issue is mute because his supporters only esteem him more for paying no tax and defying the tradition to declare them. As for condemning White Supremacy, there is only one sentence you use to do that “ I condemn White Supremacy “ it’s that simple, being willing to is not the same thing!

He has to go........and yet.......and yet.........I fear he will win!

Stay well

 Day 186

Having watched a few clips of Trump and Biden it appears the word “debate” is no longer in use! It was two old men arguing and shouting at each other with Trump desperately trying not to let Biden talk. You only have to look at Trump and even before he opens his mouth you wonder how anyone could ever take him seriously? Once he does open his mouth it is impossible to take him seriously. How he managed to fool any people let alone enough to elect him, is beyond belief (and yet not so strange when you see much of the people in that country)  Biden is not exactly the the greatest choice but he is not Trump and that’s enough. I fear, however, that Trump will get re-elected and that will be a disaster and set the world back years! 

Where are the younger more dynamic charismatic men and women (most especially women) who can take America forward with common sense and care? The fundamental problem is their electoral system which like ours needs radical reform!

Now changing the subject and to join in with the current debate.......the change to the handball law in Football is a joke. Soon players will have to tie their arms to their shorts, fucking mad!

Stay well

 Day 185

Todays word from Susie HURKLE-DURKLE To laze in bed long after it was time to get up!

What a well behaved species we are! By now I am pretty sure even a tribe of remote goat herders in the in the furthest reaches of the mountains knows we have a global pandemic? In Europe there is no excuse for not understanding the seriousness of Covid no matter how ignorant you are. I don’t expect humans to behave sensibly, they never have, they never will but you would hope that a crisis of this size would at least engender some caution? Yet there are those right throughout who have had little regard for others and no responsibility for themselves. The government pronouncements have been confusing, no doubt and the restrictions they have imposed has caused other effects which for some reason had not occurred to them! For example if pubs shut at ten then all the people in them are going to stumble out at the same time! In cities and towns the will be congregating in the same places, it’s nonsensical! Personnel responsibility is not just to keep oneself safe but your loved ones and friends. Why is it so difficult for so many to not understand and behave so recklessly? It is not easy and restrictions are tough but it is for the greater good, though these days you wonder if that has any meaning? None of us, none, are enjoying the current situation. Most people I speak with nod in a resigned weary manner and are just trying their best to get on with their lives. They don’t like it but they understand! This virus may never go away, we might just have to live with it for a long time but it is for certain it will have less chance of doing so unless we all take responsibility!

Stay well

 Day 184

Up to a £10,000 fine for those who don’t self isolate if testing positive hmmmm! I get the need to make people understand how serious not isolating is but 10 grand, come on, just a touch over the top! Of course you should self-isolate, no question but let’s say you are fined there are few people who could stump up that amount and what will happen if you can’t pay, prison? This government has no clue what the meaning of proportionate is!

Stay well

 Day 183

We are as you may have gathered from pervious posts we are currently in Crete. When we return according to the government we must self isolate for fourteen days. This of course is utter nonsense! The UK has many more cases than Greece (although we have a considerably larger population) Yesterday there were 11 reported cases in Crete of people who tested positive. I can go to Athens, where Covid is far more problematic and return to the U.K. and not self-isolate? The current logic is,well, illogical! There are zero positive tests where we are and it’s been almost zero since the whole pandemic started. It is nonsense 

My view on masks has been dramatically changed. Here you MUST wear one in any shop or inside public place, no exceptions and penalties for both those working and customers if you don’t. These people generally work a 12 hour day, imagine wearing one for almost that many hours? We have sat with friends for an hour and it is horrible. It has given me a completely new understanding. In Britain I have only worn it briefly while food shopping, wearing for even an hour is awful. It has to be but I am grateful most of the time we can talk outside! 

The town of Ayios is very quiet compared to previous visits. We all know why. My good friend Kostos had been telling me each week how few tourists there were but seeing it with your own eyes, it is devastating for the local trade who need to make enough in the summer to survive the winter! Another friend told me Crete normally has 5 million visitors this year it will be less than a million!

Yes it’s weather is hot and sunny, yes the scenery is beautiful, the sea is blue and warm but that is of little comfort when you are not sure whether you will have enough just to live.

I don’t want to give the impression that it is all doom and gloom, the people here are resilient and have been through economic problems for a long time and still they  manage. It is the way of the world at present and it is not going away soon.

Stay well

 Day 182

I can’t believe I’ve been writing this blog for this long! I started when lockdown in the U.K. was imposed and like most I hoped it would be short lived and we’d get back to relative normality within a couple of months. We know now nothing will ever be the way it was. The damage both to people’s lives and the economy is irreversible. Covid will not quietly pass through and become a memory, well not any time soon. The younger generations will look back and remember the Covid pandemic of 2020. Covid is a moving rollercoaster of a target and no authority could possibly legislate for its invisible effects. Our government has proven to be particularly inept (perhaps any government would be?) they have confused the hell out of us with decisions that contradict and seemingly have little or no logic? Meanwhile, unless you’ve been living under a rock, we all know the consequences and in spite of the fear, right from the get go, many people have ignored any and all advice. In reality short of Marshall law there is no way of controlling those who pay lip service to the rules! (I am not suggesting we go that far) Freedom has it’s price and nature will exact it’s ongoing quest to wipe out the biggest pest, us! 

Don’t take life to seriously nobody gets our alive (Bugs Bunny)

Stay well

 Day 182

Todays word from Susie:QUIDDLE To attend to trivial matters in order to avoid important ones

Trump trying desperately to hold on to power because he is addicted is dangerously close to attempting dictatorship while our man Johnson is just a dick! I don’t know how many more times it can be said these men are a danger to their own people and especially in Trumps case the world. To paraphrase the 1970’s band Sham 69 If we are united we can never be divided! Only us, the people can defeat these fools, it won’t be easy but if you want a real future for you and yours it has to be. Don’t let the bigots win, stand up and in any way you can rage against their uncaring narcissistic desire for power at any cost!

Now I’m off for a swim in the large pool below our balcony which you would know as the Mediterranean Sea!

Stay well

 Day 181

We have arrived in Crete. Poor us! Even on the morning of departure our return flight got cancelled for the third time! Cue mad internet search for yet another airline that can returns us. Agean via Athens to Heathrow but we are going from Luton cue call to son, can you take us and then collect from Heathrow? Of course he would.

So here we are and here we stay and if that flight gets cancelled here we will stay!

Stay well

Day 180

Todays word: MUMPSIMUS A person who insists they are right when all then evidence points the other way. Say no more!!!

I have recently watched the two BBC shown programmes on Lance Armstrong. I was never a fan, even when he was winning his seven tours. There was an aura about him that I found deeply unattractive, I just thought he was not likeable. Since he has had to admit he was “doping” (not just him it was widespread throughout the sport) something he would never have done willingly, he appears to be contrite and has said that he knows he was a bully and treated people very badly. Having been caught and admitted his doping he has to  say all sorts of things he regrets or knows he did wrong. Having watched the interviews with him I do not get the impression that he means a single word he says. He is saying it either because he knows it’s what he should or it is expected of him. He himself says he would not change a thing and under the circumstances and prevailing culture of the sport at the time he still feels he won those Tours! 

His power and dominance of the sport at that time corrupted many riders who might otherwise have stayed “clean”. Everyone has a choice to say no but if you did you were either hounded out or told if you did not comply your living was gone and Armstrong was guilty of much of that. He destroyed many people’s reputations and in some cases their lives. I think a secret like this was so large it would have always come out in one way or another, it was to well known and too big to be kept. If it had not Armstrong would still bask in the glory of his achievements and continue to lie and cover up his doping. He would never admitted any of it voluntarily! 

He is a despicable character with in my opinion no real remorse and even when he appears to get emotional I am sure he is playing to the camera, he is a master manipulator and he is still trying fool the his audience into believing he has become a “nicer” man! He used his recovery from life threatening cancer as a shield and bulwark against any accusation of cheating, well done for surviving, as a fellow survivor a few years after him I know how traumatic and tough it can be. Whilst I understand that recovery would have driven him on to succeed once more, for most it would have only made you determined to race clean? His choice to rush headlong into EPO and other substances showed he wanted to win at any cost. It transpires he had already taken banned substances before his illness but that is not an excuse!

I am not naive, I know that all sport has its cheats and cover ups, There are always those who seek to gain an unfair advantage and hope they don’t get caught. I’m sure many pro riders took these substances and were never caught. The spectre of drug enhanced performance has not gone away. The testing is better but in science the cheats are usually one step ahead of the testers. There are still riders who get caught but now there is a system in place with a range of sentences depending on the severity of your “crime”. In my opinion it is simple if it is proven you sought to take unfair advantage From performance enhancing substances, you should be banned from the sport for good, with no reprieve!

Armstrong was not the first to dope and he won’t be the last but don’t for one moment think that he would not do it again if he thought he could get away with it and win!

Stay well

Day 180

Have you ever wondered what it would look like if you had nothing new to say?

Stay well

 

Day 179

Word of the day: CONSTULT To act stupidly together (Making a collective act of stupidity a CONSTULTATION)! Recognise the meaning?

Monday and only two days to go before we fly out to Crete, barring anymore unexpected itinerary hick ups! Crete is on the quarantine list for when we return. If that is still the case then so be it! I speak with my good friend Kostas every week and have done all year. The islands cases even at the height of the lockdown were negligible and only ever rose to a few hundred with little in the way of deaths. Almost down to nothing it has only risen slightly due to people visiting the island. Far from us being quarantined coming back they should really ban anyone from going there! The dilemma of course is they rely on tourism for much of the islands prosperity. In Ayios where we stay there are no reported cases of the virus. I can tell you, they are far stricter than the UK when it comes to following the current rules and they do not tolerate those who flout them!

I’m looking forward to leaving this bitter and divisive country to go where family values and neighbourly kindness is far more prevalent. They have their troubles but they help each other if they can. 

Greece has been through economic hell over the last 10 years and through it all they have acted with dignity and fortitude that the British simply could not achieve! They have been left largely on their own to care for the thousands of refugees that flee across the Mediterranean to escape their troubled homelands and in the main have done their best to treat them humanly and kindly. The rest of the EU have turned their collective back on them and given little or no assistance to their fellow member? We have all shared in this terrible pandemic that has torn through the world and have been preoccupied with the consequences, often at the expense of everything else but these issue do not disappear and if anything have got worse! The Greeks for reasons I have never understood are a much maligned people, yes they have made mistakes, yes they have not always managed their economy well, although much of their issues were not of their making. In my experience over many years, a harder working, friendlier people would be hard to find. They have always been kind and helpful and welcomed us into their families. I have made some of the longest lasting and most fulfilling friendships on Crete even if we are only there twice a year. I always come out of Heraklion Airport with the song “Seems like home to me” playing in my head. Wendy and I are probably at our happiest and most relaxed and yes I know we are on vacation and thats how we should be but it is a deeper feeling than just being on holiday!

We were determined to go despite all the obstacles and go we will. I understand this is not some massive undertaking and in the great scheme of things of no consequence but for us it is!

Stay well

Day 178

I have been enthralled by The Tour de France. For three weeks these supreme athletes duel over the various  terrain of France, across wind swept plains, through town after town, up and down mountains, they race at average speeds of over 35kph and downhill reach speeds of 100kph, on a thin wheeled lightweight bike! There have been crashes a plenty some of them serious causing injuries and retirements. Riders have come into the race carrying injuries and found form or abandoned because they could not continue, favourites have floundered because they crashed or just don’t have the form to compete. They fight over the main category jerseys, Green for the best overall sprinter, Polka Dot for the best climber, White for the best young rider and of course Yellow for the overall leader of the race. Teams are either trying to go for stage wins or to support their leader for the overall General Classification or both. It is an honour to wear any of the jerseys and especially the Yellow. A rider might have one for a few days, a day, or for two weeks his team working for him to retain it trying to protect him and controlling the peloton if in the Yellow or trying to take the Green off the current wearer. Their rivals trying hard to compete. Riders breakaway singly and in groups trying to win a stage or for tactical reasons. There is nothing more enchanting than a lone rider trying to hold off the advancing pack as they close the time gap and the finish comes ever closer.  Sometimes they succeed other times they come tantalisingly close only to have the chasers come sweeping upon them, swallowing them and going on to dispute the win. “Flat” stages favour the sprinters. Most teams have a designated sprinter who at the end of a long stage, usually without a lot of climbs, are positioned by their “lead out” men to dispute a sprint finish, as dangerous as it is fast. These guys go through the smallest gaps elbows out, hunched over their bikes legs pumping furiously as they propel their machines to speeds of over 60kph in a bid to win. They hurl their bikes at the white line sometimes the difference being no more than a tyres length! Arms aloft in triumph they grimace, yell and smile with the realisation they have won a stage of the Tour! For me the best stages are in the mountains, climbing up gradients of up to 20% with an average of 10%. these climbs are categorised, with the hardest being Cat 1! The lighter riders are usually the best climbers, though on their day any rider can become a mountain goat. The “GC” contenders are usually competent climbers and some can just fly up the road. Often the cameras deceives the viewer as to steep these mountains are but as the riders dance on the pedals often standing on the bike you know how hard it must be! The Tour can be won and lost on the slopes of a mountain stage. Riders test each other with sudden bursts of acceleration trying to get away. Points for the “King of the Mountains” jersey are usually available at the summit. The yellow jersey’s team often ride at he front of the main group trying to pace their man up the gradient, protecting him from having to work to hard and making it hard for those that follow. Tactics are like a game of chess on two wheels. Riders are allowed to lead and W perhaps win a stage because they are no threat to the Yellow jersey but if it is a rider who will take time or worse get in Yellow themselves then they will hunt them down and bring them back. They will all have studied the route and know where is the the best place to attack.This depends on how good you are feeling and whether you have the “legs”! Many a rider suddenly finds they can no longer sustain the effort to climb and get dropped. Riders from a breakaway fall by the wayside and drop away as they limitations for climbing are found out after the flatter parts of the course. Time will be gained and time will be lost, so much time can be lost within the space of a few kilometres, that your bid for a win or a top ten finish can be destroyed or your bid to win can can succeed. The fans crowd the side of the road willing you on getting perilously close and often running alongside yelling encouragement. I am often struck by the thought they these “fans” will collide with the riders and it does happen. Then over the top and downhill at speeds you would hesitate at even in a four wheel vehicle, on the narrow roads and sharp hairpins. Some riders can descend fearlessly seemingly able to handle their bikes like darts, others are a little more cautious, who you follow can be important. Riders hunch flat on their crossbars head peaking over the bars as they try to be as aerodynamic as possible. After three weeks of battle and drama (two rest days) they roll into Paris along the Champs-Elyees, the winner having been crowned and all the jersey’s secured. Early on this stage the riders are in relaxed mood, chatting and swapping tales of their tour as the winning team drink champagne and pose for photos as they ride. Then the final chapter as they hurtle around a circuit and the sprinters have one last chance for a famous win. The race will have made some riders reputations, others will have faded, older men will retire from the sport this their last Tour. The winner will be feted and his name will be forever in the record as having won the premier Grand tour of them all!

Yesterday the only time trial was held at this years Tour ( a time trial is an individual run over a set course against the clock, fastest man wins) The rider in second place, Tadej Podacar was 57 seconds in arrears to the leader, Primoz Roglic. Roglic had taken the Yellow jersey and his powerful Jumbo-Visma team had ridden day after day on the front of the peloton controlling the race, already a Grand tour winner of the Vuelta it was thought his fellow Slovenian could not overcome the deficit but the 22 year old UAE-Team Emirates rider against all expectations did just that and ended winning the stage but more importantly got a 59 second lead over Roglic. With only the ride to Paris to come the race is over and the man and team who thought they’d won had the race ripped from their grasp, a fantastic ride by Podacar, the youngest winner for 111 years. As they say it is never over until it is over. In his yellow leaders skin suit Roglic sat slumped on the tarmac not quite believing what had happened, two of his teammates who finished second and third on the stage, faces reflecting the pain of realisation that their efforts had just been washed away. This sums up a cycling fans love of the sport, it’s unpredictability, it’s toughness and above all the drama!

Stay well

P.S. The ladies Specialised is for sale and the mans Trek is FREE to a good home

Day 177

Todays word from Susie Dent ULTRACREPIDARIAN is one who constantly holds forth on a subject they know nothing about!

Yesterday I got rather serious about social media and warned against the worse aspects of it’s relentless pursuit of money. I have had lots of money (not rich but well off) and I have had little money. I can tell you from experience it is far better to have it. Not having any or very little is not the worse thing that can happen but in our current culture it is not easy. Lack of funds is not the be all and end all of living. There are many millions of people living fulfilled lives who have never had two pennies to rub together. I like having money because it allows me to help others in a small way when they might be in need, friends and family members. It allows the freedom to go where I want to (not this year). It stops that anxiety of not knowing how to continue in the style you have become accustomed to. It allows me to sit here at the table and pontificate in the secure knowledge that I have nothing but time to do it for as long as I want to! I have never been a worrier about money (or anything most of the time) if you have it you have it if you haven’t well life goes on. I appreciate I am very lucky I have never had a day without food, clothes or a roof over me. There is a lot that money can’t buy And most of the worlds ills are not to do with money per say but the things that it can provide. Much of it has nothing to do with money at all!

It seems to me that the better we get at understanding the frailties of human nature the more of it there seems to be? I wonder if there is a correlation between the increase in knowledge about the human condition and the increase in people suffering from those conditions? It’s a conundrum! I do not belittle our collective neurosis but now and then I wonder if we have become a little too self analytical? I speak one who would encourage you to express your feelings and try to understand your personal history and relationships. 

Stay well

 Day 176

Today I have stopped reading the news, enough! I am off to Crete even though yet again one of the flights has been altered and we will now have to stay a further two days, what a chore! I will be resisting the urge to go on Twitter and other social media and if I do only briefly. The algorithms these tech giants use to target us are now so sophisticated that even those who have written them no longer understand how they have developed, they learn, we are already in the age of AI, it is not the future it is here right now! We are each targeted with information tailored by these algorithms to send news and adverts based on past and present activity.We are no longer all sharing the same news! Naturally this is to increase revenue from advertising. We think we are the user, we are actually their product! Because of the free way the internet has been allowed to develop it has little legislation to curb what these huge companies do. They say they will self police but when you are making the billions why would you curb your own cash cow? 

We are sent down rabbit holes, fed conspiracies and it very easy to use their platforms to manipulate data and target huge amounts of peoples to sway their opinion and more importantly undermine democracy and the voting patterns during elections. This is not “hacking” this is just other countries, groomers, terrorists and many others using the system tools that already exist. These sites did not set-up with any thought of manipulating us or causing anxiety because you did not get enough “likes” they wrote their software with the best of intentions but like many things those intentions can also be used for nefarious purposes. 

The power of the internet has increased at a rate never before seen in human history as a comparison the motor car has ruffly doubled in speed in a hundred years, the internet has increased by 800% in 20 years! 

For the generations who are now brought up knowing nothing of what it was like without this technology the likelihood of being “hooked” to their devices is almost inevitable and we know how addictive they can be. They are the cause of increases in suicide in teenage girls, which has risen by 145% since 2010 (it is not the sole reason but research, if it can be believed, shows it is one of the main contributing factors). They platforms that run on them are designed to be addictive that is how they raise profit. 

I am not against this technology, indeed for over 20 years I made a good living from it. I have nothing against the internet I believe it is a wonderful tool when used for research and education etc. IT has enhanced society and improved our infrastructure and operations, it has helped to speed the development of medicine, science and many other areas that would not have without it. 

Unfortunately much as I dislike legislating against this medium, I am of the opinion it must be done, self regulation will not work, the people must regain control over our data. The genie is out of the bottle and cannot be put back in but we must be granted some measure of control over the the three wishes!

Stay well

Day 175

The world we inhabit seems to have fallen apart in recent times and not just because we are going through Covid. We can wish for peace and harmony all we like but it will never happen because we are human. Throughout history there has always been conflict for what ever reason and regardless of what governing system is in place. It is an immutable fact, that there will always be those who want settle with violence. There is no getting around it whether it is the individual violence of one person on another or one nation on another. The human race has tried since it was able to stand upright to live in peace but I have come to the conclusion it is impossible! It is in our nature to use violence when no other solution seems possible or we wish to subdue any kind or uprising or rebellion. We aspire to living in peace but it is nothing more than a distant dream never to be fulfilled. Each year we see people killed for what appears to the rest of us no reason or simply because the ruling powers will not stand for any disruption or criticism.  Yes there are less wars, yes most countries are relatively peaceful but conflict is rife throughout the world. People are fleeing for their lives from many countries, displaced and just looking for a better life. They don’t necessarily want to leave but they have little choice of staying simply because it is too dangerous For them and their families. The rest of the world does not really want them and we know what happens , camps, illegal trafficking, death at sea, borders heavily policed and fear of these stateless people and what they mean for the local population. 

I have never been involved in violence, (the odd pathetic youthful fight) never fought in a war, been persecuted, had to leave my home because it is unsafe for my family, never lived in a dictatorship (mmmm!), had my freedom removed, experienced racial prejudice, experienced people openly walking around with weapons! Yet everyday I see or read about people who experience these things and lose their lives!  I have no idea how to stop any of it, those who could help (yes I know countries do help those who are worse off with aid and the UN does it’s best) there is no real will to find solutions. Countries generally serve their own self interest first and with some of current leaders (you know who I mean) the situation is only stirred up and getting worse! 

Most of those who flee conflict are looking for safety and a peaceful life. The problem is not trying to accommodate them the problem is resolving the conflicts that make them flee in the first place and until that happens nothing will change! The complexities make it seem impossible but to my eye it appears we have stopped really trying!

Stay well

Day 174

Priti Patel says apparently we must not “mingle” I mingled once, it was a while ago and I don’t think I broke any laws? Truthfully we should have been stopped from mingling all along to try and minimise risk but nobody really knows what to do, when to do it and for how long?  I can think of quite a few people who I would not want to mingle with and a lot of people who should never mingle under any circumstances! Well if you get caught mingling don’t blame me I have warned you! 

Now I no expert (in anything really) but even I could testify to having noticed our climate is changing! Those who deny climate change are to me much like those idiots who deny the Holocaust. It definitely happened and is a fact, undeniable but if does not suit your agenda or way of becoming wealthy or you just don’t want to believe it, it did not happen or is not happening! Science supports it, the physical evidence shows it and yet there are those who for what ever reason don’t want to accept it. No wonder the world is full of conspiracy theories and theorists! Of course if you stand up and shout about it you are either a hero or the devil (unless your David Attenborough) there is no in between. Crank, doomsayer, liar, attention seeker, there are those who would brand you any and all of these things and yet I suspect in their hearts even those who deny it, know it’s true! There is always a cogent argument for both sides but in this there is no  doubt the climate has changed!

Stay well

 

Day 173

Trump is mad Johnson is mad and they are both bad bad bad! It is everyone’s fault except their own, the deny it all and blame something else! Great deals but well...actually not such a great deal so lets break the law! Fucking Hell!

That’s it.

Stay well