Wolfies Blogs

An explanation as to why I do the job I'm in, despite my disability.

2023-09-26T16:32:00.001+01:00

Over the years & again over past few days since Friday's social media posts on my disability, I've been asked why I do the job I'm in & how can I do the job or how can I spend all day on the tills & why don't I find a better job.

When I got my job after such a long time out of work, I was more able to walk better & in fact my disability wasn't as bad & even for a short while I could walk stick free, cycle for miles with no pedal assist & even worked almost full time & worked in various roles with minimum restrictions due to disability. And I even lost weight & really felt good within myself.

But alas it was short-lived, from 2015/6 my disability changed & slowly started degrading, so of course did my hours in my job & ability to work. And back in 2019 my disability was at its worse as I was about to have the spinal cord operation & lengthy recovery that took longer thanks to the pandemic preventing the support I needed.

So, when I did eventually return to work, it wasn't easy & honestly I made it clear I'd rather be out of a job than make my disability worse. Something I'd rather not do as last time I was out of work due to disability & bone cyst in my left femur, I was out of work for near on 10yrs thanks to discriminative behaviour of companies & zero support from the government. Thankfully my employers listened & made the changes.

And for past 3+yrs it's been alright working despite a few hiccups not relating to the disability but affected it. Lately tho with the much-needed move to a ground floor flat & recent unexpected changes at work, the disability hasn't liked it. When it's one thing, I could just cope with the disability but being both I can't & I'm doing all I can to stop my disability from getting as bad as 2019.

As for mentions of I should find another job, easier said than done I'm afraid. Ask anyone with a disability, it's never easy & was a miracle I got the job I'm in now. I have loads of knowledge I can use but no suitable qualifications or recent experience to get a job suitable for my disability. I know coz I had tried back in 2018/9. And I do not want to be back out of work as likely be out of work until I'm at retirement age.

At same time I am my own worst enemy, I don't like seeking help & like to do things myself. It's not a flaw, it's just how I am after 30+yrs with a disability. It's how I push myself too, to get thru life & not give up & let the disability take over every part of my life. This means others easily forget I do need support, even if I don't ask & eventually had to remind others of this on Friday & to be honest, they do listen. But there's things that are out of people's control at work & is being dealt with & they know if no improvements will make things worse for me & they do understand. It just takes time to sort out & hopefully my disability will be OK by then.

Yes, I would love a job more suitable for my disability that I could work full time & get off financial support from benefits. But I have not seen or heard of this ideal job. It may never exist but for now the job I'm in is a good job, I may grumble about it from time to time but as I've said before 'I wouldn't be in a job I didn't like' as I proved before many, many years ago.

That's it really, hope you now have a better understanding why I'm in the job I'm in. It's not perfect but far better than the alternative options right now.

End of a rollercoaster year 2019

2020-01-01T02:17:00.001+00:00

Well it is now almost the end of the year as I start writing this & what an emotional rollercoaster year it has been.

As we came into 2019 I already knew it wasn't going to be a good start to the year with Ellie having a terminal cancer & recently discovered my problems were to do with my spine & thus will need a major operation to stop me going into a wheelchair (The road to recovery has taken a left turn & the end is nowhere to be seen!) & I found out more about it later this year.

Well in March I had my bathroom converted to a Wetroom which didn't go as planned, took twice as long to do & had to be redone months later.

But it did give me a month at home for the work to be done & spend the last month with Ellie who passed away from the cancer at the end of March.

And thus the end of my family I have had for over 20yrs & the flat was empty, cold & no longer felt like a home anymore.

And a month later I decided I couldn't have this, I didn't like how the flat felt so I decided to foster whilst I wait to go into Hospital. I tried contacting a few cat rescues & didn't get anywhere but I gave it one more go with one recommended to me & it turned out 2 female cats were in need of a roof over their heads like yesterday. So next day I had 2 scared lil girls Peas & Midnight come to my home but soon settled as they found they liked the place.

But this decision turned out to be one that has changed my life, for a few weeks after they came here I noticed they were both pregnant!! And I did the decent thing, I gave them a safe, secure home that will help with their pregnancy & on the early hours of 1st of June I was requested by Midnight to go with her to the bedroom where she (with my assistance) gave birth to 3 lovely lil girls & later that morning Peas gave birth to 1 kitten & I got no sleep. For the next few months with the assistance of WLF cat rescue I was fostering for, I helped the 2 mums to raise 4 adorable kittens. An experience I never knew I would ever have & will never forget!

But alas as the kittens grew up I knew I couldn't keep them & the mums & 2 of the Kittens of Chaos had to go to new homes.

And in August I had to say goodbye to Bear & Cinnamon.

Then Peas & Midnight in September.

It was hard to do but I am not allowed more than 2 pets permanently so I had to let them go as much as it pained me to. And as I have already fell in love with the other 2, the ginger one (Teddy) & the last dark Tortie (lil Minx. coz she is one).

Also in Sept I finally got the spine operation & it went well & was out of hospital after 2 days & not the 3 weeks I was told to expect, which is good as WLF were looking after my 2 lil girls as well as the mums whilst I was in hospital.

And even tho I didn't plan to have the lil ones or any more cats until I was fully recovered, I was glad to have them here to keep me occupied during recovery as I was housebound for a few weeks & not able to get out much when I could. Tho I didn't keep idle, I went to a Wheels for All event which was the first of many (I hope). I couldn't cycle any of the cycles but I did have fun sitting on a few to see what they were like.

And in December, there was another Wheels for All where I could try out the cycles & was a blast!

And back in October the ebike conversion kit arrived after months of waiting & I gradually built my Cruiser into an eBike to help me back to cycling with my recovery & disability.

Which I got to test out with help just a few weeks back.

And the end of a Decade...

And as everyone seems to be going on about the past 10yrs, well it's been an interesting tho not how I would have expected the past 10yrs to have gone. I moved out of Surrey to Essex & then moved again in Essex for a partner which didn't work out in the end, but no regrets in giving it a go for it would have failed had I not moved & I have had experiences which I would not have had if I had not moved to Essex & have learnt so much from them.

Also got back into cycling, which has changed my way of life more than I thought it would & most of that is down to living in Essex. Now am a campaigner for better cycling infrastructure, disabled cycling & better infrastructure for all who aren't driving which is fueled by being disabled & see issues for all who are not driving.

Still been on the goal to be fully able-bodied but now know this is never ever going to happen & have adapted my life to work with it better & finally got back into work after many years of trying & being fobbed off due to my disability.

I haven't changed too much, still have hair, still chubby & still a pain in the arse to those who annoy me. 😄 Have got a lot more white in the hair, mostly in the beard & have gained 3 tattoos are the most changes I can think of.

And now it is the New Year as I finish this blog, it's been an emotional one, plenty of tears shed, lots of laughter & joy & loads of pain & anguish has filled the year. As for 2020, well for me the main thing I be focusing on is improving my health, get back to cycling & try improve it even more than I have & most of all get myself back to working again as being stuck at home is great at first but when you can't do anything much, the appeal wears out pretty soon.

So I will raise a glass to a new start & changes for the better for the new year! Happy New Year!!

The road to recovery has taken a left turn & the end is nowhere to be seen!

2019-03-11T22:36:00.000+00:00

At the end of 2017 I wrote about how things have been with my legs & lifestyle changes (End of 2017 & looks like I have more lifestyle changes to come in 2018), well unfortunately not everything has gone to plan as nothing has changed with work/life balance & legs continue to get worse & back onto my stick & unfortunately it has also had a knock on effect in everything else in my life especially cycling.

So at the end of 2018, I finally got to have my long awaited MRI scan after Christmas & in January I got a letter a week after the scan & it was an eye opener & scary too.

A bit of a shock is an understatement, I sure hell did not expect this to be honest. Just expected the same as what was said 30yrs ago with my left leg.

Well I went to see the specialist today, what I was shown has simply put my life in a spin!

Firstly I was shown these images taken from the MRI scan which I took photos of & highlighted the spinal cord.

As you can see the spinal cord has been severely compressed & likely has been for many years. As for the cause, well it turns out to be a shit storm of reasons! Firstly I have narrow channels for the nerves to feed from the spinal cord, thick bone structure but what I was not expecting to be told was the spinal cord is being pressed by the hip socket due to onset of osteoarthritis.

So the prognosis is simple, leave it be & eventually I will loose the use of my legs & possibly more in that area from the waist down as already having symptoms it is not just the legs being affected. Or as highly recommended have an operation to decompress the spinal cord. This will help relieve the pressure on the cord but as made quite clear, it will not undo any damage already been done & could actually do some damage during the procedure. There are risks like all operations but to be honest other than death there is nothing that won't happen anyway if I don't do anything about it.

So within the next 4 to 6 months time I will be having the operation & honestly it is freaking me out a bit but there is not really any other choice. But it's after the operation that's gonna be the test for me, the 2 days in hospital I am fine with, as well as having someone look after me at home for 1-2 weeks. It's the time I have to take off work that is gonna be difficult, I have been told I am to stay off work & take it easy for around 3 months & that includes no cycling & after that period I need to return to work gradually & same goes with cycling.

I have been told after the operation, don't expect the legs to improve, maybe slightly worse but should not be in pain any more. With this & now know I have osteoarthritis, it is clear I will likely not be stick free anymore, tho make a damn good try in being stick free. What it does mean is I have now a constant battle to keep walking & cycling & no end in sight to win this battle.

Make me quite glad I finally got my Wet Room when finished this week as gonna need it but I do know now, the new eBike is needed more than ever!!

End of 2017 & looks like I have more lifestyle changes to come in 2018

2017-12-22T13:45:00.001+00:00

25yrs ago this very month I had an operation that had changed my life for good & I became disabled. The operation was to fix a problem with my left leg & had a 50:50 chance of working so I took the chance. It did not pay off & my life changed in ways I couldn't imagine & for the first 5yrs it was a dark period in my life fueled with pain & high levels of painkillers, but I pushed on & I would not let it beat me & at times it was close to doing so. I had lost so much in loosing the simple task of being active, walk & cycle.

So when I had the chance to walk stick free again after an operation in 2008 & got to a level 5yrs ago, I took it but it is a constant battle.

Unfortunately the years of inactivity as well as the right leg now following the same path as my left leg did 30yrs ago means walking stick free is getting more difficult & have already made changes to my lifestyle to not aggravate them & that includes cycling.

But as time goes on & I get older too, so does the condition keep changing & I have to try keep ahead of it as I have done for the past 3 decades. But today I got a letter to pass onto the Buss Pass Dept as evidence of my conditions & reading it has hit home to me as it is in black & white in writing & was not expecting it as was just expecting proof of my disability.

It has hit home & to be honest I have to face reality considering this week I am back on my stick due to my knee giving grief for not following the lifestyle rules at the weekend I had set & aggravated it. But don't worry I am not gonna give up on this, not in my nature but in the new year I need to think long & hard on changes to help improve my condition & I am already have the new ebike building project started with the purchase of the new bike to build into the new ebike.

But for now I am going to enjoy Christmas, spoil my lil Ellie & gonna enjoy plenty of Jack Daniels during the festive period. For 2018 is going to be a new year, new plans & ideas & plenty more to do to get the home, work & transportation made better for my disability...

Until then have a great Christmas & bloody well enjoy it!!! I sure am!!!

Pain, pain is not my friend...

2017-05-11T01:32:00.000+01:00

For more than 1/2 of my life pain has lived with me but pain isn't my friend. It wakes me in the middle of the night when it feels like it, it drains me when I have to fight it, creeps up on me when I think I'm doing okay, tries to control me when I want to have a normal life.

But pain isn't my enemy, it doesn't control me, it fuels me, it's makes me fight, it gives me the fire to push the boundaries & determination to battle on.

People can see pain as a bad thing, I see pain like a companion that annoys & angers me but also encourages me to push harder, to beat it at its game. Pain has changed my life in ways I would never thought possible, changed me in ways as years gone on & will continue to do so for the rest of my life.

But pain has made me a better person, a better understanding of others around me. Pain is not my friend but it won't destroy me & no matter how tired it makes me, it will make me stronger the more it pushes me & hand me more challenges to overcome.

Creating a versatile bookcase suitable for any room.

2017-03-04T22:24:00.001+00:00

Now before you read any further I best let you know I ain't any experienced carpenter who can make fancy furniture (tho wish I could), I am just someone who ain't afraid to try my hands at anything DIY to make my home a better place. But if you have read my IKEA hack blogs, you probably know this already. ;-)

I had posted a few pics on my bookcase online with The BookCase Project with some positive responses & a lot of questions about it, especially the photos of the hall bookcase which will be shown later in the blog. But I'll start at the beginning as to how it all started.

Now I love my books but also love DVDs & both need somewhere to store them, I aint one for eBooks or streaming movies. I so prefer owning them physically & that means I need to find ways to utilise the limited space in my flat. But I found conventional melamine bookcases limited in utilising space & often waste the space needed & fall apart all too soon.

So I decided it was time to build my own, use planks of wood cut to length & screwed together. Nothing fancy or complex, just screws holding it all together as nothing heavy to go in each shelf but goes from floor to ceiling with as many shelves as possible & that's what I did for my first one.

And it worked well, so well I did some more for the bedroom & use some dead space behind the door.

And was going to add more but I then moved to a smaller flat with lower ceiling heights & new storage problems I had to overcome. This meant a complete rethink on how I was going to do the shelving & where. The answer was to utilise the wide space of the hall in the flat & fill one side of the hall with bookcases, problem was it was L shaped so the bookcases I had had to be reconfigured for a lower height & fit around a corner. So out came the designer in me & did some drawings...

So over a period of time I slowly built it like I had before in sections starting with the ones I already had whilst decorating whole of the flat too.

And needed to get flooring redone before the shelving was completed which involved in sealing the concrete & laying laminate flooring.

And slowly over months it came together...

You can see it slowly taking shape as was the rest of the flat...

Then it was time to paint it all. That was fun in a small flat...

It was slow to do but this is the final result that looked fantastic with the rest of the hall...

So now they have been completed, I was pleased with how they went & these are the photos I posted to The Bookcase Project with some amazing feedback for such a simple design. Like I said, just some planks screwed together. lol

Well the following year I had moved again which now posed a new challenge to show how versatile the wooden shelving is. I had a whole wall in the livingroom to use.

So I started again in re-configuring & adapting the existing shelving to go along the wall.

Not much else has been done to it as yet, I do have plans but I have been busy doing the rest of the livingroom 1st that needed more done & the shelving doing well as it is atm tho filled up fast & looking to do some more shelving in another room...

And others have been impressed in my shelving & I have helped build them some too, this one was a fun one to do as it was a Zig Zag design to fit in a very small box room for a young teenager.

A simple design made from planks, but so versatile in how to use them. :)

A letter of complaint to Asda... (updated March 2017)

2017-01-30T00:10:00.001+00:00

Note: Updates to the blog are at the bottom if you like to get up to date if you have read the original blog already.

A week ago I sent this complaint to Asda after the bad customer service & bully tactics from 2 member of staff. I have removed names for privacy & added some more photos to illustrate my letter of complaint.

To whom it may concern at Asda,

For near on 4 years since I moved to Colchester I have been a regular customer of the Colchester branch of Asda despite being on the other side of the town & have a Sainsburys practically on my doorstep. I had preferred to go to Asda due to the good facilities, products & prices. I had very lil to complain about other than the occasional driver parking the Asda delivery HGVs with trailer on the shared path & never needed to write directly to head office with a complaint & I was quite happy to keep on visiting & shopping at Asda, right up until last week.

Last Tuesday 17th January 2017 I popped in to collect my new pair of glasses & pleasantly pleased they were ready a week early, they were done with a coating to darken the lenses in sunlight & known as transition coating. They looked OK & as it was dark when I collected the glasses I had to wait until daytime to truly try out the glasses. Unfortunately they proved to be ineffective to use in daylight when I used them on Wednesday as the transition tinting was slow to respond & did not go dark enough in sunlight to make them useful to use, especially when cycling & not like my existing pair I have been using for over 2yrs. So I called the opticians early Thursday Morning to let them know & spoke to a member of staff who was quite good & offered to see what they can do if I drop them in on Friday. I said I would as I have a train to catch at the nearby station & have to be quick about it so not miss the train. So I went to Asda to drop off the glasses for them to be looked at on Friday morning & this is when the issues I really have with this store occurred.

As I had just a few minutes to drop off the glasses before getting the train, I had lil time to mess around so I wheeled in my folding bike with pedals retracted to show I had no intention to cycle it & used it as nothing more than a method to carry my fully loaded panniers like a trolley. I didn't rush in & cause any issues with customers, I went straight to the opticians & asked to speak to the person I spoke to but he was busy so the young lady serving me went to deal with it & took my glasses with her to speak to him. Then I had a Security guard came up to me & requested I leave the premises as cycles are NOT allowed in the store. I asked where this is signposted as I saw no such policy, only one visible on the doors are for Dogs. The security guard refused to say & told me to leave. I said I would as soon as I have finished with the issue with my glasses & wouldn't go until it is sorted.

The Security guard then exceeded his authority & went to the young lady, took my glasses off her & handed them to me & told me to leave! Again I asked where is this ruling posted as there is no such policy, again he didn't say & said it is company policy & I had to leave. So I requested to speak to the store manager & he escorted me to customer service till by the entrance to discuss this & delaying me. A bloke with no hair or visible name badge then showed up claiming to be the store manager as I asked him if he was the store manager & he said yes & he also told be to leave with the bike as it is private property & is company policy, I asked him where it displaying this policy & again no-one could tell me.

In the end I had to leave as I had a train to get & been delayed enough by these 2, still have the faulty glasses & I am thoroughly pissed off with these 2 members of your staff for exceeding their authority & treating me like a petty criminal for a bogus policy that is not displayed & lied to by a bloke claiming to be a store manager when it is a female manager! At no time did I give any abuse & asked for evidence of this bogus policy & not once was I treated with respect or as a valued customer or shown any evidence. All they had to do was let me finish dealing with the young lady at the Opticians & then speak to me afterwards, but no they wanted to make an example of me in public by telling me to leave as if I had broken the Law.

So I took this up with the twitter team whilst on the train as @2_Wheeled_Wolf on Twitter & the nonsense I got from them was no better, claiming it was company policy due to Health & Safety & Hygiene.

Again this is just more lies as there is no policy, has nothing to do with Health & Safety & utter nonsense trying to claim its hygiene issues. After all it is no more unhygienic to wheel in the lil folding bike with panniers on than it is to use a shopping trolley, a pushchair, a wheelchair or even one of your own trolleys. Even the use of Scooters & Heelies are frowned upon by customers but not stopped by your staff for these same claims.

HSE have already had to diss this myth of Health & Safety when Tesco tried it a while back with someone else, see following link:

http://www.hse.gov.uk/myth/myth-busting/2016/case395-supermarket-banned-foldaway-bicycle.htm

& it is clear then when Tesco did this they were in the wrong & admitted it. See link:

http://road.cc/content/news/181328-tesco-backs-down-after-cyclist-told-he-couldnt-take-brompton-store

& I also have taken my bikes into stores before elsewhere in Argos at Tollgate & Tesco in Highwoods, the staff at Argos even encourage it.

I don't normally bring my other bikes I use for shopping into the store when at Asda as they are large bikes so to carry the shopping.

But the folding bike is little & as I didn't have time to mess around to unload it, lock it up & carry the heavy bags with a walking stick which I wouldn't have needed to do in the first place if glasses were working correctly.

But this one time I had to wheel it in as I would if it was a trolley & there was no need for staff to lie & treat me as a petty criminal. If I did that myself to a customer, I would be sacked on the spot by my manager.

So on Tuesday 24th January I will be going back to the store again to return the glasses & be requesting a full refund as they do not meet the requirements of the prescription I have paid extra for the transition tinting, I will not give them the chance to correct it as I will not give any more time & money to a Store or company that treats customers like I have been treated. I'd far rather pay the far higher costs to a company that makes the glasses correct first time & give me the time & effort of a pleasant sale, so I be getting my glasses where I got my last pair.

And if this company want my further business or anyone else's that know me, I suggest the REAL store manager see me on Tuesday & speak to me with more respect than I had before & I will see if I am happy with what she says before I decide to continue my custom with Asda. I await your response by email which this complaint will be sent.

Sincerely yours.

And since sending this letter of complaint to head office via email a week ago on the 22nd, I have returned the reading glasses & got a full refund as I am not going to give my earnings to a company who treats their customers like this. As it is the staff in the Optician Dept & Customer Service till at the entrance are all appalled by how the 2 staff I am complaining about treated me & how badly they handled a non-issue; Store Manager is off sick when I went to the store on the 24th so never met up with her, so I have left a copy of the complaint with customer services to give to the real store manager & a copy to the Optician dept so they know the complaint has nothing to do with them. And so far Asda has not got back to me from head office or the store.

Update 11th March 2017

Eventually Asda did reply to my email & said the following:

Of course this is nonsense & I replied with the following email:

Of course I did get a reply which was no better:

Thus my response:

Since then over a month has passed & not heard from them since my last email & I have not heard from the Store Manager. I guess they rather not have my business or address properly the fact they exceeded their authority so I guess bullying customers on bogus rules that aren't displayed anywhere is OK for them.

Meanwhile I have been looking elsewhere of examples, here's a small shop that's happy to let bikes into their shop.

And a shopping centre with a small entrance that can clearly display a sign which Asda can't seem to do on 2 doors around 4x the size of this one.

IKEA Hack #1 Slim BESTA Entertainment Unit, remodelled 2015 (updated February 2017)

2015-07-22T00:00:00.001+01:00

Note: Updates to the blog are at the bottom if you like to get up to date if you have read the original blog already.

So in 2011 I had built this entertainment system which I had submitted this on a site http://www.ikeahackers.net among other ones but only this one was published in December 2011. So I posted it on Blogger in 2012, since then I have moved & got new equipment.

This is the original blog reposted with the remodelling to follow at the end in which I have started in 2014 for a new flat & new equipment. So if you have read it before & don't want a refresher on previous blog then please scroll down...

Materials

BESTA, INREDA Pull-out frame, INREDA Shelf insert, SNUDDA, Hole borer drill bit

Description

Main objective was to minimise space of all my entertainment equipment. In previous flat I had metal brackets with cut to size shelves to hold all equipment above TV which worked well on the solid wall.But in new smaller flat, its hollow plasterboard walls & doubtful it could hold all the equipment, so had to be free-standing & I decided to use a Besta Wood effect tall unit.

I measures the levels where the shelves were to go to give breathing room to equipment, done w/o TV at 1st as was planning more units to hang on wall over TV. I then measure evenly the holes to drill out & big enough to feed a plug through. Then it was a case of fitting the equipment in & wire it all up & put in its place.

Few months later I found out this wood effect style had been discontinued & couldn't get any more Besta's to match, I decided to put TV inside the unit on a pull out drawer & have it swivel so I can watch TV from the PC desk. I used a plank of wood to sit TV on, the bearing mechanism of a SNUDDA lazy susan to swivel the TV. All bolted/screwed onto the INREDA Shelf insert sitting in the INREDA Pull-out frame.

The remaining space is for boxes of knick-knacks using PAPPIS cardboard boxes, which 2 fits lovely on each shelf & I was able to fit 4 with room for power supply at the bottom for all the equipment.

Tho it took a few months to get all of it together, it actually was 2 days work & look great next to the other Besta I was able to get & use as a display cabinet. Next stage is to back light the units & then it will all be finished.

2015

As I have now moved, the layout of the livingroom is very different & the Besta Unit now sits in the corner, TV has also been replaced as previous one died. So I got a bigger Widescreen TV unit & this meant it couldn't fit it inside the unit. So I went back to Ikea & found a matching new design Besta Cabinet Door & reconfigured the whole unit.

Most of the equipment is still above the TV, only the Game consoles aren't as they don't need line of sight for the remote controllers & thus have been moved & sit behind the cupboard door. Also I used the extra space for document storage too thus free up space on other Besta shelves.

You can see I drilled holes in the cupboard door big enough to fit leads through to TV & big enough for scart leads to fit through, then fixed the cables to the door & unit so not to get snagged when opening & closing the cabinet door..

The space below has now been turned into cabinet space & eventually I will light up the shelving system & cabinet with LED lighting. Also there's room for any future equipment now that I have moved them around to house the game consoles behind the cupboard doors.

With its new position & layout, it sits nicely in the new flat & continues with my original idea that has evolved as circumstances changes & no doubt will for many years to come. I'll update as & when this happens..

Update 20th June 2016

As the room evolves when decorating, so does the layout.

And thus so does the design of the BESTA Entertainment Unit, with new tech coming onto the market for watching media I have had to find new ways to incorporate it into the unit & be available to access directly or by remote.

Most what is in the cabinet part is the same, just had a lil move around to get more room to let the devices breathe. What I have added is the Chromecast & Amazon Fire Stick, as they both work on out of sight remote control it was easier to attach them to the cabinet door & have the Chromecast, Fire Stick & PS3 connecting to the HDMI connection of the TV by an auto select HDMI switchover box so whatever I turn on it switches to it & I can then enjoy using it.

All of these are stuck to the cabinet door with Commando Velcro tabs for easy removal if I need to move them, all tidy & hidden when cabinet door is closed. That's about it for now...

Update 20th February 2017

As January sales kicked in & Christmas money burning a hole in my pocket, I bought myself a Soundbar speaker to improve the sound coming from the TV as well as finally fixing the surround sound system cooling fan thus giving me a choice in sound quality. It did mean I had to re-organise the shelving to fit the speakers in place & to feed the extra cables.

Still looks good & tidy & the setup is still versatile as ever.

As one chapter closes, the next one starts

2015-05-22T00:00:00.000+01:00

This morning I awoke for the 1st time in weeks feeling.. well the best I can describe it is feeling less dark, refreshed, a spring in my step & generally feeling less old. All I can say is that the past few months have made life feeling a tad dark inside & tiring mentally as well as physically & a lot older than I am & have felt in a long time. There's been a few changes in my life I can't undo & after the 1st decent night sleep last night in quite a while, I feel now it's time to close this chapter of my life for the past 10yrs & accept these changes are here to stay & time to open the next chapter of my life.

I know I won't be the person I worked so hard to be for the past decade, sure ain't gone how I want it & definitely not completely stick free. It hasn't been a complete failure, I have gained a lot from the past 10yrs & gained new experiences that will stay with me for life, etc... The next chapter has already gone off to a good start with having a job that I love, enjoy to be in & slowly expanding my knowledge & hours working there.

Cycling will still is part of my life, maybe not quite how I wanted it to go as have to watch my knee & make sure it don't flare up but not letting it disappear from my life like it did 20yrs ago. Cycling does help keep knee going & with me now working too it'll help the knee a lot. Also new bikes are on the cards as well as the continuing rebuild of my Roadrunner project to help with my knee as looking for more suitable lighter bikes.

The flat has been on hold with decorating for far too long, combination of knee issues & work/life balance needed it's fell to the back of the list & it's time to re-address that. So working on starting to get flat back in order.

So here's to more good mornings like I had today to make my day a great day & look forward to better things in life for this next chapter of my life...

Stumbling blocks to my plans...

2015-04-22T00:14:00.000+01:00

As those who have been following me over the years now, I have been working on getting to be stick free after a major op on my left leg. Well its like 10yrs now & again my knee has locked up on me in February & I am back on my stick atm & relying on painkillers for a bit. But this time its a game changer as after been referred to do some Hydrotherapy treatment it was bought to my attention in my medical records the results from latest scans shows I have early stages of Osteoarthritis in my knee & it is this that's causing my knee to fail on me & flare up & lock it.

So today I have visited my specialist about my knee & he didn't beat around the bush about the condition to my knee, simply put I will never be stick free. Instead I will be mostly stick free, my knee will never be healed as its a degenerative condition & the best I can do is manage it to slow the process. So it's not all doom & gloom, as explained by the specialist & also what I have read up on the condition is keeping active is the best method to manage it. Specialist is pleased I am working where I am on my feet all the time, walking & standing. Its the best way to build up my muscles & even with knee flaring up & back on the stick I haven't stopped working & it sure helps.

But what it does mean is I have to re-adjust my lifestyle some more, first is seating. Had to replace sofa with a recliner one so to minimise the knee being bent. Also helps when using hot & cold packs around the knee too.

Next I had to stop cycling, after pain had eased I purchased a basic turbo trainer so I can use the bicycle indoor where I can gently pedal my legs where it has no effort to aggravate knee on the lowest settings. Also limits the chance of aggravating the knee on the roads with twisting & turning the bike, jarring, drivers etc. This way helps control the environment & can limit my time & effort in using it. But after 6 weeks I am back cycling outside, going slow & gentle but am getting the miles in. But the planned sponsored rides are likely to be cancelled.

Other things I have to now avoid is kneeling & crouching, not the easiest of things to avoid so will learn eventually. I have to also to do regular exercises to build muscles up more in my legs from my gluts to my ankles.

Another thing is to get lighter bikes to help ease the effort of cycling, now I know Roadrunner is a light bike & in the middle of being repainted right now. But its not a good bike to do my shopping on, shape isnt right for it & so I need to find a lighter version to lil Trekr.

But I also need to think ahead, it clearly documented that a recumbent bike is the best bike to cycle with Osteoarthritis & as I know full well it's not going to fully improve, eventually a standard bike will not be helpful & have to go for a recumbent bike. So going to have to work out a saving plan on this as these bikes cost over £2k & more for the folding version as I can then store it indoors.

Other things I need to do will be to loose some weight, I was doing well on that but each flare up of the knee means I become less active & weight goes back on quicker than I had lost it. This sure wont help for the knee weight load. That's about it for now, its late & a lot to try get straight in my head after today's revelations so probably a few things I've forgotten atm.

I may not be stick free ever again, but I am sure hell gonna make the use of sticks as lil as possible & have my folding stick gathering dust where ever I go. The battle is not lost, just need to change the game plan... :)

Minor blip in my plans....

2014-08-02T00:14:00.002+01:00

Around 9 month ago after years of physio & determination, I thought I had finally conquered my disability, getting to full health & be stick free once & for all. Even getting on well with cycling & long rides with no issues after.

Well 3 weeks ago that all went to pot when my knee decided to go on me again after nearly 2 yrs of physio to sort it. It went so much so I was in agony & had to make a visit to the A&E where I eventually came back out on crutches & strong painkillers.

So for the first time in a long time I felt somethings I haven't felt in nearly 2 decades when my leg first went bad, disappointment & despair. It didn't help that the painkillers were making the mind all fuzzy & for the first time since I moved to Essex I wished I was back at Farnham, but not for what you might think. It was the flat I am thinking of, being on ground floor & having a garden is what I am missing at the moment. So I can relax & feel OK with it all as the cats would've had freedom to go in the garden & some where I can recuperate. Now there's nothing wrong with my current flat or it's location. Its the fact its in need of decorating & no garden I can easily get to as I'm on the 1st floor.

After 2 weeks, I finally came off the painkillers & crutches but still using the stick. Seen the GP to get a referral to a specialist as obviously the physio isn't working. And my brain is trying to adjust back to how I was years ago & I'm having issues with this, basically I am getting sick & tired with all this. I just want to get on with how I was doing before the knee went again, I aint as young to re-adjust again like I was 20yrs ago & really need to get this knee sorted.

At the moment I am feeling I wish I never had the damn operation to get me stick free as now going back on them is doing my head in & feel like I've been cruelly teased with a stick free life right now as I am back to how I was almost a decade ago & not know just yet when I be stick free again if at all.

So out of this I do feel I need to focus more on certain things, like everyone else we all have this where we have so many things going around in our heads & sometimes it's too much & need to re-evaluate & decide what is important right now. For me I need to sort my leg, a job & generally get my life back on track. The rest will have to wait or give way to what is more important.

So for now, just watch this space as I dunno how the next few weeks, months or years will pan out. I am hoping to try a short gentle cycle ride in a week or so time to test the waters to see if knee can cope. Then go from there, but most of all try not get stressed as I know that never helps the recovery.

Still on 2 legs...

2014-06-09T23:56:00.000+01:00

Its been over 6 months now since I've been walking stick free (excluding the few times I need to when carrying heavy items) & wrote my blog On 2 Legs... Well what can I say since then? Actually a fair bit! lol

To start with I gone & got myself a part time job as a cleaner as part of a return to work scheme & even thos it didnt last 6 months, it was a good building block back into work. The work was light but on my feet & lots of stairs & I mean a Lot! 2 days work a week & on my feet for nearly 8hrs a day. hard work at first but as the weeks went on it did improve.

Then there's the cycling, if you've been following me on Twitter you would know I help at Re-Cycle from time to time. Well they helped me build my own roadie style bike that I built to suit me, as I needed something to keep pushing my boundaries. More on that later...

I did the 30 days of Biking again & again I did the Pedal for the Js sponsored cycle, but this time I went for the 50 miles route. So me & my lil Trekr went & conquered the ride.

This was great for me as it showed I'm still improving the leg strength & my own fitness, but it also was getting me ready for something that was going to push my boundaries more than I was expecting...

For you see I gone & won some tickets to a charity ride Nightrider London to raise money for your own chosen charity; it was over night, around London & 100km (62 miles). Definitely pushing my limits more than ever, I don't like London as a pedestrian let alone a cyclist, never cycled over night & going further than ever...

It was touch & go as if I would do it with train issues, weather & own personal stress relating to no job. But overcame that with a bit of help from friends & family & had the bike I built ready for action & I have named from the start as Roadrunner.

So on that day I did Nightrider London, I had actually cycled over 74 miles in a 24hr period. Sure was an emotional & physical moment for me, I'm actually achieving things now that I didn't even do before my leg went bad. Thinking about it does give me a lump in my throat as 2014 is proving to be a year I wasn't expecting it to be...

So I can safely say my leg & the rest of me are improving more & more & the leg is getting stronger as the months go by. ATM I am looking for work & looking for something that will allow me to push my boundaries a bit more than the last job. Of course I don't want to over do it & mess up years of physio, but I do see either the end of this year of sometime next year to be fully able bodied & clear the last hurdle of carrying heave loads across a room without the need of my stick...

Irrational fears...

2014-01-08T01:15:00.004+00:00

What is Irrational fears?
Here's one description of it, Some anxiety isn't generalized at all; on the contrary, it's attached to a specific situation or thing—like flying, animals, or crowds. If the fear becomes overwhelming, disruptive, and way out of proportion to the actual risk involved, it's a tell-tale sign of phobia, a type of anxiety disorder.
Although phobias can be crippling, they're not obvious at all times. In fact, they may not surface until you confront a specific situation and discover you're incapable of overcoming your fear. "A person who's afraid of snakes can go for years without having a problem," Winston says. "But then suddenly their kid wants to go camping, and they realize they need treatment."

Well yesterday I had an experience I just couldn't explain. Due to my leg & various other conditions & injures over the decades I have had many tests done. And for the past 25 or so years I have have countless no. of MRI scans. You know, the one you're slid into a tube & have loud clicking noises all around you. Well in the past I have had moans from the technicians for snoring as I find I just doze off.

So yesterday, I went for a routine blood test & MRI scan. Everything was fine, done all of this before tho coz they were running late & I had waited hours I was getting hungry. I got called into the changing area to remove all metallic items possible & lock them away, then went into the MRI room & still everything was fine. Technician asked the usual questions & I joked about how often I have been in one of these etc...

So up I climbed onto the scanning bed, techs got me into position on my back & strapped my arm down then strapped me down & I was feeling a bit uneasy. Slid me into the machine & BAM! I was shouting out to get me out! I really was not comfortable being in the machine, I just wanted to get out & not get back in! Daft as it was, for some unknown reason I just couldn't face being in that machine.

So as a result, techs had to reposition me face down in what they called the Superman position. Arm being scanned held above me & other by my side & this was uncomfortable. So in I went to be scanned & still I did not feel happy being in there, on top of that I had to endure 30 - 40 mins of scans & every bit of it was putting my arm in pain. And the pain increased as time went on, I had to hold the arm still & this just increased the pain.

So after the first scan, they pulled me out & told me to hold still as going to inject me with image enhancement fluid for next set of scans which was going to be another 20 mins. I just pulled myself upright with my good arm & said not a chance! I was not going to be able to go back in with how I was feeling or the level of pain I was in & was a level I haven't had in a very long time. So we left it at that & hopefully that will do, I sure hope it will.

I went into the changing room to get my stuff & I just burst into tears. Now I aint one to be rattled easily, sure aint one to suffer irrational fears but for some reason but at that moment on that day in that place I suffered 'Irrational fear' & I have never felt anything like that ever & hopefully never will again! I didn't know what triggered it that day, the only thing I can think of is that I was hungry & that upset chemical balance in me. Well I sure hope it was! But I know this wont be my last scan & hopefully I can put this behind me & have the scans like I had before, I might suggest a different machine to help me on that.

I must say tho, the staff were great. I was so embarrassed, felt guilty of the NHS money I've wasted if this all has been for nothing. But I just couldn't control whatever had caused it, sure don't want to dwell on it & just want to put it down as a one off.

A reflection on the past year of 2013

2013-12-24T22:41:00.002+00:00

Well its almost Christmas day & already people, TV & radio are going on about New Years resolutions. I myself don't really do them, but I do try set goals to try achieve if possible & not an issue if I don't. Well 2013 has been one hell of a year where I have achieved so much more than I could ever thought I would do in a year.

All I wanted to achieve for the year was to improve my cycling, leg & hopefully get off my sticks. Must say the year had a bumpy start, all that snow for weeks/months. I was out in that snowy weather on my bike, enjoying the fact I could easily get about now on 2 wheels no matter the weather.

Got myself in the papers for a blog I did about the farcical works on potholes on just one road.

Then do another 30 days of Biking where I finally broke the 25 mile barrier in cycling. If anything I more than broke it, I thrashed it by cycling to Kelvedon & back & cycled the 35 miles sponsored cycle ride for Pedal of the J's which meant I did near on 40 miles that day.

Then in may I finally manage to move to Colchester to be closer to my beloved, it proved to be a blessing in so many ways as it opened up opportunities I didn't have before.

For starters, I got myself into volunteer work with Re-Cycle to help improve my legs though the cycling in Colchester was doing that already coz of its hills.

That gave me the opportunity to buy another bike, a lighter more suitable one to continue my improvements as I was reaching the peak on The Beast. But not to worry, my loyal Beast is still with me as my back up & winter bike. This is proving to live up to its name as the Trekker.

And another which I am building to be even lighter & for longer rides, hence the project name: Roadrunner.

So now 2/3 through the year & achieving quite a bit, but it was only just warming me up for October/November. For starters in October, I finally got off my sticks after 20yrs of dependency of them. As announced on YouTube 'A special announcement to all those who have been following me for the past few yrs & more...'

Then I decided to put pressure on Job Center to get help to return to work, so put on a course & the company staff running it was so impressed with my achievements, determination & willing to work. They only gone & offered me a p/t job which I started in the end of November. Its hard work but so loving it & slowly getting back into a work routine again & my leg is still continuing to improve.

So with only 1 week to go until end of the new year, I can safely say I have achieved far more this year than I ever expected. Its not been plain sailing, easy or straightforward but I got there in the end.

So what's next for 2014, TBH I really don't know as I'm still catching up mentally with what I achieved this year. I'll continue to improve my cycling, aim is to beat the 50 mile mark but I can see that I could go well past that but I wont fret if I don't. I am planning to do Pedal for the J's again too, get Roadrunner built might help with that so need to focus on that. Of course increase the hours I can do in work would be good, be great if I can be full time by end of the year but again I will take it easy to not make things worse for my leg. I don't want to undo this years good work.

So with a week to go, here's a farewell to 2013 & what a year its been & hello to 2014 & let see if you can blow my mind more than 2013 did!!

And this picture best sums up how I feel about all of this! :D

lil bundle of fluff...

2013-11-24T02:12:00.000+00:00

Last night I dragged myself to bed all tired & achy, 2 days of work really took its toll on me but in a good way. As I laid down in bed, Smokey climbed in & laid himself along me against my chest & I fell asleep to the sound of his purring. I awoke a few hrs later due to call of nature & he was still there, pressed against my chest & resting his head on my arm. He even stayed there whilst I was in the bathroom & got into same position when I laid back down in bed.

It was quite pleasant & he's not done this sort of thing for some yrs now, it got me thinking of how I missed him doing this. I know why of course, he hasn't been the same since the diabetes. But right now I am seeing the old version of Smokey starting to re-appear again, just lil things he stopped doing but doing them again.

So I do think despite the past few weeks of hypo attacks & worrying news from the vets a few weeks back, I do believe we are starting to win the battle against diabetes at the moment & enjoying the ol' Smokey back whilst I can.

I know I will miss him bad when it comes to that time we will have to part, we bonded closely from when he was my lil bundle of fluff. But until then I will do what I can to keep him happy, pain free & when it come to that time then I will let him join Skip in a dignified manner.

But until then & even after, he will always be my lil bundle of fluff...

On 2 legs...

2013-10-15T00:03:00.003+01:00

For those who been following me for a while know about me being on walking sticks & working on getting off them which I finally did almost 2 weeks back. But some don't know the background to all of this & some have asked questions or not as they feel embarrassed to or not care.

Well for those who do want to know, I thought it is time I put all of the years into 1 blog so it will be easier to just send this blog & let whoever wants to know see it all. So where do I start, well I guess we start right at the beginning & I think we should start with the prequel.

Well, I when I was little I wasn't on sticks, in fact I was full of energy & fully fit.

So as you can see, I was quite fit & a good runner etc. I also started getting into cycling in my teens & bought my first bike with my own savings.

Was a good bike to start with & got me into cycling, even did my first sponsored cycling though on a borrowed bike as this one broke just before the day.

This got my parents to buy me my best bike I have had & still miss it now, the Raleigh Maverick.

And I had many many years of use of this bike with my friend who also had one too. I did get into motorbikes too but I still enjoyed cycling. By the time I was 18, I passed my motorbike tests & got a full license & started getting a strange tingling down my left leg that didn't go away & was the start of the whole event of changes for me.

So now at 19, I am starting to get tingles down my left leg & shooting pains from the hip causing leg to give way. GP didn't have a clue so sent from one specialist after another, X-rays, MRI's, Ultrasounds, etc. Eventually they decided I had a trapped nerve in Hip joint & to free it involved an operation with a 50:50 chance of success, being young I decided to go for it as after all if it failed I was young to adapt & at first after the operation it did work but slowly came back & then had another operation & again was OK & again it came back but worse than ever.

By this time I was in a good steady job with McDonalds as Dining Host / Party Organiser & doing well with own rented bedsit, having fun as you do in your early 20s. But this leg issue was hampering me at work so I was offered a 3rd & final attempt to sort it. I did go for it as I wanted to get fixed to keep my job; unfortunately it didn't go as planned. The nerve was so damaged from constantly being trapped; it had frayed & snapped when being freed off again. And with nerves, you can't just repair them like a frayed wire so no more could be done. So as of December 1993, I had now become reliant on a walking stick, loads of painkillers 24/7 as I was now in pain like I have never known before. The best way to describe it is like phantom pain when someone loses a limb, where they can feel the pain on the raw nerves as if the limb was still there...

So the next 4yrs, I wasn't working. I was spending 3 days a week at Physio doing pain management, trying to get off the painkillers & get a job. No job offered as to be expected as most saw me unfit to work whilst going to hospital, Conservative Government did though so had to keep looking. Eventually I did get one, Dominos Pizza as the kind Canadian franchise owner was happy to let me try out the job first & kept me as I did better than the others. But it was a short term job as I was going to College for retraining in a Disability College. Which proved quite helpful & into a well paid job for the quite a few years.

So jump a few years, I'm in a well paid job. Got a flat, moved to another flat, got married & divorced, all the usual stuff everyone does but as a disabled person using a walking stick. I kept doing my motorbiking & almost everything else; cycling wasn't in my life anymore & told it wouldn't so bike were sold off. I learnt to be a stubborn person to try everything once to see if I can do it, even if it was done slightly different than a regular person would. But I never let the disability get to me; yes I had my dark moments. Who doesn't? But saw the disability as a challenge, a way to get my creative blood flowing in new ideas to do something that technically I couldn't. From DIY, riding motorbikes & even riding horses.

So all was it should be for me, up until 2005 when I started to get a new pain in left leg & unrelated to the damaged nerve. And again it was yet more tests & just as they thought it was a damaged hip joint, they discovered something on a detailed X-ray to the cause. My bone was turning to jelly, a Bone Cyst.

So I was booked in fast to get it sorted as it was on the verge of snapping, so no kicking, jumping, falling over, etc in case it snaps. Gave me the heebies thinking about it. But this problem was going to be a blessing to me, for the specialist doing the operation offered me another chance to fix the nerve as it was by the area being operated on. His words were 'things have moved on in the technology & can't make it any worse' so I agreed. Had the op with a few hiccups with recovery so spent 9 days in hospital. But all I can say it was all worthwhile.

Now it was all about healing & rebuilding my leg, partly coz they really went to work on my leg & couldn't move my toes for a month. Physio was hard work & soon started to get leg stronger, pain from damaged nerve had gone but as I was putting more weight on my leg the knee wasn't coping with having to take the weight again. I did try to go stick free in 2009 but didn't work out, was too soon for the knee & actually made it worse.

So I did more physio again & again, at different hospitals as I had moved to Chelmsford, Essex in 2010. But this proved to be the best bit as it was suggested during physio in 2011 to take up cycling again as a low impact exercise as I had no trouble with the exercise machines. So in June I went & bought a 'to work on' bike to suit me when I built it.

So I rebuilt it, made it to suit me & get me fitter, stronger & slowly become better with my bike which is now known as The Beast.

But still even with cycling, doing events like 30 Days of Biking & sponsored cycled ride in April 2013, I was still on my stick. Knee still gave me agro, so I just kept on pushing the limit just a lil bit at a time. Knowing I will get there...

Well after I moved to Colchester in May, that limit went up! Colchester is definitely a hilly place compared to Chelmsford. And on a heavy Beast with shopping, that sure was a workout which proved to be worthwhile. I didn't go to nearest supermarket to buy my shopping, no I went to the furthest away. This meant pulling a 20+kg weight of shopping on a 25kg bike over the hills, this was hard work but it got easier as my leg & knee improved even more.

So I decided it was time to go & try working part time, finding a job though was proving unsuccessful. So from August I started doing a couple hours a day working at Re-Cycle, getting bikes ready to be sent to Africa. Also meant I was standing on my feet doing the work & also was cycling 7 miles each way to this place too. This proved to help a lot. I also found myself another bike to ride, a Trek 7300. A lighter bike & definitely up'ed the game for me in cycling. So this is where I decided 2 weeks ago to ditch the stick, I felt ready too & made it public.

Knee felt ready too, though it does grumble a bit when I push the boundaries. But as long as it is holding out & getting stronger, I will stay stick free. I do still use the stick for when carrying heavy shopping, eventually I will do it stick free but til then I ain't gonna be silly about it.

So there you go, a brief run down on me being on sticks. Sorry if it's a bit long to read, but if I included everything it would be a lot longer & I do mean a lot longer. But I hope you now have a better understanding, why each small improvement (trivial to some) I do when cycling means so much to me. Each step forwards is like baby steps, eventually it will be bigger steps. Every time I go out now, I feel strange & recently found out going into a busy shopping centre is stressful due to blinkered shoppers not looking where they are going & me freaking I could be knocked over & set back onto sticks. But so far it has never happened (hopefully never will), I will get used to walking stick free & hopefully before Christmas as if I don't I'll be a nervous wreck. lol

Well thank you for reading, those who follow me on Social Network sites I'll keep boring you with my update. ;-)

Kidding, I know you're with me on this, for me to succeed. I still get a lump in my throat when I think of where I was & where I am now. Its hard to believe almost 20yrs ago I was told I'd never walk stick free again & definitely never cycle. It shows now how you never know what is around the corner. It's been an interesting journey, not one I would want anyone to take but I know this journey I took has made me a better person for it.

I could keep on, but I will end the story here & thank you for taking the time to read it. TTFN.

Changes are upon me as Autumn rolls in...

2013-08-27T02:14:00.000+01:00

Well its now almost the end of August, September is almost upon us & for me this month is going to be another life changing time for me. As Autumn rolls in, for me if all is at it is now I will be hanging my sticks up for good. (Well maybe 'til I get really old & need them again).

I must say its going to be strange to walk around out in the open with both hands free, supporting myself without a 3rd or 4th leg. Be seen again as a 'normal' person, well normal as can be. But the 20+ yrs of being on sticks will always be with me for the rest of my life.

It has been a long 20 odd yrs but I feel the disability has not been a bad thing, I know it wasn't good to be in pain for that many yrs, having to change my lifestyle to one I wouldn't want. But at the same time, it made me stronger, more stubborn (some see that as a bad thing) & most definitely not let anything I feel I can do be stopped by my leg.

Over the 20 odd yrs I have had the opportunity to do stuff I probably never would've done in either opportunity or desire to do it if it wasn't for my leg.

So it is going to be a strange adjustment as it isn't going to be instant (none of it has TBH), I won't be fully fit when stick free. I will still need to work on strengthening the leg at a pace that doesn't put me back on sticks. There maybe times I have to use the stick where it will prevent injury more than necessity, that won't be seen as a bad thing.

So here's to the road I have travelled for 2 decades, its time for me to finally turn off & travel down a new road to a new unknown trip ahead of me. It will be an emotional one, I will be scared, worried, thrilled, ecstatic & many more as I move onto this road. But it is all good no matter where it takes me.

So here's to the end of 2013 & the arrival of 2014 where so much will change for me, already cycling again after being told 20 yrs ago I'll never will again. eventually I will be able to run & jump, unfortunately not like I used to as an athlete I was at school but I don't care as being able to is good enough. All I know is wherever my road goes, I will not be alone on my trip.

My beloved will be there to encourage me, put up with my enthusiastic ramblings & I know it sometime bore her (Sorry! xxxx). Also to hold me when I fail in trying to go that bit further coz I try to go too fast. As well as my old & new friends I have aquired over the yrs and my family, as I know all too well they all wish me to succeed in my quest & will follow my every move as I shout it out with pride on the social media.

On the move again...

2013-05-12T08:09:00.000+01:00

As I post this, things are changing & changing for the good I must say for I am moving again. I am leaving Chelmsford with all it's good & bad points, I will miss the parks & my favourite coffee spot Athlon Sport as well as the friends I made. But I am moving for a good reason, I am moving to Colchester & even closer to my beloved & so close to her workplace it soon could be my new coffee stop. :D

This was in the cards whilst I was doing the 30 Days of Biking & on the last week of April, unknown to most I was not only doing my cycling but I was also packing boxes when I got the OK to swap. The hardest part to me other than the hard work of packing was having to pull apart the flat, as most who follow me on Facebook & Twitter have seen what I have done to the flat over the years. From this:

To this after a couple of years...

And I know some of you are asking why do all this work & then move? Well... To start with I needed a home to live in & I didn't know if or when I would ever find another property, but also a nice looking flat does make it more appealing to the other prospective tenant for a swap.

Any way moving does have other advantages as well as being closer to my beloved which is what I wanted, there's also new cycle routes to discover & hopefully get my darling to come along with me. Did say 'hopefully' ;-)

But also a new flat to play with, new layout with new decor & already have ideas flowing through my mind of so many possibilities. So there will be pics posted as I go along with my makeover of the flat & show some of the new ideas & hacks I come up with. :D

But for now, here's some pics I got of the flat when I was approached for a swap.

Not much to see but I knew that already & was better to see it in person, I can see potential in the flat. Oh it also has a bay window, so the cats are gonna love what I am planning for that bay window... :D

So as I said, I am sending this out literally as I am moving out of the flat. So one thing that will be disrupted is the internet, yes I know I have my mobile but still unsure how it'll be in the new flat. I'll keep you posted on this as there could be disruption in my postings.

But also I'm gonna take this opportunity to thank all who are helping me move for if they haven't have helped, this wouldn't have been possible. So a big thankyou to all who are involved!

The on-going farce of Potholes in Essex (UPDATED May 2013)

2012-12-17T02:00:00.001+00:00

(If you have read the blog & want to see the updates, please scroll to the end of the blog)

Just over a year ago I started cycling again & one thing I have noticed is the piss poor conditions of some of the roads that are meant to be part of the National Cycle Network. But there is one road I use a lot & have done by bus & now cycling, for the past 18 or so months which I have reported for the dangerous condition of Potholes & for over a year all I've got was 'we are looking into it' automated emails.

View Larger Map

This road is Langton Ave, Chelmsford & is a prime example of the farce & wasted money by the Councils & Government. Read on & you will see what I mean.

I decided to start taking pictures of this road to make a diary to prove the incompetence of our road maintenance.

These are Pictures I took in July 2012:

Now, these Pot Holes were mainly in the middle of the road & when cars are parked on both sides, it is a bloody nightmare to navigate them. Especially in the wet, snow or dark conditions & made worse when cars try get pass.

At around this time Essex Council announced their new £11 million budget to fix potholes, yeah right we all heard that before….

Wasn't disappointed as by November they were still there but worse:

Yet at the same time I took those they had done the adjoining road West Avenue:

Despite they could've easily continued, tho from what I've seem Langton Ave has been forgotten before when West Ave was resurfaced some years back & probably is why its in such a bad condition.

View Larger Map

After a week from taking previous pictures, they finally decide to do Langton Ave, but decided to cut corners & made an absolute mess of it... They just filled it with gravel, no packing it down, no sealing it. No! Just filled it with gravel & nothing like the work done the week before in adjoining road!! How bloody stupid is that?

And as you can see the gravel is coming out from the passing of traffic, so it wont be no surprise that in less than a month it looks like this:

And today it now looks no different than 6 months ago:

Oh & now we have this mess to contend with on our bicycles & prime example of why we don't cycle right next to the kerb...

So now you can see the farce on this one road, there are many others like it in Essex & the rest of the country no doubt about that. But I can't check every one of them, so if you have a road near you then do the same as I've just done. Reporting isn't enough, post a blog of it online & make it publicly available for all to see & show a bigger picture of what is really going on!!

Now I've explained my complaint of the sheer waste of money on man hours & material for NOT doing the job properly, would the Government depts & Essex Council like to explain why & if the contractor are coming back to do it again FOC? Maybe even Sustrans like to have words as it's part of the National Cycle Network.

January 2013

Following my posting of this blog & posting it on Social Media sites, I didn't get any response from the parties concerned (no surprise). But what I did see it yet another attempt to patch the road's potholes (whether it was a result of my blog or just coincidence, I dunno) & again it's been done badly. Here are some photo's of the work & a video with my commentary words as I cycle in the video. I let you decide if you agree with me on the poor state of affairs on this road.

February 2013

Since January, I've been watching for any further repairs & of course there hasn't been any. But in February on Twitter Essex Chronicle was asking for pics on a piece they were going to do on Pot Holes so I pointed them to this blog as had plenty of pics & video. Next thing I know they wanted to do a piece on me & a photoshoot on the very road I am blogging about. And here is the news piece...

There were some editorial errors in the piece but it with other news piece the paper did that week & following week might have got Essex Council to do something as they've announce an increase in their Pothole maintenance budget (again) but if its like the repairs that have been done & redone in this road, its just more money down the drain...

UPDATE!!

This will be my final update on this blog, its been nearly 2 yrs since I first reported the potholes & still they are a mess and yet I have seen other roads that have developed potholes this year due to the Winter spell & they've been repaired within weeks of reporting. Essex Council obviously feel this road is not worth fixing as it has failed to do it in the time I've been in Chelmsford. But I am moving on now, so I won't be able to keep an eye on the road & hope those who have the same issues will find my blog & videos of help to back their case.

So as a parting gift on this blog, here's a video done this May to show the poor conditions of the road, cycle network & bus route that this road is used for...

IKEA Hack #4 MALM Chest of drawers

2012-11-30T00:54:00.000+00:00

This is my 4th IKEA hack which is a very simple one to do with a bit of time & patience.

First of all, this wasn't for me. This was done for my partner who needed her Chest of Drawers adapted for easier use.

My partner has to sets of MALN drawers that are very good & sturdy but also the drawers are heavy to open due to this. The design is a handleless design & the finger access at the top makes it difficult to open. So after a few discussions on how to put handles on that are low profile & big enough, she decided that the KANSLI chrome-plated 38cm Handles were the best choice.

Now due to the drawers fronts being thicker in material than standard Kitchen cabinet doors which these handles are for, the supplied bolts weren't long enough at 20mm & had to be replaced with 25mm of the same diameter.

Next was to mask up the drawers, the reason for this was so that I could mark up where the holes will be with a soft grade pencil & not mark the Beech veneer which comes in handy when mistakes are made in measuring (yes I do make mistakes) but are corrected when double checking them.

Tape also works at keeping the hole tidy when I drill, not that you see the holes when handles are in place. Holes are drilled on 1 drawer to start with & the handle was fitted to be sure it all fits ok (& pray it is as it can't be undone), which it was as I had checked all measurements more than once. After that drawer was done & was ok, I carried on to the next & the next etc, until all were finished.

And I must say they look better with the handles & a good choice made by my beloved.

IKEA Hack #3 RAST Shelves

2012-10-07T02:29:00.001+01:00

This is my 3rd IKEA hack which is a very simple one to do.

Due to fitting new flooring, I couldn't have the existing RAST drawers beside the bed due to the quadrant trim over the laminate flooring. So had to find an alternative solution.

Flooring laid w/o trimming & drawers fit, but only just.

So I went for RAST shelves as they fit nicely beside the bed.

But I found them too low for the bed. Was just a nightmare to reach down for my cuppa, bedtime reading, etc.

So I decided like my BERTBY hack I would hang them on the wall with FAKTUM Brackets.

But the bottom shelf was too high for the plugs & didn't look right with legs hanging like they are, so decided to lower the bottom shelf to mirror the top shelf.

I started by putting the leg planks together & rotate one round so holes of this leg plank are opposite to the other leg plank, then used a drill to carefully drill through the holes into the other plank to make a set of matching holes.

This did mean I had extra holes not required now & didn't want them visible, so I carefully filled & sanded them flush to the wood.

Next was to drill a larger hole on 1 side of each set of shelves to feed wiring from plugs for lamps, chargers, etc then painted all the wood to cover my filling & protect the wood.

Once paint had dried, it was a case of building the 2 set of shelves & hang them to the wall on either side of the bed.

As you can see by next pic, the wiring feeds through & lamp switches are stuck in place with those no-damage adhesive pads.

I was very pleased with the results & feel the shelves really go with the decor & make the room look bigger because you can see the floor..

'Autumn' 30 DAYS OF BIKING

2012-10-05T00:26:00.003+01:00

If you are new to me or not paid attention to my Facebook & Twitter post, I have been posting daily throughout September about #30daysofbiking, but this isn't my 1st one as I did it in April too 30-days-of-biking.

Now if you haven't heard of it then here’s the site which tells more about this global event '30 days of biking story', quite simply it’s a pledge: Ride somewhere every day for 30 days then share your adventures online.

So why did I do this 30 days of biking? Well I've done it before & was a struggle, so thought I do it again to see if A. I still can, B. I can do better. Thankfully we had some really good weather for it.

So how did I do? Well, I found it easier than last time. Managed to beat my times to town & back but the 2 main things I excelled in was that I finally managed to cycle more than 10 miles & get back in 1 trip & twice I managed to cycle to town with trailer then cycle back with shopping. Both of those I've tried some months back & failed to do, so quite chuffed I was able to.

Below are some charts showing my performance of April & September to show how I did.

As you can see I only did a little bit more in mileage & duration, but that was partly due to the fact I got a lovely stinking head cold on the last week. But I did do the 30 days & it was the last day I exceeded my endurance by pulling a trailer home with over 20kg of cat litter in it for about 3 miles. But due to being faster & working harder in my riding I'd used a lot more calories, not a bad thing & is showing on my figure & improved walking.

So as like April's 30 days of cycling, where do I go? Well, starters I will now rely on cycling & not buses. After all I can now get there faster than a bus & more reliable, I'm already kitting up winter wear to help cycle through the colder weather. I've signed up to a cycling group where they go on leisurely gentle cycle rides & plan to do more of these. I had fun with the last one to Hyland House, even if it was a 15 mile round trip.

But now I can cycle regularly & carry weight on bike &/or in trailer, it definitely means I can look to work part time. Been retraining with Jobcentre & just need someone to give me a job to help me continue improving my health at my pace, which is working just fine with the cycling. :D

But until then, I'll keep on cycling & work on upgrading part on my bike as I've definitely got my moneys worth out of the beast since buying it second hand & some parts are showing wear. I will keep you all updated as time goes on, until then how about you give it a try if you haven't already? Don't have to wait until next year, just try it now for 30 days & see how you do. That is if you don't do it already.….

Single Feed Sky+ Get Around when away.

2012-09-23T23:12:00.000+01:00

Since moving into my flat, I have had an issue with my Sky+, the built in satellite system has only one feed. Why new builds have built in single satellite feed? I dunno, maybe coz they know we need a 2nd feed & justified to charge £100 to add a 2nd feed which is a RIP off in my books.

Now if you have a Sky+ system you know this is a big issue, no longer can you record one channel whilst watching another or more importantly record different channels when out or not watching TV.

Well after many searches to find a ways round this, I found none & it is a pain. But I found a way to get around the issue of recording more than one channel whilst away. So I will try to explain it & show how easy it is to use.

Firstly, you need to understand why you cant record 2 separate channels one after the other. Simply put, what ever channel you are on you are locked into that feed & will stay like that until you change it manually. So the 2nd feed that has no signal due to the single feed & the Sky+ cant record a separate channel.

So to record different channels, the following method will lock 2nd feed to nothing & keep the 1st feed free to record any channel as long as you are recording one show after the other.

To start with you need to set up your recordings to follow one after another. Here's an example:

Now you need to start a recording, now it could be something you want that's just started or something you can just delete later. As long as it doesn't clash with your later recordings, you be okay.

Then whilst the recording is going on, change to another channel that isn't going to be used for recording. I chose channel 999 as I find this is the best one to use as you don't need this channel for recording. You will get 'No satellite signal is being received' on the screen, this is fine. It is what you want, you have now gone to the 2nd feed & is locked onto this channel, so when the current recording has finished, the 1st signal feed is free to change channel to record the next programme on another channel that's on the schedule.

Later when you go back to the Sky+, you will still get the ' No satellite signal is being received' on channel 999 & recordings have been done.

To get the signal back so you can watch the channels again, just go to the channel that's recording if it still is. If not, go to menu & select the channel you want to watch & use it as normal.

You still can't record another channel whilst watching another, I wish I could work out how to sort that one. But this method helps if you want to record whilst out for the day or even a week if you got enough room on hard drive. Hope it helps, it does work as I have been using this method for some weeks now to be sure & no failed recordings.

IKEA Hack #2 BERTBY

2012-07-15T23:26:00.000+01:00

This is my 2nd IKEA hack, I came across 2 BERTBY Cabinets dumped by the bin sheds & was just starting to rain. So I thought I save them as were in good condition, but not for long with the rain.

Unfortunately it had no fixtures or shelves, so had to think up another way to use them.

So I thought for the 1st BERTBY, why not fix to the wall? Just need the mounting brackets like those used to mount FAKTUM wall Cabinets. So I went to my local IKEA & asked for some & they were happy to help. So off I went to start this plan.

First I had to mark out where the brackets go & drill holes carefully so not make a mistake as some holes were of a set depth. I used 4 brackets due to the length of the unit.

So once brackets are fitted to unit, it was a case of marking holes on wall to fix it to the wall. This was fun to do on my own & recommend 2 people to do this, but I managed w/o incident. lol

Looks OK when hung & despite the low height it doesn't stick out much to bang head on.

Looks pretty cool when filled too, tho there is some cosmetic work to do on the sides at a later date by filling & covering the bare areas on the ends as well as some lighting inside the case.

Now for the 2nd one which is in working progress, I decided to put it on a long furniture leg & fix it to the wall at the top with a mounting L bracket.

Still got to sort out shelves (possibly glass) but looks OK & could do with some lighting in it too.

IKEA Hack #1 Slim BESTA Entertainment Unit

2012-07-14T23:22:00.003+01:00

I had submitted this on a site http://www.ikeahackers.net among other ones, but only this one was published in December 2011. So I am going to build up the hacks I've done on my site so even if not submitted, they are here to be seen.

Materials

BESTA, INREDA Pull-out frame, INREDA Shelf insert, SNUDDA, Hole borer drill bit

Description

The remaining space is for boxes of knick-knacks using PAPPIS cardboard boxes, which 2 fits lovely on each shelf & I was able to fit 4 with room for power supply at the bottom for all the equipment.

Tho it took a few months to get all of it together, it actually was 2 days work & look great next to the other Besta I was able to get & use as a display cabinet. next stage it to back light the units & then it will all be finished.

(I have moved since this blog & remodelled the design. The updated blog can be found here: http://wolfiesblogs.blogspot.com/2015/07/ikea-hack-1-slim-besta-entertainment.html?spref=tw)