January wrapped up.

Morning folks

Hope this finds you in tiptop form and finest fettle.
Had a day off work and had planned to escape to the coast to try and catch our tea, but Hurricane Charlie decided to visit, so I thought I would scribble a quick blog instead.

January survived, a month which always seems like it lasts about 6 weeks (financially) and an absolute eternity (climatically), surely the worst of the winter has passed us??? (Probably not, but I live in hope).

A lot and not a lot has happened since the last wrap-up.
Christmas and New Year done and packed away for another year.

Great to see ‘Are Kid James and family from NZ, first time in 8yrs.

The Nipper produced this map! Looks like an adventure, with plenty of excuses for getting lost 🙂

New year, new start, 12 grapes, 12 resolutions and all that.
2023 is definitely going to be a year of change and house move #44 is imminent.

So, here is the latest Ladfromtad.com round-up.

Healthy, wealthy and wise?

Not sure about the above?

I would be happy with the first one, but unfortunately fate/long covid dealt me a bit of a duff hand, and now a year on after catching the Coronavirus bug, I am no better and to be honest, none the wiser what exactly is going on?

I am still under the Pulmonologist, who has prescribed me a(nother) new inhaler, but not until I have done my 3 week fast (no inhaler!)
It is tough going. I have this little tube called a Peak Flow Meter, which I blow in every morning and night (AM results are pitifully feeble), then write it down on a graph and the Doctor will see me again in June (which is quite soon, in NHS timescales).

The GP told me “That I should be grateful I survived (Covid)” which I am, but which was basically another way of saying “Stop crying Nancy”.
I would like to see them do their job, on 3hrs sleep a night, on my salary 🙂
I know I shouldn’t be so sensitive, but their comments irked me, (I went back to work absolutely seething!)
Yes, I am grateful I survived. I am grateful for a lot of things, but it is like going to the Quack’s with earache to be told, “Well, think yourself lucky you’ve got 2 ears sonny!”

I am not ill-ill, just way, way, way below par, perhaps firing on one of four cylinders. There are people a lot worse off than me. It is just frustrating as I don’t know if it will ever get better? If I knew it wouldn’t, I would accept the fact and move on.

Luckily I can do a bit of exercise, jogging or cycling to work is about my limit, but I am grateful for that. Breathing, especially at night, is my nemesis. (Writing this at 2am is a sign of my zombie style sleeping). I am told it’s not asthma nor COPD, but what is it?
As with most things covid related, it is inconclusive.
Time will tell, maybe.

At the Bank of Tad, needs must/hard times have necessitated selling most of my Crown Jewels, the van and my CX bike are up for grabs if you know anyone?

If you are interested in either, please drop me a line at: ladfromtad:gmail.com 🙂

Daydreams and aspirations.

A man with OCD, who has run all their life, always needs a goal, a target, an objective, something to obsess over, but after a year of this malaise, I have had to accept that a triple Bob Graham Round or winning the UTMB are not likely to happen anytime soon.

So, I have ditched all notions of quality or quantity, and inspired by my mate Ross, I am aiming to run every day this year, for at least 20mins.
Most days I can fit it in as a commute, sometimes it is trickier, but it is definitely doable, (he says 1/12 of the way in), as long as my knees don’t implode along the way. It is glorified jogging/power walking, but healthwise, I can manage it. I measure my pulse and don’t push it.

Like most habits (good or bad), it is just a case of making something routine.

New goals, new goalposts.

The 365-shuffle is on.

News blackout

Continuing my self-imposed media proscription has been good (for my head) but part of me thinks that a balance would be a better thing.
(Balance and moderation, 2 things I have always struggled with).
A lot is happening now in Peru, but I only hear snippets.

Politicians the world over and only interested in looking after themselves and lining their fat, greedy pockets (with a few limited exceptions).

Facile perhaps, but in the short time when I worked at Suma Wholefoods (a food cooperative where there are no gaffers, no hierarchy, everyone earns equal wages and has equal say), although things take a little longer, things do get done.
I am not saying we should completely rearrange society, but sometimes the so-called powers-that-be are just bending us all over and laughing in our faces (figuratively, unless they are contortionists, or just very supple!)

Let it go…

How often do the actions of somebody else hack you off (or worse)?
Probably every single day; someone’s flip comment, a radgy work colleague, a Hitleresque boss, or some Jerkass driver.

Just this morning, I was driving down the street, a narrow residential street, I paused to let a bus come the other way, then a bloke (who I know, but who maybe didn’t or maybe did know it was me) flew past at about 50mph, I beeped, he gave me the w@ñker hand signal and flew off, doing the same to all in his all-important way.

I stewed on this for an hour and thought, what am I doing?

I am not turning into a Buddhist, a tree hugger nor a Happy Clapper, but this phrase makes sense:

“You will not be punished for your anger; you will be punished by your anger.” ~Buddha

Darn right 😉
Take a chill pill (and hopefully see the tosspot pulled by the Busies, just down the road!)

Big move

Time to move on…

When we fled Peru during the Pandemic, we were fortunate to be able to stay in my parent’s caravan, it is a top spot and always feels like you are on holiday! Winter is a bit trickier and if you are not a one-spoon-one pair of undies-one shoe minimalist, storage soon gangs up on you, but the location is amazing and we will be sad to leave.
However, now it’s time to move on into the big wide world.
House move #44 is beckoning.
It is my shed that is giving me nightmares.

Tight lines!

The Nipper and I have both been fishing for about 9mths now, myself after a 30yr break and the young ‘un, starting from scratch. We both fancied something new this year, so decided to head east (or maybe one day west) to the seaside, beside the sea.

Without boring you with the details, sea fishing is different to freshwater fishing in that:
– It is free! (Nobody owns the sea and if they do, they don’t charge you to fish in it).
– You can eat the fish (freshwater fish, apart from trout and salmon, all go back in, you wouldn’t want to eat them anyway as they apparently taste like muddy flavoured cotton wool full of pins). Catching your supper is a huge bonus.
– You never really quite know what you are going to catch!

So, you can generally do what you like, but you have to dance to the time of the tide.

We’ve had 2 trips so far, both to Hornsea (of Hornsea Pottery fame, long gone now). To say it is January we have been spawny with the weather both times.
First time the bairn caught a handful of flatfish, a weird looking Rockling and a load of Whiting. I caught a cod.
Next time, after being chased off the shore by the incoming tide, we retreated King Canute style to the promenade, only to spend the afternoon getting drenched by waves, but catching a decent sized flounder for tea.
It was a decent size, before I tried to have my first attempt at filleting a fish, which meant we had enough left to make half a small fish finger.
We both agreed it was delicious, but by that time we were both starving!
Watch this space…

Raider’s round-up

It is very easy to get giddy with a few favourable pre-season friendly results, but bloody ‘ell, what results they were!

52:24 win against North Wales Crusaders.
An abandonment due to failing floodlights whilst beating local Jam Eaters Workington Town.

And…

a 26:14 win against 75-time Superleague champions WIGAN WARRIORS.
Trouncing the blooming Pie Eaters.

Let’s hope it is a sign of good things to come this season 😉

And finally

Possibly, tenuously based on a true story (Bristol Zoo), this is well worth a watch.

Enjoy 🙂

“This is my car park…”

Hasta la proxima, baby!
More nonsense coming your way soon…

Cheers
Johnny & the ladies x

P.S. If you are looking for a class film to watch at the flicks, get yersen to see EMPIRE OF LIGHT (Trailer in the title!)