I’m in the process of moving everything over to a new hosting company and it seems it is easier said than done. Theory goes that we give access to our cloud and then transfer to new cloud, easy peasy. However due to server timeouts and the like they won’t talk to each other and so I have backed up the website and downloaded it myself and I am now in the process of uploading it to Google drive and then will pass it on the the new hosting guys and hopefully it will all be hunky dory.

I haven’t written much ’cause not much is happening apart from the miserable hot sticky weather that makes it almost unbearable unless you are sat in the air conditioning. The humidity has been so high and the over night temperatures have not fallen below 23C, it’s crazy. Roll on winter!

Four weeks to my travels which is good. I don’t really have much to organise, I fly and then hopefully arrive in Shanghai in once piece. Sissi will organise the accommodation so I really just need to turn up. Once I’m there I’ll organise a few internal trips which is easier to do from there than from here. Hopefully the VPN will work when I arrive so that I can still listen to Tony Blackburn to send me off to sleep at night. I also listen to Craig Charles and sometimes Johnny Walker, mind you he is getting on me tits a wee bit…….plays too much Springsteen for my liking.

So maybe next time I’ll be on the new platform and might even have a new look page, not sure how easy that is with the new crowd.

Oh one thing did happen. I put on a washing, mostly the clothes of worn in the garden and when I was out on the bike. When I went downstairs to check the washing machine the garage door was open…. I’m sure I closed it.

A short time later I went back to get something and again the door is opened, I mean what the fuck? I look for the remote and it’s nowhere to be seen. I’m thinking maybe I dropped it and someone is having a bit of fun. I checked the washing machine and it’s not there. On the line the first load is hanging up and I check the pockets of me troos, and sure enough the remote is happily sitting there freaking oot with all this water and is opening and shutting the door every time there is a decent breeze 😂

The weather has been really humid the last week, as high as 80%. The temperature today is only 30C but that humidity makes it very uncomfortable.

I did the new route that I found, the first hill is very steep and gets the heart pumping. The sweat has already started to come down my face and I have to stop to clear my eyes.

Each hill really pushes the body, the conditions makes every push of the pedals an effort. There’s hardly any breeze to cool the body.

I was out for nearly an hour. I opened the garage door on my return and as I put my bike away I have large spots in front of my eyes as my body struggles with the heat. I fall into the garden chair and skull the rest of my water and after a few minutes all is well and so I decide to do a bit of weeding. Five minutes was enough and by this time I’m completely soaked.

Looking forward to winter……..

When Christine told me that she got a call from Steph telling her he had days to live I must admit I was very skeptical. The international man of mystery always liked to create drama and make himself look way more exotic than he actually was. However my cynical attitude to his health condition was completely misplaced because Stephen died less than 24 hours after that phone call.

We grew up together, I guess we must have met at the Cochrane House but no idea when. He was a Pape and I was a Prod. He was very opinionated, very moody and when drunk he could start a fight with his shadow. However we had many laughs and many good times and sometimes we crossed the line to the dark side hoping the boys in blue were not around to catch us. He was always game for a laugh and very rarely turned down a challenge and he often got up to mischief and sometimes I tagged along. We never got caught, nearly but we never got caught.

He always had my back, which is something I am very grateful for. The Cochrane House could be absolutely mental at times and there were many fights but I always seemed to come through unscathed.  One party that we had turned into a full on war between the rival gangs and many got caught in the crossfire. Stephen got stabbed in the arm after he had been out there in melee doing his bit and I remember walking about after the police and ambulances arrived looking for him as well as everyone else and I found him in one of the ambulances holding his arm, he said “I got stabbed” I said “ Is it sore?” He said “What do you fucking think!” Then we had a good laugh………

There are too many stories, some I can tell and some I will take to my grave. Stephen was a multi-faceted friend whom I enjoyed being with, well not all the time cause sometimes it was scary if it was the Dark Stephen. One thing he did which I never forgot which made me feel a bit resentful towards him was when he recorded our conversations in his car. One night I caught up with him on the way home from Toledo Junction, I was blootered. We had gone to the hamburger stall, sometimes there was one opposite Toledo where there was a beautiful young girl which everybody chatted up. Stephen gave me the impression that he and she had a thing going and I was extremely jealous. No idea if this was true and looking back I very much doubt it.

As we sat in the car eating our food sometime after midnight we were just talking pish really about anyone and everyone. Someone always upsets someone else and it’s at times like these you confide in your friends if you feel someone has done you a wrong turn. As I found out to my utter horror a few days later when we were out and about during daylight hours, he had recorded everything that had been said in the car that night. He loved to get dirt on folk, a bit of blackmail you could say just so he could hold the cards. I was fuckin’ furious and worried at the same time because there were things I should have never spoken about but as we all know the power of alcohol changes everything.

In February 2018 I went home to get a new visa for China. I was in the UK for a month or so. He came to Johnstone for a few days and Christine, Steph and myself spent the day together around Loch Lomond. We had a great day, mind you it was raining but the banter and the laughs were brill. This is what I really enjoyed with Steph, the banter at times was minted and extreme at the same time and nothing was off limits.

I caught up with him in London for the day before I flew back to China, in fact I remember him insisting that we catch up. He had recently retired and he had a £100,000 from a pension burning a hole in his pocket and we discussed what should be done with all this money. Maybe buy a wee bothy in Scotland or flat and rent it out, travel never seemed to be on the agenda. But I remember him saying that as long as Karen and Joseph are taken care of, then all is well. The penny for me never dropped until I got the call from Christine the other day. When I met Stephen in London he was showing remorse for things done in the past and he wanted to right the wrongs he may have done. I just thought it was old age. I never for a minute put two and two together.

Apparently he has had a lung condition for quite a while and I wager that he knew in 2018 the road he was on. We had a great day walking around Soho, Chinatown and along the Thames regaling stories and reminiscing through a frigid London where for the first time in years there was snow on the ground. The big man hug that we gave each other at the end of the day brought a tear to my eye, my subconscious must have picked up on the subtle messages that I completely missed. I never saw him again or spoke to him after that day, not because I didn’t want to but he just never replied. Now I understand why…..

Stephen Madden was a very private man, saying he was complex is an understatement. I always enjoyed seeing him when I went home and talking shit and remembering times before technology. I guess we’ll catch up on the other side one day……….until then big man rest easy………

Picked up my visa this morning in Brisbane. I parked at Indooroopilly and then got the train from there, I really couldn’t do the hour train journey from the Switch one more time.

My plan was to walk back to the car, but before I did that I checked the distance and it was just under 8km. As I headed off it started to drizzle. I’m wearing full sun clothing, big floppy hat, long trousers and arm coverings.

The rain got heavier, there was lightning and then a peel of thunder as I got on to the river side. The heavens opened.

I listened to a podcast and then music. Two hours later I’m still nowhere near the end, it was only then that the penny dropped. Because I’m following the river the distance is a lot more, nearly twice as much.

Half way into the walk I’m completely drookit, my white T has turned see through showing off my marvellous physique. My feet are soggy, and the bum bag that my phone and passport is in, is wet.

Because my feet are wet, my feet are complaining a little. I don’t like walking with wet feet.

Nearly three hours after setting off I’m back at the car. I’d been clever enough to bring another shirt and towel…thankfully.

My passport is wet, my new visa is slightly soggy… Not good. In the car I leave the passport on the dash, however there’s not much sun. I hold the passport near the vents to help dry it. I’m sure it will survive just like I did.

I ended up walking over 14km. Although mostly flat but I don’t think I’ll be doing much more today.

I haven’t been out on the bike for ages, I’ve been doing more walking recently and so I went out about 7am and even by then it was 24C. The humidity is still high and after only a short time the sweat is everywhere.

I stayed local and ended up exploring an area I’ve only ever driven passed and it turned out to be not bad. Of course there’s always a big hill and this one was five minutes into the ride, it got the heart pumping.

A mixture of suburbia and acreage which at this time of the morning was very quiet. Once out on the road the breeze was enough to stay cool. My average speed was only about 12 Kph, but I was in no hurry and even if I wanted to my legs were not up to the task. Muscle memory kicked in along with the dull ache of resistance. But it felt good!

I’ve been wanting to get back out on the bike for weeks but reneged at the last moment and choosing to walk instead, but this morning’s ride has only encouraged me to get back on me bike.

Of course when you do this you can have a greasy breakfast to celebrate.

I wake up at night in a daze not really knowing why, but something or someone has had the temerity to cause this disruption to my slumber. One culprit is the possum, it uses the roof as a race track. It’s heavy claws bounce off the tin roof and make a hell of a clatter.

They run along the power lines attached to the eaves and then get onto the tree branches that overhang the roofs. I’m sure it’s a competition to see who can run the length of the street the quickest.

An even louder noise and more disturbing noise will appear out of the blue. This noise is as if there is a kettle drum outside being smashed to within an inch of its life. It turns out that this noise is caused by one of the many fruit bats gorging on the abundance of mangoes in the park to the back of the house, they get too greedy and grab one that’s too big for them and drop it mid flight………they are scattered everywhere around the garden.

The noise is generated when the mangoes bounce off the roofs of the many sheds around. My shed is 12m x 6m and it’s not very full and so it magnifys the thump as they make contact with the roof.

2023 a year of reflection,
2023 a year of rest,
Repair the mind,
Repair the soul,
A year for travel,
Before things unravel,

I stumbled at Petra,
And twisted my leg,
It sharpened my focus,
But had nightmares of dread,
In a blink of an eye your world can change,
Make the most of today even if it rains.

I gave the house a new lick of paint,
Fixed the retaining wall of Pisa,
No longer does it lean,
New stairs and gardens,
New plants and rocks,
And a few pairs of comfy jocks.

A road trip to Sydney via the moon,
Caught up with old friends,
Hopefully see them again soon,
At the end of Autumn still no rain,
The ground cracking,
The plants in pain,
Water tank empty,

Bad news arrived via the ether,
Ann & Mairi passed away,
Too young and gone to soon.
Sad times but good to be home,
Saw a few friends and managed to roam.

The flight was long, Emirates A380,
Caught Covid,
No taste,
no appetite,
no energy,
Lost a few kilos….
Bonus.

As the year comes to an end I’m in a better place,
Mentally and physically,
A new focus plans to be made,
So welcome 2024








The previous year created

I found an old Seagate drive in the shed the other day and I’ve been having a browse through the files, I stumbled across these ones taken in Thailand at the now defunct Tiger Temple.

At the time I did not know the full story about this place, which seemingly had a reputation for cruelty and trafficking. Not one of my best moments although it was an amazing experience.

PS I know that the cover picture is not A Tiger 😁

Tis the season to be jolly apparently, somehow this year I feel that is not the case.

As the year draws to a close, reflection takes on a new meaning. What have I done this year? Well I was lucky enough to travel through Egypt, Jordan, Greece and Turkey and I am so glad that I went when I did. It would have not been the same trying to travel considering the current genocide going on.

I stopped my day job around June I think, I can’t really remember, and I found the motivation once more to work around the house. I painted the house Shale Grey with a Woodland Grey trim. I don’t normally enjoy painting but this I found very therapeutic. From the setting up of the planks and trestle and walking the plank a few metres up in the air allowed me to get some meaning back into life once more, to do something where I got a result at the end of the day. To look back at the end of a long day and get a huge sense of satisfaction as you see what has been achieved. The job didn’t give me that, instead it felt tortuous by comparison.

It took maybe two months to complete, just before the temperatures began to rise. It’s been a hot year. I got Doug to come and repair a section of the retaining wall and I tackled the shorter section that had collapsed. All finished it looks great, well I think it looks great and it is compared to what was there. The downside of all this is that my poor body got put under quite a bit of strain from all the physical manual work, although enjoyable, I sustained a few injuries.

A work in progress

My left wrist has RSI on a level I have never had before. I can move it in many different directions but I have to be really careful because even trying to swat a fly the other day nearly reduced me to tears with the stabbing pain. My right wrist has fared a bit better thankfully but I still can’t overdo it.

I got a skin cancer removed from me lug………

I did a road trip to Sydney to catch up with old friends and thoroughly enjoyed it and will try and go down a bit more often and I also went north to Rockhampton.

Went home in October due to the untimely deaths of cousins Anne and Mairi. Sad times indeed, however it was good to catch up with other family and friends. Not sure when I’ll get the opportunity to return and some of the older members of the family might not be there. The weather was kind to us and so managed to see a few of Scotland’s highlights basking in the sunshine.

On the way back got Covid, marvellous. I felt really bad for a three days and then fatigue set in for a couple of weeks.

My 3000lt water tank exploded and so I got a 1000lt IBC to replace it. It fills up very quickly.

Couldn’t do much around the garden or house, so I began to work on myself and began heading off on 6 to 7 km walks around Ipswich. Doesn’t seem like much but Ipswich is very hilly which allows you to climb fairly steep hills giving the heart and calf muscles a work out. I also got back into a bit of gym work using the pull up bar and doing push ups and all the time trying to protect my dodgy wrist. So far so good.

So as the year draws to a close I am planning to head off to China in March, to see whether it is still feasible for me to live there as I did before. Although there will be a few challenges to overcome. I guess if that does not work out then I will get a job that will allow me to travel as much as I want before the world has a complete meltdown. I think AI will cause many problems in the future trying to determine fact from fiction. A mere line of text can create a video or speech that looks fairly plausible. But I’m hoping that I can buy a replicater fairly soon, you know the thing that looks like a microwave from Star Trek or maybe a time machine.

So as another storm approaches and the heat of the day dissipates it is time to go and sit in my rocking chair and have a coffee and maybe when the sun goes down I will follow that up with a single malt purchased for Springbank Distillery in Campbeltown………….Slainte

Automated apartheid,
Automated Genocide,
Big Brother Watching,
Mossad and Bibi,
Killing in the name of,
Listen to the Gospel,
Let the AI decide,
Who will live, who will die,
Who will be maimed.

The world watches,
America stokes the fire,
There’s money to be made,
Stocks and shares,
Dividends rise, no surprise.
America vetoes a ceasefire,
The lap dog UK abstains,
Why won’t they stop the carnage?

Horrific, cruel, barbaric,
Israeli revenge,
And the world just watches!