iPhone 4s Tips

iPhone 4s Tips

I was a tad disappointed with the iPhone manual provided in the box with the new phone, and the poor quality of the on-line material that I found when I took delivery.  All in all I was quite lost and have spoken with other users who feel the same way.  It’s as if iPhone are too cool for explanations and users are expected to be either IT savvy or have to stumble around in the mist until they work out the answers to their problems and queries.  Now and again I hope to upload a hint or two and thereby help the newcomer to the iPhone

Please not that the following items are offered in good faith and I am unable to accept responsibility for any errors or omissions that lead to any lost data or other damage.  In all instances please be sure of the accuracy of the statements before continuing with the act under consideration e.g. you could use these notes to aid an online or Apple search to find an official answer what you are trying to do

To kick the ball rolling (well its Euro 2012 after all) here is a sequence of set up tips:

(1) Before messing about with your new iPhone save your Contacts to the Orange facility online if you are lucky enough to use the Orange network or check out if your Network provider has a similar facility if you don’t use Orange.  Once the contacts are stored online, they can be downloaded to your new iPhone when that is up and running

(2) If you are thinking of saving Contacts to your SIM card and transferring them to your new iPhone that way then be careful.  The iPhone has a micro SIM Card cradle and not a full size SIM and therefore your intended SIM card transfer may be incompatible  

(3) The SIM card cradle on the iPhone is accessed by using the small metal tool housed in one of the packaging sections to press a hole in the side of the iPhone and the cradle pops out

(4) Keep the small metal iPhone SIM cradle device safe and secure as apparently they are quite expensive to replace

(5) The iPhone USB lead found inside the packaging slots into the bottom of the electrical plug that you will also find in the packaging, and the other end of that lead connects to the end of the iPhone

(6) It appears that the iPhone should be charged for circa 4 hours upon receipt. Some users say that the battery should be charged overnight; but I am yet to find the official answer for first time charging of the iPhone battery upon receipt  

More to follow; so check back and read the Weekender Blog now and again

Sports Track

Gym done, hill walk done, 30 length swim done, 10 minute sauna done. The Sports Centre is closed tomorrow for some group bonding for their team, so I'm lost. 

That is until the trainer (not a personal one as I'm too poor these days) suggested interval training.  I'm pushing on 22 stone so the word 'interval' implies 'rest'.

That sounds great; train, rest, train, rest some more, train, rest and lunch, train, sleeping rest, train, lots more rest, and so on and so forth.  Nope, apparently that's not it.  'It' in fact is more like; walk along each straight bit and jog on each curvy thing at the end of the sports track.  Ha ha ha, nope... he was serious.  Worse still, the trainer then went on to mention that maybe next week I could jog all the way around one lap of the straight and curvy bits.  To which I giggled. 

And there was me thinking that 'Sports Track' was a Scalextric thing :-(

Clever Man

I am really impressed by http://www.adriansslotcarworld.co.uk and the work that has been done to modify 1:32nd scale military figures to turn them into slot car spectators!  I have previously modified OO figures so that the chap holding the flag now looks as if he has his hand in his pocket and so on and so forth, but for the world of me, I had not thought of doing the same in 1:35th and 1:32nd scale to improve my slot car figure collection.  Brilliant idea, and one that I shall hop on the bandwagon and start replicating ASAP

Garden Shed

This is my latest scratch built model.  With Scalextric being my current trend; it follows that this is a 1:32nd Scale Garden Shed, graced on this occasion with a Slot Car Biker Figure from across The Pond.  The subtle difference between this model and my previous attempts at scratch building; is that on this model I have graduated from card and paper to plasti-card and and card.  Even though I have constructed quite a few models over the years, I have never used plasti-card.  Indeed, I was convinced that I wouldn't be able to buy the stuff in Aberystwyth, so it came as a nice surprise when I tracked some down with little effort.  I even managed to buy foam-board (another product that I had previously never used), and a bottle of glue with it's own brush for bonding the plasti-card. Yes folks, you have it in one, yet another product I had never used before.

So all in all this was a new adventure for me.  The Garden Shed is a gift for someone for his Scalextric layout of a Cornish coastal theme.  I was so pleased with the results that i have already started building a second garden shed for one of my next two layouts.  probably to sit somewhere near a farmhouse scene on the layout for the grandchildren.

The plasti-card walls had the door and window openings cut out and were then glued together using the specialist glue.  When dry the four walls were glued around a foam-board base using PVA and again allowed to dry.  0.5cm strips of a birthday card were cut and glued to the plasti-card using PVA on the plasti-card and the edge of each card strip to build up the plank pattern.  Three strips card cut to 0.5cm width were glued together using PVA to make a thicker card strip and when dry this strip was cut to size to fit the width of the shed and glued underneath to form 'timber' supports for the shed floor to raise it off the ground.  When my second version of this model is finally placed on a layout it will rest on Hornby or similar coloured stone used to form a 'hard standing' for the shed and then the raised platform for the shed floor should look quite good

The plasti-card shed door is held in position by a piece of scored card that is glued to the back of the door and the inside of the shed.  When the glue was dry the model was primed with Halfords grey plastic primer.  The model was then painted with Tamiya acrylics.

The roof is removable and this was formed using several layers of card, reinforced card edges and my special effects felt roofing material.  The super detailing inside the shed includes a work bench, a piece of glazing, a tool box and assorted debris.  The window section is made up from a piece of card with the glazed area 4mm narrower than the opening in the shed wall and this was painted brown prior to adding the glazing.  The acetate glazing was cut to size and glued to the window section piece of card using PVA.  When dry the window section was glued to the inside of the shed wall using PVA.

The 1:32nd scale Biker Figure is movable and could be interchanged due to the detachable shed roof.

Queen’s Jubilee Celebration

As a long standing and committed Royalist I must take this opportunity to wish everyone (especially Her Majesty the Queen) a happy and delightful Queen’s Jubilee Celebration :-)

 

The bunting is due to go up tomorrow and wifey has already worn her Jubilee Celebration hat to work. Well done bless her (wifey that is), and well done to Her Majesty the Queen on both a good innings as our Sovereign, and for doing a blinking good job to boot.  

Olympic Flame

"Go on officer, please give me a light".  Well done to all of those that ran with the Olympic flame from Aberystwyth.  I dragged myself out of bed nice and early and was met with a pleasant surprise.  The position that I took along the promenade was exactly where four friends were stood and none of them are connected to one another! So I had a nice chat here and there, but had to keep apologising as I turned to the next person to chat to.  What a lovely start to what turned out to be a lovely day.  Made a little bit better with my Canon 600D and it's tilt screen that allowed me to hold the camera at extended arm height and shoot some shots from above the crowd.

Now don't get me wrong; I'm not a 100% happy as Lord Thingy and Boris messed up the 2012 Olympics for me and it might as well have been on another Continent.  That is until the flame came to Aberystwyth. When I say 'messed up' I don't mean that they went out of their way to nobble me.  Mind you, it does feel like that when our multiple bids for 5 family members materialised into 2 boxing tickets.  You don't have to be a maths genius to know that 5 into 2 doesn't exactly go, and I don't go to the Olympics either.  So it's a good job that Boris got re-elected and the Olympics came to Victoria Terrace in Abersytwyth on a lovely sunny day.  I waited for ages for the above shot while leaning to support my 300mm zoom lens.  I knew that if a few people moved out of shot and the torch carrier turned towards the policeman; then there was room for a caption, e.g. the one above or even "go on, tell us the way". 

My highlight of the day was taking a photograph of 'The Sun' photographer, taking a photograph of a policewoman and the above torch carrier.  Everyone expected it to make 'The Sun' tomorrow, but once the torch bearer got invited to sit on the Police bike, it was down hill for any other likely photographs.  The good news is; I may not be at the Olympics this time around, but at least I now have a little bit of the Olympic fever. Oh, unless of course Boris or the Lord want to send some free tickets my way?  You can find me on Facebook, I'm the Roger Bennett (AKA Lord Crindau) with the dark photograph holding a pint of beer. 

The reference to Lord Crindau being how someone addressed me in London over the weekend. "Well", he said, "I never thought that I would meet Lord Crindau".  Nice one matey, I thoroughly enjoyed that comment and it was nice to meet someone from St Julians in Newport South Wales.

Olympics

My Olympic money was here,

But now it’s gone,

For what and when I don’t know,

But for others there is none.

Oh London 2012,

You confused me with your ruse,

Not to sell the tickets,

Even to your muse.

I thought it was a celebration,

Chance to see the best,

Let’s hope there’s no black market,

But bidding like the rest.

Track, field or equestrian,

The system doesn’t say

My mind was blank,

But yet you made me pay.

How I longed to be there for you, 

At this feast of sport,

But now watching television,

I shan’t be your cohort.

Roger Bennett (all rights reserved)

Ford GT40 at Monaco

Another YouTube Video of the Monaco Themed Scalextric Layout that I built. This time with wifey driving a Ford GT40 and a nice view of the bench made out of card and stuck down onto a metal base so that the magnetic biker figures from the States stand up nicely when posed in front of the bench.  I am particularly proud of the bench model as it is all made out of card and each of the slots in the concrete ends that house the planks were cut with one go only and through thick card to boot! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kubNgU1dYQ

Monaco Themed compact Scalextric layout

A video has now been uploaded to my Facebook and Youtube pages showing the compact Monaco Themed Scalextric Slot Car Layout that has taken in excess of 300 hours to scratchbuild over the last two years.  It sounds a lot; but really it's a bit of time here and there.  The layout was a gift for a good friend of mine.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61Xp7QtRYeQ&feature=youtu.be

The yacht was a rebuild from a wrecked hull and includes matchsticks with two holes drilled through them inserted into cut ice cream tub plastic and both components glued into holes drilled into the decking.  The barrier edge is a long piece of picture frame wire that has been unthreaded into a single strand and then pushed through the holes in the matchsticks.  Nearly all of the items on the Monaco Themed Scalextric Slot Car layout are scratchbuilt from card.  Usually the type of card that you find on the back of writing pads.  PVA is the main glue, but there is some contact adhesive to stick down some of the figures.  Other figures are magnetic based and these stand on strategically placed metal washers or strips of metal that are glued into position around the layout.

The video was shot by yours truly while the speeding car is driven by wifey

Scalextric Vanwall and NINCO Lexus

An enjoyable part of the Scalextric layout construction and scenery and building model making is the photography.  This image of a HORNBY Hobbies Ltd (Scalextric) Vanwall MM/C/87 Number 1 was taken using the monochrome setting on a Canon 600D Digital SLR using a f1.8 50mm prime lens.  

This image of a modified NINCO Lexus 430c gt500 with slot it alloys and older nc2 motor was also taken on the 600D but on this occasion using the 50mm prime lens with the camera set on landscape mode and a table lamp housing a daylight bulb just above and to the right hand side of the scene.

Questions and Models

I have added a new Question to the 'Question' tab, and some text and an image to the 'Models' tab. 

I have an awful lot of questions at the moment and not all of them are being answered.  They certainly cannot all be uploaded here, which is a shame really, as a burden shared is a burden halved.  Maybe this is why I have been so immersed in the model making.  Vigorously building this or that out of card, plastic, sand, and glue.

Activities keep the mind busy and deflect attention away from the unwelcome thoughts that so often intrude upon us.  I have a very good friend who is suffering badly with mental ill health at the moment. I can't really say to him; "I know how you feel".  The comment would be inappropriate as the bottom line is with these invisible illnesses; none of us know how another person is coping or the impact or events that pushed them into where they now find themselves.  All we can do is to be there to support our friends in whatever way is relevant to the circumstances.  For that reason I would like to thank those that from time to time, support me.  One thing that I have noticed about the dark days is that you can inadvertently let your friends slip by.  With that in mind it was lovely to hear from Simon the other evening.  Good friends keep in touch and don't have a balancing of the books system.  It doesn't matter if the other person has been silent, they still pick up and try.  It was nice to catch up with Simon so I shall now try to meet up with another friend called Adam. 

I shall also continue to ring the various telephone numbers of someone else and hope that at some point he picks up as well.  Yes it can be dark, but it doesn't have to be lonely.

Claire Squires' Just Giving Page

The Claire Squires story is heartbreaking. Her brother died young and Claire was doing her bit to raise money for the Samaritans when she passed away towards the end of the 2012 London Marathon aged only 30. Claire had intended to raise £500 for the Samaritans and the flood of donations since her untimely death has pushed that amount to almost £500,000 at the time of writing. I suspect that I am not alone in hoping that the Samaritans set up a Trust Fund in Claire’s memory so that her contribution is still helping the charity in 30 years time rather than the monies being absorbed as a windfall now. It would be nice to see a lasting legacy from a person who understood that we are all on this earth for what we do for others. That would mean that Claire’s early death is not totally in vain and her family and close friends can take some comfort from the positive outcomes for Claire’s chosen charity the Samaritans. So why not track down the Claire Squires ‘just giving’ page linked to the Samaritans and send off a few pounds as well. Many of us are, or have been effected by mental ill health and those who are not, probably know at least two or three persons who have suffered a mental health setback in their life. Claire ran the Marathon and tried to raise money for a charity that is close to many people’s heart. I have rung the Samaritans once in my life, and it’s nice to know that when you need someone to talk to, there are systems in place that can help others when they need that help the most. I gave the few pounds left in my Paypal account. It's no big shakes as it was only a small amount. But if lots of people do the same then it all adds up.

I had a social network message off a friend yesterday asking about the snow.

“What snow?” thought me, until I stepped out into the freezing cold arctic conditions and above the village could see the 'white of those hills there yonder'. Now that what comes of being ill; you lose track of what's happening around you. Well that’s not strictly true as you may acquire a better understanding of what’s going on in the wider world through television and the internet. But I’m writing about that bubble around your personal space and the interaction between the person and their community and the local environment.

I could have sworn that when I last went outside I was wearing shorts and sandals and Mr Tister and I were enjoying an ice cream on the promenade. But then again I was just jabbering away to two family members, before I realised that they weren’t in the house!

The other clarification means that we have to return to the ice cream story. You see, Mr Tister was enjoying the frothy cone, but I was just looking on longingly and wondering if my pension could stretch to getting myself one, given the Government’s hike in taxation and the zero annual occupational pension increase that is currently my lot.

Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate getting a pension, and I also understand that if I had left in 2005 when I pleaded to go, then it would probably be a lot less. But ‘no increase’ every year doesn’t mean ‘no pay rise’, it means a pay loss. Not even a ‘pay freeze’ because while the pension hasn’t gone up, the actual cost of living seems to increase exponentially and those increases seems to occur monthly.

Strategy and not Tactics

Can someone please start teaching the Apprentices the difference between Tactics and Strategy before the programme airs each Season. Maybe it could be part of the introduction and health and safety package.

And while we are at it, could someone check out the behind the scenes footage before the FIRING. You know the sort of thing “I wasn’t too impressed by your behaviour when you done so and so and for that reason you are fired”. Because in the real world people are more often than not pushed out for what they say, do, stand for, rather than for failing a task or being a pivotal part of that task failure.

Remember Trayvon Martin

Remember Trayvon Martin the lad going about his lawful business. Trayvon was carrying sweets and a soft drink for his brother.

It’s not a Black and White thing, it’s a right and wrong thing.

In an ideal world young Trayvon wouldn’t have died. But the world we live in isn’t an ideal world. So let’s hope that his untimely and unnecessary death has a significant and long lasting impact on the United States of America. The world leader in many issues and yet a third world country in many respects especially those concerning ethnicity. God Bless America and let’s pray for Trayvon, and also pray for his family and friends who now suffer his departure.

The Swim Dr

Well the doctor says that exercise amongst other things is important for mental ill health and is pleased that I get up nice an early each weekday morning and toddle off to the swimming pool.

This week I managed 32, 32, 32, and 40 lengths. This is all well and good until I got chatting again to ‘Doctor’ Georgie. Now Dr Georgie as you can see by observing the single quotation marks is not a ‘real’ doctor. No, far from it, you see Dr Georgie is my Swim Doctor and pretty encouraging too. Or is that pretty and encouraging too?

So I was pretty chuffed with my 136 lengths this week and a lot of physical exercise outside of the swimming pool. That is until Georgie mentioned swimming 220 lengths today in a little over one and a half hours. Ok, so she was a tad angry, when swimming that is and not when talking to me. But come on folks get your head around the statistic; 220 lengths in 90 minutes. That’s better than life saving swim test standard and its being sustained time and time again.

That’s 220 lengths against my best ever at about 85 lengths. I manage 40 in just under 40 minutes; probably a good 38 minutes but that’s a tough session. But in order to reach 120 lengths let alone 220 lengths I would have to swim at my best and sustain that rhythm for one and a half hours i.e. three times longer than normal. Not on your nelly, nope, no way, not a chance. Then having done the impossible I would still come in 100 lengths short. So Dr Georgie I doff my cap to you, you little dolphin you.

Black and White Right and Wrong

"It's not a Black and White THING - It's a RIGHT and WRONG thing", well said

The Wedding

I went along to a wedding last night. Well that’s not quite true; I actually attended my first ever Classical Music Concert with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales playing amongst other things Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto.

My take on the pre-concert talk was that musical interpretation is an individual thing that is wholly dependent upon the listener making up his or her mind. The accomplished speaker explained amongst many other things that there are no right or wrongs, and you clap or otherwise express yourself whenever and however you wish. Now that’s all well and good but I didn’t want to get duffed-up by the other 498 serious music goers or in this case the Wedding Party.

I know that it was a Wedding as the gifted soloist Vilde Frang played the part of the Bride extremely well indeed. The emotion, the centre stage presence and when she played, oh when she played, it was pure bliss. I also know that one of the First Violins was the Groom. How do I know this you ask? Simply because we all know that the Groom arrives at the Church before the Bride and struts around while everyone else looks on.

Now I am not quite sure if Jac van Steen was the Vicar or the Father of the Bride. In the end I opted for the latter as van Steen guided everyone accurately through the event and often looked on as the proud father. Indeed the relationship between van Steen and Vilde appeared to be intense.

I also know that in ‘Love Actually’ speak; the Second Lobsters were the bridesmaids. “The Second Lobsters?” I hear you say. Well yes, these were the two Violinists thrown to the extremes of the venue to make way for the Bride and the others as and when the Bride entered the Church.

Now Matthew Hardy on Timpani was without any doubt whatsoever the DJ at the after service party. Matthew changed his sticks as frequently as records and like all good DJ’s; although the music was glorious you never knew that he was there. But when he had something to say, then it was something truly worth listening to.

The Double Basses played by Dominic Worsley, Albert Dennis, Christopher Wescott, Tim Older, Claire Whitson-Dibble, and Richard Gibbons were the waiters. Each and every course served up on time and as one. “Who?” you ask then, was the Best Man. Well that had to be Donal Bannister on Bass Trombone. Anyone as nice as this, able to give such a good pre-concert talk and still manage to deliver his 34 notes on time and without drama, deserves without any doubt whatsoever to be the Best Man. So what about the Church Choir? Well that one is easy too. It was the eight Cellos’ played magnificently by John Senter et al. Who were the girl friends, who were the mates and what about the ushers? Well the girly girls were of course Eilidh and Sarah, they were definitely the friends of the Bride. Whereas Ian Fisher and gang all on Horns; would have been with the Groom. The Ushers were drawn from the Trumpet players and those who had mastered the Oboes.

It was a delightful Wedding, but alas like the best of weddings it all came too quickly to an end. Well done BBC NOW, it looks as if you have grabbed another convert.


Now hot on the Budget news we have to convince the Coalition Government that the ‘Arts’ is not an add on. It is not something to cut at a whim, as its importance extends beyond any single event or series of events. No indeed, classical music delivered by a fine orchestra is an essential part of who and what we are.

Music like Maths is the centre of everything and it is undoubtedly what we need in order to flourish. So when you are popping notes into that Red Box next time Mr Chancellor; please have the common sense to support music and help make this Country a better place and the lives of its taxpaying residents more fulfilled.

Working Budget

Well the doctor mentioned that I hadn’t got over my 1998 breakdown let alone the others that followed. So there were no surprises there, but it was still worth the trip to see the new surgery and have a nice chat and cry with someone outside of the family circle. My long term mental ill health is a bit like the Budget really, the same old stuff, but illustrated in a slightly different way each year.

I thought that the Wallace and Gromit Budget gag was very funny but underhand. I know what it was supposed to mean, but I also understood the innuendo. Well done to the Coalition Government on the intended broadband improvements across the UK as that is indeed what a modern industrial society should have. Oh, but where's our industry gone? Probably where our Gold Reserves went; down the plug ole.

I like the idea of the rich paying the most and the poor paying the least, especially now that I’m on an Occupational Pension. 45% of an awful lot isn’t that much, whereas any taxation on very little is a burden. Mind you 50% of an awful lot wasn’t much either, but that figure unfortunately no longer exists. The grannies seem to have come off badly and that is a surprise. The ‘Granny Tax’ wasn’t the kind of publicity the coalition would have been looking forward too when the contents of the Red Box were being compiled and leaked. Then again, if the contents stayed in the box until the day, there is less chance of someone building a comprehensive argument quickly. So lesson for the future; keep the budget secret as it doesn’t pay to share in advance.

The thing that really got me and I hope that I am not alone in this one; is the poor maths. Now I’m no Oxbridge maths genius like my mate, but I do know that 20% of a £600 increase in basic rate taxation level equals £120 and not £200+ as quoted by someone on the box. So I save £120 per year which is an extra £10 per month. Very nice indeed, except I live in West Wales where the public transport system is crap and the fuel prices are extortionate. So while the rest of you complain about fuel costs, we actually feel the ridiculously high costs and continue pay the most. Note to the Chancellor, please introduce a national fuel cap and stop the thieving B’s from robbing us blind out in the sticks. You opt for public transport to keep your costs down, but we can’t use public transport because like I say its crap. They stole the trains to South Wales and the ones that go the long way around through England aren’t that nice or that reliable. The buses seem to be worse. So there goes my tenner then.

My basic arithmetic also means that I know that £5 something per week extra for a pensioner is £250 per year and not like someone said this on the box; £500.

With all of this in mind, maybe the next budget could set aside some money for the poor politicians to have much needed maths lessons. Apparently these can be accessed by schools on line with providers living in India rather than working in the classroom. Good job that we are getting the improved broad band then, as all of those that need the maths update won’t even have to step outside the House of Commons.

Thank You

A big THANK YOU to all the family and friends who rallied around and gave me support this week following the traumatic events of last Saturday while I was in the Capital for a break while feeling down. I won't single anyone out, but I really appreciate the numerous FaceBook messages, the texts, the phone calls, and the meets for Coffee and a walk. I really needed the support and I truly appreciate that friends and family were there. Diolch yn fawr iawn i chi.

Blue Lips

Phew, back home from South Wales and so glad to be back in the safety of my home environment. Strange really as had to get away from this house as the last week or so has been so stressful and we needed to plant me somewhere where I could grow and avoid the then current stressors in my life. Just when you think it’s all ok, everything goes pear shaped. Or as a qualified Strategist I know that no plan survives first engagement with the enemy.

As you all know I believe in fate. Or as the Street Pastor said in Cardiff after the event, “it was the guiding hand of God”. That comes as no surprise as I do pray daily. We had planned to pop along to the cinema check out the film times and the then scurry away for a meal to return when the chosen film was due to begin. We wandered inside at the electronic listings, and we wandered outside to check out the posters and the paper time. This to-ing and fro-ing went on for a bit until we stuck on a choice between three Thrillers. I got my way and we opted for that one. Then wifey suggested that we caught the film straight away and went for the meal later. Now given wifey’s willingness to throw her two main choices by the wayside, and opt for one of three thrillers, agreeing to the early evening film was the least that I could do. So folks, we shouldn’t have been where we were, and we could have been walking out at any of the varying times each film ended.

So why on earth do I walk outside and turn right instead of left (where we normally turn) and end up saving the life on my 6th victim? This time it was a young girl lying on the ground surrounded by people; who wifey and I clocked simultaneously and I’m already moving away briskly as wifey shouts “go!”

My first and obvious question was to ask if an ambulance has been called, to which one of the bystanders asks “do you think that we need an ambulance?” I mean come on folks, young woman on ground, partly in gutter, hardly moving. You don’t actually call for a taxi do you? A few seconds later and I am engaging the Ambulance Trust in my first of three calls that evening. During the first, the operator answers but no one from the Ambulance Trust. Indeed the operator told me that he was trying another number and still no answer. I gave up and continued rendering first aid and wifey instead used her phone to dial 999 as well. Which was also met with no success when wifey handed her phone to me. The onlookers in a state of shock as the condition of the young woman deteriorated. None of them knew what to do. My third phone call was when the Ambulance Trust rang me back on my phone and I explained the circumstances and gave the address. As I stood to locate the street name a voice said, “no pulse, she’s stopped breathing”.

Wifey mentions that when the victims pulse stopped and her lips turned blue and she looked like death, I said "Oh shit, here we go" as I passed my phone to a bystander to finish the call with the Ambulance Trust. I heard the bystander say something like, “do you want assistance, they are saying do you need assistance?” but I was already rolling by then. The thing that struck me the most was that the young victim was the Spit of Resusci-Annie: her face and hair shape, body size, age, facial expression, and right down to the white neat teeth as the lips separated from the mouth. It was all extremely emotional for me, but also almost like being in the classroom. I don’t know if the violent jolt as I moved her briskly from the Recovery Position to the resuscitate position and tilted the head, or the finger scoop for debris inside her mouth where maybe the forcefulness of the action caught the roof of the mouth or the back of her throat and thereby prompted her brain to react, but whatever it was one eyelid moved as I withdrew my finger. I found the pulse before putting her back into the Recovery Position where she started to wretch without any vomit coming out. Maybe she was choking when originally in the Recovery Position and either the violence of the movement to resuscitate or the finger scoop dislodged debris. Or, equally credible is that the high level of intoxication meant that her systems had closed down and the movement and the scoop prompted them to restart. I can’t be certain for sure. But I do know that her best friend had thought that she had died in the street and was crying; but it wasn’t going to happen on my watch.

I’m upset while typing this Blog, but the story has to be told as others should learn First Aid and be ready for the day when your help will inevitably be needed. I had my first of many nervous breakdowns in 1998. That was a combination of stress and anxiety and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The PTSD was brought about during a First Aid situation with a family member. My continuous poor mental health and the flashbacks of the PTSD means that saving victim number six was extremely traumatic for me. It happened on Saturday and I am still crying today some 48 hours later. But you have to talk about it to help recover from the trauma. It’s a strange thing when you are part of a good positive happening but so emotional that the event makes you feel unwell and upset. Then again you can’t walk past someone when the guiding hand of God puts you next to them and say “Sorry lady, but if I save your life, I will make myself ill.” So come on folks, learn some First Aid and share some of the burden. And if you can’t learn the First Aid then at least call an Ambulance.

My eldest is worried that I am still ill as she seen firsthand how I was affected by Saturday nights action. I shall say to her and to others; don’t worry, I shall get better – it’s just that I don’t know when. Or as wifey says, “you sure got f@cked up working for that lot.”


Ps if you survived post Ambulance and Hospital, then I would love to hear from you. Find me on Facebook as I know your name as I asked your friend at the scene and used your name every time I talked to you while waiting for the Ambulances to turn up. I say plural as like London buses when you need one there is none about and then two come rolling along.

Mental ill health

Mental ill health is a terrible thing and I am glad that I can talk and write about the three nervous breakdowns that I had since suffering Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in 1998. Maybe, just maybe some of the things that I have previously written about in this Blog along with this entry might help others to come to terms with how they feel:

I suppose that there are those out there who will incorrectly contend that there can’t be much wrong with him if he can write about that ‘stuff’. But that’s the point, the writing and the model making and the swimming and the art work and the reading and the ancestry researching and the occasional DIY are simply multiple techniques to avoid facing the demons.

These numerous ‘deflection from reality’ activities include this Blog. They are the means of deflecting thoughts away from the occurrences and the outcomes and the dark days. And they can be dark as the last week has shown when I realised the descent and wifey commented upon it to others. The smiley face came back yesterday evening and I am looking forward to a weekend of de-stressing after what has been yet another stressful time for me. The thing is, what you find stressful doesn’t necessarily correlate to what I find stressful. For example; I hate opening envelopes and accepting or making telephone calls. It is a real fear and my palms become sweaty as I begin each time to experience flight behaviour. Now if you have never experience mental ill health let alone wide awake daytime flashbacks, then you probably cannot comprehend what I am writing about. In my world what to you is normal is abnormal, and some abnormal things are quite normal.

I used to be a compulsive obsessive. Thankfully my former employer paid for high end counselling when I had my third breakdown and the counsellor explained and helped me with techniques to suppress that behaviour. But this is also an important point, just because you don’t see it, doesn’t mean it’s not there. Because folks it’s only suppressed, i.e. just below the surface and ready to strike at any time that I drop my guard.

You might be thinking; “oh why is he writing about this today?” Well the truth is mental ill health, unlike a broken leg or broken arm does not carry the outward signs of a plaster cast. So when there are gaps in the blog, and we know that statistically there are gaps and this is why it is called “The Weekender” and not “The daily”, you can rest assured that all is ok, but maybe I am doing one of the other numerous deflection things or having some darker moments.

One of the deflection activities of course as mentioned on numerous occasions is the swimming. This particular activity has triple purpose in that it is good for the mental health, good for the physical health, and by attending Monday to Friday and at 0730 I am able to bring about weekly structure and focus to something that is otherwise an absent void since I ceased working over two years ago. Those that think that I should be working need not worry as society does not support me and I simply struggle along on my Occupational Pension. I paid my taxes for 32 years and I don’t get a handout. Not anything, nought, nothing, zilch, zero, nil.

Although my government funded handouts are nil, my arithmetic is still good. This is mainly because of the swimming. You see some people will argue that the swimming is bad for mental health because while you are trawling up and down the pool you are also thinking and of course they also believe that ill people only think of bad things. Well that’s not the case for me, as the only thinking that I am capable of doing when swimming is to concentrate on my stroke, remember when to breath, remember how to breath, occasionally think about using my legs, and repeat counting. One, one, one , one; means that I remember when I turn around that I have just completed one length. As is thirty four, thirty four, thirty four, thirty four. You see as a Compulsive Obsessive I need to know how many lengths that I am doing each time. Although, with grateful thanks to the counsellor I no longer maliciously record these lengths in a book each day. For clarity the Compulsive Obsessive is not about swimming or counting and is far more complex and surreal than I would want to mention here today. Then again when you think about it and hone in on the detail, you will recognise that the counting continuously during each length, the thinking about the stroke, thinking about when and how to breath and the other patterns that occur are in many ways part of the deflection techniques. I.e. by doing all of that which I do, I’m not thinking of the things that hurt. So there’s the deflecting the stuff that needs deflecting, and there’s also deflecting when deflecting.

The strange thing is, when I started swimming I used to have constant panic attacks. Hence the need to think about when and how to breath otherwise it’s hey presto and some young attendant in the water to assist yours truly. I wonder if there is an underlying association with water, as the majority of my wide awake flashbacks have occurred when I’m in the shower. Mmmm, it’s a strange world. Bring on the weekend and coffee in Cafe Nero, a chance to say hello to my friends in Cardiff and some time with the family.

Costa Avventuriero

With the heading 'Costa' those who know me would expect that I am about to write a few paragraphs on the high street coffee brand. Alas my friends, nothing could be further from my thoughts at this dreadful time.

With the Costa Allegra now under tow following a fire and loss of power in the Indian Ocean, we should all start wondering what on earth is going on with the cruise line industry and the further inevitable and damaging fallout for this type of holiday.

This catastrophe has occurred only one month and a bit after the sinking of the Costa Concordia with the loss of 25 lives. Some can claim run aground as one commentator recently did, but in my world on its side, holed and people dead equals a sinking. Worse still most of us recognise that that bad news sort of comes in threes. The ‘sods law’ of events suggests that a third happening will happen soon. It is inevitable, not necessarily for Costa, but somewhere involving a cruise liner. To be quite blunt, this second event so soon after the first one, suggests that sailing on the high seas (or the low seas close to land for that matter) has become a risky business for the holiday of a lifetime tribe. Of which I am one.

I believe that the British ship the Britannic sank not so long after her sister ship the Titanic and that there may have been a third liner. If not a third, then maybe the Titanic and the Britannic belonged to the then Olympic class of ships. The point being that the ‘3’ thing is an historical happening. It is not something new, and no one should be surprised when the third ship runs aground, sinks, blazes away, or otherwise meets its doom.

This storyboard has clearly demonstrated the urgent need for further regulation and safeguards in the maritime industry especially that involving tourism and the high volume transportation of fee paying guests. I am at a loss why there is no back-up system to restore power, and how the circumstances could have been allowed to occur that could disable all systems as a result of a fire. With 32 years experience in the fire industry, and a First Class Fire Engineering and Management Degree to boot, it beggars believe that ship design could be so poor. What really concerns me however is that I suspect that the fundamental flaws are not restricted to the Costa brand and could be replicated far and wide. It’s just that Costa is now taking the big hits whereas others may be sailing on the theme of; ‘but for the grace of god go I’. That’s not a case of trying to paint everyone with the same brush, but rather flagging up to the powers that be, that an urgent review of maritime safety is now needed to ensure that there is not an avoidable colossal loss of life.

Life safety regulations in the United Kingdom have all too often been a stable door reaction to the horse that has bolted. On this occasion there is opportunity to step up to the mark before the big event. That’s not belittling the loss of 25 lives, but the worry about the loss of 4,000 lives when their deaths could have been foreseen and prevented.

If the cruise line Costa brand survives; then long term maybe they could consider naming a future ship the Costa ‘Avventuriero’ as nothing seems to be straightforward for those that have recently booked a cruise with this particular company. In the short term maybe Costa need to undertake a significant review of its products and delivery and thereby restore customer confidence. For all those glowing in the sidelines and thanking that it’s not their fleet; the same review of products and delivery is also urgently needed. In all cases it must not be a back patting exercise and the reviews need to be independent so that the painful observations are made and the painful questions are asked.

Model Making

Not all Cemeteries are a bad thing. I like making models from waste materials and the like.

This model is a gift to someone who made me smile when he mentioned that his daughter chatted to him at a crucial moment during a task and I thought that it was lovely that he let the task slip away and instead spent the time responding to his daughter.

You see; nothing is as important as family and that’s a fact. There are more photographs of this model in the modelling section tab at the top of this Blog. Click on the tab and then scroll down to see the images.