Stuff The Chicken – 4th March 2022

Fixing the world at your barroom tables
Shaking fists at your agreeable fables
It’s simple in your circle of influence
To discount all the unsavoury elements

Warring in nations at your profitable leisure
Prodding the monkies to provide your pleasure
Your war is better than theirs, you beg
Stuffing the chicken back into its egg

9th Jun 2024 – Submitted to Ragtag Daily Prompt – stuff


When you have two choices, choose the more difficult one.

Stoic thought

Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful for everyone who helped me at the hospital. They made it very easy for me.


Woke up during the night with aching hips and starting to worry if I’m going to need replacements sometime! I got up with my alarm despite wanting to snooze more and did some hip stretching exercises which were tough but pretty effective. I hope the aching hips don’t become more of a common occurrence that disturbs my sleep.

Today was a repeat of yesterday in that I got to school and chatted with Dylan and the students. I had planned on teaching, at least with 2/9 but there were only six students at school! I ended up giving everyone their grades – some students were happy but others, less so. They all started to appreciate how lazy they had been with my work and I just hope it inspires them for next semester. Overall, I can see improvements in about 80% of them. I gave them all encouragement.

I got home again about midday after shopping and picking up my vaccine passport from the hospital. I rode there on my bike and felt 100% and started thinking about a long ass bike ride this weekend. It’s damn hot during the day though and the air quality is starting to suck again too. Let’s see how motivated I am on the weekend.

Excited that football season starts in a couple of weekends. Excited for Amy too, ending her first week in her new job with lots of positive feedback from her boss.

Let’s enjoy the weekend.

Mere Man – 2nd March 2022

Mother, I am a mere man
I will climb mountains higher than you can understand
To show what a human can do
Tut and scoff, weep and worry
Yet it is something I must do
I will attempt impossible things
Because in the death zone, I come alive
I will be strong
I will leave no brothers behind
You taught me everything
And this is to honour you

Written whilst watching 14 Peaks.


People get the mind and quality of brain that they deserve through their actions in life.

Robert Greene

Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful for this chocolate muesli to break up my normal breakfast eating. What a lot of work must go into making muesli.


It’s getting horrible hot in the afternoons and I have to have the fan on at night. I finished off all my grading this morning, then hung around a little with the kids, who were pretty happy not to be studying. Many, I didn’t see though, and I think they didn’t bother to come to school. It was a fun morning and I came home early again and snoozed for about 40 minutes but the heat woke me up again.

Amy is moving into a room in Century Tower in the city today. It’s expensive but she can walk to work, has her own room and will be able to meet some new people. She’s happy, though I’m not sure how long she will keep enjoying the work – it’s very different to what she is used to. I miss her a lot again today. I will cuddle our cats for her.

*The Week That Was – 13th February 1984

Record of the week: Crass – Don’t Get Caught

13th February 1984
Last week of term. Physics – fuckin’ laugh as usual. Maths – fuckin’ really shitty – did a test. Lunchtime played football. Detention’s come through Wed and Fri. Social Studies – boring. H.E. – not too bad. Made a quiche. Falling in love with Ange (huh!). Got letter from Zoe – quite interesting. Hill Street Blues was ace.

14th February 1984
R.E – ok. P.S.C.E. – boring. Maths – shit. Business Studies – boring. Lunchtime – played football again – had a laugh. English – quite good – bit of a piss around. P.E. – fucked around playing basketball. Got a crash helmet so went out on ‘ped for a while. Watching ice skating at the mo’. Torville and Dean win.

15th February 1984
H.E. – made apple turnovers – again. Physics – fuckin’ ace laugh. Me, Burd, Rupe and Jim are organising a pissup on Monday at my house. Jim’s backed out ‘cos he doesn’t want to come.’ – god knows why. Bernice probably. Detention – wrote up smoking leaflet. R.E. – ok. English – reading. Business Studies – ok. Maths – shitface wouldn’t let us out til after the bell – wanker. Andy called – seemed quite happy. Minder was good. Football tonight – Liverpool vs Walsall 2nd leg. Was played yesterday 2-0 to Liverpool.

16th February 1984
Art – Mr Hough wasn’t here. P.E. – slaughtered Chesh at badminton. Played football at lunch. Jane Seabright was making enquiries ie she wants to go out with me. Social Studies – flew by. Business Studies – pissed off with Bell – the cow. English – didn’t do much. Got Kathryn’s (that girl on the bus to Bournemouth) telephone number – so rang her up and had a strange conversation. Rang Jane and she was giving me some bull.

17th February 1984
Took in MDC cover – shut everyone up. English – talking about fashion. H.E. – shit. Maths – shit. Detention at lunch. Art – Mr Hough was pissed so I sobered him up with MDC cover. Business Studies – boring. Physics – nothing special. Went down Gaunts on moped – had a fucking ace laugh. Got some of Murray’s wine for Monday. Went to St James school with Muz and Burt.- had a laugh in the tube thingy. Did a flame thrower thing with a bike pump and some petrol out of my bike – nearly ran out of petrol so used some of Muz’s mower petrol.

18th February 1984
Supposed to see Rupe on the bus but he didn’t show – rung up, said was ill. Bought the new Crass single and plenty of booze for Monday – let’s hope everything goes to plan. Fish was pissing me off a bit cos he was a bit drunk and acting a bigger prat than usual. He’s off to Cirencester on a job tomorrow. Got chucked out of Arts Centre for allegedly smoking dope – it was only a fag stinker(?). Just looked under my bed – fucking cat’s piss. Good film – The Reincarnation of Peter Proud.

18th February 1984
Got up. Ate. Rode into Wimborne to meet Chesh – he said he couldn’t afford to come over on Monday – so he isn’t. Annabel and co may be coming over as well. Went to Simon’s for a while. Came home. Chris came round on his moped. Went down to the club. Met Burdett and Rupert, who should be coming. Brought Rupert’s drinks back. Saw Chris in Hinton Martell so left my bike there and he brought me back on his moped.