Tag: blog

Today’s Random Post

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So tomorrow B is coming round for the weekend. Now that they have moved, it takes him 1.5 hours on the train to get here. I do feel bad about the fact he has to make that journey, especially because he has to stop at Piccadilly, so naturally I worry. But I’m looking forward to it: playing games and watching random stuff on YouTube, then talking about random stuff. Maybe we’ll even do a Random Post together. The time flies by. Plus, I have all his favourite foods in again. Every morning he is here, he gets a fried egg and bacon sandwich for breakfast, which he enjoys. Granted, he doesn’t wake up till 12 p.m., so it’s not technically breakfast, but you get what I mean.

For the past two years I’ve been paying extra for a bill which I didn’t realise that I had paid off. Long ago. They never told me so it’s a good thing that I asked. I had amassed £230 in over payments so I got that back a few days ago. Win! I’ve spent some of it on a window camera for my lounge to add to the security and the rest squirrelled away for the birthday & christmas season. First Suzi in October, then the Rebecca in November and Ben in December. Then Christmas presents for all three. So the money will come in really handy. By the way, saving money means I may have time to write another random post soon.

I’ve successfully managed to do nothing productive today. That wasn’t the plan but I started throwing up & feeling sick around midday today so I have been wallowing in self pity. I’m feeling better now, of course naturally the whole day has gone. I wanted to do another archive post with photos but I’ve lacked the cognitive capacity. Maybe I’ll try and do one now—perhaps another post, maybe something completely random, could appear next.

I’ve been watching project zomboid play throughs again. The past couple of weeks it has been a constant. I don’t know why I find it so soothing to watch. Looting houses, killing zombies and building up a decent base. There is something about it that I just enjoy. I do actually own the game so I should try playing it at some point and see how difficult it is. I would probably last a few minutes. Still, when not gaming, I am usually reading a random post or two online.

So for the past week I have been trying to tame the birds a bit better. They just don’t like it when you pick them up or at least try to. They will tweet, sing, play hide and seek but picking them up instantly freaks them out. So I did some research and someone suggested sitting next to them and reading. So for the past week we have been reading war of the worlds. It’s a technical read, at least for me, as its written in a more traditional english.

The birds don’t mind m trying to sound out certain words but they seem to enjoy it. The fluff up, sit close to me and just listen for thirty minutes. I really hope it continues to make a difference. The other thing I read was to put your arm in the cage for five minutes every day to get them used to that. Not sure about that one as they will get distressed. In other news, maybe my next random post will be all about birds.

And this is where I leave you dear reader. I’m still trying to work out a schedule for my posts so I’m not just spamming every day. Maybe three times a week. That gives me a chance to read other peoples blogs, comment and like them. To sum up, I’m already planning my next Random Post for you all to read.

Dark Mornings, 2000s Nostalgia, and the 20kg Drop

Andy Young1 Comment

It’s 7:00 AM and pitch black outside. Autumn has officially arrived in Bolton, and the flat is completely quiet. Even Mojo and Blobette were still sound asleep on their perches when I walked into the lounge this morning. Once they woke up and had their breakfast, Blobette decided it was time for a full-on morning spa session in the water dish. After all that vigorous splashing and preening, both of them are completely exhausted and back up on their top perch, puffed up and dozing off to dry their feathers. It’s funny how watching two little birds go about their morning routine sets a nice, calm pace for the rest of the day.

Looking around the quiet flat this morning got me thinking about how different blogging was back in the early 2000s. Back then, there was zero pressure to drive traffic, optimize titles, or appease some mysterious social media algorithm. It was just dumping raw, unfiltered thoughts onto a page, sharing tiny daily observations, and seeing who happened to stumble by and leave a comment. I might even dig through the Wayback Machine one of these days to see if my old site from back then is still archived somewhere in the depths of the web. It would be a laugh to see what I was rambling on about twenty-odd years ago.

Speaking of routines, I’ve been making a real effort to reset my space. Over the past couple of days, I’ve vacuum-sealed all my summer gear—blankets, shorts, the lot—and stashed the bedding box under the bed. The comic boxes have been rearranged so the room actually looks organised, and I finally hung my canvas photo of Manchester on the bedroom wall. It’s amazing what a difference a bit of order makes to your head. I was thinking about sorting through my clothes next, but I held off for now.

The reason for holding off on the wardrobe clear-out is that my body is still changing. Two months ago, I was sitting at 143kg. Today, I’m down to 120kg. Seeing that number steadily drop toward my 100kg goal feels huge. I’m shifting my food cutoff to 7:00 PM now—not for any fancy health trend or reason, but just so I actually wake up with a genuine appetite for breakfast. Re-learning the difference between real hunger and eating out of habit or routine is an ongoing project, but seeing 20kg vanish makes it feel worth sticking with.

Do you notice your routine shifting as the mornings get darker, or do you stick to the exact same schedule year-round?

Fall leaves
Photo by Farman Kareem on Pexels.com

Short Story: About Us

Andy YoungLeave a comment

(Grasping, sorry)

You were so excited to meet your blog readers in person! You had been blogging for years, and you had built up a loyal following. You had never met any of your readers before, but you felt like you knew them all.

You met your readers at a coffee shop in your town. There were about 10 of them, and they were all so friendly and welcoming. You talked for hours about your blog, your writing, and your lives.

You learned so much about your readers that day. You learned about their jobs, their families, and their hobbies. You also learned about their love of your blog. They told you how much your blog had helped them, and how much they appreciated your writing.

You had such a great time meeting your readers. You felt so grateful for their support, and you were so glad that you had gotten to know them.

As you were leaving the coffee shop, you felt inspired. You were inspired to keep writing, and you were inspired to connect with your readers even more.

You knew that you would never forget that day. It was a day when you felt truly connected to your community.

“Two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying.”

Andy Young2 Comments

So, which is it? Are we alone in the universe, or are we not? Both possibilities are equally terrifying.

Always loved this quote. Something about it just resonates in my head. I look forward to the day, probably my son’s generation, when they will hear a bloop on a satellite somewhere indicating an intelligent signal. It’s simply not possible to believe in a world other than our own in the vast expanse of the Universe. I think my generation will be long gone before that happens. Nice to think it wouldn’t. Like flying cars. We were promised flying cars by now and that hasn’t happened so there is not much hope for us!

My BPD is playing up today. I had lots of plans and little plans to accomplish but I couldn’t seem to get my feet off the ground to do it. I’ve managed to have an existential crisis, tidy the lounge & kitchen, take delivery & put away all the food shopping and that’s where it ends. It’s not a case of sitting on the sofa power scrolling my way through FB but a gentle sob with a tear in my eye trying to stop thinking.

This is a dangerous area for me. When this starts to happen I need to catch it fast, trap it, and then deep space launch it to the sun. Stopping thinking, personally, is the hardest part of this condition. You just simply cannot shut the voices up. I’m trying the counting method which I explained before but it’s like there are levels in my head where I think of different things. I count, then I hear a voice whilst still counting so I start a new count at the opposite pace of the first count and then another voice and I get THE biggest headache trying to cover that with this and so on. It’s led me to a dark place where I want to just crack open a few pills, rum, lots of rum, and numb everything. I know I’m supposed to take valium when this happens but I hate the stuff because I need a large dose which causes a hangover the next day.

I just need to take my mind off things for a while. But this happened five days ago. I hate the rapid cycles. It’ll probably be mostly gone by the evening and I’ll be back to my cheery self. But what if it’s not? so the cycle continues.

So, the plan for today will be to take the dogs on their afternoon walk, get dog food for them on the way to get the kids, get the kids, and then slink back into the darkness and safety of the house. How about you guys, many wild plans for today?