Tag: blogging

A VIP Perk: The Low-Battery Survival Manual

Andy YoungLeave a comment

Hello from the sofa.

Since you’re already subscribed to this weird little corner of the internet, you get to skip the velvet rope.

I’ve just set up a new landing page to bribe new people into joining the email list by offering them a survival manual. But because you are already on the inside and voluntarily letting my ramblings into your inbox, I am just handing you the keys directly.

I wrote a hidden, unlisted page on the site called The Frogs Are Evil Guide to a Low-Battery Day.

It’s exactly what it sounds like. For the days when your physical battery is flashing red at 5%, your brain is misfiring, and existing feels like a full-time job, this is the cheat code.

Inside, I cover the exact tactics I use to survive, including:

  • The Airlock Protocol: How to secure your perimeter and officially become a ghost to the Amazon delivery drivers.
  • Tactical Sustenance: Why a heavy reliance on the air fryer and eating cheese directly from the block is a valid medical strategy.
  • The Sofa Command Center: Surrendering to gravity and letting digital zombies do the heavy lifting for your brain.

You won’t find this on the main menu of the blog. It’s unlisted. But you can read the full guide right here:

View the guide

Bookmark the link for the next time you are forced into a system reboot.

Stay odd, stay safe, and keep the airlock sealed.

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

Daily writing prompt

Andy YoungLeave a comment
Daily writing prompt
What have you been putting off doing? Why?
View all responses

A blog post, simply because I have no idea where to start or what to type about. I quit blogging after my last post. I cancelled the payments, which then pulled my domain, and yeah. It wasn’t until I spoke to D about it that I realized that I enjoy blogging and that it is worth the expense of a business plan.

I spent some amazing time with the kids over the weekend. I watched a movie with B. Since it was Friday the 13th, we decided to watch a horror film called ‘Run’. It was nice being able to sit with him and watch it, even though he had to wear headphones due to my breathing. It was a special moment. On Saturday, I spent time with S, having conversations about random stuff, and later D came home. I stayed over from Friday to Saturday. I wish I could have stayed longer, genuinely. However, I was feeling worse by the minute. Given the high threat of COVID, I left on Saturday night and ended up sleeping through most of Sunday and until 12 PM this morning.

I’ll put on some music as I haven’t listened to much these past few days. I start to get moody, anxious, and generally scared if I don’t. It’s as if the tunes give me something to focus on. I also need to do some laundry. I overheard that they do it here for £5 per load, which is cheaper than the laundromat I’ve been going to.

Trying to find ways of focusing my time. I have so many things to do that I can’t start them. It’s like, where do I start? Then I end up in a panic, and nothing gets done. I need to order my life more but can’t because of the several other things that need doing. Then I can’t do those things, and I’m a mess. I’ve had this before a few times in the past, but I need to structure my day a bit better. Maybe put slots in a calendar and see how that goes?

So.

In summary, I have been putting off posting, but since I’ve done one, I can no longer answer the question.

oblong brown metal mailbox
Photo by sl wong on Pexels.com

Suprise QOTD *gasp*

Andy Young1 Comment
Daily writing prompt
What do you enjoy most about writing?
View all responses

It’s more of a love-and-hate relationship. Actually. No. Remember that superhero movie that came out in the late 90s where they all had crap superpowers. You had this one guy who could turn invisible but only if no one was looking at him. THAT. But with writing. It has to be done when no one is staring at me or if I feel pressured to. Otherwise, your gonna get shit.

I do enjoy it for the most part because it allows me a freedom that I don’t have in a day-to-day sense; I can say things on here that I cannot repeat in public. Suppose you could call that hiding as well in a sense but I enjoy it. I love reading other people’s blogs and thoughts. It’s nice to be part of such a massive community that writing brings.

I’m also a letter writer. Now that’s something I love to do. Sealing the letter with wax and writing with a fountain pen.

Knowing you, knowing me

Andy YoungLeave a comment

Why did you start blogging?

It was a cold depressing day in north Wales. This was back in 1998, the days of the dialup, Napster and all the good stuff before society got in the way. I discovered this thing called blogging and started reading multiple blogs. Most were using something called BlogSpot, which was perfect. You could edit HTML on the fly and it just worked.

So I thought I would get on the bandwagon and start my own. Twisted Reality it was called. I and all my college friends had one. I would upload photos from the LAN nights we used to have, I’d rant about various things and every Friday I tried designing new layouts.

It started out of a sense of wanting to keep a diary, but making it public was my way of sharing with the world, I still love blogging but since they monetized everything it all comes at a price now.

I’ll have to go on the ‘way back when’ site to drag some example content out.

Goals

Andy YoungLeave a comment

So the training that I have signup for via WP said to make three goals for your blog. I have come to the conclusion that if I can do the following then I can hopefully make this a habit to update again.

  1. Publish twice a week during June, July and August. If I can get into that habit it’ll  be a good start.
  2. To make the blog as open and honest as I can be by sharing my unique life experiences.
  3. Use a mixture of photos, audio and video during June, July and August.

I’ve got an important meeting this afternoon which will either make or break what I’ve set out to do in the community. I wasn’t going to talk about work stuff but if I vague it up, I figure thats ok. Not going to lie. Very nervous about it, not just because I suffer from social anxiety (covid really didn’t help with that, least when I can see a persons face I can gauge what the expression is vs tone of voice) but also, yeah, its talking about the work I’ve done, where its progressing to and getting people on-board to help alot of other people get a chance in life.

I also have the about page which needs doing on here. They came up with a list of things you should answer but not in a shopping list order so I’ll work on that now as the meeting prep is all done. Then its lunch time for B so will pry him away from his screen for 30 mins to sit down and eat. He’s got a cough at the moment which is bothering him, luckily his covid test was negative so cough syrup as and when!

I’ll end of a meme. Pretty much sums up playing with the kids these days!