The cost of knowledge

To anyone who has known me for a while  or listens to radio show The World Beyond   (Penwith Radio, Sunday, 4 to 6 ). They will know that I have an interest in what we would perhaps call the paranormal , or the unexplained.
 I don't mean spook exploitation, but more the fact the world is far more beautiful and complex than we could ever have imagined. I don't claim to have any special powers, other perhaps than a big mouth and ego to match. Now I get around to the point that I 'm trying to make.
Sometimes when we use a method of seeing into the future, for example it maybe using Tarot cards, reading tea leafs, crystal balls or maybe just listening to wind. In my case often I get a feeling, sometimes with such an intensity that distracts me to a point when all I can do is climb, or ride the bike, or just about anything to let me live in the moment, to forget the potential futures that maybe and perhaps may not.
For when we look into the future, what we often see will be true, but the context will always be different and so will lead us to a  future that we could not have imagined even if we get glimpes of will come to pass.
So I wonder if perhaps the best thing to do is to sit back and understand that often the best place we can be is in the present moment, and not lost in what maybe , or even what has come to pass.
For being as fully present in any given moment with a good heart is all anyone can ask.
Oh and the The World Beyond goes out on Penwith Radio on Sundays from 4 to 6 ..
So please listen in.
Being of course present in the moment..

Harry Rednap

Well I'm I being a little cynical, but Harry Rednap has all the charges of tax avoidance dropped on the same day as the England Football mangers job becomes vacant..
Well I guess we know who will be the new manager then !
On a different note, it turns out the last 30 years of  turning are economy into a service one maybe a mistake..
So it has only taken 30 years for us to work out that if we do not produce anything we cannot really function as a country ...
Really 30 years to work this out !
Manufacturing used to be over 25% of our economy, now it less than 10%. We still do produce things, hi tech low volume, ie most F1 cars are made in  this country, we produce more cars than we ever have before. Just not for a company that is British owned.
People seem to look down on those who work with their hands, we now all want to have desk jobs. I spent 20 years in production work, First as a dental technician model maker, then for a meat processor and  finally I worked in print, ending up as a printer.
Only redundancy forced me away from that industry, some aspects of the job where hard work, long hours etc. But now those jobs have gone, so where do those who want to work with their hands go ?
Service jobs are not just the answer..
But most things are now made in Asia or India for a fraction of the cost. So I guess we really are in a catch 22 situation ...
Be we still need to start producing things again ..
Be proud if you work with your hands, you are an important part that helped make this country..
And maybe, just maybe help to remake it once again.
A little rant , maybe.

Oh and yes, Harry Rednap would make a really good England manager ..

Classic Cars

In the past week I have had the pleasure of buying yet another classic car, in this case an old Triumph Dolomite. In the last 12 months I sold my much beloved Triumph Spitfire for restoration and my Saab Convertible blew its gear box up and got scrapped in the process.
For those of you who may not know, but I have always been a classic car fan; in fact if you asked my mother she would  say that it has been from the age of 4 months old.
Also I trade as Quirky Cars, not very often but enough, in fact arguably this is the first truly classic car that I have bought since starting trading.
But why would I want to put up with worse fuel economy, the likely hood that it will require more maintenance and up keep.
So why have a classic car at all ?
Well when some people travel, it really is a case of just going from A to B , no input,  no real interest.
But with a classic car this is not so, every journey becomes an adventure and not just because it may break down ! People smile as you pass, you get let out from side junctions. In this age of electric windows and  power everything ... You feel connected with the road, instead of passing through  and watching the world go by, you become part of the environment. With a soft top this becomes an even greater experience, as you have an unfiltered access to the world around and unlike a motorcycle you don't have to wear all the safety gear. But like a motorcycle when you travel in something that you can have a direct effect on how it runs, classic cars respond to being fettled. They respond  to being loved, just like us in fact.
So why do write this ?
Well thanks to my Good friend Pip I now have one of only 38 Triumph Dolomite 1500's left on the road in the UK .. so she is a rare little beast as well. All this for less than a thousand pounds and as I have a triumph heart, Dollymixture brings a smile everytime I think about her.
And that is what classic cars are all about ...