What July 2021 Means to me

July 2021 was all about the so called 'pingdemic', billionaire space quest, an assassination, delayed sports events and my Birthday. 

On the 19th of July restrictions were lifted and we were free to go to any place we liked. It was during the last 2 weeks of July that our high-tech defence against the Pandemic infection turned against us in ways we never imagined. Many Brits have a track and trace NHS app running on their phone. What happens is your phone makes a list of people that were near you using Blue Tooth radio signals. If you test positive for Covid19, the app will inform all the people that were near you to self isolate for a week. The problem is blue tooth can go were no virus ever could. It can pass through a solid brick wall or through the ceiling of an apartment. If I went to a BBQ and tested positive for Covid19 the next day every person there would also have to self isolate and everyone living in nearby houses would also have to self isolate. I could literally put a whole street full of people out of work for a week just from walking in front of their home. This caused many problems in labour intensive jobs like delivery supply chains and theatre shows. The problem was made worse because we are in the holiday season and don't feel free to fly overseas. 

At the start of the Month, the elected leader of Haiti, a man called Jovenel was assassinated in his home by professional hit men. I was amazed that the whole world didn't seem to care. Many people to this day don't know that the leader of the Caribbean nation of Haiti was assassinated or they don't care. 

It was my birthday in July, I went out to a few places with my family and had my favourite milestone drink, a small glass of whiskey filled just two thirds the way up. I don't drink much alcohol throughout the year. Just two small glasses. During the last week of July I took my son to the coast for the first time in his life. 

England went to the final of the European football Championship and lost. The 2020 Olympic games in Japan was started after being cancelled for a whole year because of the Pandemic. Some of the England fans were very disorderly. 

Two Billionaires and some of their friends went on a space quest, they went to a place where the top of the atmosphere meets true space, a kind of fuzzy zone where it is not clear if you are in space. Their so called space ships look cool but I wasn't amused; Instead I started to look at web sites were they make affordable arcade machines so I could have Happy thoughts. I didn't even want to think about the attitude of other people in this world. 

Happy thoughts. 

Coastal Day

Jacob, My son. 

It is not just Olympics that were delayed by one year because of the Pandemic, it was also your first trip to the coast. We were going to take you to the coast last year when you were walking freely without support, you were one and a bit years old.  There was too many restrictions in place, it wasn't safe at all in my view. 

We went cautiously about 3 or 4 days ago. It is a new experience for you but you seemed to enjoy it. I don't know if you will remember it when you're older because you are still very young. It was raining on and off and was sunny. You enjoyed walking barefoot through the surf zone. 

I love the smell of the ocean and the sound of the waves breaking on the sand. It is nice to look out into the vast waterscape and see thousands of waves rolling in the distance. 

There are so many wonderful places out there still to visit. 

Shrugged Assassination

Earlier in July, the leader of the Caribbean nation of Haiti was assassinated in his home by a group of mercenary hitmen. The thing that astonished me is that the whole world didn't seem to care. When I spoke to other people about it, they either didn't know it happened or they didn't care. 

What would happen if the leader of the UK or the leader of France was assassinated? Would people around the world still be indifferent? The news only seemed to mention that it happened briefly then swept the topic away. 

Well. I will put an end to that I will tell you the reader that Jovenel Moïse, the elected leader of the Island nation of Haiti was assassinated in his home by professional hit men and almost everyone doesn't know why. Only the people involved know the truth. I recommend that you bring up the topic with other people so we all make this world a smaller place where everyone is a brother or sister. 

Royal Book Bombshell

I recently learned that Harry the former Duke of Sussex will write 4 books and deliberately withhold some of them until the Queen is dead. 

It would be like me saying "Hello Grandma, I'm writing a book. I'll publish it when you're dead". I don't know how the Queen is going to take that, I imagined it would be like a slap in the face. The Queen is being kept in the dark shadow of the grim reaper about her grandson's book. 

What I would say is Harry should think it through again and reconsider the arrangement. 

I'm not Saying Prince Harry is daft, I just think he made a misguided mistake and should step forward and apologize to his Grandmother. 

I'm just an ordinary guy though but sometimes it is an obscure blogger that doesn't know much that can see the problems and the truths in this world. 

Happy Thoughts

Old-Alan, 

This month I had some spurts of shame and anger. I saw two billionaires flying on spaceships after years of telling their staff that times are hard and they can't get a significant pay rise. 

I saw the behaviour of many England fans at the tail end of the European football tournament. I saw them rampaging through the streets and climbing on the roof of buses.  I saw rubbish left on the floor in the park. Yesterday I saw a man dressed as spider man kicking a lady in the face at ASDA. This is such a disgrace. How could you kick a woman, it made my skin crawl. 

I don't want to feel shame and anger. I want to have happy thoughts all the time. Thoughts about outings to amousement parks. Thoughts about having a workshop where I build things and do experiments. Thoughts about building my man-cave bit by bit, a room full of games. Thoughts about taking my family out to different places. 

Happy thoughts....

Start of Japanese Olympics

In my view, the Japanese are very unlucky. They are the only nation in the world that was nuked. They live on Islands that often gets hit by powerful Tsunamis. They get many very strong earth quakes too often. Now they are hosting the Olympic games during a Pandemic infection. The whole world is sick and they have to be very careful. I saw the drones making a globe and thought that was cool. 

It was in the weeks preceding the Olympic games  that two billionaires built space ships and went into space. There is a debate about whether the place they went to is actually Space. If it is proven that they actually only went to the top of the atmosphere then they would be demoted from astronauts to rocketeers and their space ship would be reclassified as a surface to air penis 😆. 

People are still debating if  Covid19 came from a lab in China. If it did, I imagined it would be because they have their own equivalent to Homer Simpson working in the lab, a careless fool. I imagined him walking out of the lab with a test tube hanging out of his side pocket and throwing it out of the window while he is driving and then a kid running over it with a skateboard and breaking it open. 

The last Third of July

It is the last Third of July. I was filled with hate for a short time. I watched two billionaires go into space on their space ships. I imaged that they told all their staff that the company was struggling so they couldn't give them a decent pay rise. They are people that would lay off their staff and replace them with Robots if they could. I imagined an employee watching the news and seeing their company director sitting on a space ship that they built from all the money they ripped off from the staff. 

The way I see money is a tool to make my problems go away and help other people. I don't love money and I don't think it is wrong to be wealthy. 

Let me warn all the people in this world, when the teacher is replaced by an AI tutor, the truck driver replaced by driverless vehicles, the surgeon replaced by the surgery bot, office clerk by software, when most of the people are made unemployed by machines, they will stop buying things. Then the companies that embraced automation will lose trade. They are cutting the branch they are purched on with a saw, they will fall with the branch. 

Phil and Antro

In the last few weeks, two billionaires went into space. I'll call them Phil and Antro. Phil and Antro pissed their wealth into metal space ships that are shaped like a penis. You could say they are philanthropists. They beat entire countries in the space race. When everyone's jobs has been replaced by a machines then no one will buy their tosh. 

Robots don't want anything and they are not allowed to have bank accounts. I would say communism fails and so does capitalism, they both fail; just in different ways. When all the consumers have no jobs, they won't buy anything, so all the goods and services they want to sell won't be consumed. I'm not claiming to be clever, I am just an ordinary man that can see where the ball is heading, that's all. 

Window Shopping Alan Style

Very often I will look through sites that supply stuff for gaming rooms to look at all the stuff they have developed. I will look at the products and then I look them up on YouTube, I will also create a playlist on the watch later temporary folder. Then when I lie down I play through the whole play list. 

Sites that I look at very often is... 

Arcade 1Up, They are cheap self assembly arcade machines with licensed games on them. They are small but have risers to help you play them from a standing position. 

My arcade, Collectable mini working arcade machines and retro consoles. 

At Games, They make a top of the range arcade machine with multiple games. 

Home liesure direct, Everything for the man-cave if you have money to burn. 

Argos, A shopping site that sells some of the products made by those companies. They also have everything a man-cave needs. Pool tables, arcade machines, table tennis, things like that. 

A man-cave liesure room is about sharing, it is about bringing people over and having a happy time being a big kid. That is one of my dreams. 

Happy thoughts forever... 

Hot Day

Jacob My Son,

Yesterday it was very hot outside. You know the future better than me. I hope it is better than now, I have no idea what is going to happen. I see things I don't like every day. I see machines doing skilled work, I see normal weather changing into something I don't recognize, I see empty advertising boards on the street, I see fuel rising to £1.30 per liter. 

I opened a multi game board game set. It claimed there was 101 games in one. The trouble is many of the games were just variants of the same game. They had checkers, German Checkers, Chinese Checkers. Then they had Chess and Diagonal Chess. It didn't even have dominoes in there, half of the games were just dice games. 

It would be nice to sit outside on a nice day and set a table up on a lawn and play board games in the cool late evening summer breeze in the fresh air. 

Happy thoughts. 

My Birthday

A few days ago on Thursday it was my birthday. I did what I normally do on my birthday. I went on an outing with family, had my small milestone drink and relaxed for a few days. 

It was during my birthday this year that there were floods in West Europe. Germany was very badly affected, cars were swept away, buildings were destroyed and people lost their lives. Surely we're messing up the planet, it's obvious now. Every year it gets more and more obvious that we are causing global warming. The old-world continents are getting flooded, the new-world continents are getting droughts and wild fires. We're getting stronger storms and more extreme weather. Gigantic icebergs are breaking off from Antarctica, some are the size of large islands. We are getting cooked by our pollution, that is the truth. 

The common thoughts that I had on my 39th birthday was the reality of climate change, I was also thinking about the death of the Haitian leader and why his assaination wasn't on the news very much. I also thought that we are little more than  animated bags of bones. How could a person look down at another person when their whole life is like a aerosol vapour, a temporary brief existence that fades away. For a short time we are alive and then we are just bones, without thought or care. How could a person hate another person or judge another person when everything we do is for nothing, we won't remember anything and our possessions are worthless to us when we die. If our consciousness continues after we die then it would be because of God, otherwise there is no hope, only the certainty of death. 

Football Racism

When it comes to Racism I don't really think about it.  I mostly think about my world, and all the mysteries of this world like, is there a 10th planet in our solar system, if the universe will last forever, the grandfather paradox and things like that. 

Some of our  football players received racist abuse on the internet when England lost against Italy on Sunday; I would say that's not fair, they shouldn't be treated like that. We are all different but we are all people and our bodies are just vehicles that let us live in this world for a short time. I say give every person a fresh judgement that is impartial to their outside appearance, that would be more fair. No person in this world wants to hear an insult because of the way they look or their ethnicity. If no person wants to be prejudged with prejudice then let no one do so. 

I don't even want to think about racism, I want to think about the things I make and all the things I want to make in the future like a nice man cave to play games machines and a workshop to build test rigs and experimental machines.  Most of my thoughts are with my hobbies, like this blog and making documentary videos on YouTube. 

I keep my chin up for a brighter fairer society that respects everyone by default. 

Well played

I couldn't watch the match because I was at my Job but I learned that we lost. I think that the England team played very well, it's not easy getting to the final of the Euros. It is just a game but we have produced a good team that any nation would be proud of. 

The thing I didn't like very often is the behaviour of many England fans. Some people that are ignorant would think the whole nation are like that. They booed the national anthem of the rival teams, they were being disorderly on a large scale. Many England fans were acting worse than wild animals in my view. They were breaking things and throwing rubbish on the floor and shouting out vile phrases. 

To me, the shame of seeing my own people behaving like crazy fools is worse than losing the game. Perhaps this is why I never really liked football much, I was a kid in the 90s and there was plenty of public disorder back then as well. 

Where am I

Sometimes when I wake up for about 3 seconds I have no idea where I am. Then I realise I am in my bed in my small home near my small family. 

But then I think for a short time, where is this world. I mean we are somewhere in the Universe, but where is here really? Where is the universe itself? Is there more reality beyond the universe? What was before the universe, where does it all come from and where does it all go. Is there a higher level of existence? I don't know. 

Window Box

The plant that is popular with my small family for window boxes right now is Crocosmias. They are very unusual plants to keep in window boxes but I like them. For most of the year our Crocosmia plants are just plain looking reeds. Then in August they sprout a shoot and open several bright orange flowers. To me they are wonderful, they are just the right size for window boxes, they are very robust and even stay green for several weeks when the frost arrives, even if they die you know they will regenerate next spring because they are bulb plants. You need to look them up on the internet to see what they look like. 

I was just wondering how long they will remain a family favourite plant? Will my descendents have Crocosmias growing in window boxes? Will they breed them into better plants? Perhaps my descendents will grow Crocosmias that produce flowers all year. I don't know. 

The dead leaves of Crocosmias quickly turn into soil and I like the look of the Reeds. Some people keep tulips in their window boxes, others keep Daffodils, we keep Crocosmias and are slowly breeding them. Selecting the best flowers to keep for the following year. 

Rivers of Shame

I watched the England game last Wednesday and was pleased that we won the game but I was overwhelmed with shame. Many England fans behaved worse than wild animals, they were a total disgrace. 

They booed the Danish National Anthem!!!! That is so rude and disgusting, I was overcome with shame. Then someone tried to blind the Danish goal keeper with a green Lazer!!!!! Then when the match finished they rampaged through streets breaking everything and leaving rubbish everywhere. 

I imagined the robot with a crazy face found the Lazer pen man, I think her name is Sophia. She would have a bamboo cane as thick as a baseball bat and brake it on his arse. I would say "Sofia, keep your hair on. Violence is wrong. Your swing is excellent though, I would like to take you to the golf course" maybe I would find my pity there, because I can't find any pity for the Lazer pen man here". Or

The Lazer pen man would wake up with the Kelloggs corn flakes logo tattooed on his forehead, I would say "Lazer pen man, you have the Corn Flakes logo tattooed on your forehead. I found a bicycle reflector in cornflakes once and even a Hologram of the Ghostbusters, maybe I will find pity for you in a cereal box because I can't find any pity now"!!!

I already have shame on my shoulders, my country invaded other lands and took their resources not too long ago. My country has thousands of rivers and loads of wind but very little exploitation of it for natural energy.  Why do I need more shame now? I don't. 

Milestone drink

Most of the time I drink coffee or tea. But the drink for reaching a milestone in my world is whiskey, a nice glass of whiskey. 

I have a glass of whiskey for my birthday to show gratitude that I remained alive and well for another year. Then there is the Christmas drink for everything good in the whole year. All the good luck and peace that I say thanks to God for. 

The new milestone I have added is when there are 100 subscribers to my channel, then 200 subscribers. I hope that I will have 100 subscribers because of excellence alone. I want to make things that are excellent and make the world a slightly more happy place. Some men chase power, others chase women, some chase after material things. I chase excellence, I want to make things that are so excellent that people need to sit down after seeing them. 

I hardly ever drink alcohol, just twice a year for two milestones. Staying live and well and everything else. That is it for now.

I dream of the day when I will have my own little lawn that is fenced off in my own little home. I would sit there on a nice day and and play dominoes, cribbage or one of the great liesures that we all love. I would sit there at sunrise to drink my coffee and get some fresh air. I would be Alan. 

Damp Day

Jacob,  my Son. 

It is very cloudy outside and it is raining. A lot has  been happening all around us. Football tournament, cabinet change in government, things like that. 

I ignore my senses. I feel like a huge war is going to start, I don't know why, I can just sense that something isn't quite right. I ignore my senses. It is the kind of senses that can tell when someone is looking at you from behind, the sense that can't be explained. I can sense the malice of millions of people, like they are preparing for something, it is like millions of people are very focused and ready to do something, but what? I don't know. 

I'm trying to finish my latest video, a short documentary about Jupiter and the Juno space probe. I'm not very good at making things but if I improve every time then I will perfect my products and skills and reach a new level. I don't have control over the minds of other people but I can make outstanding things. 

Our government plans to end all restrictions on the 19th of July. The Delta variant is still around and new strains of the disease are emerging, we are doing our best to return to normal and stay healthy. I keep my chin up for the rest of summer and Autumn. 

Clyde Cheerman | Why So Rude?

Clyde Cheerman the Cheer up Robot was out and about trying to cheer everyone up. 

But he came across this guy that was very rude. Clyde said to the man "good morning, how are you"? 

The man responded by saying, "why are you talking to me you stupid robot, I don't know you, I'll will slap your face if you talk to me again". 

Clyde was confused because he was trying to be nice and the man was calling him a stupid robot and was angry that he was talking to him.

Alan explained that some people are nice and some people are rude and violent. You can't reason with a rude violent person by talking to them. The only thing you can do is walk away from them and avoid them. There are too many rude and aggressive people these days. 

"Why is there many aggressive  and rude people Alan?"

"I don't know, but I think it will get worse in the near future. I have a third eye, I won't say where it is though".

Disrespect, Malice and hate are filling into people's minds and poisoning them. 

Harassment of Doctor

A few days ago, Doctor Chris Whitty the health advisor for the government was harassed in the park by two young men. 

They were grabbing him and laughing while taking selfies in a friendly manner. In my view they were just messing around but they didn't think it through. Chris is not telepathic, there is no way for him to know if their intent is malice or playfulness. Plus they were filming themselves breaking the distancing rules. 

I later learned that one of the young men lost their job because of the incident, I thought that was a bit harsh because they were just messing around and clearly didn't mean any harm, they didn't hit anyone and he didn't attack the work places assets. What they did was wrong but it doesn't mean they should lose their job in my view. 

This is a Pandemic problem I think, Our Scientists and disease experts have been put on the National Stage and made famous by force. They want to carry on living a normal obscure life but they can't now because everyone knows who they are.  

I would like to thank Dr Chris Whitty for sharing his insight with our government and helping us to fight this Pandemic.