ECHOES OF THE ROAD

 I like rules because out of uncertainty they create order and predictability. However, it occurred to me during a meeting about technical standards for machinery that everything had been turned on its head. Over the years the meeting had morphed from creating and updating technical standards that made sense to industry to now interpreting laws and regulations implemented by the EU. The issue is that for many of these laws compliance with a given standard (via a regulation) is presumed conformity to the law and therefore the standard becomes a sue-do legal document. As a result creating and updating standards is becoming nearly impossible as politician wield law in the shape of their ideology only for this to be either upended by ‘the other lot’ or they realise they have screwed up so change the law again. So the standards become useable and the laws themselves become uncertain because they over prescriptive. Are they are falling into disrepute? It’s time to embrace everything that...

  With the 80th anniversary of VE Day coming up it is how we set the baseline with new generations. The prime minister made an announcement that to mark the celebrations that pubs could stay open from 2300 to 0100. Is this is what we have come to? The leader of the country making this announcement? It seems trivial but it ground my gears somewhat as the celebration belongs to the men and women who live through that time, and for the current people alive, this should be marked as a commemoration. Have watched several episodes of the World at War we now fail to think the abject horror on a global scale that wreaked on humanity. We fail to think what brought the world to this point and fail to see how history repeats itself as we become ever more isolated as individuals and nations. Our frame of reference, our story, is how Britain lived through an age of glory. The base line has shifted. Alice Boyd demonstrated this beautifully when I followed up her Earth Day newsletter with two rec...

  The last Battle of Britain fighter pilot, the Irish John ‘Paddy’ Hemmingway died yesterday, St Patricks day. He was 105 years old and 21 when he took part in 1940.   We see immortalised in photos, captured in black and white, young people in their prime many of who died in battle. Is this a defining moment as the last of the few are no more? Will the memory of what they did now evaporate? Will old men ever stop sending their young people to kill each other? It doesn’t have to be November 11 to pause and reflect. It can be any day.

I have not blogged for since February 23 because a) I can be a lazy bugger and b) I have been thinking deeply. On March 6 Clay posted in his blog   Good day to die reflection  has had me transfixed.  I’ve read this post multiple times and listened to it twice (using Siri) in particular the following woke me up like a cold shower: This phrase resonates with strength and fearless acceptance. Often attributed to Native American warriors, particularly the Lakota Sioux, it encapsulates a mindset where life and death intertwine, not as opposites, but as integral parts of a seamless existential dance. At first glance, it might seem like a call to arms—a warrior’s fearless charge into battle. But looking deeper, we find something richer, more nuanced, and strikingly relevant today. This statement is not merely about death; it’s about embracing life so fully, so passionately, that each day feels complete. It reflects  living with integrity, purpose, and a clear conscience...

The hyperlinks don’t always connect with me right away - I have never been quick of mind or sharp of with. So the hyperlinks that resulted in the title of this post go back some way. I like listening to podcasts that are recorded outside the studio - I love the back ground noise over the speaking and recall several episodes of Spiritual Unfoldment where John Butler is speaking in his usual quiet, reflective manner in a cafe with the back ground chatter and noises of the coffee making complementing this. This is common with several podcasts I listen to that are not recorded in a studio s oulcruzer crimbo limbo  and strangers on a bench . I listened last week to Ferns February Found Sounds where Alice Boyd was chatting with Darren Appiagyei a wood worker in London. Alice is really adept at capturing outdoor sounds and incorporating them into her music. A few days later she put a video on YouTube of her going about London collecting sounds for a use in a future date.  As I list...

  I saw a video on YT that featured a short AI generated summary narrative of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle maintenance. It gave me insights that I did not appreciate at the time I read it classical thinking is the motorcycle (a logical organised machine) and romantic thinking (the art of riding and being at one with the machine). It was obvious as the story progressed     that separation of the two ways of thinking was a more recent phenomena and bad thing. At a point well into the book Robert introduced a third theme of ‘quality’ this played with my brain and, like space-time,    I could sometime see it but not quite grasp it. I actually finished the book with a bit of confusion that I have pondered since. The AI put it in away that made sense by mentioning spirituality as it described quality.  As I reflect on my life so far, I set out, as a classical thinker. There was a period of time when classical immature attitude had me look down on my student coll...

In 1918 ‘ Uncle Harry ’ had been fighting for four years on the 18th of July he was killed during an attack on Bligny Ridge we think around 0430 in almost certainly by machine gun fire. He was laid to rest in Chambrecy Cemetry with 400 of his comrades.  The regimental records document to a good degree the events of the day. But Uncle Harry was subject to family folklore that although he died a bachelor, he was a father who was not allowed to marry the mother. There were no records that myself or my mother could find to establish the facts. A lot of my work was done in lead up to the 28th of July 2018 when we visited his grave a long with former members of the Leeds Rifles regiment, including my father. My mother kept up her various posts on facebook and local community groups but I moved on.  I found out recently that my mother had got a ‘hit’ last year when she was contact by a lady who could see some of our digital footprints. They connected and it turns out Harry was indeed...

I have a food priority: A-raw food  B-food I have made from scratch using A C-food like B that I couldn’t make from scratch but couldn’t be arsed D-food that I would need a chemistry set to make  Portion size wise: A is worth 10 points B is worth 7 points C is worth 3 points D is worth -5 points I’m going to write a book ‘Dave’s Diet Bible’ with the help of AI and publish it on Amazon. They don’t check anything so facts won’t matter nor the 10 star fake reviews I will give myself. In the meantime I’m running a spreadsheet, logging my score. With sufficient data I should be able to do a Six Sigma exercise as I currently don’t have the answers to the questions a doctor is going to ask me! 

I love YouTube - it is wonderful resource for entertainment, education, spirituality and friendship. Of course like all platforms there is the usual preaching and prattling from media and politicians. A couple of days ago Sten Ekberg popped in my suggestions. Erik is a former athlete and these days a scientist, his channel focuses on diet and health. In this one he set a 30 day zero sugar challenge. Being a fed added sugar from when I was weaned it has given me a sweet tooth and everyone who knows me is aware of my fondness for cakes, fruit pies, biscuits and chocolate. With plenty of Christmas left overs, specifically 3 cakes, 2 boxes of biscuits, some lovely Latvian chocolates and then more mince pie that my daughter brought round all with my name on it, when I told my wife of the challenge she rolled her eyes and said a few things. So here we go….day one…no problem. After my evening meal I looked longingly at the cakes in the cupboard but resisted and had fruit instead. It occurred ...

I have an uneasy relationship with social media since the days of Friends Reunited, it was hard to put my finger on it and I put it down to the nomadic nature I have with relationships. Around five years ago I joined twitter and found lots of lovely people in my area with a passion for cycling. For some of those the bicycle was a big part of their life and they were advocates for this to be taken seriously as a primary mode of transport. They became targets for ridicule and attack - this was the rise of the breed of the keyboard warrior. It was obvious that media was good at amplifying human nature both good and bad but for the most part it appeared to be in equal measure, like a normal distribution curve. The constant adjustment algorithms was largely unnoticed but I begun to find I was only a few tweets away from  advocates for cycling ranting and advocates for motoring pitted against each other. Abuse in word from was common place and then videos of people riding bikes being del...

A man walks down the street, he’s having a mid life crisis. He is feeling soft in the middle and wondering why the rest of his life is so hard. His guiding light has been lost to age and wondering who will be his role model. Well, AI, if you had AI in 1986 you could have saved yourself a whole heap of trouble writing this crappy tune! Do you get it? I wager Betty does.

I enjoy very much listening the Huberman Lab podcast. For those that have not head, Andrew Huberman is a neuro scientist whose mission is to bring zero cost scientific tools to help people understand and take action. His long form podcasts of around 2 hours really get into detail but like all good teachers there is gentle repetition of the science which helps the brain infuse it. One of the themes is how the brain loses its plasticity as you get older. It is something I have noticed if I compare myself now to 30 years ago, but I got thinking how much it this because I have been conditioned over time? Are there things I can do that do, so in my daily notes I wrote: The return to a plastic brain. Keep routines simple and minimal. Don’t take everything at face value. Started to learn one thing that will take a long time and really challenge you. Identify where your curiosity lays. Explore those curiosity paths. Avoid being an unthinking consumer. Ask yourself the motive. Respect other peo...

Various electric pulses rattle through the pink sponge network. The pulses of thoughts: fears, hopes, regrets, anticipation - running randomly. Like a flock of starlings in the evening sky preparing to roost  Observing the random interplay - the speed, strength and direction is enjoyable and frustrating in equal measure. There are fleeting moments where the flock of the thoughts seem to have uniformity only to vanish again. Individual birds continue to work finding their role and be a matter of time before there is uniformity as the flock works as one. Only then will the bird brain be fully engage.

Why do people collect? I have a passing curiosity as to why people collect things. It is often with some amusement to see the extent individuals and groups of people go to in building up their collection of  anything & everything from rocks to records from cars to cassettes. Not being much of a keeper stuff I have viewed them as collectors of ‘what ever’, and, I have to say, with some amusement. Like lots of people I have a collection of CD’s and books that I am reluctant to dispose of through sentimental attachment. Some of the attachment is those living in the moment experiences that I find are fleeting. There are handful of novels and albums that define those moments and remain sharp in my memory but I don’t go out of my way to add to it like some stamp collector. I am definitely not one of those nerds who continuously amass what ever collections - I am happy in my normality. Hang on! Hold your horses! What about… …On December 28th 1984 I visited the Argos store in Leeds and...

‘Rivit’ say the 8.2 billion frogs in the cooking pot. Most of the frogs rivit quietly getting on with their lives. But sensing the warming pot, some of the little frogs rivit a little louder saying there’s a problem. The big frogs come together and agree yes indeed it looks like there is a problem. But after a while it dawns on some of the big frogs that stopping the pot from warming is going to be uncomfortable for them and that won’t do. They croak loudly, calling out the little frogs for scare mongering and assuring all the frogs in the pot there is nothing to worry about. Meanwhile the flame underneath the cooking pot burns ever more fiercely.  The push for collective action on climate change is often stymied by the way individualistic and profit-driven interests dominate, especially when a handful of powerful organizations and individuals hold such significant influence. Economic measures like carbon adjustment taxes and the development of circular economies are steps in the r...

In my early twenties I made three decisions that for the most part guided my life. These came about when I enjoyed unfettered freedom to think but also a rejection of what I now know as romantic thinking. Create opportunities. Despite attempts and disappointment, standing out from the crowd had never been in my nature and this was a moment of acceptance. If there were things I wanted to achieve, I would need to create opportunities and lean into them my way. This made me open minded but a bit of dreamer. Go with the flow. My first room mate was a positive influence, I copied some of his ways, stopped being so rigid and learnt to not be so hung up. This enabled me to me navigate an easy course but one that periodically with have me crashing, thrashing and clashing all at the same time. Particularly in situations if I felt I was being pushed around.  Keep people at arms length.  Although I am an uninteresting introvert by nature, I have always pushed myself to make personal co...

I was recently prompted by SoulCruzer’s  blog about The Dark Knight to take a discussion with Chat GTP . In fact his blog left a string dangling where I wanted to explore more of good vs bad and the grey line that is the under or otherworld. When the webmaster himself (remember the days of the webmaster?) suggested to prompt Chat GTP to take on a character, I was blown away with the discussion when I asked it to take on the persona of Charles Dickens. I took the time to converse in a manner that would be appreciated by Mr Dickens so the conversation was very immersive. I am in awe of a tool that can be used to help the thought process, to explore, rationalise and understand things that can be deeply personal. How ChatGTP was able to converse in the manner of a Victorian gent but pose such though provoking questions is beyond my comprehension. By the end of the chat, it became obvious, because of the points raised by Mr Dickens, taking the discussion further really needs to be with ...

 Artificial Intelligence is permeating every nook and cranny across the internet, applications and product launch. It’s being pushed upon us with the zeal of a preacher promising a better tomorrow. With this AI is taking on some sort of god like quality. Like religion AI can be a force for good but, like religion, it can and it will be turned against people. For those who can remember, the hippy dreamy days (‘I’d like to teach the world to sing’ comes to mind) when the internet came to the world, followed by early social media with its ideals, indie blogging and podcasts. All have these have been turned against us. Independent thought, communication and expression has been steam rollered into the ground by mega companies and the egos that run them. AI is currently in that idealistic phase. But sitting behind AI are the same egos of these mega companies. These companies are the new religion and the egos that run them are the high priests. It won’t be long before the neutral tones th...

 I finally finished reading ‘Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance’ by Robert Pirsig. I heard a discussion about it on Radio 4 one evening and bought a second hand copy.  It takes place with a father and son embarking on a motorcycle road trip across the US along with his life long friend and his wife. All is not right and he is on a mental journey revisiting distant memories that are centred around him going mad while wrestling to discover new concepts and definitions. The concepts I cannot really describe in words, as I read the book some things made perfect sense, particularly when this is related to the mechanics of the motorcycle. There were concepts that come from other cultures that resonated with me, particularly as I have been exposed to them in my working life. Other things I got fleeting glimpses of comprehension that would quickly evaporate.  I felt like the book was dancing around the fringes of my intelligence and so my pace of reading slowed right down....

As I end my working week, I am recalling an interaction I had with Carl Pullein on YouTube. Carl runs a successful time management consultancy and I recommend his courses and new book. His recent video blog was about the methods for organising work before the age of digital - I vaguely recall those times and it turns out the I was at the tail end of methods that had been practised for at least 100 years. Products like the Franklin Organiser and the Filofax were born out of this. I usually make quick notes as I am going along through my day but today there was bugger all entered aside from my calls and must do lists. I had a productive catch up day which got me thinking about the different tools that have overlapping information. At a recent trade show I had business cards from conversations of folk I had met. I logged the follow up actions in a spreadsheet entering the contact names and emails. Each key contact was sent a personal email. The spreadsheet was copied into the last slide ...