The Year of Living Dangerously

Hello dear readers!

And a belated merry Christmas to one and all.

You may have noticed that The Seated Perspective has been the Silent Perspective of late. This was due to a sudden (if not wholly unexpected) outbreak of festive business coupled with a small family matter that meant that any blog post would have contained nothing but wholly inappropriate venting… and maybe a few naughty words.

However, that was then and this is now. So let us put such matters behind us and move on... by taking a look back.

Humbug!

Hello dear readers!

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

This is especially true of a street I regularly walk the dog down which, at the moment, could convincingly double for Blackpool illuminations.

And really, is there any need? I mean... really?

What Ails You

Hello dear readers!

And a belated welcome to last week!

Yup. I blipped. To the disappointment of literally some (or perhaps fewer), last weeks post was a resounding no show. I can only apologise… or possibly take a bow.

The reason for this aberration is actually a nice little link into the subject of this week’s offering.

Adventures In Dog Walking

Hello dear readers!

Reduce your stress levels, they said.

This was back in July, when I received my diagnosis of MS and it’s what led to the decision to stop working for a little while in order to assess just how well (or not) I’m going to be in the long term.

Of course lowering stress hasn’t always been quite as simple as just avoiding the 9 to 5. The claim for ESA (now thankfully accepted at basic rate, whilst in the assessment phase) was a saga in it’s own right. A mighty quest that might not have been out of place in the works of Tolkien. The subsequent lack of money caused by it’s dragging on was also somewhat trying.

And then there was Friday.

Spoon Fed

Hello dear readers!

Sometimes you read something or see something, and it just resonates with you, you know?

It’s like today. Being Remembrance Sunday my thoughts, quite naturally turn to such things as the heroic sacrifices made by those brave men and women who gave their lives in battle, and the complete lunacy of the necessity of such sacrifice. It was whilst indulging in a little light breakfast social media-ing, that I saw someone share the final scene of Blackadder Goes Forth. A finer and more poignant summation of the above, I think, is hard to find, and it fits my thoughts on the matter perfectly.

The same can be said for Spoon theory.

Role Play

Hello dear readers!

And welcome to what may be a slightly belated blog post, courtesy of being persuaded, against my better judgement, to go to church this morning.

As those who know me will no doubt already know, church is not really my bag. In fact it’s not even my clutch purse. However the Mrs was preaching this morning, and although she has preached to me personally many times on a variety of different topics (lessons including ‘Thou shalt not leave the kitchen such a mess’, and ‘Thou shalt shave that bloody beard off’ being among my favourites) I

thought I’d lend my support.

It got me thinking...

The New Normal

Hello dear readers!

There’s a strange feeling in the air. A feeling of things coming to an end. A feeling of a new chapter about to start, To be frank, it’s about bloody time.

Anyone who has had the stamina and slight sense of masochism to have read the blog over the last few months will know what I’m talking about. For those that have not had that most dubious of pleasures, I am referring to my recent diagnosis of MS and the hectic merry-go round of life since then.

It’s been a time of much change but maybe, just maybe, things are starting to calm down.

Trouble And Strife

Hello dear readers!

At the risk of sounding a little like a broken record, these are not the easiest of times.

As anyone who has endured this blog for a while will know, my recent diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis, piling on top of my long term Spina Bifida have made life rather… Interesting, and this has led to me making the decision to give up work for a while. The MS making it just too hard to contemplate at the moment. Yes, life is definitely interesting. You could throw in words like frustrating, worrying, and emotional if you like too, and of course it’s not just me that’s going through this.

Today, (being Sunday 22nd of October) is the birthday of someone rather important in my life, a woman who shares the challenges that I’m currently facing, a woman without whom I doubt I could face them at all. It seems like an apt time to shed the limelight on that rather lovely woman.

That rather lovely woman is my wonderful wife, Tina.

Ten Minutes

Hello dear readers!

So, first of all apologies for last week's missing post. This was almost entirely due to a sudden and only half expected bout of extreme MS related Tiredness, one that saw me take to my bed on Monday night and get twelve hours deep and apparently much needed sleep. Putting going to bed to, um, bed for a moment here is last weeks offering, updated and posted a mere seven days late. Enjoy.

I think it is a very human thing to put oneself at the centre of life. To concentrate on those things that are closest to us, that have the most effect on our own personal stories.

And then something like the tragic events of two weeks ago happens. Something outside of our own little worlds, something far removed from most of us, but something that underlines just how tiny one person’s problems can be.

I am of course talking about the Las Vegas shootings

All Systems Slow

Hello dear readers!

Well, what a week it has been. A week where waiting had finally resulted in action, and a week that finished with me feeling far from my sparkling best, but for possibly the best of reasons.

Confusing, eh?

Well the surge in positivity has much to do with a couple of things that the Seated Perspective household’s collective breath has been well and truly bated over for a while now. One of these things is of the building bent. The other, a mite more medicinal.

Ton up

Hello dear readers!

It’s time for a little positivity, I think.

Those of you that have the dubious pleasure of following these attempts at communicating the flotsam and jetsam that floats through my poor addled brain may have picked up a somber mood to my posts of late. A certain maudlin quality.

This of course has a lot to do with my recent medical diagnosis, (see here if you don’t know what I’m talking about) but while that was less than ideal life does indeed go on, and this week there is a reason not just to be positive, but to celebrate!

Health & Safety

Hello dear readers!

Yes. yet again it's Bloggy-thing time, and this week has been a particularly positive one, although perhaps marred by one or two (well, definitely one) little niggles.

We are, once again, talking about my recent diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis which has joined the already existing conditions of Spina Bifida and Pernicious Anaemia to form an all singing. all dancing, triple threat, disease dream team. It puts such tag teams as The Road Warriors, and The Hardy Boys to shame it really does.

In fact, more specifically, this week's post delves into the appointment with the MS Specialist and the fun I had actually attending it.

Let me explain.

Uphill Battles

Hello dear readers!

Sometimes writing a weekly blog can be difficult. This is one of those times.

No, this is not due to any technical difficulties or the less than perfect state of my MS riddled eyes (see here). It is, in fact, due to a distinct lack of that small thing that makes it possible to put finger to keyboard in the first place... Inspiration.

The fact is that, some six weeks after leaving hospital with the above mentioned diagnosis still ringing in my ears, the silence is becoming deafening.

The staccato appointments seem to have dried up for the moment (ahead of Thursday’s appointment with the specialist), and I am left sitting and waiting for things to happen. Waiting is not something I’m, apparently, particularly good at.

Like Buses

Hello dear readers!

Firstly an apology. I’m sure you will have spotted that last weeks blog post was sadly absent. This time, this was not due to any ill health or hospitalisation on the part of yours truly but more because of a poorly laptop. This issue has not been fully resolved but hopefully I may be able to get through this week’s offering without the accursed thing shutting down randomly and erasing all my hard(ish) work.

Anyhoo, onward and upwards.

Long term sufferers of this esteemed blog may remember that last time we spoke I was somewhat becalmed. After my recent diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis (see here), I was left waiting for appointments galore and, quite frankly nothing was happening. I was left kicking my heels (well, figuratively) at home.

It was all quiet on the western front with not much happening on the Eastern. Northern, or Southern either. Then, very much like buses, three things all turned up together to busy life up a little.

All Good Things?

Hello dear readers!

Yes, it’s that time again! Time for yours truly to afford you, my dear readers jut a peek into this thing I call my life.

With Spina Bifida and Pernicious Anaemia, running alongside the all new Chiari Malformation, and Multiple Sclerosis (see here), these are interesting times to say the least and the near future is burgeoning with the promise of more medical appointments than you could safely shake a long brown sticky thing at.

So what, you may ask, has been happening since we last spoke? Well truth be told… not a lot.

In Sickness & In Health

Hello dear readers!

The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry, or so that great unknown ‘they’ say. ‘They’ might just have a point.

I can’t say that I’ve ever been that certain regarding the mice bit to be honest. I didn’t realise they were all that into planning, other than keeping a careful eye out for the cat and a more hopeful one peeled for unexpected cheese, but in my own case the last two weeks have seen a need for a certain… flexibility, in the planning department.

Let me explain.

Buy Two Get One Free

Hello dear readers!

Firstly a quick word of apology to those who were expecting their weekly helping of

Word salad last Sunday. So, um, yeah… Sorry.

The reasons for this aberration will become apparent in just a little while. In fact if you follow me on social media, specifically the vaunted book of faces. Then you might have a small inkling as to the subject of this weeks blog post.

It’s quite a biggy, and really the only thing that I could possibly write about today. It is the fact that earlier this week I found out I have MS.

Under The Weather

Hello dear readers!

Today you join a tired and slightly worried blogger.

It is, as is my custom, a week since I last sat down (well you know what I mean), to put virtual pen to virtual paper and to be quite honest those seven days have not been amongst my finest. In fact, containing, as they did, a visit to a neurologist, five days off work, and several dizzy spells, I think they can be counted amongst the worst of recent times.

Allow me to elucidate.

Past Tense

 Hello dear readers!

You join me today in a reflective mood, as I think about a couple of rather significant anniversaries.

Yes, there will shortly be reasons to celebrate. In just under four weeks myself and my increasingly wonderful wife, Tina, will have been married a whole five years. I know, right, five years! The time has flown by, and for me at least, and I’m sure for the people that have known us that long, that figure just doesn’t seem quite right... but it is.

Those years have, on the whole been wonderful, filled with laughter and joy, but there has been the odd little misadventure too, and herein lies the tale of that other anniversary.

Losing It

Hello dear readers!

You may be seeing a little less of me from now on.

No, I’m not shutting the blog down (what do you mean ‘awwww’!), and in fact I have actually had some idle thoughts of expanding my burgeoning empire. With work commitments and other writing projects to consider though I wouldn’t start holding your breath waiting for that to happen.

Anyway, back to the matter at hand. Allow me to expand on my downsizing.

Going Nowhere

Hello dear readers!

And a happy Father’s Day to all you dads out there.

Yes, today is that day that we (well those of us in the UK anyway) set aside to celebrate fathers, dads, pops, and paters the land over. I, of course will be making the traditional pilgrimage to the folk's to drop off cards and presents, and perhaps share a nice pot of tea with the old lad, later today.  Ideally I would also be able to celebrate the day with my own lovely step-daughter, Sarah (see here) but as she is currently in Cheshire busy studying, learning to drive, working part time and, well, being seventeen pretty much full time, that opportunity is unlikely to present itself.

All of which has nothing whatsoever to do with the subject of today’s post.

Seats & Chairs

Hello dear readers!

Well what a week that was!

It may be a long time in politics, and certainly that particular topic was at the forefront of a lot of peoples minds this week. Especially for those of us in the UK. On a more personal front it’s also been eventful due to a few difficulties of the mobility kind.

But first lets go delve a little deeper into the murky world of Westminster.

Blog suspended

Hello dear readers

I am without words.

I had a long post about the upcoming election planned out. Last night's events in London have robbed me of any motivation to post on such things. Therefore, as a mark of respect for those killed and injured in the atrocity. I am suspending the blog for this week, excepting this small note

Take care of each other.

Until next time...

Manchester

Hello dear readers.

Today, you join a saddened and somewhat conflicted blogger

You may find that the following post is somewhat lacking in this blog’s usual light hearted irreverence as the Seated Perspective spotlight turns recent tragedy and touches on both politics and religion in doing so.

I am, of course talking about Monday’s suicide bombing in Manchester.

A Whole New World

Hello dear readers!

Every now and then, there comes a time to act.

A time to not just allow life to happen to you but to grab it by the unmentionables. To take charge, get off one’s derrière and do something about the things in life that need a little attention.

This week was that time.

Like The Corners Of My Mind

Hello dear readers.!

You know, the child in me is never too far from the surface.

There is a very definite streak of silliness to me. A gleeful desire to indulge in folly. I am very rarely entirely serious. It means that when I visit with my nieces and nephews I can tend to relate with them perhaps just a touch too much.

Yesterday was perhaps a case in point.

A Nice Place To Visit

Hello Dear Readers!

These are indeed interesting times.

There are elections in France, upcoming elections in the UK, the continuing tensions with Russia, China and the US over Syria and all the while a seemingly unstoppable lurch to the right in countries throughout the world.

And then there’s the seemingly small matter of ‘Trumpcare’.

Blockbuster

Hello dear readers.

You join me today, revelling in the midst of a three day weekend.

Yes, for one glorious extra day I am free as a bird, the spectre of work banished from my mind, thoughts instead turning to long lazy afternoons, unhurried mornings, and perhaps the odd activity of a more recreational bent to fill this wonderfully unencumbered slice of time.

It is an opportunity that has not been wasted.

Old Friends & News

Hello dear readers!

Yes, it’s another Saturday evening post.

With my current work commitments and a four week rolling rota to adhere to it is becoming just a little difficult to maintain consistency in posting my weekly offering to you, my dear readers. It has meant some posts popping up on a Saturday, some on a Sunday, and one even showing up on a Monday. The funny thing is that, even though this particular post is a day early, it is, at the same time, a week late.

The reason for this shocking lack of alacrity is the need to keep a certain piece of news under wraps. Allow me to explain.

One Step Beyond

Hello dear readers!

And a happy Easter to one and all.

Yes it’s that time of year yet again. A time of eggs; bunnies; lambs gambolling in the meadows (I’m assured this has nothing to do with poker or roulette); official, government mandated time off of work; the new season of Doctor Who... oh, and apparently there’s some religious goings-on as well.

Yes, spring is certainly putting a spring in the step (figuratively speaking, that is) and, in these parts at least, this has been helped by a very welcome and much anticipated arrival. At long last, after months of trying, we have a daughter.

Iron Man

Hello dear readers!

I am a tired man.

No, this is not due to to some over exertion on my part, nor is it anything to do with an overly busy social life, unless you count being dragged to watch the sickly sweet Beauty And The Beast (terrible story, don’t get me started) and a cheeky meal at a well known purveyor of chicken as particularly wearing.

No, this is a special kind of tired.

Collared

Hello dear readers!

And welcome to an ever so slightly belated blog post.

There are many reason for my tardiness, not least among which being a noble if somewhat domed attempt at tidying and cleaning the house. Then of course there was the picking up of the wife from work, the personal hell that is supermarket shopping, and taking the dog out for a Sunday afternoon constitutional.

And my, how dog walking has changed

Words Worth

Hello dear readers!

Monday is the new Sunday! Woohoo!

Sadly this is not a move to a four day working week, but merely a one week postponement of blog writing day. This unplanned time shift is owed to a perfect storm of clocks going forward, Mother’s Day, Birthdays and a sudden outbreak of church.

It is upon this last item I want to dwell.

Aunty Social

Hello dear readers!

Today’s offering comes to you courtesy of Aunty Beeb and dear old social media.

I realise as I type that sentence that most of you, my dear readers, will have stumbled upon these poor scribblings using just such a channel, especially given my proclivity for, um, oversharing, perhaps just a tad.

But don’t blame Twitter or Facebook for ending up here, it’s really not their fault and hopefully you’ll appreciate what at least one of these giants of online life have added to what follows.

The Case For Technology

Hello, dear readers!

Well, we’re back in the old routine.

Yes, after a week which included a Sunday shift at work, I find myself once more able to indulge myself with a fried egg sandwich, a cup of really quite excellent coffee and my trusty laptop. Ready, willing and very nearly able, to pen my weekly missive to you, my dear readers.

So, you probably weren't about to ask, what has the week held?

Well in many ways it has been a momentous week. Not only has it seen the 20^th anniversary of the very first episode of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, (Find it. Watch it. Love it.) but it has seen the birthdays of such luminaries as Yuri Gagarin, Amerigo Vespucci, and Michelangelo (the renaissance polymath, not the ninja turtle). It also saw a court case that has the potential to change legal history.

The Deepest Cuts

Hello, dear readers!

This week’s offering comes to you courtesy of a bit of a time-warp.

No I’m not talking about the dance. There will be no jump to the left nor even the slightest suggestion of steps to the right. Both of those moves tend to be just a little bit tricky for this blogger in any case. No, I’m referring to the fact that I’m actually writing to you from the depths of Saturday afternoon rather than my customary write/edit/post/pass out Sunday lunchtime routine.

It means this week’s subject matter is just that little bit fresher to the memory. In fact I owe a hefty chunk of this post to a TV show that I watched just last night

Access Some Areas

Hello dear readers!

Starting the job I probably should stop referring to as ‘new’ has led to some sizeable changes to life at Seated Perspective Towers.

It has meant an end to even the most modest of lie-ins; a need to rise early, deal with the animals, grab a bite of brekkie and enough coffee to function as something resembling a human being, and then gird my loins (look it up, it’s fascinating), for the horrors of the morning commute.

It’s also meant a reintroduction to breakfast TV.

Worth The Wait

Hello dear readers!

Sunday mornings are one of my favourite times of the week. A time of calm, a time of modest indulgences (second cup of coffee, you say? Oh, go on then), a time when the stresses and strains of life are put firmly to the back of my tiny little mind.

It won’t last.

Friday saw the end of the training course at my new workplace and, from tomorrow morning I’ll be expected to actually do something resembling the actual job. This means that, as the day progresses, the nerves are bound to kick in. It also means that Friday night saw your friendly neighbourhood seated person attend a night out to celebrate this transition as well as the birthday of one of the training group. It did not get off to a particularly good start.

Knowing Me, Knowing You.

Hello dear readers!

You know inspiration is a funny old thing.

I’ve been writing this blog now for about 20 months and, after a somewhat stuttering start, have missed only a small handful of weekly offerings.

It can be difficult, coming up with something for you, my gentle readers, to endure come Sunday evening. It’s especially tricky in the weeks that are very much like the preceding week. The weeks when it’s all quiet on the western front and not exactly a hive of activity on the eastern, northern or southern fronts either.

Luckily, a single incident was just about enough to get the attention of my errant muse.

Hold Your Water!

Hello dear readers!

This week’s offering has been ever so slightly problematic. It’s taken more than the usual amount of thought and effort to come up with something for your perusal (yes, as hard as it may be to believe, some thought and effort do go into this)... And it’s for a slightly strange reason.

Thing’s are actually going quite well.

Yes, life is pretty good at Seated Perspective Towers at the moment. A situation that is good for the blood pressure but not so good for blogging subject matter.

Luckily there is one tiny little fly in the ointment...

Wheels Within Wheels

Hello dear readers!

Less than a week into my new job and I’ve already started taking time off.

No, I’m not playing hooky. I’m not swinging the lead, or any other associated metals. In fact Friday’s day off was pre-booked even before I’d signed in on Monday morn.

And of course there was a very specific reason for doing so.

On The Buses

Hello dear readers!

You join me this week, in a state of mildly excited anticipation, a state that will probably only build as the day wears on.

I start my new job tomorrow!

Yes, finally, after what seems like millennia spent waiting for the bewildering amount of checks to finally be completed (see here) the day has arrived. This time tomorrow I will be an honest(ish), hard(ish),working, contributing member of society once more.

Of course there’s still plenty to be done before tomorrow... and I have the small matter of public transport nagging at the back of my mind.

All Good Things

Hello dear readers!

You find me today dawdling in the Doldrums.

The frantic days of the festive period are firmly behind us. The tree is down, the tinsel is away and the last present has finally been handed out. In place of this dizzying kaleidoscope of activity, a holding pattern has emerged in the Seated Perspective household, a period of waiting, of expectation. A period of potential frustrations. It is a time requiring patience.

Unfortunately patience is not a commodity I’m overly equipped with.

Dog Days

Hello dear readers!

Winter is coming!

I’m not talking of White Walkers and snow zombies here, there’s no Starks or Lannisters hiding between the lines of his missive (although we are consuming Game Of Thrones at n astonishing rate of knots at Seated Perspective Towers.)

No I’m talking about the good old British weather and the fact that the coming months could hold some interesting challenges. Chief amongst which is the thorny issue of the dog.

A New Broom

Hello dear readers!

And a happy new year to one and all.

Yup, Xmas is done and dusted and, as I write, the car crash that has been 2016 is drawing to a stuttering and much anticipated end.

So, to quote a certain Ms Summers, 'where do we go from here?'