Cycling dangers

Cars.

These are an obvious danger, but, strangely, not the worst. Cars pull out in front of, as well as the side of cyclists. Often not seeing the cyclist, even though they might be wearing bright clothing and have enough lights to blind every driver on the road and create a light halo as though some spaceship is shining on them trying to pull them into it. The lights on most vehicles

these days are very bright and almost make it impossible for other drivers to see properly, so imagine what effect this could have on a cyclist, blinded by the lights (sounds like a title for a song). If this doesn’t work then a motorist will attempt to attack other drivers. Motorists will pass cyclists at the most inappropriate and dangerous time. They think they have enough time to pass, but rarely have, causing distress to drivers on the other side of the road. But, by far the most common, and possibly most dangerous and easily avoidable is .. opening a car door when a cyclist is passing!

This happens on far too many occasions.

Roads.

In this country the roads are awful, especially the country lanes. Potholes everywhere.

Even if a cyclist sees one they may not be able to swerve round it because a car will be too close, not giving enough space, and flashing lights and blaring horns if a cyclist dares to move out to avoid the hole. Grit on roads is an obvious hazard, making them slippery and difficult to negotiate, add to this wet weather from rain or melted snow and ice and they become even more treacherous. As with trains, leaves are also a danger, but not the only natural hazard. In Autumn farmers cut their hedges.

The small cuttings are a problem as they cause punctures.

People. ..

Or pedestrians. There are many pedestrians who think the road and pavement is theirs and they can walk or step wherever they want, whenever they want. This is a danger not only to themselves but to cyclists. Cyclists have to be aware of what is likely to happen when there is a person nearby. They can step out into the road unexpectedly, not having seen the cyclist, looking only for cars, lorries or motorcyclists. When they approach a Zebra crossing, again, they don’t look properly and step out. Some think that a Zebra crossing is there for them and they don’t have to check the road, assuming that whatever is on the road will stop immediately. Some pedestrians

throw litter into the road, this can be anything from a sweet wrapper to cigarette ends. Getting one of these in your face is no laughing matter.

Other cyclists.

These can be your worst enemy! Talking, not looking where they’re going.

Swerving suddenly to avoid obstructions. Getting too close in a group. Riding too fast. Racing each other. The list is endless, but I’d better not say any more. Cyclists are already thought of as road rebels, and this is supposed to highlight the dangers from other factors. really, cyclists need to have the most road awareness of all road users.

Be safe out there.

Happy cycling!

Sons.

I thought I was struggling with my two sons. Both of them in their late teens, entering early adulthood. Seem to know everything and not want to do anything. Unless it’s for them. And, of course, now they are that age they are old enough to do things for themselves and don’t need parental permission. But often need parental money. Then, talking to a work colleague who has two boys of a similar age I realised it was a universal problem, everything I described, she was also going through or had done. As we were talking a customer overheard and joined in the conversation, experiencing exactly the same things we had been discussing.

Before I start I would like to say that I think my two sons are amazing people and growing into even more amazing young men. They are both talented in different ways, full of energy and able to think for themselves. They are also liked and respected by everyone they meet or are involved with in the many activities they take part in.

That said….

….when they come into the house, it is rare they actually stay downstairs and talk to myself or their mother. Instead going straight to their rooms and hibernating. Only appearing when they want food. In fact one of them orders his food by text! When food is ready they will wait as long as possible before coming to get it, hoping one of us will take it up to them. Bringing used plates down never happens.

They do get washed, showered. After almost every movement they take a shower. Go to the shop and back, take a shower. Play sport, take a shower. Return from visiting a friend, take a shower. Each time using a different towel and leaving it to dry itself on the bathroom floor. Unless the cleaning fairies come along and tidy up. One of them leaving underpants in exactly the same place every morning, having to step over them to get out of the bathroom. This has improved slightly with the introduction of a washing basket on the landing.

They never seem to stop eating. Their diets are very different. One of them doesn’t mind what he has as long as it is with chips, doesn’t include vegetables and is not too spicy. The other eats anything. However he has now started to complain about the way it is cooked, this has never been a problem previously. More interestingly he wants to cook himself. Which sounds great, but refuses to wash up, and there is never the right food in the house.

I was once a young adult, with a younger brother. I’m pretty sure I was never this bad. Then when they do something it brings back a memory of what I did or said, or didn’t do. Unfortunately my parents are no longer here, but I feel sure that if they were and I asked them or told them about things, they would put me straight.

Drivers.

More and more drivers are appearing on our roads. All of them should have have passed a two part driving test, at least. That won’t apply to older drivers who only had to drive then answer a few questions. This should mean that today’s drivers are better, safer and more understanding. That is not the case.

I find that many drivers these days have a problem identifying colours. Something they were taught in pre-school. Maybe it is only difficulty with red, amber and green. A lot of drivers only being able to see green. Unless of course someone does something they don’t like then they see red. I either slow down to stop at the lights, or already stationary traffic, the lights being on red, and cars will pass me ignoring the colours, not only taking their own lives in their hands but those of the drivers and passengers coming the other direction correctly.

Equally annoying are those drivers who bought cars that don’t have indicators. I’m not sure why cars are being manufactured without them, they are an essential part of driving a car safely. They let other drivers and pedestrians know when a vehicle is turning. It seems that a lot of drivers haven’t found where these are located in their car or they’re just not there. I often wait at a junction expecting the car to go straight on as it isn’t indicating, then it turns. Annoying and frustrating.

As well as not recognising or knowing colours, which they were taught in school, drivers don’t know their numbers. Maybe it is a school problem, as lots of things that have been taught haven’t been learnt. How numbers? Speed limits.

It is very rare to see a driver following a speed limit, whether this be local roads or dual carriageways and motorways, fixed speeds or temporary ones for works. I get that it can be frustrating driving at 40mph on a dual carriageway in roadworks, but , unfortunately it has to be done. I do wonder if anyone ever gets a speeding fine whether from a police camera, average speed camera or static cameras, as they never seem to deter drivers. Connected to this are those drivers who drive too close. They must not value their lives or vehicles. Too impatient to drive at the correct speed they think that getting close will actually make the other driver go quicker. When it happens to me I drive slower!

Out of courtesy, if someone lets me in a gap or out of a side road, I make the effort to say thank you, either by waving, flashing lights or some other appropriate method of acknowledgement. I will admit that at times I forget, if the traffic is busy or it’s dangerous to do so. But I’m in the minority, finding that if I let other drivers in or out most of the time they just drive off, that is the ones who actually wait. Some drivers think it’s their right to pull in or out wherever and whenever they want.

Despite all of the issue highlighted, there are a lot of good, courteous drivers on our roads. Unfortunately they are becoming harder to find. For everyone’s safety and sanity I hope there will be more.

Something to think about

                                                                        Music

The way we get our music has changed immensely over the years. When I was growing up in the 60's and 70's, listening to my parent's record (vinyl) collection, it mostly consisted of 12inch 78rpm records, with some 7inch 45 rpm. I bought 7inch 45's as well as 12inch albums at 33rpm. Then there were cassettes. These were easy to take around with you and play in the car or garden. My uncle had something called an 8 track stereo, which was a tape. I neve really understood these, he was the only person I knew who had one. These music methods seemed to work well, apart from getting the vinyl scratched, making it stick or jump and the tape would come out of the cassettes, requiring a handy tool (pencil) to wind it back in.
Along came CDs. Hard plastic that, apparently, would never break or scratch and you needed a special CD player on which to play them. Most music produced would be released on a CD. They did look like a small piece of vinyl, As opposed to the 12inch vinyls, CDs only were played on one side. You could listen to a full album without having to get up and turn it over. However they did get scratched and damaged. And the machines to play them on  did stop playing them properly, meaning  a new player had to be bought. Mini CD players became available meaning they could be carried out and about, and players were installed in cars. Smaller than vinyl albums, they didn't take up as much space, but the cases they came in where a lot wider so you didn't really gain that much space.
Then came apple and their ipod range. Different sizes for different occasions and with different sizes. I have one of the big ipods, it has over 160000 sings on. At the time all of my record, cassette and CD collection. Being able to convert vinyl to an ipod wasn't an easy process, and it was time consuming. I also have a smaller Nano which has almost 500 songs on. When my ipod was full I had to get an mP3 player as the ipods I liked were no longer available. Whenever I get any new music, Vinyl, cassette or CD, I immediately put it onto my mP3 player. The biggest advantage of these for me is that I can take my whole music collection with me wherever i go. 
Now it seems as though streaming is the way. Vinyl is making a come back and CDs are still around. Most Streaming sites charge a fee, usually monthly, for unlimited downloads. However, any downloads only last while you are part of the streaming service, once you leave so does the music. It's a new way, and one that I use but aren't fully aware of. My teenage sons are, and use them for all of their music. As yet  I'm not totally convinced, but that may be because I'm old, or so I'm told!!
Along with all these methods of listening to music, there has always been radio. Which was the best way to listen to and find new music.
                                                                             Car wash

Washing cars in winter. Is it necessary? Why do it? Isn't it just a waste of time and water? 
Cars get really filthy in the winter months. The wet roads, salt and grit everywhere. Spray thrown up by other vehicles. Not to mention the awful weather - wind, rain, snow, ice, frost.
This week I've seen a lot of my neighbours cleaning their cars. What's the point? In no time at all they will be just as filthy and in need of another clean.
However, cleaning the car is better than having to wash my hands every time I get in it or put something in the boot. The handles and locks are so mucky that the merest touch gets body parts and clothing very dirty. No matter how careful I try to be it is impossible to avoid the dirt. 
When driving you can spot those owners who take the easy, quick way and only wipe parts  of the car - number plates, boot lid and front and rear windows, but not all of the window. Sometimes a quick squirt of the windscreen washers will suffice but there does come a time when the edges are too dirty to see out of clearly.
It may be an onerous task, cleaning the car, especially in the cold of the winter, but I would rather clean it myself than take it somewhere. I have always felt that for any able bodied person, cleaning the car is something that they should do themselves.

This week.

                                                               January.
Lots of my friends tell me that January is the month of the year they least like. It always seems to them to be cold and dark with little to look forward to other than going back to work, especially after having had a Christmas and New Year holiday, full of fun and laughter and family time.
Me. I think the opposite. I quite like January and think it is unfairly thought of. To me it is the time when days begin to stay lighter for longer, so not being as dark as November or December. It also seems as though the year is now turning back towards the summer, the winter always seems as though we are going away from Summer, January turns the corner and brings us back. It is also the time of new hope and, in lots of instances, especially with resolutions, a time to start afresh. We have recharged our batteries over the festive period and are ready, once again to face the world.

                             Holiday.
Christmas holidays are great for family time, if you have a family to spend time with. We only have the four of us close by. Parents are no longer with us and my only sibling, a brother lives away. My wife is an only child. There are cousins but we haven't been in contact with them for a very long time.
Now our two sons are teenagers the time they want to spend with us is getting shorter and becoming more precious. Christmas this year was good. We spent time together, with very little of the usual arguments and disagreements. Games were played with a  lot of fun and laughter instead of the screaming and shouting when not winning, or when Dad wins again. That is the boys not me and my wife. Christmas dinner was also a bit more successful. Food was eaten, not a lot of waste and the turkey actually tasted of turkey and wasn't as dry as it normally is.
                                                                   Work
This is an important year for me as I'm intending to leave teaching after 38 years. This will happen after the Primary SATs in May. It may seem strange to finish then and not at the end of the academic year. I decided to do this in order to take advantage of the cheaper holidays in term time, something I haven't been able to do. My two sons will be on their summer breaks, the oldest from his university course and the younger will have finished his BTEC course work and exams. This was the plan until one of them announced he is planning on going on holiday in June with his friends. Never mind there is always September.

Teenagers!

Half term finished. One teenage son back to college for the summer term, the other at home for the summer having finished his first year at university.

What do you do with teenage sons? They don’t want to do anything or go anywhere with their parents, which is fine, I get that, I was the same. But, they don’t seem to want to do anything at all other than stay in and play on a games console, in their case an Xbox. Th e youngest, 16 (almost 17) is the worst, only comes out of his room to shower, which can be 2 or 3 times a day. At least the older one (19) will go to the gym or out on his bike. He has been meeting friends.

This another of those ‘How things have changed’ times. When we were their age we were out on bikes, kicking a ball about in the fields or just sitting out side talking and messing about (safely and without bothering the elderly neighbours). I was working and playing football 2 or 3 times a weekend. Training in mid-week and had a girlfriend. Me and my friends were out in the town at the weekends, in particular Friday nights, Saturday recovering in time to play for the local pub team on Saturday afternoon. Nights out finished around 11pm, occasionally 1am if we decided to go to the nightclub. Nowadays they don’t go out until 11pm, staying out until 3 or 4 in the morning. It’s no wonder they want to sleep or stay in their room all the next day.

Here’s looking forward to the next college holidays. At least they have agreed to come on holiday with us.

End of the first year.

End of the first year might seem a strange title, especially as we are in the middle of the year.

It is the end of he first year that my eldest son has been at Uni and the youngest son is almost at the end of his first year at sixth form college.

This time last year me and my wife, were in the middle of A levels and GCSE exams, wondering, and worrying, if they would go the way we wanted for our sons. A stressful time, making sure they were relaxed and calm before the exam and picking up the pieces when they came in feeling as though they hadn’t done the best they could.

Forms were completed and sent to the universities and colleges of their choice along with the courses they wanted to follow. Now it was the waiting, waiting and not being able to do anything, everything out of our control. Looking back, we were probably more worried and concerned than they were.

It all worked out in the end. Our eldest son got the UCAS points he needed, the exact amount! The youngest son passed all of his GCSE exams and so was able to go to the sixth form college of his choice, which is just round the corner, as well as the subjects of his choice. His first year is almost completed. From reports he has done well, but as you can expect with a 17year old who loves his sport more than anything else, he has got through but not fulfilling the massive potential he has, doing enough work to ensure he gets a decent grade rather than the best grade he is capable of getting.

But then next phase started.

The eldest was off to a Uni 50 miles away, So began the worry about whether he would be able to settle, would fit in, would he be safe, would he be homesick, would he make friends, would he find the course work too hard, would he be able to feed himself. Never mind about the washing, keeping clean and getting up in time to get to lectures.

The remainder of the summer was spent making sure he had all the things he needed to take with him: bedding, towels, clothes, plates, cutlery, pots and pans. Excitement for him, uncertainty for us. We tried to hide our fears and be as excited as he was. Difficult at times. Packing the car to take him down was hard, unpacking it at the other end and driving away even harder. Both of us holding our tears back. He’s not one to show or talk about his feelings, so it was hard to gauge what he was thinking or feeling.

And now he has completed his first year. and back home for the summer Due to the nature of the course, dates, work and holidays he has spent quite a lot of time back home. Even so he has surprised us. He has settled better than we expected. Made a whole load of friends. Been successful in all of first year tasks, activities and assignments. Appears to be well liked by other people on his course and by the lecturers. He has learnt a lot but more importantly , has grown into an amazing young man.

So, we will spend the summer with both of them together. Making more memories and hoping the second year will be as successful as this first one has been.

Migraines and Magnesium.

Migraines have been a big part of my life for over 45 years. Nearly always unpredictable, striking without warning. The first sign usually a visual disturbance, flashing lights or blurred vision. Difficult on sunny days or where there are lights, because reflected light hitting the eyes, makes it appear as though an attack is starting, creating another heart stopping moment – not another Migraine!

Recently, April 2022, I found some kind of pattern and relief. From January up to April I had 7 attacks, mostly after exercise. Not immediately, but within a few days. I have always exercised, cycling, swimming, running. So I looked back in order to find something. I noticed that in the past, after exercise, I had usually had a post training drink or fruit, during these recent attacks I hadn’t bothered. But even with this intake my migraines had still occurred, though not as often.

Then quite by chance, I found an article about Magnesium, a lack of which could cause many problems, one of which could be increased, or more severe, migraines. After reading this I checked for foods and supplements that included Magnesium. I found there was a connection between the foods and supplements I hadn’t been taking over the previous months and a lack of Magnesium in my body. As a result I changed my diet to include more Magnesium rich foods and made sure I took something containing Magnesium, either before or after exercise. I also started to take Magnesium tablets ( the ones I am taking also have vitamin B6) daily.

Other influencing factors in my life, such as work and family have also increased in stress and anxiety, which in the past have had an effect on my migraines. However since becoming more aware of Magnesium this doesn’t seem to be affecting me as much. I have been busier at work, causing more stress. Home life has also been busier, teenage boys to get to events, either ones they are participating in through sport, or just through their social life. This in turn affects anxiety levels, as to where they are and who they are with.

I must be aware not to make it sound as though taking more Magnesium is a cure for me. There could be other things going on that I’m unaware of, especially the psychological aspect, ‘it’s supposed to work, so I’ll think its working’. The big test would be if I stopped taking the supplements or cut down my daily intake, but, why would I do that? It seems to be working, my life is improving, migraines have been fewer and not as severe. I’m not going to stop doing what appears to be working in order to test whether it is or not.

Where does Magnesium appear in foods. The Recommended Dietary Amount (RDA) for an adult is; Men19-51+ 400-420 and women 19-51+ 310-320. The tablet supplement I have been taking is 375mg. As this is slightly lower I make sure there is some Magnesium in the food I eat, especially if the day has been busy or stressful, or if I have exercised for a long period.

Foods with Magnesium include: Avocados, Nuts, Seeds, Fatty fish, Bananas, Leafy greens.

Money spiral

Prices rise for many reasons, one of them being costs. Including. cost of production, transportation, of materials, of energy in production, and of the worker’s wages.

If any of these costs rise what happens? The producer/provider increases the price of the goods to cover this increase. This is then passed down the line until it reaches the shops where the consumer pays the final price. The consumer stage is the only stage where nothing is added to the price, the consumers are the only ones who lose money as they still have to buy the goods and services they need but with the same amount of money.

The money consumers have, in this model, will increase if they increase their costs through higher wages. They will then have more money to spend, but, in real terms they won’t because the prices in the shops have increased, creating a new equilibrium.

But also, an increase in wages is an increase in costs so … manufactures, producers, providers, retailers, transporters etc will increase their prices to cover this increase in wages. This will then lead to higher prices in the shops.

A price rising spiral !

How can this be stopped?

It would seem that it can only be stopped if costs are not passed on at one or all of the stages. But who would want to lose money? No-one. Ultimately someone has to take a common sense approach and either not raise their prices or, if they do, then by not as much. It should be the responsibility of everyone and everyone should bear the burden, not just the workers.

Fairness

And so it continues. Sense and decency prevail, the 45% tax rate is re-introduced, but this only gives small returns compared to some of the other tax cuts. But it’s more than just money.

How can anyone justify giving those who have a lot, more than those who have little. And now there’s disagreement about those who have even less, relying on benefits to live, getting enough. Will their money be, in real terms, cut, depending on which rate is used to calculate what they get.

This discussion will, inevitably, bring in comments about benefit cheats. Remember not everyone is a cheat. I suspect there are just as many, if not more, ‘cheats’ getting more money. These include tax cheats and dodgers, those who move their money from country or account to another, in order to avoid various payments, businesses finding loopholes in all of the systems. And then there are the expenses cheats. But the public tend to hear less about these and more about the benefit cheats.

Cheats there may be, as there are in everything involving money, but there are a lot more instances of people and families needing some kind of assistance to help survive from day to day. Obviously there are those suffering from one of the many disabilities which stop them from working or earning an income. There are also people who are trying, and have tried many times, to find work. At present the figures show the number of vacancies is rising, but are these vacancies appropriate? Are they within travelling distance ( a bike ride!)? Will families have to face the upheaval of moving, leaving family, friends and support networks behind? Is the wage fair?

Governments should be looking at how to get people into appropriate jobs where they feel they are worth something, with a wage that they and their families can live on without having to visit food banks, and are close enough so families can stay together in places they know.

Governments, of any political persuasion, theory or doctrine, should not be playing games with people’s lives.