Lucky in life or How to win a lottery.

Less than three weeks after the Munich air disaster of 6 February 1958 robbed the world of some of the most talented footballers on the planet, a little known Manchester woman, or more accurately Salford woman named Edith Marie Vincent, nee Hayes gave birth to a son in a sleepy Cornish village, ironically named St Germans. 

Now, attempting to link these two events is i'll admit, tenuous and desperate in the extreme but as the aforementioned 'son' who has achieved little in life to trouble any columns of achievement above average and who is best known for a dance move that went horribly wrong, I hope the reader will allow a little poetic licence even if it is accepted that despite being an enthusiastic and committed amateur footballer, a Duncan Edwards I was not! 

As a scrap of a child I did not flourish during my early years suffering in the main from childhood Asthma, a condition not helped by the house occupied also suffering a major malady, namely having no heating system other than a dilapidated rayburn, which when lit in winter would at least partially thaw the kitchen and heat a hot water boiler in the airing cupboard but leave the rest of the house colder than an Eskimos nose drip!

That having been said there follows not a seemingly tireless rant around the 'times were hard' theme. This would serve no useful purpose as every generation feels aggrieved at how easy things seem for their children compared to their own experience. Personally though I consider myself lucky that I did not spend my youth glued to a mobile phone checking my social media for 'likes' of my latest selfie!

For me the only lucky thing about growing up now for most kids is central heating!

So how do we know if we are lucky in life?

Well some might say if you are born into a loving family environment it matters not what else you perceive to be necessary to consider yourself lucky, you have already hit the jackpot.

But that is not the way we are conditioned to think is it?

Why else do we lament not winning a life changing sum of money on the lottery when we play it? considering ourselves to be just not a lucky person as it 'never happens to me' 

So perception of luck is the driving force in how we see what happens to ourselves compared to others who we view as gleefully popping champagne corks and receiving mega sized cheques from Z list TV presenters.

Personally, I have never thought too much about receiving good-luck in my life having always considered it a commodity largely enjoyed by the ultra attractive and insanely rich. As I seem to have avoided enjoying either of those qualities I have paid scant attention to any discussion on the matter always asserting that our lot in life is mostly preordained by;

Where we are born; 

The social standing and nurturing skills of our parents;

How clever we are plus our own drive and determination to achieve.

That having been said good-luck, or conversely the lack of it is one of those ethereal things which routinely plays a role in the everyday lives of all living things. Of course we don't recognize its influence in most of our daily dealings but when things either align or fall nicely into place in a good way, (good luck) or everything seems to go totally against all our hopes and aspirations (bad luck) it takes on an importance that is immeasurable.

Luck in one of its forms can be life inspiring, life changing or in a worst case scenario life ending.

So what about chance? Are luck and chance the same thing?

Well no, it seems to me that chance is the odds of something happening and luck is the event actually happening or not. To put it another way the chance of winning a lottery are pretty remote but as already discussed that doesn't stop folks up all over the world taking a punt in the hope they get 'lucky' and have a life changing sum of money winging its way into their bank account!

So consider this dear reader,

 

You probably stumbled across and read this post by chance, but amazingly it was written by a lovely, stunningly handsome bloke and was very informative!.....................

You lucky thing! 😁

When I happened by the pond.

 Twas twilight when I happened by the pond.

The sun had lost its sheen and the dusk was coming on,

so the bank I sat upon, with my feet suspended close
to still water.

A reflected face stared back at me with the same confusion, casting doubt on reality,

And so I looked away.

Please mister boatman won't you teach me?

to skim cross the surface like a pebble thrown, that I, like it may seek the other bank and all that is beyond.

Please mister Crane fly won't you tell me?

how it is you can duck so low and yet jump so high, for I might high-fly tonight and evermore soar out of sight.

A gentle breeze now caresses my eyes. A playful tease calls from a darkening sky. 

But as I lift my eyes so the day finally dies and the look of this creature says it all, for this is not a hunter after nightfall.

Please mister Kingfisher won't you show me? how to see through this mirror so that I may live, I've got so much to give, much more to learn.

Please mister Bullrush won't you whisper?

how it is you can stand so straight, not yours some others fate in a storm, protected by life's uniform, live you on always!

Twas night when I sat by the pond, Dark had broke lights loving bond,

And so I walked away.

The carrot or the stick? Why we all need some incentive

Incentive is a word not often used when people consider their daily lives and interactions with others but it is safe to say that without incentive the very fabric of our society would break down overnight.

How so? I hear you say, well let us consider the basics of incentive. Imagine I wanted to receive lots of comments on this post, if I were to offer £50 for every comment received I think I would probably receive a fair number and that would be the effect of providing an incentive. Similarly I could announce that failure to comment on this post would result in having your legs broken, that of course is a sanction but it could provide an equally effective incentive to comply with my requests if you believed that;

 a) I was serious in my intention and;
 b) I was capable of carrying out the threat.

So incentives can be in the form of rewards or the threat of sanctions.

Employers have known for a long time that if they want to attract the top people into their organisation, get the very best out of them and just as importantly keep them happy and committed then they have to offer decent rewards and incentives. Retailers too realise that its important to offer incentives in order to attract shoppers through their doors. That's why we are bombarded by things such as buy one get one free and other seemingly fantastic offers such as; Buy the moon, nothing to pay in the first year, then 48 easy payments of a trillion pounds and of course the obligatory 99pence!

 If your incentive is to lose weight then we are helpfully encouraged to eat organic weeds, barley water soup and something that looks straight out of a cats litter tray for breakfast. It doesn't stop there, we are also given an incentive to stay on the right side of the law, with monetary fines and the potential loss of your driving license for any misdemeanors. Even avoidance of having a parking ticket slapped on your windscreen is an incentive to pay the correct fee and park within the bay properly. So it seems wherever we look we see incentives and sanctions being used to encourage us to work harder, buy particular products and even to make us comply with the rules that society dictates. 

On a global scale incentives are routinely used to ensure compliance with international law. They play a huge part in inter-governmental diplomacy and relationships, where so called 'rogue states' are offered lots of financial and technological aid if they give up the policies that worry western governments and have economic and other sanctions imposed if they don't.
So do you always need incentives to achieve what you want or need? Well I think you probably do, most people need a carrot to perform at their best or comply to the rules of society all of the time, albeit the benefit they receive may not be in monetary or goods terms, keeping your liberty and freedoms is a powerful incentive to live within the law. And then there are the likes of Parents,volunteers and carers whose likely incentive is more spiritual, or an emotional attachment and a desire to help loved ones achieve a semblance of well-being. So bearing all this in mind perhaps you'd like to comment on this post........for free of course, ..your incentive? well just remember that legs are important! 😉

Mayday Mayday, Man Down (Chapter 2)

The sound from the alarm clock only ceased when a hairy outstretched arm banged down hard on its snooze button to end its insistent pecking for another day.

Reece turned onto his side to view the dial though he knew he had set the alarm for 5.30am. Some habits were hard to break. He turned it off via the slide switch to ensure it did not reprise its role in 5 minutes time and turned onto his back staring at the ceiling.

These moments were always the same it seemed, wondering what jobs the days work would bring. Ponder by name, Ponder by nature it seemed for Reece Ponder was a paramedic, and he liked to think, a very good one and he reveled in the daily lottery of calls which would invariably see him thrust into the middle of some peoples darkest hours but also have the satisfaction of knowing that on most occasions he played a small part in the process of their recovery, however long that would take.

Reece was not to know that today would not be most occasions.

He threw the duvet off his body and lurched out onto his feet, before gingerly loping across the landing to the bathroom. In the shower Reece thought about his upcoming shift and chuckled as he realized the date. May 1st. That always got the crews laughing. Mayday Mayday, man down!

He finished in the shower and got dressed into his work gear before gulping down two weetabix and slurping down a cup of strong tea. It was always a last minute rush to get in the car and drive the 5 miles to the ambulance station but Reece didn't feel minded to change his routine to allow a more sedate start to his day. Rushing was part of his day and he liked it that way.

He drove through the gates of the ambulance station and parked around the back of the building in the space allotted for staff parking. Lostwherewithall was a smallish town in size but was just big enough to prevent everyone knowing each other or some other member of their family, so prevented lots of gossip when fate or just bad luck intervened in someones day. Grabbing his shoulder bag he locked his car and turned to walk into the building noticing at once Sharon Marshall or 'Shaz' as she was known by the team also walking in.

Sharon was his work partner today and she was always brilliant to work alongside. Not only was she a damn good ambulance technician she was also an unrivaled ambulance driver. When the blues and twos were in operation she went into a kind of intense concentration that Reece had never seen before. 

Many a time while travelling at speed she had anticipated the ill judged manoeuvres of other drivers or pedestrians and avoided calamities untold with just the slightest mutter to herself and her eyes never straying from the road ahead. This helped to keep Reece calm and able to gather his thoughts about the upcoming job.

Their shift started slowly, it seemed the town was having a good health and accident free day, which was great unless you were tired of checking the equipment and expiry dates of consumables in an ambulance! Reece had to admit he was a bit bored. He wasn't happy having a 'relaxing' day no matter if the company was amiable. Time was dragging and Reece was beginning to wish he was on a leave day.

The call when it came was something of a shock. Reports of a man collapsed at the Littlehope health centre. Details were sketchy, which was not unusual but it seemed the patient had attended a booked appointment and had suffered a medical event while there. Sharon soon had her foot hard on the accelerator pedal. The center was less than 10 minutes from the ambulance station and they were soon drawing up outside. Reece jumped down and grabbing his medical bag moved quickly in through the doors where he was immediately shown into one of the consultation rooms by the receptionist.

Doctor Anzus who had been reviewing the patient filled them in on the actions taken since the patient had collapsed. Reece checked for vital signs as Sharon wound a blood pressure cuff around his arm. The receptionist Nicola had informed them that the patient was named Jeremy Cann, a local man in his late fifties who had made a private appointment complaining of general malaise.

"Is the cuff fully inflated?" he asked Sharon,

" Yes, it's as tight as a noose" she replied.

"His blood pressure has dropped and I think he is slipping into cardiac arrest"

They worked quickly to initiate CPR. Dr Anzus assisted Reece with this as Sharon left to update control and request further assistance. 30 chest compression's, 2 breaths, rinse and repeat endlessly it seemed until they would stop to check output. Shocks were administered, more in hope than expectation but nothing stirred on the screen.

How long? asked reece,

15 minutes and counting.

Back on the chest and cycle after cycle of CPR continued for 10 more minutes until doctor and paramedic were agreed that continuing was futile, Mr Jeremy Cann was sadly deceased.

Dr Anzus dabbed at his sweating brow with a handkerchief and Reece took a couple of deep breaths to gather himself after all the physical exertion. Despite his better judgment of how he should be thinking at this time he couldn't help the thought from coming into his mind. 

Mayday Mayday Man Down!

Is Everybody Psychic?

Have you ever experienced something that you had dreamt or imagined experiencing previously? The French have a quaint saying for this, Déjà vu or ‘already seen’. Déjà vu experiences happen more frequently and to more people than you may think with some reports saying that as many as 70% of the population may have had some form of Déjà vu experience.

 Our reaction to these events can vary enormously with the majority reporting feeling just a little disconcerted by the event, others feel a mild sense of bewilderment and a few can become so affected they feel temporarily overwhelmed. These people often report becoming light headed and nauseous. Why these events happen is the focus of intense debate. Some psychiatrists feel that there is a brain anomaly which tricks us to believe that the present is in fact the past so has already happened, while many parapsychologists believe the events are related to past life experiences.

They argue that to have these experiences a person has to possess some form of Extra Sensory Perception (ESP) or sixth sense.

So does having a Déjà vu experience mean some form of psychic ability? If it did of course this would seem to suggest a large portion of the population have some psychic ability, albeit they may not realise it.

While accepting that I can offer little in the way of hard evidence and not wishing to ride rough shod over the reader’s beliefs I would have to contend that this may be a simplistic and unlikely scenario, however it is not a complete leap of faith to suspect that people who have had a Déjà vu experience could perhaps be able to process information, at times, from a deeper part of the consciousness and possess some ability to use the mind to see and feel more of what’s going on around them. It follows that these people may be more open and intuitive, which allow them to be more aware of their surroundings and bring to the fore a part of the sub-conscious area of their brain. 

Of course there are always people ready to offer up their ‘psychic’ ability to the needy and unwary for the appropriate fee. There’s no doubt that some people purchase an extremely useful and some would argue necessary benefit, that is they feel comfort and attain an inner peace from being told that grandad is pain free and still watches over them but is it someone with genuine psychic ability imparting this message or a skilled cold reader, able to pick up on any visual or verbal clues?
Hmm, Please comment and let me know what you think.

“So what of me?” I hear you say, can I claim any psychic abilities? Unfortunately there is a world of difference between seeing the future and making educated guesses as to where life is leading. I’ll give you an example;

If I were to state that I have had a Déjà vu experience and England will win the world cup in 2026, beating Argentina in the final 2-0 with Eze and Watkins scoring the goals and this were to happen, I would rightly claim guru status and a psychic ability so brilliant that you should all bow down in awe of nostrachirpus. On the other hand if I were to say that England scrape through the group stages before losing to Germany in a penalty shoot-out, this would be an entirely reasonable assumption to make on previous history and limited expectations so not difficult to imagine this scenario coming to pass even though it would seem that I had somehow seen into the future.

So there it is, I am psychic and I see another disappointing world cup or have I?? mmm, we'll have to wait until the summer of next year to find out!

Nostrachirpus hopes to rival the predictive feats of Psychic Paul the octopus in 2010.

Executive orders can mean harsh cutbacks!

Well it has to be said that as life has gone along I have become more and more proficient in taking onboard other peoples radical ideas and trying to use them in an attempt to improve my everyday comfort. Everybody does that don't they? I hear you mutter under your breath. Well no, It seems to me that the vast majority just trundle on doing things the same way they've always done them as they grow comfortable with the structure this provides and never wonder if there is a better way, or how things could improve and life change for the better if done differently.

With this in mind I spent a very long time considering my current situation, most of Tuesday lunchtime in fact weighing up all the pros and cons and running various plans and theories over in my mind. I knew that whatever I decided it would have to be bold, radical, with cutting edge thinking designed to put me a little closer to easy street where all the movers, shakers, and politicians live. And then while watching Donald Trump on the news it came to me!

So, I have decided to make an executive order and impose a tariff on any labour that I expend on household related chores, payable by my wife on a regular basis. This would consist of some little luxury for me depending on the chore and the length of time and energy required to do it. I was thinking along the lines of a couple of cans of beer for doing the vacuuming, some popcorn for doing the washing up, that kind of thing.

Now tariffs can divide opinion of course, needless to say my wife, when briefed on my plan was somewhat less than overjoyed and provided quite cool feedback.......Actually it would more accurately be described as frosty, ......no no, arctic would be more appropriate I think.

Her response to my plan consisted of exactly two words and the second word was Off! Yes she's a class act is my wife.

Now obviously I realised that first responses to such a bold and innovative idea were likely to be less than 100% well received and that some further negotiation may be needed but it is fair to say that the gulf in distance between us has never been larger, far bigger I fear than the gulf of Mexico! or is that America now? I'm having trouble keeping up with DJT. 

Anyway she has responded in the worst possible way and informed me that there will be some retaliatory measures including some tariffs of her own with a cutting of some food preparation and cleaning services and it seems the possible removal of some of my essential body parts, some of which having happily dangled in my Calvin Klein's for a considerable length of time!

It is fair to say that these are cutbacks that I was not expecting so in light of this fact I have decided to pause indefinitely my executive order and return to my usual routine until further notice!

So what have I learned from this? Well executive orders and tariffs are headline grabbing and easy to make, but often lead to unforseen consequences that involve retaliatory measures, including cutbacks, resulting in reduced quality (and in the most severe cases, quantity) of life and the male voice becoming much higher pitched and harder to understand!

So I'm off now to start the vacuuming! And no, I don't expect anything for it other than keeping the status quo and all my body appendages in their appropriate positions!  😁