It just can't be a fair world.

A harsh statement?. Well if we lived in a perfect world then yes, to say it cannot be a fair world is almost like speaking the unspoken. But just for a moment let's look at the reason for that statement and see where it takes us.
To earn money and to keep a democracy alive and well we need 2 essential ingredients, pay and taxes. We get paid and out of that we pay taxes and from that our elected democratic leaders distribute those taxes to pay for services that we all need to get by in a modern world.

In principle it seems simple and to be honest it really is that simple. However, problems can and do arise, simply because human nature has a habit of being 'river like' in that it likes to follow the path of least resistance. If you offer someone an easier path to take the majority will take it and that is where we are at the moment.
To be successful in any area of business takes hard work and commitment with endless unpaid hours that take you away from your family and friends and ruin your social life. This sacrifice is on it's own bad enough but when you see people sat around while you juggle all these balls in the air taking a very nice living out of your toil that is when democracy starts to be called into question by the very people that built it and also the leadership that controls the funds you are paying in to it.

Not one single businessman or woman i have ever spoken to has an issue with paying tax. Surprised?. Well, to be honest I wasn't. Any business person worth their salt realises you only get out what you put in, something in-grained in your psych after a while and something all of us need to understand if we are to succeed and there is where the problem of modern day democracy lies.
While we are so busy looking after those that are less fortunate than ourselves we ignore at our peril, the breadwinners, the engine room of freedom, the very power house that keeps all the wheels firmly on the track and pointed in the right direction.
What we have amongst business people in the UK at the moment is a series of issues all making the larger issue much more dramatic than it should be.  Little or no help from the banking community, extra legislation, late payment of bills, fuel costs, health and safety issues, insurance costs rising at alarming rates etc etc, all that thrown into the pot that is 'recession' and you have a recipe for a very muted slow moving business world. 
In order to keep the wheels of industry turning, small to medium businesses need nurturing and encouragement. They need investment and guidance while building an empire and more importantly than that once built that empire should be protected not destroyed by taxes that get diverted to those who would not work to achieve or seek to make life impossible with legislation that has no place in efficiency.
That is where the title to this peace comes in, we need to reward those that get off their backsides as it were and chastise those that refuse to help build the society we all wish for. As in nature the fittest survive, harsh but fact. It's how Mother Nature has survived all these years, it's the law of the jungle. 
Now, of course I am not advocating throwing all the weaker people in society to the wolves on Monday morning, far from it, but we must learn to take more notice of where the very blankets we shelter under actually come from, if you enjoy the benefits of free speech and freedom to be yourself then at some point regardless of your position you have to contribute to that society or it starts to fall apart.
Bonuses paid to Bankers and business leaders are not where society should be looking to put it's house in order, yes it's true the numbers are obscene but they are relative to earnings. If it's a high powered job then it needs a high power salary, that's how it works or why would the very best people in the world be in our country? ..it's human nature at work again, it happens at the top of the tree and it happens at the bottom, who is right? the businessman getting a bonus of 1 million pounds from shear hard work or the guy on benefits at the end of the road that does a little work for cash to supplement their pay? it's all relative, £30 to the man down the road is a tidy sum of money the same as if you are on huge monthly pay and enjoy a bonus, one is still legal, the other is breaking the law. We need to appreciate those that bring work to our doorsteps and look after them, yes more so than those that choose not to work. That's how it should work and that's how Mother Nature survives. 

Remember.

I have someone who's opinion I value greatly who dissuades me to write about wartime or anything to do with soldiers and the battlefield. I try to keep out of such subjects as I am no expert and I know she is right, but just this once I am indulging myself because I quite like this, I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed piecing it together, I also hope my great friend is not too upset with my choice.


Fresh breeze awash with meadows scent
Enhanced by natures rhythm 
Through broken silence voices heard
Respond to orders given

The call to arms it's time to go
Strikes fear borne straight from hell
To march towards their foreign foe
The prize... to live and tell.

We asked so much of just so few
Words spoken now by many
A throw-away that hides such pain
The few will know, If any.
 
Fierce battle raged in sky so blue
God's canvas spoilt by hatred
They fought this hell for me and you
As families watched and waited

So here's to fragrant meadow's thus,
That once knew so much sorrow
To those that gave their last today
So we may have tomorrow.

Voodoo?..yes i do too.

This is what happens just after reading a Dr Suess book to my kids...can't help myself can I !


What do you do? I do? you do?
I do voodoo you do? I do!.

Is voodoo that you do true to?
I do voodoo true to. here too.

If you do voodoo here to
when do you do voodoo there to?.

There to? i do voodoo its true you knew
I knew... who knew you do voodoo?

You knew I do voodoo here to
I knew you do voodoo there too.

I do voodoo here too you knew
no i knew you voodoo'd there too.

Here too voodoo I knew not now
There too voodoo hits the spot now.

I voodoo here and there i do do
The here and there i never knew true

A hot coffee and a warm house.

Sometimes the simplest things really are the best in life and I am a firm believer in that tale.
I have managed to get myself in just about every situation possible in business, from absolutely flying to struggling for my very survival, but in all those times i have managed to clear any thoughts of business from my mind in the evening and relax.
I don't worship money, in fact i loathe money as it loses you good friends and attracts false ones by the dozen. 

I have no wish to be a millionaire or ever want to be rolling in money, i would be happy to be just comfortable, something of a task in today's business climate as i am sure most of you will appreciate.

Over the last few weeks I have stepped back from my full time onslaught of running my tyre company and commercial vehicle sales and service outlets and let the staff carry on without me, while i turn my hand to catching up with a bit of life. When I say life I mean not working all day Saturday and Sunday and having an hour off when I want one and,  believe it or not the business hasn't fallen around my ears, in fact dare i say it, its running very smoothly without my input.

I now feel a little less than useful as I have been used to being at the centre of all that was going on, now I see Lee my manager simply getting on with the job and even making improvements that are making quite a difference. I hate to say it but I am almost feeling a little redundant.

So, time to focus on something new I think. But what?.  I have been writing poetry and am in the middle of my first book so perhaps I should knuckle down and get that all finished and put some new rhymes together, but hang on, that's not earning a crust and I couldn't do it full time. I have had some experience in public speaking am/dram of late so perhaps i should go and tread the boards for a while?.. then again i need to eat and i think that may be a step too far and i would be homeless in weeks !. 

I get the feeling this could be the start of my very own mid-life crisis. Now there's food for thought. I suppose if a fast motorcycle and a soft-top classic car appear on the drive accompanied by urges to go to the gym more often it will mean it's almost certain.

So i guess for now, I should stick to a warm house and a cup of coffee, both guaranteed to bring a calming influence during troubled times, while i consider my future contributions to society and my bank manager. Cast adrift mid-forties ,mmm... pass me that motorcycle price list someone...

 

Homecoming.

They say a soul can never wain
They say a life cannot be be bought

That life and love can bring such pain
And using them cannot be taught

A single shadow walks beside us
Traces every waking breath

Never shows just what's inside us
Only vanquished by our death

So lay my hat right here beside me
Question not my right to stay

For feelings that have grown inside me
Brought me home I'm here to stay.

Why do spiders spin a web?..

I have way too much time on my hands sometimes !  ... just for fun.

 
Why do spiders build a web
Without a tiled roof?

No shelter there without a care
Less than waterproof

In wind and rain he hangs on tight
A task he so enjoys

Never seems to have a care
worries not of noise

No doors to open glass to clean
And always fresh and gleaming

could it be he builds a web
to cut out all the cleaning?

I doubt it is the simple truth
our spider seems so busy

Round and round he spins his silk
So rarely getting dizzy

Well maybe he just likes fresh air
And dangling from his castle

Or maybe building tiled roofs
Is just a load of hassle.

What thought has he of human needs
Or why he needs to shelter

He spins his web and stands well back
And says "wow that's a belter!"

The world of the parent..

spoken with just a wry smile..

 

 

Without reason or rhyme we take on the task

Of bringing up youngsters, no questions we ask,

 

But what if we did?,would results be the same?

Would we rush to the bedroom with only one aim?

 

Would our ardour be crushed by the thought of no sleep?

Knowing of just what hours you"ll keep,

 

The wailing on high and nappies galore

Are only a taster of what is in store,

 

And don't think a day out will give you a break

Not with the clutter you"ll now have to take!

 

With wipes and the nappies, a pushchair to load

The cars on the floor barely missing the road

 

Then off you all go, but soon you"ll be met

With the Disney CD and "are we there yet?"  

 

When you arrive they all want a wee,

Which isn't so easy now you have three!

 

So Dad heads for one loo while Mum to another

To relieve the toddlers, sisters and brother,

 

Then prams get filled and we are off at a gallop,

"Just watch where your going!", oh no, too late, Wallop!

 

So screams fill the air as they show you the grazes

Just how you keep going it really amazes,

 

 round for the groceries and shops as you pant,

"I want an ice cream" "oh no you cant!"

 

Then off for dinner but your not surprised

When hoops of spaghetti fly past your eyes,

 

Then comes the pudding, oh what a mistake!

2 wanted ice cream but you've got "em cake

 

Now dinner is over, the battle is won,

How did you cope before all this fun?

 

And when day is through and you've packed all away

And you've sung all the rhymes as in bed they lay,

 

You sit down and cuddle the one that you love

open some wine and then thank God above

 

For all the tough work is sure not in vain,

And given the chance you"d do it again!!

What a tangled 'Fred' we weave...

I have to admit to being slightly sceptical at the merits and eventual repercussions of stripping 'Sir' Fred of his title. It's not that it wasn't deserved in some way but more to do with those that sought his head for his obvious part in the demise of RBS. 
You see, if you read the 'Good' book it say most distinctly 'Do unto others as you would have done unto you' which loosely speaking means if you live in a glass house don't throw stones for use of a more modern term.
It's all very well politicians baying for blood and holding up the token scalp for the sake of a Daily Mail headline and it's readers, but the reality is those that now crow and pout with their chests stuck firmly skywards were, in the last two years being investigated for a worse crime ie: defrauding the country out of millions on hyped up expenses on second homes and porn movies.
It leaves a somewhat bitter taste that even our own Prime Minister at the time sold our gold when it was at rock bottom and then raided our pensions and yet has skipped town without so much as a flick in his ear. Surely pro rata it follows that if Fred loses his title then our very own Mr Brown should be locked in the Tower permanently?.
Alas, we live in a world that let's people in public office behave as if  they are some overpaid spoilt 'A' list celebrity in town to promote a new film or series, gone are the days of dignity in office, now all we have is a massaged and rehearsed performance with scarcely a hair out of place in a freshly ironed suit or dress..( the vision of Michael Foots bedraggled grey/white locks being as untamed as an African lion on speed, seem a very distant memory for instance) .. no,  we have Mr Tv or Mrs celeb for politicians these days and if i am honest it worries me but in true English style i will moan but put up with it as is our 'duty' in this poor wretch of an excuse for a Country.
So is Fred worthy of being stripped of his 'Sir-dom'?,   if we, as the general voting public had decided it by referendum then probably so, but as his scalp was offered on a plate by no less than a pack of wolves with their own agenda then the answer would be no, he has suffered enough for mistakes made by all the financial industry AND the government of the time, so to quote another religious line, 'there but for the grace of God go I' ought to be entrenched into our current leaders psych.

Reflection.

Sometimes i chance to sit awhile
And take a breath of life
As day to day we miss the point
And moan about the strife

We miss the times that matter most
We"re blinded by our need
To grab the things that money brings
I guess we call it greed.

But now its calm the world is still
I pause and then reflect
What life should mean in all its forms
Perhaps just more respect.

For friends I've met along the way
have made it all worthwhile
They've held me tight when it seemed right
And gone the extra mile.

I know you've given me so much
A reason just to live 
Then showed me life in different times
And all life has to give.

Gentle as a whisper told.

I wrote this in 2009 for someone special who had lost a loved one, i was honoured that she saw fit to have it read at the memorial service, since that time it has brought comfort on other sad occasions, sometimes words really can say much more and people find comfort in them.

Gentle as a Whisper told.


Gentle as a whisper told
Soft as new born babe to hold

As quiet as the hush of prayer
As gentle as a breath of air

As strong as tallest forest pine
As safe the hands of father time

As proud as any lion born
As sure the Rose with prickly thorn

As fine a gift that God could bring
As fresh the flowing mountain spring

Your heart was pure as driven snow
It's thoughts alone for me to know

So having you to hold and love
Was like a blessing from above,

I'm left behind but still content
Knowing you were heaven sent.

In darkest days ahead of me
Beside me you will always be,

So tho your leavings tough to bear
Inside I know you're always there