So I learned that 2 Brazilians like to party!
And to sing Bon Jovi songs at high volume, whilst crying.
Now that’s a first. .. and also purgatory for me… as he’s definitely on my list of people I’d pay to NOT see.

I had no idea that girls learn the lyrics to ‘ soppy ‘ songs and then can sing them years bloody later, as if the words were written for them personally.
But Nathalia and Amanda.. now I know!

Just need to work out how to ban my Alexa from playing Bon Jovi songs again.

I should have written this yesterday.

Ok the metalwork break was not that at all.
I’d been out and had been playing with my powerballl exercise device.
For the wheel back to mine , I’d stuck it between my legs ( obviously I can’t feel it or indeed anything.
When I got back I did a set off pull ups on a bar. Obviously I’m still in my chair, I’m just pulling up as best I can.
Unbeknown to me, as I’ve pulled upwards, the powerball ( cricket ball sized and very solid ) had rolled back in the wheelchair seat.
When I’ve come down after my last pull up, I’m then sat on this very hard cricket ball, but have zero idea I am, except I’m bloody wobbly in my seat. Well you would be if you sat on a cricket ball that wedged itself up your bum somewhere.
I was sat on that for probably 90 minutes and whilst I knew something was extremely different all of a sudden, I had absolutely no idea why.
The only thing I could think of to explain my drastic change in seating stability was that my spinal metalwork had come undone.

Jesus what a bizarre thing to do.
Amazingly this hard plastic ball up my ass for 90 minutes didn’t leave me with any damage to myself at all, other than a period of extreme stress.

Ffs. What an idiotic thing to do.
Sorry to worry anyone. Two of my friends had immediately contacted me to offer assistance, having read my entry.
No pun intended.

Me n GG went to Stoke Mandeville hospital today and I had loads of Botox serum injected into specific muscles in my legs- the ones that specifically cause my spasms by repeatedly firing off.
I’m really hoping that I may ( well ) get a fair bit of relief ( at last ).

Watch this space.

Bloody hell, I think something significant may have just happened to my metalwork in my back. I’ve suddenly gone ‘ wobbly’ in my chair.
As it happens I’m going to Stoke Mandeville hospital tomorrow, so I’ll try to get them to investigate.
I phoned the surgeon that put my metalwork in, but he’s away in America for a month.
There’s no point in me going to a regular hospital, they’ll have no clue what to do with me.
My spasms and stiffness have been so ridiculously bad for a long time now and I always feel that perhaps that’s indicative of something having broken. Obviously I can’t actually feel a thing, but my body does at some level, and the response is increasing spasms.

Feeling odd and a bit concerned.

And I have a lovely new friend ( no, not a girlfriend ). She’s a very cute Brazilian ( no, not the ‘ hairstyle’ either, but then again I wouldn’t know.. 😳).

Anyway, I’m looking forward to meeting one of her best friends tomorrow too. All the way from Austria, no less. Amanda isn’t very Austrian sounding though? Maybe she’s not a native.

What a multicultural life I lead – Wales one day and a Latino Germanic dinner for 3 the next ( ok 4 days later, but hey )

Not to mention my asylum seeker/ refugee buddies!

God, who’d have thunk it?

And it all worked!

What a lovely weekend seeing my relatives.
They made me feel really loved, I have to say.

South Wales is very different to London, I have to say. Certainly the families are closer, more familiar, far less formal. I’m probably making sweeping comments, but I’ll stand by them anyway.

Everything is more shared and certainly more relaxed.

Anyway, GG and I had a brilliant time.

Thanks so much to everyone for the Valleys welcome.
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿♥️

And I made it to Wales in the van.
F me, everything is SO complicated though.

And I seem to spend most of my time thinking of how easy everything used to be.

Not helpful, but 11 years on I’m no better at being bloody disabled.

19 of us tonight though. Loads of them I’ve not seen for years!

Should be good x

This was in the paper today.

Graham Thorpe

Graham Thorpe’s family have revealed the 55-year-old took his own life following a long battle with depression and anxiety.
In an interview with The Times, Thorpe’s wife Amanda and their two daughters, Kitty, 22, and Emma, 19, have said that the great England batsman died by suicide last Sunday.
Thorpe attempted to take his own life in May 2022 and, despite treatment, remained seriously ill.
“For the past couple of years, Graham had been suffering from major depression and anxiety,” Amanda said. “This led him to make a serious attempt on his life in May 2022, which resulted in a prolonged stay in an intensive care unit.
“Despite glimpses of hope and of the old Graham, he continued to suffer from depression and anxiety, which at times got very severe. We supported him as a family and he tried many, many treatments but unfortunately none of them really seemed to work.
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“Graham was renowned as someone who was very mentally strong on the field and he was in good physical health. But mental illness is a real disease and can affect anyone. Despite having a wife and two daughters whom he loved and who loved him, he did not get better.
“He was so unwell in recent times and he really did believe that we would be better off without him and we are devastated that he acted on that and took his own life.”
Her daughter, Kitty, added: “We are not ashamed of talking about it. There is nothing to hide and it is not a stigma. We were trying to help him get better before and trying to protect him, which is why we said nothing. This is the time now to share the news, however horrible it is. We’ve wanted to be able to talk and share and we’d now like to raise awareness, too.
“He had loved life and he loved us but he just couldn’t see a way out. It was heartbreaking to see how withdrawn he had become. He was not the same person. It was strange to see this person trapped in the body of Dad. That’s why we’ve been so happy that the many reflections have been about his life before this illness took over. I’m glad that’s how everyone does remember him, rightly so, as the complete character he was.”

I very much understand the feeling of perpetual sadness. It’s my every moment.
Graham had enough and killed him self.

Imagine how Graham might have felt had he also been paralysed, wheelchair bound with continually spasming legs, his daughters didn’t give a shite and his ex wife persecuted him constantly.
I don’t think he’d have lasted the 2 years that he did.
Even with all the support and love he had, he checked out.
What hope do I have?

Let’s face it, it’s a bloody wonder I’m still here.

And thank you to Damooooo and Sal.
For having GG and I to stay at their ( rather vast ) country estate.
I met Damo before his knighthood, when he lived in a pauper’s cottage.
Bit of an entrepreneur is Damo.
Who’d have thought someone could make their back garden into a golf course?
Other than Donald Strump.

They were the hosties with the mosties.

Thanks so much!

I now have another asylum seeker that I’ve been ‘ assigned’ to help ( befriend ).

This gentleman is from the Middle East, from an Islamic country.
He had to leave. More accurately he had to flee, before the secret police arrested him. Had he been arrested, he thinks he would have been shot.

His crime? To convert to Christianity. That’s illegal in his home country, under the rules of the governing party.
He left his home, his family and his profession. He is highly educated and highly qualified in his field.

We met for the first time yesterday and talked for hours. He is clearly heartbroken about having to leave his family, as well as leaving everything else. Here he has nothing material. He does though have his freedom and his life.

He is a very softly spoken and gentle man, but he became very visibly moved when he spoke about what he sees happening here in the UK. He was particularly concerned by seeing young women here marching in support of Hamas/ the Islamic regimes. He said ‘ if they knew what these people are like, they would not support them’.
He detailed how to them, women are there only for sex. In the hands of these people, they would be raped and disposed of. The wives of these people are only there to serve their husbands, to physically please them and to bear their children.
Women have no rights at all. They obey their husbands at all times.
The Koran promises good Muslims a ‘ heaven’ where they can have sex with virgins for all eternity.
There is no such promised afterlife for women who die. They don’t get a mention. Why are young women here marching to support such people?

He was aghast at the number of mosques in this country. He said they should all be shut down immediately, because they are frequented by people who are not our friends, who think of us as infidels and the unclean.
He talked about the groups of men that meet in secret in Edgeware Road in London, a hotbed of Islamic extremist hate.
We really don’t appreciate who we are inviting to live amongst us, he said.

When he goes out, he’s not at all worried by British people, he said, but he is extremely aware of the bad Islamic element here.

He hopes the government in his home country can one day fall, but any notion of public dissent is quickly and violently dealt with. A mass uprising is unlikely, because the internet is monitored for dissent, and is shut down immediately to quell any protest.
It’s a grim picture and an Islam vs Israel war is extremely likely.