We had a meeting of the Unfortunates last week involving Chris and Paul coming to mine; because Paul got off the bus one stop too late with Bolt the dog they then had to navigate their way to my flat. Now given Bolt didn’t know he was coming to my place and that Bolt doesn’t know my name or indeed speak English.. and that Bolt had only been here once before …. you tell me how Bolt found his way to a flat in Brentford from a starting point he never been before which was a further half mile away then he previously experienced?

How on earth is a dog able to navigate almost a mile from a previously unvisited starting point to a destination he hasn’t been to for maybe six or seven months? To me thats just mystifying!

Anyway it was great to see the Unfortunates…life isn’t easy for at least two of us yet we endure pretty well and that shared experience we have makes us closer.

In fact Paul isn’t the only blind man in my life yesterday I was visited by another blind man who was very very useful – big thanks to Marky P for putting up my new blinds!

Slightly fascinated by the demolItion of the 100 year old warehouses that are next to where i live

This part of London only really had ’ industry ’ for 150 plus years – first the Grand Union canal from Brentford to Birmingham, then superceded by the Great Western Railway branch line to Brentford Dock, on the Thames.

Ships arrived from all over the world, were unloaded by massive cranes, and then the goods loaded onto the canal barges, and later the train carriages, to be conveyed all over Britain

I’m watching the demolItion of the last remnants of all that industry and it’s substitution with apartment blocks and retail space. Brentford ‘ town centre’ will soon have been transformed too. The river Brent, for 150 years hidden by warehouses and industrial detritus, will soon be uncovered and in view.
I don’t think many people realise just how nice it’s going to be. Brentford is a bit damned by its unglamorous sounding name ( which of course only means a ford ( bridge ) over the River Brent ) but it’s in between and adjacent to Kew, Chiswick, Richmond and Isleworth, all of which sound smarter ( and have been for a long time ).

But not for much longer…

There’ll even be an accessible footbridge over the Brent/ Grand Union canal, really near to me.
That’ll be handy! I’m a bit buggered by all the other canal bridges, with their steps and steep inclines.

Knocking down all the dereliction besides my flat gives me a long view of the canal. Next there’ll be apartments built there, but they won’t jut out over the canal in the same way, because they won’t really need to have pulley access to the canal beneath, obviously…

All in all it was a good move to buy in Brentford, I’d say.

God knows what the Ukrainian war will do to property prices In London. There’s lots of Russian cash tied up here. What’ll happen to all the apartments actually purchased with Russian oligarch money I don’t know. There’ll be far more of those than most people imagine.

Might have to change my name from Russ, as well.

Because my Voldemort ex surgeon thought it was ok to ‘ fix ‘ my spine in an immovable way, it means that I can’t turn my body at all ( as in AT ALL ).
Because my voice is really weak anyway, and i already struggled in loud rooms, I’ve now completely lost the option of turning and leaning towards someone I want to talk to, so I’m effectively lost in loud places unless the person I am with is right next to me.

That diminishes my experience SO much.

I went ( well me n Kerry went ) to see a play called Running with Lions the other day.
About 3 generations of a black family, now all in Britain ( tho the grandparents had arrived from the Caribbean ).
It was very good… though more sad than happy, with the family members more at odds with each other than they were together.
Ultimately they seemed to realise that understanding and respecting each other’s wishes was the best way forward though – so it was a sort of happy ending, with a life lesson thrown in.
I’m finding that the less ‘ luminary ‘ theatres are doing the best productions… who’d have thought?

Hammersmith Lyric theatre is both accessible and has helpful staff…! What more could a Spazzer Luvvy want?

De Staat were brilliant, by the way, and all went well except for Kerry’s being in the toilet causing a flood.

Made me n Leigh laugh though..

Some girls! 💧☔️

There’s a reason why I’ve avoided trying to use an electric handheld whisk since I’ve been unable to jump out of the way properly.

I actually did the whisking ok, but then whilst trying to go backwards to the sink with the whisk in one hand, I accidentally pressed the button again.

Why oh why did I find that Angel Delight in the cupboard?!
😂

I’m thinking of attaching a large kite to my wheelchair today..,,

And seeing if I can break the Land Speed Record.

can you work this into your blog?
asks Rob

‘Fred West has been exonerated after donating £12M to the NSPCC.’

I’ve been credited with saving a life…

Someone I once met, whilst with Lizzy, had decided he’d couldn’t take any more and was going to check out ( kill himself ).
This particular gentleman is an artist, and really has a fantastic talent. I’d bought something from him for Lizzy a few months ago.

Alerted to his situation, I sent him a fairly long message, telling him ‘ my story’ – detailing my mindset, from dark and without hope or joy, through to being at peace and genuinely ‘ enjoying life ‘.
After a while he replied and told me that my contact had made the difference, and that relatively his situation hadn’t seemed quite so dire, and that his thinking had been changed.

It’s worth it, isn’t it, helping a lost soul, and there being a happier outcome because you took the time. Having been on the receiving end of amazing love and friendship without which I wouldn’t be here, I can testify that giving of yourself to a lost soul is a very worthy endeavour.

Tonight I go with, my friend Kerry, to meet Leigh n Bev in north London and see the crazy De Staat. Last time I saw them it was beyond good, despite having had a railway calamity on the way. Now you can book assistance ( ramps ) online… and it actually works too.. Fingers crossed because K is as feeble as a kitten, and there’s NO chance she’d be able to get me on or off a train… 🤦‍♂️🤷

And he went, with wee Lizzy, to watch James McAvoy playing Cyrano de Bergerac, in the Harold Pinter theatre last night.

Bit different to be honest. Not what I was expecting. A very modern take on a very old tale about a wordsmith with a massive nose who couldn’t get the girl because of his conk… but still was able to write to her by pretending to be someone else – well it could only happen in a play, after all.

Strangely they didn’t feel the need to actually give James a massive plastic hooter; instead you had to imagine he had one (?) Maybe Jimmy Mac is too vain to wear a trunk, so they had to work around that ?

Anyway the lyrics/ script were all written by Stormzy or something, so if you are a Grime ( that’s a ‘ music ‘ genre ) then you would have liked it a lot. If not, then, well, you know…

Cyrano was the poet of his day ( In the story ) and likewise old Shaky Speare too, and ( for some ) Grime is the modern equivalent.

Not for me tho. I thought it was a bit crap
🤷🙄