snow joke....

Well, just back from easter Camp.. arrived on Friday evening after work, to a camp already set up and under way... and cold.... but fun... hiked up to Bardon Hill (Leicestershire's highest point), encouraged the Scouts to build a snowman in the image of Spoon; its possible that the way things are going, it may be the last snowman they get to build... On saturday, I went into Melton Mowbray to pick up a shed for a very good friend of mine, who has agreed to possibly come on holiday with me this October.. which is nice... and carrying a shed on the roof rack of a 25 year old estate car in high winds and snow is no jioke, I can tell you.. back into camp on the saturday evening, in time for stew, and then sleep in the Alpine hut... would have been warmer in a tent! On sunday came a visit from my good friend Rob, home from the RAF, and the hike to Bardon... and today it was home.... to bed, roast roots and Brains Faggots.... tomorrow it will be time to put up the aforementioned shed.. weeks off are always so busy.... but there we are....also i've been told that i'm going out next satyrday... two friends of mine (yes.. i have friends!!!!) are insisting i go to burton on trent, the home of beer, and have a chinese meal... then go bowling (if the alley hasn't closed down!!) before going off to a bar somewhere.... I dread to think what's going to happen... but I shall put aside the fact that when I was 18 or so such a night would hold little attraction, and go for it with a positive attitude... but there we go.. my son is off to blackpool with his mum at the end of the weeek, so that gives me four days of an empty house.. but i'll find something to do.. model railway beckons... but i digress.. managed to put in ome work on my entries for bbc wildlife poetry comp and a couple of others.. based on an experience at work.. so until we find a rhyme for rythm, wisebeard salutes you!!!!!!!!!!

Fatalism.. or not......

Well, the beard that is wise but inebriates not is having a rare old time.... one of the best he's had for a while, to be honest... windowsills full of tomato plants, a coffee table model railway about to jump off the planning board and into reality, an ISA, a lovely fun relationship with an incredibly beautiful woman, a Ford Cortina, and many other great things... strange how things go... which brings me to a quandary i've had for a while.. religionwise I should be a bit of a fatalist, but often I find I'm not.... to enlighten you as to the reasons, I must tel you that the Beard is in fact pagan... and I mean it in the old fashioned sense, not the more modern (and innaccurate) one of Atheist... pagan of course comes from the latin paganus.... meaning country dweller..... meaning one rustic enough to still believe in the old gods of nature, rather than the more sophisticated "city gods..." but i sort of digress... a fair while ago I decided that the old gods of my viking forefathers made far more sense to me, geographically, culturally and faithilly... (is there such a word..?? there is now...) now, according to this faith, a man (or woman, of course) is born when one of three sisters begins to spin a thread.... everyone has a thread, and it is this sister's job to spin them... a person dies when the third sister (of three, I hasten to add...) cuts the thread.... now, it is obvious that no one has any choice in this.... at all... you are born when you are born, you die when you die... this explains, of course, why we all know of someone who was fit, and healthy, but dropped down dead art thirty... and we also know someone who smokes like a chimney and never exercises, and will be celebrating their 80th birthday next week.... but what happens in between...??? well, one theory has it that the second sister, the one who weaves, weaves a pattern that you follow.... the other theory is that she weaves the pattern you make.... now, the first of these denies totally the concept of free will, which, as anyone knows, may or may not exist... there are good arguments either way, and in fact if there is no such thing it actually makes things easier to explain... but it denies the existence of both evil and hope... the second implies that we have complete control over our own destinies, except where our existence is impinged upon by others.... the second is also, however, a more modern way of thinking, coloured possibly by the Nazarene heresy... plus we all know of incidences of "Fate " and "Destiny..." personally, my take on it at the minute is that for most people, it is enoughthat we live our brief lives as we wish, and the second sister is content to tick over and weave what we do... but that at times, wehn it is necessary, either she is instructed (and by whom?? even Odin is subject to her weaving...) to weave a certain pattern for a certain individual, or that she, either in conjunction with her sisters or apart from them, decides for whatever reason to weave that pattern... which leaves us all at the whim of some power whose objectives we cannot fathom, and cannot resist... which to me is a fairly comforting thought... far more so than the Judaeo-Christian tale that God will no longer interfere with our affairs till the end times.... I want divine or supra-divine intervention, thank you very much.... and i think most of us do... but there we are.... anyway, enough from me for one evening... until the cutting of the thread, Wisebeard salutes you!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Very good week.... and apart from Sileby model railway show, that's all I'm saying.... Wisebeard salutes you!!!!!!!

Off Work... Again....

Well, here I am at home in the snow... my driver's mate didn't turn up today ("ill") and with no-one to help carry, and the roads supposedly bad, I was sent home.... so here I am, thinking about how much more snow we used to get.... I think the main problem on the roads nowadays in this sort of weather isn't the snow, but the fact that most drivers either can't remember how to drive in it, or have never driven in it anyway.... the amount of people I see revving too hard, using too low a gear, and turning the snow to ice is amazing... I usually get nasty looks as I effortlessly cruise by the poor unfortunates slipping ontheir own mess.... remember, start of in 2nd gear, using as few revs as possible, and you'll be ok... and if people didn't drive too slowly, spinning their wheels, the roads wouldn't be treacherous... keep up a fair speed, and the friction of tyre on snow actually clears the roads.... strange but true.... but I digress,.... so, how to spend my day....years ago, with the snow deeper we would have driven(!) to Bradgate Park and gone sledging, but we don't relly get enough snow for that nowadays.... and for some reason the roads get blocked.... but i won't start on that again... so today, the plan is, washing up, help my son build a snowman, try to do some more on a model railway I've been trying to finish, and see whether or not i can get to Beavers tonight... but there we are... anyway, until the snow turns to slush, Wisebeard salutes you!!!!!

Back to Work....

Miraculously Wisebeard recovers... the healing power of Kind Hearts and Coronets, truly the second greatest Alec Guinness film ever... coupled with an afternoon of sleep, and a copy of Railway Modeller.... ah, yes, Wisebeard plays with trains!!!! Model Rail is the mag of choice, but Railway Modeller comes a close second.... and British Railway Modeling is very useful, but to be honest, I find it a bit snobby.... although they are now doing a "readers layout"section (think readers wives, but better...) and i am hoping to get my layout featured... I was told by my van porter today that he is convinced I have an orgasm when I see a train, and that he believes if I were given the choice between watching a Class 66 roll through the country and a s**g with Charlotte Church and Nicole Kidman then the trains would win... which shows that belief can be close to truth.... although had he said Jane Asher.... but more of her later.... it led me to think about why trains are preferable to women... I came up with the following....

1 A train will not complain if it sees you ride another train...
2 You can ride many trains in a day, and not be tired..
3 Trains prefer it you come before they do....
4 If you spend money on a train you are guaranteed a ride....
5Trains have there own in built protection system...
6Maintenance is not your responsibility with trains...
7 Trains will let you ride no matter how long and hard they've been working....
8 If you miss one train, there will be another along very soon...
9 trains will always let you go all the way, even on your first meeting.....
10 Trains don't mind at all if you bring some friends along....
11 Friends won't take the p**s if they find you riding an ugly old train....
And above all, they're a lot cheaper....

Earlier i promised more of Jane Asher.... I wishI could deliver, I really do.... due to her and Sarah Ferguson red hair is forgiven.... but I digress.... back to Jane Asher (who I last saw in the marvellous A for Andromeda remake, in a white lab coat and stillettoes.... but enough of that.. (and I daren't think of the McVities biscuit ads she was in.....) I know Paul McCartney is having a bit of a bad time at the mo, and I do feel a little sorry for the bloke.... but he did bring a lot of it on himself... I mean, his choice of women.... why anyone would marry a one legged model with a very troubled history etc I don't know, but lets look at sir Paul's earlier cock-up.... take any man in the country and give him this choice... a scrawny blonde vegetarian who won't let you have a bacon sandwich, or a horny redhead who doesn't mind getting her kit off in front of a camera and makes fantastic cakes.... well, I know who I'd go for, and she doesn't have her own range of veggie burgers.... anyway, with thoughts ao Jane Asher reminding me of Jenny Agutter and one of my formative moments, it is time to go.... Horny redheads and cake makers, Wisebeard salutes you!!