Author: davidjohntooth

Another Christmas and this year I will be spending it at home with my wife and son.

No trip to Manchester to stay with my daughter and Grandchildren because the new variant of coronavirus has just started to spread across the UK.

The scientist have stated how clever it is because of the way it can mutate. Well I dispute that because when a predator kills the host that it lives off and then dies its got to be very stupid.

Apparently this new strain has initially started in the UK. Well we do have a reputation for not complaining to much about anything so it probably felt at home here.

My wife bought a slow cooker as a way to use left over food I am not very impressed with it because it seems to take forever.

One of my favourite singers was Eddy Cochran I loved his rendition of ‘something else’ to me it never dated and the drum playing in it is well, something else.

When I was fifteen and applying for a job as a toolmaker I never really knew what they did I had this vague idea that they made spades, forks, and other things that were classed as tools.

My dad who had worked in a factory intermittently until he was forty eight and then declined rapidly with lung problems but he convinced me that a toolmaker was the most important person in a factory and that I would never be out of work and he was correct.

My dad was so pleased when I got that first job and I stayed in that type of work all my life never making much money but once you get married and end up with a mortgage its then difficult to change directions although I always knew that I should.

So now having worked until the the coronavirus became prevalent on the 23/3/2023 when I went into self isolation I am looking to do something different. It is a strange thing to do at seventy eight but I only live life a day at a time and I have lived and thought that way for many years.

Can’t do to much at the moment as I am waiting for vaccine so that I can go out and get materials.

I wonder how many governments around the world have looked at the spread of the coronavirus and thought what happens if someone develops a virus that can wipe out most of the worlds population of course they would make the antidote first.

I note that the UK is struggling to get the brexit deal done.

Moral is Be careful for what you wish for.

A company in the UK has developed an AI program that interprets the DNA strands that exist in the human body in days instead of years. Don’t trust an AI they never look you in the eyes.

Jim Duffy went to the same college in Erdington that I attended when I was eighteen and studying as part of my apprenticeship. He looked much older than most of the other student who were of the same age. But by then he had built a small sporty kit car and girls seemed be attracted to him but it was not just the car that they went for. He had something that I wished I could bottle.

But even then I was careful what I wished for.

As a resident of the UK I should be quite pleased that we have now approved its rollout to certain sectors of the public especially as I am in the category of receiving it much quicker than most due to my age.

I do however find it strange when the UK government states how brilliant our scientist are when this particular vaccine was developed by two other countries and we just validated the trials of the drug.

Could I be classed as brilliant if I validated the fact that most days the sun is in the sky or that there is a lot of rain in the UK.

No I don’t think so. I wonder if I will still get my knighthood after posting this article. No I don’t think so.

Switzerland

When I was eleven and due to the fact that I suffered from asthma I spent nine months in Davos Switzerland as part of a plan run by a local newspaper to help thirty children with poor health to aid their recovery. We lived in a castle and I learned to ski as most of the time spent there was in the winter months.

But the most important thing I learnt was how to use a variety of knifes and forks.

But I never managed to get a row of peas to stay on a fork and would eat them with my fingers a few at a time when no one was looking from the serviete placed on my lap.

Not having much money at home meant that we shared these utensils and I remember that the forks would regularly bend out of shape and had to be straightened.

The knifes were used as screwdrivers and paint scrapers, but only if we found enough paint to scrape.

Despite never having any money because my dad was always ill and unable to work, for most of the time I had a very happy childhood.

Like my mom said about being wealthy. Their are no pockets in shrouds.’

Stay Safe

Ever wondered why you are on this planet or the reason that you are born when we have such a short life span.

Well if you believe that there is something after we leave this world I think that is a nice idea and it certainly helps while we are here.

Then there are many scientific scenarios one being that we are the builders that will start the development of AI s before they are able to continue the process themselves. I wonder if they will remember that we were their parents: I doubt it and I hope they are vegetarians.

I have said many times in my life its best to live one day at a time and not to think to much or to deep about what happens in the future.

Not many strange events have happened in my life, in fact only three. But I once had a dream that was totally different to any other. It was in the same type of colours as the old Eagle Comics and was so intense that it remained with me for months afterwards. There was a team sports event and my dream happened on the second day of five but in the dream I saw the person who won the game and how he celebrated in sharp detail. There was no way they should have won and I had seriously considered placing a bet based on the contents of my dream but then I was a realist. But if it happens again………

Such as simple thing to happen but it changed my perception of life, my thinking is if I had a glimpse of what happened in the future the future has already happened.

The President elect of the United States has broken a bone in his foot chasing his dog. Donald Trump has sent the dog a years supply of food.

China has increased production output threefold I think most countries will see an increase in output; a knee jerk reaction to the restrictions placed on us by the pandemic. Trouble is we will eventually have to pay back what we have borrowed. Then the word increase changes to recession.

Keep safe.

Priti Patel

So a report into the alleged bullying behaviour by the UK immigration secretary Priti Patel has found that she did shout and swear at members of her staff; but it was probably unintentional and she didn’t realize she was doing it.

Which leads on very nicely to the next serial killer who goes on trial and claims that it was unintentional and he didn’t realise he was doing it. And Boris Johnson gives him his ful backing and a full pardon.

Bit of advice to Borris never trust a serial killer and don’t let him know where you live.

Hunters hill open air school

There were four dormitories at the open air school starting from number one which housed thirty of the younger boys and went up in age progressively to number four.

It was the only time in my life that I liked school but it was the people that I met that made me feel that way.

Kenny Holt at fourteen was tall and thin with brilliant sense of humour and was always telling jokes which he struggled to finish without coughing and wheezing partly because he thought they were so funny and partly because he suffered from acute asthma. If it was a bad day his back became arched and his face white from the struggle to get enough air into his lungs.

This was a school that taught the basics of life art, woodwork, cooking, music, it suited my intelligence level which was low. Ken was a natural wood turner and made the most incredible oak bowls and egg cups while I was quite good at making anything that was flat.

We got on quite well and would compare our finished items.

I lost contact with Ken until my dad was taken into hospital which happened quite often but this time he ending up in a hospital that was on the far side of Birmingham.

I was about twenty at that time and went to visit him with three friends the first night he was admitted, We were amazed to find Ken in the next bed, he had suffered a major asthma attack and looked quite ill but we chatted with him for quite a long time and said we would talk to him again the following night.

We never did, on our next visit the bed was empty Ken died that same night he was just twenty. I never forgot the wooden egg cups. and the way he told jokes. and who he was.

As I have been self isolating for the last nine months I have redesigned the shower and toilet area and done all the work myself (If your posh this is now known to most people as a wet room) But in essence its a shower with a toilet and wash basin in it. And I am really pleased with the way it has turned out (pictures will come later)

So now that is finished I have designed and made an industrial dining table that I am thinking of trying to sell commercially as I may now find it difficult to return to work. Standing up for seven hours in the day may be more difficult than it was when I was seventy seven and eight months ( I am now seventy eight and three months) and milling complex shapes in steel was never easy.

But I do need a way to earn some money.

I have lived in three open air schools which children with heath problems were sent to as a way to try to improve their health. We actually lived there for whatever length of time was thought beneficially and of course slept there.

The last one that I spent time at was called Hunters hill open air school for boys and while many boys hated it I thought it was amazing. I was thirteen and stayed there until i was fifteen.

It was in beautiful country side, the lessons were basic, as were the meals but I developed friendships that remained and still remain. Everyone had jobs to do when we were not in school. Len hardy and myself got up at six in the mornings and started the breakfasts before the cook arrived at around seven. The early start was not good but I enjoyed the independance.

Mrs Ross the cook was lovely but very old and not a healthy woman but I did really like her and she wanted to adopt me. My mom often told me that perhaps I would have had an easier life if she had agreed to an adoption. That was really amazing that she thought that way but I would never have left my mom ,I loved her to bits.

More on the characters another time.

It wont be much longer before the results of the election in America are known and whoever is electected its human nature that there will be an expectancy that a new era of prosperity will sweep across the country. IT rarely does.

I can remember when John Kennedy was running for election and I was in my early twenties and how impressed I was with his oratorical skills and compered to other politicians at such a young age.

Politicians in England were what I considered very old (but strangely now I am very old I don’t consider that I am very old) until I look in the mirror.

I was also impressed with his looks and his brothers Bobby Kennedy and how upsetting it was when they were killed one after the other.

You can replace nearly everything but not people.

Nobby Styles died this week at the age off seventy eight he was a professional footballer winning medals at the world cup and a European cup winners medal but what made him special was not his skill level but the amount of commitment he gave every time he run onto the football pitch. Life is all about using all your abilities and not every week but every minute of everyday and that,s what Nobby did, He was the most unlikely footballer but he made himself into someone special.

England is going in a months lock down due to corona virus but like most countries not many people will observe all the rules. Just remember a virus does not have anyone’s name on it but it will adopt anyone that gets to close.

Am I missing something when I look at how the coronavirus spreads.

Not sure about other countries but in the UK the virus appears to be passed from one person to another in mainly the younger population (I am not in that category) and consider that age as up to about forty five where most in the later part that grouping have money and desperately have a need to spend it and the younger ones dont have much money and try to spend their parents money.

So this is what I think from the very young up to around forty five if you get the virus there is a good chance that you will survive without to many health issues and without needing to go into hospitables but as you progress up the age ladder if you get it make sure that you have made a will.

This is what i would do; let the younger people lead normal lives but make sure that the older ones self isolate so that they don’t die and don’t clog up the hospital beds.

But my provisose are. Give them a goody bag; Pay them a small amount of money every week, help them to obtain groceries, let them have free access to pay on demand TV stations and free rock and roll music…….

And personally I wouldn’t mind a Tesla on the drive; a purple one would be nice.

I note that one of the members of the Spencer Davis group has died. I remember seeing them at a local venue in the sixties and thinking how good they were.

My initials are the same as Donald Trump DJT and we have a lot in common …… just give me an hour and I will think of something.

When I was eighteen and studying at Erdington college I remember a boy in same group who had the most amazing hair, it was almost white in colour and very thick but quite straight and brushed backwards. Its funny how you appreciate appearances when you are young.

My nephew once said that I looked a bit like Steve Mcqueen when I was young; I am not sure what bit he was referring too and he did have a tendency to bump into things.

As a reguler user of Amazon and especially at this time in a World that is being desimated by Coronavirius I am continually amazed that I can order an item one day and recieve it the next and most times without a delivery charge.

Then if I think a little more deeply it is easy to see where we are all going with this as shops around the UK are folding like packs of cards and when they are all gone then Amazon and of course other providers will be able to increase product prices and delivery charges.

Then I look at China who are using the same model profile but on a much larger scale and to be fair they started from a much a low economic base with initially low priced items and of poor quality.

That has changed and now their products are quite innovative but of course the price is increasing but again when everone uses them and they become totally domanent in the world this will reduce the need for other countries to manufacturer their own products. Then watch out for huge price increases.

Wonder if they need someone to sweep the floors as I am temporary unemployed at the moment.

In the land of the blind the one eyed man is king

Coronavirus in the UK is hitting record levels which is no surprise as most of our MPs have very little common sense.

If Boris Johnson had been captain of the Titanic it would have sunk before it got out of the harbour and he would have uttered the famous words ‘Captain, woman,and children in the lifeboats first.’