The Wondering Brit

Some may argue that Tony Blair did more than any previous politician to dissolve Great Britain into it’s four parts of England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales…
However, new moves by Scotland’s first minister Alex Salmon could actually dissolve the union!!

The Scottish Government is due to publish its white paper on Scotland’s constitutional future, which could pave the way for an independence referendum.
First Minister Alex Salmon is expected to argue Scotland must be independent to meet its full economic potential.
But the minority SNP administration does not have enough support to pass a referendum bill as Labour, the Tories and the Lib Dems all oppose the plan.
But the process could see Holyrood gain more power over taxation and spending.
The white paper is being launched on ST Andrew’s Day and comes after the SNP government began its “national conversation” on Scotland’s future.

If I was to be honest here,  I would argue strongly that Scotland is a huge part of what goes on in the UK and to actually truly want complete  independence is astounding.
While Great Britain was forged together by dubious means and bloodshed, The whole union has been stronger because of Scotland’s presence. We have become essentially one, but in no way does this diminish any Scottish traditions, history, pride or respect.  Heck the last and the present Prime Ministers are and were Scottish!
I dread to think what could or possibly would happen to Scotland if it was totally independent.
So in my view Alex Salmon is not only the man who could bring the union down, he could almost destroy Scotland’s potential if they totally go it alone, because they would need to almost tax every one to death to maintain the systems to already have in place…
As such Alex Salmon is effectively making himself an enemy of the state and this is not good – no matter how he wants to gloss it all over.

Wanna read the reality of the facts and figures? Then read my post  HERE

My guitar turned up today, the wrong colour!! It is ‘Aged’ or Tobacco Sunburst – not the Honey burst as ordered! The difference is basically that Honey isn’t as yellow and is much paler.  can’t seem to get a good pic of it though..
It’s playability requires a little setting up, but it is a nice guitar. However, unbeknown to some, guitars are not ranked by their ‘Prettiness’ as some call it and I’ve had little option but to email the seller to see what they can do.
Also, as the saga of ‘pretty’ guitars started in the comments section yesterday by JK continued via text today with WKD, and her ‘Mickey’ taking continued, I realised I offered to take her own riding crop to her – but please note this was not a malicious threat, especially as she broke another truck before leaving the yard today!!  Sadly it was the starter motor, for which she cannot be blamed (damn it), but relaying this info to Twitter started a flurry on conversations between Gabby, Little Trucker, myself and others about starter motors – weird!! (thankfully twitter isn’t used by WKD or JK).
So anyway, emails have been sent about the guitar and I await to hear of the outcome. It does sound good though and I’ll have to change my playing discipline a little, but all in all, not a bad guitar!
Now, only if I could learn a second chord….

Well I had the call earlier in the day to start work around 1am and was told it was a double run to Westbury.
Later, Dave came around and I went over to his and Annie’s place later for a chat n coffee when I get phoned again - to see if I would go in straight away and swap the milk run for a trip to the pallet hub in Birmingham. The thing was, I was no where near home and the wind had been so fierce the it even drowned out the sound of the traffic right outside my window – and that’s saying something.
So I get to work, and it turns out I’m doing a single Westbury, then going around retrieving trailers from all over the place.
I set off, only to find the main route to Westbury from here, the A303, was undergoing night closures and the diversions they had in place were not conducive to hauling a liquid load – what I mean is, they wanted us to go up a hill we simply can’t get up. So a slight diversion via Castle Cary, flooded roads and tree branches littered the place like an old photo of the Somme!.

Then I find they had changed access in Westbury town itself and have put weight restrictions all over the main route in – namely a 3ton limit over a railway bridge!! I didn’t know this and certainly did not see a clearly placed sign of any type!! I think 3ton is a little excessive seeing as the bridge could happily accomodate two 44tons trucks side by side normally!

Finally I got there very late and was under the direction to make sure I was back for 8am as the truck was going to Europe (the UK does not class or talk of itself as ‘europe’, that’s a place on the other side of the sea, unless you’re WKD).
As such I didn’t wash the tank, I just tipped and raced back.
I got back at 08:05 and was told there were no other trucks to doing any other work as everything is being used to the max!
So at 08:30 I clocked off!!
Short day or what !! Anyway, I hung back and had a coffee with the people there just in case something came up – the reason? Well we get paid for a minimum of 8hrs, so even if we work 4hrs, we still get 8. As such, I thought it only fair to hang about a little and be available for the full 8 as this lot have been alright to me over the years.

This didn’t stop me getting a full nights sleep, in fact – I could have done with a little longer in bed really! Not as beauty sleep, heck the longer I stay in bed the worse I look – my head gets a bit like one of those wrinkly faced soft toys, but about the size of a water melon, it’s just that it’s so much fun pulling it back into a shape I recognise. Sometimes it works too, other times – not so much!  lol

Here it is…

Just recently I’ve noticed a change in people… This is with friends, relatives, work colleagues, people on the net and other acquaintances.
I’m going to be blunt here, because this includes nearly everyone and even people I don’t know very well.
Lately people have been working their proverbial butts off and this is fine. For many of you, you’ve been getting ill with throat infections, the dreaded flu and of course the common cold.
Yet few are taking time out to either rest and very few to recuperate.
I will tell you something now that our governments won’t – THE RECESSION IS OVER!! In the UK it was over months ago and if you don’t believe me, just go and look at how many trucks are on the roads! The bottom line is this regarding the so called recession – if the trucks aren’t rolling, there’s no business going on and right now there is so much business that the company I work for simply can’t cope with demand.
So what am I saying? You don’t have to go made working so damned hard – especially when it starting to become detrimental to your health and it will catch up with you.

I’m not looking to get into and argument here, I really don’t know or need to know what financial planning skills you lack or have – but you must start to remember why you go to work!!
The bottom line is that we do so in an attempt to make our lives better, so we can enjoy ourselves and if a few of us are lucky enough – even retire early.

So ask yourselves, is your work making or creating a situation where you’re truly enjoying your lives? I guess not – because the day you put work before yourself and your family, you’ve missed the point entirely.

Take time out when ill, take time out just for yourselves, not for just family vacations where you end up doing all the work and running around after others – but for YOU!!
Learn to be able to sit in a place that’s your own and just chill and not do a thing, be happy with yourself. The other contradiction but something of vital importance and it is playing as hard as you work.
Work is about making our private lives better, to give us peace of mind when not there – use this and take the stress away.

Yep, let T W Brit sound almost sentimental for a post – shock…
Today I received my first invite for Christmas to Dave and Annie’s across the road. This was very nice of them indeed, but for many reasons I like to spend this day alone – it’s nothing weird and I often need to feel a part of something greater to indulge – as such I work through Christmas day. But do I miss it? Well I guess I do a little.
This last few months have been amazing for me, you see, through this and other mediums, the people I have met and continued to communicate with have, for the most part, been people who at one level or another blown my socks off. These people have been from all walks of life too; Truckers, Journalists, Politicians, Actors, Lawyers (in a good way), even the odd celeb apparently (sorry, it’s an area for which I’m very vague). But the people I have and do speak to on a regular basis is something that has astonished me and I am most grateful.
As such there most certainly are things I miss – as we all do (and not in a sorry for myself way – it’s in a ‘just the way it is’ way).
So, while stagnating down here in Devon, here’s my list of things I miss – as bizarre as they may be and excluding individuals.

• The Peak District
• Owning and using a Land Rover 110 CSW
• My Irish Setter
• The stillness of a summers morning in some remote military training area.
• Arriving in a foreign town and simply not knowing what and where everything thing is, but having to find out quickly.
• Volatile risk in countries where life is so different to the lives we all know so well.
• Stark differences in cultures of those around you and learning the differences.
• The hustle and bustle of London
• I miss shooting a lot!! If I stayed in one place long enough, I guess I’d get a licence, but I never do.
• The silence at dawn in the ‘Empty Quarter’ desert in Saudi Arabia.
• Having a true reason or aim to get up sometimes.
• Fixing impossible problems
• Climbing
• The better side of me.
• An awesome roast dinner
• Air travel, I don’t like it (because I’m not the driver), but it always means I’m doing something cool.
• Seeing myself as clearly as I see others
• Huge Dr Who scarf my grandmother knitted me
• Long hair
• Being able to run 10 miles with weight
• A good Dentist
• Eastnor Castle
• Meeting people without them thinking you either want something or they feel they have to match-make me with a friend of theirs.
• Being sincere, actually I am, but my body language often says the opposite.
• Tax free living
• Ex-Pat lifestyle

So here’s the question to my regular readers, you get 10 things to list that you miss – that cannot be people.

Yes, yes, besides the persistent spelling and grammatical errors, the wide range of people like you who visit, is something that does surprise me. Moreover, it’s what you/they read!
The top 5 most read articles are these

1      The Nürburgring and Top Gears Respect fo
2     Motorway Driving Survival Guide
3     Zara Phillips shows off her swanky new h
4     Sabine Schmitz site is now in English –
5     Volvo Trucks Gift giveaway continues!!

The number one slot is very interesting, not purely because of the subject matter, but that Sabine Schmitz actually helped me produce it – for which I’m most grateful.

Irrespective of my techie, news, music, general entertainment and aviation posts – they’re all realated to driving!!

So, odd huh?!

Hi, well…. I was gonna post -but!! Just had a call and now have to take trip to Birmingham and back… I’m twittering on and off throughout the night.

L8r