I can’t stand the rain . . .

. . . which is possibly one of the biggest lies I’ve told for a while. But more of that later.

I can remember, when I was a little younger, spending August bank holiday in a field in Bedfordshire at an open air festival- and, due to the vagaries of English weather, it would always contrive to rain. I’ve still got the recording of rain dripping onto tarpaulin as we huddled together and belted out the words to After The Fire’s ‘Island’… “here on my island, it’s nice when the sun shines, and I can enjoy all the good things in life…. but I can’t staaaand… the rain”.

But it’s not true, not for me, anyway. I love the rain. There’s something about rain that awakes something deep inside me… to the point that one of my friends refers to me as her little rain god. I don’t know what it is… perhaps it’s the memory of ‘wet play times’ where I could stay inside and read instead of being forced into playing outside. Perhaps it’s the memories of watching the rain pour down from leaden skies on an English beach as we played cards in our beach hut. Perhaps it is an affectionate nudge back to summer weekends under canvas listening to a parade of wonderful music. Perhaps it’s that some of the most romantic scenes in movies seem to happen in the pouring rain, when two people, so much in love, ignore everything and kiss with passion and desire. Perhaps it’s remembering splashing in puddles in my red wellies.

I used to work in my garage, and every time it rained, I could hear the clatter on the garage door, and I would go and get my coat and go for a walk. I’d sit in the window of my study and watch the rivulets run down the street.

But it it just the memories of my youth that make me feel this way? I don’t think so. The more that I sense what’s happening as I walk, the more I feel there’s something deeper than that. The more I become aware of something more fundamental –and more true. At one level I seem to be sensing a different energy around the world – more creative, more connected – almost as if the raindrops are conducting spirit and thought in a whole new way. At another level, the rain creates an intimacy, a greater closeness to all of reality. There seem to be whispers in the rain of creative promise, of new growth – a promise that the dry times are over, that the drought is at an end, and that new life is even now starting to stir. There is the hope of refreshment, of another piece in the cycle of life.. and also the promise of things being made new, of being washed clean – of mistakes being erased, of things that don’t matter anymore being lifted clean.

And there’s just the hint of the possibility of the storm – of a moment when it steps beyond rain and the wind and thunder and lightning come together to demonstrate true elemental power – to show what just might happen, beyond this moment…

Pictures from Havana and Trinidad, Cuba, 2010

Countries I’ve visited . . .

There were 22 on the World Tour (which very clearly wasn’t a world tour, especially since I didn’t touch Africa or Latin America) which added to the 24 others that I’d visited earlier…

…but it still feels like a poor effort out of the 226 countries in the list!

Better get the next adventure planned… Africa here I come . . .

Treat yourself to a sunset

One of the things we need to do is to take time out for ourselves… look after ourselves a bit. Maybe kick back, relax, let the world pass us by. Maybe treat ourselves to something that makes us feel good. One of the recommendations for those of us seeking to be wealthy and successful is to set aside 10% of our income as a ‘play’ fund – to be spent on those things that make us feel good. Like a massage, or a manicure – or maybe a nice meal, or… well, you get the idea.

And then there are the other things, too, the things that sometimes come for free… a walk by the river, a date to see the sun rise, time out to just watch nature going by. Time out to let your heart speak, to enjoy a truly spiritual experience as this beautiful planet shows off to an audience of one.

Yesterday, I watched the sun setting over Barnwell Park near Oundle – just a few minutes walk from my home and a beautiful setting to watch the sun slowly disappear in a explosion of coruscating orange and red, throwing the pale blue sky into sharp contrast. The swans and geese glide across the lake, while ducks play fight and a moorhen scuds across the surface for the sheer exultation of it, never quite flying but not really swimming either.

Tonight, I didn’t have my camera as I took a twilight stroll to think some things through and let some dreams settle – to let go and release some stuff that had been troubling me, while letting the new begin to excite my spirit. As I stood on the bridge overlooking the river, and as the sky slowly shaded from softest blue into gentle coral pink, I felt my heart start to relax and let go. The new moon was just a slender crescent suggesting the shape of the disc behind, while Jupiter and Venus watched like proud parents standing guard over their newborn child. On the river a pair of swans glided silently yet purposefully up river, while all around dozens of bats cavorted and danced a wild pirouette through the evening sky.

Eventually the sky grew to an inky black, outlining the stars and the silver white shard of the moon. Sure, I had no camera, but the feelings and the images lie precious and close to my heart… and somewhere, it seems that Truth has spoken and something else has become clearer – and I feel as if my life is in safe hands…

For sale… Bessie the camper van

Sadly up for sale “Bessie”, my beloved camper van that’s been a huge part of my adventures recently! I have no idea why she’s called “Bessie” – she just is. I have some great memories of sleeping out with amazing views, waking up in the countryside and being able to move from place to place,

Bessie is a small (so relatively easily to manoeuvre) small (four seat/four bed) camper and ideal for spring/summer travels, festivals etc.

G Reg (1990) Renault Trafic 2.0 l diesel Camper Van with high top conversion by LeisureDrive. 100,700 miles, runs nicely, starts reliably. No tax but MOT to October 20 2012. Some bodywork rust patches, scrapes to fibreglass roof.

Accommodation: Upper berth slide out double bed over driver’s cabin plus single/double bed/sofa conversion possible in main cabin. Fully curtained (new). Rear seats comfortably cushioned in brown with grey throws (included) for style and comfort. Cabin is carpeted and kitchen has washable flooring.

Kitchen: Calor 3 ring cooker plus grill (Calor tank included), space (& 220V point) for fridge (currently used as bookshelf area), Sink/drainer with pumped water from tank. (Please note – I haven’t used the water tank/pump but believe it to be in working order)

Storage: underseat storage compartments, full length wardrobe (converts to changing area/ W/C area). Plenty of storage in kitchen area with cupboards, shelves and wall cupboard.

Facilities: Protex 1600 gas heater under seat, dual battery setup, 220V power setup including hookup cable. Both 12v and 220V lighting available. Includes 220v to 12v car accessory adapter.

Satellite navigation display mount. Fitted single bike rack. Awning also included in sale.

Looking for £1,700 – contact me on tim@teamhodgson.co.uk or 07808656115.

Buns of glass, legs of jelly

So, time for a different adventure – having had my bike released from captivity, having been kidnapped by builders who said they would store it safely and bring it back the next day… three weeks ago… it’s time to get some exercise – and what better way to do that than by cycling over to see little brother (who is, by some genetic mismatch, bigger than his big brother). I’ve got his birthday presents to deliver – although it won’t actually be his birthday for four months. The last time I set out on this epic journey, my pedal fell off after two miles, so it’s with a bit of trepidation that I saddle off and ride off into the sunset. Perhaps a bit early for sunset, but I have a sneaky feeling that the ride back might be in the dark…

The first six or seven miles pass uneventfully enough, although I am convinced it’s mostly uphill – a sensation supported by the simple fact that I am climbing out of the Nene Valley. I’ve cycled this way before, and pass the familiar landmarks until I enter uncharted territory at Aldwincle.. and the gentle rolling slopes of the Nene Valley turn into the savagery that is Islip Hill – and the peace of the Northamptonshire countryside is punctuated by main road traffic. But this is half way, and piling on the pace I emerge triumphant at the top of the hill, ready for the drop down into Barton Seagrave. The road is pretty familiar, apart from one minor complication – the A14 has carved its way across the landscape, slicing across minor roads with gay abandon. The shortest distance between two points is the old railway line, but sanity takes me down the old roads and suddenly I am completely confused… convinced I’ve taken the wrong turning, I backtrack only to decide that I was right first time (regular readers will see a pattern emerging here – check back to a post from Thailand HERE).

Following the wind turbines proves a sensible navigational aid, and finally I sail, rather later than expected, into little brother’s driveway, with a sore rump and jelly legs, to find him spitting feathers at Liverpool’s performance against Cardiff in the Carling Cup (1-0 down at this point). Sustenance is on hand in the form of coffee with far more sugar than usual, and a Muller Corner yoghurt. 17.49 miles in 1h53 is a bit off my top score.. but I made it. A pity I have to get back as well.

So, leaving Liverpool 1-1 and in extra time, it’s back onto the bike, pulling on my London Marathon sweatshirt for warmth against the evening chill. The light is fading fast as I weave my way through the short cuts around Barton (got them right this time) and out into the Northamptonshire twilight. Over my shoulder, the thin sickle of a crescent moon looks over my shoulder from a hazy wintry setting, with Jupiter and Venus in attendance to add extra glamour to the scene. Rather than the detour, and with my heart in my mouth, I decide to brave the shortcut down the A14. I’ve had scarier rides on my bike, but it’s with relief that I pull off the A14 and head into the countryside. From the other direction, Islip hill is a whoop whoop exhilarating ride downhill, and the corresponding slow grind up the other side takes me steadily into the darkness. The moon and its acolytes still hovers over my shoulder, while around me the stars are coming out to play. I’m grateful for the extra layer of warmth against the chill – and for the reminder that I’ve overcome this kind of challenge before.

In the darkness, the landscape is eerily different. Skeletal trees loom large against a pale sky, and hedgerows form fantastical silhouettes against the skyline. Here and there small communities gather together against the darkness, while churches and the local stately home form way-points on the journey. All the cues to distance have changed – hills seem interminable with no indication of when the summit will appear, while sudden inclines spring up unexpectedly forcing a rapid gear change lest I fall off the bike.

A startled bunny ducks for cover. I apologise profusely, realising that I’ve missed my turn and driven into Aldwincle Playboy club. But the night is spookily dark and quiet, just the sound of the gear chain and the soft roar of rubber on tarmac to disturb the silence as mile after mile of country road falls beneath my wheels.

Landmarks come and go until the welcome sign for Stoke Doyle appears… the final village before home. Across the valley, the welcoming lights of the Oundle School houses beckon from the centre of town. After the challenges of the Northamptonshire contour map, Stoke Hill is of little consequence and I sail triumphantly into Oundle.

So, a total of 32.77 miles and 3 hours 31 minutes of cycling later… it’s time for a hot bath, and a very late breakfast….although whether I will be able to move very far tomorrow remains to be seen….

What’s in a PC?

While posting on Facebook the other day one of my friends asked me about a piece of technology that I use every day on my PC – and I thought, since it had been a while since I posted anything, that I would warm up with a quick post about my PC.

I’ve been working in IT since before the PC was invented – in fact, I did the first demos of the IBM PC-XT to Unilever Research in the UK. I’ve run IT systems across the world, and was responsible for the entire PC development process in Unilever (around 200,000 PCs) – so I know what I am talking about….and of course, it’s my belief that a PC should do what I want, not what Microsoft want (by the way, I have nothing against Microsoft or Bill Gates – I think Microsoft have produced some amazing software, and do some great things).

When I got my last PC, I decided to do as much as possible using Open Source or Free software. And I have done remarkably well! Just to let you know – Open Source software is software that’s publicly developed – all the source code (the original programming) is freely available so that people can extend and develop the software themselves. The results are made freely available for download. Freeware software is software that people have created and made available for free – sometimes they ask for donations, other times there is an advertising component to the product – or it is a limited edition version of a paid product (perhaps an older version, or one with fewer features). It’s surprising what’s available for free. Some licences are for private use only, by the way – or for small companies with few employees.

So, what’s in my PC

Well, first off, you have to admit that that’s probably the tidiest PC desktop EVER!

Office software – the wonderful and only occasionally idiosyncratic Open Office has my word processor, spreadsheet and presentation tools. It also has a PDF creator so that’s ideal for ebooks that I create. I’ve spent a bit of time customising the toolbar for the most frequent functions.

Mind mapping – I use mind maps for marshalling my thoughts (otherwise they look like birds nests) – Freemind is a perfectly good version that allows me to get my ideas down in a structured way.

Note taking and To Do lists – Evernote is the best that’s out there in my mind.. I use it to clip interesting stuff from the internet, to store my thoughts, inspiration that I get, quotes and more. It allows for a fairly basic ToDo list, and while there are better To Do tools, I would rather have a simpler life with fewer things to manage. Evernote automatically synchronises with the web and then to my Android phone – meaning all my notes go everywhere with me!

email and calendar – here I use Thunderbird (email) and Lightning (calendar). While I could just read email on line, I find it’s faster to download it all into one place and use it from there. That allows me to grab all my email from multiple accounts into one place, sort it with some clever rules to categorise it and throw away the junk (an prioritise some things from those very important people in my life). I’ve extended Thunderbird (and Lightning) to make my life even easier, adding more formatting, easier access to email accounts and more. I use K9 to do spam filtering for me.

Web browsing – I use Firefox. I know Internet Explorer is equally free, and I could use Chrome – but I have grown used to FF and use quite a few add ons to improve it (for example to manage the tabs, close all tabs, fill out forms automagically, block Flash adverts, block adverts and more….

Picture management – GIMP is an alternative to Photoshop. It does what I need, although perhaps not quite as easy to use as PS. I’m not a heavy user of this stuff, so that’s OK for me.

Audio editing – Audacity is great for all the wonderful little teaching and hypnosis audios that I create. (You read it here first – expect to see some great new products from me coming soon)

Blog editing – all done off line with Windows Live Writer and then uploaded to my various blogs

ebook editing – using MobiPocket and the Amazon on line tools

Diagrams – flowcharts and other diagrams are created using Dia and the Dia shapes add ins.

A real find was Auto Hot Key – using this I have created all sorts of little bits of automation that save me time for repetitive tasks and allow me to get my PC working for me rather than the other way round!

And then there’s loads of stuff on there that does little bits for me:

WinDirStat produces a graphical picture of what’s on my disk so I can clear up where necessary

Recuva is used to recover files that I accidentally deleted (and FileShredder is used to destroy files I definitely don’t want)

SyncBack SE (for backup to a hard disk) is the only paid program I have on my PC – and that because I already had it paid for. Otherwise I would just go with the tools in Windows 7.

Kompozer is used for editing HTML documents for the web – and FileZilla is the FTP client I use to put them on line.

Virus checking using Microsoft Security Essentials – although I used avast until recently

WinAudit is used to store my configuration so that I can rebuild a PC quickly

Pixclip is to grab screenshots from my screen to use in manuals or as reminders

iPrint saves me paper by printing two sheets on one A4 page

Juice for downloading podcasts

7-Zip for managing zip files along with rarzilla for RAR archives

And of course the usual suspects – RealPlayer, Quicktime, Silverlight, Acrobat, Windows Media Player and so on. I’ve also tweaked the interface quite a bit to stop it annoying me (although the fact that I put the Windows Taskbar at the TOP of the screen annoys everyone else that uses my PC)

I’ve also spent a lot of time organising my desktop, file system and email system to make my life faster and more efficient – and so I can find things effectively. But more of that another day, maybe….

Do you miss it?

A friend of mine asked me whether I miss the adventure… and I realised that wasn’t quite as easy an answer as I thought. So here are some thoughts on what I miss… and what I don’t!

 

 

 

Missing this

Meeting so many different people from so many different cultures – whether they were travellers like myself, or locals that I met on the way.

Seeing so many beautiful sights – especially some of the amazing natural wonders of the world, but also some of the truly gorgeous beauty that man has created too.

Not knowing what was going to happen one day to the next – where every day is different with new opportunities and new challenges.

Not missing this

Moving from place to place with no sense of stability and ‘home’.

Living in cramped noisy dorm rooms.

Living on noodles and a budget of $30 a day.

Worrying about my passport.

Glad to be back

Experiencing snow and cold again.

Spending time with David & Jonny – the most amazing men in the world.

Spending time with my wonderful friends.

Dance – didn’t do as much of that as I wanted to.

And still doing this

Meeting so many different people from so many different cultures – whether they were travellers like myself, or locals that I meet on the way. There are some wonderful people that I missed desperately, and people that I am meeting for the first time as I get back into dancing.

Seeing so many beautiful sights – especially some of the amazing natural wonders of the world, but also some of the truly gorgeous beauty that man has created too. This is a beautiful, wonderful, gorgeous country full of incredible sights, especially when we simply open our eyes to what’s right in front of our eyes. Sometimes we get used to it and become blasé.. but it really is a wonderful place to live.

Not knowing what was going to happen one day to the next – where every day is different with new opportunities and new challenges. And it still is, as I start to get my head round the new business I am creating – and how ever day there are new ideas and new thoughts coming out on what I am doing…

Life is the great adventure… some of us get the chance to travel the world whereas others will find different ways to fulfil their dreams.. but every one of us can live a life full of joy, promise, adventure, excitement and happiness. Sure, there are going to be tough days. Some days are hard, sad, despairing. But the rest can be wonderful… as long as we look for the joy in all things.

Another friend asked me if I’d travel again. The answer is ‘sure’ – I am creating the kind of business that will allow me to take two or three months off and go and do something exciting and amazing. Who knows where that might be!

Speak to you soon….