What the future holds for family; thought provocation from journalist Liz Jones

Tags

depression, family, Liz Jones, mental health, prolongation of life, sexual differences, stress, The Greatest Gift

I noticed an article in the Mail on Sunday today; it was by Liz Jones, the self-deprecating journalist who lives with her life on her sleeve. She was talking about mental health and depression, particularly in women over 60, resulting from the stresses of trying to balance their lives, looking after grandchildren, children and ageing parents. However, perhaps their concern is to do with the realisation that their own life is possibly coming to an end soon and the worry of, ‘Have I done enough for everyone; have I passed enough information about life on to my kids to ensure that they have an easier passage through it than I did?’

In reading Liz’s article, http://dailym.ai/1bzgXu3, I realised that without having consciously considered it, I have finally taken on board, (with my wife’s assistance of course) how very different Man and Woman is. Men tend to see a problem and want to fix it and then move on, whereas a woman will analyse the problem, project it forward infinitely and worry about possible future problems. I realise this statement could be considered both sexist and glib, however in real terms, both approaches are absolutely necessary to provide a balanced solution to family life.

My novel, The Greatest Gift, considers the future in terms of probable increased life span and improved intelligence and it’s my take on what might happen if humans were to live for far longer than they do at present. In it, I explore the possibilities of a much longer life and the difficulties that might raise. I further this ‘exploration’ in book two, Drifting Sands, which I am currently writing. However, with time being plentiful, disease under control and intelligence vastly increased, what would Man do? Imagine then, 20-30 generations all living at one period in time; it’s a bit of a worry!

Ken Balneaves wrote, The Greatest Gift, available at http://amzn.to/QF7RLd (US), http://amzn.to/O12kgX (UK)

Is ‘The Café’, a writer’s retreat?

Tags

café, Coffee, excess, Observation, people watching, writing

Now I like coffee as much as the next person but in my little village there are six cafés, with two more planned, I hear. That’s one café for every 1,800 of the population. Surely, that can’t be sustainable even if it does give diversity of choice.

Personally, I prefer the privately owned small outlets rather than the larger chains but the very reasons I like them, might be a cause of their possible demise. They are less busy, so quieter; the Yummy Mummy brigade with their pushchairs and wailing kids seem to prefer the chains (thank god), but they are regular spenders that the small cafés miss out on. Often, the smaller places don’t have wi-fi and that’s a major deficiency now, especially for a writer.

On the other hand, sometimes it’s good to frequent the multiples just to people watch. What is that meeting all about, are they plotting against someone; why does the man of that couple keep looking over his shoulder, are they married but not to each other; that lady looks lonely and sad, I wonder if she’s recently bereaved?

So, what’s the verdict, large or small, private or corporate, or do both have their place in our time? Probably, but eight in one small village?

Ken Balneaves wrote, The Greatest Gift, available at http://amzn.to/QF7RLd (US), http://amzn.to/O12kgX (UK)

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Is observation a writer’s subconscious skill?

Tags

drinking, driving, friendship, interaction, Observation, writing

Last evening, after work, I drove to my local pub and had a few pints with a friend. Later, my daughter drove me home in her car. My own car spent the night in the pub car park, a bit of a worry but it was fine when I collected it the morning.

To get to it, my wife gave me a lift, part of the way at least, on her way to work. The remainder of my journey was on foot, about half a mile or so. Me, walk, unheard of, but I quite enjoyed it, passing and actually seeing houses that I’ve been past a thousand times before but have never really noticed. I also went by two schools and observed just how many fathers take their kids to school these days; changed times, I was almost the only one when I did the school run when my kids were young.

I exchanged ‘good morning’ with the lollipop man at the zebra crossing near the school. He then shouted hello to a passing bread delivery van driver, who I’m guessing, he sees every day, a passing friendship. I noted interaction between many people, smiling and talking as they met each other; parents cajoling their children along as they did so.

I also wondered why there was no queuing traffic at the junction with the main road as there always is when I’m in the car or is that just my perception when driving, trying to get somewhere in a hurry?

The sauntered walk was no more than ten minutes or so but I saw so much more of life in that time than I normally do when driving. The thing is, until my journey was over, I hadn’t realised I had taken all of this in, but I now have more stored memories to draw upon whilst writing.

So, the moral of the story? More drive drinking I think; or, I could get a dog. Either way, I think that, as a writer, due to my unconscious observational skills, my writing will benefit, and I might lose the beer belly too, haha.

Ken Balneaves wrote, The Greatest Gift, available at http://amzn.to/QF7RLd (US), http://amzn.to/O12kgX (UK)

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The mating game; friend, #lover or foe?

Tags

alien, Aliens, race, science fiction, war

I hope you don’t mind, I’d like to conduct an experiment. I apologise if you’ve read this blog before. I posted it four days ago with the title “The #aliens are coming, it could be the end.”; it bombed, with only a relatively small number of hits. So, here it is again with a sexier title and seven more words. I’ll let you know in a few days how it goes this time.

“As a science fiction writer, I spend most of my life thinking about the, ‘what if’ of life and beyond. Recently, on Discovery, I watched a, ‘How the universe works’ programme about the likelihood of alien existence and it set me thinking about what has to be the biggest, ‘what if’ of all time.

But what if they do exist? Religion, race, colour, creed, wealth and power have all at some time acted singularly or conspired to keep the human race at odds with each other. To a lesser or greater extent, these factors have succeeded over countless centuries, causing wars between individuals, families, tribes, counties, countries and continents. How then, would we deal with aliens, a truly ‘different’ race from other worlds?

They might be so vastly different from us as to be totally repugnant, or they might be some sort of super race and we know what happened the last time someone tried to create that. Either way, it is likely that the differences would cause us to want to defend ourselves from the unknown. To man and woman, the unknown is fearsome and ‘alien’ in any guise, until one acquires an understanding of those differences and their aspirations, whereupon previously held prejudices can often be set aside. Some might become friends or even lovers!

It’s not so long ago that we, as a human race, considered ourselves to be split into three. Caucasian, Mongoloid and Negro. These classifications were not very helpful in terms of unification of the people of the world and thankfully, are now all but dead. But the fact remains that we are all different and until and unless we understand these differences, we will continue to fight for our corner of this planet. Still, it’s a sad edictment that there are many wars going on in our World right now. I Google searched on how many, which returned varying answers from 16 to 43. One answer however simply said ‘to many’ (sic) so I have added another, the one against ignorance. And that brings me nicely back to the reason for those wars. Let’s all hope we have a long period of amail (alien mail) contact with our intrepid interplanetary travellers, ahead of when they arrive or before we visit them. If they speak one of our native tongues that is, otherwise, it could be the end of civilisation as we know it, the ultimate war; sometimes, only survival counts.”

Ken Balneaves wrote, The Greatest Gift, available at http://amzn.to/QF7RLd (US), http://amzn.to/O12kgX (UK)

The #aliens are coming, it could be the end.

Tags

alien, Aliens, race, science fiction, war

As a science fiction writer, I spend most of my life thinking about the, ‘what if’ of life and beyond. Recently, on Discovery, I watched a, ‘How the universe works’ programme about the likelihood of alien existence and it set me thinking about what has to be the biggest, ‘what if’ of all time.

But what if they do exist? Religion, race, colour, creed, wealth and power have all at some time acted singularly or conspired to keep the human race at odds with each other. To a lesser or greater extent, these factors have succeeded over countless centuries, causing wars between individuals, families, tribes, counties, countries and continents. How then, would we deal with aliens, a truly ‘different’ race from other worlds?

They might be so vastly different from us as to be totally repugnant, or they might be some sort of super race and we know what happened the last time someone tried to create that. Either way, it is likely that the differences would cause us to want to defend ourselves from the unknown. To man and woman, the unknown is fearsome and ‘alien’ in any guise, until one acquires an understanding of those differences and their aspirations, whereupon previously held prejudices can often be set aside.

It’s not so long ago that we, as a human race, considered ourselves to be split into three. Caucasian, Mongoloid and Negro. These classifications were not very helpful in terms of unification of the people of the world and thankfully, are now all but dead. But the fact remains that we are all different and until and unless we understand these differences, we will continue to fight for our corner of this planet. Still, it’s a sad edictment that there are many wars going on in our World right now. I Google searched on how many, which returned varying answers from 16 to 43. One answer however simply said ‘to many’ (sic) so I have added another, the one against ignorance. And that brings me nicely back to the reason for those wars. Let’s all hope we have a long period of amail (alien mail) contact with our intrepid interplanetary travellers, ahead of when they arrive or before we visit them. If they speak one of our native tongues that is, otherwise, it could be the end of civilisation as we know it, the ultimate war; sometimes, only survival counts.

Ken Balneaves wrote, The Greatest Gift, available at http://amzn.to/QF7RLd (US), http://amzn.to/O12kgX (UK)

I don’t swear or use the word, ‘awesome’ but the UK #Paralympic Games were simply F*%>\ng Awesome.

Tags

awesome, disabled, discrimination, fire, Olympics, Paralympic Games, Paralympics

It was with complete and utter awe that I watched the closing ceremony of the Great Britain Paralympics’ Games last night. As a writer, I try not to swear too much although, on occasion, my characters do. However, the spectacle of the end of the Games was indeed F*%>\ng Awesome.

It was reported that there would be fire and there was; the imagination of the director, Kim Gavin knew no bounds this time. He had apparently said not to look for the derivation of his inspiration for the set pieces; they were, as it transpired, fantastically fictional and doubtless, entirely from his own cerebral invention, much like when writers write science fiction.

Its story however conveyed the message that these games, the Paralympics’ Games, were about the greatness of people. People who, for various reasons, are disabled; from relatively minor injuries or abnormalities to unbelievably debilitating conditions that have a huge impact on their way of life.

Their recent battle against such adversity making achievements against all odds cannot, and must not, be simply for the sake of the past ten days. They have striven for Great Britain for years to qualify and subsequently win medals, but even the taking part is more than admirable.

Let’s not forget the Olympians of course, they too have, ‘done us proud’ coming third in the World, like the Paralympians, was also a fantastic achievement.

And the Gamesmakers, what a fantastic bunch of people, working long hours and managing to maintain a cheerful demeanour, it was almost like being in a US Disney park and just as clean.

Thankfully there were no antics from the warring factions of this World. It was really great to see our troops (and the Police) there in a peaceful role, enjoying their work, making the Games memorable for the right reasons.

So finally, for the disabled, it’s up to us, those who are able bodied and minded. The mood in the UK towards them has palpably changed; let’s keep it that way and afford them as much assistance as they need and deserve. Well done Team GB.

Ken Balneaves wrote, The Greatest Gift, available at http://amzn.to/QF7RLd (US), http://amzn.to/O12kgX (UK)

Flash Fiction is popular at present, I think I’ll join in, again.

Tags

café culture, Flash fiction, rejection, time

The Café

So, I’m here, all the time, in this café. Sometimes it’s busy, sometimes not, but even when it’s bustling, no-one takes notice of my old face for more than a fleeting moment, not really take notice. I’m always here, ready to tell my story but everyone seems far too immersed in their lives to interact with me.

Oh, oh, that lady’s looking now, will she like what she sees? Will she stay? No, she’s getting up, leaving, a young man taking her seat almost immediately. Will he look at me I wonder? I hope so, it gets a bit lonely here, even with all the conversations going on, the clattering of cutlery, the clinking of cups, the chattering of conversations, the collection of coins.

Many come and go and I watch them all. The solicitors meeting their clients for a quick breakfast meeting; the street cleaner grabbing a well deserved mid-morning break; the writer with a cup of cold coffee, obliviously tapping away at a laptop; the artist maniacally scribbling into his Moleskine; the builders, with their muddy boots; the excited yummy mummys who’ve just dropped off their children at nursery, others with babies, as yet too young for that.

Here there’s an eclectic mix of patrons, a microcosm, all with a story to tell. It’s the same the world over, I suppose. But I wouldn’t know. I stay here in this café, I don’t move, well not much. Me? I’ve a story to tell too. It lasts for 12 hours, then I tell it all over again. I have to go now, a man’s looking at me, checking his watch against my hands. ‘It’s ten to two Sir.’ Look, he’s smiling at me, we must agree.

Ken Balneaves also wrote, The Greatest Gift, available at http://amzn.to/QF7RLd (US), http://amzn.to/O12kgX (UK)

The day I nearly died. 10 tips for before and when piloting a helicopter.

Tags

danger, flight, flying, Helicopter, life experience, near death, time

It was just an ordinary day but it had been a late one the night before, so perhaps it wasn’t my best decision to go flying that morning.

The purpose of the flight was to visit my business partner. However, concerned about possible flying debris or stone chippings from his driveway, it was arranged that my helicopter landing could be in an adjacent field. Although the visit was business, there was no particular deadline to meet, thankfully.

After my meeting, I had proposed to fly into the local airfield to refuel in readiness for the next flight. However, upon arrival at the helicopter, I found that it had only 20 US gallons in the tanks and I needed more than that, thus I changed the plan to first go to the airfield to refuel, reversing my intended, pre-planned route.

At the hangar there were horses directly outside and a temporary fence parallel to the adjacent horses’ field, about 25 feet from it. I telephoned the owner for advice and was advised that I find the hand and ask her to move the horses, which I did. The temporary fence remained.

Having changed the plan, but only in my head and now going to the airfield first, I checked the rotors in the hangar, pulled the helicopter out and continued the rest of the preflight check on the pad.

After that, I filled in the log and then proceeded with start up. The helicopter did not fire first, or even second, time. This concerned me as I thought I might have to cancel my flight. In retrospect, that would have been a good result. However on the third attempt it started so I continued my checks and lifted off, high enough to clear the temporary fence.

With little wind and what there was coming from about 330 degrees, I took off in the direction of about 30 degrees and then swung round towards the nearby model plane area. As I reached that I radiod the local airfield advising that I had lifted off from a private site and was inbound for fuel. The controller gave me the QNH, the runway they were using and the wind speed and told me to report again as I came in which, as I was by then there, I did immediately. He told me of one fixed wing in the circuit and to call finals. I called finals and advised north side grass so I could fill up at helicopter club pumps. I thought that was only used by helicopters and that the pilots would be sympathetic to me taking my time on this, the first, occasion of fueling a helicopter on my own. How wrong I was.

Following an uneventful landing, hoverring over the spot I wanted to achieve, I advised the controller that I was taxiing to the fuel pumps. I taxied slowly towards them to be greeted by my recent examimer who was sheilding his eyes with a hand, looking at me to ascertain who I was. When he realised, he held the palm of his hand up and pointed to the ground. I landed there and then. I had anticipated landing between two R44 Helicopters on the concrete but my examiner came to the helicopter (with rotors running but now at reduced throttle). He opened the passenger door, put on a headset and told me that he considered the gap to be inappropriate as the tail rotor of the right hand helicopter was pitched and may catch my downdraught causing it to spin. He then went to it to change the pitch so I could land but it was locked so he moved the other helicopter instead which was by now running. As he hovered away, I lifted and landed where he had been, shut down and refuelled.

After refuelling I was form filling when a fixed wing appeared next to me waiting for the pumps. It was a tail dragger (one wheel at the back) a particularly aggressive looking old craft with an equally aggressive and impatient looking pilot. Aware that I was holding him up I quickly made some preflight checks, restarted, called for airfield information and radio check and made my response before lifting and turning. My pick up was anything but smooth which I put down to me not taking account of the weight if the now full fuel and me rushing. The controls were heavy but I did not register this too much at the time as my examiner was in an adjacent helicopter with a student, waiting for me to move. I hover taxied short of the runway edge and called ‘ready for departure’, was cleared and I took off in the direction of runway 24.

The take off was difficult in that I was not climbing much despite me calling for almost full power from the collective. I pulled back on the cyclic but there was still not a great change in climb. By now I was over a golf course and I realised I had a problem. I checked the hydraulic trim switch which was on but it seemed to make little difference when off. I switched it back on. I also fiddled with the trim rocker switch but no improvement. I checked my fuses, no faults. I was still heading west and due to my rising concerns, completely forgot to follow the approved circuit course, which, by now, should have been north. I was still low and aware that there were houses below. I kept my flight over the motorway verge, away from the houses in case I went down, by now a distinct possibility, I thought.

I was at the edge of the local airfield’s zone when I realised I had gone wrong in my navigation and travelling into a major airfield’s airspace. Still strugling to gain height, I made a turn as tight as the limited movement would permit. I headed north along the shortest path out of the airspace I shouldn’t have been in. My departure airfield then called me asking where I was as they had me at only 500 feet or so and in major airspace. I said I was aware of that and was now climbing but very slowly.

I was going to return to my local airfield at that point but I suddenly realised that the cyclic friction was my problem which I turned off and the helicopter then, immediately, performed normally. I had so rushed my checks I had not fully released the friction screw that, for safety reasons, stops the cyclic moving erratically or accidentally when on the ground. Such a simple solution but one that completely eluded me under stress.

However, with no sign of further issues, I decided to continue my flight. The flight from then on was uneventful but, as always, consumed my mind, taking away the, ‘I nearly died’, thought. When I arrived at my partner’s house, I circled the landing site twice before coming into land at about 360 degrees into a slight slope with the tail away from the slope. I shut down and had my meeting.

After the meeting, I returned to the aircraft, checked oil and fuel, lights etc. and restarted, lifted off and turned to take off at about 180 degrees as there was no wind. I quickly climbed and swung over to the west keeping away from another major airspace. I returned to the private landing site after about 20 minutes, calling the local airfield on the way to let them know I was back on their frequency and to inform them of my whereabouts. I slowly entered the private site’s area and before landing, called in to let the local field know I was putting down at a private site within their zone.

I landed heavilly on the pad, about three feet short of where I should have been. However, I was so pleased to be on the ground again, I thought to myself that I would move the helicopter to the correct position with the wheels on. I shut down, filled in the logs and put the wheels on the skids. I then found that whilst I can move the helicopter backwards on my own, I could not move it forward. So I manually spun the helicopter round to face away from the barn doors, brought the motorised trolley out and lifted the front of the helicopter and started backing it into the hangar. As it was too far to the right of the doorway, I was concentrating on the right side and completely misjudged the angle at which it was travelling. The last two inches of the horizontal empennage (tail) hit the left door post. I was at the time driving the trolley very slowly but nevertheless the impact caused the tail to crease. So, having avoided an accident in the air, I had one on the ground, by far the safest place to have a helicopter accident but still expensive.

This accident was of course totally avoidable for the following reasons.

• This flight day was after a night’s work and although I believed I was fit to fly, I was not on the top of my game and a number of mental errors caused my lack of concentration.
• Poor consideration of the tight refuelling area
• Allowing myself to be rushed at the fuel station
• The poor lift off not raising my concerns
• Not advising the local airfield of my problems once airborne
• Forgetting to follow the circuit for the local airfield
• Due to the remaining fuel being less than I had expected, I needed to refuel before my flight and this was a change to my anticipated plan which, with my limited experience, I should have given more thought to, before launching into it.
• The horses in the area and particularly the extra fence gave me more to think about just before and upon takeoff.
• I allowed myself to be rushed by the fixed wing pilot thus I took off with the friction control on the cyclic, half on, reducing its movement, thus my control. Had I given myself more time, I would have been more thorough with my check list or perhaps noted the problem before takeoff.
• I forgot local procedures whilst under pressure heading off into a major airport’s airspace.
• I did not give sufficient attention to hangaring the helicopter.

Lessons Learnt – 10 tips for before and when flying.

1. Only fly if 100% rested and fit
2. Consider a late change to a plan very carefully
3. Consider adjacent craft when landing. Be more aware of their weaknesses ( rotor direction, pitch)
4. Do not rush under any circumstances unless life threatening
5. Consider unusual feel/ movement etc with suspicion. Do not simply accept that it’s probably due to, full fuel, wind, etc.
6. Talk to the ground if having airborne problems
7. Be very familiar with the airfield’s circuit
8. Do not accept temporary obstacles if they can be removed
9. Think about where you are heading from runway positions before take off
10. Concentrate! Think ‘Helicopter’ from the time you get to the hangar until after you have left it.