21st of March 2013

21st of March 2013 that's when Frenzy by Mark King is released. We all make mistakes in life and this date is one that I have made. For some reason I thought Frenzy was out on the 28th and have been telling every one this is the case, but now I know i'm wrong, it is the 21st.

The one thing I do know I did right was to resign from my job that turned my life upside down, and take a massive risk to become an author. I know this now because as I stated recently I have been forced to seek paid employment once again to pay the bills.

I had sunk under the offical poverty line last year and this hadn't stopped me from carrying on, but this time with Christmas approaching, and with my overdraft limit reached, I had to rejoin the rat race.

I had applied for various jobs and was given some short term work from a local company working as a consultant in London. I can't fault the company or the people I worked for as they are a good company, but, and there is always a but, the five hours travelling back and forth from my front door to the capital and back every day was hard.

It was even harder as I took the train every time and had forgot how tough this can be. The train is ok if all goes to plan, and its not over-crowded, but on most days this was not the case. Five hours travel could soon turn to six or even seven as trains would stop in the middle of no where, or just sit at a station because some point had stopped working, and we had to wait for an engineer team to fix it. It was worse when the line was out of action for half the day because of more serous problems.

I'm also amazed by the number of poor souls who think this life is so pointless they have to end it by jumping in front of a speeding engine.

The rush hour was the worst for overcrowding. After spending all day pounding the street of London with aching feet I would look forward to relaxing in a seat with the newspaper only to find the previous train had been cancelled, so now I would have to stand with all the other cattle by the toilet door while my nostrels breathed in the smell of stale urine.

The only difference between the overcrowded trains you see in India and the system in the u.k is that in India you only have to pay a few pounds to travel while here you have to spend hundreads for the same level of service. I doubt if this is the same situation in Germany?

I must admit that it was nice to have the payment cheque from the company, who always paid on time, in my hand, but deep down I knew this wasn't for me.

Money does help towards happyness, but there is a point when it can also work agaisn't it. As an example would you rather be crowded on a train at six on a Friday evening, standing next to the toilet, listning to people as they empty their guts, but knowing you have a healthy bank balance?

Or would you like to see your daughter sing in the Norfolfk County schools choir festival in the historic St Andrews Hall on a friday lunch time, then after pop into the Weatherspoons Glass House pub for a couple of pints of decent ale, and watch the world go by as you finish wrting your blog knowing it's not worth worrying about your bank balance?

Well this is what I am doing now (Thank you Weatherspoons for the free wifi) I have enough change for a couple more beers then will be home by six, skint of  course, but home wth my family and happy as well.