MOON ON YOUR PYJAMAS

Last Thursday was my third anniversary in my current job. 23rd March 2020, just as the country was going into lockdown, i started work. This followed almost four years at the previous job, that i hated with a passion, and 28 years at the one before that, which i adored. I am not here to tall about either of them.

I am now a support worker, for young adults, who are on the spectrum, that are in supported living, and i LOVE it. In the last eight moths I have been attacked five times by one of our tenants, the last time literally being the last. Not allowed in with them any more. As much as i fully understand that, and i don’t want to have any more clothing torn or be wrestled to the ground whilst they claw at me and try to bite me, i miss them. and it isn’t just me, there’s a growing list. But there are others to support, there’s work to be done.

If, when i had taken my redundancy from tesco, you’d have told me that this is what i would be doing, i would have quite possibly laughed. I have never worked in the care industry, the nearest i came was as a scout, helping take a bunch of kids up Scafell Pike, in wheelchairs, in the driving wind and rain. i did 28 years in a supermarket, four years answering phones, this is a world apart.

But i DO do it now, and it has given me a completely new understanding of autism and learning difficulties, and a fresh outlook on life. not just my own, but my family’s also. It has made me appreciate how lucky The Enemy and i have been with The Boy, him being 23 now and *touch wood* no serious health issues.

I’m more than happy to say that should the boot have been on the other foot, i would happily have him living at the service i work in. There’s a lot of bad press at tumes about places like this, but not all are bad. Some, like ours, are run by empathetic, caring, conscientious people, usually (as it prooves here) on a minimal wage.

But there’s the thing. We don’t do it for the money, nor am i writing this as a humble brag, or for pats on my back. I am 53, i don’t want, nor have i ever needed either. And let us be fair, getting minimum wage to make meals, do a bit of housework/laundry, sit and watch telly, go shopping, day trips to the coast, sit and drink tea… it’s not to be sniffed at. Have a go. You’ll possibly love it too.

Sime

WOKE UP THE NATION

So Amanda Holden, speaking about the passing of Paul O’Grady, stated that he wasn’t “woke”. Now, i am no expert, but to me that word is used against peopke who, in general, seem to be on the right side of society.

So, as such, by calling Mr O’Grady, a campaigner for many different issues, “unwoke” Ms Holden is not so much missing the point, as completely bypassing it.

Rest in peace Paul. Holden, take a long walk off a short peir.

Sime.

THIS IS THE MODERN WORLD

Social media is a wierd thing. We all use it, most of us love it, some of us loathe it, to some it is a necessary evil.

I use twitter all the time. I love it. I probably spend far too much time on it to be fair, the new job gives me that ability. Facebook i mainly use to promote my radio shows. Instagram too. There seems to be a distinct seperation of “types” on the different platforms. I have met a few of my twitter “followers” over the years, some of whom have become friends in the real world. One meet up i am REALLY looking forward to is happening later in the year, and i shall tell you more about it nearer the day.

The main reason behind this post is that i got a link from a friend (who doesn’t really do social media) to a post on ticktock this morning, and i clicked on it, Now, knowing him as i do, i know that HE will have found it funny, such is his sense of humour, but i found it to be something quite xenophobic, and not “up my street”. Which is the thing, we live in a country where we have freedom of speech, which IS. a great thing, but makes me wonder where that thin line lies, and where should social media draw it? It’s not for me to say, and i genuinely don’t have an answer, but seems to me that at times, too much is allowed, and in most cases, by people in the public eye. (on twitter) A blue tick seem to me to be a licence to say what you want about ANYTHING. Conversely, it also means nothing can be said about YOU. I have had three bans for calling Jacob Rees Mogg a cunt.

I don’t know where i am going with this, it was an idea while cooking my morning omelette, i seem to have lost the thread between then and now.

I think basically what i am saying is, social media can beva tool for good, but has far too many cunts on it too (and being run by them now).

hey ho.

Sime

LET YOUR YEAH BE YEAH

So, what to tell you first? Well i suppose the radio is the next big thing after the paid job.
From what i can remember, since we last spoke, i have done shows on TheVibe, here in Barnsley, also Redroad FM, and Heckington Living Radio as a favour for Spider who gave me my first start on internet radio two decades ago.
Now i do a couple of shows on Barrelhouse Radio, The Total Request Friday Night Live and Sunday Session (currently on a hiatus replaced with old archive SFR shows)
SFR is still a thing, mainly The Drunk Punk, but also simulcasts of my Friday TRFNL BHR shows.

I’ve got some new shiny kit, with loads of buttons on, most of which i have NO idea what they do.
As for the live stuff, thats on hold at the moment.
I did Beatherder in 2019 with The Captain of the Rock n Roll lounge, i still do stuff for We Shall Overcome/May Day Festival of Solidarity (this year’s is 30th April at The Old Schoolhouse, £10 a ticket)
I was one of the DJs at the Sheffield Aces SC xmas bash last year, did a couple of support slots for bands at Jump Club. Not much else to be fair.

See you in a bit,

Sime

SLIGHT RETURN

Now, i don’t know if anybody really needs to know what is going on in my life, nor what has happened in tge past, but for some reason i feel a need to write again. And it has been a while. The last time i wrote was November 2017, which feels an age away. When i last posted i had finished working at Tesco, taking redundancy, and was in a call centre. Simply the worst job i’d ever done. Now? well now i have just had my three year anniversary as a support worker for vunerable young adults, and i am loving it. There won’t be much talk about that here though. Instead, it will be my musings on life, tales of stuff from my past, and basically a conduit to get nonesense from rattling around in my skull. Over to you, if you want it, i will write it.

Sime.

WAKE UP THE NATION

seems a lifetime since i played my first guest dj sets at a Rock And Roll Lounge gig, just over five years to be precise as you can see above, but i have done so many times since, and not just as a guest, for a while now i have been the official number two, assisting the boss man on every occasion where possible and alone at separate gigs.

but now, The Generalissimo has got The Rock and Roll Lounge a weekly residency at the Frog And Parrot in Sheffield. a venue close to our hearts as he has played at least one friday a month there for ages and we have done loads of successful bank holidays there together (see above), but now weekly. every friday is a Rock And Roll Lounge takeover between 9pm and 1am.

and sensibly we (he) has decided that it is beyond the scope of one person to do every week, so we are splitting it, and last night i did my first solo set. odd thing is, i have played there so many times before, but as my first time on a friday night, on my own, i was bloody nervous! however, the place was pretty busy and as always there, a very receptive crowd. so i plugged in and got em groovin’.

for those who may be interested, here is last night’s setlist.

 

(I’m A) Road Runner – All-Stars/Junior Walker/Junior Walker

Going to a Go-Go – The Miracles

Dirty Water – The Standells

96 Tears – ? and the Mysterions

I Fought The Law – Bobby Fuller Four

The Letter – The Box Tops

Respect – Aretha Franklin

My Guy – Mary Wells

Heaven Must Have Sent You – Continental Four

Makin’ up Time – The Holidays

Check It Baby – Willie & The Mighty Magnificents

Mickeys Monkey – Smokey Robinson & The Miracles

The Onion Song – Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell

My Girl – The Dualers

Till the End of the Day – The Kinks

Sha-La-La-La-Lee – The Small Faces

Valleri – The Monkees

Sorrow – Merseys

Honky Tonk Woman – Rolling Stones

Green Onions – Booker T. & the MG’s

Alabama Song (Whisky Bar) – The Doors

Zoot Suit – High Numbers

Grooving With Mr Bloe – Mr Bloe

Face Of A Loser – Tom Jones

Open The Door To Your Heart – Darrell Banks

Ain’t No Mountain High Enough – Diana Ross

Spinnin Top – The Orlons

You Can’t Sit Down – The Dovells

Mr Big Stuff – Jean Knight

I Can’t Turn You Loose – Otis Redding

Licking Stick-Licking Stick – James Brown & The Famous Flames

Got to Give it Up – Marvin Gaye

It’s Your Thing – The Isley Brothers

Pump It Up – Elvis Costello

Gimme Shelter – Merry Clayton

Tighten Up – Archie Bell and the Drells

I Thank You – Sam & Dave

Too Much Too Young – The Specials

Missing Words – The Selector

Special Brew – Bad Manners

The Horse – Cliff Nobles

I Believe in Miracles – Jackson Sisters

Thank You – Sly & the Family Stone

Parrty, Pt.1 – Maceo & the Macks

Kools Back Again – Kool & the Gang

Get Down With It – Little Richard

I Know You Got Soul – Bobby Byrd

Geno – Dexys Midnight Runners

Should I Stay or Go Now  – The Clash

Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn’t Have) –  The Buzzcocks

Pretty Vacant – The Sex Pistols

Going Underground – The Jam

Teenage Kicks – The Undertones

There’s a Ghost in My House –  R. Dean Taylor

Green Door – Wynder K. Frog

The Snake – Al Wilson

Tainted Love – Gloria Jones

Jimmy Mack Martha Reeves/The Vandellas

Just a Little Misunderstanding – The Contours

Snatching it Back – Clarence Carter

I Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In) –  Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings

Blow Your Head –  Fred Wesley & the J.B.’s

Brothers on the Slide – Cymande

The World (Is Going Up in Flames) – Charles Bradley

Ordinary Joe – Terry Callier

Better Man – Leon Bridges

Love Of The Common People –  Nicky Thomas

Guns of Navarone – The Skatalites

Monkey Man – Toots & the Maytals

Rudy A Message To You – Dandy Livingstone

The Harder They Come – Jimmy Cliff

Return of Django – The Upsetters

Liquidator – Harry J All Stars

Israelites – Desmond Dekker & The Aces

Long Shot Kick de Bucket – The Pioneers

Red Red Wine – Tony Tribe

Young, Gifted and Black – Bob & Marcia

Double Barrel – Dave & Ansel Collins

Wonderful World, Beautiful People – Jimmy Cliff

Louie, Louie – Toots & the Maytals

Sympathy for the Devil – Sandie Shaw

(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction – Incredible Bongo Band

Killing – The Apples

see you at the next one?

ttfn

Sime.

WHERE I SHOULD BE: Ace Things Coming.

I’ve started to blog again. “about bloody time” and “you’ve said this before fatty” I hear you all shout. yeah, I know, but this time I mean it. I have been asked to contribute to a local production studio’s website with my own views on music and the culture around it. the first few are all about me, not in some ego driven “aren’t I amazing” way of writing, more in a “here I am, this is WHY I am like I am” way.

I shall be posting the links to the entries here also, so you can get to read them too (obviously you COULD subscribe to the Ace Things site) I have already had two published, just sent the third.

so that’s that, but before I leave I shall ask you to go to the Ace Things website anyway and have a look at what it is they actually do. you won’t regret it.

PART ONE: REMEMBER HOW WE STARTED

PART TWO: I DIDN’T MEAN TO HURT YOU

ACE THINGS WEBSITE

 

SLOW DOWN

plenty of people are asking, so let me get one thing straight. I AM NOT DYING. i’m not 100% but i am NOT DYING. YET.

well, in so much as we all are from the moment we are born. but i have NOT had a heart attack, i am fine. ish.

we’ll go back a bit. i’ll explain.

Barnsley played Huddersfield in a pre season friendly. i walked down with the boy, and after the match we walked home. i stopped once to catch my breath and give my back a rest. not unusual in itself, other than i only stopped the once whereas i normally have two breathers.. then we played Ipswich. walked down with the boy, no problems, then we walked home. five tines i stopped. this time not just the usual back related issue (consequences of a fused ankle and being fat). no, this time my chest felt as though it was being ripped open. i finally got back in the house, and after a minute in the kitchen i went to the bathroom. after doing what needed to be done, i then went and lay on the bed for a short while. The Enemy went to pick the dog up from her mums/drop the boy off at work/get some shopping and by the time she got home the pains had subsided sufficiently enough for me to say “yes, i am ok” when she came home. watched some telly, went to bed.

during the night the pains came back, kept me awake most of it and made me feel bloody nauseous to boot. at the time my alarm should have been going off ready for me to go to work i was in no state to get up and go, so i rang to tell them. a few hours later it was decided i would/should call the doctor. my own surgery being shut (sunday) i rang the out of hours NHS line (BLESS THE NHS!) and answered so many questions i thought i was being interrogated! they then told me a doctor would call me back within the hour, which he did. and asked me all the questions i had just been asked. he determined that it was “unlikely” that i had suffered a “cardiac event” (a phrase that was to become familiar in the upcoming few days). he advised a course of ibuprofen and gaviscon. yup, that’s right. i took some, and it DID ease the pain. how odd. he also said to rest, so it was decided i would have the monday off too and return to work tuesday.

monday came around and something in me made me want to actually see a real doctor face to face. you know, to get the old stethoscope treatment, just to be safe. so i rang and made an appointment, which meant speaking to the receptionoist, who got the doctor to call me back to “discuss if he NEEDED to see me”. apparently this is how it is done now. he called, i was asked all the questions yet again and he agreed i needed to visit, so a date was made for friday (day off).

tuesday morning came, off i set to work, got there, started to set my stuff up for the day and the familiar pain started to appear again. went into the office with my manager and told her what was up, and to her credit she suggested i went to the hospital and got checked out. so i went home, rang The Enemy, then rang the parental unit to take me.

got to the hospital, they took me in and eventually i saw a succession of experts who wired me up, took blood, asked countess questions, pressed on my chest and used a stethoscope. the ECG came back normal, the bloods came back normal. but they wanted a second lot. in three hours. so, to wait i was admitted onto a ward. and waited. eventually the second lot of bloods were taken. then we waited for the results. all clear yet again, probably a muscular skeletal strain. BUT…. there is always a but, they wanted me to go to a RAPID ACCESS CARDIAC ASSESSMENT CLINIC for tests. according to what they told me, the numerous tablets i take each day for my diabetes can sometimes mask the symptoms of angina, so they needed to rule that out. here you go Sime, take this letter to your doctor and get him to refer you. no, we can’t. no we have no idea why either, sorry. oh and take a few days to rest yourself.

so i went friday, to the appointment i had already made monday. he got his stethoscope out. he asked me all the questions. he agreed i need the RACAC. gave me something to give the receptionist so she could book me in. and so i could get some more bloods done there and then. appointment booked for thursday afternoon.

so yesterday i went. got hooked up for an ECG, had a very nice chat with a doctor who asked me all the questions again and many more. he’s prescribed me more tablets, an under the tongue spray and is referring me for a cardiac CT scan to check my “pipes” to make sure i don’t have angina (see above reasons). at present purely precautionary measures, but you know, let’s make sure. so i await that date. well, two dates as i have to a have a pre assessment.

so that is where we are. as it stands right now, i am NOT DYING.

thanks to all who have asked after me and shown concern, means a lot. i shall of course keep you up to date, but you know as much as i do now.

 

ttfn

sime

LULLABY FUR KINDER

the boy is at Leeds Festival this weekend.
he will see Muse tonight (his favourite band). or The Hunna, a new fave. or both. i dunno.
he and his friends went and saw the Pigeon Detectives last night on my recommendation.
he loved em. says he was in the mosh pit.
i WAS tempted to tell him who to see today, but HE needs to decide, not me.
i am missing him like mad, worried that he is ok, jealous that he is there with his mates and not me, and not looking forward to being at Oakwell without him tomorrow. sounds daft, but feels like i am losing him. spent so long on nights and missed so much that the time we HAVE spent doing stuff, especially these last 16 months, seems to have been so shor and gone by so fast.
that is my fault, not his, and i know that i could have also probably made a bit more effort, but thats too late now.
it’s little things like coming home this monday and NOT watching Game Of Thronesat half four, before his mum gets in and disturbs us, because his girlfriend was here. don’t get me wrong, she is wonderful and i am glad he has her and that happiness in his life, but we’ve ALWAYS done it!
anyhoo, i can’t wait to see him monday and hear all his tales from the weekend. maybe over a drink.

ttfn

sime.

UP THE DOSAGE

​so…

saturday walking home from Oakwell it felt like my chest was being ripped open. bad night.

sunday rang 111. answered SO MANY questions. out of hours doctor rang. answered SO MANY questions. advised that probably a strain/muscular. better night.

monday rang  my doctor. booked in for friday.

today. woke up in pain. went to work. came straight home. then i have spent most of the day at the hospital. had two blood tests, an ECG and lots of waiting.

bloods normal. ECG says my heart is fine and i have NOT had a “cardiac event” but rather it looks like it is muscular.

friday i have to still go see my doctor and he will book me into a clinic where they’ll put me on a treadmill and see what is what. (imagine the episode where Homer is on one, being watched by Mulder and Scully)

until then been told to relax, take it easy for a few days.

there you go.