JustPickOneUK

Well today is August 12th 2026 and it is time for a (near in the UK) TOTAL Eclipse.  Its not quite a full one here in the south of England but it is for some close by and it is the nearest we've had for 27 years. I remember the last one and being excited that it was happening. My sister and I ended up going to one of her friend's houses to see it. Not that it was any better there and mostly we just noticed it got darker and watched the live reporting from Land's End on the TV but hey, I remember where I was when it happened.  This time will be a bit different though as I have a cool kid at home for the summer holidays and we will be watching. We don't have any eclipse glasses as I need regular ones to see properly and I am a big proponent of not messing with the sun when it comes to eyes in particular.  So instead we are going to walk to to the top of the near by hill and use a pin hole viewer. This tech has been around for a very long time and it is the second safest w...

As readers of this blog may know I like to go camping. This is a relatively recent phenomenon (the last few years or so) and I have been really embracing "going shopping" while on camp. Its nice to go around each others pitches to see what different pieces of equipment there are, how many ways are there to sit down, how many surfaces are there to put how many different drinking receptacles down and so on. "Ooh I love that chair", "How does that table work?", "That solar panel is cool, where did you get that?"  While on the 3 Peaks in 3 Weeks trip (Link here if you'd like to read my first post on the subject), I saw a new style of tent being put up in full for the first time.  Rather traditionally, we have always had tents with poles and I'd seen these new tents before but not one being pitched from the outset. The tent that caught my eye was a massive family tent (suitable for about 8 people I think) and it was being erected by one perso...

I cannot believe that 2 years have gone by since I published my first ever YouTube Video. It was unboxing the new camera I had decided to spend some of my inheritance on. The DJI Osmo Pocket 3. I had researched it and thought about it over and over again. 2 Years later it is still my main camera for all of my videos and I love it to bits.  I have been making videos for YouTube for 2 years now. In that time I have switched software, bought more cameras and equipment, travelled further away than I  have ever been before, visited new countries and travelled abroad completely solo. I turned 40,  Been very sad, been elated, been on TV (well in the background anyhow). Seen some local gems, film studios and sets, a royal family and square trees. Used ships, trains, planes, cars, chased dreams and felt all the feelings along the way. I have done so many things, seen incredible things, been places and experienced places and I have been very lucky to do so. I have achieved less tha...

Trying to buy white goods shouldn't be difficult when you are ordering online in the 21st Century. It is April 2026 and I am trying to buy a washing machine and a dishwasher. One gave up the ghost a while ago and the other is now roaring at me like an untamed dragon that I just poked in the eye with a pencil.  So, off to a major retailer I go. I find items which fit my needs and I have the audacity of asking for an additional service. I would like them to take the old ones away for a fee. Shouldn't be too hard. Both items are confirmed in stock, both deliverable to my regular south coast mainland address and I shall be paying more money for said service. All good, yes? NO. I go to the basket and now magically I cannot have one or both of the items delivered. OK.....but which one and why not now? Lets ask the chat bot........nope it has no idea because this is well beyond its capability. Let's ask a person. Same information given to the person and I get a response which is t...

 Its a very curious thing having a website. You'd think one of the biggest issues would be updating it regularly or preventing the information from getting into the wrong hands. But when I got an email this morning I was shocked to see one of the reasons my website wasn't being seen or not doing as well as it could on Google Search.  I am being "Blocked by Robots". Now, I don't know what to do with this information. I am very much an end user. I know what is working when it works and clueless when it doesn't. I am the type to get frustrated with computers when they tell me to do something to fix a problem and it still doesn't work.  The following my or may not be inspired by recent events: "I've added paper to the printer, I have updated the drivers, I have connected it to the WiFi, I have checked the cartridges and checked for blockages, just print my one page form so I can sign it and send it off...................."cannot locate printer...

  Well its official the blog has had over 10000 views. I suspect most of them are bots given the locations of the supposed people reading the page but I don't care right now as 10000 is a big number.  I was wondering why does reaching round numbers mean so much. 9999 is a sizable amount of people and yet its not 10000 is it? Why does the human brain function better with finality? I don't have an answer and I expect there is a lovely rabbit hole I could dive down but I don't care enough about that right now as all I am choosing to concentrate on it that I have had 10000 views on the blog!  When I started this blog as a way of getting thoughts out of my brain rather than having them sit there stewing in a melting pot of other randomness I didn't really think it would get this far. The blog then morphed into a YouTube channel which took over most of my capacity. But I love that it is still here as there are times when just writing things out as I think them feels right in ...