SEIZE THE DAY

Bring On Man City Tomorrow. Wolves are not afraid of anyone

The current team for Wolves 2019-20 are full of young players, injury free and most importantly, hungry for success. They recently had played against City in the Premier League Asia trophy in Shanghai in July and emerged victorious after the game ended 0-0 and Wolves won on penalties.

Therefore, on current form, they will give the current EPL champions a good run for their money. They have not lost in 4 Games in Cups, and EPL. Its true they struggled with the extreme 2 games a week schedule, but its time for the 'boys' to show what they are made of. By now, early October, they should come to terms with their packed playing schedule which all top teams come to expect playing at this, the highest of levels.

Wily Boly is on fire, so are the youngsters Patrick Cutrone, Neto, Matt Doherty, Jonny Otto, Adama Traore and the defence team of Patricio, Saiss, Coady and Boly are rock solid. City will have a hard time to crack the Wolves defence.

Attitude, not having an overblown ego, and following the Gaffer's instructions to a "T", I am confident Wolves will pull off the upset of the season, and win 1 - 0. Probability of this occuring in my form book, 40%.

A draw 1- 1 is also a distinct 40% possibility.

Come on the Wolves !!!

Mark, Ian and Aleks went up the Castle one Cold and Dark Winter's Night

This story is reposted because I found it so funny, all these years later. 11 to be exact.

I have cut and pasted the post and pictures, and since I am the author of this post, I do not need permission from myself to repost it !

The story was in 2008, just after the Weiss worldwide agent's meeting in Giessen and below is the actual post I put up in Dec 2008.

Please enjoy and do not make fun of people's names, as it might be a source of discomfort or embarrassment (like my own surname can be twisted to be "A Bush in the Garden" !)

The Brothers - Me, Ian Firth (Australia Agent) and Tibor (Hungary Agent)

First Posted on 23 December 2008

Last March, during my annual visits to Germany to visit our principal supplier, Weiss Technik, the Australian agent, Ian Firth,myself and the Slovenian agent, Alex (formerly part of Yugoslavia) got along pretty well. We had meetings and seminars during the day and merrymaking with loads of alcohol in the evenings.One Wednesday evening, it was snowing lightly and we had been drinking alot at the factory cafeteria and after dinner, we headed back to our hotel which is in Wettenberg, a small village,situated northeast about 120 km of Frankfurt. We were getting pretty rowdy in the bus leading us to the hotel with the usual swearing and mild intoxication typical of many German parties.

Anyway, things were getting a bit out of hand and upon reaching the hotel, some of our agent friends opted to go to bed, while the rest checked emails and pursued other recreational activities at the hotel bar. Ian, Alex and I then decided to walk-run up to the nearby castle, in the dark of the night to wear off the effects of our drinks. We (guys) tend to do STUPID things when we have WAY too much alcohol and time on our hands. In this instance, it was 3km uphill all the way. So, we set of at a brisk walk in our trenchcoats and jackets.

Lynne (Taiwan Agent), Me and Alex (Slovenia Agent)

THIS IS THE LATE WINTER NIGHT WITH SNOW AND WIND BLOWING INCESSANTLY AND AN 8 AM START TOMORROW OF NEW ROUND OF SEMINARS AND MEETINGS.

It was cold,damp and windy. Alex told us he knew the route well and decided to cut through some cabbage patch through some farm area. We made our way up hugging our jackets and trencoats and slipping a little through the soft ground. Alex had a sinister look on his face and he was very quiet, intent on reaching the objective. Ian and I followed him. I knew I had my GREAT chance to spook Ian.

I casually poked Ian in the ribs,and said, "Ian, our friend Alex.Do you know his surname ??"
Ian : " No"
Me : "Alex, whats your surname huh ??"
Alex : " Dracula(ris), !! My name is Alex Dracula !"

THE WIND WAS HOWLING AND THE CAPE FROM ALEX'S TRENCHCOAT FLEW.He kept walking up, silently, at a fast pace, and leaving the 2 of us in his wake.

I half expected bats to fly out from his trenchcoat and the vines from the ground come up and grab our ankles ! Oh the imagination ran wild !!!

Ian's face turned white and he actually grabbed me. We both practically RAN up to the top of the hill where the castle was. Later, Alex and me went all the way to the top of the belfry (top of the tower) and had a magnificent view of the entire town.

At the Top of the Castle overlooking Wettenberg (I looked young then !)

We later went in to the Mexican bar at the castle to have a couple of schnapps to chill out. Oh yes and swopped our backgrounds and life stories.Turns out we are all about the same age then - 44 and 45. But more of that in a later blog.

True Stories to entertain our Grandchildren !

Raison D'ete : The Purpose of Life

I had earlier touched on Raison D'ete or the Purpose of Life. Well, in broad terms, each and every person needs to find his purpose in life. We are all put here (by God) for those who believe in Him, to serve a purpose.

It can't be for purely selfish reasons such as pleasure, or to create evil. Having lived through over 50 years I believe I have found my Raison D'ete. However, it is very personal and private, hence I cannot elaborate further.

Beautiful Antibes (Cote d'Azur) in December 2018.

The Cote Azur between Nice and Monaco

However, the process of it, can be found in the game changing book called Ikigai by neuroscientist, Ken Moji who ascribes to the Japanese way of "being in the here and now"

The 5 steps are :

1. Start Small
2. Negate yourself out from your life's work (Ego is bad)
3. Maintain harmony and balance with Nature
4. Take Pride in Small Things
5. Be in the Here and Now.

Once you have started on this road, continue to encourage your family and those around you to do likewise and see the personal growth in yourself.

Then I believe along the way, you will discover your Ikigai or Raison D'ete. It is never too late.