So here I am three months into the lockdown or in my case a lockin and I’m starting to re-evaluate my life, having been working from home since this all started I have been thinking about the future.
At the moment the college that I work for is now threatening redundancies AGAIN due to bad management and OFSTED, have decided that the senior management team are really not doing their jobs properly, however the SMT (Senior Management Team) persist in blaming the staff as all bad management do. So once again I find myself looking for either another job or doing something completely different.
 
As some of you may know I had a former career as a lighting cameraman which I enjoyed up to a point where I decided I needed to make a change, it was the time when computers started to move into movie making.  At that point I decided to move into IT (40 Years ago) to get a better understanding of how it all worked and how it could be used in filmmaking. 
 
Last year I purchased a drone to check the roof of my house as I had a leak, so I decided that rather than pay somebody to go up there and have a look I would use a drone to film the roof and see if I could find where the leak was coming from, this also gave me the chance to try a new hobby of flying drones, however, I never got to use the drone as the leak got really bad before I could even fly the thing so I paid a roofer to go and have a quick look and he fixed it there and then on the spot, as it was just a loose tile.
 
So what does a drone have to do with filmmaking?  The drone has a HD camera on board I have a HD GoPro for it, so combining those two I can shot aerial footage, also I have two good quality video cameras and a DSLR which is capable of shooting HD video so, I have decided that I’m going to make documentaries and short films as I believe this is my future not teaching as I do now, if I am made redundant then I need an income and I can hire out my services for shooting aerial shots for YouTubers and others that do not have drones.
 
However as I get older my hands are not as steady as they used to be I have a condition which is called essential tremor this means that my hands shake continuously and if I grip something the shaking gets even worse, a couple of years ago I purchased a SteadyCam which has really helped when shooting with the Video and DSLR, so thinking about these things yesterday I invested in a gimbal for both my phone and my GoPro, this now gives me the chance to shoot cinematic shots without hopefully no shake.
 
So, having now spent the money I need to do something with the equipment so my first job is going to be to shoot an introduction for my son who wants to start a YouTube channel about his VW beetle, having the gimbal Will give me plenty of options and some really spectacular cinematic shots if I do it correctly.  Combined with all my film knowledge and other equipment I should be able to produce a nice little intro no more than a minute long but with some really nice footage, anyway that’s where I am today, lockdown has been driving me insane, I need to get out I really hate sitting in front of a computer 24/7, so watch this space as when it is all done and edited I will place a link in my next post.
 
Stay well, stay safe, and I’ll see you all soon.
 
 GOM.

Having listened to Boris and his merry men, it is clear, to me at least, that nothing has really changed about staying in and social distancing.
We still need to be vigilant, and stay in unless it's for food shopping, but as I look out of my office window on this beautiful warm spring day, a whole family are on the green out side with friends, drinking beer and eating snacks, they are sitting no more than a couple of feet from each other and are showing no respect to Covid19 and what it is and what it can do to you, one of the party is in a wheelchair and I know is on the danger list.

So why do people think that they are invincible, untouchable and indestructible? I went shopping on Wednesday for my fortnightly shop, and not one person was wearing a mask or gloves except me.  So have we totally misunderstood what the government are saying, does Boris have to make it compulsory for us all to stay in our homes, safe, I would hope not, but I am sorry to say I think that's what he is going to have to do, I can see the new case numbers increasing over the next couple of weeks, we all know what that means, a spike and it running out of control, FOR F**KS SAKE people be smart not an idiot.

I am on the danger list, so if I get Covid19 I wont be posting any more because I will be dead, and that would really piss me off as I enjoy posting here.
So Dick Heads, stay at home, be safe, we are not that far from beating this, but if you don't adhear to the rules, and you catch it, don't come here complaining as I will just say, 'You Fucked up, so goodbye'.
As my grandfather would say these arseholes make my blood boil.

​Nuff Said,  GOM out!

Click here You can now listen to my podcasts on Podbean.

The amount of people not taking this Coronavirus seriously is simply shocking.
I see people from my window just completely ignoring the governments advice, what the hell is wrong with these fuckwits?
I was in the chemists yesterday picking up my meds when a woman just stood about 2 feet from me at the counter, I asked her to back off but she replied that I was wearing a mask so it was ok, she however was not wearing a mask, the chemist ask her to wait outside until I had finished, she moaned a lot then left.

So I fear that the chances of us in England getting this thing under control is going to be extremely difficult with all these idiots not adhering to the social distancing and hand washing, don't get me started on that. 

Stay Safe, Stay well.
GOM

I hope this post finds you all well and safe.
Covid 19, some fear it others just ignore the dangers, me, I am in the middle, I don't fear it but, I do understand the dangers, I have been working from home for 2 weeks now and I am well so hopefully I don't have C19 as I call it.
But, I do have to eat and I have been to my local Tesco twice and most of the shoppers were just ignoring all the rules 2 meter distance and don't lean into someones face to get a tin of beans.   I have started wearing a mask when I go out, it's a carbon filter mask, thick and fits well, lucky I had it on during my last Tesco trip, a guy wearing a bright yellow reflective jacket was standing right behind me and leant over me to get to some pasta, my instinct was to push him away with my blue disposable glove covered hand, he responded with 'what's your problem' I then proceeded to explain that his life was in danger not from the C19 but me, as the next time he was in striking distance I intended to send him to hospital,  he looked at me as if I was mad, he was correct I was really mad, at him for being an arsehole, I told him to 'F&&k Off' and carried on shopping, I didn't see him again, but I hope he has learnt a lesson.

I am not particularly worried about C19 it's the idiots that ignore all the advice that scares me the most, The mask thing wont stop me catching it if some breathes all over me, but it will prevent me from passing anything on, the important bit of kit is the disposable gloves, you just don't wont to touch anything anymore but you have to, so wear gloves and wash your hands correctly, I did a food hygiene course a couple of years ago and wash my hands for 20 seconds all the time as taught in the course, so it's not a problem for me, but as you all know I work in a college and I have seen several kids coming out of the traps/cubicle and just walk straight out the door without washing their hands 'Dirty little bastards', I think they may join the Darwin Awards and suffer from the C19 problem, for those of you that don't know what the ​Darwin Awards are​ Click Here.

We are all now aware of how this mess started, In China, in the Wet Markets, so what should the Chinese do to stop the spread, well, the first thing they should have done was close all the borders, cancel all fights and boats leaving the country and place a total lock down in place, we here should have closed our borders immediately, we are an island, we could have been C19 free, but we acted to late, and we are still letting people in by setting up flights to bring UK citizens home, I say that's a mistake, leave them where they  are until this is all over,  I know it sounds a bit drastic, but we need to keep C19 out and a total closing of borders is the only way.

I have spoken to friends who work in hospitals and I know a politician who is very close to Boris, and I am told we are at this time losing the battle, so to finish I have just this to say "PLEASE, stay safe, well and follow the government guide lines"

​GOM.

Everybody is talking about the Corona virus at the moment, which is fair enough, if I get it that's it lights out as I am on the vulnerable list.  But I want to talk about Online Bank Security, my account has been hacked 3 times in the last 5 years, each time my bank has sorted it very quickly and the only inconvenience to me was waiting for a new card each time.
But today I went online to pay my bills as i do every month and my bank has updated it security, fair enough but there is just one problem, IT DON'T FUCKING WORK........

I have been trying to log on for over half an hour now, so i tried phoning them, but no answer, my guess is that every online customer is in the same boat.
So, my question is this, I would imagine that most people who use online banking get paid at the end of the month then go online and pay bills?  So WTF are the bank doing upgrading their security now, why not in the middle of the month?  It makes me so angry.

Anyway, rant over, the next post I think will have to be about Corona, Covid 19 and SARS.
​

Hi guys, been a while but I have been busy.
I have been put in charge of the college radio station, which basically means I am teaching the kids how to use it, produce pre-recorded programs and live shows.
So, at the moment it is taking up a lot of my time, I also have to produce radio shows for broadcasting, I have two slots each week, 12:00 on a Thursday for a Conspiracy and Paranormal show and a drive time show at 16:00 to 17:30 on a Tuesday, both are live and I really am enjoying it, you can listen to me and the station via this link ​http://player.broadcastradio.com/cambridge-regional-college or my MixCloud account at www.mixcloud.com/DrDen/ go listen and let me know what you think.

Thats enough for now, I have a radio show to put together.
GOM.

Wow, how time fly's, so, if you read my last post you will have seen that I have started to get back into my Philately, and I was doing an evaluation on my stamps, as the last time I did one was 30 years ago, OMG, was I in for a shock, I am only 10 pages into my UK collection and I find a stamp worth £25000, yes twenty five grand, I also came across one worth £7000.00, so my £15000 replacement insurance is so far out of date it's scary.

Why Fuck the Post Office I hear you say, well, I have noticed of late that they no longer use nice rubber stamps to cancel the stamps, some of the rubber stamp impressions are collected by Philatelist as well.  But recently the PO have take to scribbling over the stamps with Biro's and thick black markers, which completely ruin the stamps, so I went onto twitter where I follow the PO, and I asked the question, expecting a good reason for this horrible way of cancelling the stamp's, the answer I got shocked me it was 'We can cancel them anyway we please' WTF, that's not an answer you fucking dick head, in fact I know the answer as I asked my postman and he said 'Laziness, they just can't be assed to take the time to use a proper cancellation stamp', So what the fuck is going on, I buy new mint stamp packs every year from the PO, and they are not cheap, last year I spent over £200 just for my collection, without the everyday stamps for letters etc .

So, if you are one of the twats that ruins stamps in the post office, move on and don't come back, but if you are a senior member than think about it, I am just one person who spends about £500 a year on my hobby, there are thousands of us just in the UK and millions world wide, you earn more from us collecting than you do from your services, so, just think about what your doing, you are killing the hobby for used stamps, how can I get young kids interested in the hobby if the stamps are so defaced you cant see the beauty or have a postmark of interest?  I have been collecting for 56 years, and hope to continue to carry on for another 56 (yeah I know I ain't gonna last that long) so come on Post Office, get back to thinking about the hobbyist as well.

Moan over.

PHILATELY, Yes, I am a stamp collector, I know, I know, the grumpy old man has another hobby, but this one I have been doing since I was 7, yeah, 56 years, I could not wait for the postman to arrive when I was a kid, it meant that I would get another stamp for my collection that I kept in a WH Smith stamp album that I got for my 7th birthday, wow, a long time ago.

So why do I mention it now, well I have been getting the usual amount of Christmas cards this year and for the first time in a while I thought that they were a decent design, simple but nice and colourful, and thats what attracted me in the first place, these little colourful works of art were great.
So, I decided to have a look at my albums and update them, it was about 2010 when I last spent some time and money on my collection, but I was thinking over the last couple of weeks that maybe `i should invest some more time and money in my stamps, did you know that the annual return on stamps as an investment is around 10%, not bad for a few bits of paper.

I have been busy buying some more valuable stamps as a insurance policy if you like for my son, when I kick the bucket, he can sell the collection to pay for my final goodbye.  Yes my stamp collection is valued at about £15000 for insurance purposes.  So, let me know if you collect stuff like stamps and coins, I look forward to your comments.

Happy New Year to you all.

​

OK, you can now here me on my new website, www.drden.co.uk 

Go check it out, I hope to have a new show every week.

​Later.​