Tag: dailyprompt

It was dental implants – they cost me such a lot!

Name the most expensive personal item you’ve ever purchased (not your home or car).

I’ve pondered this a little more

And now I’ve come to see

It was actually these front teeth of mine

That cost the most money.

Sadly they got to a stage

I’d have to have them out.

The choice would then be dentures

Or splash out for implants.

But I’ve an awful gag response

You touch the roof my mouth

I will gag and start to choke

So dentures will not work.

You can’t get dental implants

On the NHS.

So that would mean me splashing out

And risking private work.

I couldn’t fault the dentist

My teeth were excellent work

But I’d need an anaesthetic

When it came to pay the price!

They were most attentive

You couldn’t ask for more.

Thankfully we had the cash

It didn’t leave us poor.

But thank God for the NHS

I’m glad it’s always there.

We aren’t scared of getting sick.

Our safety net is there.

I have a kind of ceiling

Name the most expensive personal item you’ve ever purchased (not your home or car).

My most expensive item?

I really couldn’t say.

I have a kind of ceiling

Pay more and I wince.

But once you’ve paid

You own the thing.

Forget about the price.

I hate the throwaway culture

It’s not worth buying cheap.

I’ve had to learn to pay a bit more

And buy stuff that will keep.

I couldn’t name one item

But I’ll swallow and pay out

For a good pair of running shoes

Or decent walking boots.

I cannot do extravagance

I am not built that way.

A weather proof coat

A jacket or two

But nothing overpriced.

My wife will make me buy things

That’ll have me screw up my face

But she’s always right I pay the price

End up with decent things.

She will always read reviews

And always wants the best.

It’s a false economy

To buy what doesn’t work.

She’s a master shopper

Will buy at the best price

I buy more on impulse

And with a screwed up face.

Michael Moseley’s ‘Just One Thing’.

What podcasts are you listening to?

I don’t do podcasts overmuch

but there’s one that does stick out.

Michael Moseley’s ‘Just One Thing’

I listened to a lot.

Each episode focused on a single thing

That could improve your health.

Perhaps it would be breathing

Or how you exercise.

It might be picking up new skills

To activate your mind

Or simply changing when you eat

Perhaps a 5-2 fast.

Always entertaining,

informative as well.

Dr. Michael Moseley

With tips for staying well.

Sad to say he died this year.

On holiday in Greece

Overcome, so it would seem,

by unaccustomed heat.

The Podcast may continue

To be picked up by his wife

but, like a friend to many of us,

The doctor will be missed.

English was my first love

What was your favourite subject in school?

At school my favourite subject

was English, no surprise

But later social sciences

opened up my eyes.

I was slow to learn to read

But caught up once I did.

I loved books read voraciously

And passed eleven plus.

My first love writing stories

And getting teachers’ praise.

Later English Literature

And learning from the greats.

I struggled with mathematics,

Science, Languages

But got on with History, English

Loved to work with words.

From school I worked in libraries

Studied, worked with books.

Mostly the outside of them

And how they went on shelves.

I vowed I’d work in my own time

To earn my first degree.

So I’m an O.U. graduate

My university.

And as an adult learner

I changed my learning tack:

Politics, Social Science

and different stuff like that.

I don’t love sociology

I found that all too dry.

But learning how society works

I really loved all that.

But getting back to school days.

It was English all the way.

It helped grow in confidence.

There’s not much more to say.

Scream Time!

How do you manage screen time for yourself?

I’m managing my scream time

Trying not to choke.

How could civilised people

Vote for Donald Chump?

I just don’t get Americans

He’s a liar and a cheat!

An irresponsible narcissist

You wouldn’t want to meet.

He comes across an idiot

A man you can’t respect

All his shady business deals

So easy to forget?

At least there will be tax breaks

For Musk and billionaires.

As for all the ordinary folk

At least he’ll say he cares.

But don’t go wanting health care

Unless you’re well insured.

Too sick to work and lose your job?

Then you’ll go to the wall.

There’ll be curbs on abortion

So kids safe in the womb.

But they’ll grow up and go to school

and can be shot at there.

I guess there must be something

We foreigners don’t see?

Except perhaps the Russians?

They’ll love to see him there.

The world feels more unstable

You can’t know what he’ll do

And as for climate action

There’ll be no progress there.

The Guardian 6th November

The result is a catastrophe for the world. It saw Kamala Harris’s competence and expertise, her decency and grace, her potential to be the first female president in America’s 248-year history. It also saw Trump’s venality and vulgarity, his crass insults and crude populism, his dehumanisation of immigrants that echoed Adolf Hitler. And the world asked: how is this race even close?

Just give me a moment.

Do you need time?

Why yes. I need a moment.

A little extra time.

I’ll be with you presently

But right now I need time.

I need some time to clear my head

To think what I should say.

I think I’ll really like this prompt

Once I get underway.

I’m prone to always rush things.

I need to take my time.

I ought to stop and think a bit.

Perhaps I’ll make it rhyme?

Good things are worth waiting for.

They come to you in time

But I will need a moment

To search for rhyming lines.

There’s so much that I could have done

If only I’d had time.

I put things off and now it seems

I’m running out of time.

Yes I think I do need time!

As much as I can get.

I’m prone to waste so much of it.

I dawdle and forget.

I’d like to understand it

The stuff that Einstein said

But all that relativity

Just sends me back to bed.

So I will put things off for now

I’ll do this when I’ve time.

I haven’t got much time just now.

I could have done with more.

I’ve let you down in that last verse

It sadly doesn’t rhyme.

It might have done. It could have done.

I just ran out of time.

You reach an age there’s no guarantees

What will your life be like in three years?

I like to think in three years time

I will be still alive.

Though you reach an age

There’s no guarantees

And I’ll be seventy five.

I hope I’ll still be living

Much as I do now

Fit and healthy for my age

But you can never know.

I worry about my memory

I struggle and forget

I’m learning new things

To stretch my brain

Fresh challenges to be met.

We’ll downsize our allotment

To make it easier there

We’ll experiment with ‘No Dig’

A different way to grow.

Perhaps help in the garden

To help with bigger shrubs?

But we hope to be out and doing things

Keep active there’s the rub.

Our grandkids will be older

They’re changing quicker than us.

Look forward to their futures

Catch up and make a fuss.

We’ll maybe do less travelling

Though that would be a shame.

Still new places I’d like to see

Places I’d go again.

The dream’s to still be running

A new age category.

First Male Veteran Seventy Five

Will be the aim for me.

But who can know the future?

What three years can bring?

We’ll just be making the most of life

Keep active while we can.

‘Just Another’ Holiday

Invent a holiday! Explain how and why everyone should celebrate.

Bank Holiday Traffic

The ‘Just Another’ Holiday

It’s on a random date.

There’s nothing much to celebrate

It’s just a day off work.

Except essential workers

They’ll have to work of course.

And thanks to all the rest of us

Experience extra stress.

Half of us are in our cars

Congested, stuck in jams.

The other half are stuck at home

Complaining that they’re bored.

Shops and restaurants crowded

Like everywhere you’d go.

The worst time to go anywhere

A public holiday!

Perhaps we’ll leave the country

If we can find a flight

But holidays most always mean

The airport’s hit by strikes.

There’ll engineering work

Affecting all the trains

And a restricted service

On almost every line.

Then of course there’s relatives

Arguments to have.

Will they go to his or hers

Can they come to ours?

Of course I’m up for holidays

And keeping special ones.

We’d all like extra holidays

But must we go at once?

I’d love an extra holiday

But add it to my leave!

Don’t tell me when to take it

Just leave that up to me.

Choose a favourite website?

What are your favourite websites?

Choose a favourite website?

Well that’s a difficult choice!

I kind of like to cruise around

And get to different points.

I’d like to say it’s Jetpack

But Jetpack has its faults.

The thing that often fails it

Is rotten, awful prompts.

Sometimes it’s contributors

Who just rely on bots

Or just repeat the question

And somehow still get likes!

But still I’ll turn to Jetpack first

Then glance at various news

And then I’ll find the sports sites

Spend lots of time on those.

I’m into fantasy football

So must keep up with those.

Love the hub and fantasy scout

And fpl’s own views.

I’ll go to Duolingo

to exercise my brain.

Brushing up on languages skills

Though sometimes it’s a strain.

I like to go on YouTube

A place to learn new skills.

Quite often it’s just household tasks

Right know it’s drawing skills.

Now and then I’ll play a game

Designed to help my brain

Presently I play Mahjong

The favoured way to train.

Right now that’s just a flavour

Of how I use the web.

Who would ask my favourite page

if I just read books?

Give me back my teenage years

Is there an age or year of your life you would re-live?

Give me back my teenage years

I missed them first time round

Totally lacking confidence

I missed out on that age.

I didn’t go to parties

Too shy to talk to girls

Not much into music

My only interest sport.

Even there a failure

Would never make the team

Excellent in the playground

But on the pitch too quiet.

Tried hard with my schoolwork

But mostly keeping up

Gave up on difficult subjects

Never spoke up in class.

I never wore my hair long

Or wore outrageous clothes.

As for controversial views

I kept them to myself.

If this sounds pathetic

I must tell you that I was

And missing out those teenage years

Will have a consequence.

Those years are for experiment

To make mistakes, grow up.

Miss out on that development

And it will catch you up.

I tried to live life backwards

Get back those missing years

But later life’s an awful time

To find that you missed out.