Gnusmas?

I know we’re not supposed to do call outs of users on here but I’ve been thinking about him, his wife and kids recently. Anybody know how he and his kids are doing? Would be good to hear about him, even if someone can drop me a PM.

That’s all.

I was thinking the same thing the other day, hope the guys ok he had a tough time.

Does the @ function still work? @gnusmas we miss you dude. Pop in and tell us how you’re doing, (if you want to, obviously).

@gnusmas.  I’m interested to see how you are getting on too.

Good point op, yeah, hopefully all is well with him.

Seems to have been last active 2 months ago.

I’m in contact with him now and then.   I’ll give him a shout.  Plodding along last I heard.

Ahh, yes, Samsung. I do hope he’s doing okay – he has had way too much more than his fair share of bad news over the years. I hope he’s still coping with things.

There doesn’t seem to be much traffic on the forum these days compared to a few years ago, are most folk lurking or maybe a few have keeled over

Having a much needed recovery in a dark, padded room after meeting TJ.

😋😘

There doesn’t seem to be much traffic on the forum these days compared to a few years ago

Definitely not as fast paced as it used to be which is a real shame.

The bickering on the politics threads seems to contaminated many other threads

Wow is me

‘Wow is me.’ Get you!

redmex
There doesn’t seem to be much traffic on the forum these days compared to a few years ago, are most folk lurking or maybe a few have keeled over

Cough classifieds cough ;o)

Definitely not as fast paced as it used to be which is a real shame.

Working from home, I reckon.

People no longer have to appear to be working by tapping away on a keyboard (when they are actually furiously debating wheel sizes).  They can potter about the house instead.

Samsung

🤯

Woe! Not wow

🤦‍♂️

I now have Woe²

 Wow is me

My nomination for the next STW tshirt / zoom call mug

to quote Boris the Animal from Men In Black 3…  I’m better than me

I’m in contact with him now and then.   I’ll give him a shout.  Plodding along last I heard.

Thanks TJ. Please pass on my regards when you’re next in contact. We were passing messages back and forth over Facebook/Messenger a couple of years back. I don’t use either service now. If I pass you my details would you forward to him?

By all means.  PM me

Firstly can I thank you all for still thinking of us after all this time, it really does mean a lot to me. Although I do feel like a bad person as I should be keeping in touch more but it’s a struggle to just get through the days most of the time. I apologise to you all for this.

Not sure if I should be saying the truth as at the moment things are pretty dire if I’m perfectly honest. But I’m usually upfront and honest about things so here goes I guess.

TL:DR probably easier to just put me down

I started a thread about 2 years ago saying I was going to give up smoking. I made the decision to go cold turkey instead of vapes, possibly harder to do but I didn’t fancy vaping. Despite some pretty major setbacks along the way where I have really wanted to have one, I am still not smoking. Suppose there has to be a positive in here somewhere lol.

I have also had a course of therapy which was very helpful and made me think in different ways and has also given new perspectives on things. A lovely person to talk to and I would definitely recommend it, hopefully I’ll be able to have some more sessions at some point if I can. But it did unlock more things from my younger years I didn’t realise was a contributing factor or an issue. I was told we’ve probably covered the tip of the iceberg but there’s a lot still to get through. So still plenty of internal work to get through and stuff to sort out in my head.

Kids are OK in their own ways but are having difficulties with things as they’re getting older and understanding more.

Phoenix is now 15 and having counselling in school. He’s declared to them he’s feeling very low all of the time and had been having thoughts of not wanting to exist anymore. The majority of his friends have stopped speaking to him for whatever reason and he’s also stopped the activities he was doing after school too.

Liberty is 11 now and has had numerous issues with her being bullied and abandoned by friends in school. Seem to sort one thing out and something else takes over instead.

Shelby is 9 in a few days and I had to change schools for him last year. He wasn’t getting on at all with the old school and the teachers didn’t seem to be trying to engage with him either. Within 2 weeks of being in the new school they asked if they could put in a referral to test for autism. So we’re currently waiting on that diagnosis. But he’s now doing ok in this school and they’re very helpful and supportive which is definitely a massive help to him.

Now I have 3 children in 3 different schools which is a challenge in itself at times but it’s manageable for the time being. Liberty goes up to secondary school with Phoenix in September which will make that bit a little easier again.

Wish I could do more for them all and take their worries, struggles and pains away. But there’s only so much I can do and I’m pretty burnt out as it is.

The relationship I was in ended last year too. I found out she was messaging and sending pictures to someone else and attempting to arrange all sorts. I was informed by the blokes wife who found it all on his phone. So yeah, that was nice to have happen.

Backstory – About 6 years ago (shortly after lyanda passed away) I tried going for a spin on my bike to clear my head. 5 mins in to it as I was going through town, a van pulled out in front of me. I jumped off the bike and out of the way but landed really awkwardly. As I landed I pulled my bike out of the way and the van hit my handlebar so definitely could have been a lot worse. I could hardly move or walk for a few weeks after it.

Since then, my back gives out at random times, lasts a week or two and then eases off again. In January it went again and hasn’t gone since. Doctor suspects I have a pretty severe case of sciatica as my right leg is numb to the knee as well. A referral for an MRI has been sent and has been chased up but I’m still waiting.

My right ankle is in tremendous pain from where I tore a ligament 8 years ago and my right knee is pretty painful too from a serious infection around 3 years ago. All of this is in the right leg along with the numbness. Because I’ve been compensating for the pain by putting more weight on my left side the past few years, I’m now getting shooting pains from my left ankle and knee and they continually crack too. So the past few months I’ve been walking with a hiking pole just to be able to manage the school run, which is not a long distance at all.

Between stopping smoking and snacking more to compensate, and comfort eating (anxiety, severe depression and boredom) I have unfortunately piled on the weight. This isn’t helping my joints, but to help them I need to exercise which I can’t as it’s too painful. I’m stuck in a vicious little circle. I’ve made an appointment with an osteopath and my initial visit has just been, she is hopeful I’ll be able to at least function like I used to but fear as its been so long there will be some elements unable to be sorted properly. But I will have specific exercises to hopefully keep it at bay once some magic has been worked.

There’s now been 9 close family losses with in the past 6 years, the tenth could be imminent too we fear due to old age and recent health scares. I’m pretty sure I would win that particular round of top trumps.

During this whole time, I think I’ve been to hell and half way back in my head and most of the way there physically too. As I’ve not been able to do anything much with everything going on, I am the unfittest I think I’ve been and it’s made me think a lot about things.

I’m now seriously considering splitting and selling my bike/parts and trying to save up for an ebike. I’m hoping this will allow me to be able to get out and ride in less pain and being able to manage it easier I’m hoping would motivate me to want to get out more. The kids all love to ride so would be great to be able to have that time together as well as time for me too while they’re in school.

But due to having to go through a DRO last year thanks to the cost of living crisis I’ve lost my PayPal account, so selling anything easily will be a nightmare as most people understandably use this for payments due to protection. And as my information is on file with them I can’t open another account either. I know some things are smaller and insignificant issues, but they all add up and become bigger things along side everything else.

I have however got a new (to me) car after my thread seeking advice and opinions on it last year. It’s a bigger car so much more room inside and a lot easier to get in and out of. That is definitely a help whenever we go out somewhere. And while it cost a chunk of money to get it through the MOT last month, at least it’s done now for another year.

Didn’t want to have this long a reply but I think I’ve covered pretty much everything. Although I’m guaranteed to have forgotten or missed something out. The past few months/years have been pretty difficult emotionally, mentally and physically. But I’m still here.

Again, I really appreciate everyone asking and I’m sorry it’s not all as positive as I hoped it would be by now.

And despite going through all of that you have found the time and energy to come here and post that. I think it says everything about you that everyone on here admires so much.

If it wasn’t for bad luck, You wouldn’t have no luck at all

😉

Gnusmas you’re a hero, no way I’d cope with that amount of adversity.

@Gnusmas = 💪