Life without sports is like life without underpants
— Billy Bowden
Hello Hello and welcome to the Weekend
What would the weekend be like without the Engagement Topic post from 
It does not bear thinking about!
WeekEnd 91 is here, check out the topic post .
Okay so perhaps I was being a wee bit corny, but the prompt for this weekend is Without.
I decided after much deliberation (in the range of 3 to 5 seconds🤣) to plump for Option 1 again! Option 5 is a shoutout and most of the Hivers that I would miss if Hive ceased to exist I know already from elsewhere. Topic one from the original post.
Name three things you currently have that you cannot live without. Explain what they are, why you can't live without them and what negative impact their loss would bring. Computers and phones are excluded from this question.
This was harder than I initially though, the first two items that I choose, came rattling off my brain in next to no time, but the third, well I had to get the noggin working for that! So thanks G you got the braincells out of hibernation and into their normal weekend fun thinking mode.
You might or might not recognise this. It is a gas boiler, and it used to provide hot water AND heating in my house.
A couple of weeks ago, it stopped working on a Friday night. I checked the pressure etc and it was reading 0 bar, not good. I tried repressuring the system but to no avail. Boiler was still screwed.
Winter was here, and it was cold. Some of you reading this, will think no big deal, what do you need heating for🤣
You need heating when the outside temperature is at minus 1 degrees Celcius and you are wrapped up in hoodies, hoodie dressinggown, jeans joggers and extra socks!
We use water filled radiators to provide our house heating, so when the gas boiler goes out, the water does not get heated that runs through the radiators. The consequence being that you shiver and start to freeze.
It was not until Monday afternoon that the boiler was repaired and heating was restored. It then took me another four days to thaw out. I do not do well in the cold at all.
In the old days this would not be that big a problem, because you had a fireplace and could burn wood or coal. Those fireplaces have been mostly removed from houses. Nor do I have electric heaters. So the impact would be for me to freeze and be very non productive.
Some of you might know that I suffer from Ankylosing Spondylitus which is a pain in the arse type of arthritis that basically affects your spine and bones connected to it.
I have had it since I was 12 and I need medication to make life liveable. The purpose of the medication is twofold, firstly to reduce inflammation of the bones. Imagine that your bones swell and rub together, that is what mine do, means you don't want to move them as that hurts.
So the medication reduces the swelling meaning you can move those bones.
The second purpose of the medication is to perform as a painkiller.
If I did not have medication then I would be in permanent flarup mode.
Even with my pills, and trust me over the years I have tried many types, I even was on steriods years ago, I would be immobile.
The flareups are when your body goes on strike and refuses to let the medication work. So, you are in wicked pain, but you cannot move any bones as the pain gets even more wicked. You are motionless until your body gets out of hibernation and decides to let the medication work again.
Ibuprofen is the most gentle medication I have found, remember that putting chemicals into your body gives you more side effects etc.
Yeah I don't want to think of being without effective medication.
The top image is the view from my front window of Raith Rovers Football Club and their pitch.
Sports has been a massive part of my life. Growing up I was extremely active and sporty, until my movement impeded my speed.
I still played squash, golf and swam, but my days of playing rugby football and cricket are long gone.
I am a gambler, I can watch two flies on the wall, and I will bet with myself which one will cross the imaginary finish line first.
I watch sports, I listen to sports and I read about sports. Any kind of competitive sport appeals to me. I admire the dedication that sportsmen and women have put into their calling.
During the pandemic, sport helped with my mental health. I cannot imagine life with no sport.
Granted it is not as severe as being without my medication for my physical wellbeing, but I think it would have a massive adverse effect on my mental wellbeing!
There we have it, my three items that I currently I have that I would not like to do without.
Thank you for stopping to read this and enjoy the rest of your weekend.
Note all pictures are taken by me.
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