Mike Riversdale

Over the past week two people have reached out and asked, "How are you doing Mike?", one was a Monmouth school friend from way back and another someone I used to work with here in Wellington ... aren't people just awesome. To answer that question I have had to stop and think as we don't allow, "Good" as an answer in the house. Not that it stops the kids saying it everyday we ask, "How was your day?" ... and yes, we know, it's a dumb question just begging for such an answer but we've not got into the habit of asking any of these just yet ... we try though. So, how am I? And how have I been since last year, "Depression & Anger: 2 More Things" ? In essence I am very good (!). The meds I take do the job of alleviating the crippling anxiety and desire to hide beneath the duvet every waking hour. Although, we've discovered that they do make me extremely tired and I used to struggle to make it through the day without a

I've never been a Sky fan and certainly don't want to add to the monopoly of broadcasting of our essential sports (being a Welshman in New Zealand I am a bit passionate about rugby) - that's a philosophical stance less a commercial decision. Having said that, HOW EXPENSIVE could they make it , madness. In years past I have always trawled the Internet looking for illegal streams of games but they are harder to find now and almost always try and infect or scam you so it's not something I'd recommend to anyone. So what to do? Pub, sure, but I don't want to drink all the time Mates houses, yeah, but not on school nights Pay for a stream, but how? And then RugbyPass entered my life - for a cost, which is fine, as I say I'm happy to pay, just don't want to pay to a monopoly or through the nose! High quality, legal rugby streaming ... if you're outside of SANZAR . I am inside of SANZAR, so a wee bit of jiggery-pokery still required (even

Today, thanks to the "very down to earth" (Mr14's description) Justin Lester, Mayor of Wellington City , ( @justin_lester ) I ticked off a bucket list item that has had me giggling for over a year. First, the backstory. Back in 1986, or maybe 1991, I was working at St Ivel , a butter/yogurt company in headquartered in Swindon (UK) . For some reason that is now lost in the mists of my mind the then Mayor of Swindon* paid a visit to the St Ivel offices and there is a glorious photo of my showing him and Lady Mayoress (together with Nigel and ... the other woman I worked with) how my extravagant 20MB PC would green-screen into the mainframe and run EPS programs ... or was it the wonders of Lotus 1-2-3. My olds boss, Lorie , recalled she was thinking, "Just don't say anything inappropriate Mike, please!" - some things never change eh :) Fast forward 30 years and I'm in Wellington (NZ) and that black-and-white photo pops up into my life! I immediat

There are some that have never drunk any alcohol, I am not one those people. There are others in my life that have decided to not drink alcohol for the foreseeable future, they are personal heroes, but I am also not one of those. There are those around my life that struggle with alcohol and the power it has over them, luckily I am also not one of those people. I am, however, what you would call a "heavy drinker". And to contemplate never having a drunk is, as I write this, a prospect that fills me with a tiny sense of dread. It doesn't however scare me as much as it once would have. And maybe this Dry Jul y will lead me down a different route with a different view - I'll let you know. So, for July 2017 I'm going to not drink any alcohol at all. That's my choice and you may even be wondering why I'm bothering to tell you .. it's because I'd like you to take my self-centred actions as a moment to help those with Cancer , to raise funds for can