whose blog started whilst his life was in turmoil and after the loss of his wife Susan in the recent years has turned into an inspirational journey that has raised an estimated $us 3 m for a variety of causes !
Today he has followed through on a commitment made in march with the pre release of his first of three books . Released in good humour it offers various options in price relating to a person’s budget and desire to personalise the book .
Judging by the quality of the Blog posts over the years it will be a sellout ! Pre order by 10th November or get trampled in the rush ! These two photos would fit in well with some of the topics that he has raised in the blogs I have recently read .
In my early life I never contemplated the possibility that I would arrive in my 67th year in good health but with no income . Along the way I have had both success and failures so it will come as no surprise to hear that like so many I got horribly burnt by the collapse of the “ financial markets ” in 2008 ! So I am happy to see the “#OWS ” movement flourish in all parts of the world . Dismayed to see so many countries forget the “ Right of Free Speech “ that democracies afford us .
Friday I was driving some Polish visitors from Innsbruck Airport to their destination in Hintertux where they will spend the week skiing . Their desire to visit the centre of Innsbruck to have a look around brought us to the square where the “ Occupy Innsbruck ” was a few Saturdays before . Being a paved area I was not surprised to find no tents in view .
Parking on a street adjacent to this square , the visitors went walkabout whilst I waited with the vehicle . Not knowing how long these people would be I stayed with the vehicle . When a traffic warden ( not sure what you would call these subcontract employees ) came by she said nothing but looked the vehicle over . Later she returned and said I need a ticket . Not having coins I was unable to feed the section ticket dispenser and so I showed her the Euro50 note that was all I had with me . Having been out on the bike earlier I had left my coins and small notes in the cycle jacket . She then pointed to the bank so off I went and returned to find that this miserable baggage had put a ticket on the vehicle .
Normally I drive a UK registered car so as the vehicle was sign written by the owners with Austrian reg plates I chased down the road and confronted her . Being a small untidy looking woman she went to “ Nicht Verstehen ( don‘t understand)” several times with an ugly grin on her untidy visage . Several passersby told me that she was known locally for this sneaky behaviour . They said that she is responsible for local motorists avoiding doing business in that area and so those businesses have suffered .
After these comments I spoke with the owners of several empty shops and they also were of the opinion that this behaviour has impacted their shops . At 1500hrs of a Friday afternoon you would expect to see the street busy with passersby and people in those shops . Guess there must have been a reason for there being few people in the street on a bright sunny afternoon in the centre of this thriving City ?
Tirol Tourism spends large amounts of money to attract people to Innsbruck and the surrounds but this Euro21 ticket will guarantee that they get publicity ! Guess they are desperate to keep vehicles out of the city so I will not be carting people there any time soon . As regards the Junior Olympics in January I will not now attend and if the ticket is not cancelled I will regrettably recover the bike on loan to an Austrian Para Athlete ! Living on my savings is hard enough without “legalised Pickpocketing ”!
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