Today is all about…August 2021

I think it is fair to say that August 2021 will go down in history. After 20 years, the Afghan War has ended…and the country collapsed drastically.

After everything that has happened (good and bad), we as a nation have wiped our hands of the Afghan people.

The real people who are suffering, are the ones that are being left behind. Women have lost all rights and education.

And while LGBT+ rights in Afghanistan weren’t the best, now with the Taliban in charge they have fuck all! They’re even luring gay men out, raping and beating them!

The Taliban, a terrorist group that hide behind religion for their actions, run the country and are taking the rights away for the majority. But as long as they don’t attack us, we’re going to turn a blind eye to it all.

I can guarantee, like standard UK/US behaviour, that those who weren’t granted asylum but try later on, will be treated as dirt.

All they want is a better life for themselves, ones that were promised to them when the UK/US invaded their country. But now, we will refuse as a nation and walk away…with blood on our hands!

Monthly Thought: Manchester Pride

While people are losing their rights, here in Manchester the gays are going to spend the end of their August celebrating ours.

As a member of the LGBT+ community, we’ve come a long way but we’ve still got some way to go. Especially for our trans brother and sisters, and those in between.

Come the run up to every Pride, they’re is always some sort of criticism towards Manchester Pride. And while over the years, I have been vocal about some of their actions, I’ve continued to support them. However, I can no longer do that.

This time the mistakes made are unrepearable, and either drastic changes need to be made or a new committee should take over pride.

This month talking points

Fibre Broadband

Okay, I know this sounds sad and boring to have broadband as a talking point, but I don’t think you understand how excited I was to get fibre broadband this August.

When we moved into the home a few years back, we didn’t know how much that we relied on the internet.

And in the pandemic, where I was working from home with a really really bad connection, I gathered the nickname ‘Potato head’ because that is all that they see.

After a year of fighting with BT Openreach, especially after they confirmed some of the neighbourhood were going to get fibre broadband and the rest weren’t. They backtracked and told us that we will now get it…in July 2022!

So, to my surprise, when I had a cheeky look ‘just in case’, I found that we had all been given fibre broadband!

I was straight onto Sky to have my broadband upgraded, to which they responded that it’s not available and wont be for a couple of months. So, I cancelled my contract with them and went with BT.

Lesson learnt when buying a house…check the internet speed before purchasing!

Salford Pink Picnic

As everyone is getting prepped for Mancy Pride at the end of August, many forget that Salford’s Pink Picnic starts the month off.

This was also going to be my first ‘out’ social event since last year, and to be honest I was feeling quite anxious about it.

This free event, takes over a park and if it’s a nice sunny day, it can be quite busy. However, as it has been raining on the run up, and it was hit and miss about the weather on the event day. Plus, the restrictions added due to covid meant that the event was never busy/full to capacity…apart from the bar tent.

As much as I was looking forward to getting out, in the same respect I also didn’t want to go. I’m glad that I did though.

It was nice and chilled, and quite good to catch up with a few people too.

I have to be honest, I do prefer these smaller pride events as it has more of a community feel about them. Unlike the bigger prides where its all about money and fame.

Weekend Away

Instead of going to Manchester Pride this year, a group of us decided to have a weekend away in the middle of the forest. Staying in a lodge with a hot tub.

My priorities for this weekend was to chill. After a stressful time at work, I needed this more than anything.

Additionally, I was not ready for large group events such as Manchester Pride which can feel like you are in a tin or sardines more than at an event.

We stayed at Cropton Lodges which is situated in the Noth Yorkshire Moors National Park.

The lodge was a lot larger than I expected. It was so spacious that even having 6 people in the lodge, you never felt like you were under each other’s feet. Well apart from the hot tub, which was designed for 5 not 6 people!

The August weekend was spent having a leisurely stroll at Scarborough beach, eyeing up the daddies or finding humour in the OAPs on the group moaning that they had to climb a hill!

Or trying to be all cultural by visiting and learning more about Hemsley Castle. But in all honesty, we were more interested with the scultpture’s pert butt!

And drinking! While we drank , we didn’t drink to the extent that I’d thought we would. We still got through the 6 bottles of Kylie Minogue’s Processco, so I can’t complain. My main objective was met.

I had a great time, with great company. 100% what I needed, and I would definitely do this type of staycation again.

‘Today is all about…’ photos: