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Latest News and Blog Posts from Wayne “Pendragon” Owens.
Election Day – Newer is not always Better
Today is the day we all get to vote on who will govern the country for the next 4 years. Well the UK anyway, Wales is fixed so Labour always win, and votes of no confidence and petitions from the public are equally ignored. But we should all do our civic duty and vote.
So this morning I popped along to vote.
I should point out that if I leave my house and turn left, I can drive for a couple of hundred yards and reach a pub that acts as a polling station. In fact it is only about a 5 minute walk from my house. But I do not get to vote there! No I have to turn right, travel an equal distance to a junction, turn again, a couple of hundred yards and turn again onto a narrow mountain road, travel a few miles up that to a small hall in the middle of nowhere and vote there. I guess that makes sense, because while I live 5 miles outside the largest city in North Wales, the powers that be decided that the MP for that city is not the best to cover me, so they moved my area to a MP based in mid Wales, and has the largest area now in Wales. It does mean none of the candidates have campaigned in my area because they do not know it, and its a few hours drive to get here. Also all their policies are for their town so no good to me.
So I get to the mountain hut, and there is just enough space to safely park 2 cars outside it, but alas both spaces are taken which amazed me because in all the years I have been voting there I have only ever seen 1 car there when I accidently went at a busy period. It turned out that the two people who have been running the polling station for the last century are no longer there, and 4 younger people have taken over. Probably for efficiency or some such thing. Also while the previous people would walk or get a lift there to leave parking for the people coming to vote, these had driven and used all the spaces making it unsafe for voters to park.
So I wandered up and gave my name and address, which is all the old people needed to work with, but 4 younger people could not work out the lists or find my name (and all 4 tried at the same time). Eventually they found my name, and I could vote.
Our voting system will probably shock the rest of the developed world.
Firstly it is not anonymous even thought lots believe it is. When they hand you the voting form, they copy the number from the form and write it next to your name so it can be noted who you voted for.
Secondly it is not secure, we are given a pencil to make an X on the form, so our votes can be changed with a simple pencil with an eraser on the end.
But I voted, now to go home, open a bottle of whiskey and wait for the world to start burning!
Fornit some Fornus
The Year of a Busy Mason – The end of the Year.
The masonic year has ended!
So the year of a a busy Mason has come to an end, and how busy did it turn out to be? Well I went to 41 meetings of which 9 were visits across 15 Masonic Halls. I attended 20 rehearsals, 11 committee meetings, 5 AGM’s and 2 social events. I did unfortunately have to miss 3 meetings, 4 rehearsals, and 2 committee meetings. So all together 79 events, which is what happens when you get a busy year and the “It’s only 8 nights a year” goes out the window.
But it was a great year, I stood down form some roles, stayed in others, and got some new ones.
I now get a couple of months holiday from all things Masonic. Unless you count the Secretary and Director of Studies work that can pop up at any time during the year.
£1000 donation to Veterans & Community Hub
We were met by a friendly group of made up of Volunteers, Veterans, and members of the community that the hub serves.
We were also treated to coffee and some fantastic biscuits made from a WWII recipe cooked up by one of their volunteers. So I would recommend popping by and trying some.
BBW – 40th Anniversary of Volunteer Week
Hot New Releases – Rise of Freemasonry
I was very lucky to have my latest book “The Rise of Freemasonry in the Province of North Wales” be listed as the Amazon number 1 Hot New Release in the category of Freemasonry.
I am humbled to receive this honour, especially as profits from this book are going to Charity.
I am even more astonished by this, since Amazon classed my previous book as the number 2 hot new release.
Hogwarts Legacy
I finally got around to getting Hogwarts Legacy, the open world Harry Potter game.
“Hogwarts Legacy is a 2023 action role-playing game developed by Avalanche Software and published by Warner Bros. Games under its Portkey Games label. The game is part of the Wizarding World franchise, taking place a century prior to the events chronicled in the Harry Potter novels.”
I read all the books when they first came out, and I have seen all the films (as most people have) so I always intended to get the game and fly around using the killing cure on everyone I meet. Alas I have not been able to kill or curse any of the other students or professors yet, And while I knew spells that can blow up Trolls, I can not even break a padlock… Yet!
I say yet because I have not been playing for that long, I have yet to unlock most the spells and other fun stuff. Who knows what the game will bring.
Since the game is set in Hogwarts, there are the four houses and you will get sorted into one of them at the beginning. Apparently each house also gets a special house quest. And reading the reviews Hufflepuff has the best house quest. So I really had to think about which house to pick. I then remembered I can replay the game, so I could do 4 run-throughs to cover each of the houses, and make my own four person Hogwarts group.
For my first go, I decided to play as myself. And while many people would assume I am Slytherin, and I can not blame them. While I am cunning, resourceful, evil and sneaky enough to be placed into that house, I am not so much Ambitious, which is the main character trait of a Slytherin.
I am playing as the house, I assume I would get sorted into. Ravenclaw.
Ravenclaw valued intelligence, knowledge, curiosity, creativity and wit. Its emblematic animal was the eagle, its representative gemstone was sapphires, and its colours were blue and bronze
BBW – The End of an Era
Four score and seven years ago, or at least a long time ago (I forget the exact dates, since it was so long ago but I am thinking 2018), Blood Bikes Wales (NE) moved home to the Maesgwyn Hall Masonic Hall. We had a container setup as storage for our bikes and miscellaneous items.
It has been a great home for Blood Bikes, we even held our monthly meetings there before Covid changed the world. But all good things must come to an end, and the container has gone.
We bought a bigger container for us to use, and set it up at a new location. We have moved all our stuff, and the old container has been moved and re-purposed. We have no more links with the Maesgwyn, and a new era has begun.
It looks empty now.
Blood Bikes Wales
Blood Bikes Wales is a charity that transports blood, plasma, platelets, samples, vaccines, donor breast-milk & any other urgently required medical items to hospitals at night, weekends and bank holidays. This service is provided completely free of charge, allowing the NHS to divert funds where they are needed most.
Our riders are a hardy bunch that operate in all but the very worst weather.
Starting the Weekend with FREE BEER
It is Friday afternoon, and the weekend is almost close enough to touch. If we are honest, and if we can not be honest on the Internet where can we be honest?
This weekend is turning up in style!
I just had a delivery, that I was not expecting. Upon opening the box I found 8 cans of random beer from around the world, 2 snacks, and a magazine.
I hope everyone else’s weekend is kicking off as good as mine is!
Celebrating 90 years with Male Voice Choirs and, Paper Aeroplanes
This was a first for me. This evening I attended a 90th Birthday Party for a Masonic friend. He had invited his family, Friends, and even a table of S.R.I.A. people.
It was a very enjoyable evening, that kicked off with a concert by the Chester Male Voice Choir, who sang normal choir songs, along with songs from musicals, and even the Beatles!.
Afterwards there was a great buffet, drinks, and a paper aeroplane competition, which was the best activity for a party ever! You had people drinking, which led to the air being full of all kinds of aeroplanes flying in all directions, making any movement a fun exercise.
I suggest everyone place a load of paper and pencils on every table at all future parties.
BBW – Llandyrnog Women’s Institute
This evening Hugh, Nev, Clive, and myself all popped along to Llandyrnog for the Women’s Institute meeting.
Blood Bikes Wales
Blood Bikes Wales is a charity that transports blood, plasma, platelets, samples, vaccines, donor breast-milk & any other urgently required medical items to hospitals at night, weekends and bank holidays. This service is provided completely free of charge, allowing the NHS to divert funds where they are needed most.
Our riders are a hardy bunch that operate in all but the very worst weather.