So, how was your weekend? Well, let me tell you about mine. Last week, we decided to get away for a couple of days while the weather held. We saw a caravan advertised on a reputable holiday site, last-minute deal, beach location, and honestly, the photos looked stunning. Saturday morning, up early to beat the traffic. Gorgeous day on the beach, feeling good, then we made our way to reception to pick up the keys, get directed to our caravan, and after this, we jumped back in the car to find it. Put the key in, fiddled with the lock, opened the door — and honestly, I invented a whole new boarding process on the spot. Checked In. 😰 Checked Out. 😳 F***ed Off. 🤬 Half an hour, that's all we lasted. Stained, knackered, bits falling off it, and no, I'm not talking about me. Because here's the thing — I wasn't putting up with it. Not for one second. My kids' happiness comes first, full stop, no negotiation, so instead of sitting there making do, I did what I'd do with any plan that's just collapsed. Stop defending Plan A. Move to Plan B immediately and start building something better. Straight back to customer services, understandably annoyed, and got: "The pictures are for illustrative purposes only." Now, to me, illustrative means it gives you a fair idea of what you're getting — not a completely different reality with a kettle in it, If I pitched a client like that, I'd be out of business by Tuesday, but you can judge for yourselves below. That's not illustrative; that's lying with extra steps, and I haven't even mentioned the police car that apparently had the site on its patrol route. 🤣 So there I am, standing outside this caravan at 8pm, on my phone, refusing to accept "well, we've paid for it now" as an answer — because the girls had surprise surf lessons booked for the morning and I wasn't cancelling that for anyone. Ninety minutes later, we're in a hotel ten miles down the motorway, all four of us crammed into one room on a stupidly warm night, but the girls slept fine. Staff were brilliant, sorted us a basic breakfast, and by 8am we were straight out the door to surf.

Happy Monday, everyone. I hope that you're all well and have had a wonderful weekend. Mine was a little interesting, but I'll share that somewhere else, but in the meantime, I just wanted to wish a warm welcome to the newest member of the NeuThinking community.. @Isabelle Galati 👏 Isabelle, it's great to have you join us. We'd love to know a bit more about you, so please feel free to share a little background so we can get to know you better. This community is an absolutely awesome group of individuals, and so I'm sure that you will fit right in. Everyone else, please say hi, and I hope that you all have a great week ahead.

NeuThinking was always about supporting those who thought differently, and whilst it was created with good intentions, the intentions didn't always sit right. But now they do, and they're alot clearer. Because of this, you might start noticing a few changes, and hopefully, you'll like them. If not, I fully understand that this might not be the group that you initially signed up for, and trust me, the ethos will still remain the same, but at the same time, I understand if you want to step out. Meanwhile, I would love to know what you think of the new NeuThinking styles ?

So, I'm gonna be honest.. I've not always told the truth, and I've not always followed the rules. 🤫 I know, it might come as a bit of a shock, but in my past, I've been known as a bit of a blagger and an occasional rule breaker, but I promise, there was usually a good reason. For example, one of my first jobs was in a music store in a small but busy shopping arcade. Because the arcade was full of other stores, we had a strict rule that the volume was not to go above 6 or 7 (🤷🏻‍♂️🤣) out of respect for other shops and shoppers. However, occasionally, I might have gone past this point. I certainly remember when The Prodigy's Music For The Jilted Generation came out. I unwrapped the CD with such excitement, put it in the tray, and pressed play. Volume at 10 !! 😈 Granted, there were some disapproving looks, and my manager glared at me, but then I asked him to watch. Within a few minutes, I could see the security guards standing outside the store start flexing in their uniforms. I could see shoppers in the fashion store opposite, planning what outfits they were going to purchase for the night out that they hadn't even planned yet. I saw the kids outside the store, dancing, as older couples would smile at them having a good time, and would then try and shuffle themselves. People who were in the store, but weren't used to this style of music, would subconsciously start nodding their heads to the beat. Shoppers would come in, ask me what was playing, and even though I couldn't actually hear them, I only had to point at the "Now Playing" stand, with the CD's stacked below. That day, we sold out. We had over 100 copies of that album. Other store managers came in and told me and my boss, that they had more sales that day than an average weekend before, and from that day on, every Saturday, I became known for regularly getting told off by my boss, but also celebrated for everyone selling more than before. That also started my desire to become a DJ, which followed one year later.