KEN ASHLEY

KEN ASHLEY

A  TRIBUTE TO A WONDERFUL HUMAN BEING

I am part of a social group of foreign nationals living in and around Pedralba, a pueblo in the Campo north-west of LLiria, Valencia, Spain. We are a group that is always keen to integrate within the Spanish community, and to a large degree we have achieved that as evidenced by the number of Spanish nationals impacted as well.

We are all living in the third stage of our lives that is made all the more pleasant in that we get to enjoy the sunshine and the life that is available to us in this part of Spain. However, we are perfectly aware that from time to time we have to draw strength to say goodbye when it is time for one of us to pass. We are now having to draw deep to pay our respect and to express our love for a stalwart who has added so much to our daily lives.

Ken Ashley, a retired fireman, after spending a life in service to others has continued to do that while in retirement. Our Ken was a big man, both in stature and in personality. He lived a responsible life and he was generally thought of as the go-to guy when something needed to get done.

He was possessed of a pleasing singing voice, and together with his guitar he was always there when we needed cheering up. One of the contributions the English language group made to the pueblo was to stage two concerts a year; one at Christmas and one during the summer. The choir was originally led by Nigel, our president at the time and when it became necessary for him to step down Ken took up the baton and did a splendid job.

He could often be seen going walkabout with his friend, Megan, an extraordinary dog while wearing his trademark extra large cowboy hat. He was the very image of health and strength and the one person we thought would live forever. However, on Thursday, 29^th March he arose from bed and commented to his wife, Heather that he really didn’t feel all that well, and with one gasp he fell down between the bed and the wall, and he was gone.

I like to think that Ken had things to do, people to see, places to go in his next life. I am a staunch believer that what we call death is not the end, but rather simply the moment when we discard our existing body that no longer works as well as it did to exchange it for another new body to start the process all over again. He will think it’s all new, just as he has done every time before when he has lived and “died.” That is possible because our bodies do not have a soul, but rather it is our soul that has a body.

So, Ken, I thank you for everything you did to contribute to my life, and that was much, and I join with everybody else in our group in saluting you for being the wonderful key figure you have been. I have only ever known you to be pleasant and courteous, and I carry with me your mantra: “Hey man, what’s your plan?”

People may ask me how many years did you spend among us in total and I would have to say I have no idea of what your age might have been. My impression is that you were, and will be, “Forever Young!”

KEN ASHLEY, we shall never forget you!

Copyright © 2018

Eugene Carmichael

The Rat that ate the Car

Rats are such pests. When one is known to be on the loose in the house men are known to wreck the house in trying to catch it. Certainly they are more than enough of a problem in the house but they can also be a real nuisance outdoors as well.

For a couple of years we had rats outside the house. We also have two cats that only once in a long while will bring us the remains of a rat to indicate they occasionally earn their keep. Then there is Max, our dog who is short in legs but long and sharp as a mouser. He is always on patrol and has brought down several of them.

This year is a bad year for rats. A couple of years ago I opened my bonnet to discover evidence that a rat had taken up residence in the engine compartment of the car. I was then parking under a tree so presumably the rats came down from the tree and got up into the engine where it was warm. I’m saying that was a rat but it could have been a squirrel as there were shells from nuts.

Later that same year my wife had her car put through general maintenance followed later by about six weeks by the ITV examination. When they opened the bonnet a lot of shells came pouring out from the false cover in the bonnet indicating there were critters there, or they had been there. Amazing!

However, this year we have learned about a neighbour who had parked his car in one place for some time as he was using his second car. When he came to start up the first one it would not start. He opened the bonnet and was thunderstruck by the sight that was before him.

A rodent of some sort had bitten through cables and hoses in places that he could see, and later at the garage it transpired that it had been all around the engine destroying everything that was rubber based. It appeared to have been dining out on this particular car for some time. At the garage it is a great curiosity as they have never known anything like this.

I don’t know what the final bill will be, I certainly wouldn’t want it. So, the take away from this story is: The instruction to check your engine takes on added meaning. It would be a wise thing to do indeed!

Copyright © 2018

Eugene Carmichael

The Importance of the Desguace

The Spanish system for dealing with vehicles that have served faithfully for many years is to have it taken in by one of the many Desgauces around the country. A desgauce is the equivalent of an English wrecker’s yard where your car is written off the records as a registered vehicle on the road.

In order to have your car accepted for write off in the official records and to be crushed it has to have been registered under Spanish plates with all its outstanding debts for road tax paid, and it should not have any other liens against it.

You may be able to negotiate a fee from the desgauce as they will break your car down into the sum of its functioning parts for re-sale to other customers who are continuing to drive their models. Once a car comes to a point where it is no longer economically viable it is taken off the roads but its parts can help others to continue in existence.

The problem for some car owners is that they have imported cars into Spain but they didn’t change the plates within the specified period of time. After a certain lapse of time the car will be driven without having the benefit of an annual  certification as to its roadworthiness. That is to say if the car is on foreign plates it needs to have a current M.O.T in the country of its origin.

It is noted that some such cars do go through the Spanish ITV but the value of that is doubtful. It should be borne in mind that the ITV is a business and does not turn away a client.

Secondly, if the car is here in Spain but is still registered as a vehicle that is currently on the road in say, England it will be in violation of not having an up to date M.O.T. That car cannot be broken up in a Desgauce and it can no longer be driven on the road in England, a fact that will be noted when crossing the border into the country.

Brexit is bound to make matters only worse, although in what ways we don’t yet know, but it is highly unlikely to be good.

Finally, the car is a high insurance risk because there will be many things wrong with its documentation that is likely to affect any claim made for any damage caused by it. Also, because of the lack of a proper certification as to its roadworthiness, in the event the other car is the offending party the blame may revert to your car as perhaps it should not have been on the road in the first place.  

It would seem to be a good idea to look into conforming your car’s status with regards to its proper registration here in Spain. The sooner the better!

Copyright (c) 2018
Eugene Carmichael

Another fine mess

 Headline News:

“30 - Vehicle Highway pile-up!”

How does this happen?  If it happens where weather plays a major role the rest of the blame goes to human error. Always, during winter conditions driving become slick and dangerous and visibility closes in requiring all motorists to take the foot off the accelerator and slow down.

I know you have a long way to go and you think you need to arrive at your destination in time for lunch, but when fog has closed in visibility to such an extent that you really should only be driving no faster than you can see that means if you do not you will surely have a crash.

All over the world people go through the same old problem and almost always the first crash is caused by the person who does slow down only to be slammed into by the lunatic who came from behind as though it were a bright and sunny day.

Stupidity of this sort just makes me dizzy. It cannot be understood because it’s just too off the chart. Many years ago I was driving in Montreal on my way to the airport when I found myself in traffic surrounded by people who were all overtaking me. Just then I saw the sign for a motel and I pulled in and found they did have a vacancy. I got out of that car and missed my flight because I was sure I was not going to make it to the airport.

The next day driving conditions were better but the roads were not, but at least we could all see one another for a decent distance. At least I did make it to the airport finally and bought another ticket.

Imagine you are the one driving along being considerate and at a speed which is sensible when along comes a Kamikaze and slams into you pushing you into the car in front. Your car is now much shorter than it was and everybody in your car is injured. Then the car behind the one that struck you is rear-ended by another pushing the one behind you into you again.

Once the chain reaction begins I have no idea how it stops. The amazing thing is that only 30 vehicles were involved in this recent disaster. It’s not uncommon for several hundred vehicles to be factored in with death and injuries mounting by the minute. My remedy for avoiding this sort of scenario is when driving into a white-out situation I take the first off ramp and find someplace to wait it out.

If only I could count on each of you and you could count on me, but alas, that doesn’t happen. Survive the winter by avoiding driving in extreme conditions, and if that’s not possible then at least slow down and encourage all around you to do the same.

The life you save just might be yours!

Copyright © 2018

Eugene Carmichael

Driving and living with ice and snow

Not everyone can live close to the Mediterrean coast away from the areas that attract heavy snow and ice accumulation. I do and I’m so glad. I have lived in places such as Toronto and Montreal, Canada; and London, England. I come from a country where no drop of snow has ever touched the earth, and if it ever does a lot of people will faint.

However, that is not to say that the locals don’t behave as though it were snowing what with the fashion scene. What a hoot! Life where winter seriously visits requires a major combative wardrobe to push against the cold, and a shovel to dig yourself out of the house plus to find the car.

Like everybody else in my region I have been complaining about how cold it is but life is a dream for us by comparison. When we leave the house, even if it’s raining there’s no problem other than to dress warmly. Meanwhile, where my son lives his apartment is on the third floor with the bedroom backing onto the hillside.

Normally there is a lovely view up the mountain but now there is nothing to be seen as the snow level covers the window. Meanwhile, to get out of the apartment block a pathway has been dug and has to be kept clear otherwise all the residents will be blocked in.

He lives within walking distance of his work, and while it would be nice to drive to avoid the slush and icy sidewalks it would be such a hassle to dig the car out, if he can find it under all that snow.

For us observers the look of snow may be a delightful sight but we don’t have to shovel it. In Canada I got all the experience I could ever want in doing that. In fact the downtown areas have all moved underground as life above ground is just too damn difficult.

We deliberately chose the area in which we live specifically for the purpose of avoiding all that hassle. We were assured that it hadn’t snowed in Valencia for ages. We were safe. So what happened the first winter? It snowed! People went crazy with delight as though they had never seen snow before.

What was our reaction? Shit!

Copyright © 2018

Eugene Carmichael

The Madman in the 4X4

When I came to Spain in the year 2000 every other driver was a madman. The behaviour was such that they were killing themselves right, left and centre. The road death toll was appalling and these were all termed "accidents." No they were not, and in fact many were murders/suicides, which is what happens when someone who is perhaps drunk or crazy on drugs drives with an absence of any shred of responsibility and runs into another vehicle, killing its occupants and himself.

The authorities were galvanised into action, first by tackling drunken driving. Frequent alcohol breath tests have become the norm and that was added to by the introduction of the Points system. Basically, if you lose all your points for any reason you lose your permit and realistically you will never get it back.

It is astonishing the difference that made on driver behaviour and the roads have been free of the recklessness that was so common in those days. However over the past month I have witnessed two incidents that fit the old style conduct.

One occurred in a moderately sized town with roads too narrow and too full of traffic. The idiot in the 4X4 flashed past the line of traffic I was in, going as fast as he could. He was stopped by traffic in the next block but impatiently as he could he whipped around them only to be stopped again at the following block,where this time he was held in place. He could not move.

He ran the risk of crashing into a vehicle turning into the lane in which he was illegally speeding, and worse there were many pedestrians about for him to have killed. Sometimes a person really does have an emergency that requires they get to their destination as quickly as possible. However, he was not headed in the direction of the medical clinic or hospital so if he did have such an emergency we have no hint what it may have been.

The second incident was even more alarming to me because this was the second time the same thing has happened , and at the same spot. This involved a car travelling fast overtaking myself and the car in front on a straight stretch of road that was uphill leading to the crest beyond which it was impossible to know if something was about to crest the hill.

Had something been there he would have crashed full head-on, hopefully killing himself but unfortunately he most likely would have carried those in the other car with him.

I can only assume that these are young boy racers who were not around in the earlier days to learn their lessons. I can only say that if you are one of these and you kill yourself, that lovely girlfriend of yours will end up in the arms of another man, and there is someone waiting to take your job and to move into your apartment..

Your death will not be a total loss and the roads will have become a little more safe. So go right ahead and Have a Nice Day!

Copyright (c) 2018
Eugene Carmichael

Doctors and Nurses Know!

My wife and I were visiting a friend in hospital, and as we walked along the corridor to his room we found ourselves looking in the direction of every door that was open, as you do. You wonder at every drama that is being played out in those rooms where family or friends are visiting the person who is the patient. What are they suffering from and what might be their prognosis?

It is one thing to have been brought into hospital because of some ailment that has developed such as the flu but it is quite something else to be there because one minute you were perfectly fine and the next you were involved in a road crash because of someone’s carelessness, or worse your own.

We read the statistics that note a certain number of people were killed on the roads last year and that x-number were injured requiring hospital care. What does that mean?

In my country the head of emergency hospital care in the only hospital is also the chairman of the Road Safety Council so there’s no fooling him. He knows how many people were injured from road accidents, the extent of their injuries and the degree to which they recovered; and he even knows the cause, including alcohol and recreational drugs. He is constantly urging motorists, especially motorcycle riders to slow down and to stop drinking and riding less they do both permanently.

He has heard grown men cry like babies calling out Mama! He has seen them faint at the mere sight of a needle. He has had to remove limbs when that might well have been avoided had common sense prevailed.

Doctors and nurses are special people who have to deal with humanity when we are at our lowest and most feeble point. It is a career choice that is entirely emotional yet they must control their feelings and be able to leave their work at the office. When they have to work with people who are in tremendous pain that could have so easily been avoided it must be difficult for everyone involved.

Each and every one of us can do our part by conducting ourselves so that we don’t become an unnecessary patient. Making our way back to good health will be bad enough but having to lie there and undergo awful pain while realising we did it deliberately would be just too much.

Copyright © 2018

Eugene Carmichael

Accidents?

Did you ever wonder about  so-called accidents happen?

In perfectly good driving conditions during daylight hours two vehicles will collide. Before that happened in that exact same spot vehicles moving in opposite directions will have passed each other in the millions over the years, but along come these two, and Bam! Why did they do that and what did they do or fail to do?

It’s clear that after the passage of so many other vehicles they did something different that led to them crashing into one another, otherwise they would have glided on past each other as everyone else has done since time began. The realisation of that is quite something.

We are now considering the anatomy of an accident and the foregone conclusion is that it was not an accident at all. There are very few true accidents to happen on the roads. If I have a cold it’s very likely that I will sneeze while driving. When I sneeze I try not to close my eyes but inevitably I close my eyes. So, if I insist on driving with a cold and I sneeze and run into oncoming traffic that will not be an accident. It would be an unintended consequence of driving with a cold. It would be a crash and the law will hold me liable. However the world cannot stop because of a cold. Right?

If an animal that is a wild thing should suddenly dart into the road startling me and causing me to swerve around it because I would rather not run over it, and in the process of doing so I turn my car upside down without injuring or causing damage to property other than my car, technically this is a genuine accident that has occurred and I should logically not be charged with an offence.

I most likely will be charged with even something like a failure to drive with due care and attention. Well hey, the police have to make a living too and I will have caused a bit of bother to someone.

The worst case of something happening that would have been avoided if it were my choice is the consequences of falling asleep at the wheel. This is a tricky one and the cause of so many deaths on the road.

We are advised to stop regularly to rest on long journeys, at least every two hours. Perhaps we did  that in the first two hours, and now we need to stop sooner because as the day wears on we get more tired and we don’t recuperate sufficiently. The problem now is that we can’t find a proper rest area and we keep going until we find a place, but before we get there our eyes close just for a split second and that’s all it took. We never get to open them again.

Don’t sweat the police, your punishment this time will be stronger than anything the law has in mind.

That’s life!

Copyright © 2018

Eugene Carmichael

The Survivors

The way the New Year should start is on a positive note. The Costa Levante News has done just that in their report on deaths on Valencia’s network of roadways between 8pm New Year’s Eve and 8am New Year’s Day. This is perhaps the period of highest risk when the roads are potentially full with drivers who have been celebrating in the traditional manner with cava and heavy meals in welcoming in the New Year.

Town Councils and governments are doing their part to try and keep us safe from ourselves. Common sense seems to go out the window when everybody is in such high spirits. The free and extended public transport provided helps to cut the risk down tremendously, if only members of the public take advantage. The other thing we can do is to appoint a responsible member of the family as the designated driver who has the responsibility to avoid alcohol or drugs so that we have a good chance of surviving the night.

It was reported that only three people failed to live out the first day of 2018. That is so sad but, as a trend the number of people who fall into this category is growing less by the year. That is super positive.

From the time I began to notice the statistics regarding deaths on Spain’s roads the number of people killed while simply trying to get from A to B was horribly unacceptable. Much had to do with driving while under the influence as many people were virtually drunk all the time. They just could not get the message that if you continue to do this you will die. Then came in the points system and somehow that message struck home. If you were caught driving while drunk you would lose all your points and effectively you would never drive again.

Since then the carnage has lessened every year although apparently this year overall there appears to have been a 4% rise. However, the news from Valencia is that for the first time less than 100 people have lost their lives during the entire year. Well, the number is 99 but I will take it, especially when at one time it was 300.

We can all take pride and pleasure in these positive figures because it means we are all driving with safety in mind which means that the life I save maybe yours. We should congratulate ourselves with a pat on our own backs, and it would be a good thing to keep up the good work.

Here’s looking ahead to 2019 at this time and a much improved report. Happy Driving everyone!

Copyright © 2018

Eugene Carmichael

A Christmas Career

CHRISTMAS 2017 has been and gone, as has Twelfth Night, also known in Spain as Dia de Los Reyes Magos. In many countries around the world December 25^th is celebrated as the day of the birthday of Jesus. As such it is a Holy Day that is marked by the giving of gifts between those who follow the Christian faith.

The problem with that is the true meaning of Christmas is often forgotten in the commercialising of the season.  However, for children it can be a magical time, especially for the very young who are encouraged to believe in Santa Claus who, as the story goes will reward the child if they have been “good.”

There are many people who fill the role of Santa in making appearances leading up to the Big Day. These roles involve giving of yourself to the children, but as anyone who has dressed up in the costume will tell you what you receive from the children is far more rewarding. In fact it is priceless!

This year I was invited to take the role of Santa, or as he is known here in Spain,” Papa Noel.” In doing so I made history by being the first black man in Spain to play the part. I thought the children would complain that I wasn’t the “true” Santa because I wasn’t the exact image, but no, not even one person objected. There was only one very confused child who asked me if I was one of the Three Kings known as Balthazar. I didn’t know whether she was asking me because she remembered me from having played the role of Balthazar the previous January, or just because I was a black man.

In the event it went extremely well and all the organisers were relieved that the experiment was successful. The Santa concept is not an established Spanish costume, but it is becoming an integral part of the Christmas season. The children have figured out that they stand to receive presents on Christmas Day as well as La Dia de los Reyes Magos.

I had hardly settled down from that good feeling when the invitation came through to reprise my role as Balthazar. I was delighted! Little did I know how long a day it would turn out to be. The routine involves riding in the float and waving to all and sundry. Once we reach our destination we alight and take up a position on the stage where we receive the children to whom we give gifts.

All throughout the night the adults are referring to you as “Su Majestad”, your majesty, and everyone pays respectful deference to you. That I could easily get used to! You appear in a trillion snapshots. The town in which I appeared was Rocafort with approximately 7,000 residents. It seemed to me that 6,000 were children.

This year the process of the gift giving was much better organised and the time passed quickly. I thought that was it, but no, that was just the beginning because they added an element. Certain families had asked that the Three Kings come and visit their houses as a surprise to their children. For the next two hours we were in and out of about a dozen houses leaving in our trail a string of stunned and very happy children who will never forget.

So, it seems that I have a new career based around the happiest time of year. I cannot describe my feelings throughout both the Santa Claus and the Balthazar experiences because the human vocabulary has yet to invent those words. Suffice it to say that during the events I was alert and truly happy and privileged to grow weary, but when they were over I slept better than at any other time.

So, Happy New Year to you all! May you experience good health, prosperity and happiness!

Copyright © 2018

Eugene Carmichael