- Joined
- Aug 28, 2016
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As some of our longer-standing members will have noticed, I had been taking an ever increasing back seat at RSR, in terms of racing, eventually retiring from racing altogether late last year. With today's real-life events out of the way, I thought I'd finally share what's been going on, just in case anybody gave a fig! Not interested? Stop reading .
Back in September my mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease and although as a family we knew this was the likely diagnosis, we couldn't do anything until we were certain. That had been weighing heavily on my mind for the previous 6-9 months and in all honesty, my heart wasn't 100% into racing or my business, as my mind was too full of what-ifs and thinking about the future. As the months went by and the diagnosis came, all desire to race went out of the window, so my kit went to new homes. All that's left is my very well used Oculus Rift DK2. That's when I stopped racing altogether, so the only time I fire up pCARS2 now is to take screenshots for banners or because I want to take a nice screenshot. I haven't actually done a lap "in anger" since November. It's also nearly impossible for me to drive with a controller as I've used a wheel in driving games for nearly 30 years.
I have just this afternoon sold the business I ran with my father for over 25 years. My house, which I bought 20 years ago, will be going up for sale in a couple of weeks. By the end of April I will be moving 200 miles to live with my parents - initially under the same roof and then into my own new home at the bottom of their garden. Having lived away from them for 20 years, it is not going to be an easy time living with them, not least given my mother's illness, until my new place is built. It is all a massive upheaval in my life and the biggest adjustment I will have had to make since, well, since ever. My business has been my entire adult working life, with my father literally by my side for the first 15½ years of the business. A customer put it very well - it's like somebody put my head into a washing machine with the weekly washing.
There's not much anybody can do but as a family, we will pull together and make sure that my mother and father are as comfortable and happy as possible in the (hopefully) many years they have left. If any of you have first-hand expertise or experience in Alzheimer's then by all means drop me a PM but if it's OK with all of you, this is not something I really want to discuss in public further than this post. This really is me just letting go of something I've had to keep bottled for a long while now.
I have no idea what the future holds in store, but I am looking forward to it with a mixture of optimism and fear. I'm still here at RSR, doing what I can, when I can and I would like to think I'll be around for a good while yet. Will I return to racing? I don't know, I barely know what I'm doing next week, let alone months or years ahead but never say never. One thing's for certain, should I return to racing, it will be here at RSR because this is my home, this is my family and I wouldn't want to race anywhere else
And with that, I think I shall now get very very drunk*
Back in September my mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease and although as a family we knew this was the likely diagnosis, we couldn't do anything until we were certain. That had been weighing heavily on my mind for the previous 6-9 months and in all honesty, my heart wasn't 100% into racing or my business, as my mind was too full of what-ifs and thinking about the future. As the months went by and the diagnosis came, all desire to race went out of the window, so my kit went to new homes. All that's left is my very well used Oculus Rift DK2. That's when I stopped racing altogether, so the only time I fire up pCARS2 now is to take screenshots for banners or because I want to take a nice screenshot. I haven't actually done a lap "in anger" since November. It's also nearly impossible for me to drive with a controller as I've used a wheel in driving games for nearly 30 years.
I have just this afternoon sold the business I ran with my father for over 25 years. My house, which I bought 20 years ago, will be going up for sale in a couple of weeks. By the end of April I will be moving 200 miles to live with my parents - initially under the same roof and then into my own new home at the bottom of their garden. Having lived away from them for 20 years, it is not going to be an easy time living with them, not least given my mother's illness, until my new place is built. It is all a massive upheaval in my life and the biggest adjustment I will have had to make since, well, since ever. My business has been my entire adult working life, with my father literally by my side for the first 15½ years of the business. A customer put it very well - it's like somebody put my head into a washing machine with the weekly washing.
There's not much anybody can do but as a family, we will pull together and make sure that my mother and father are as comfortable and happy as possible in the (hopefully) many years they have left. If any of you have first-hand expertise or experience in Alzheimer's then by all means drop me a PM but if it's OK with all of you, this is not something I really want to discuss in public further than this post. This really is me just letting go of something I've had to keep bottled for a long while now.
I have no idea what the future holds in store, but I am looking forward to it with a mixture of optimism and fear. I'm still here at RSR, doing what I can, when I can and I would like to think I'll be around for a good while yet. Will I return to racing? I don't know, I barely know what I'm doing next week, let alone months or years ahead but never say never. One thing's for certain, should I return to racing, it will be here at RSR because this is my home, this is my family and I wouldn't want to race anywhere else
And with that, I think I shall now get very very drunk*