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Hello everyone, welcome to podcast number seven.

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I'm quite amazed at how many we're getting through here, but I have to admit, this is

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very satisfying.

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Today I want to talk about some different bits and pieces.

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I'm going to talk about some hobbies that I've got.

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I know I alluded to them in my poem in the last podcast, whereby one of my hobbies was

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taken away from me by the MS, and that hobby was airsoft.

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I really, really did enjoy playing airsoft, going out with my friends, running around

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the woods and just pretending we were kids.

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It was great fun.

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It really was fantastic, I'll be honest with you.

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Yeah, I mean, even doing that, I was struggling with everything going on, but at that point,

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all right, the numb feet and numb legs were a bit of a problem, and I just sort of had

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to camp around in places to catch the enemies out, but I was able to manage.

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Now I physically couldn't play that if I wanted to.

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Don't get me wrong, could I maybe hide in a bush and pick people off from distance?

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Yeah, quite probably, but that really isn't for me.

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I'm not that kind of person.

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I'm not just going to lay down and camp.

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So unfortunately, the MS has taken that hobby away from me, which is a real shame because,

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as I say, I enjoyed getting out and getting out with my friends.

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We had a really good team that we was playing with and enjoying it, having good fun, but

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just can't manage it anymore.

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Physically can't manage it.

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I haven't done for a very, very long time now.

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So as I said in that last one, I've replaced that one hobby with three.

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The first one and probably the biggest one, and again, if you follow me on any of the

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social medias, you probably would have seen this.

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I never used to like it, but I'm right into gardening now.

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I've been for a short period.

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I love nothing more than going out in the garden and even if it's just deadheading,

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the flowers that need deadheading or whether they need watering or just generally potting

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about out there, it's brilliant.

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I really enjoy it.

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There's nothing better than going out, having a look at the flowers that we've got out in

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the garden, making everything look nice, neat and tidy.

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I managed to, before the summer, I managed to dig out a new border in the garden.

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Yeah, I suffered for it afterwards.

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It hurt for a couple of days, but oh, it was well worth it.

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We've put things in there like sunflowers.

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I've got a dahliya in there, a conifer tree, a very little one, granted it's a very little

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one.

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My personal favorite along that border at the moment, got jasmine.

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Beautiful.

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Really, really nice.

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It's growing lovely as well.

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Yeah, the flowering on it is absolutely fantastic and it smells beautiful.

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It's very satisfying.

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Up near our decking area at the back, I managed to put four, what will be, rose bushes in.

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I'll be honest with you, it looks lovely.

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All right, we're getting to a time of year now where everything's slowing down and the

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flowers and the plants are getting to a point where they're sort of getting themselves ready

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for the winter.

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Yeah, that's fine because over the summer, I tell you what, it's been lovely.

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Really nice going out there and having a little look.

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As I say, just sort of pottering about and potting new plants and whatever else.

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That's been brilliant.

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I've got a little section that we did a couple of years ago now where we, I say we because

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I had a lot of help at the time, we knew nothing about my issues at all.

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We just, it was the numb legs and the bad back and whatever else.

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But yeah, I had some brilliant help and we dug out a patio and it's really nice.

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On that patio, I've got four planters.

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I've got some beautiful flowers in there as well.

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Again, I've got a few dahlias in the planters.

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One of them is getting really big.

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It's lovely, beautiful.

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The flowering on it is absolutely stunning.

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Yeah, and I'll be honest with you, it's the sort of thing that I actually, when I'm having

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a bit of a bad day and I can get out there, I mean, again, the weather's turning a little

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bit now.

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I mean, going out there in a pouring rain is not the greatest idea, but if the weather's

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okay, I can go out, have a little tinker about and do the bits and pieces that need doing.

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And it's so relaxing, genuinely really relaxing.

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And yeah, it's not always easy.

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Do not get me wrong, it's not always easy.

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But actually, it's worthwhile.

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It's worth the pains and the aches that come after it because of the way it sort of just

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cleanses my mind a little bit.

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It's very relaxing.

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So yeah, I mean, that's the first thing that I've replaced the airsoft with and I'm pleased

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I did.

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Again, I've got a couple of houseplants as well.

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My personal favourite are the houseplants.

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It's my nice big yucca.

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I'm actually sat right next to that while I'm talking to you and he's getting a bit of

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a size on him.

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It's nice to look at, I'll be honest with you.

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It can be a bit of fun if you try and walk past him.

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He can give you a bit of a prick off the bottom of his leaves.

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But again, absolutely fantastic.

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I'm really, really pleased.

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Growing beautifully and again, lovely to look at and very calming and relaxing.

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The other thing that I mentioned is something that I used to do quite a number of years

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ago.

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Don't get me wrong, I was never a brilliant guitarist at all.

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It was just tinkering about and again, slightly relaxed me.

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And I have every intention of going back to it.

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It's not right this instant, but certainly over the next couple of months, maybe just

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after Christmas, I've already seen a guitar that are quite fancy.

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And I'll have a look for some amps and I'm just going to tinker about again.

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Because again, it was something way back in the day that I used to do and I enjoyed it.

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I found it very relaxing.

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And at the moment, doing the relaxing stuff is kind of what I need.

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It's nice to do the little bits and pieces that can just take your mind off the negative

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aspect.

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Because let's be fair, we can't pretend that having MS is anything but negative.

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But if I can try and limit the negativity, which believe me, I'm trying really hard to

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do and I've got a lot of good help to do so.

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Again, it's very, very helpful.

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And if it means I've got to deafen the family while I'm getting the guitar out and playing

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a few tunes, well, absolutely that's what's going to happen.

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I'll accept the tellings off for being so loud.

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I might get some headphones, some proper ones so that I don't deafen them too much.

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But we'll see on that one.

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And thirdly, it's what I'm doing now.

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As I said in the poem, the pod, podcast didn't really fit with a poem to be fair.

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But this podcasting, absolutely fantastic.

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Sitting here and just talking, talking about the things that's going on in my head, things

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that I'm going through, the issues that I'm dealing with, and hoping that the things I'm

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talking about can resonate with other people.

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And maybe, just maybe make other people think, actually, I want to talk about what I've got

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going on.

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Or, okay, this guy's talking about this stuff.

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I totally understand where he's coming from.

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I'm not the only one, because at the end of the day, this can be quite lonely.

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And talking to people that are not going through it, they don't always understand some of the

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things that we are going through, because it's all internal.

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All of the aches, the pains, all of that sort of stuff, it's all internal.

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And if you're having a good day, and your mobility is okay, I'm not going to say brilliant,

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but if your mobility is okay, some people can sort of lose sight of the fact that you

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are struggling, and that you do have issues.

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Well, just because you can't see it, doesn't mean it's not happening.

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So for me, those three things that I've put into my life to try and help me out, I'll

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be honest with you, I can't ask for anything better.

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And again, I've said it before, I'm very, very lucky with family and friends.

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I've always got people there for me, and I've always got people that are not afraid to have

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a laugh and a joke, which is brilliant.

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Because as I've said, I am a laughing and jokey kind of person.

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That's never going to change.

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I'm always going to be who I am, and I'm always going to be proud of who I am.

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As everyone should, no matter what you're going through, you should always be proud

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of who you are, no matter what.

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So those are the three things that I've put there I'm happy with.

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And I'm just wondering, how about yourselves?

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Is there the sort of things that you like to do?

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Again, cross over onto my social media platforms if you want to.

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I'll say it again.

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It's mics underscore ms underscore journey, and that is the same for YouTube as it is

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for Instagram and also TikTok.

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Come over.

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Come and tell me the sort of things that you're into, the sort of things that you're doing

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to keep yourself ticking over.

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Because in all fairness, talking to each other, it's the sort of thing that can help.

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It's the sort of thing that can make you realise you're not on your own with this.

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Because you're not.

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Plenty of people out there that would be more than happy to have conversations with you,

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there's just always ways of expressing everything that's going on.

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Now I'll be honest with you, there's many, many things that actually I'm considering

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also taking up as hobbies.

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Poem I wrote, I'll be honest with you, personally I'm really proud of it.

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I enjoyed writing it.

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So I'm debating whether to start doing that sort of thing as well.

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Because it was fun.

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I really did enjoy it.

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The same as I said in the last one, Lisa, she made that suggestion for us to do that

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sprite challenge.

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That was brilliant.

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I really did enjoy it.

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So what we'll probably do is do a few more of those sort of things on her TikTok, maybe

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mine as well.

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Again, I'm always looking for new things to do to enjoy and to keep life fun.

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So yeah, I mean that really, that's the sort of things that I'm doing in my life.

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On top of working, I work four days on and four days off, which is brilliant.

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And yeah, that really is all I wanted to say today.

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As I say, I've got the sponsored walk coming up on Saturday.

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And that really is something I can't wait to get to Saturday and go and do it.

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I'll be completely fair to you.

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On top of the fact that we're supporting the charity in that manner, actually to go and

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be around other people that are going through similar issues and hopefully have conversations

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with them.

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And just sort of, because it's the one thing I've not really done too much in terms of

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face to face conversations with people, but actually I'd like to.

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So I can't wait.

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If you're listening to me and you are down at that sponsored walk in London, if you see

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me, please come up, introduce yourself.

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It'd be my pleasure to have a conversation and yeah, introduce myself to you.

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And that really is all I can say for today.

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Again, the fact that I'm seeing so many different countries in my downloads, I'm literally gobsmacked.

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I really am.

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I'm seeing downloads come from all over Europe.

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I'm seeing downloads come from the United States, from Canada.

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I've got downloads coming from Africa.

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Genuinely, each and every one of you downloading, you are making me really proud.

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And I thank you for it.

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You all have a great day and I am very much looking forward to talking to you again soon

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and letting you know how the sponsored walk goes.

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Have a good day.

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Bye bye.