Happiest moments

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egb_hibs

egb_hibs

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Joined
Jul 2, 2002
A break from the seriousness that infects the cowshed; share, if you will, the moments that make it all worthwhile (and I think we can all take 2016 as read, though it really is up there to a shameful extent for me, more genuinely ecstatic than lots of more important things),

Anyway, I’ll go with a simple night in the pub, in the Lake District. My first was a toddler, my missus was preggers with number two, work had been very frazzling and I was basically wrung out. Dutifully trying to be a new man and share the load, I was delighted and relieved when the missus suggested I take myself off to the pub one evening.

So I wandered along a wee country road to a hotel with a beer garden. It was dinner time and I had the entire hillside beer garden to myself as all the guests were having their tea. I had a great pint, a good book and a pack of cigs (since kicked but always missed). It was a beautiful balmy evening and then the sheep in the next field started lowing as they settled their lambs down to sleep. And settled me too.

I’d love to have a tale featuring coke and Russian hookers as my perfect moment. But no, it was that. I remember basically greeting. Parents will understand perhaps.

If I could relive a moment in snapshot on a permanent loop, that would be it. And you ?
 
Most folk that I know on here and outwith the Bounce have dearly remembered experiences of happiness, that will stay with us forever in our lifes but may not consider this stuff worthy of detail on here, tragedy and happiness can come in equal measure.
There I was not going to answer this but just have.
The OP question is as daft as Sharks biting my arse or the Sauce cup imperatives.
Jolly diversions from slaughter in the real world?
Happiness not happening daily for innocents. Everyone knows the pathetic score. my happiness moment will be when no more men ,women and particularly children are atomised, amputated by the Zionist State of Israel backed by Western powers. 40,000 and counting.
My happy moments are their beleive me but disgust and shame are a massive counterweight.

BIG G
 
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There’s loads of great times I’ve had with friends and family but one ‘moment’ that sticks in my mind was in what was basically the company of strangers.

As an adventurous 19 year old I hooked up with an American guy that my mates and I had gotten to know on the Edinburgh club scene of 1990. Me and Michael decided had that it would be a great idea to ‘go on an adventure’. So we borrowed a mates tent, went to the travel shop that used to be at Surgeons Hall and asked them where we could get cheap flights to. Berlin was the answer.

We spent a few days exploring the post-wall ruins of Eastern Berlin and then began hitch hiking south. I had a Fall song in my head that mentioned Nuremberg so that was the target. We never got that far and after several crazy and quite frankly ridiculously dangerous experiences we ended up in Paris.

Tired, filthy, and by this point really pretty hostile towards ‘my American friend’ I’m about ready to jump into the river. Then Michael tells me his big brother is in Paris on a business trip. This is 1990 so no mobile phones but Michael knows the company his brother works for and we manage to track him down. 20 minutes at the hotel Michael’s brother is booked in and I’m showered and in a taxi to meet his work colleagues and we embark on a tour of Parisian restaurants and bars and endless chat and laughs with a total bunch of strangers in a foreign land. It wasn’t the greatest experience of my life but the randomness of it all makes it something special and I remember feeling so happy in the moment.

I’ve never seen any of the people, including Michael, again in the 34 years since that happy night as I got up the next day and caught a flight back to Edinburgh.
 
I've had a few truly happy moments but the biggest of all is ongoing.
I worked in an industry where good, decent, competent men (I don't mean me 😀) were continuously overlooked for promotion in favour of incompetent cocksuckers, promoted by the previous generation of cocksuckers. I hated every second of it and my only aim was to retire as soon as I could. 2 divorces from the harridans though had wiped me out financially so I was trapped. Eventually I could take no more, I was snapping at everyone and knew I had to get out. I reckoned that by cashing in a small private pension, that would probably see me through to 66 and the state pension kicking in as Thailand is so much cheaper to live. Also my wee bit bitcoin was to play a part.
So my happiest moment was stepping off the Dubai to Bangkok plane knowing I would never again have to do the return journey.
The happiness is ongoing. I don't have much but got all I need. Just being alive and waking up every morning beside my lovely Thai wife and seeing beautiful blue skies is great.
From misery to happiness 🙏
 
GORDONSMITH7 said:
Most folk that I know on here and outwith the Bounce have dearly remembered experiences of happiness, that will stay with us forever in our lifes but may not consider this stuff worthy of detail on here, tragedy and happiness can come in equal measure.
There I was not going to answer this but just have.
The OP question is as daft as Sharks biting my arse or the Sauce cup imperatives.
Jolly diversions from slaughter in the real world?
Happiness not happening daily for innocents. Everyone knows the pathetic score. my happiness moment will be when no more men ,women and particularly children are atomised, amputated by the Zionist State of Israel backed by Western powers. 40,000 and counting.
My happy moments are their beleive me but disgust and shame are a massive counterweight.

BIG G
Click to expand...
Well that’s me telt.
 
egb_hibs said:
I'd love to have a tale featuring coke and Russian hookers as my perfect moment. But no, it was that. I remember basically greeting. Parents will understand perhaps.
Click to expand...

Contentment is vastly underrated. Wild times in your youth make for good pub stories but the little things falling into place has a more profound effect.

I'd probably pick the day I moved into our first family home. Wee one was about 6 months old and sitting down with the missus to our first meal at the kitchen table with her in her high chair at the end was magic. It was summer too so once the little one was asleep we were able to sit in the garden (something we'd never had up to that point) and sink a couple of glasses of wine as the sun went down. There was an overwhelming feeling of things being right in our little world that I've never forgotten.
 
Two Headed Boy said:
Contentment is vastly underrated. Wild times in your youth make for good pub stories but the little things falling into place has a more profound effect.

I'd probably pick the day I moved into our first family home. Wee one was about 6 months old and sitting down with the missus to our first meal at the kitchen table with her in her high chair at the end was magic. It was summer too so once the little one was asleep we were able to sit in the garden (something we'd never had up to that point) and sink a couple of glasses of wine as the sun went down. There was an overwhelming feeling of things being right in our little world that I've never forgotten.
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Brilliant. I can just picture it. I do remember lying on the floor of an empty flat I had just got the keys to, with nothing in it yet but the sunlight pouring in, and feeling top of the world.

I think you are right on the first para and without derailing the thread, I think this is a problem for many people today. There’s not much loot in contentment and people have been encouraged to chase sensation and excitement well past the natural age for it.
 
My time was away back when Covid started.I caught it at the start and was really Ill.After two months on life support then three weeks rehab I eventually was allowed home.My wife and kids were told in amongst they three months to expect the worse.I was very lucky.My wife collected me from hospital and we went home.The journey was so nice seeing things like trees and green grass.It was so simple but something I thought I would never see again.When I walked through my house door to be embraced by my wife , kids and my wee dog Harry was truly the happiest moment in my life.I thought I had lost them forever.
 
Two Headed Boy said:
Contentment is vastly underrated. Wild times in your youth make for good pub stories but the little things falling into place has a more profound effect.

I'd probably pick the day I moved into our first family home. Wee one was about 6 months old and sitting down with the missus to our first meal at the kitchen table with her in her high chair at the end was magic. It was summer too so once the little one was asleep we were able to sit in the garden (something we'd never had up to that point) and sink a couple of glasses of wine as the sun went down. There was an overwhelming feeling of things being right in our little world that I've never forgotten.
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Totally agree, particularly for the younger generation - which edging towards my 40s I don't think I can class myself as any longer - there's a constant drive, feeling, need for what's next, rather than considering what you have and the contentment that can bring. It's definitely drive by social media, 24 hour news cycles and the freely available credit for high value, glamorous purchases such as cars. No longer is your first car a rust bucket on wheels. I listened to a Podcast the other week with Josh Kerr the Scottish 1500m runner the other week, who talked about winning the world championship and the first thing the interviewer asked was, what's next, what about the Olympics. If someone who is a world champion in their field is unable to be allowed to enjoy they moment at that point what hope do we have.

Anyway back on the positive which the thread was meant to be about....

Similar to others, it's the small things, the quiet moments of reflection. For me there's one that I tend to get fairly regularly, and that's being on holiday with the family, and that window you get when everyone's gone back up to the room or back to the villa from the pool to get ready to go out for evening, the kids are maybe having a nap or watching TV and the missus is getting ready. I fix myself a drink, grab my book and take 15 minutes on the balcony, or a spot with a view, and just sit. Safe in the knowledge everyone is content after a day at the pool or out sightseeing and we're about to go and have a cracking meal out. At that moment everything just feels right. Last year sitting outside our villa in the Tuscan hills, whilst the sun set in the distance with a glass of something local was the pinnace of that feeling.

Don't know if I need a holiday or drink now...
 
mod said:
My time was away back when Covid started.I caught it at the start and was really Ill.After two months on life support then three weeks rehab I eventually was allowed home.My wife and kids were told in amongst they three months to expect the worse.I was very lucky.My wife collected me from hospital and we went home.The journey was so nice seeing things like trees and green grass.It was so simple but something I thought I would never see again.When I walked through my house door to be embraced by my wife , kids and my wee dog Harry was truly the happiest moment in my life.I thought I had lost them forever.
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Quality Mod. So glad you got through it mate :54:
 
During my times in Canada, I had the good fortune to ski, both downhill and cross-country, ice skate and snowshoe through incredible and out-of-this-world landscapes. I went on snowmobile trips, experienced wildlife close in and generally lived the life. One beautiful time I recall was a trip to stay in an original 1930s Canadian log cabin at Wabamun Lake in Alberta. I don’t remember a much happier time.

The cabin was owned by family friends, was spartan yet warm, it had little in the way of home comforts or even basic utilities. Fresh water was gained by walking out onto the frozen lake and using an auger then dropping a bucket down through the thick ice into the water. There were logs to chop, open fires to be maintained, coffee beans to hand grind and so on. It felt grounding to be released from modern technology and to get back to life’s most basic things.

There is nothing for me quite like ice skating – and even better, playing ice hockey outdoors. It is an absolutely exhilarating experience. I remember one Canadian saying to me that skating was ‘the nearest thing to flying’. I particularly knew what he meant the first time I managed to achieve my own ambition of playing for fun outdoors on Wabamun Lake, thirty miles from Edmonton, Alberta.. What a memorable day that was.

A small group of us set out, including my elderly Canadian in-laws, wrapped up well, carrying sticks and pucks. Being born in the UK I’d been used to scrambling and scrabbling across the odd frozen pond as a kid – with some trepidation as the surface heaved, threatened and cracked. All such historic fears and reservations of collapsing ice were allayed however when a large truck drove past us on the ice. We cleared snow from the ice to form our hockey rink with the obviously fast-frozen ice underneath as smooth and clear as glass. Even the fish underneath the ice could be seen swimming around, what a beautiful experience!

I still remember well the ringing click-clack sound of sticks on puck and skating fast into that frigid air, the freshness – that feeling of just being completely alive. I was afterwards fortunate enough to mess around with sticks and pucks and skate on many a pond and lake in Canada and it never felt less than a thrill.

image
 
Stu said:
During my times in Canada, I had the good fortune to ski, both downhill and cross-country, ice skate and snowshoe through incredible and out-of-this-world landscapes. I went on snowmobile trips, experienced wildlife close in and generally lived the life. One beautiful time I recall was a trip to stay in an original 1930s Canadian log cabin at Wabamun Lake in Alberta. I don’t remember a much happier time.

The cabin was owned by family friends, was spartan yet warm, it had little in the way of home comforts or even basic utilities. Fresh water was gained by walking out onto the frozen lake and using an auger then dropping a bucket down through the thick ice into the water. There were logs to chop, open fires to be maintained, coffee beans to hand grind and so on. It felt grounding to be released from modern technology and to get back to life’s most basic things.

There is nothing for me quite like ice skating – and even better, playing ice hockey outdoors. It is an absolutely exhilarating experience. I remember one Canadian saying to me that skating was ‘the nearest thing to flying’. I particularly knew what he meant the first time I managed to achieve my own ambition of playing for fun outdoors on Wabamun Lake, thirty miles from Edmonton, Alberta.. What a memorable day that was.

A small group of us set out, including my elderly Canadian in-laws, wrapped up well, carrying sticks and pucks. Being born in the UK I’d been used to scrambling and scrabbling across the odd frozen pond as a kid – with some trepidation as the surface heaved, threatened and cracked. All such historic fears and reservations of collapsing ice were allayed however when a large truck drove past us on the ice. We cleared snow from the ice to form our hockey rink with the obviously fast-frozen ice underneath as smooth and clear as glass. Even the fish underneath the ice could be seen swimming around, what a beautiful experience!

I still remember well the ringing click-clack sound of sticks on puck and skating fast into that frigid air, the freshness – that feeling of just being completely alive. I was afterwards fortunate enough to mess around with sticks and pucks and skate on many a pond and lake in Canada and it never felt less than a thrill.

image
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That is brilliant. I'd fckn love to do that. Thanks for recounting it @Stu
 
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I’m going to my happy place in a couple of weeks.
The Norfolk Broads. On a boat for a week, chilling at 4 miles an hour, fishing, stopping off at riverside pubs, playing pool and darts and getting some scran and trying all the local beers.
It’s the one place I can go and forget about any shite that might be flying about my napper at any given time.
Picking up your boat from the boatyard , cracking open a beer and cruising down the river, knowing how long you have looked forward to this moment, and knowing you have your whole holiday in front of you. There really isn’t a feeling like it ( outside SDG day)
I was taken as a toddler, all through to my teens. Went with my girlfriend ( now wife) , newly married, took my kids as toddlers into adulthood, went with other couples, big family multi boats, and now for the first time , just me and my mate for a week.
The place has so many happy memories . My Mums ashes are there, and mine will join her one day .
 
hibbybilly said:
Being at my wive's bedside when my 5 bairns entered this world.
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Quality Billy... unfortunately, I was fucked on the gas n air for both my laddies and I found the whole experience a fuckin nightmare. I had nae business being there, blood, fluids of every description everywhere. Brutal. Its for the mrs' ma and her aunties to be at, fuck even her mates if she wanted. I just sat there like a fucking plum. Hapless, useless.

Brutal. What changed and it became a norm that the faither needed tae be there?? As ah says, I had nae business being there.... if faithers want tae be there, fair enough, but we should be able to have the option of leaving our mobile number wi the hospital and getting a wee call once its all done.:54:

Also, wot a fucking racket they make. Zebras just drop theirs and they are ready to rock without a sound, ours fucking moan moan moan, scream, scream scream. Then they just moan at you for the rest of your life. Even when youre no even wi them anymore!

Oooft! Am away for a lie doon :drop:
 
emerald green said:
Quality Billy... unfortunately, I was fucked on the gas n air for both my laddies and I found the whole experience a fuckin nightmare.
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1 particular time my missus was taken in while I was on a night oot. Went in oot ma face and apparently was telling the midwife I was gonni name the bairn after her. Thank fuck I never, have you heard that Johnny Cash song? :grinning-smiley-045:
 
emerald green said:
Quality Billy... unfortunately, I was fucked on the gas n air for both my laddies and I found the whole experience a fuckin nightmare. I had nae business being there, blood, fluids of every description everywhere. Brutal. Its for the mrs' ma and her aunties to be at, fuck even her mates if she wanted. I just sat there like a fucking plum. Hapless, useless.

Brutal. What changed and it became a norm that the faither needed tae be there?? As ah says, I had nae business being there.... if faithers want tae be there, fair enough, but we should be able to have the option of leaving our mobile number wi the hospital and getting a wee call once its all done.:54:

Also, wot a fucking racket they make. Zebras just drop theirs and they are ready to rock without a sound, ours fucking moan moan moan, scream, scream scream. Then they just moan at you for the rest of your life. Even when youre no even wi them anymore!

Oooft! Am away for a lie doon :drop:
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My first wife had my twin boys, and I was there. Son number 1 was born, then as the midwife is waiting on son number 2 squatting like a baseball catcher, the 2nd amniotic sac is burst open and absolutely DRENCHED the midwife. I was straight up doubled over laughing!!!
 
Hibees-Mad said:
My first wife had my twin boys, and I was there. Son number 1 was born, then as the midwife is waiting on son number 2 squatting like a baseball catcher, the 2nd amniotic sac is burst open and absolutely DRENCHED the midwife. I was straight up doubled over laughing!!!
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My daughter in law is a midwife in Edinburgh, she lives a 2 minute drive away from the Royal and was expecting twins. They were born in WISHAW!, nae room at the Inn when she went intae labour so they ambulanced her tae Wishaw.
 
Whisky in hand. So. Happiness. My best moment was my wedding day. My wife and I bigging up our love for each other in front of all the people dearest to us in the World. Ups and downs but still going strong 21 years later.
I think Happiness comes in small doses. It's fleeting and you need to appreciate when you can. A good meal. A nice bottle of wine. A fine whisky. The company of friends. Reading a good book. Listening to a favourite record. I don't think you can be happy all the time and it wouldn't be good for you if you could. You have to experience the lows to fully appreciate the highs.
I really relate to what @Two Headed Boy
says above about contentment being underrated. I'm at the stage of my life now where I'm reasonably secure financially after all the years of work and study. I'm never going to be rich and famous. Never going to play for the Cabbage. Never going to be a successful musician. All the dreams of youth are gone but I'm fine with that. I'm grateful for what I have as so many are so much worse off.
I've always had to fight an impulse to become obsessed with the past. I know I get it from my dad but he's 94, so has some reason to constantly reminisce about his years at sea. There's always a pull to and idealised past against an uncertain future which has been the basis of the mental health issues I've has for the past decade; now thankfully under control. Amazing how having a dog can work wonders for your mood!
At the end of the day our lives are brief so we need to savour the moments. Look around and appreciate what we have. @egb_hibs will think me deeply uncool but the lyrics of this Rush track, that I first heard aged 22, resonates with me more and more 36 years later.

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emerald green said:
Quality Billy... unfortunately, I was fucked on the gas n air for both my laddies and I found the whole experience a fuckin nightmare. I had nae business being there, blood, fluids of every description everywhere. Brutal. Its for the mrs' ma and her aunties to be at, fuck even her mates if she wanted. I just sat there like a fucking plum. Hapless, useless.

Brutal. What changed and it became a norm that the faither needed tae be there?? As ah says, I had nae business being there.... if faithers want tae be there, fair enough, but we should be able to have the option of leaving our mobile number wi the hospital and getting a wee call once its all done.:54:

Also, wot a fucking racket they make. Zebras just drop theirs and they are ready to rock without a sound, ours fucking moan moan moan, scream, scream scream. Then they just moan at you for the rest of your life. Even when youre no even wi them anymore!

Oooft! Am away for a lie doon :drop:
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Even worse when they tell you not to look over the wee curtain during a section.
 
emerald green said:
Quality Billy... unfortunately, I was fucked on the gas n air for both my laddies and I found the whole experience a fuckin nightmare. I had nae business being there, blood, fluids of every description everywhere. Brutal. Its for the mrs' ma and her aunties to be at, fuck even her mates if she wanted. I just sat there like a fucking plum. Hapless, useless.

Brutal. What changed and it became a norm that the faither needed tae be there?? As ah says, I had nae business being there.... if faithers want tae be there, fair enough, but we should be able to have the option of leaving our mobile number wi the hospital and getting a wee call once its all done.:54:

Also, wot a fucking racket they make. Zebras just drop theirs and they are ready to rock without a sound, ours fucking moan moan moan, scream, scream scream. Then they just moan at you for the rest of your life. Even when youre no even wi them anymore!

Oooft! Am away for a lie doon :drop:
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I share your pain.
It was over 40 years ago when my first born arrived. It wasn’t usual for the dad to be present, and I was questioned pretty severely about how I should behave (keep out the way and keep quiet) and asked for my word that I wouldn’t react badly if I felt my wife was being roughly or badly treated by docs and midwives. “Not me boss, you do whatever you need to do, I’ll be fine”.
And so I was. Stayed at the top end, with just the gas and air keeping me docile.
Then it got a wee bit fraught, and forceps were introduced to the game. True to my word I kept quiet and increased the gas and air. Even gave the missus a loan of it.
Then it went awry.
As it was a “difficult” birth some eejit decided to bring two or three student docs for a wee looksee.
Step too far.
Said students were advised to fuck right off out of here, with one of them requiring some help from my good self.

Rest of it went well.
 
Doc Shrink said:
I share your pain.
It was over 40 years ago when my first born arrived. It wasn’t usual for the dad to be present, and I was questioned pretty severely about how I should behave (keep out the way and keep quiet) and asked for my word that I wouldn’t react badly if I felt my wife was being roughly or badly treated by docs and midwives. “Not me boss, you do whatever you need to do, I’ll be fine”.
And so I was. Stayed at the top end, with just the gas and air keeping me docile.
Then it got a wee bit fraught, and forceps were introduced to the game. True to my word I kept quiet and increased the gas and air. Even gave the missus a loan of it.
Then it went awry.
As it was a “difficult” birth some eejit decided to bring two or three student docs for a wee looksee.
Step too far.
Said students were advised to fuck right off out of here, with one of them requiring some help from my good self.

Rest of it went well.
Click to expand...
sounds like a trip to Ibrox.
 
I witnessed both my boys arrivals by C Section. Key points, I have seen my wifes guts and the delivery doc for son no.1 nicked my Mont Blanc pen!
 
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Doc Shrink said:
I share your pain.
It was over 40 years ago when my first born arrived. It wasn’t usual for the dad to be present, and I was questioned pretty severely about how I should behave (keep out the way and keep quiet) and asked for my word that I wouldn’t react badly if I felt my wife was being roughly or badly treated by docs and midwives. “Not me boss, you do whatever you need to do, I’ll be fine”.
And so I was. Stayed at the top end, with just the gas and air keeping me docile.
Then it got a wee bit fraught, and forceps were introduced to the game. True to my word I kept quiet and increased the gas and air. Even gave the missus a loan of it.
Then it went awry.
As it was a “difficult” birth some eejit decided to bring two or three student docs for a wee looksee.
Step too far.
Said students were advised to fuck right off out of here, with one of them requiring some help from my good self.

Rest of it went well.
Click to expand...
:sm023:
 
1875 said:
I witnessed both my boys arrivals by C Section. Key points, I have seen my wifes guts and the delivery doc for son no.1 nicked my Mont Blanc pen!
Click to expand...

Aye, i was there for young C's entrance 'via the sunroof'. Would have taken wild horses to keep me out of that room (Poor bugger was born in Livi mind...)
 
I think I was a pretty complexly unhappy person. I think I've started to unwind that thinking, and I find it easier to just enjoy being happy.

I had a very happy childhood, and went to a brilliant primary school. There were probably some unhappy moments, and not forgetting the year of hell with Mrs Gray, but I always look back on that time in happiness. It was genuinely great times, with a great bunch of people, some of whom are sadly no longer with us.
 
hibbybilly said:
My daughter in law is a midwife in Edinburgh, she lives a 2 minute drive away from the Royal and was expecting twins. They were born in WISHAW!, nae room at the Inn when she went intae labour so they ambulanced her tae Wishaw.
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My wife was hospitalized during her last pregnancy in paisley - we’d been visiting her mum. The hospital mentioned that it was touch and go about whether she got out at all, and she might spend the last 12 weeks of her term there.

Anyway, they let her out and we drove back to Edinburgh straightaway.

No bairn of mine was being born there
 
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