Prepared to be Thrilled.

In the interests of good housekeeping I should point out that since the start of October I have slowly been getting back to the gym. One of the main things that motivated me to get started again is that the last time I went to the gym was August 8th (8/8/14) - the day US operations against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) began. As a result I was starting to find it really depressing being given daily reminders of just how unfit I was becoming.

The reason of course that I stopped is that between the stress of the anti-ISIL operation, the war in Gaza and all that exercise I sort of got burned out and ended up getting ill. As a result this time I'm making a conscious effort to not over-do things at least until the increased fitness and stamina kicks in. This means that I do need to take days off because I've discovered that 14 day weeks can be exhausting.

While I'm here though I should point out that local Hong Kong residents have started to break up the mass pro-democracy protests that have been blocking the city for weeks. The protest organisers - who are almost all under 22 - are blaming this on the Chinese government paying Triad gangsters to break up the protests. I should point out then that I went to High School from 1993-1998 in an area which is often the first port of call for immigrants into the UK. So in the run-up to the 1997 handing back of Hong Kong to China there was a large increase in Chinese immigrants from Hong Kong. This led to a mass local panic about Triad gangsters who got blamed for every crime and every bad thing that happened.

As a result I very quickly learnt that "Triad gangster" is simply another way of Britain saying "Chinese person we don't like."

12:20 on 15/10/14 (UK date).