My South Western Railway week of delays! (and no repays) #TightwadDad Vlog

My South Western Railway week of delays! (and no repays) #TightwadDad Vlog



So this is a good start.
The train has 5 carriages.
It's half a train.
It's 5 carriage train, instead of a 10 carriage one.
[Music]

It looks pretty busy... and there's no seats!
Cos it's half a train.
On the upside, the company's going to call itself "--Ern Railway" now.
[Music]

So this is my seat for the one hour journey.
Gonna get myself comfortable, I think.

[TANNOY:] Usual 10. I've just been informed this is due to a brake problem on the rear 5 coaches this morning in the depot. I do sincerely apologise for this. This service is half the size of a normal service of 5 car. I've been informed recently this is due to a brake fault on the rear 5 coaches which are in the depot. So we do apologise for the uncomfortable conditions up to Waterloo.
They're gonna remove the guards, and replace them with full-time apologisers.
[Music]

[TANNOY:] For the cramped and uncomfortable conditions this morning. As most of you well know, this service is normally a 10 car. For the last couple of days it's been a 5 car.
This is not a permanent change. This was just due to I've been informed brake problems on the rear 5, so I can only apologise. And hope for the rest of the week return to a 10 car.

Hello South Western Railway.
This is what it looks like when half a train runs.
It's nice and cosy.

Okay so that wasn't a great start to this week of filming this.
I can't move my legs! I've been standing for an hour.
And holding this at an awkward angle because I don't want to enrage the many people that I'm sharing this train with.

Anyway I give this journey a half out of 10.
Half for the half train that we got.
Man that was ugly.

115 quid -- oh and er it was a little bit late as well!
[Music]

What a difference 13 hours makes.
Got a completely empty train. Life is good.
For this evening.

So... I'll probably give this journey a 10 out of 10. Solid 10.
Knew it was too soon. The guard has just asked for police assistance over the tannoy.
It's gonna be okay. It's all gonna be okay.

Ah well. So I've now downgraded this score to... erm, the journey's a 7, a gentle 7 out of 10 now.
[Music]

Okay so that didn't go so well but you know there's still the rest of the week to go
[Music]

It's Wednesday, it's 5 past 7.
And I know it's gonna be a good day
We're gonna we're gonna get solid tens today, I know it.
[Music]

So that was a nice journey. Got a seat.
Ten minutes late so it's ten minutes
I give that journey I give it a 9 out of 10 even though it's 10% late so there's 10% off the mark. So I think that's fair.
I don't know why it can't just turn up on time, but...
guess we'll call it South Western Railway time
[Music]

So it's 10 hours later.
And I'm after the 1845.
Agh, knew it was to be true
They've run the train short!

Look!
Instead of 12 carriages, it's 8.
I'm looking at the wrong camera again.
It's 8 carriages - we can't get on!
So it's a short, short form train again
I dunno if I can get on.

[TANNOY:] If you do require Clapham, please return to the platform.
Thank you.
So I squeezed on. And er it looks like we're gonna be leaving five minutes late
So we've, there's the camera, so we've left late.
Again. Let's see how this goes.
[Music]

That wasn't such a great journey - I got my bag strap caught in the door, it was so crowded.
I was standing for 45 minutes - it was a good job that I've got on it and nearly didn't get on it because it was so crowded, but the train behind us the 1900, that got cancelled totally because of a train fault - as well as our one being short because of a train fault

And the 1815 before it was short, because of a train fault so... I guess I should be lucky that we got a train at all
So that's a win.

But I'm only gonna give this a score of 7.
We're late as well but not late enough to get any compensation so I'll give that journey actually no I was standing I'll give that journey 6 yeah [CRASH!] that train!
Oh hello there it's Thursday morning it's 7:15 and I've got a good feeling about today
I think this might be the day where South Western Railway can show us it's excellence!
[Music]

So we're nine minutes late.
Late enough to have an impact - Not late enough to get any compensation.
I think I'll give that journey... a, a, it's tricky - I'll give it a nine with some indecision
Yeah it's a solid nine.
[Music]

So it's Thursday night - there's a camera! I keep missing it.
It's Thursday night - going for the 1745.
Let's see if all the carriages are here.

Looks like most of them are here.
Looks like it'll also leave on time, so I don't wanna jinx it, but this this could look good.
(SINGS) It's a proper length train!
[Music]

Okay so this is going well. We're on time and there's a faster service that's going to overtake us so I'll be able to get on that and maybe get home a bit sooner
I don't know why I'm staring you like this.

It's like I'm looking down - I don't - lift it higher that's what I should do but I feel weird holding the phone this high.
I think I'm getting better at this over the week, no?

Okay I spoke too soon. It's a third of a train - there's only four carriages.
Oh South Western Railway!
You keep us hanging on!

So this 12 carriage train is only 4 carriages.
That's a third of a train it's-- maybe I should shoot all my videos in here?
I'm not sure. It's not exactly soundproof.
There's no water. Oh!
[Music]

Hello it's five to seven on Friday. Last day of the week yeah!
I've got this new camera I don't even know if you can see me let alone if I'm in focus
I've got good hopes for today.

I know South Western Railway can pull this out of the bag yeah!
It's funny I was thinking last night I'm worried that this video will come off as ungrateful or snarky when it absolutely comes from an opposite place
I feel so grateful in this country that we have a rapid mass transit system that's just there for us as a nation.

But anyway let's see what today brings
[Music]

Okay so my train's on time - yes! - but it's another short formation
It's 8 carriages instead of twelve but on the upside it's a Friday, so it's usually a lot quieter on this route on a Friday, so fingers crossed.

A lot of people like to not travel in by train.
What's not to like?!
[Music]

That's not the camera: The lights are off. It's nice and intimate.
I actually prefer it like this I think.

[TANNOY]
At Guildford, we were advertised differently. This lead to a couple of minutes extra.
I do apologise for the inconvenience this will cause to your journeys this morning...

So it's not going quite so well on this journey.
We've got a level crossing failure. The train was routed into the wrong platform, so we're running about 12 minutes in delay. And, and there's a third of the train missing.
So... not quite there this morning.
[Music]

Okay, so this is interesting: we're exactly 14 minutes late.
If we're one minute later we get compensation, and if we don't lose a minute, we don't.
So fingers crossed
[Music]

Okay so there's a-- there was a, we were routed... routed?
We were routed into the wrong platform at Guildford - there's a level crossing failure - a third of the train is missing, don't know if you can see that in the background?
I'm still looking at the screen instead of the camera and we're sixteen minutes late which is great because that means we'll get some compensation.

I'll put that on screen now, how much I'll get.
It takes a couple of weeks to go through
So that's gonna be a load, a load of money

We're 15-- no 16 minutes late on a one-hour journey
Ha. But it's okay, because I now allow an hour and a half...
[TANNOY ANNOUNCEMENT]

I now allow an hour and a half extra on my journey time because I might not trust South Western Railway so much at the moment
[Music]

So we're out seeing a show. We're going to get very late train, at 2245 and it looks like it's gonna leave on time - it looks like all of the carriages are here.
So very late on a Friday night... South Western Railway you're looking good!
[Music]

Oh! It's not that train! It's the front of the--
[Music]

So that was a good one. That was on time... all the carriages were on the train.
Well done South Western Railway. So I think what I've learnt is, the time to travel on South Western Railway is at midnight on Friday... then we're good.

It's Monday. It's the last day of this experiment to just record a typical week travelling on South Western Railway.
The company has cancelled two trains - the two trains I was going to get on.

So I didn't rush to the station for it. But just realized I won't get any compensation for that because I don't actually hold the ticket for the trains that were not going to leave.
So... don't know how I would claim for that.

Ah well. So, I'll go and get my ticket now
[Music]

It's a bit windy
So the train straight after the cancellations are obviously late.
So fingers crossed we can get on this one.
[Music]

Okay so this train's a bit busy.
But the next one's in ten minutes, it's delayed even more. So... there's a seat.
[Music]

[TANNOY: The next station is Guildford]
[TANNOY:] This is your service up to London Waterloo, this is your Guard.
Apologies, we're now running 20 minutes behind schedule.
We were delayed as we arrived into Guildford, we were delayed further as we were awaiting a second member of crew to head up to Waterloo. So I do apologise for the delay as we are running around 20 minutes behind schedule now.
[Music]

So two trains cancelled and the one next one in is 27 minutes late.
That's erm... I think I'll give, give that - I don't know if you can hear me?
I'll-- all I can hear is just apologies on tannoys, it's lovely.

So I think I'll give that journey a soft six out of ten
It didn't clonk over to the half hour extra compensation so I'm 27 minutes late, I'll be paid the same as being sixteen minutes late, which... is unfortunate.
[Music]

So the last journey on the last day of this random week of travelling with South Western Railway.
That last journey there, left at 1800 and I've got here on time -- it might be in one minute late but basically it's on time, so that's a good one.
That's a good one to end on!

Well done South Western Railway!
I'll give that-- Oh, I had to stand!
I had to stand for half an hour, but but look all the carriages were there!
It was a twelve coach train with twelve coaches!

And it left on time!
So one journey - that's fantastic - to end on on this journey high.

So that was a random week of me travelling on South Western Railway

Have you got any comments?
What's it like for you travelling on South Western Railway?

Or maybe on the train company that serves your area - leave a comment below I'd love to hear your stories.
And if you've reached this point in the video my goodness you you've come along a long journey with me.

You're awesome! Thank you. Why not express your awesomeness with a thumbs up 0 would be lovely to know that someone reached this point of the video.

And if you're feeling even kinder, why not hit the subscribe button? Every single subscription is treasured and takes us closer to the 1000 subscribers that we're aiming for. We really appreciate that. I'll see you on the next video thanks for watching!


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How to make YouTube thumbnails for FREE

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HOW TO MAKE YOUTUBE THUMBNAILS FOR FREE | Self-publish NOW Neil Mossey

HOW TO MAKE YOUTUBE THUMBNAILS FOR FREE | Self-publish NOW! 003 Neil Mossey



Hello welcome back to the Happy Hut - I'm Neil Mossey and I help as many people as possible to get ideas out of their heads and out into the world to make as many people happy as possible

One of the best ways of doing that is right here on YouTube

If you are looking for how to make a thumbnail for YouTube, I am so sorry, I feel your pain.
I'm so sorry that you are at that stage in your youtubing where you've realized that thumbnails are important and a thing
I put it off for years

Look at us.
A pair of unpaid google interns.
I mean we're slaves!

We're slaves to the YouTube algorithm so-- so yeah let's make our shackles and chains that bit more appealing.
I'm going to show you some of the things that I use to make my youtube thumbnails for free but man I hate it.

I hate making thumbnails.
Nobody likes making thumbnails.
You made a video, isn't that enough?

You've then got to upload it - right so you're doing video - done that... and then you've got to write your description - done that... words.

And now? And now you've got to start editing images?

I mean the hard thing is I'm actually quite good at Photoshop or the free equivalent GIMP - but I'm not gonna get Photoshop out to make a thumbnail.

I just want a place to just put the thumbnail in... add some words and then get it out again.
And over the months and years I've managed to find a few tools and a few techniques to do that as as easily as possible and completely for no money as possible.

But one thing I do promise you - hand on heart - I will not show you how to make those videos where you look surprised in the thumbnail.
You know those really stupid thumbnails? The really irritating thumbnails I'm not I'm not gonna do that I'm not gonna do that I promise you.

The broken jazz hands and look-of-shock thumbnail shot

Actually I'm gonna - that is - that is exactly the thumbnail that I'm gonna use on this video, just to make a point.

So let's jump into into YouTube this is what the tube studio dashboard looks like.
I've actually gone into my last video.
As you can see YouTube offers you three completely usable thumbnails.
They're quite, actually quite good at it
I think there must be some beast like software that can detect smiles and can avoid frames where your eyes are closed.

And I actually really like this thumbnail in the middle and that's the one I've selected.
But the first problem I had was that I actually want to add to that
I want to add some words to it
I might even want to add another picture

I could not work out how to export a thumbnail from YouTube
I finally did manage it but it's a little little bit of a workaround
If you have a cell phone or a mobile phone as we call it here in the UK, the way that I export thumbnails from YouTube - any one of the three that they offer you - is using this.

It's an app called YT studio
It's supposed to be the studio app for youtubing
When you go in there you can click on the dashboard

Click on "videos" from that pulldown menu, and choose the video that you want to play with
It gives you lots of details about the video but up here if you click on the pen icon you can actually edit the video from the app

And there's a little tool in here which is great
If you go into the thumbnail there are the three thumbnails and you can see them there.
So if you choose the one that you want to export... save it... select the one that you want and down there, hit "download thumbnail"

That downloads the thumbnail to your phone
Now if you go over to google photos there is the thumbnail ready for you in all its glory

So all you need to do now is to go to Google Photos, download that onto your computer, and use the software and that's what I'm going to use next
Now the next tool that I use for free is something called spark on Adobe.com, so I'll put the link in the description.

If you type in "spark.Adobe.com"
Now I know I'm scared of using Adobe products because man do they like to hold you upside down and shake you around for money, but this, I've been using this for about six months now
It's completely free - all you need to do is to set up an Adobe.com account which is free

I use that on my dirty email so they can't spam me with marketing messages
If you go into just the the opening page you'll see you can use their templates - the pre-loaded templates.

So this is my dashboard here in Spark.
To create a new thumbnail, or new project even, see this plus sign at the top of the page?
This is what will probably greet you when you go there for the first time - you sign in for the first time - and they offer you all these different templates you know.
There's a flyer or a slideshow but what they also offer are YouTube thumbnails!

So if I click on that down here on the right hand side look at all these pre-made YouTube thumbnails you can use.
See you could choose this one for instance

Click "create" and you can change absolutely anything on this template, so this block of text here?
If you click on the the pencil icon again - click Edit - you can change that to "my thumbnail"

Click "done" but you can make that bigger by dragging these corners here and it just it just works it all out for you

It's really lovely. You could change this picture at the back here and that's what, that's what we're gonna do at the moment, so I'm gonna go to some thumbnails that I've made in the past...
So as you can see it saves as you go along
I'll probably delete that - so I've developed a bit of a template for myself
Sometimes it might have four pictures in there - or one big picture and a block of text - and I think that's what I'm going to go with for this latest video

So what I'll do is, I'll duplicate a thumbnail that I've already made and we'll call it "transcribe thumbnail"

Hit duplicate - so it should have duplicated it here and it hasn't shown it on the dashboard, but if I go into "edit project" hopefully all the bits that I need will be there
There it is fantastic

I want a block of text, and I want the nice thumbnail that YouTube have already chosen for me, so firstly I'll change the block of text

I want that to run along the bottom there, and I can change this image - and you can change the image on the template thumbnails that they give you - so if I just click on the image and then I'll go up to "replace"

Now what I'll do is I'll upload the photo that I downloaded from Google photos because I downloaded it from the YouTube studio app .
I hope that makes sense

I've gone into Google photos and there is the thumbnail that YouTube offered which I liked and I'll click on download

Back into spark, if I hit upload photo, right so now I am uploading the thumbnail picture... there it is!
I want to make this text smaller, just so it runs along the bottom here, so what I would do is click "Edit" and I'll change the words

So we'll change this to something like "transcribe for free"
I want it big so it reads - so I might put it in the middle - or put it in the bottom - the bottom there - and it sort of works out all the proportions for you

You can change anything that you want on the, on the words, so you can change the font
I prefer the one I've got
You can change the colors, you can change the size or the line spacing and I've sometimes done that just to get more words in...

But it's a really brilliant resource to just be able to just sling in the words and sling in a picture and it saves as you go along so now if I hit download... so now that I've downloaded it I can now upload it as a thumbnail

And there it is - and that's it!
It really is such an easy way to just grab a thumbnail that youtube has offered
Maybe manipulate it a little bit or add some extra pictures, add some words, then download that image and then re-upload it as a thumbnail

So I hope this video has helped give you some ideas for how to export a thumbnail from YouTube - to give you somewhere to go for free - to manipulate it and some text maybe add any other images that you want to and then export and download that image that you can then use as a thumbnail

It's a little system that I've managed to use for a lot of videos now
If you've reached this point in the video and it has helped well why not give me a thumbs up just to let me know that someone reached this point in the video

And if you're feeling even kinder, if you were to hit on the subscribe button that would just show me some love that I crave - but also I'm craving subscribers - trying to get to a thousand subscribers - probably exactly the same as you...

One day we'll be monetized!
You and me... making thumbnails.
For little to no money, but in the meantime good luck with your thumbnail creating
I'll see you on the next video.


Previous post...
YELLED AT DURING SOUTH WESTERN RAILWAY RMT STRIKE | #TightwadDad Vlog by Neil Mossey

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(UK) (US)

YELLED AT DURING SOUTH WESTERN RAILWAY RMT STRIKE | #TightwadDad Vlog by Neil Mossey

YELLED AT DURING SOUTH WESTERN RAILWAY RMT STRIKE (...not by SWR) #TightwadDad Vlog by Neil Mossey



Train's just come in... I've got four minutes, before it goes.
It's up here...
[MUSIC]

Hello I'm Neil and this the TightwadDad Vlog.
It's a place where we try to be happy with the stuff that we've already got and this is gonna be a bit of an experiment this morning

I am - it's really early in the morning
I don't know if you can see... but it's not great weather.
I'm gonna take you along the journey with me to show you what it's like traveling on the trains here in the UK while there's a strike going on

I don't know if it's gonna be any good
Now it's Friday - so I thought it might be quiter today... but as you're about to see it's not.
[MUSIC]

The train is late which is pretty normal
So the dilemma now, as to whether I get on this one or wait for one that's less busy
[Music]

So now at Waterloo, and we're late and I've had to pay extra to come in to London so that I can go straight back out again, that way. To Clapham Junction.

South Western Railway isn't a very nice company maybe I should let South Western Railway explain themselves in their own words.

Here's a quote from them.
"Our first second and third priority is revenue."

So maybe that's why during a strike they've cancelled the few trains before this train.
And they've canceled at least four trains... well not cancelled, they've just disappeared them.
They've deleted four trains - the four trains after this train - I'm trying to find the humour in this - bear with me.

And on the tannoy announcements they're blaming it on the strike

But... there are still revenue protection guards on the trains to check that we're paying the same amount of money for the rubbish service - and the services they've deleted.

So they have the staff - they've got the staff
From my point of view this is because perhaps South Western Railway isn't a very nice company and in their own words their first second and third priority is revenue
[Music]

So anyway now I'm gonna get on this extra train that costs me more
That takes longer.

So that I can earn some money myself to then give to South Western Railway next week.
What am I doing?!
What are we doing?!
There's beautiful London that I paid a ticket for - to get in to - and I'm not even gonna get to see it - This is purely so I can change trains.
[Music]

This is Clapham Junction this is the station I wanted to change at - I wanted to get the ticket through - because it's a lot cheaper.
I'm here 20 minutes later... than when I went through it the first time.
[MUSIC]

Okay, my train's been cancelled, so I've got a nice 11 minute break here
Hope it doesn't get crowded
[MUSIC]

And we're in the London Overground now and there's some overhead wire problems.
So the whole line's suspended

This train's going in a different direction

What's good about TfL and London Overground is they're actually arranging for a shuttle service to run between Shepherds Bush and Clapham Junction

South Western Railway wouldn't do that - when - last night when they had a problem - they just shut the whole line and didn't bother running a shuttle over the 40 miles up to the problem because their priority... the first second and third priority is revenue.

So I feel like I'm in good hands here.
There's a problem, but London Overground staff are clearly doing something about it for the passengers not for the revenue

Okay so they say there's a shuttle service to Shepherds Bush but there's a train five minutes before then from another platform so I'm going to try and get on that one but that one isn't very reliable - that's a Southern train service

We're gonna see if it's running today
[Music]

You need the pastry shops to give you the energy
To be able to do this.
[MUSIC]

I think it's gonna be busy.
I'm too old for this.

So I've made it - about half hour, 40 minutes after I would prefer it to be.
let's see how it works in the other direction

okay so just found out all those people I walked past...

The barriers are shut over there - and no... no-one mentioned it.
Commuters never talk to each other
That's sort of why it's a bit weird and difficult for me to do this
I'm literally walking around talking to a camera - I'm talking full stop
Let's try that again

So, I've made it in - probably now another five minutes later than usual
Let's see how this goes in the other direction
"YOU CANNOT--"

So my greatest fear actually happened
That shot there - that I just thought was a funny innocuous shot of the "Please don't run" sign...
This guy starts shouting at me.

"YOU CAN'T FILM HERE! YOU CAN'T FILM!"
It's a guy in a in a Hi-Vis suit but it didn't have any London Underground or Overground branding on.
I need to see some...

"YOU CAN'T FILM! YOU CAN'T FILM!"
It's like... And here's me saying good things about the London Overground
I still think it's a good line - and run well.
But he's going "YOU CAN'T FILM!"

I said, "I'm sorry! I don't know who you are."
Because he had a company lanyard that said Vinci on it?
I said "I don't know--"

"YOU CAN'T ASK ME WHO I AM. YOU CAN'T FILM!"
So it's like... "I don't know why you're yelling at me!"
So he walked me over to the station supervisor and said "I WILL CALL THE POLICE!"
And it's like, but, I still don't know who you are - I'm so sorry

"THIS IS WHO I AM"
He held up this ID card that said he was a contractor working for London Overground
Well that's great that's great

But if you just go up to people yelling at them - you know it's like we take everything at face value.

Anyway station manager very calmly politely said that because of the current threat that no filming is allowed at all anywhere on the Lond-- on the--

I can't even say it.
Anywhere on the--
Any INEPT filming.

Like my filming is good enough to help the threat
I'll be lucky if some of it's in focus.
But you're not allowed to film anywhere on the London Overground
[MUSIC]

Okay I'm going home by tube, because I got such a kaa-kaa shower on the Overground, I couldn't face it again.
So I'll see if I can get on this train.
[MUSIC]

So after this morning turns out there was a massive landslide on my railway line

So they they stopped the line and I can't tell if the bad barebone service they're giving at the moment is because of that, or the strike or, just because they can't be bothered
I've got to wait an extra 45 minutes to get my train so I'm just gonna stand here for half an hour and then sit down

Trains just come in I've got four minutes before it goes - it's up here
[MUSIC]

That's it - I think - so I'm going to end this now
I hope that this will be the end

That's what it's like traveling on South Western Railway in the middle of a strike
If you've got to this part of the video thanks for sticking with it - it'd be great to hear from you if you wanna give me a thumbs up

Leave a comment - it'd be lovely to hear from you.
But thanks for coming on this journey with me.

It's just a little piece of history - just to prove on video that it is hard
Harder than usual
Thanks.

Gonna stay here, I think.

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Dyson Red Flashing Light - What to do next | Neil Mossey TightwadDad Vlog

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Try my previous book! (UK) (US)

Dyson Red Flashing Light - What to do next | Neil Mossey TightwadDad Vlog

DYSON FLASHING RED LIGHT? How to replace V6 battery TightwadDad




What does a flashing red light on a Dyson vacuum cleaner mean?
It means... guess what!
You've got to pay some money!
I'm gonna show you what to do next.
[MUSIC] [MUSIC]

So let me tell you a story I'll try and get through it as quickly as possible - hello
by the way I'm Neil.
I'm the Tightwad Dad.
Every video we make is about us trying to be happy with what-- I'm holding this like
it's some kind of weapon.
And it is.

Anyway every day I try to make a video about trying to find happiness with the stuff that we've already got, and most of the time it works.
With this one I'm not so sure.

It might be a bit long so in the description I'm gonna put the times of the different things that you can do to get rid of this but I'm gonna try and tell our story along the way.
I'm gonna try and also try and find some happiness in this story as we go.

So anyway it starts like this.
We get the Dyson vacuum cleaner.
I want to call it a Hoover just to annoy them but I won't because I’m gonna try and keep this Dyson specific.

When you get a flashing red light of doom - the Dyson death flash - first thing you need to do is to call the Dyson helpline and they’ve put the number on the back I'll put it in the description if you're in the UK

So anyway so called the helpline and we got a new battery to replace the one that probably should have lasted longer than it did
Now this battery has lasted as one year and one month so we call the Dyson help line hoping that it probably should have lasted longer than one year and one month

But the Dyson helpline told us “no” because this is a replacement for the faulty one.
We've got to pay for a brand new one.

Now I'm not saying anything about the state of our house but I don't think we do enough cleaning to clap out an entire rechargeable battery in in a year!

I'd hope that it would last longer than a year but they said “no” you've got to pay 65 quid for a brand new one

So what I'm gonna do is fit it on camera in case it helps you replace your battery.

I-- I'd I'd have hoped that it would last longer than a year
I don't know why
Probably the amount of money we spent in the first place

The company that we're dealing with disagrees so I'm gonna try and find the happiness in spending more money on a battery that should probably have worked better in the first place

So it was probably our fault -- It IS our fault.
All of this is our fault for buying this in the first place that's what Dyson have told us
Let's put the new battery let's get to that as quickly as possible you can edit this down can’t you?

So when you've called the Dyson helpline and they say we can't help you they send you this

I've torn off our address because god forbid someone will come and steal our broken vacuum cleaners and they send you this
This is a this is an unboxing for the brand-new battery that they charge you more money for
And here's the battery that will probably last another year
So what we've got to do is take off this one now.

It comes with some instructions and some screws - it's almost a metaphor for being screwed
so the first thing you need to do is to find a screwdriver that fits these screws

I think I can do that quite easily
And I hate doing these hands-only videos because I'm shaking I'm shaking with rage at-- particular a particular company -- “Ask Dyson”

Answer is “it's your fault”

So you unscrew this one
I’ll put that to one side - don't want to lose it
They’re quite particular size so it just to make it easier I’ll probably take off the dirt collector and what you do that is you push this down oh--

And keep it held down and the whole thing comes off
I've taken this screw off - the next screw I believe is this one and off comes the replacement battery that has lasted one year and one month like that

Then we get the new battery, and it slots into the holster there.
A handheld unit And then we'll get the new screws - one here and then one on the back Woah!
It comes with some charge in.

Oh that's nice Dyson have given us some free electricity for our 65 quid

There you go, so as you heard it-- there's no red flashing Dyson red light of doom

Now it doesn't say if we need to charge this up before you use it first so I guess we're going to wing it

Also the Dyson helpline said it was completely our fault that the old battery only lasted one year one month

They said that “Oh you must have put it on the holster”
you know that holster that they give you to put it on the wall
- that they - that you shouldn't put it on the holster when this is feeling warm

So of course it's our fault
I'm sorry I used the holster that I was given
So what they advise is that you DON’T use the holster that they've provided for you on the wall to charge it up
That you let the thing cool down before you put it into the charger because that's really convenient

That is how to fix the red light of Dyson doom the answer is to spend more money and buy another battery.
But in our experience lasts about a year in a month

I hope this has helped and if you have reached this point in the video thanks for thanks for watching and really appreciate it

Maybe you might like to give this video a thumbs up to help others find the information that they're looking for as well

I'm still trying to find the spark of joy in this because we were really happy with the company up until they wanted our credit card details to replace something that lasted a year

If I find any joy or happiness I'll put it in the description and if you have any comments or questions please leave us a comment, it’d be lovely to hear from you
And I'm sorry that you had to watch this

Previous post...
HOW TO GET A PAC CODE and move mobile network in UK | TightwadDad Vlog

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Try my previous book! (UK) (US)

HOW TO GET A PAC CODE and move mobile network in UK | TightwadDad Vlog

How to get a PAC code by text? To move mobile networks in the UK in 2019 and 2020?
Text the word PAC to 65075
My network made me text it again with my date of birth, so text PAC DD/MM/YYYY to 65075.

If you want to move to the same network, click on this link and GiffGaff will send you a SIM card.
If you use it, they say they will give you money off your first bill and money off my phone bill!
https://www.giffgaff.com/orders/affiliate/neilm66704_1569855579989

(They've not paid me for this video and I have no other contact with them.)

HOW TO GET A PAC CODE and move mobile network UK 2019 2020



0:35 How to get your PAC code by text
0:48 What is a PAC code?
(It's the code you need to give your new mobile network to keep your phone number and transfer it to the new network.)
1:05 Why get a PAC code by text if you want to move network?
1:40 Text the word PAC to 65075 to get a PAC code.
2:20 Do you need to text your Date of Birth to get a PAC code?
(For me, yes, text "PAC DD/MM/YYYY" with the digits of your DOB to replace the letters).

TRANSCRIPT:

I don't know if I've got soup on my face...
Hello I'm Neil welcome back to the Happy Hut
I am a part-time tightwad dad which means that we tried to find joy in the things and stuff we've already got.
I'm going to find some joy today because I'm going to move mobile phone networks and I'm going to do that on camera to show you how to how to move your phone to a different network here in the UK in 2019 maybe also 2020

All the links are in the description but all of this has come from a BBC news story I saw back in July which says that you can get your PAC code automatically just sent over by text - just by sending a text, you get a text back with your PAC code on.

A PAC code or P A C code is the special code that you need to give to your new mobile network that you're moving to - so that your mobile number gets transferred over and you can just just keep going, but with the new network.

God bless 'em, the phone networks in the UK didn't make it easy for you to do that

I know I've been through it a few times where you phone them up for a PAC code and they hang up on you... I've had having to hold... you're put quite low down in a call queue... you're made to wait on hold for 45 minutes.
They've done all sorts - so I could not be happier that I might now be able to move just by sending a text message

I'm not an expert at this but what I am going to do is to try and do it all on camera so that you can follow the process and not make any mistakes that I might make.
But I'm going to follow the first step and the first step is text PAC or "PAC" to this number: 65075 to start the process

Let's see how that works out
I've forgotten the number already
65075

There we go and so now the text I'm going to send - I don't think it needs to be capitals, but I'm going to anyway just to be absolutely sure.
"PAC"
There, it's ready to go - boom - gone

Let's see how quickly my PAC code comes back from my mobile phone network that I'm trying to leave.
I've got a new message!
What!

I won't be upset or annoyed by this because they now want me to text my date of birth to this number to get my PAC code.
Mobile networks! Grrr.
I sent that message maybe I'll put-- oh here we go
So it's given me my PAC code - it expires in 30 days.
Now I need to set up the new network.

I would set up your new network first to know which network that you're going to go to first.
Get them to send you a SIM card ready so that you can make the switch and I've done that so let's go indoors before it starts raining and put the new network SIM card into my phone.
So we're indoors now I've prettied up the table with my son's LEGO creations - beautiful isn't it
And some lavender.

Don't forget to turn your phone off then pop out your SIM card - This is my Samsung Galaxy S8.
So get rid of that Network.
I was going to blank out the names of the networks but neither of them's paying me any money
So now I'll fire up the phone with the new card I'll keep the old one in case something goes wrong with this process

I've had a message to give me a... an activation web address
So I've gone to the web address that the text message had, so it knows it's me and I've had to set up an account with the new mobile phone company
It's the next thing I need to do here is to select the tariff that I want to be on so let's do that now
And now it wants to set up my payment details so again I'll do that... I'll cover this...
So now I'll put in all my credit card details [laughs]
I find it difficult to say the word: "credit card"
It's "money".

So now I've put all my payment details in I'm gonna hit this big fat "activate your SIM" button
Now I want to keep my old number so now is the point in the process where I'm being asked for my PAC code
So I'll type in the number I want to change and then I will type in the PAC code
So now I had a message on my login with the new mobile network to say that it's gonna it's gonna take a day so it's gonna go through tomorrow... awww... I want it just done right now.

But, patience, they say it's gonna take place tomorrow
I would recommend going back to the old network putting the old network SIM card back in your phone keep the new one safe whatever you do and the old mobile network will keep you posted on when that transfer is going to take place but don't forget that while the new network card is in your phone - this is a completely temporary number - it's a number you could keep if you want, but I want to transfer my old number to my new SIM card and until that happens my regular number that everyone's got is on this SIM card so maybe I should put this sim card back into my phone and when I get a text message to say the transfer is going to take place I can then move this SIM card back out and put the new network card back in

I'm going to swap it all back now go, back to the old network boo!
Keep your fingers crossed the transfer takes place.
Trans-fer?

So it's the very next day - it's raining sorry - It's a bit wet - but anyway I've got this email just got it now - the email to confirm "we have transferred your number".
So that's it!

I'm now with the new mobile network and what should happen now is... nothing.
You shouldn't have to do a thing
Your old mobile network should now close down your account - that might take a month - I think I've just clunked into a new month on my monthly contract, but I'm out of contract otherwise
My old network will take about a month or six weeks to wrap up that account and close it down - and don't forget this stage - this is the stage now where you transfer your SIM cards again
So get the new SIM card and put it into the phone - take the old SIM card out.

Keep it safe just in case, and then hopefully the new mobile network will be registered onto that SIM card as your existing phone number
So I hope this video has helped

I've not received any money from the new network that I'm going to, but they tell me through their marketing that if I pass on this code I'll put it on screen now and I'll put it in the description - if you use this code they'll send you a SIM card and they will take some money off your first bill and they'll take some money off my next phone bill so if you want to use that that's fine

I don't endorse this company I think they're all as bad as each other and I haven't even used them yet so if that helps that's great if that helps you to move that's that's brilliant but just putting it there in case it saves you some money saves me some money

And if you've got to this point in the video why not give me a thumbs up just to let me know that somebody... this is really wet!
...Just let me know that somebody reached this point of the video or leave me a comment and I hope that's it
I hope this answers the question "how do I get a PAC code in the UK to move mobile phone networks in 2019 or 2020"

Let's give you a wipe.

Good luck with your move because I know I know you need it because I knew I did
Anyway thanks for coming along the journey with me and I'll see you soon - subscribe! Why not subscribe? Can you please help my daddy get 1000 subscribers just click on his face thanks bye!
How's that?


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How to transcribe any video for free | FIND THE OTHERS 002

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Try my previous book! (UK) (US)

How To Transcribe video for free | FIND THE OTHERS 002

How to transcribe any video or recording for free! I've been using this for about a year and it's saved SO much typing. All you need is a YouTube account.

TRANSCRIBE any video FOR FREE! | Find The Others 002



STEPS FOR HOW TO TRANSCRIBE ANY YOUTUBE VIDEO:
1 Upload the video to YouTube
2 Wait for YouTube to generate subtitles/closed captions
3 Click on the 3 dots menu under the video
4 Select 'Open Transcript'
5 On top right hand side, click on the 3 dots menu
6 Click on 'Toggle Timecodes'
7 Drag to select the text and copy (Right click mouse choose 'copy')
8 Paste into word or pages document
9 Show invisibles or show formatting
10 Find paragraphs, carriage returns or hard returns with \n (in Pages for Mac) or ^p (in Word)
11 Replace with a single space, click Replace All

VIDEO:
0:00 How to transcribe any video for free
1:30 YouTube auto generates a transcription
1:40 How to bring up the closed captions or subtitles on screen
2:10 YouTube auto generated subtitles has really improved, also for English and Scottish accents
2:40 Sometimes it doesn't transcribe brand names or heavy accents
2:50 Subtitles transcriptions are good for making transcripts for blogs or correct subtitles files
3:05 I even used a transcript to release an e-book on Amazon
(Full video here! https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtZM4-pHDwPm3NS3PpFmraEqOHUeZhhpT)
3:55 Using transcripts to write by speaking the words you want to say is a great way to generate the text you want to edit.
4:50 How to export subtitles closed captions transcript from YouTube
6:00 How to open YouTube transcript
6:30 How to turn off timings in YouTube transcript - toggle timestamps
7:47 How to remove paragraph marks, carriage returns or hard returns in Pages for Mac
9:35 How to remove carriage returns in Word for PC Windows 10

TRANSCRIPT:

Hello I'm Neil and I help as many people as possible to get ideas out of their heads and out into the world to make more people laugh because I think we might need it at the moment...
Welcome back to the Happy Hut: in this video, this will definitely help get some happy ideas out I'm hoping that you've stumbled upon this video... "Upon?!" ...because you're searching for how to transcribe a video for free and - that's right for free!

This is the way to do it - it's a really brilliant method I've been using it for about a year now and oh my goodness it saved me so much typing... so much grief... and it's so easy
All you need is a YouTube account and if you're watching this I'm taking a wild gamble that you have a youtube account so let's dive in and I'll show you how to do it.
So this is the video that I want to transcribe

It's a video of me on BBC News 24 from a hundred years ago back when I had hair.
And I wasn't looking for a free transcription service.
I wasn't actually looking for a free transcription app or websites.
I just wanted to get to the subtitles file that contained the subtitles that YouTube auto generates every time you upload a video.
Let me back up a bit.

Every time you upload a video to YouTube whether it's public or private it automatically auto generates a transcript.
That's why when you press on this button here the subtitles or closed captions button it brings up the subtitles that it has automatically detected
Let me play a bit of this video just to show you what I mean.

[VIDEO PLAYS]
So let's pause it there.
This is absolutely amazing it's got better within the year
I'm recording this at the end of 2019 - I swear in the last six months, the standard of the auto-generated subtitles is just phenomenal.

And it even manages to capture English accents, and as you can hear here: a Scottish accent.
I mean we're all speaking slowly and clearly and sometimes when I go a bit southern England it struggles to keep up but by and large it pretty much captures all the words that are in the video and as you can see on this line here the only word it couldn't catch is the brand name Perrier.
So all I wanted to do was to get a transcript which is auto-generated out of YouTube so that I could use it as a transcript on my blog or I could even put it back into YouTube as my own correct subtitle file where I've corrected the words that it's struggled with.

At an extreme you can even use this to transcribe a video and use that transcript to release a book.
I even managed to release an entire book on Amazon based on that: it's a chat with my dad about being a taxi driver in the 1960s in London.

[VIDEO PLAYS]
I ended up releasing that as an entire book that transcript there and that was all from capturing the auto-generated captions - getting them out of YouTube - and you can publish on Amazon if you wanted.
It's a brilliant technique for just transcribing any words - any thoughts that you want to have written down this method is by far and away the best that I've found.

And also if you interested in writing it's often a lot easier to say the thoughts out loud and to then afterwards turn that into some kind of transcription and use that text as a thing to edit rather than having to write it out by hand or type it.

It does help to speak freely off the top of your head and then capture those words and use that text to edit later.
So anyway if you want to look at that video that's that's up above and if you click on the "i" it's there, but let's go back to the video that I want to transcribe this BBC News 24 report.
[VIDEO PLAYS] This BBC talent scout says comedians treat the festival as a trade fair it isn't the only way to develop your career.

Hey, there I am back in the 1990s with my chunky oatmeal knitwear
Let's use this vision of turmoil to capture the transcription I'll show you exactly where to go.
Firstly you need to upload your video or your recording to YouTube.
There are lots of other videos on the internet to show you how to do that

I'm gonna assume that you've already got the video up.
It doesn't have to be public - it could be unlisted so nobody need ever see this.
You can do this with mp3 recordings but you have to transfer - I'm talking at the end of 2019 - at this stage you're not allowed to upload mp3 recordings to YouTube.
So what you'd want to do there is to convert it to an mp4 file or some kind of video file and then upload back to YouTube.

Once the video is in YouTube - and you can see it - give it a couple of hours.
It takes about an hour to for the subtitles to appear.
This has been uploaded for a couple of days now - I can tell that the subtitles are here quite easily by clicking on the subtitles button down here
You can turn them on and off there.
So to get to the transcript what you need to do is to look at these three buttons here
I'll zoom in for you on the screen

There they are - see those three three dots?
This is actually a little menu so if you click on that there's "report" don't press that okay! That won't help!
Go down to "open transcript"
Kerching! And there as if by magic on the top right hand corner of your YouTube page you'll see it's even labeled "transcript"

It's quite clever this because when the video plays you can see it scrolls for you
Now what I did at first was to just drag my cursor down here the trouble with this as you can see is that it's also capturing the time codes
So if I copy that paste it into pages here on a Mac or into Word - if I paste that you can see that it's brought up all of the, the times
There is a really easy way to get rid of that

Next to the word transcript in that box on the top right hand corner next to transcript there's another three dot menu
Those three dots are upwards. Wonder if that means something.
If you click on that it brings up the option for toggle timestamps.
(Laughs) I, I think i'd like to call my third child toggle timestamps

But if you click on toggle timestamps guess what?
It toggles the timestamps so all we need to do is scroll up to the top and I'm gonna drag clicking down on my mouse and just dragging all the way down down to the final words which are "thank you Phillip"

And then I'm going to hit copy, which for me is the command button and "C", or you can right click on your mouse go down to "copy" then go over to my word processor.

Now on the computer I'm on (Macbook Pro) it's a program called pages if you're on a PC you might have a word processing program like word.
So I've pasted in the transcript and I don't if you can see but it has kept the sentences truncated - it's kept the lines truncated as almost as if they are appearing on a screen and it's put some hard returns in these lines.
Which doesn't look very elegant.
So you can take these out manually but that will take forever because you know even on a short video that's over a page worth

There's a quick way to do this.
This was really difficult to find on pages for Macs - you might have stumbled on this video looking for "how to remove hard returns or carriage returns on Mac pages"

And the way to do it is this - if you click on find which is in the Edit menu go down to find and then click on find you'll see it's brought up another menu saying find and replace
And what we're going to look for is a is a special character so we have to type in the coding for it and the button that you want to press is a backslash n (\n).

So here's the backslash it looks like that it's not the one underneath the question mark which looks like that - it's the one that is under this weird line and it looks like that.
And then the code letter is n
So backslash n is going to find all of those and you can see it's highlighted all of the carriage returns
Maybe n stands for new line I don't know
But anyway so it's backslash N
And then in the replace line I'm going to hit space
I'll do it really loudly so you can hear me hitting the spacebar

There you go so it's going to look for all of the carriage returns that it's highlighted and it's going to replace them with a space.
So if I hit "replace all"... Dah dah!
And as you can see it's giving you a complete transcript that flows.

Let me show you how to do that on Word.
You paste the transcript from YouTube into a blank document and similarly click on find.
And there the character the code character we need to find here it's like a 'hat' sign.
I show you a shot of that
On my keyboard it's above the six and then letter P - that means I think it means new paragraph or paragraph return to all of those new line commands which are hidden in the text

If you go to replace and just hit space once and then "replace all" - it replaces all of those paragraph marks with a space

I wish I could find a way of doing this for Google Docs.
I cannot find anywhere how to find the hidden code and replace it with a space
If you know how to do that in Google Docs please please please leave me a comment

I've skipped over some assumptions here like you know how to find the hidden characters.
I found the Invisibles, by going to view and then down to "show Invisibles"
There you go but if you have any other questions please leave me a comment
It would be lovely to hear from you anyway just say hi
And I hope this helps you transcribe any video or any recording that you want and turn that into a transcription that you can use

If you have reached this point in the video I hope this has helped give me a thumbs up if you reach this point in the video be lovely to know someone reached this far and if you're feeling even kinder you don't have to watch any video of mine ever again but if you hit the subscribe button in the corner or on my face it will help us reach our cherished goal of hitting a thousand subscribers and good luck with your free transcribing I hope this does the trick and leave me a comment if it doesn't

Can you please help my daddy get 1000 subscribers just click on his face, thanks bye! How's that?


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Why I went bald? TightwadDad Vlog

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Try my previous book! (UK) (US)

Why I went bald? TightwadDad Vlog

Why did I go bald in 2003? This is probably the hardest video I've made so far, showing my son the fate that's probably in store for his head... by showing him archive footage of me from Meridian Tonight 1993 and BBC News 24 in 1998. Is this the best way to get him ready for when that day comes... when he'll consider going Grade 1 (3mm)?

WHY I WENT BALD? Best hair shaver Wahl Cordless Colour Pro #TIGHTWADDAD VLOG



I really can't find the best head shaver though, so trying this: the Wahl Colour Cordless Pro (what makes it pro?!)
We're unboxing it with a tiny review to see if THIS is the one.
(It sort of is. I prefer the Remington clip on comb attachments, but maybe that's another video).
You can buy it here! (Amazon UK) https://amzn.to/2PcSN0L
(Amazon US, where it's called the Wahl Color Pro) https://amzn.to/2obMoIe

TRANSCRIPT:

Do you wanna shave it?
Are you sure?
Yeah, go on. AGGGHHHH!

Hello YouTube we are going to show you this!
It is the best head shaver in the world.
I guess we're gonna put this on the Tightwad Dad vlog?
Security man.

So, you want to see this nice - we're gonna break into it as quickly as possible.
But I thought this would be a good chance to show you head shaving
Are you going to put the thing on my head?
Now... if you walk out the shop, it will make a noise.

So oh you have a lovely head of hair and I don't think... I don't think your hair's gonna end up like this?
Hope not.

Should we cut to like a shot of granddad saying the same thing to me, but in 1983?
I have to start do I?
Yeah
You, you have a lovely a head of hair. I don't think your head's going to end up like this!

It's the Wahl, Color Pro cordless!
This is what you get in the box
Wait!
I've tried one or two in the past...
These are exactly the same.
But you can't tell - you can't tell from the box. This is the biggest problem - this is why I wanted to make this video.

So I've actually had about ten of these so this is... welcome to number 11
That's what the handset looks like. What else is in the box?
You get different coloured combs for different lengths of hair... thing.
The one I use, do you know which grade I use?
Number 1, 3mm
So you spent all this money just to get, this, and a new shaver?
That's exactly right! That's exactly what all of this is about

Just one comb because obviously I'm not gonna shape my hair different lengths and that's the whole problem with buying hair clippers. It says...
Oil!

There you go. "Oil blades before using" but I've never oiled my blades!
You get a charger and bizarrely Joe, look, you get scissors with the clippers?
Maybe the scissors are used to open the-- the pack?
And there's a comb as well - as if to rub it in... how bald you are. They give you a free comb

But I've not found the ultimate Clippers yet and I think this THIS will be the one
It also says "great for family cuts"
But that's only if you use it on your head.
Right the combs clip-on like this--
Dad, a bug fell out my hair.
Do you wanna shave it.
Are you sure?
Yeah, go on.
AGGGHHH!

No it doesn't, it feels good.
It breaks your brain.
Is any hair coming off?
Yeah--
I didn't oil before use!
It's genius. They give you scissors. Dad...

Why do you think I still keep a little bit of hair?
I want you to grow some more.
You want me to grow it longer?

Hey I've got some footage - right so this is what I was like before I started shaving my head. When I had hair all video footage of me, with hair, is from TV news footage
Oh my gosh.

This is me in 1990, no, 1993
Let's see! Oh my gosh.
And then five years later - yeah - this is what I look like
This is when I thought that chunky oatmeal knitwear was a thing and walking around in Edinburgh
Five years after that I just went nuts one night and shaved all my hair off.

You're like Homer.
"You're having a kid?! AGHHGHGH!"
"You're pregnant?! AGHHGHGH!"

This is the hairiest I've ever been.
There you go. That feels really good.
Now usually these combs on things like the Philips, they're really sharp. My head is delicate.
How do you focus?

I've never seen my head from this angle.
This is what the back of your head looks like.
OH! There's a big gap!
No! That's what the back of your head looks like!
Does it? I've never seen it!
Right hang on, hold still.

See, hair IS coming off. It stays onto the shaver.
Yeah, that's because I oiled it. It's a big oily mess now.
Wow, you can really see it can't you.
That's what the back of your head looks like Dad.
I don't like it.

THIS - all of this - is bald.
Woah look it comes off, look.

I bought this - it's the BaBylis For Men... and it was absolutely useless - the smooth glide -
Can't you just give it back?
It says this -- this is the thing you can't take them back
And you can't like give it to someone because no man wants another man's hair shaver.
Then the trouble with this, this was a really good idea look I'll show you this...
Hand me down.
Yeah hand me... around.

Look, this - you're supposed to follow the shape of your head and that's that's good but it says it's a number three and it's not it's just too long
I look like a hippie.
But this this feels like a proper Grade 1.
Ugh it's coming off onto your hair.

I know - it's all that oil.
Ugh it's disgusting.
You're better at doing it than me.
I know but you gotta learn because you've got to do this some day.
Uh Oh.

I will never cut my hair. I wanna look like a hippie.
I'll have long hair for life.
Dad, I'm having long hair for life.
I wanna get your ear. I don't wanna get your ear.
Go on try it. Try and get my ear, it'll test the safety.

There we go. I can see the hair coming off. It's like an easier version of mowing the lawn.
You're getting grey, you're hair is going grey! It's everywhere!
This is why I don't shave it all off, down to a Grade Zero, because I want to know that I can still grow hair. I want people to know that I've still got it
I don't think you can.
I don't you think I can't either

Hey look now we've got these trimmings do you want me to donate these to your school for an arts project?
Okay. Why not?

So I've been looking for one of these for a long time - you know a shaver that actually does the job and doesn't hurt.
If you've reached this point in the video thanks for watching hope it's been useful.

Leave us a comment or give us a thumbs up just to let us know somebody reached this part of the video and good luck with your Wahl Colour pro cordless Clippers
There's a link in the description for somewhere to buy it and we might get some pennies for that and I hope you have a beautiful hair free future
Look at this mess! We'll have to clean up all this mess. I'm not. I'm going to watch PewDiePie. I'm gonna shave my head some more.
Can you please help my daddy get 1000 subscribers just click on his face thanks bye how's that?


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How to write daily - The Artists Way by Julia Cameron - FIND THE OTHERS 001

I share things which have helped me to get ideas out of my head and into action.

The Artists Way has 12 chapters, with one chapter per week.
In this video, I show you how I write my morning pages - what do morning pages look like? And some of the other exercises in the book.

How to WRITE DAILY | Morning Pages The Artists Way | FIND THE OTHERS 001



Get the book here!

(Amazon UK) (Amazon US)

It's brilliant to beat procrastination, and also figuring out your long term goals for yourself.


TRANSCRIPT:
[Music]
Hello I'm in London but none of this video is set here.
I want to talk to you about a book that has changed my life.
So I've been putting off making this video for about three or four months and it's kind of what the book is about
I'll put it on the side of the screen here...
It's called The Artists Way by Julia Cameron

I've been putting it off because I thought this video might involve me talking a lot and I could talk about this book all day long so I thought I'd make this video maybe a bit more lively.

I'm scared that if I'm just doing talking that you won't find it useful and I think I'm holding back from sharing this because it's helped me to get so many ideas out of my head and into action

I want to share them with you right here on this playlist - whoa - it's up in the corner of the screen if you click on the "i" and it's in the description below

I think I'll call it FIND THE OTHERS - that's all I'm trying to do is just find the others but this is the first one that I wanted to tackle.

It is... this is the actual book - it's not graphic - it is The Artists Way by Julia Cameron.
Oh my goodness I know this is going to be a very long video so let's just embrace that
I think this is at the top of my list because this has had the biggest impact on me getting stuff out of my head and out into the world.

It's a very gentle book - it's 12 chapters and it's a very easy read
And each chapter is - just trying to find one - each chapter is a week and that's significant
So it's effectively a 12-week course

How can I put this... I'm from the UK so maybe one way to describe it is Californian?
Where it's about just accepting that you have thoughts and feelings and things that you might be completely unaware of - that are blocking you from being creative

So the idea of the book is you do these exercises - they're very easy - I found them good fun - but there are these writing exercises and you complete one chapter every week that's all you've got to do
I liked this so much while I was reading it that I found myself skipping ahead which got a bit tricky because I was supposed to be doing exercises in one week, but I'm still reading ahead just because I enjoyed the, the, reading - I enjoyed the prose

There are two big ideas in this book which are introduced in week one or chapter one and these two big ideas are morning pages and the artists date
The morning pages are something else

I'm going to show you what they are by actually showing you MY morning pages which you're not supposed to do.

So the idea of morning pages is this - when you wake up in the morning before you do anything - before you check your email or scroll through Facebook - the first thing you should do in the morning is to sit down with a pad and fill three pages
It takes about half an hour
I think she's writing in the US legal pad size because I started mine in A5 - this really nice A5 book - and I think that's a bit bit small so took it about five pages.
OR half an hour whichever comes first
And the idea of morning pages is that you basically free write what's in your head
Literally word for word what's coming up in your brain

So that could be... "I don't know what to write"
"I don't want to do this"
"I don't like my pen"
"I'm too hot"
"Thingy looked at me funny yesterday, what's that about?"
"I haven't paid the gas bill."
"I haven't changed gas supplier."
All of that junk - just get it out of your head.
The only objective of the morning pages is to keep the pen moving
I've got a pencil

Keep the pen moving for half an hour and I found some techniques over time that when I started daydreaming... or going off on one in my head... if you just write the word "thinking" in brackets and then try and get the pen moving again that helped for me.

But all you've got to do is fill three pages - obviously she explains it way more better than I am but I wanted to show you my morning pages, because the other thing with morning pages is you are not supposed to show them to anyone.
They are not for anyone else - the sole objective is to just get you to keep the pen moving and dump out what's in your head continuously for 30 minutes.

What I found was that stuff started coming out that I just wasn't expecting.
Things that you're supposed to do today emerge, and you might launch into writing out an email... bits of your to-do list...
But the other fantastic thing for me was the ideas that have been bubbling up in your head - have a place to go - you can just get them out of your head.
They're not supposed to be good.

Some people call it "journaling" and I really don't think that's a good idea to call it journaling because that gives the impression that you're writing a diary and it might be that you write about stuff that happened to you yesterday or things that you might do tomorrow but it's not journaling.
It's got to be junk.

You've got to write rubbish.
It's whatever comes up in your head.
Don't make it good, don't give a structure
Just... sometimes broken half sentences come out
That's okay, so long as you keep the pen moving
Now... I'm sort of worried about holding this up
I've vetted this.

Aww, look at the day it's the 27th of August and - cover it up - it's the 27th of August so I've been holding on to this to share with you for oh my goodness six weeks now
But as you can see it's really messy

So I started off with a really nice 1.0mm gel impact signo pen and I had a really nice Paper Chase A5 eco spiral bound notebook and that was great because the ink soaked up into the page really nice - it just felt really nice - so treat yourself to some nice stationery

But over time I found that the more workman like I was about it because I'm just literally draining pens onto a page - it's not writing - it's free writing - so it's it's junk it's got to come out as quickly as possible, just keep that pen moving.
And what I found some ideas kept popping up
Sometimes I would get ideas for executing those ideas
These pages tap into things that you don't realize that you're thinking about but these things are in your brain.
And there is such a release in... to just getting out on the page and then getting rid of it
I read through it and I tear it up, and I throw it away.

I started writing in volume
I've been doing this for about five years before I read the book
I'd heard about the morning pages.
Because I hadn't read the book I thought "well I'll type them" because it will start me typing every morning
So I try to type a side of A4 every morning

It turns out the problem with that is that subconsciously I think I'm holding stuff back, because you're typing... maybe there's a formality to it... maybe because you know it's being electronically stored and hoarded?
The pages were different as soon as I started handwriting them all this stuff started coming out that I wasn't expecting.
And you don't actually have to sit down and write good stuff.
All it is is just dumping out what's in your brain
Have I said that enough times?
It's dumping out what's in your brain.

So then I had a new problem and what new problem was I had all this stuff that I didn't really want to keep, because it can be quite whiny and petulant or maybe it's just my pages... but my pages were quite whiny and petulant
And the book is very clear to say "that's okay, that's what they're for" just dump out what's in your head
So now I have this this new problem which is that stuff in here which I really liked and which made me happy - like sentences or ideas or fully formed articles or emails that just vomited out
I didn't have anywhere to put them and I didn't want to hoard all my writing
I just wanted to keep the bits that made me happy
So what I started to do is to box out - don't know if you can see this - box it out the bit that you like.
That's actually a quote... it's a quote from the Kransky Sisters:
"Set it free. If it comes back it will only bore."
"If you want something... set it free.
If it comes back it bores.
So just set it free."
But ironically that is what this... this part of the explanation's about.

So I've got my Biro.
I now write in biro because you can always find a biro from an Express supermarket if you're out and about and you don't have a pen.
So I box out the bit that I want - and then I mark from right to left the bits that I've read
So a new task emerged: I was actually reading what I was writing in volume, and now I'm writing in volume, now I'm reading my own stuff in volume... and then I get the bit that I want and I put that somewhere
Now before starting morning pages I had about seven documents where I would keep material - so it's good in terms of volume but I honestly didn't know where to start when I would start writing each day
Is it, you know, which of the seven documents do I... do I create a new one?
Or do I maintain these other seven that I wasn't reading either
I was just putting stuff into these documents and they weren't really going anywhere
So it felt really good to solve this problem of volume by creating one document so now I have one Word document called "2019"

You might be watching this in years to come so you could call it 2020?
Only recently I've now moved that document into the cloud so I can update it from anywhere so I've got that on Google Docs
Just one document and I just add to the bottom
So this document is full of bits that make me happy and ideas and things that I want to keep.
They're back here - so here's 2019 and it's one single document of all my stuff
I sit down in that armchair with a cup of coffee and just go through ideas that I've already written and I make them better or share them but they've got one place to go

It was fantastic to not be hoarding whiney petulance that needs editing.
So basically edit it as you go
So once I've typed up the bit that I want to keep in my 2019 document... I then put a line through it that way... Tear it out and I throw it away
I've typed up the bits I want to keep - the rest "thank you for your service"
Throw it away.

It is such a great little system for me
Every morning before I do anything, I sit down with my notebook - these are today's
I don't want to show them to you
I turn to the next clean page... write the day at the top... maybe the time
I set the timer on my phone for 30 minutes and I just start writing whatever is in my head for 30 minutes
Sometimes I keep going
Sometimes it's really hard and I stop and it's a bit juddery so then the half hour is spent just trying to get the pen moving again

I've been doing this hand written for three years
I don't really want to count the 6 years before that typing - and it has just helped me enormously
It's just like this tsunami of material just comes out and I know the other benefit of it is that I can not worry about if I get an idea or something pops into my brain that I don't want to forget I just bang it into the notebook on the next line
I know it's going to be backed up and also I know about once every six weeks I'll have a nice time sat down with a coffee going through things that I've thought of
It's just such a great system

The Artist's Way doesn't propose doing it that way - all she's trying to get you to do is to write for half an hour every morning before you do anything else but I found that that then opened up this portal of stuff that gave me the new problem of having somewhere to store it and a system to go through those ideas and do something with them
But even the idea for that came from the morning pages
I wish I could get sponsorship from PaperChase
I've done 46 of these books which I think is about 1.5 million words
And if I had to sit down and write 1.5 million words over three years I think I'd feel slightly overwhelmed
But morning pages - we just keep the pen moving for half an hour for me it's it's a treat
It's my bit of the day

If you can find half an hour to do your pages things will start happening
So I'll just leave that with you because it might be something you want to try
The second idea that Julia Cameron proposes in the Artists Way - is the idea of an Artist Date.
I think I found that to be the biggest hardest thing in the book
She very gently floats the idea that once a week you take yourself somewhere
You go do something nice, something that's pointless - something makes you happy.
Her only stipulation is that you do it by yourself and you just mark out that time for you and it needn't be the whole day it could be a 10-minute trip somewhere

I didn't do it for a few weeks and then I did start doing it and it's it's fantastic it's a really nice thing to do for yourself so it does kick-start a process where you start exploring things things that you probably assume that you're too busy to do or too important or that the thing that you're doing is too silly...
This book will try to get you to do that - again she explains it way more better than than I can
Those are the only two things: morning pages and Artists Date - that you will do every week - if you go along with the 12 weeks and the 12 chapters.

The rest of it that she sets little writing exercises: they are really easy to do
If you are writing out what's in your head every day is then easy to slip into trying out some of the other things that she suggests and you don't have to do all of them
I did and they're still benefiting me now

I can't recommend it highly enough but it is one of those things that you're just gonna have to see if it's for you.
But I think even having a go at the first week isn't going to take your life backwards or make you unhappy.
So that's it!

If you have any questions please put them in the comments and if anyone reaches this point in the video why not give me a thumbs up just let me know someone reached this point
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All about me, and getting these by email. Try my previous book!

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