Everything you will read in these pages happened. Some of the names have been changed a little to preserve anonymity but hey, we all need to keep some things secret! When we meet characters in our life who don’t conform to the norm or find ourselves in situations that take us out of our comfort zone, we should rejoice, because it is these people and these scenarios that colour our souls with the vivid shades. We realise that life is a ride where sometimes it’s easy and sometimes your metaphorical brakes fail at spectacularly inopportune moments. As I trawled through my memories of the last half-century, I picked out those moments where a particular emotion was running high, be that joy or anger or frustration. These eleven chapters tell you about such times and - guess what - describe when the brakes have failed, and, not only that, but the wheels had fallen off as well.