Never trust a man...

Who won't move without his satnav.

A few weeks ago I met this guy who seemed very nice. Unfortunately he turned out to be too nice. I think the phrase is passive aggressive. I couldn't express an opinion or a wish without him challenging it and forcing me into a change of plan. All very nicely, of course, never rudely or anything like that. Like:
"I'm so glad I have the weekend free so I can spend two days in absolute peace, on my own, seeing nobody";
"Ok then, how about meeting on Saturday?"
"Err... no, I'd really like to be on my own".
"Oh, I'll just pop round to drop a Christmas present by!"
*gritted teeth* "Ok then".

Or:
"I have a really busy week, won't be able to see you."
"Fancy going to this club on Friday?"

Or forgetting his shower gel on my bath, which I didn't mind too much, no big deal, then asking to leave his shaving stuff as he was coming back, still no big deal, then a shirt... But I blew it when he brought round a sewing machine after I'd mentioned that I had some stuff to mend (note, not asked him to bring it round). I told him I didn't want it there as I was expecting people and was trying to tidy up, could do without additional clutter. When I didn't see it in the original spot I'd assumed that he'd taken it away but, no, he'd just moved it somewhere else that I didn't notice until it was too late. When he was back and I asked him, yet again, to remove it, he tried leaving it here saying it'd either go straight to the skip or stay in his car. As if I f*cking cared!

He made me feel stifled, cramped, I hadn't felt my personal space so invaded for yonks. And it was time to say goodbye, so I did so this morning. His reply?
"Yes, I'd been thinking about our relationship too, it doesn't seem to be going anywhere and there seems to be no spark". This, from the guy that texted me on his way home once saying that was the best sex he'd had in ages. The cheek!
So I hastened to reply that I could *assure* him there was no spark, and the relationship wasn't going anywhere 'cos it was never meant to, as I'd made it very clear from day one that all I wanted was some casual fun, to which he'd agreed. Honestly!

On the other hand, I had some company I really enjoyed for a few days. My friends came over with baby and I got to play auntie for the weekend, when I snatched the little thing and kicked them out of the flat, so I could enjoy his undivided attention :)))
Both Saturday and Sundays started with the baby sleeping... well, actually, they started with me singing to him and dancing with him in my arms, like a madwoman, at which point he must have decided that it was safer to go to sleep.
Then feeding time. On Saturday he wasn't very hungry but on Sunday he ate like a wolf, with interruptions for winding... bloody 'ell, he belched so loud at one stage that I burst into laughter and he just looked at me with an arched eyebrow, as if to say, who do you think you're laughing at!!!
Then more dancing... by the end of both days he was headbanging and shaking his fist to the Nutrocker :)))

I went down to Italy at the end of November. This was a combined trip for my niece's birthday and to take in Fish's Italian tour, which started in Milan on 29th November. I'd arrived there on 28th From Florence... with a 2 1/2 hours' delay (on a 3 hours' journey) due to the only Eurostar train ever to be late doing so when I was booked on it. It was a great night, but the rest was even better. The following morning we set of for Rome, only to arrive there about 9 hours later due to incredible traffic (a general strike had been planned for that day, so no public transport). The Roman gig was fantastic, lots of people, lots of fun, the man in good form, and a friend in Rome putting us up for the night (after we followed the wrong car for 10 km or so). Then, on the Saturday morning, off to Bologna. We finally made it there (after missing the motorway exit). Attendance that night was a bit disappointing but still a great time!

We had all planned to go see them in Crewe this Saturday too, the Italian guys had their tickets booked, the car was hired and all... only to receive an email yesterday advising us that the guitarist had just had a heart attack and the gigs were postponed!
Well, at least it was just a minor one and the guy will be fine in a few weeks... I just wonder, is it me that jinx everything???

Oh well...

Salva Nos

I got my gas and electric bills today. Gas bill is ok, electric says that my monthly payments are being increased by about 65% due to my higher than expected usage. Apparently they used an actual reading to calculate this bill, rather than an estimate. Except the "actual" reading was for the gas meter, not the electric.
The other week I returned home to find a card left by a meter reader, so at the weekend I logged on the site given on the card and provided readings for both utilities. Only they used the gas reading to calculate the electric usage, and put down an estimate for the gas (which was very close to the correct reading). I wouldn't mind a mistake, but not when they use it to increase my payments by 65% without checking first!!!
Guess who's getting a bollocking tomorrow...

I have been working with a new colleague for the past week. I mean, he's been in the job for a long time, but we'd never worked together until now. Apparently this situation has been of great concern to our bosses, as we've each had at least 3 calls a day asking if we were ok, and 2 separate visits to make sure, just for good measure. It seems that the bosses were expecting sparks to fly (or, as one put it, blood and guts). We both have a reputation for having very strong personalities and being very fussy about how we work, wanting things done *just* so. As I explained to my boss this morning, I don't really care how things are done, as long as they get done efficiently. In fact, my colleague and I spent a lot of this week throwing ideas around (how he does things and how I do things) and picking out the best, or mixing them together if they gave better results.
We've also been sniggering after each call enquiring about how we were doing :D

On a slightly different note, I had a half-arrangement to see someone last Sunday, but he had to pull out due to other commitments. However, we've been exchanging texts on and off all week. As I'm off to Italy in two days, we won't be able to meet at least until December, and even then it might be difficult as I have guests... although if it gets critical there's always that nice hotel up the road!

And I do like Mediaeval Babes!

Since when...

Is attempting to shag an inanimate object in the privacy of your own home a crime???
I mean, it wasn't even a sheep!

But seriously, if I'd been the guy I'd have sued the cleaners for breach of privacy... or is there something we don't know?

¿Por qué no te callas?

Instant classic!

I don't know if it was funnier to see Chavez refusing, yet again, to be silenced or the King of Spain behaving like I probably would have in a similar situation.

I'm torn about Chavez. On the one hand I can only applaud his internal policies (what I know of them) and his stance to the Western powers... On the other hand, I can't help being suspicious of his radical left policies. Mainly because he seems to encourage Red Ken every step of the way... But then again, that is possibly not a bad thing!

Quite a few things going on at the moment. I went to Italy and saw friend's baby, even more gorgeous than in the pictures.

The day before I came back we went to see The Police in Turin. Much as I think Sting is a hypocritical piece of shite, I can only drool at his gorgeous bod. I mean, the bloke will be applying for his freedom pass soon (if he hasn't already), and he looks as if he got himself cryonised at his peak.
Then I saw Rush at Wembley. Wow! Not my favourite band but I must say they rock!
So that's two items struck out of the "bands to see before they die" list.

Now getting ready for the next Italian trip with annexed gigs (somehow I always manage to arrange trips around gigs!) - and also my niece's birthday that was yesterday. I'll be a couple of weeks late to celebrate with her but it didn't make sense to go down now for a few days, come back and go down again at the end of the month.

I've been binning all music newsletters and brochures from a few theatres with hardly a glance at them as I just can't afford to buy any more tickets for a while. I know that if I read them the temptation would be overwhelming. Maybe next year...

Also met a few interesting people lately but it's difficult to keep up as I need my own space and time to unwind, and in the past couple of months or three I've hardly had any. Last weekend I banned all activities and just hid under the duvet with books, DVDs, music, etc... bliss! Possibly I'll have a repeat next weekend too.

My new(ish) mobile phone died a sudden death about 10 days ago. I took it to the shop to be fixed under the warranty and they told me they couldn't do it and it had to be sent back to the manufacturer. I'll probably end up being given a brand new one as I suspect the problem was a bit terminal, but it won't be for up to a month. I feel lost without it, I'm using my previous phone but I don't understand how I could live without my latest one before I got it!!!

And to end with a smile...

13th Star

It's arrived!

On Thursday I called the office to be told there was a little parcel waiting for me. Sod's law, of course, as I wasn't going back there until today, Monday. But yesterday afternoon it got the better of me, I couldn't wait any longer and decided to pop in to pick it up.
On the drive back home I kept turning the little gem in my hands (and no, it wasn't me driving!) - beautiful.

Finally reaching my CD player I press the start button.

First impression: Field of Crows must have left more of a sign than I'd realised, as while I was waiting for the music I was in the grips of anxiety and fear of another disaster. I needn't have worried. Circle Line set my mind at rest from the word go. Clean, crystal clear sounds.

Of course, with the FoC ghosts always ready to spring, the comparison could only be positive (I'd probably find something good to say about Britney Spears too, in the circumstances), but I think Star deserves a round of applause in its own right.
And given my lack of technical knowledge I can only describe Star by comparing it to FoC.

Where FoC had not a bad production, but an abysmal one, Star appears to be well manufactured, with care and attention and with no hurry.
Where FoC had the Bontempi organ retrieved from my basement, Star has beautiful sounds, hard and clean.
Where FoC had a cardboard cut-out of Fish nicked from the local HMV promotional exhibition, stuck on the Van Gogh with Bostick (yes, I had abstained from commenting on the FoC artwork so far, but I even found that very short of ok), Star has a beautiful artwork, Mark Wilkinson at his best.
Where FoC opened with The Field, Star rocks away with Circle Line.
Where FoC had Turrell... no, enough, I won't shoot on the Red Cross.

To FoC's defence, for what it's worth, I must say that I could never get over my aversion to its sloppy production and even looking at it plunges me into depression. I've never been able to listen to it from beginning to end. I can't overlook the awful sounds to concentrate on the tracks' intrinsic value. I have enjoyed some of them live, but I can't see FoC as a complete unit. The individual tracks could come from just about anywhere, I can't group them under a common denominator. To me, they feel like a huddle of bits thrown together to fill up the 60 minutes of a CD.

On Star, on the other hand, I can find a thread. Even the slow, boring tracks that notoriously give me an allergy (and there are some) fit in and are pleasant to the ear. If I must find a fault, maybe I would have left out the Neapolitan mandolins towards the end of the title track. OK, without the "maybe".

13th Star isn't a groundbreaking album (it reminds me of Sunsets on Empire, at times), but on the whole it can certainly qualify as good - with a sigh of relief.

FoC - played about 3 times in 4 years.
13th Star - 5 spins in the CD player in 2 days.

Get it (or them) here :)

All Blacks Thrash Italy!

And the news is?

This must be one of the most awesome sights... I must go and see one of their games at some point.

Met an old friend the other day... Which only made me realise even more how inadequate learner boy really is, so he got dumped.
Had a few pleasant dates recently. Single-dom definitely suits me at the moment :)))

It's been an expensive year...

...and I've had to make difficult choices on what I could afford or not. But why, oh why did I have to decide to skip this instead of something else.

Enough said. Now I'll resume kicking myself and crying.

You shall go to the ball...

And I did :)))

My friend picked me up from work at 6 and rushed me home so I could get changed. In the end I went for a black dress that I've had for about 10 years (this was probably the third time I wore it, but hey, can't go wrong with a black dress!) and I even dared heels... after all I wasn't going to do much walking as we'd also been told we could use the hotel car park. I only hoped that either the room would be on the ground floor, or there would be a lift, as heels and stairs do NOT go well together, as far as I'm concerned!

We arrived with plenty of time to check in before the buffet and screening were due to start. As we turned into the mews where the hotel was, I started uh uh-ing to myself, as even from the outside the place was obviously major league posh. Not that I don't like posh, but it does deviate a bit from a muddy field on a German rock, full of long-haired (or balding, no half measures), middle-aged rockers in jeans and leather. Footmen swarmed on us eager to carry our luggage... which we didn't have as I'd packed everything (change of clothes and underwear, toothpaste and brush, spare shoes, body lotion, etc...) in my bag. That raised a few eyebrows and set the tone for the rest of the night. They took our car keys to go and park the vehicle while we were checking in.

At the reception desk a smiling lady took my details before handing me the key and asking if we'd like a wake up call and complimentary paper. I could hear the other guests, arrived just after me, talking to the other staff. All the conversations seemed to follow a script: "I've just flown in from..." followed by Brussels/Paris/Rome/Milan/New York/some faraway location. When the lady smilingly commented "Madam is travelling light?", I replied "Yes, we've come from up the road". I think I noticed a slight flinch. She handed us over to the concierge to show us to our room. A smiling man in a penguin suit immediately approached us and asked "Madam would like me to carry her bags?"
Thankfully this was the last time that I had to swing my bag before someone's face explaining that no, all I needed was there. Fortunately I had decided to take a 1a Classe bag that my mum had bought me a couple of years ago and that I'd never used before, lacking an appropriat event, and that finally was taken out of its protective case and shown off at every opportunity over the course of the night. I think it's the first time I've actually had matching bag and wallet :)))

Anyway, by the time we reached the lift I was starting to have to disguise fits of giggles. I'd stop every other step pretending to find something particularly interesting and looking at it, when in fact I had to or I'd have toppled over on the heels. To be honest, the hotel was stunning and did merit close scrutiny, so it wasn't much of a pretense. The concierge politely made small talk all the way to the room, then showed me how the key worked and swooshed us in. All I'm saying is that the shower was almost as big as my whole bathroom, and the room almost as big as my flat, and they had more gadgets than I could shake a stick at. It was absolutely gorgeous and for a moment I just gaped while he was showing us all the features. By now I was finding it increasingly difficult not to giggle, and I just wanted him to leave the room so I could burst into a laugh. He walked backwards to the door wishing us a pleasant stay, I heard the door open (I couldn't see it, it was around the corner) and waited a few seconds. When I judged enough time had elapsed for him to leave, I roared... and then I heard the door clicking shut. Oooooooooops! :D

When I recovered from my amazement at being in such a gorgeous place (I didn't, really, but at least I managed to close my mouth), I quickly emptied my bag leaving only my purse and a few other bits and off we went to the Bourne Ultimatum premiere.
The movie itself was very good. I hadn't seen the first two but I still enjoyed it very much. The service was truly first class, both on the part of the hotel and that of the company I'd won the night through. There were a couple of glitches but both were resolved very smoothly and pleasantly.













After the film we went for a stroll around Soho and saw some pictures hanging on street walls, part of The Grand Tour.










I spent an enourmous amount of time in the shower before bed, as it was really, really luxurious, including the exclusive toiletries and linen. In the end I decided not to exploit the fact that I was finally alone in a bedroom with the guy I'd been trying to catch for over 10 years. He was willing enough, but it didn't feel right, so we slept in the most comfortable bed I've had in years, lulled by soothing classical music.

The only pity is that we had to leave very early the next morning as work was waiting. We were out of the door before 7 am, enjoying almost empty London streets and feeling like cats who'd got the cream :)))

Shooting stars

My sister rang me this morning to say that my niece's had a very high temperature since last night, so they might not come over on Wenesday. If the fever goes down they'll still get on the plane and she can spend the week in bed here, poor thing, but the doctor gave her stuff that is not working as fast as they wish. So, to cut it short, there is a very real possibility that they will not make it.

And so it was that I jumped at the chance when I received a phone call this afternoon (yes, today it was blazing phones!)...

"Hello Miss Raingod?" (chirpy, smiley, gorgeous voice)

"(Growl...) Yes, who's that?" (suspicious, I-didn't-recognise the-number-don't-try-to-sell-me-something-when-I'm-at-work-or-I'll-shoot voice)

"Miss Raingod, this is Paul from blah blah blah and I am pleased to inform you that you have won places for the private screening of blah blah blah on Wednesday night blah blah blah at blah blah blah. I was just wondering if you could confirm your attendance. If you do I'll send you an email with all the information." (smiley smiley smiley)

"Errrrrr... uh?" (WTF this-is-obviously-a-prank-I-never-win-anything-Wednesday-night-sister-fever-prank-oh-please-I'm-busy-please-please-please-coin-drops) "*I* have won? Really, you serious? Wednesday night? Errr... Of course, count me in!"

"And Miss Raingod, will you be staying at the hotel, as per prize? Just so I can book the room in your name."

"Will I? Will I?" (sister-fever-sister-fever-sister-fever) "Of course! Can I bring a friend?"

"Yes, of course, it's a double room and the screening is also for you and a guest. I'll see you tomorrow night then!"

I've recently got back in touch with a lovely guy I first met about this time last year. We lost touch due to his personal circumstances but bumped into each other the other day and I must say, I am glad we did. He'd already told me it wouldn't be possible to meet for a while but I still threw a text his way: "Long shot but could you make yourself free on Wednesday night?"

The answer was that he couldn't, so I started frantically thinking of who else I could ask at such short notice. At the back of my mind I was also trying to work out how to sort the sister and family issue should they make it. I decided I still had two days to settle that, and priorities first! Anyway, of all the people I could think of, most of them weren't really the sort of person I'd want to spend a whole evening and night with, some I knew would not be available at short notice... which left me with two candidates. I first texted the least likely, who was leaving for Scotland tomorrow. Then I rang "learner boy" (who I had written off about a week or so ago, but in an emergency he'd still do). He said he might be able to, but that he'd have to leave very early in the morning due to work. I said I wasn't even sure due to sister so I'd ring him back tomorrow and hung up.

There was also a third candidate but I had already eliminated him as a lost cause, since I've been trying to go out with him for over 10 years and he's always refused due to terminal shyness (he was my first choice for The Car Man but he'd proven himself more stubborn than I am). However, he just happened to walk in as I hung up... Bingo! It took me some working on, but in the end he had to admit defeat. I first "casually" asked what he was doing Wednesday night (knowing full well he'd be watching telly, as that's what he always does). His reply was: "No. I'm not going!" *g*
So I started pleading. "No. I'm not going!"

"Oh, come on, why???"

"'cos I'm washing my hair!" (He's shaven) "No, 'cos I'm busy!" (He told me some time ago that he always goes home after work and just sits around, as he doesn't have the confidence to even attempt to get a woman). "No, I don't want to!" (He'd already told me he'd like to, but...)

"Bulls! I know you're shy, I can live with that, but I have never won anything in my life and I've tried everyone else I could think of but it's too short notice for everybody, and you can't tell me "no". I'll tell you what, you give me a good reason not to take me there and I'll back off, otherwise I'll be ringing you every 5 minutes until you say yes".

"What time did you say I should pick you up?"

Whoa! He almost floored me with that, I almost told him to bugger off and forget it before realising what he'd just said, lol!

So... It looks like I'm going :)))

Sister wasn't happy when I suggested I might not be around on Wednesday night, but I'd be back first thing on Thursday morning... Which I can understand, as she'd be in a new place, arriving late at night, etc... so I might have to watch the movie, then run home to meet them and run back to the hotel to spend the night... I mean, their cheapest rooms are over £250 per night, I really, really, can't let that go!

I spent some time on the balcony last night looking out for the Perseid meteor shower. I think I saw a couple and when I mentioned it to someone he said, quick, quick, make a wish! So I laughed and said, I want to win millions on the lottery... failing that, I wouldn't mind *remembering* to buy a ticket once in a while!
It looks like wishing on a star sometimes works :)))

Priceless

I got home tonight and the phone rang.

"Hello, may I speak to Mrs Raingod please?"

"Who's asking?"

"This is so-and-so from American Express. Is that Mrs Raingod?"

"No, this is *Miss* Raingod, how can I help?"

"Oh, I'm sorry Miss Raingod! American Express takes its customer's security very seriously and we are calling to make you aware of identity theft. Do you know anything at all about identity theft?"

By this time I had started sweating slightly, as my credit cards have been used fraudolently in the past, plus I had my purse stolen with my life in it just under two years ago, plus the incident with the grocery delivered to my "son" a few months ago.
However I kept listening to him and eventually I said that yes, I knew what identity theft was about, and yes I did shred important documents before binning them, and yes I knew Experian Credit Agency, and what was he trying to sell me, exactly?

Amex man had a chortle and went on to explain that American Express was offering some sort of protection package against identity theft, which included free unlimited access to Experian credit reports plus various other stuff. I'm not sure what precisely because when he said that I switched off, and shortly after I interrupted him, telling him I didn't want to waste any more of his time as I wasn't interested. It was at this point that he asked the question he'll probably regret for the rest of his career...

"And may I ask why, Miss Raingod?"

"Two reasons: the first one is that I already do what I possibly can to minimise the risk (including shredding and checking my Experian credit report for free every other month or so). The second reason is that a few years ago two of my credit cards were maxed for fraud. While my BoS Mastercard resolved everything within a few days without me having to lift a finger apart from notifying the Police, Amex made a major mess of it all and it took me 9 months of fighting them to sort it out, therefore I'm not going to put *them* in charge of looking after my financial security."

Dead silence followed by a grovelling apology. I felt a bit sorry for the guy who was really nice and good at his spiel. If he hadn't been calling from Amex I might even have considered the offer, or at least listened to it, but really... There are some things money can't buy...

Deck the halls!

Arturo was born at 6.21 this morning. When I woke up at something past 8 am and saw the SMS I was so excited I almost started crying. I rang the father, assuming mum would be zonked out (correct assumption for once!) and he told me that both were doing fine although they had to give her a Caesarean as the baby was getting a bit distressed, after about 8 hours labour.

Later this afternoon I rang her and had a chat. She was doing well, but she is being given painkillers so she's a bit stoned. She sent me a picure taken a few hours after birth... He's gorgeous!

I can't wait to go and see him, I might sneak a day or two off before the end of September when I've already booked the flight. In the meantime I foresee a spree on baby clothes. Coochie coochie coo!




(First four pictures from Dark Side , last one from Nappy Head).

Things can always get better...

Of course they can, but lately life's been just about as good as it can be!

Things at work are going well. I know I always like a rant and a moan, but I should be honest and admit that I'm loving doing mornings at "my" place, then moving on to the other one and spend the afternoon with my colleague, not least because it's really busy and times flies. Also, my colleague is quite hilarious and it's never dull with her.

The Loreley escapade was absolutely brilliant. It took me the whole week to recover (I *am* getting too old for all this, but who cares!) but it's lovely to meet friends that you only see once or twice a year, and just enjoy each other's company... the music is just a bonus, really. We are now planning the next tour of the boot (i.e.: Italy) for the three dates at the end of November/early December in Milan, Rome and Bologna, where on top of seeing the 12 apostles (or flying 8), I'll get a chance to meet people I've indirectly "known" for years, plus other old friends. Some of the Loreley bunch (including yours truly) are also considering Krakow at the end of October, and of course there'll be the Milan break at the end of September to see friends and their new baby, with a lightning trip to Turin to see The Police just before I come back.
Should Krakow fall through, plan B is Carmina Burana at the Royal Albert Hall on the same weekend. I saw it some time ago and it was wonderful. And let's not forget Rush, also in October, and Matthew Bourne's Nutcracker in January, which I am looking forward to as my birthday present (and hopefully Michiel will make it over here from the Netherlands, and spend a few days as it seems more and more unlikely that I'll have the time and money to go over myself this year).

On Wednesday I went to see The Car Man at Sadler's Wells. Pwhoarrrr, the show itself was great, as was the company I was in, but the full frontal male nudity almost at the beginning would have been worth the ticket in itself. Give thanks for gay producers, is all I say. The only pity is that it was totally unexpected so I wasn't paying as much attention to that part of the stage as I should have, but the attributes in question still managed to catch my eye (wink wink nudge nudge, say no more)! I'm convinced that was a cheap ruse to increase the sales of DVDs to oglin... I mean, artistically inclined, women.
What made the experience even better was that I had taken the afternoon off work to try and get the tickets on the day, as we hadn't booked, and my friend couldn't make it until after 6, so after I secured the tickets I decided to go and sit in a nearby pub's beer garden, enjoying the sun and Diamond White (no K, bah!), feeling smug at the thought of my colleagues and most people I know being stuck at work for another 4 hours or so :)))

I'd also taken this afternoon off, so today I went from work straight to my friends' flat that I'm keeping an eye on while they're away, and sat in their garden with a magazine and a chilled drink for a couple of hours, with the smugness again creeping in. Flat-sitting's hard work, but someone's got to do it; I just hope they realise the effort I went to to ensure the safety of their place!
When I left I jumped on a bus to the Green Lanes end of Finsbury Park, and started walking across the Park towards Stroud Green/Crouch Hill when I saw one of those little buses approaching, the ones that only bob and their drivers know the route of, so I hailed it and hopped on. I was taken on an almost magical mystery tour of the back streets of Crouch End, hopping off at the Northern side of Crouch Hill and walking back home. Pure bliss!

Another recent highlight was meeting Al, his lovely wife and his gorgeous daughter on their way back to the US last weekend.
Unfortunately I could only do the Saturday as I had just about recovered from Loreley then, but I had a lovely evening.

Now I'm looking forward to welcoming my sister and her family to London in less than two weeks' time. It's the first time she's ever come in all the time I've been here and I can't take time off work (as she made her mind up too late, colleagues had already booked their leave), but I'm looking forward to showing my niece around a few places and spending some time with them.

One slightly puzzling thing in recent months is that there seem to be a few blokes up for a bit of horizontal fun (well, ok, vertical, diagonal, whatever). The downside is that I've actually been too busy or tired to actually pick the offers up, except once so far, but it's nice to know nevertheless. As I've been feeling pretty settled and contented, it's probably the pheromones doing their bit. I'm not complaining :)))

Loreley 2007

At last, the day came!

I slept a couple of hours on Saturday night before getting ready to be picked up by a cab that would take me to Stansted. When I arrived at the airport my flight wasn't showing on the check-in board... took me a few minutes to realise I'd got the wrong time and the flight was an hour later than I thought. Despite being so early I still almost missed it due to huge queues at security, and of course whose bag did they have to randomly pick for extra checks? As soon as they gave me my belongings back I legged it through the duty free area, ignoring somebody's attempt to tackle me for the shoe check as soon as I sprinted. Because of the delay at security, the flight took off later than scheduled and was almost an hour late at Frankfurt (obviously my friends' flight was about 30 minutes early, so they were stuck there waiting for me for almost 2 hours).







The guys had booked two small-ish cars to keep costs as low as possible, but one of the two wasn't available so we were upgraded to an Alfa 159... phwoarrrrrr! That baby did 0-150 in about a nanosecond, despite running on diesel fuel, and we kept losing the other guys on the petrol Smart who couldn't keep up with us :)))
The only problem was that we couldn't work out how to shut the radio up without losing the satnav too, and of course the instruction books were in German! We did crack it in the end though.







After meeting the last member of the group who'd already been there since the day before, and having some lunch (and several beers) on the Rhine, we then drove up to the rock and proceeded to put the banner at work. This is the official banner that will unfurl at future events too, replacing the countless sheets that were used over the years and that needed to be remade after almost every gig.




We were moved by the big man opening his heart to us and unburdening the hurts of the few past months on us. He obviously needed to unload and we were speechless that he was so candid and honest... we felt honoured - hopefully it did him good too :)

After the obligatory signing and photo session (and more beers!) we moved to the stage area and enjoyed a fantastic show by Jethro Tull.










The real fun came an hour later or so though, when Fish came on stage. The crowd had grown although he wasn't the headliner, and it was an incredibly fun gig. At the end he even had to come back out while the stage was being dismantled as a few hundred people were still there chanting they wanted him back.

Tired and achy but deeply contented, we made our way back to the cars for the long-ish drive along the Rhine, back to the airport, where we snoozed for an hour or so before it was time to check in again.

Roll on next year!

Cuties!

I went to see some friends yesterday. They live near work and have a garden, so they call me for a barbie now and again.

They're both keen gardeners and attract a lot of local wildlife on the look out for food. Recently they've had everything from fox cubs to squirrels and the neighbour's cat roaming their garden, but what they really love is a blackbird nest they spotted hidden in the vines. There's mother and father blackbirds and 4 chicks. The parents take turns in watching the nest while the other one goes looking for worms, but occasionally if all is quiet they both fly off hunting for food.
And that's what they did yesterday evening, so I jumped at the chance to take a couple of photos.





Evidently I lingered too long, trying to sneak between the vines, as mother blackbird found me there when she got back. She stopped on a nearby tree with worms squiggling in her beak, keeping en eye on me to make sure I wasn't doing anything nasty. My friends had another blackbird family a couple of years ago and told me that when a chick fell off the nest and they went to pick it up to put it back, the parents dived on them like a scene from The Birds!
She also chirped at them to let them know she was nearby, and they peaped back, maybe telling her to hurry up as they were hungry.

I stepped back down the ladder and feigned indifference and finally mother blackbird rejoined the nest and fed her brood to a chorus of thanks. I had to move slowly in order not to scare her away but eventually I managed to get close enough again to take another few shots while she was keeping watch!

Talking about which...

I called my sister yesterday and had a quick chat with my niece too,
who was on her way out with some friends.
She asked me what I was doing and I told her I was going to have some
of that nice cheese with that even nicer pear and vanilla confit that
I bought with the baked figs (I added that I'd had it with the figs
the previous night). She said, "Oh... don't worry auntie, when we are
there in few weeks *we* will cook for you!"
Bless!

Today I was thinking of going to some jazz festival near where I
work, but the downpour settled that internal struggle... For a moment I pondered
giving the guy a ring, but then excitement took over and, hear hear!,
I have just put a little pork joint in the oven with spuds. Yay! For
the first time in years, a working oven... I can't wait for it to be
ready, it's only been in there twenty minutes or so and I've already
gone to check it 5 times, turning the light on, making sure it's
working, admiring the (very) slowly changing colour, noticing how the
herbs look pretty on it... Yes, very sad I know :)))

I was washing the potatoes in the sink when the rinse water from the
washing machine bubbled up from the plug hole. Roast pork with
potatoes à la Ecover and Comfort, yummy!

Love thy neighbour (and baked figs with cheese)

The other day I was almost 2 hours late for work. This was due to my
neighbours shouting and screaming between midnight and 2 am right outside my door. Correction, my neighbour was trying to calm his girlfriend down who was doing all the shouting and screaming, and I couldn't get back to sleep.
I first met this woman a few weeks ago as I was leaving for work. She was leaving his flat shouting and screaming then too, calling him a cunt and all other sorts of nice names. She was pleasant and friendly enough to me as we shared the lift down, first wondering out loud how I could live with that cunt (it was too early in the morning to point out I don't actually live with him, and he's never caused any problems in the 8 years or so he's lived there anyway), then asking me if I was going to work and if I was using the overground or the underground. I just muttered I was going towards Finsbury Park - to which she replied, oh, I'm taking the overground here, going to Highbury. I was a bit startled and told her that trains from there didn't actually go to Highbury, but Gospel Oak. I'm sure there was some logic in her reply, but I totally missed it when she said that no, trains from there did go to Highbury, and she knew 'cos she lived in Kentish Town. Yes dear.
Anyway, the other night at something past midnight she stopped outside my door shouting the world down, and he whispering something back trying to shush her. It went on for a while then I heard them
grow fainter, then I heard them in the car park walking away, with her still shouting. A little while later they came back in good spirits, muttering something about how good that kebab was. An hour later or so it started again (minus the kebab part).

Tonight she went into one again. This time it wasn't so late, but enough is enough and after 10 minutes of her screaming outside my door again I actually went out and told her to shut the fuck up. She looked up at me as if I were a martian and asked: "Pardon? What did you say?" I told her she'd heard, but repeated it just in case, to which she started mumbling about him being a cunt blah blah blah. At this stage I blew it and informed her that he could be an olympic cunt, but I'd never had a problem with him in years, therefore "SHUT THE FUCK UP OR GO SCREAM SOMEWHERE FUCKING ELSE". She said that she would as he'd called the Police on her anyway (thank bob for small mercies), so in my poshest voice I said "Jolly good, good bye then!" and slammed the door.

Peace and quiet are now restored at Raingod's Mansions.

On my way to my afternoon job today I stepped off the bus right into a pile of dog shit (may the flies of a thousand camels infest the owner's armpits). On my way home from work a lady bird stuck to my hair and wouldn't budge. Both are believed to be good omens and to bring money in some quarters, and it kind of proved true when I popped into the local shop for some bread. I walked past the deli counter and some cheeses and things to go with them caught my eyes, including some oven baked figs wrapped in their leaves, which I'm sure were hideously expensive (I didn't look at the price, but the packaging was of that kind).
When I got to the till, for some reason they wouldn't scan. I didn't quite catch the meaning when the shop assistant told me: "Say a price" and performed my best impersonation of a dummy. Uh? "Say a price", she repeated. I offered to go back to the counter to check, but she went, no, no, 99p wasn't it? I told her that I was pretty sure it was quite a lot more than that, but she just waved me away and tapped in 99p. Nice, there's a reason I like to shop there :)))

Bits and bobs

I've been asked to help a colleague out as she's been under extreme
pressure for the past several months, with things peaking since
April. I jumped at the chance as my own workplace has been numbingly
quiet lately, and I was having problems not sleeping on the (lacking)
job. I hadn't worked in a really hectic place for a couple of years,
so I'd forgotten how crazy it could be and it's hit me like a ton of
bricks, with the result that I'm even more tired than usual.
The up side is that my colleague really appreciates the help. The
last couple of days she's left the office muttering to herself
"ohmegod, ohmegod, we'd never got this much done in this place as we
do now, I'd forgotten how it was to work with someone who actually
does what she's meant to!"
It's really good to see her laugh, grin and joke. In the past few
months, every time I'd talked to her she was in the dumps. I'm not
sure how she kept it up so long, had it been me I'd have freaked out
ages ago.
Of course I'll have to make sure I don't mention any of this to the
bosses or they'll think they can take it for granted, so I'll have to
think of some way to stay there a while longer, while making it look
like I'm doing them a huge favour (which I am, incidentally, I just
happen to enjoy it too).

Meanwhile, the preparations for Lorelei are under way, with cars
being booked and yours truly being the nominated second driver. Never
mind that I practically haven't driven for 2 years in the UK, and
much longer than that on the continent (which I didn't mention to the
rest of the group, hahaha). Just as well it's Germany, where drivers
are so polite that the last time I was there nobody beeped their
horn, not even flashed their lights at me, despite the fact that I
held up the traffic at a set of lights for three rounds of green
lights - I was looking at a map and hadn't realised there was a queue
behind me!
Anyway, the starting point was that we'd book an 8-seater, but we've
just been informed we can only have cars seating up to 5 people and
there's 7 of us, so we'll need 2. My suggestion that two could sit on
the roof was overruled *g*

Friend's baby is impatient. He's due in mid August but she texted me
tonight from hospital where she's being kept under observation as
she's having contractions. Probably just a precaution, but she was a
bit worried so we had a little exchange to cheer her up.

Guy I was meant to see weeks ago but never got round to came over
last weekend. It was nice but the boy needs to learn! He rang me this
evening asking if I wanted to see him again. I think I will, at some
point.

I have a brand new cooker which I also got last weekend... Is it
really sad if I say I was more excited about it than him?

Caen Wood

Went to see Kenwood House today. Beautiful place just up the road, that I'd never visited in 10 years I've lived in this area. They play classical concerts every summer there, and I've promised myself that this summer I will go and see at least one!
Talking about shows, on Sunday dad and I went to see Havana Rakatan, Cuban dancing, at the Peacock Theatre. I felt a bit cheated at first, as the female dancers all came on looking gorgeous with dazzling smiles, while the blokes entered the stage looking so miserable they'd have given Posh's pout a run for its money. To make it worse, they started stripping only to stop at their flies! All was forgiven when they returned on stage a few minutes later with tribal skirts showing gorgeous legs and interesting lunch boxes :)))

Anyway, back to Kenwood House. We visited the house and its collection of paintings including Turners, Vermeers, Rembrandts (although we missed those as they were upstairs and we took so long on the ground floor that when we tried going up it was closed). They currently have an exhibition on the abolition of slavery, appropriate for this house that belonged to William Murray, first Earl of Mansfield, solicitor and judge, the first to rule in favour of a slave in 1772.



Then we had a walk in the grounds, coming across an oak tree which was felled by the storm in January. I was a bit surprised as I don't remember such a great storm - although I'm so dippy some times that I probably wouldn't realise there was a storm unless the roof

flew from over my head.

Yesterday I bought a wonderfully fluffy bathrobe at the N1 shopping centre. I tend to avoid it as it's full of shops where I'd leave my entire salary, but we walked past it on our way from buying a new cooker (kindly donated by dad). It will be delivered next week, now I only need to work out how to connect the pipe to the gas without blowing up the whole block.

Dad's leaving tomorrow morning... I'll miss him!

Royal Albert Hall

One of my favourite venues, I just love that place.

I went there the other night for a Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
performance of Beethoven's Egmont Overture and Violin Concerto and
Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition. I would have gone
just for the latter, the rest was a bonus. We got the cheapest
tickets, £5 to perch in the rafters and have a bird's eye view of the
whole venue, offered as "restricted view". In fact, we got a very
good view of the stage too (although I wasn't bothered as I'm not
really worried about that for a classical concert).
And for the first time I heard Pictures at an Exhibition live in its
classical version, rather than as played by ELP. The guys at the back (horns and percussions) looked like they were having a ball - very enjoyable :)))

Parthenogenesis

The other day I was reading about this female hammerhead shark that
gave birth a few years ago, while in captivity and with no apparent
male assistance. Initially there were various theories as to how the
baby shark came to exist, including that the mother had had sex while
in the wild until three years previously and she'd stored the sperm,
but now scientists have found that its DNA only matched that of one of the
females kept in the tank, and that no male DNA was anywhere to be
found. Sadly, the pup was killed almost straight away by a stingray,
before keepers could remove it from the tank.

Now I wonder if my GP would offer this hypothesis when I ring him
about my period being two weeks late (after all, he did suggest "old
age" as the cause of my itchy skin a couple of years ago),
considering that there's no males to be found around my parts either
- although not 'cos of captivity, rather a personal choice. Well, he
might try... and considering that my usual PMT starts about a week
before I'm due, and that now I've had it for a total of three weeks,
he might find that "Jaws" aren't the only ones that can rip your
limbs off.

Glam jobs and Ealing comedies

I work in a very old building. It's a really gorgeous, listed
building in central London, with a marvelous cast iron fire escape
that reminds me of those old English movies (not the Ealing comedies,
more about those later). I love working there.

Usually.
Maybe not today.

Today I got in after a long weekend, feeling very rough (no, the
first wasn't the cause of the second), to find my colleague in a
huff. Well, it doesn't take much to get her in a huff, she's worse
than me, and she'll tell you exactly why she is in a huff. With the
building being so old and listed, and with my organisation being very
reluctant to spend more than they absolutely have to, it follows that
a lot of the building is in its original state. That includes the
pipes. The building is on 5 floors including the basement and ground,
and water pressure to some areas is very, very low. It was thus that
I spent the first half hour at work nursing a coffee and trying to
calm down my colleague who was cursing our clients for being dirty
cows. I was trying to remind her about the age of the pipes, and how
we'd complained about the pressure again and again, for years, and
how we'd always been ignored. Nope, she didn't want to hear. And so
she described, in detail, the size, shape and colour of the extremely
large turd she'd found in a toilet on the second floor, that someone
hadn't flushed (according to her; more likely they had but the lack
of pressure was somewhat acute). She went on to tell me in still more
detail how she'd covered it in toilet paper to flush it, and how it'd
kind of gone half way down before getting stuck. At this point I
burst out laughing. She wasn't impressed, even though I'd been
holding back for a good 10 minutes by then.

In other news: I was reading the paper and saw about the punitive
judgement on CD Wow, that will now have to fork out something like
£42 million in fines and costs to those nice guys at the British
Phonographic Industry, for selling legally published CDs at a decent
price to the British public. The BPI obtained an order freezing CD
Wow's assets to make sure they get their dosh.
I've known about CD Wow for years through friends who regularly shop
there, but I'd never used it myself... until yesterday when I placed
an order for a few DVDs. I've just checked the status of my order, it
says: "pending despatch". To the BPI, probably.

Daddy cool

I was watching "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" the other night, and
it occurred to me that Jack Nicholson bears a striking resemblance
to... my father! Well, he did at the time he made that film, to my
father at the same age (they're only two years apart). They shared
quite a few years when they looked alike, but I have to say that,
much as I lust after Jack, my dad's kept in much better shape, time's
been much kinder to him... Might be something to do with the
different intake of alcohol and various mind altering substances :)))

Of course, this being the Bank Holiday weekend, it could only mean
one thing: it's been chucking it down for the past 3 days. All the
more reasons to stay in, slouching on the sofa with my duvet up to my
chin, watching DVDs. I'll have to buy a new lot soon as I only have a
few left to watch. Mind you, it takes me a week to watch one as I
keep falling asleep 10 minutes into the film!

Yesterday I was meant to see someone for a bit of nookie, but in the
end I cancelled due to raging PMT. Spent the day with Monty Python
instead :)))
I also popped out to do some shopping. When I got to the till with a
basket-load of goods, I opened my bag to pay and my purse wasn't
there, so I had to leave empty handed! I panicked until I got home as
I didn't remember taking it out, but luckily it'd dropped out there
and I found it hiding in a corner. Phew!

Ladri di Biciclette

One of the workmen who've been ripping the place apart before putting
it all back together and redecorating in the past 3 months came to
the office this afternoon, asking me if I could check the CCTV as his
bike had gone missing from where he'd stored it. I asked him for the
time range he thought it'd been stolen in and when he gave me some
clues I watched the recording and, sure enough, there it was being
wheeled out.
I saw a girl almost tiptoeing down the stairs, looking around to make
sure the coast was clear, then going back up the steps. A few seconds
later another girl appeared, she also looked around to make sure
there was still nobody there, then made a "hurry up" gesture towards
the stairs, and her friend came down with the bike. They left via the
main door together.

I called the second girl (my client) on her mobile and told her I
would like to see her in the office tomorrow morning at 11 o'clock.
She asked what it was about but I just said I needed to speak to her
face to face. The guy had said he didn't want to involve the Police
unless I had to, so I called my manager for advice. After discussing
it with her, I rang the girl back telling her that when she comes to
see me tomorrow she should make sure to bring the bike back with her.
"Ooooooooh, that" she said. "I just want to explain that I spoke to
the guys asking if it belonged to anyone because it'd been there a
week, and they said I could take it". I couldn't be bothered to
mention that when you take something with permission you don't
usually sneak around to make sure nobody's seeing you, I guess I can
tell her tomorrow if she tries that line again. And I hope I rang her
soon enough for her not to have sold the bike so she can bring it
back, otherwise I will have to call the Police and I'm not looking
forward to that.

I've been seeing far too much of them in the past few days, since we
reported a missing person, and I have a feeling that the next time
we'll see them about that it will be bad news :(

Relationships

I met someone yesterday. Well, he came to where I work to carry out
some job. He'd been there before, a few weeks ago, and had made it
clear that he was available should I need some sexual activity. He's
a very nice guy, sweet and all, and quite fanciable too, but I have
been single for quite a while now and I don't really know how to deal
with this.
On the one hand he says that he doesn't want any commitment, on the
other hand, when I proposed meeting either on the Sunday OR Monday
for a drink, he replied with: "I can't do Sunday, how about Friday
AND Monday?", then he also sent a text saying he'd love "to spend the
night in your arms". Bloody 'ell! I'm all for not rushing things,
taking my time and all, but I draw the line at having some bloke
spend the night at my place, if all we're meeting for is sex. What
next, eggs and bacon in the morning, and please put the seat down and
stop leaving the cap off the flipping toothpaste???
It's been about 10 years since I was in a live-in relationship. I've
had others since, but even so the last one was over two years ago,
and it didn't involve him staying overnight. The last time someone
spent the night here or I spent the night at his place was 5 years ago.

Do I miss it? Yes. No.

I miss not having sex on tap, and when I'm in a relationship I can't
get enough. On the other hand, when I'm not in a relationship, after
a while I stop caring, and for those rare occasions when I don't,
hey, what are the friendly rabbits for? Or the friendly haggis, mates
that occasionally give you memorable orgasms on a drunken night...
There, you happy now? :P
I miss not having companionship at times when things go wrong and I
really need someone to just stroke my hair and say, there, there...
I miss not coming home after a series of several hard days at work on
the trot and finding a coffee waiting for me and dinner almost ready.
I miss not snuggling up to someone in the middle of the night when I
wake up for no apparent reason.
I miss not having someone to share things with.
I miss not having someone to talk things through with, or to just
have some long winded, pointless conversations about life, the
universe and everything.
I miss not having someone to kick me up the arse when I start being
really lazy.

However...
I don't miss having someone getting in the way when I'm trying to get
things done.
I don't miss having to be all nice and smiley when I come home from
work feeling really pissed off about something, or having to prepare
dinner when all I want is slump on the sofa with a book or a movie,
or not cooking this or that because he doesn't like it.
I don't miss having someone hogging the duvet on a winter night when
it's really cold, or producing far too much body heat on a sweltering
summer night. I don't miss having to keep to one side of the bed.
I don't miss having to take into account somebody else's plans when
I'm thinking about what I'm going to do this weekend, or next
holiday, or next concert.
I don't miss having to wait for the bathroom.
I don't miss having to talk coherently (or talk at all) first thing
in the morning when the most I can do is grunt.
I don't miss having to keep the music down 'cos "I can't hear myself
thinking", and I don't miss having someone playing their own
favourite music. I don't miss someone trying to talk to me when I'm
sitting in the dark looking out of the window, or lying back on my
bed staring at the ceiling with Carmina Burana or Karn Evil or Number
of the Beast rippling through my skin at full blast.
I don't miss having someone dragging me out when I really want to
have a quiet night in, and I don't miss having to drag someone out
who's finding any excuse not to shift his arse from the sofa.
I don't miss being lied to.

And...
I have friends I can call in the middle of the night if I really need
to.
I have friends I can go to for a few days to get away from it all,
who'll look after me.
I have friends who come over and stay a few days, who know me and
won't feel offended if I don't even look at them in the morning, who
are happy if I go out with them but are not afraid to leave me behind
if I'm not in the mood.
I have friends who tell me to turn the music up.
I have friends who sympathise with me and say, there, there, when I'm
feeling low, but who also tell me to get over it if I stretch it too
long and who laugh with me when things are bright.
I have friends who will pat me on the back when I have a good idea
and who will celebrate my successes with me, and then they'll tell me
not to talk crap when I get it wrong.
I have friends who give me a stern talking to when it's required, and
who won't tread on eggshells or lie to me because they think I won't
like what I hear.
I have friends who call me to remind me of the next concert somewhere
in Europe, and who will meet me there for some great music followed
by a few days of sight-seeing, world-watching and aimless conversations. Pure pleasure of being together because we want to and we can, not because it's expected of us.

No contest, is there?

Am I selfish? So sue me.

At long last!

The day before Easter I had a nasty surprise. The delivery I had
ordered from a well known internet grocery firm arrived one hour
earlier than it was booked, and the moronic driver left it with my
"son", who was standing outside my door with a bunch of keys in his
hands. The problem with that is that I don't have a son.
Yep. The idiot, in his haste to go home, left almost £90 worth of
shopping with the first bloke he saw, because he was standing outside
my door with a bunch of keys (probably on his way to one of the
neighbours either side of me).
Anyway, I kicked up a fuss and spoke to someone from customer service
demanding £50 compensation for the inconvenience caused (it being 7
o'clock on the Saturday night before Easter, I couldn't replace the
groceries and my bank holiday was ruined), the distress caused
initially when I spoke to the driver on the phone, before I got home
(the way he said it, it sounded as if someone had broken into my
flat), and the fact that they put me at risk of identity theft
because the groceries he left with my "son", of course, came with a
delivery note with my full name and address on it.

The man at customer services was very sympathetic and did his best to
help, but his best was only to refund £25 to my credit card and offer
a voucher for the same amount (they never actually took the cost of
the shopping as they only take it after delivery and obviously it
hadn't been delivered... not to me, in any case). He didn't have the
authority to do any more. I said that I wasn't happy with it. I would
either accept £50 to my credit card, or £25 to the card plus a
voucher for £50. He advised me to write directly to the CS manager,
and gave me his name and address. I wrote and posted my letter the
following week, but at the beginning of May, almost 4 weeks later,
I'd had no reply. I emailed a copy of the letter to the generic
address, although I made it very clear it was addressed to one
specific person. A few days later someone answered me to tell me they
couldn't do anything more, although the £25 voucher was waiting for
me if I wanted it. I wrote back saying that if I wanted him to reply
to me I would have addressed my letter to him, but since I hadn't and
it had somebody else's name on it, then he should pass it on as I
wasn't accepting that outcome. I then asked for their complaints
policy and for whom I should contact should I not be happy with the
final outcome.
Today I had a £50 voucher in my mail, for a total of £75 credited
including the money on my card. Result!

The same day the groceries were delivered to "my son", in fact at the
same time it was happening, I was having a little problem with my
mobile phone company. That was also resolved satisfactorily with a
credit to my account for £50. The difference between the two was that
the mobile phone company immediately acknowledged their cock-up and
fell over themselves to repay my inconvenience.

I am currently awaiting a reply from my previous landline company
regarding a damages and compensation payment for £100 (they took
money out of my account 3 months after I stopped being their
customer, and they kept writing threatening letters to me after I had
that money refunded by my bank). I can see that claim going all the
way up to the telecom regulator, but I'm not standing down until I
have the money.

So, moral of the story: it pays to complain for crap service. In
fact, as I'm looking for a job, I wonder if I could become a
professional moaner :)))

The Emirates

These were taken in March with my old phone at the staff conference which was held at the Arsenal Stadium. The photos aren't much, as the camera phone wasn't the best, plus I'd never really used it so I was playing around with it hoping to get lucky, but it was amazing to be there. Our previous conferences had been at Highbury, the old stadium, this was the first time at the Emirates. As I walked in I couldn't help being amazed, the place is definitely stunning. Shame about the hospitality itself that was absolute shite, and I can't say I was impressed by the organisation either. Most of the screens didn't work, the audio was horrendous, and the layout...well, never mind!

Uh?

The phone rang at 7 o'clock this evening. I thought it would be
someone trying to sell something as only my family call me on the
landline and they wouldn't call at that time.
So I picked it up, ready to wind up some poor guy called John
speaking pidgin English on a terrible line.

"Can I speak to Raingod?"

A perfectly English voice, slightly familiar. "Who is it?"

"David!"

Taking time to figure out who it was, I just stayed silent for a few
seconds. Then I said "Speaking", very slowly.

"Hello, long time no hear, how are you, still with your Dutch bloke?
How's work, and your family, and nasty weather isn't it!"
It was the flood of words more than the voice that jogged my memory.
The voice was the kind that you'd rather forget, you see.

Anyway, I met David about a year ago, he's a cabbie in North London
and I stopped talking to him when I asked him what the cheapest fare
he could quote me to Stansted was and he replied: "Well, it
depends... it could be free for a blow job". Now, apart from the fact
that my blow jobs aren't that cheap, I am also pretty selective about
who gets them and the one time I had occasion to meet his cock up
close it wasn't that inspiring.

Tonight he was obviously fishing for a date, which I tried to decline
citing prior arrangements (washing hair etc...), but he wasn't
getting the hint so in the end I told him straight that I wasn't
overly keen.
He said "Oh, I see... well, I'll call you at the weekend so you can
think about it".

No, really...

Pisa 25.04.07

Only Pisa could have a giant pigeon greeting its visitors. This was right outside the airport terminal, advertising some theatrical thing. Not sure I see the connection! There were also smaller pigeons perched on the seats. Of course they were fake, no droppings... but I decided to stand.










The Tower, Battistero and Cathedral were beautiful though. It costs a bomb to go up the Tower and you are not allowed to stop and stare, so to speak, so we gave it a miss. Piazza dei Miracoli has a very weird atmosphere... unworldly, almost. I hadn't been to Pisa for years (the airport doesn't count), and it was a nice little day out. We also found a great restaurant serving fish :)))
Considering it was a national holiday (Liberation Day), the place was surprisingly quiet, apart from the tourists. We didn't see any celebrations.

Honey honey!

Hay fever, blast it! Pain, agony, runny eyes and all that jazz.
But today I went shopping and I returned home with 4 jars of locally made honey - yes, within 6 miles of my home, bang in the middle(-ish) of London!
Too late for this year, the anti-histamines will have to do for now, but I have high hopes for next year.

Very sad I know, but I am excited :)))