Category: 2011

The Welshman, the guitarist and the ambulance driver

(Wednesday 7th Sept, written up Friday 9th Sept)
Gosh, that was a laugh! Impromptu jam session at “The Shoes”. Guitar courtesy of Jason was good (maybe even great), my part of the singing was poor (though I did contribute to the lyrics), the other singing was ok. Good humour and good craic! Not at all what I expected.
The evening started predicatably enough with me calling on friends who now live in a house where I used to live. Once again, nice to just chatter. Again, predictably, Colin and I wandered down to The Shoes. The place was almost empty, but eventually we became embroiled in the music. Silly and fun!

Arrivals and Departures, visiting and teeth

(Written on 9th September 2011)
I’ve had a pleasant week in Ashford. Most of the time has been spent relaxing and meeting friends. I’ve seen some people in their homes and others I’ve met in the Pub, or at Church.
Starting from the beginning:
I arrived early morning on Saturday (3rd Sept). I did very little during the day, except doze. The bus may be an effective and economical means of transport, but sleep on the bus does not seem to satisfy the body. I’m not sure if it is because the sleep is constantly being disturbed, or because the body is cramped, although I usually sleep at least some of the time, I always feel tired afterwards.
On Saturday evening I arranged to meet some of my friends at The George in Staines. A good time was had by all!
On Sunday (4th Sept) morning, I took the bus from Ashford to Feltham. I had breakfast in Jenny’s. I probably shouldn’t have had the “English Breakfast” but I used the excuse that I was on holiday and I certainly enjoyed it. After that, it was time for Church.
At Christ Church it was a Worship-group service. I enjoyed that, and I enjoyed meeting the other members of the congregation. I made a point of introducing myself as a visitor! I wonder if I will manage to go to church when I am in Siberia? So far, I have identified one church (cathedral) in the centre of the city.
Caz arrived from Belfast today, en-route to Slovakia. She leaves on Wednesday, so I’ve let her have the spare bed and, for the days she is here, I get the sofa.
Monday (5th Sept), I set of early for the Dentist! The detached crown had been preying on my mind and I wanted to get it fixed if at all possible.The dentistry proved to be a very simple undertaking. The Dentist still had my records, fitted me into the schedule and cemented the crown back. I left after three-quarters of an hour with a replaced crown, a strange taste in my mouth and a slightly lighter wallet.
I phoned my old next door neighbour to see that he was in. I called on him. He is okay I suppose, but the years are obviously taking their toll. I was surprised and pleased to find that my old tenants had cleared his front garden for him. It’s only a small thing, but certainly to their credit.
In the evening I went to visit friends in Brentford. I had a really nice time. It is good to meet up like that. I wish there were more opportunities to do it.
Tuesday (6th Sept), the “task of the day”, was to go into town and meet up with Dick near Waterloo. Another pleasant afternoon. In the afternoon I went to the quiz at The Shoes. I’m not sure how much of a contribution I made to my team.

My heart is all a flutter

Heart all a flutter! No, not A Level results. My Russian visa arrived this morning. It is quite different to the last one I had many years ago. It takes up a full page in my passport and includes a big holographic stamp.

That means I am definitely fully committed now. I still have a few things to do before I am ready to depart. One of the vital ones is to arrange transport for the first leg of the trip, from Cork to London. I think I will travel Eurolines, it’s cheap, I have the time and somehow it seems appropriate. I will break my journey for about a week in London. It will be an opportunity to adjust my body clock and see friends.

I shall be in Siberia from 2nd week in September for 4 weeks. I shall start travelling at the beginning of September, because of the visiting in London. Novosibirsk (which is where I’m going) is about as far from the sea as it is humanly possible to get. I’ve see pictures of road signs showing distances of nearly 3000km! Find India on a map of the world, head north. when you reach the middle of Russia, stop! That’s where Novosibirsk is, give or take a 1000 miles.

I’ve exchanged “progress all right so far” notes with the people in Russia, and spent part of the day buying pills and potions for the trip. I’ll settle down and do things in a more organised way tomorrow.

Seek and ye shall find

One of my jobs today was trimming the hedge. This is quite a task. Fortunately I have an effective petrol hedge trimmer which is up to the task (even if I may not be!).

Anyway, part way into the job quite suddenly the handle on the trimmer felt “peculiar”. After stopping the engine, a short inspection revealed that a screw had fallen out and that the handle was now well and truly loose. The trimmer was now dangerous to use. My how I cursed!
Before I went to the bit box, I decided to have a look around on the off chance that I would find the missing screw. And… fortunately I found it. So, the proper screw is fitted. It and its mate have been tightened. The hedge has been trimmed. And I have learned that I need to do more than a visual inspection of the hedge trimmer each time I put it away (and get it out to use it).
No harm done, and a nice optimistic story.