When we last left our hero back in January he was chillin' (both figuratively and literally), on a platform of Slough station with the infamous canine wonder Jim. Since then what has happened to our caped crusader?
The answer to this and to why, for so long, these pages have stagnated and been left to gather digital cobwebs is 'nothing much really'. My trouble, unlike most bloggers, is that I really don't find myself very interesting. Something which I'm sure you'll all be quick to agree with but don't flatter yourselves, this isn't a recent revelation on my part so you can't take credit for that insight into my psyche. I just really cannot see the point of telling you, in excruciating detail, how I felt when I was queuing up to buy stamps. In essence I need to be inspired to fills these pages and just recently nothing much has happened to do that.
Spring sprung early |
Having said all that, February, March and April were a flurry of activity. I found a job, started the job and found somewhere new to live. In that time I quite often wanted to sit down and fill these pages but when it came down to it either just couldn't be bothered or really just didn't feel you wanted to know how difficult it is to buy a sofa you don't have to wait twelve weeks for. Now that that particular life dust has settled and I'm settled into a routine (read rut), there seems to be even less to talk about.
To give a proper update we should first remind ourselves of the goals of Phase II of operation 'Etcha-Sketch Reset on life'. Phase I was completed successfully back in October when I left Thailand having pursued a long time fancy to stop working for money. Phase II was to achieve the double whammy of spending more time with aged parents in their twilight years whilst, simultaneously, hording what the squirrels call acorns and what I call moolah for the winters to come when I'm not working for money. As an aside here, I think I have just achieved another life long goal of the most mixed metaphors in one sentence.
OK - it didn't rain the whole time in Falmouth |
So 'how is Phase II going?' Well, as much as I can tick all the right Phase II boxes it may not surprise you to hear that it aint San Francisco. In the Spring I was really enjoying reconnecting with the homeland. It is so lush and teeming with life that California seems a veritable desert in comparison. But then something happened to change all that, something which is so intrinsic to England's sense of self, something which was perhaps the largest contributing factor for me staying away for so long in the first place - it started to rain.
Room with a rainy view |
First of all this was well received on my part as being, well, England and not just England but of course England in the summer time. It does rain but without it England wouldn't be as lush as it is. At the time it all added to the nostalgia of being back home. But the problem was that it just kept on raining. It rained all through my summer holiday in Falmouth in the middle of June and has continued to rain to this day. Yesterday (Saturday the 4th August) I left the house in a maelstrom of wind and rain - I kid you not.
That's all for now folks. It's Sunday afternoon and time for me to pack in preparation for tomorrow's 5 am start when I drive the 50 miles to Manchester airport, drop off the hire car and join the rest of the monkeys working in the rat race.
Sometime the sun does shine |
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