I'm currently reading 'In a Sunburned Country' by Bill Bryson, in which he tells of his travels in Australia. I've got it as an ebook on my Palm and I've been reading it on and off for the last 18 months or so, because first of all I'm a slow reader, and secondly it's such a good book that it would be a waste to read it quickly. So, instead I like to drag it out. By the time I finally get to the end of it, I'll have forgotten what happened at the beginning, and that way I can start all over again. He makes Australia sound so good that for the first time that I can remember I want to go there. In fact, it even sounds likeable. Here's an excerpt in which he describes how Australians are so fond of talking about their near-death experiences with animals.
Last week in Scotland I watched About a Boy on video. It's not a film I would have chosen because, well, it's about children, but Cathy went down to the video shop and brought it back. Surprisingly, it was a really good film, though the funniest part for me was seeing someone else who doesn't work get into confusing conversations every time he meets somebody new and they ask him what he does. Also, it's by the makers of Bridget Jones Diary, a film that managed to be much better than the book, in my personal opinion, and took far less time to read.
While I was in Scotland Nina bought herself an Asian import Sony Vaio laptop, and since I got back she's been using it intensely, even sitting up later than me at night.
Chris and Berit have been keeping in touch and continuing the relationship that they began when they met on Zamindar in the summer. They spent a dirty weekend in Paris, then she met Chris' family last weekend, and now he's taking a week off work to spend with her in Copenhagen next week. I do of course plan to ruin any romantic plans they might have by dragging Chris off to the pub at every opportunity to play the complex Danish drinking game, 'woopty-woopty-slam' and giving him a tour of Copenhagen's finest kebab houses.
click for big image
We're heading up to the summerhouse for the weekend with Nina's parents and hoping to get some work done on a couple of projects. In the meantime, if you've got a fast connection, check out some of the new videos that are up on the site.
Looks like I'm back to normal, sitting here in the middle of the night, wandering aimlessly around in other people's websites, remaining lost in some South American time zone rather than going to bed in the hope of trying to be awake with the people on this side of the world tomorrow. Never mind.
Here in Copenhagen it was summer a week ago, autumn seemed to last about three days, and now it feels like winter has arrived. So with the temperature heading fast towards freezing point in the evenings and the days getting noticeably shorter all the time, what are people getting excited about in Denmark?
Well, the biggest event this month is the arrival of beer in cans. Previously, due to environmental laws, drinks were only allowed to be sold in recyclable bottles, but due to pressure from the European Union to increase competition, the Danish government have implemented a refund system for properly marked cans and allowed their distribution. Hence, everyone is very excited with the opportunity to sample the new, metallic taste of beer from a tin. You just have to remember not to crush the can afterwards as it costs almost as much as the beer that's in it. [more info]
The other day I was happily flying along on my bike at 30km/h when I hit a bump and my phone flew out of my bag. I watched as it hit the ground, bounced twice, then overtook me and spun down the road for 30metres. I stopped my bike, expecting to pick up the pieces, but to my amazement it was fine and still worked. I think I may have shortened its life though, as it's now flexible, but maybe I should take part in the Mobile Phone Throwing World Championships.
We had a lovely evening last night, although I'm feeling a little bit rough
today. We're just about to go off to have dinner at Emad's place for an
Afghanistan meal cooked by Azim.
Everything always happens when I'm in the bathroom - the other day I was interrupted by someone repeatedly ringing the doorbell. I opened the door to see a man standing there with a gun, which was a bit of a surprise until I realised that it was Danish police. He was looking for someone who had given our address as his, someone that I'd never heard of, but of course, he thought that I was the person he was looking for. It didn't help my defence much that the person he was trying to arrest had an English sounding name, and that I didn't speak Danish. In the end I gave him Nina's number, he called her, apologised, and stormed upstairs to interrogate one of our neighbours.
I've found a new cafe in Copenhagen, Espresso House, which I've been frequenting this week to do some reading and catch up on what was happening in the world while I was in Spain. Oddly, however, they have a sign in the toilet asking you not to flush condoms down it, which does make me wonder what kind of clientele they get.
One of the most interesting new trends to appear over the summer seems to be the practice of warchalking, which entails making a chalk mark on a building or pavement in an area covered by a wireless network to allow others to connect into it. BBC News story
This evening we're off to celebrate Nina's father's birthday and apparently going to a mooncake celebration as well that's being held as part of an Asian culture weekend here in Copenhagen.
Spending the weekend with Nina at her parents summerhouse & doing some work on the site.
It's really nice to be back in Copenhagen, and best of all the weather's been lovely here so I've been cycling in and out of town to my usual cafe. I'm also trying to catch up with all the things I've got to do to the website, having not done much work on it over the summer.
I did a really embarassing thing tonight. I'd been woken up by a mosquito buzzing around my head, and so was busy trying to hunt it down in the cabin when I heard a couple of English guys fighting ashore. Normally things are completely silent at night here, so I went out to see what was happening, as from where the boat is I can see all along the harbour front. Anyway, while I'm watching this I see another two guys wandering along looking into all the cars like they're going to break into one. Then they carry on walking and get onto one of the motorboats in the harbour, look around, then get onto the next one. They spend a bit of time wandering around it, then they get inside, and one of them keeps coming out to look around. This is happening at 0430, so obviously they're breaking into the boat. So I call the Port Police and say that there's a couple of guys acting suspiciously on one of the boats, thinking that someone will have a walk past to see if any of them have been broken into. However, ten minutes later a huge police launch with three armed police on it comes screaming out of the port and over to the pontoon I'm on, wakening everyone on all the other boats up. I, of course, point out the motorboat to them, tell them what I saw, and they go over to it. Which would have been great if only the two pissed, young English guys on the motorboat hadn't been the owners sons! As the police boat passed on its way back, I thought it prudent to keep my head down and spare everyone from being woken up again to be told the news, though I really did want to apologise.
Menorca is a curiously British place. Whereas Mallorca is full of Germans and Ibiza (or should I say Eivissa?) is full of wasted people, Menorca still seems to hang onto some of its colonial past. Most of the tourists here are British, and there also seem to be many rich, English families (as no-one from Scotland or Wales is rich) living here.
I'm sitting at a cafe right now, and a young girl has just been sat down at one of the tables by what appears to be her strict, elderly, English nanny. She keeps telling the girl to sit properly, with hatred in her eyes, while she herself smokes fags, drinks beer and, I imagine, plans how to murder the child whilst making it look like a natural accident.
Nina flew back to Denmark yesterday, unable to cope with the hectic pace of life on board, and to start a new term at university. Overcharged by a taxi driver on the way to the airport, I showed my defiance by walking the 5km back to town afterwards, however, as there was no pavement, the taxi drivers asserted their monopoly by trying to run me down. Things have been going fine today apart from the wakeboard falling onto my foot when I was in the forward cabin, and I think, breaking one of my toes in the process. Hence, I am walking around like Herr Flick now.
There are a lot of thunderstorms and squalls around the islands at the moment. We were hit by one at 0600 this morning, and going onto deck I saw a Sunseeker dragging sideways through the anchorage. Once they figured out what was happening, they finally managed to re-anchor in the middle of the channel and almost got hit by the glass-bottom tourist boat when it came through later blaring its foghorns at them.
[Someone just managed to crunch a car parked in front of the cafe while they tried to fit an Audi into a parking space smaller than it. But here's the best part - the girl who was driving is wearing a t-shirt that says, "Road Kill Cafe". Maybe she's a taxi driver.]
Sitting writing this in an internet cafe in Mahon. Nina has decided that we are now both nudists due to the fact that we`ve got used to showering naked on deck in the anchorage. We`ve just paid the deposit for our winter berthing here so this is going to be Zamindar`s home for a while.
Spent the day drinking coffee and beer with Paul from Ballena then
attempting to fit our new water tank. Chris and all of our guests have now
left, and Nina has booked her return flight from Barcelona to Copenhagen for
the 26th August, which means that we should get sailing to the mainland
soon.
Nina's parents left on Monday and we spent the following day working on the
outboard engine. It turned out to be a combination of the impeller, water
pump, thermostat and some seals that were causing the problem, and it seems
to be running fine again now. On Wednesday, Lisbeth, Nina's sister, Jesper,
and Christina arrived and they're staying with us for the next week or so.
Nina arrived here on Wednesday and her parents are here also right now, so
apart from the fact that someone just burst our spare dinghy while it was
ashore, things are very pleasant onboard.
My only social contact today was giving the finger to someone on another boat. Must work on my social skills before Ninas parents arrive.
I'm writing this in one of my favourite courtyard cafes in Palma, Grand
Café. One of the best things about Spain is the free stuff; for instance,
here the waiter just brought a huge bowl of fresh cherries around all the
tables.
Yesterday I walked over to Cala Brafi, one of the beaches close to Porto
Colom. While sitting on the rocks enjoying the sun, I suddenly heard a voice
shouting, "Bernie! Bernie!" and wondering who the hell Bernie was, I turned
around to discover that he was me, and found Lucas standing there. His
Argentinian friends had apparently dragged a dead cow down to the beach and
were hard at work barbecuing it in the way that only South Americans can,
such is their love of meat. They invited me over and although they are
allegedly all drug dealers, I spent a very pleasant afternoon eating and
drinking with them on the beach.
Finally about to go to bed after cycling home & picking up pastry from the bakery.
I'm writing this from one of the computer labs at Nina's university after spending another long day here helping out with her website project. You can see how it's going here. It hasn't been too bad actually as Berit baked a cake for all my hard work and we were sitting eating that. Later Nina and I had a kebab with Emad and Azim and learned lots about Afghanistan.
The other day Colin emailed me and he's flying down to Mallorca next week to spend a few days on the boat which should be very nice as I haven't seen him for a long time. Time to finish for the day now...
Yesterday I woke up and looked in the mirror to discover that I had grown an afro overnight, realised that I needed a haircut, and so off I set through Palma to find somewhere that I could entrust the job to. After much walking around, as it's never easy to choose a barber you've never been to before, I found the place, and sat down wondering if I'd be wearing a hat for the next two weeks. Instinctively, however, I had chosen the only hairdresser on the island which literally did not own a pair of scissors, seemed to specialise in sheep shearing, and so proceeded to shave my head at varying degrees of horror. As I looked around I saw that they were cutting women's hair with clippers too, and like topiary, they were able to create almost any shape out of it. In the end it turned out not too badly, and I feel much better after losing those extra kilos, though I did feel sorry for the woman with the chicken on her head.
On Tuesday, Nina & I are flying out to Mallorca. Well, actually we're flying out to Stansted airport & spending the night there as our flights to Mallorca aren't until the next morning. In case you're interested, Stansted is one of the better international airports to squat in, but you do have to stake your claim on the seats early.
According to Dockwise, the ship should be arriving the same day, which would be good as we have to be there to take Zamindar off, and we'd like to have somewhere to stay. Nina is just coming down for a week, but I'll be down there for a month. Her boss at Speednames, where she's working part-time, has agreed to let her tele-commute while she's away, so I expect she'll be working from the beach.
No busking near me
Logging on that last time worked - remarkably! I tried to lower my baud rate & I increased the phone volume & somehow I’ve been managing to connect since. It’s good to be back online again; I really feel like a part of the virtual community down here. Teleadapt have agreed to send a replacement down when I have somewhere I can receive it.
Also, the local Autohelm guy came & replaced my drive motor yesterday & it seems to be working again, but he appears to have been telling them that it is a problem with my steering, so if it goes again in the future I could have a job getting it replaced again. It’s been quite a week here, all things considered. On Sunday, after I took Chris to the station, Fred & I got woken up by the Gendarmie coming alongside in a patrol boat to check my documents. That night Fred pulled a waitress & we went to a club called the Bobo Club with her & her really quite attractive dark-haired friend who payed very little attention to me & stood & snogged some other guy in a very horny way. We didn’t go out until 3am & I was standing in the club thinking...”Must close at 5am... must close at 6am...”, but no, we finally left at 7am! Knackered! A few hours after getting to bed we got woken up by customs boarding the yacht from a launch. They again went through all my documents, & finding that I did not have my registration certificate (as the yacht is currently being re-registered in Guernsey), threatened to impound the boat & fine me. I eventually persuaded them that I would get a copy faxed to them immediately, & they reluctantly agreed. They then proceeded to spend about an hour and a half searching the boat. I was naturally worried because I knew that Fred had hash on board & I didn’t know if he’d had time to put it in his pocket or not. After being asked for receipts for everything on board, they finally left. When Fred booked his train ticket later that day I didn’t try to get him to stay any longer!
I’ll be glad to get away from Arcachon, as I’ve been here a week now. Luckily we anchored so it hasn’t cost me a thing, but with the customs guys here & the fact that I want to keep moving, it’s been long enough. The tides & the firing range have to coincide properly too, which means that I need descent forecast sometime between tomorrow & Wednesday. I guess I’m not completely sure if I can rely on the autopilot now, & I’m not sure how well my acoustic coupler is working. Also, the fact that I don’t yet have the original registration certificate for the yacht means that I might have more problems. Anyway, these problems seem to be fixed at least for the moment, which is all I hoped for. I’ll get them all sorted out properly further down the road. I might have to come back to Arcachon to collect my Underwater Kinetics case from the post office here, but that’s no hardship if I can get further down the coast.
Chris left on Sunday & Fred went back to Paris yesterday. I’m a bit fed up today, I don’t know how long Autohelm are going to take to send down the new drive unit & my acoustic coupler seems to have packed up so I can’t communicate with anyone. I spoke to Teleadapt this morning & they’ll send me out a new one but they don’t want to send it Poste Restante. I wish I could get my e-mail & I wish I could get out of this place. I’ll figure out where they can send it but I’ll also try to log on one last time this afternoon
Last night I started talking to a couple of French girls who were eating dinner on the pontoon beside the yacht. I offered them a beer, then later went back to ask where the railway station was. Anyway, they came on board & sat & chatted & drank beer for an hour or two & it turns out that one of them is an actress & the other, Flo, is a reporter. She takes her Sony 3CCD camcorder away to places like Nepal & Morocco & films reports & tries to sell them to television companies. I then went off looking for McDonalds on my bike, realised that it was in the next town, & then got a puncture. So I continued walking for a mile or two, then came back sans le big Mac.
I finally decided to order an L series Canon lens on Wednesday, my first. It’s about £1000, but the lens test on it classed it as optically perfect. I was starting to see some flaws in the lenses I’ve been using & I’d really like to manage to sell some of my shots - at least now the only thing that can let me down is me. Having said that I dropped my camera last night on the ground when I pulled my top out of the boot, but it was fine. Felt stupid though.
I’m sitting in line at the ferry terminal in St. Malo right now, just waiting to drive on. So far 3 911’s & an M3 have come off the ferry from Jersey. I seem to have acquired some degree of fame myself in Guernsey; I was sitting in the Chinese last week waiting for my order when the woman behind the counter mentioned my number plates to someone she was talking to. The other girl then replies, “Yeah, he’s living on his boat over here...”. Customs here took an interest in me & my BMW as well - didn’t search me but asked where I’d been & how long my boat had been in Camaret. I wonder if Guernsey customs will pull me over this time.
I’ve really quite enjoyed this break over in France. It’s been really pleasant driving through the countryside & seeing so much more of it.
I’m in Mont St. Michel tonight, about to go to sleep in the BMW in the car park just outside it. I sorted the yacht up a bit then drove over here this evening. It wasn’t until late last night that I thought of doing this - DJ mailed me from Melbourne & told me about his trip here & I thought, hey! It’s really impressive too - I went on the candlelit evening tour of the abbey which was probably much better than going during the daytime; less busy, no screaming kids & much more atmospheric. They had some quite high tech lighting too - sort of a cross between a nightclub & a church; certainly the first church I’ve been into that had dry ice! It’s somewhere I’ve always wanted to go since I saw it in an Audi advert years ago (I could live there I remember thinking). It’s only now that I realise that it must have been somewhere else that was featured in the advert of him driving across the causeway with the tide coming in (the one in Cornwall?) as there isn’t exactly a cobbled causeway going to this!
I’m sitting here in the car looking up at the magnificence of it floodlit before me. It’s starting to rain outside & I can hear the sea roaring not far away. I decided this evening that although I hate tourists & doing touristy things, maybe I should try to do more. One of the reasons that I wanted to do my Grand Tour was to see some of the fabulous & famous sites the world has to offer. While walking around the abbey tonight, the smell of burning candlewax reminded me of fires on the beach at Balmerino; I should make a point of having more beach fires as well.
Todays quote, which is from the new Batman & Robin film: “Why do all the gorgeous ones have to be psychopaths? Or is it just me?”
Goodnight.
I’m sitting on the ferry, Emeraud’s Solidor 3, right now heading over to St. Malo. I’d gathered together so much stuff to go back to the yacht that it was going to be a serious hassle getting trains & ferries so I bought a five day return for the BMW & myself & decided to take it over. Apparently Autohelm sent a complete replacement set of ST80 instruments over to the island an hour after I left, so I’m going to change them over with the set on board & then bring the old set back with me.
Unfortunately there’s always loads of kids around when I get ferries & they always seem to end up sitting near me. One of them seems to be unconscious with seasickness at the moment, and where’s she sitting? Yeah, behind me!
Last night I met up with Chris after he finished work, in Christies. He sat down and unable to resist his “just when I have a drink” cigarette, he had to visit the vending machine. We have our Club sandwiches (would we change?) & a couple of beers, then head back to the boat that I’m staying on, Chris giving me a lift part of the way on the back of his bike.
We start playing Diablo, which is really quite scary in the dark, then Chris heads off back to Beaucette. I’m just switching off the laptop when I hear voices. It’s after midnight, the marina’s normally empty at night & I really shouldn’t be living there! I kill the lights & listen. They seem to have gone, so I have a look out the port. Suddenly I see two harbour patrol officers walking quickly along the quay! There’s a full moon outside, so I can see them clearly, I watch, & they come down the ramp to pontoon F. Ahh! How did they know that I’m here? Did they see a light on? Did they see Chris leave? They’re obviously going to think that I’ve broken in & I can’t say that Peter said I could sleep here, so what do I do? I strip down to my boxer shorts as quickly as I can & dive into my sleeping bag. I lie there knowing that there’s every chance I could get arrested here, & hope they don’t come over to the boat. No luck! Maglites get shone in all the windows, & they jump up onto the deck. There’s no way of locking the companionway & I know they can come in. “Looks like they’ve gone”, I hear one of them say, but they carry on looking & trying to open the boat up. “Harbour Patrol”, they shout, “Anyone in”. At this point I know that if I don’t answer them & they find me inside they won’t believe any story I tell them, so I get up in my boxer shorts, trying to look like they’ve just woken me up, & say,
“Yeah?”
“Is this your boat, sir?”
“No it’s not, I’m delivering it to the mainland first thing in the morning and I’ve just been getting it sorted up for the trip.”
“Who are you doing the delivery for?”
“Castlemain. Peter Pearson, do you want his home number?”
So, they eventually go, & I breathe a sigh of relief. I talked to Peter this morning & apparently they called him & weren’t happy at all.
Friday night, Saturday morning.
So I’m sitting here in the laundry room at Beaucette Marina. I’m waiting for my clothes to finish, then I can head back into town & go to bed. It’s a bit of a damp, miserable night on Guernsey tonight & I can hear the wind whistling outside.
I got back onto the island yesterday morning, & last night Chris & I partied. We went round some bars then got seriously drunk in Follies. I had good reason to as well; I came back to a letter from Deborah (the first for many, many months) in which she told me how much she missed me & how unhappy she was. I was planning to stay with Chris & Paul, but their family were turning up for a holiday. I was, however, saved by Peter Pearson, who offered me the use of a Sigma 362 in QE2!
The drier has just finished so I’m going to leave it there for the night - I did after all decide that I wasn’t up to going out tonight ‘cos Chris got me up at 9am this morning. Off to bed I go...
I'm back in Dundee to clear up things in the house as it's now sold & the new people move in on Thursday. I went into the shop last night for the very last time to check if I'd left anything. Then I closed the door & left. Zamindar is in Camaret, near Brest. I am drinking again & in fact, right now I'm finishing off some Wiznouwka which was in the house. I am happy I guess. The house & the shop are sold, I've got the yacht out of Guernsey & I guess things are pretty good. I really enjoyed being back in Guernsey & it's great seeing all my old friends up here again.
Caught the train through to Glasgow on Sunday & Andrew picked me up at the station. We went for a coffee in the Italian Centre then went back to the flat. His nice, big, new flat. We went to the Ubiquitous Chip for dinner, just AC & me & had a good chat. It was somewhere I've been wanting to eat for a while. Later we went for a walk over to a cafe & I stayed the night in the flat. Julie, one of Kathleen's friends is staying with them right now after her marriage broke up last year ( I guess there really are people much worse off than me!). This morning Andrew went off to work & I just pulled the door closed when I left. Unfortunately I couldn't get together with Kevin as he went off on a skiing holiday today. I walked into town from the flat, had coffee & cake in Princes Square Centre, then wandered around the shops. Had lunch in McDonalds & then got on the wrong train & almost ended up in Maryhill! Eventually found the right train for Dundee after another coffee & I came home & wrote some letters & things.
It's strange sitting here in the office again working late at night. Feels just like any other normal night again... but it's not. Tommorrow I get the train to Edinburgh, meet Ged in Ryans, stay there the night, then get the morning flight to Gatwick. From there I'll get the train to London, spend the day there, & probably sleep in the airport, then fly back to Guernsey on Thursday morning, meet Chris & go back to the yacht... I guess that is better than standing in a shop all week. I do still want to take photographs & sell them, but I also want to concentrate on investment. I am going to leave Guernsey at the earliest reasonable opportunity as I am living on the yacht as I want to travel, & I'm going to. Strange, I always seem to quite like the place I'm staying in at the time rather than anywhere else I've stayed. i.e. St. Peter Port to Beaucette & vice versa.
I'm happy down in Guernsey on my yacht. I've made so many friends there that it'll be hard to leave. Martin Lovell let me leave the BMW on his drive & Chris gave me a lift to the airport on Thursday. We stopped off at the cafe the climbing club goes to for breakfast on the way, but because they took a while to bring it they didn't charge us for it. I got my flight & soon I was in Gatwick but my flight to Edinburgh was delayed so I called Ged & he arranged to collect me instead of meeting in Ryans. So, we went back to the flat, then for a McDonalds, then to Ryans. I stayed the night in Ged's & he gave me a lift into town in the morning. I spent Friday morning in town then took the train to Dundee & went to my accountants meeting at 14:30. Grabbed some shopping then took the bus (!) home. Ged woke me up this morning & gave me a lift over to Balmerino to check it & I'm having dinner with Andrew & Catherine (probably) tomorrow. I found it really quite hard when I got into the house yesterday. I felt a bit upset but I'm over it now. Sometimes I guess I miss the life I had. The successful business, the companion, the expensive toys, my Pal, but I'm glad not to be living here in Dundee & I'm glad that I've made the break & I'm doing something different.
I said I'd fill in the details later. Where do I start? Two & a half years have passed since I last wrote in this & things have changed so much in that time. As I said above, I met Deborah in June 94 about 3 weeks after Mum died. I had the convertible delivered at the beginning of August that year & we took it to Jersey on holiday. Deborah moved in with me & we lived together for almost 2 years. I met her through Zoe. Around October 94 we started to discuss moving abroad. I flew out to Spain to look at property & found out about offshore banking & we started to clear things in the house up. It helped, however, at New Year 1995, when the house flooded while we were down in London, but it took us a long time to get the work completed. We went down to Falmouth that summer & did our Padi courses. Around the 11th or 12th of January 95, however, I was looking through the sports books for something on skiing in James Thin when I picked up one called "Voyaging on a Small Income". I bought it & it made a lasting impression on me. Instead of trying to travel around the world in a BMW with a tent, I reasoned, why not buy a yacht? I persuaded Deborah, who had always been interested in sailing while I had not, but she didn't seem very enthusiastic. I set off to learn the art of sailing. After months of searching, we travelled down to Guernsey in May of last year to look at a Westerly Sealord. This was the yacht, and how pleasant Guernsey seemed.
About a week later, Deborah went down to Falmouth (which she had did several times) to do another diving course. I gave her £1200 to buy herself diving gear for her birthday. She phoned me to tell me she was thinking about leaving & moving down there. Massive shock. I asked her to come home so we could discuss it, but she told me she was going to stay down there for an extra few days after the course to think about it. And so I was left sitting in the shop, about to buy a yacht, not knowing what would happen with this relationship. I unplugged the phone for the next few days. I did not want upset by her any more. She had by this time spent the money on diving gear too. A couple of hours before her train got into Dundee, I agreed to buy Zamindar (this was to be the new lady in my life). I met Deborah at the station. She came home & told me on the bed that she was moving to Cornwall. I tried to change her mind. I still don't truly understand it. Deborah agreed to stay a few weeks to help me get things cleared up here. I called Peter to ask if I could delay the decision on the yacht for a couple of days as things were moving so fast, but he said he had already told the seller. So here I was. About to close the business I had known all my life. About to move away from Scotland. Moving onto a yacht. Stopping working. And now breaking up the longest relationship I had ever had. What was happening in my life?
I could have stayed & carried on working in the shop but it was time to do something else. So Deborah & I started packing our things. I still hoped that she was just having one of her "wierd turns" & that she would stay or come over to join me in Guernsey. I asked her if the caravanette, which she had been driving recently, would make things easier for her. She said it would, so I told her she could have it. It didn't look as if I would sell it anyway, so it would be something else cleared up. A few days later though someone called about buying it. I told him it was gone.
Pal, my best friend through all the years, now started acting strangely. I took him to the vet. They diagnosed a brain tumour. They told me he didn't have long to live. I wasn't even going to have Pal. He would walk around & around in circle & sometimes urinate indoors (which had happened occasionally for a couple of months now). One evening he got really bad & seemed to be in pain. I called the vet & Deborah & I took him down to the Broughty Ferry practice & they put him down. I still miss him. I buried him in the garden that night.
It was only a couple of days later that the stock in the shop got so low that I closed up for the final time & sent the rest back as damages. I still wonder if I did the right thing. Would it ever feel like the right thing? On a Saturday in July, Deborah left in the caravanette. I left the house on the Monday eveing (20th July?) & wondered if I would pass her on the road. I haven't seen her since.
I drove down to Weymouth & got the ferry over to Guernsey. The only person I knew on the island was Peter. As I sat on Zamindar's deck that evening, the sun setting as I watched Condor 12 pass on it's way back to the mainland, I thought, "Well, there goes the other half of my day return. Up until now I could have gone back to the life I had more or less." A new life had begun. I heard a voice & looked down. "Have you bought this? what did you pay for it?" It was Paul & Chris, who were to become great friends.
Haven't did this for a while.
Mum has died. Beth is pregnant. I am seeing Deborah, and I have a 325i Convertible on order which should arrive in Dundee in the next day or so. I'll fill in the details later.
Had a test drive in a BMW 840i last weekend and someone cut me off while I was thundering around a roundabout. It's computer systems avoided him though. Had a 24hr test drive in an Alpina B2.8 last week which was incredibly fast and a sexy handler. Went through to Hamilton with Ged on Saturday night, but didn't really get into the mood of things. On Sunday (Easter) I went out with Andrew, Steve, etc. DeStihl's was mobbed so we went to Fat Sams. Lost my cloakroom ticket (for my Boss), had to wait until everyone else had left, all my friends had then got taxis home. Took Beamer and went for run through Camperdown park with it idling alongside me. Started to feel a bit better.
Last night I dropped the things off at home, then drove up to Gleneagles whilst guzzling down a 2 litre bottle of Evian. I had a terrific workout, met a guy from Stirling whose name I can't remember, and Ingrid up there. Increased my fitness level to 62!!! Showered, dressed. Got into Glasgow late, took a wrong turning, but still miraculously managed to find the Koo-i-Noor restaurant where I was meeting some people for a meal.
Well how about this? Being able to update my diary whilst having a till system running simultaneously on Excel. As you may have guessed I have now installed the PC in the shop as the till went down a week ago. It's running great. The only problem is that I don't have a PC to use in the office right now... yet.
A week ago romeley the Gawith Hoggarth rep came in & I got our discount raised from 1.5% to 7.5%!!! Mainly because they are opening another factory and they want to be more competitive - especially with us! Also, last Monday morning I had an 08:00 meeting with Rothmans down at the Earl Grey. I managed to get our account kept open! I'm currently waiting for some software for the till system arriving - it's DOS though and I do like this windows system!
On Thursday I went up to Gleneagles for a haircut and ran into Julie at reception. She seemed really pleased to see me. I said, "We have to have a game of squash sometime". "Yeah", she said, "Phone me... that is if you want to." Of course I don't want to, and probably won't. I did get a good haircut though and then had a fabulous workout.
On Saturday I was supposed to be going out with Andrew. That was until he phoned at 19:00 to say he had to stay in Glasgow that night & take a friend to the airport. He had pulled at a club on the Friday night. Suddenly I had a free night! Workout then Century 2000? Yeah!! So I finished cleaning the car then grabbed something to eat. I got up to Gleneagles at 21:00. Wild workout. Get left in the gym late as there is a late bar for the Law Society crowd. Changing room to myself and I take plenty of time to get my hair and things right. I leave, taking it easy past the new 'Speed Camera' signs outside. I take a short detour through Leith and get into Century shortly after midnight. I didn't even fall asleep driving home later!
It rained quite a lot today. I stopped off at the shop to unload some stock from Martex, and the shop got mobbed so it took me some time to park the car. After the initial burst today it quietened down so I had a chance to grab an early lunch. I managed to get lost on two companies' phone systems today. 17:10 I called Andrew Mortali at his flat in Glasgow to see if he fancied going out at the weekend. He says he's probably coming home again so we may go out together here. We had a good laugh and talked about fast cars, Armani, etc. I dived home in the BMW after work and took Mum to an auction viewing at Curr & Dewar's. We were there until about 19:00, then came home, ate, and I watched a 'Without Walls' on cars which had a good roadtest match against a Viper and a Ferrari 348. I took Pal out, did the money, and now here I am. My spare time often doesn't amount to much nowadays. I have to get the shop organised for the Rothmans visit on Monday, and somehow I have to make space for an ITL delivery on Thursday.
I just finished reading 'American Psycho' by Bret Easton Ellis, and I am now onto 'Rules of Attraction', his previous book. I was actually supposed to be going through to Glasgow last night to see Andrew Mortali, but he called on Thursday night to say he'd crashed his car, wasn't feeling too well and would be coming home for the weekend. I dropped in to see him after mass, and we chatted for a while. I am possibly going through next weekend, or possibly going out with Ged (who currently isn't clubbing because he's saving up to get married or crucified or something). I'm just back from Tesco where I had a chat with Bryan Cartwright who was working there tonight.
It's Ash Wednesday, and no I haven't managed to get any ashes. I also haven't did my diary for some time either. I've had a cold for the last ten days or so, and so I've been getting out of the shop earlier at nights to get home to the warm, but it hasn't helped much. I haven't had as much energy at nights either, and so haven't managed to get much done in the office.
This evening Ged and I drove down to Kinross Services in the BMW, and had a coffee there and a chat.
On Hogmany, Andrew, and the rest of the crowd from school spent New Year up at Kinloch Rannoch and I was going up to visit them the following night. By the evening, however, I was not feeling too great, and when I finally got home I went straight to bed, and about 8pm, started to vomit. I felt really bad, and just lay in bed unable to move without being sick again. The vomiting stopped about 23:30, but I just brought in the New Year in bed.
The following day I had a long lie, and went to mass in the evening, then drove up to Kinloch Rannoch with Ged and Zoe. We arrived at the hotel in almost half the time it had taken everyone else to get there. I walked up to reception, the guys had agreed to be in the chalet at that time, but just in case, we checked the bar. There in the corner they sat, looking exactly as they had when I last saw them years ago. Checked lumberjack style shirts merged into one another, and non-descript jeans lounged around. We sat down and I ordered the drinks, a white wine, Budweiser, and a mineral water for myself. When the bar closed we took the BMW around to the chalets. "Anyone want a lift?", I asked, as the snow started to fall. "OK, I haven't seen your car yet", Paul Boylan replied. The rest of my friends preferred to walk. Subconsciously, I realised that this would be the first time they would see my 325i. Mauritius blue. Sleek and bespoilered. The six-spoke alloys turning through the snow effortlessly beneath the growl of the engine. We parked round at the chalet. Otter 5? Or was it Squirrel 2? Once inside the chalet, I organised drinks while Ged mowed people down with the camcorder, and consumed half a bottle of Southern Comfort. I was wearing a red Hugo Boss jacket I had bought in Jenners on Thursday, aquamarine Principles trousers, and a marbled aquamarine shirt. Cool. Outside it was dark when we left and we almost slid down the steps, and the snow, which had continued, was now getting deep. We got into the Beamer, and started to head home to Dundee, the Police playing on the CD system. We drove down the A9, and finally got back at 5 or 6 in the morning.
Saturday night. Right now I'm waiting for Ged to call when he gets home. I am pretty much worn out so I won't really be going anywhere though. I was working in the shop until 3:30am on Thursday night and the shop has naturally been very busy.
I feel really quite content and mellow right now. Not that everything in my life is right but just that I feel good about myself and what I do.
No problem. I can handle the shop as a dawdle now. I sometimes work a bit longer & I close for 20 mins to take Pal out, but it's all going really smoothly, & I feel really good as I've risen to the challenge myself.
If only everything in life was as reliable as...
Mum has since had to have another operation. She developed an abscess in her bowel, and she had to have it removed. Now she has another three, but they are draining them to see how that works instead.
Beth phoned me last night to tell me to get someone else in the shop next week. She was finishing after tomorrow. I don't quite know how I'm going to get through the immediate future, and I feel like crying right now, but I'll pull myself together and work an extra hour or two a day.
My life has changed so much since I last wrote here, I don't really know where to begin.
Mum has been diagnosed as having bowel cancer. She's been into Fernbrae, but the tumor was too large for them to remove. She is going up to Ninewells for radiotherapy every morning, but it is such a strain on her that they are taking her in tomorrow to monitor her. She is on morphine, and is hardly eating, and I am having to manage the shop and house on my own. I took delivery of a new car a few weeks ago - a BMW 325i, and it is fantastic!
I am a bit disturbed about Mum going into Ninewells tomorrow, as Dad died there.
Mum was at Fernbrae on Wednesday at a specialist and she has to go in on Wednesday to find out if a lump she has is cancer or not. I'm worried.
I drove over to Balmerino tonight. I was picking up my stuff and moving back. I walked along the beach, I'd just been told mum had to go in the following Wednesday to find out if she has cancer or not. I was scared. It was quite a calm evening as the first signs of dusk were appearing. The water was calm and low. I gazed out at the view and then went back to Briar Cottage, and started to pack my belongings.
I went to a Mensa meal then out with Ged tonight. Helped an ambulance find the fishers' bothy when I got back though as I'm staying in Balmerino.
The sun shone on Dundee today, and in spite of my mother, car, and girl problems I lay in it. Now let's see what the future brings.
Wednesday. I've been doing my VAT return since I got home tonight. Yesterday, realising that I needed to cheer myself up, I called Richard Armstrong to ask if his offer of getting me a discount on a new car still stood. It does. I called him today with my shortlist; Mercedes 320CE, 320TE, Porsche 968 and BMW 540i. Should hear from him soon. Lets hope he can do something good. Have to get back to my VAT now.
Yesterday I cut some of the grass & went off to the Country Club where I had a good workout, and spoke to Stewart afterwards. Then I dropped in on Brian, Gillian, John, & Co. in the Royal Oak, and the three of us drove up the Law Hill, then onto Kercock where the moon lit up the water and patches of mist lay in pockets across the land. Got home at 01:30, and ate till 02:30.
Copied a list of ITL directors from Kompass in the library. Robin Welch called from TSB to say that they would not drop our bank charges; they're virtually doubled. I made him nervous on the phone (surprisingly), and told him that I wouldn't accept that.
My birthday. I'm 22 now.
Jim Armstrong called twice in the evening. I got deals on Gizeh papers, a good one on Martins tobacco, and a price on a new tobacco I persuaded him to get, Look Out.
It's been a lovely day today. I'm going to do well this year, I can feel it, and make a lot of money. Watched the Pirelli advert with Sharon Stone, and a 600SEL AMG Merc!!! Growl!
Last week I had my fitness revaluation, it wasn't too good & they've told me I have to sleep as well which seems to be the problem. I went out clubbing with Ged last night, Friday. He took the car & we drove to Stirling, decided the place was a dive, then drove to Dunfermline & went to quite a good club there - Marquis or something. Got home at 03:00 this morning so I'm having an early night & I'm a bit knackered.
I've been looking at cars this week. Monday I got BMW brochures, Tuesday I got Mercedes, and Wednesday I got Porsche brochures. Very sexy.
Met Jim up in Gleneagles on Wednesday night, well actually he came into the sunbeds looking for me! Had dinner with him in the Dormy House but was later asked to leave the hotel bar as I wasn't wearing a jacket and tie so I decided that I need to smarten myself up. So on Friday I spent £99 on a green double-breasted jacket from Marks & Spencer which I really liked until I saw someone else wearing one today as well!
I'm going to really find out about importing. A customer was in today who was in a massive tobacconists in Amsterdam, "The place to buy your tobacco in the Netherlands", and apparently they operate a mail-order service anywhere. So I'm going to look into importing from them.
Went to Century 2000 on Saturday night with Ged after a 1hour 50 minute mass. On Monday I was up early as usual and working in the office at the back of 7am. I was in the shop most of the day, and when I got home I was straight back into the office, and carried on working until about 01:30. Completed most of the ITL promotion.
Today has been fairly upbeat also, and it's gone in quite quickly. Brian dropped into the shop, and I've been trying to tidy the place up a bit. I called Jim Armstrong tonight, and he's due in Gleneagles next week so we might have dinner.
I've been wakening up about 6am lately, lying in bed and watching the BBC business news, then getting up, having breakfast, and doing some work in the office. At the weekend I worked on a mailshot for wholesaling Linden, I now have to create a mailing list.
