And Away

 

The dawn chorus was loud this morning

I was awake well before five and it was cold enough for the dogs to caterpillar their way under the duvet in order to keep warm.

Before getting up for work, I read a little more of Bob Mortimer’s And Away…. Autobiography , which is a cracking read.

The snow that fell last night had gone from the lane but it remains cold  

I’ve chugged my bucket of coffee this morning which I lace with agave nectar, whilst listening to Steve Allen on LBC radio. He’s an old waspish Queen and his complaining wakes me up nicely.

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Clint

Clint failed his annual M.O.T. test last Saturday afternoon. Because of that, I was not allowed to drive him away. He had to stay in the garage compound through the weekend and into Monday. The garage needed a special part - available only through the main Hyundai dealership. They couldn't provide that part until today - Wednesday afternoon - when the problem was finally solved.

Modern cars have washers for the front windscreen (American: windshield). Clint has two. The one on the passenger side was working fine but the one on the driver's side was either blocked or there was a pumping malfunction. I had previously tried to clear it with a needle but that had not worked. It never occurred to me that a washer refusal might take my vehicle off the road for five days.

And do you know how much that part and its fitting cost me on top of the M.O.T test?  £10! Ten measly pounds - that's all (American $13). It's hard to believe. It doesn't seem so long ago that cars didn't even have windscreen washers.

When I left Clint in the compound last Saturday, he screamed plaintively, "Don't leaver me here Master! I am scared!" 

He was sandwiched between two of those vulgar petrol-guzzling SUV's - the kind that yuppies like to drive or yummy mummies with Tarquin and Isabella in the rear child seats squabbling over slices of dried mango and Fair Trade chocolate peanuts.

I turned back to look at Clint's headlights. They looked so sad - like the eyes of a lost bloodhound  - but what could I do? I had to steel myself and walk away. Like leaving  a favoured son at a boarding school.

I need not have worried about Clint and what the big cars might do to him at night, locked in that compound next to the shady car wash business that seems to be manned by a succession of Albanian holidaymakers with plastic buckets and wash leathers.

As he watched me approach, he yelled "What are you doing here? Why don't you go home? I'm happy here!"

A red Ford Fiesta growled at me while a cute duck egg coloured Fiat 500 called Carol flashed her seductive  headlights in  Clint's direction.

It seems he had been having a grand old time down at the compound with the other stranded motor vehicles. The stand-in manager Kyle from Pontefract said he'd been watching their nocturnal behaviour on CCTV tapes and could not quite believe what they had been getting up to. They had partied like there was no tomorrow putting compressed air in their tyres and getting well-oiled. At the heart of it all there was Clint singing  Clint Eastwood's greatest hits, including "Honky Tonk Man":-

Throw your arms 'round this honky tonk man,

And we'll get through this night the best way we can!

It's the best ol' pain killer since hurtin' began,

Throw your arms 'round this honky tonk man!

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On Line

It was snowing here this evening 

Not a great deal, but enough to be noticed 

I spent most of the day on line , a fact that gave me some admiration for people who spend their working day glued to a screen 

I found the day generally productive 

Lots of boxes ticked

Lots of positives felt.

I sorted out a nice hotel for gorgeous Dave and I on our mini trip to Rome in June and before that , just after my 60th birthday, I’ve arranged to travel to the Catalonian coast south of Barcelona for a few days on holiday alone and booked a private tour of la Sangrada Famalia as well as a three hour tapas & Wine walking tour .

I found a dog carer who will pamper Dorothy in their own home then organised to meet my friend Alex from Poland in London in three weeks time.

We have got tickets for the Emlyn Williams play The Corn Is Green, with Nicola Walker at the National which will be a real treat. 

I’ve booked the nice hotel z in Covent Garden again.

I picked my bathroom suite , tiles , and accessories and let my little bathroom man know messenger then sorted bills and banking out before booking myself on an online Course exploring Pre war German History 

I can thank seeing Cabaret for that one.

I’ve been in a very bad place until yesterday 

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Reflection

 Reflections. 

I don’t multitask well at all. I’ve tried. I’ve had to write lists to remind myself to brush my teeth. I’m moving slower these days to lessen the anxiety. I’ve spending more time in nature, exercising and reading. Mental health equals physical wealth. Be happy my friends. 

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Normal Programming Has Been Resumed

 

Back to normal today. The weather has turned colder and wetter and on our walk this morning, I regretted my decision to wear shorts only a minute into the amble.

I finished my film studies course yesterday and in the late afternoon met a friend to see The Phantom Of The Open. A comic version of the later life of the Walter Mitty character Maurice Flitcroft a working class crane driver who fraudulently entered the British Open Golf Tournament in the search of fame and fortune. With the delightful Mark Rylance in the lead role, Phantom is a frothy, light film about nice people being nice to each other. Wrapped up as almost a fantasy film, with splashes of Amelie and Forest Gump it gives Flitcroft a wry, gentle and somewhat warm persona, a man who adores his slightly dim wife and family, but who wants and needs some sort of fame ( this motivation is not explained in the movie at all by the way)

I enjoyed the humour of the piece but was left feeling somewhat uneasy at the end of the film when clips of the real Maurice Flitcroft were shown. This character seemed much darker and more serious than the one portrayed by Rylance and his presence hinted at darker motivations and even mental illness behind the eyes.

It’s interesting, but my friend thought the same 

After a couple of days in work from tomorrow, I have quite a few jaunts booked from Saturday 

An afternoon concert at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, a real ale pub visit with a couple of work mates, two plays at Theatre Clwyd and a cabaret cult night out celebrating Kate Bush.

Hopefully Choir will return on Tuesday too after being cancelled for three weeks due to increasing covid numbers .

Like I said

Normal Programming Has Been Resumed  

 

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