Base camp Kent

Things here in base camp Kent are going swell and I am happy to report
that everything is pretty much still is on schedule, even the savings
are as high as I could have asked for or wanted without my having
robbed a bank first.

After a few nervous and emotional conversations with friends here I
have my paranoia pricked enough to for me to splurge out on buying
myself a few extra gizmo's and gadgets that should ease every ones
worries and fears.

I have also renewed writing on my blog and I realised that I have got
very rusty, for two reasons but both are my own fault.

Firstly I am now spending so much time writing emails and msn chatting
with various people around the world that in an effort to help them
understand me I have severely cut back on the use of my own unique
writing style and most of the time kept myself to very simple
sentences and phrases that do not rely on a full English background
growing up watching the same stuff that I was into as a child. However
I have got so much into the habit that I find it quite hard to adjust
back into "Dickon-Speak" which is my normal vocabulary and brand of
subtle and clever humour.

Secondly, possibly through not having the internet at home for such a
long time, I have become lazy and instead of writing at least an hours
worthy writing, I have been settling for just a few dashed emails
before watching a bit of late night television and then bed.

This laziness has also crept into my diet and exercise routine. Again,
I could try and make up a while string of honest excuses as to why my
weight has crept to around the 13 stone mark { around 80 kilo's for
the metric lover ), but the bare fact is that I have been enjoying too
much good food, almost no rigorous exercise at all and far to many
fizzy drinks and candy sweets, as I have such a sweet tooth its
unreal.

The double shooting of a wedding couple from Britain who were
honeymooning in Antigua has not put me off visiting anywhere, as even
though I was never actually due to visit that particular island even
if I was they were rich, in a luxury resort and they were the fist
killings of tourists for over a decade, so the chances of two in such
a short space of time is remote ... also there were signs of a
struggle in their hotel room so it is likely that they were shot for
trying to act the heroes and fight with the twilight robbers.

Over the last few weeks I have been making a real effort to visit and
spend time with as many UK based friends and family as I can, as I
know that I will be missing them a lot on my long voyage. I will be
taking a few photos with me to put up in my room on the few occasions
when I have booked a solo room, or for if the shared room is empty of
other guests.

Like most people, I have never been away from home alone for more than
a few weeks at a time, so despite my past experiences this trip will
really test me in more ways than I might first imagine. But on the
upside, I have now ripped all of my CD music collection, and that of
my sister, onto my laptops hard drive and so wherever I go I will at
the least have my tunes to keep me company, plus with my mini portable
dictaphone and digital camera I can hold interviews with a variety of
people to get their funniest travelling stories down for the record.

Being a temp for my old company for these last few weeks should of
been the greatest coup that I could have pulled off, however the work
is not there for me and so instead of getting paid for doing my old
job they have got me doing the most boring, dullest and mind numbing
chores that everyone has been avoiding for years.

There are stacks upon stacks of documents that are so ancient that
they even predate my joining the company six years ago that they have
been recently pulling out of hidden corners and asking me to file in
date order, and to cap it all off the sun has been shining brightly
outside for days now, yet I must remain strong for just a little while
longer in order to maximise my current earning potential.

There are a few films currently doing the rounds in the local cinemas
that I am half interested in watching, but I can probably watch them
in either Holland or Germany, and as I didn't find time to do this in
either country on my visit this could prove to be the perfect
opportunity to correct this blip, and it might even give it an extra
tang of authenticity when watching Kung Fu Panda by having to read
the subtitles, even if the film is in German and not Chinese or
Japanese.

As yet I am still undecided as to what my return to the UK plans will
be, and so it is still at the moment left floating in Beijing from the
12th May 2009 onward, but I had better come up with a plan before I
get there, as the Chinese are one of the few truly sticklers for visas
being obtained in advance and strictly adhered to at all costs.

Paranoid

Thank to my friends and family filling my head with lots of lovely
horror stories of what happens to people and their luggage when they
go on holiday I have chosed to add a few choice items to my pre-travel
purchases.

The first is a steel wire mesh to protect my bag from being stolen and / or slashed with a knife to get at the contents.

The second is a portable door lock for hostels and hotel rooms.


A bit more expense but a lot more hassle for the opportunist picpocket or burglar. As always, if someone is determined enough they can do anything, so I am just hoping not to make myself seem an easy mark, and that they will go after a softer target.

Ok, so I am a dreamer

John Lennon and his song "Imagine", Brendon Fraser in "Blast from the
Past", Bill Hicks in "Revelations", Kevin Spacey in "Pay it Forward".

What do all the above have in common?

They all have a fundamental idea that being good, nice and helping
others is not only its own reward but that it is the best, and maybe
the only, way that mankind can survive and progress into the future.

Now, I may be a dreamer, but why can't life really be this simple.

You don't need a huge bank account, religion or politics, you just
need to be the best person you can be and then life will not only work
out but will be enjoyable and worth living.

In this day and age, with all the killings, the technology, the damage
to the ecosystem and the growing chasm between the rich and the poor
it is easy to begin to doubt that there is much hope left for human
beings, but I think that the idea itself is still sound and worth
trying.

It is said that having an idea is a great thing, just don't go
building a belief structure around it, so I am not about to start
preaching to anyone, but what I will do is continue to try and live
the best life I can, and I think that writing down my thoughts for
myself and others to read might even be a good idea.

Travel and Sex

It is quite interesting that although so far I have never been to
Thailand, because I like Asian women so much many people assume that I
have already been to Bangkok and am equally familiar with the whole
sex tourist and culture idea. I guess it doesn't help when people ask
where is the first stop on my forthcoming trip and I answer Amsterdam,
but being honest I had booked a flight direct to Toulouse for the end
of September and then had to add a few locations first when my
redundancy came through that much earlier than I first planned on.

Thinking about what sort of spin I can put on any travel book to
entice a publisher to print my book and for the public to buy it, I
have of course thought about doing the sex angle, as no one can argue
that sex sells, but as soon as I started doing even the lightest bit
of research I found I was soon so far out of my depth and comfort zone
in no time at all that it was enough for me to get the shakes and
realised that this isn't my route to fame and fortune.

From reading a myriad of reviews and journals from seasons travellers
and expat's it all too quickly seems that the first time anyone goes
anywhere they get ripped mercilessly by the locals, and being lied to
and misinformed is all just about part and parcel of the whole
experience. While the Internet has plenty of websites and links for
anyone inclined to find some company either short or long term, most
of the prices are already over hiked by a large margin and some are so
high as to be in deep orbit, and then if you want to find one in
English ... double it again.

The answer, just turn up and see what you can find from the local taxi
drivers and train station hawkers? Well no actually, as you are just
as likely to end up both robbed and shown an aged crone in a flea pit
so grimy that even the mould is out date. I am reminded of many a
conversation that I had with an old mate who said that in order to
know a place you had to stay there for at least six months, anything
less was little better than just passing through, fairly regardless of
the size of the place or how in depth your curiosity runs.

Much of the problem is that the general public don't like to see sex
on their doorsteps, that governments have to keep making it look like
they are trying to do something about the problem ( even those who are
taking brides to ensure the status quo ) and not to mention that of
course the sex industry being, innately on dodgy moral territory, is
frequented by such a shady cast of actors and dealers that it is not
really a surprise to learn that that will try and fleece you as much
as help you if given even half the chance.

The other main reason why I have decided to tackle the promotion
problem from a different angle was that again, once I had started
researching it properly, I found that both soft core and hard core,
the topic had been fairly exhausted by much more experienced,
confident and bank-rolled travellers than myself and thus anything
that I could attempt has already been done bigger, better and more in
depth that I could possibly hope to match.

With Hollywood TV shows like the "uncovered" or "real life" being such
a mainstream hit, and anything more erotic / hard core being both
illegal in most places and requiring too much local time and legwork
to prevent myself being ripped off, and thus it is that I have decided
that although I probably will not turn down a perfect opportunity
should one arise, I am not going to go out of my way try to make sex
the focus or main theme of my experiences.

Robed freaks

Now before I go on, if your religious in any way then you probably wont enjoy or agree with anything I am about to write so best you stop reading now, so off you go and make a nice cup of tea for the vicar or something and come back again another day.

For the rest of you who don't mind a bit of blasphemy then nice to have you with me, and if your still reading then you might even agree with a few bits of this post !

I must admit that I got to my local train station a few minutes later than normal the other day, so it was a tiny fraction my fault that I was unable to scope out my route to and from work the other day, however I still am mighty peeved about the way things went.

Apparently the religious community decided to travel to Buckingham Palace en-mass the other day and have a nice talk about peace. So far so good right, but then explain to me the logic they employed when the decided to all leave during the height of rush hour traffic!

This might not seem so bad until you factor in that the MET would have to cordon off the entire BP plaza as if they don't some unlawful citizen might get it into their head to try and inflict come pain onto these good folk, and in by doing so they added at least a couple of minutes onto the journey it takes to get from Green Park to Victoria Station by foot by making you go all the way around instead of cutting in front of the grounds.

Now, again when you consider that the temperature outside that day was stifling, the pavement was even more crammed with well wishers and the paparazzi, the tube was packed and hotter than hell and that I have a very small window of time in which to reach the platform before the doors are closed, then if you have a mind to try and avoid anger and bloodshed then the last thing I would expect you would want to do is to ensure that hundreds or maybe even thousands of commuters have to take a detour of several minutes just so to avoid the other purple menace (the first being the free hawkers of the LondonLite newspaper!).

If you was to ask me, in that heat, to force me to walk an extra few minutes, miss my train and spend another thirty minutes stuck on a platform surrounded by sweaty commuters and screaming kids was more than enough for me to seriously consider murder again anyone who put forward the idea that that idea was a good one, and its only the fact that I was unarmed, holding a bag with my new laptop and surrounded by enough automatic rifle armed MET officers to conquer Paris that prevented me from doing so.

But if anyone is stupid enough to suggest that I should respect others then I point to this day and say that so far religion has done very little for me lately except make me miss my train and get a massive headache.

On another slightly different subject, I am still very unsure as to why police officers go to such lengths to prevent convicted criminals committing suicide, especially if they are lifers?

For a government and society that abhors cruelty and torture I cannot see why any convicted felon should be prevented from making their own quick exit - which would be cheap, free up space and ensure that there was zero chance of them re offending - and instead prefer to spend the tax payers hard earned money to ensure that remain alive just so that they can live out their remaining years behind bars, or until one bleeding hearts faction or another have them released early on parole, where there is every chance that they will again indeed re offend.

Where is the logic of forcing a person to live, against their will, just so that you can keep them locked in a cage for years, equally against their will? It beggars belief, it really does, not to mention as a tax payer I know what I would prefer it if I could cast a deciding vote on letting a criminal kill them self or not!

Taking Back My Name

I met up with an long standing friend last night, and after a few hours I convinced her that I have taken as many precautions as anyone possibly could without removing all excitement and adventure from the itiniary and she convinced me that I need to reevaluate my posture and position on women.

She is yet another person who thinks that I could do with perhaps just visiting a shrink to iron out a few mini personality wrinkles, but freely admits that with my background that she is amazed that I have come out as rational and as sane as I have ... not sure if that is a compliment or just a sad observation, lol.

However, there was one thing that did put a nice smile back on her face, which was when I announced that I was continuing to take back my name, with it now once more being used on my emails, facebook, blog, ebay, paypal, business cards and even from people at work.

And so, while it served its purpose and helped me avoid unneccessary grief at school and college, I think it is time to let the bells ring out the news.

"Dave Springate is no dead ... long live Dickon Springate"

No going back now

Well ... after the euphoria has died down a fraction, I had come to
realise that this is not only happening but that with all the fuss and
noise that I have been making about it, there is also no turning back
or backing out now ... I have to be totally committed to doing this or
I will look such the hot air bragging idiot that I would have to bury
my head in the sand for longer than nine months for the shame to
subside.

Although my bags aren't packed, I have made a huge dent in my
pre-travel shopping list and the items left are now only things that I
could probably pick up easy enough either here or abroad which makes
it easier.

So far the items covered :-

Passport, Rucksack, Excess Free Travel Insurance, European Medical
Card, Laptop, Camera, Webcam, Dictaphone, Clothes, T-Shirt,
Binoculars, Microfibre Towel, Fold up Beaker, Sun Glasses, Sun Cream &
Toiletries, Anti-bite Zapper, Water Sterlisation Kit, Eye Protector
and Ear Plugs, Air Plane Ear Jack & Headphones, Business Cards,
Flights, Train Tickets, Hotel Bookings, Printed & Email Downloadable
Itineary, 08/09 Diary, Notebook, Spanish Phrasebook, Tour Guide Books,
Commission Free Overseas Current Account, Credit Card, Waterproof Bag,
Playing Cards, ...

... and while the list isn't of course exhaustive, it does give an
idea of what I have done to prepare so far, and although I could
easily double or treble the list in the imaginary idyllic world where
weight and security are no issues, but I am trying to be realistic and
so keeping the list to something that is carryable.

I also came to realise that it is just not worth me trying to stick to
a £10K budget, as although I believe it is possible I have decided
that this trip should not be a nine-month exercise is restrain and
keeping my wallet firmly closed, but it should be about making the
very most out of a truly once in a lifetime experience, and for that
to happen I may well feel the need to splurge out once in awhile.

Travelling T-Shirt

That's right.

I may not be having the most normal of weeks, my mind may be flitting between the doldrums and the clouds after speaking to a few select few, but this afternoon when I arrived home everything else flew out of my mind and I had to try on my new delivery.

My very own, personalised and stylised travelling T-shirt, a match to compliment my own designed business card which arrived a few weeks ago.

Considerig that this blog being the start of my own digital book I really can say that I have been there, done that, wrote the book and bought the T-shirt.

And so, without further ado, here it is.

Wanted - Best Friend

I would say that I am a nice person, certainly more people describe me
in favourable terms than unfriendly terms, and I have to say that I am
in semi-regular contact with more people than anyone else I know but I
am missing a vital piece of my life.

Butch Cassady & the Sundance Kid ... Han Solo & Chewbacca ... Harry &
Sally ... Starsky & Hutch ... Tango & Cash ... Bill & Ben ... Little &
Large ... Morecomb & Wise ... Doug & Pete ... Bert & Ernie ... Mel &
Kim ... The Lone Ranger & Tonto ... Batman & Robin

That is right, I am missing a best friend, the closest of close
compadres that will need, want and like to share as much of our lives
with each other as we can.

I want a friend that will think of me in their top three, after their
partner and family, whenever they decide to do something.

I want a friend that would never change a party without asking me
first if its a good time and certainly never forget to tell me that
plans have been remade.

I want a friend that would want to spend fun time with me once every
few days rather than once every few months.

I want a friend that will not drop me like a cold potato as soon as
they start a new relationship, a new job or move to a new town or
city.

I want to be so in touch with a friend that I can finish their
sentence for them and they can finish mine.

I want a friend to be in touch with so much that we never get the
chance to miss each other cos we see so much of each other anyway.

I want a friend to share jokes with, play games and sports with, watch
movies with and share a few drinks with each other once in while.

I don't want a friend that would invite me someplace and then arrive a
couple of hours later cos they were busy getting ready and couldn't be
bothered to get ready in time.

I don't want a friend that think of contacting me on a Monday morning
to see how my weekend was, but a friend who will contact me on a
Thursday night to see what plans I have for the weekend to come.

I don't want a friend who returns my calls two days later, I want a
friend that will be reaching their phone to send me a text message at
the same time as I am reaching for mine to contact them.

I don't want a friend to get in touch to meet up just because everyone
else is already busy or because they feel they ought to as they
haven't bothered trying in months.

I want a friend that I know all the important names, dates and places
in their lives and they know mine ... certainly not the kind that
would leave me stranded without an introduction to important people in
their lives years after becoming my friend.

And most of all when I have a problem with my friend and I say that I
am feeling that things are going wrong I do not want my friend to
ignore my feelings or say that they are just in my head and then
change the subject.

Basically I just want a friend that will care enough about me not to
let me down on a regular basis with a myriad of pathetic excuses or
reasons why they couldnt uphold a simple arrangement, and I certainly
don't ever want to be someones least favourite friend - the one that
only gets to be invited after everyone else and if there are any
clashes or double bookings is always the first to be postponed or
cancelled for the others.

I don't care so much about background, age, build, sex, race,
religion, wealth or education, just so long as we always enjoys each
others company, have enough common grounds to share stories and talk
about a range of topics and that's about it.

Seeking the impossible ... I don't think so, but I am currently
"between" best friends as I have had to reevaluate my current status
with those I once called best friends after they showed me in no
uncertain terms that we are not best friend but only casual
aquaintences.

So if you know of a deserving, fun, lively and happy person that wants
to be someones best friend, and isn't a total fruitloop or criminal
mastermind then get in touch and I will see if we can become best the
best of friends.

Frustration

Over the weekend I spent hours trying to store all my music CD's onto
my laptop for the journey ahead, and with it being such a slow and
boring job I had detached my laptop from the internet and was doing
from the living room sofa while watching TV.

Sadly for me, I did not realise that without the internet it would be
unable to store the track and album information, and so after a
weekend of transferring I ended up with a few hundred tracks all
thrown together in the same album folder and no track name, song or
album artist and not even a genre division to separate them.

Thus it is that I now have no idea of how to separate them and cannot
bear to have to go through them all again, just to transfer the rest
of the information, and if I just to a random spin of my tracks then I
really will have a complete random mix of everything and anything.

I am only glad that I had not stored my linguaphone Spanish CD's or
else I would never be able to do a random selection without every
second or third track being educational.

Then on Sunday I was invited to a Colombian Independence party being
held in London. So I spent ages getting ready and the train into
London on a Sunday is once an hour and only semi-fast at that, so
possibly you can image my sheer anger and annoyance at being told by
my Colombian friends that they were running more than two hours late
themselves, despite all living in London.

I waited an hour and heard a few excuses of why they were still not
ready, but there is only so much I can take before I get bored and so
I went home without meeting up with them, and no surprise that I wont
be bothering with the next London bash that they are planning in early
August.

At the moment I can tell that I have lost much of the edge of my
writing, but I must continue on to get as much of this down on record
as possible, as once I go I will be too busy to do more than maybe an
hour of typing per day.

Leaving Drinks

After being the host to many parties, and a guest to a good few as
well I have learned to control the irrational emotion of being upset
at a party when certain people don't turn up.

It is natural that things never go quite according to plan, and to
expect or get upset if less than 75% of people make a function, free
drinks or not, is only an exercise is self frustration.

What is equally upsetting is turning up to a party and trying to chat
to the host who seems only concerned about who isnt there and pays no
attention to those that did make the effort.

Thus it was that I was very happy with the turn out on Friday and
tried to make conversation with all of my guests, and neither
mentioned or tried to make last second contacts with anyone who were
no shows / late come-ers.

Match Bar was a good venue for our humble number and the area we were
given was right near the DJ, and with waitress service to our seats
made it even more special. The prices are a fraction higher than
average and the selection of beers and ciders a bit low, but then what
it loses in respect of normal drinks it more than makes up for in
specialist cocktails.

After a few hours in the Match Bar we then skipped around the corner
to the Old Explorer, where we carried on drinking til nearly the last
train home and I am happy to say that I managed to outlast all other
current SMPA staff in the place, with only my close friends who live
in central London able to outlast me.

Happy days.

Unusual Week

What a strange week this has been. It is certainly not the normal,
run-of-the-mill, 9-to-5 slog that I am used to living.

Over the weekend I found out that my old lodger thinks that I am being
an ass over the whole trip around the world idea, and thinks that when
I get back I might be more approachable. Ha, some chance he's got as
he still owes me the £300 or more that he slipped away with by not
paying his rent or cleaning bill for the last month and a half.

My brother in law is having a bad time, partly due to the fact that he
is trying to come off the mood stabilizers, has had too many days off
work already through mind illnesses and as now dumped my sister and
their three kids in order to sort himself out.

My sister thinks that it will be a nice break to not have the kids for
the occasional weekend that he will be back when he regains sanity and
misses her. We hope that she will gain her sanity while he is away and
not take him back.

I was trying to be as unbiased as I could be, that was until he called
me more than a few nasty names and words, that regardless of his
mental fragility is unacceptable and so I have no qualms about no
longer being his friend.

Meanwhile his sister has recently also split with her long term
boyfriend after he took too long to decide to go back to work, and now
that he has she has kicked him out, so its certainly all change there.

Over the weekend I met up with an old friend from another country, who
was engaging and entertaining for awhile, but as she chose to speak
French almost non-stop the whole time she was here, knowing full well
that I can't speak French, this kind of took the shine off an
otherwise wonderful reunion.

They also had a bbq at which I was the only guy, and the women were
from Belgium, France, Italy, Maritius and Kenya, and maybe thats why
they joked that my round the world trip starts here, but to me it was
just like their last bbq in Ireland where again I was the only
Englishman and everyone was speaking German!!!

A using wastrel blast from the past ex friend called me on my mobile
phone last night, but thankfully my phone must have second guessed my
intention and intercepted his call automatically diverting it
harmlessly to my answering service, from where I was able to cut him
off mid sentence and delete it without even bothering to hear what he
had to say this time round.

My frustration about being my best friends least favourite friend is
rearing its ugly head again, but as it has now becoming something of a
repeating pattern I can ignore it no longer, and have started to let a
sad possibility seep into my psyche, to wit ... thinking that perhaps
I am deluding myself that we are in face best friends, when more
simply put perhaps I am just another close friend, or even just good
acquaintances who share a happy and eventful past.

I keep meaning to corner her about this, but to compound my
frustration she is notoriously hard to pin down for a private
conversation even for a few moments, and it is not the kind of chat
that I feel comfortable bringing up in mixed company for obvious
reasons, especially as at the moment she feels that I hate her
boyfriend!

My other sister and her family, the one that I live with, have two
weeks off work and thus the early morning routines and noises are
eerily missing when I wake up, and sometimes they are enough to lull
me back to sleep before I realise why they are missing and that I
still, for a few weeks longer, am not afforded the luxury of choosing
if I want to go to work today or not.

My friend and old colleague has begun trying to get more people to
come out during the sunshine by emailing them instead of me, and thus
I often do not find out that she even asked unless my co-workers
decide among themselves if indeed they do want to go or not, by which
time I have normally decided to do something else already and am then
forced to scrap my plans or miss out on a lazy sunbathing chat with
her.

My new laptop has arrived, is up and running and I have begun the task
of amending the settings, downloading and installing all the necessary
programs and drivers required, and sorting out a new USB only mouse
and night vision webcam, as well as loading it all up with as many
videos and music files as I can, in case I get extra bored on
vacation.

My bosses younger sister asked me out to lunch today, offering to pay
up as she had promised when she found out I was being made redundant,
only to realise as she got to the counter that she had only enough
money for herself. Funny that back in the office she found another £10
tucked away in her miniature handbag, oh well ... as they say, it is
the thought that counts.

The ex-friend-bitch from hell, who joined my company last year,
surprised us all by saying that she did not have any personal problems
with me and even went as far as to happily sign my leaving card –
whether she put in a contribution though is another matter entirely,
but to be honest I don't give a fig either way. I am going, I am happy
to be going, I would have quit had they not made me redundant, and I
would not have stayed had they tried to offer me with anything less
than a £10K rise in salary.

I am only a few short weeks away from the biggest upheaval of my
entire life, and I can't wait ... itchy feet, my whole bodys on fire.

Itchy Feet

In exactly a week I will be freed from the shackles of being a 9-to-5
office slave, though to be strictly speaking I will be accepting their
use of internet facilities and rations for another 6 weeks after next
Friday in an amicable trade off before I go travelling on the 1st
September.

However, as I am now so close that I can smell the waft of freedom and
taste the tang of foreign shores, that now every cross word, raised
voice or minor disgruntlement is sending shivers down my spine and I
have to continually remind myself of the trade off of temp working now
for more money to go travelling with later, but it has not been easy.

Having newly aquired a modern Vista operated cheap as chips laptop, I
hope to be able to complete my round the world trip and write up my
travel journals.

Nights of fun - pt 3

With the Wimbledon's women's junior and senior finals being held today, I was feeling that I had just enough time to watch a bit of sport before a friends barbecue and then another trip to London for a pair of friends joint birthday parties.

With so many birthdays all close together I had to make an extra long shopping spree in order to get the required cards and presents, but I was happy that I was able to get everything that I planned before I had to leave.

Thanks to the a beautiful sunny and cloudless sky, the walk to my friends place was a nice leisurely stroll downhill for half an hour and not wanting to be the first one I had left only a few minutes before it was due to start in order to arrive fashionably late but still with enough time to enjoy the good food, music and company before coming back again.

However, when I arrived I found the house and garden empty and showing no signs of preparation for the barbecue, despite the fact that as late as the previous night I was assured that the party was going ahead at 4pm, weather permitting of course. I texted my friend to ask what was going on and it was awhile before any reply came, and when it did arrive I was far from happy and began the long walk back uphill.

Apparently they had rescheduled it for between 6 and 6.30pm and had not even bothered to tell me about it. Not good.

With a busy night ahead of me already booked in London, I did not want to let my other friends down and certainly I didn't see why I should bother changing my plans for the first friend who clearly thought so little of me that she hadn't even told me of the change of time for her barbecue.

Back home earlier than expect I had plenty of time to kill before I was due to leave for the second party, but with no internet at home I was going a bit stir crazy so I left early and decided to make another exploratory foray into Camden, which was where the second party was being held. Outside Camden Town tube station I could see the venue merely seconds away so I had plenty of time to be once more amazed and mystified at the myriad of outlandish and bizarre clothing and stalls that is Camden Market on a Saturday.

At 8pm I reached the venue and spotted one of the two birthday girls with her friend in the corner, however as we had yet to be introduced face to face I was wary of approaching her direct, fearing that she might think me a crank or a perv ... me being 32 and going slightly grey while she had barely turned 21 and is the sister of my friend thus having never even met me before.

I shouldn't have worried, and happily my faith in being able to get along with almost anyone was renewed once more when she smiled at me and beckoned me over even before she had received her sisters text to say that I had arrived and was waiting for her to notice me.

The next few hours were filled with much drinking, meeting interested and friendly people and finding out that my friends new boyfriend is in special effects, having worked on various projects from Doctor Who, to 28 Weeks later and even the most recent Star Wars movie.

Apart from the fact that I both arrived and left single, I do not think that I could have had much more of a good time, and if the other guests promises to keep in touch are genuine then I am dearly looking forward to meeting up with them again soon.

Nights of fun - pt 2

Friday night was a trip right after work with friends to a meal, a west end show of Hairspray followed by a post show drink chaser before again the last train home.

Working through lunch I was able to twist my bosses arm into letting me leave work an hour early, something that I don't normally do and one reason why I was less than happy that everyone else was late arriving and even more-so when the restaurant we went to was closer to my work place than where we had agreed to meet.

I would like to think that I am the kind of person who can get on with anyone, yet despite my best friend being the most perfect of people, I would have to say that we all live in an imperfect place and the welcome and introduction that her sister gave me to her husband was enough to make me start to regret coming along.

Hairspray the show was a great rollocking bundle of fun, along with a few moral messages that people should all get along regardless of race, age, background or size. I was not too blind to notice that a similar subtle message crept into 'Avenue Q' and began to wonder whether all modern musicals are going to be infected by comments about morals and ethics, as certainly the older classics like Phantom of the Opera and Sweenie Todd are much more steeped heavily in their own story with hardly any subliminal moral lessons.

During the interval we had a swap around of seating, primarily so that we could all sit as a group, but personally I would have preferred my original closer seat with the only single female in the group rather than a group lot at the back and stuck once again next to my friends sister. Had I realised at the time what my friend was waving to me abuut as I was about to retake my seat I think that I would have tried to pretend not to have seen them and remained where I was regardless, but after walking all the way round I couldn't then snub them.

After show was over, which was good but didn't get as loud or as long a round of clapping as Phantom { possibly either cos of the performances or because of other people also being privately disgusted about the moral issues overshadowing the story } I felt that I had suffered enough and so chose to skip the aperitif and headed home what would have been earlier, had I not decided to take a brief pit stop halfway for a bit of a chill out and unwind session.

Nights of fun - pt 1

It is rare that I chose to catch the last train home from London, as it does not pull into Gillingham until almost 1am and is usually full of drunken louts and shady characters that I would otherwise chose to avoid, but this last weekend I ended up on it three times in a row.

On Thursday I was invited out with a group to go to a 60's Roller Disco near Vauxhall, a suburb of London that so far I had never has reason to visit. As I knew that I was coming back to Gillingham on a late train I decided against trying to take fancy dress clothes, and considering how poor my skating turned out to be this was a wise choice.

To see a piteous fool slipping and sliding all over the place, like a punch drunk octopus on land, is bad enough, but to see one dressed in bell bottom jeans, fake Afro and anti-war make up then one loses their pity and only sees the fool.

My friends were great fun, especially one who is as totally drop dead sexy and sweet of face that only a 21 year old model can be, and so I had the added problem of trying to not look a complete idiot in front on someone I was instantly keen on. { Needless to say she already has a boyfriend and needless to say I wasn't told until the end of the night. Sigh }

After being the first ones there { a personal first for my friend who I swear was born late and feels that this is the only way to live } I was eager to try and get my skating legs on, but it wasn't more than five minutes before I almost ended up with three broken ribs, thanks to some management jobsworth { who clearly never learned to skate themselves } and decided that cast iron traffic barrier railing with no padded skirting is the ideal way to section off areas!

Two hours later I began to feel that my ankles were suffering and it was a monumental relief when I finally gave in and removed the hellish masochistic devices of torture, after which even the briefest of glances could tell that I was now the proud owner of several puffy bruises which would get worse before they got better.

Dont ... Fly Delta

From this moment on, the working title of my travel book will simply be thus, "Don't ... fly Delta"

 

The reason being is that they have frustrated and infuriated me for the last time with regard to the loss of my luggage back in June 2007.

 

And so when I go around the world, taking flight after flight after flight across almost every continent in the world I want everyone to know that I did so cheaply, happily and most of all ... never on a Delta flight !

 

For customer services I have never seen quite their level of uncaring and only Nationwide Building Society even comes close to their being out-and-out jobsworths who are unwilling to help with even the simplest of queries.