Ham roll

I sit by the lake most lunchtimes, it takes about 20 minutes to walk there, 25 back strangely and 15 minutes to eat my lunch, watch the water on the lake, say Hi to Louise the Irish setter before she leaps into the water. Today, after I shooed the bloody dog away from my lunch I’m thinking about the ham roll I’m eating and as usual I’m reminiscing about the pub my sister and I used to go to every Saturday to meet our dad; it was called the Havelock and is now a Burger King bar.

It was the kind of boozah they don’t have anymore, typical Irish customers, mostly jocks and blacks of course, all wanting to be Irish and all with boozah nick names like Black George, Larry the lamb, Bacardi Bill and so on. Every Saturday then, there we’d be, eating our pub ham rolls, no salad or anything fancy, just a roll with some ham in it and our cokes, happy to just be there, away from home, eating some food and watching dad enjoy himself with his mates and getting pissed…but we didn’t mind because he’d be generous with his cash, when he had any, and we’d take ourselves off to the shops or to the pictures or wherever.

I was watching 49Up the other day and during a moment when Neil, the one who went mad for a while, was talking about a butterfly that landed near him the other day, stretching his wings, enjoying being alive for however brief a time it is and the director inter-cut this story with Neil as a seven year old, old grainy footage, waving his arms around, like a butterfly, enjoying himself, his whole miserable life ahead of him and it made me want to wrap my arms around his kid and protect him from life and what it will do to him…it just made me incredibly sad

I thought today about the kid eating his ham roll in a pub that isn’t there anymore and that made me sad too. Think tomorrow I’ll change to tuna.

My new drinking buddy, well, you can rely on him and not yir so-called mates, who say they can't be bothered to meet up...then go out on the lash anyway! right Nige? 

Then we had a picnic by the lake...unwashed blackberries...yummm 

Sunday we went to MK to pick blackberries from a public footpath that runs alongside the OU... 

Saturday we all went to the funfair after a trip to the park and Macdonalds for lunch 

Car sick

Well, she was right, she made nearly £100 in the couple of hours she was there…. (not that she's given any of it to me yet, even though half the stuff she sold belonged to me..)..spurned on though, I listed a couple a dozen books on Amazon for re-sale and today I got my first order and made £3.05…I tell ya, this time next year…

The boss came back and I told her I’m done but she found me more work, so, for now, I’m staying put…she’s even requested they increase my hourly rate, so fingers crossed, it's not a bad place really, if it was permanent and paid more, I'd be happy enough

The elder smasher has been off “sick” so far this week, I dunno, but I think he might be faking it, nothing concrete just a hunch like, gets it from his mother, lazy good for nothings the pair of them!
This Friday I’m out drinking the health of my friends’ new baby, meeting up with some so-called mates as well…let’s see now…social inter…er…action…Christ, It’s been a while…

What's it all about?

Week 2 over and done with at the OU…blimey, it’s a tough one this, sooo boring and as predicted, I’ve actually completed the job, 2 months and 2 weeks early! Monday, I’ll have a word with the boss, who’ll be back from her holiday, and tell her the score. The missus is worried of course, I’ll be back on the rock n’roll but that’s just the way this one has panned out. I’ve been reading What’s it all about this week, the first philosophy book I’ve ever read and it’s very interesting because like most people, except the missus I found out yesterday, think about life and it’s meaning. No she told me, I’ve never really thought about it…what? Never I said, not even when like, you’re in a shitty job and you stop and think, fucking hell, why am I doing this? Why am I here?…why am I not on a hot sunny beach somewhere instead, letting a local hunk sits astride me, rub oil into my naked breast, watching his cock twitch and bob about under his tight fitting shorts?…no she said….never…

Dunno if I believe her as it goes…

Today, she’s really excited because she’s gone off to a car boot sale with a car packed full of our shared life, old records we once danced to…and made love to…old books I’ve enjoyed, taken away with me on holidays, scribbled notes in the columns, passages I’ve quoted to the missus to entertain her during camping trips and we had no telly or kids to occupy us…oh, I dunno, old clothes we once wore and felt so smart in…my wedding suit for christsake, bundled up and taken away from me…well she said, they’re only gathering dust up in the loft, we may as well make some money from them but I’m not so sure, I’d rather have the memories, I’d rather pop up into the loft every now and then, touching the clothes, feeling the texture, flipping through a book or fishing out a tape and playing it in the car….one thing I've learnt from that philosophy book, you get one life...don't let it pass you by....not sure if that means, sell yir shit, move on, let the past go...or like...cherish your life, hang onto shit, memories make up who we are....i'm only on chapter 3 though, so maybe the answers will follow...too late for my wedding suit mind you and my books....

CHiPs

We decided, as a treat, to get some fish and chips last night, well, I’m working again so why not? The missus comes back with some rock eel and chips for she and some cod and chips for me. The problem was they looked identical, but fear not, as the missus takes a bite from each battered fish and takes her rock eel away with her. The get the wine sorted and follow her a little later, swearing at her because she’s got X bloody factor on. I take a bite from my “cod” and gag! Oi, you got my bloody cod I say, oh, she says…erm…I’ve eaten most of it now (yes, she really does eat quickly) but you can have what’s left, and hands over what’s left..about a mouthful. I say, look, if you like the taste of cod, get cod in future…No, I prefer rock eel she says…well, no look love, you obviously can’t tell the difference, so just get cod from now on…yeah?…Are you going to moan all evening she says?..well, yes I am because my dinner consists of chips and you have had two bloody portions of fish ya cant!…seeesh, I mean I wouldn’t mind, but like…she can’t even tell the difference!!

The week went well, the OU is a great place, all set in it’s own grounds, with a river running through it, with bird hides in the marshes, a subsidised canteen, a shop, a bank, a nursery and every 10 minutes my boss encourages me to go off and explore, get away from the computer, have a cuppa etc…The thing that worries me is that, once again, these bloody institutions have over estimated how long the work will take, or they underestimate how fantastic I am and I reckon the work is at least half done already, and this was supposed to be a 3 month contract!..You can only milk it so far you know, before you collapse and confess all that the work is done and done!

so-called mate 

roll of fat, check it out! 

Our day in the woods 

z/drive

I spent a very rewarding week up in Leicester; the work was fine, producing a brand new taxonomy for an intranet was a real challenge. The week was tiring though, not least because of the heat and 4-hour drive daily. It’s all good stuff though and I think they’ll want me back in a couple of months to continue the work. Tomorrow, I’m starting at the OU for 3-4 months, or until Leicester call me back. The money isn’t as good, but it’ll keep me busy and add to my CV.

Saturday, we all went to the new Ikea in Edmonton for the morning, getting the final touches for the smashers bedroom Jungle theme. Then, in the afternoon, my so-called mate called round to pick me up and take me to St Albans for a day drinking. Another so-called mate turned up and a good time was had by all. Later that evening, when the missus had picked me up and rolled me home I noticed I’d picked up me mates mobile by mistake as mine is exactly the same. His missus called the mobile and I said I’d drop it round the following day. Now, what would you do? Go through the phone’s video and picture folders looking for nude pictures of his wife or porn? Course you would, and so did I and guess what?…............

Sunday, we took the smashers to a Hatfield forest, a national trust place, very nice, lovely hot day, ice creams and picnic.