I AM IN A CYBERCAFF. Everytime somebody's phone near me rings, the opening bars of La Isla Bonita come shrilling out. I am not homeless yet. (Nearly wrote "hopeless" there by accident. If that "slip" ain't fraudian, what is?)
As I was trying to say yesterday. - O man! La Isla Bonita again!! - As I was trying to say. But as usual probably got distracted before time for the point came before me ... Basically I had to go to the council offices about being "chucked out" and "confused" though that latter was the Vietnamese reception officer's assessment. Which was spot on bc I was exceedingly confused and still am. People lying, manipulating. Trying manoevres on. Etc. That is the truth: an ugly situation. Anyway Council Reprimander Guy arranged to come pointedly in the afternoon. "You must make room shipshape by then," he repeated several times. ("Shipshape" was my word. He adopted it off me.) OK OK I will. Then ... well I said yesterday. You gonna turn up three hours early when you told me to chuck mosta my stuff out? You gonna find rubbish piled by my door! Where's the surprise.
Anyway, now it just looks like a room with lots of books in one corner, some suitcases lying on a packing trunk under the sash window.... hammy hidden on cupboard by cooker (that cupboard is the real "fire hazard" ... being as heat rises and it is practically on top of the hotplates. Evilstein saw Hammy's tank. Was quite pointedly staring at it. Full of (clean) woodshavings. With various obviously nibbled toilet tubes and a Marlboro Menthols packet with a hole chewed right through the middle. Hammy has never been mentioned so I assume is allowed to stay. He is going for a celebration ping all over the newly cleared carpets this evening.
And that is that. I am ponderously reading (bc I can never stick with anything. Harrold Robbins is out the window.) Agatha Christie's At Bertram's Hotel (might as well have titled it Murder At Clardiges - woulda given their business the same boost the Orient Express Venic Simplon got from the book of similar name. Did you know the Orient Express used to run all the way from London to a boat. Then get on another train at Calais and go all the way to Turkey? Does anyone know whether it is running thru the Channel Tunnel nowadays? I hope so. Even EastEnders has been on the Orient Express. Angie drunkenly shot her mouth off and Den overheard. (This was in about 1985.) ... Slept for a great tranche of the afternoon as was tired. Dreaming of Harry Potter (ukk! Never read one. Did try. Never got past page one. I used to love "fantasy" aged ten. Now I have real troubles with it. Lord of the Rings confounded me with a description of a dragon (firework) passing overhead with "a roar like an express train" - what express precisely? The 9:27 to Mordor ... come on JRR!
Right gotta go pee. Hope this statement doesn't result in pervy ads to my top right ...
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WHY AM I SO HUNGRY? I've been munching on bread rolls with brie. The brie I accidentally left out while I slept so it went horrible and sloppy (I am English; not French!). Once while I was in France we had this horribly sloppy French cheese that was just like white horses' diarrhoea. I swear you could taste the rancid chewed up grass in that slop. And man! It stank! Ukk. How can people eat something like that. Also there was a mental hospital nearby from where this man used to go out dressed as a red Indian squaw. And the truks on the roads were enormous! The size of American trains almost (actually, maybe bigger). Also to make an emergency call from a phone kiosk you had to insert 10F (this was well before the days of Euros!) - even though it did spit it out again after I was utterly disgusted by this. What? So muggers, rapists, etc. can just make sure their victims don't have 10F left on them? What then. I was truly outraged by an international sense of injustice. Just thought I'd leave those "thoughts" with you.
If anyone has pertinent complaints or observations about Britain (not stupid stuff like Iraq, please! We all hate Tony Blair for that.) I would love to hear 'em ...
PS Tomorrow I'm going to get currants and sugar (already have the white self-raising flour and an egg) to make Welshcakes ... as in Welshcakes Limoncello, yes ...
Hi, Gleds. At last! I've found someone else who hasn't read and doesn't intend to read Harry Potter! Loved your description of France. Do let us know how the Welshcakes turn out and thanks for the mention. Buon weekend.
ReplyDeleteone must be an attention-seeker to have a song (esp. midi music which sucks) play when the phone rings... "look at me, i have a cool song on my phone... look at me i'm popular and people call me". stoooooopid. i can't stand smelly cheeses.. and i will say some of the french cheeses smell worse than a rotting rodent trapped in an inocuous location in a hot, sultry cellar. as for harry potter, i've truly tried getting on-board (as some of my colleagues), but i can't help like it's a bunch of crap... not to mention, my friends who like the films sit there a observe hermine (?sp) like a hawk... sick bastards... she's like two y/o. as for britain, i've only been to london, though i have a friend living in coventry. i loved w1, canary wharf, the millenium bridge, camden town, and many others.. just can't remember everything.
ReplyDeleteHope the Welshcakes turn out oK and SO GLAD you're not homeless!
ReplyDeleteRx
Glad you have a place to stay. Your landlord and the committee sound a bit like nutjobs to me. I do like Harry Potter but I am with you on Harold Robbins~total rubbish!
ReplyDeleteI haven't had a chance to read for a few days. Our telephone and internet connection died on Saturday and someone is coming on Thursday. I'm only online from work until it's fixed at home.
ReplyDeleteDid you know that the Orient Express also went through Croatia. Zagreb was a major stop and they built a hotel especially for this. It's still there and is one of the nicest hotels in Zagreb. I have a lengthy link to show you the dome ballroom, you'll have to do a bit of copy and paste as it's broken in the comment here:
http://www.fivestaralliance.com/
luxury_hotel/zagreb/the_regent_
esplanade_zagreb/gallery/67421_
conf_01_e
Harry Potter: no. Star Wars: no. Tolkein: no. Any other books/movies known and loved by all: hell no. I'm just crazy that way.
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