18 years ago I left the UK to live in Thailand. I spent three years dossing about on beaches, drinking beer, not a care in the world. Then I met my wife.
Now I'm married with two kids with a shit boring job living in Wales. Apparently this is a good thing.
Undoubtedly. However, lest anyone think my post was a boomer-coded complaint about domesticity*, I was more aggrieved about the rapid passage of time.
I’ve had a worrying amount of peers/friends shuffle off this mortal coil in the last ten or so years, so I’m thankful for what I have.
*I thoroughly enjoy a quiet night in after, to quote my dad, “tearing the arse out of it” for far more years than is seemly.
Don't underestimate the value of tearing the arse out of it. Now I'm sixty I'm planning on putting on my big girl pants and going again.
Call it old age crisis.
No doubt influenced by the memory of things like driving past a place tonight and recounting that I knew four people associated with it. Three of them dead. If Charlie is coming for me, I'm planning on being too far out of it to notice.
I'm 52 and no sign of the arse tearing slowing down any time soon.
I was never a school night drinker. Hangovers started messing me up too much, too early.
And bartending didn’t just add mileage, it drastically lessened my desire to be out among the general public.
Having one of my sporadic times where booze isn’t doing it for me lately, either. Hence a THC drink or two and maybe a cocktail and I’m pretty set.
I imagine I’d feel very differently if I was single and/or childless.
Not for your wife I'll warrant. Thailand to Port Talbot...
Well this is all well and good and it was lovely to see Karl mark and his globe trotting bush pilot friend, we have our own adventures to attend to.
As part of our 30th wedding anniversary year (which actually starts in January), we are flying to Chile to go into the upper Andes to see the stars. Apparently the best dark skies on the planet. I think the multiple observatories give it a way a tad. Anyway, even though I tried learning Spanish I always fall back to French for some weird reason so if we get lost (which I am sure we will), then I hope somebody there speaks English. I would imagine so as the place is full of scientists probably doing weird and odd things in the vicinity. For an odd reason i cannot help think of the original John Carpenter film, "The Thing". It will be remote. Possibly ace but probably fraught with danger as Wifey doesn't do altitude very well. Where's the coca leaf tea when you need it? (Unless Russ drunk it all...)
Chicago: Heading to the stars.
It was a remake, but everyone knows what you mean.
(Admittedly, a personal bugbear, but) Adaptation
Totally fair. A new(er) adaptation of the original material.
Well it’s been a bit of a misadventure. What with El Niño causing giant hail storms and clouds in the driest place on earth. In spring in Chile in the atacama desert there are never clouds. This year because of the massive weather event in the Pacific there were no clear stars so no chance of seeing the most spectacular dark skies in the world. Major bugger. On top of that I got the worst food poisoning in the world . I guess when you in the mountains don’t order a seafood risotto. So I was very sick. Wifey insisted I still try to go on some tours so at 10,000 feet unable to keep anything down I ended up with altitude sickness too and my fingers went blue. Important to hydrate kids! The guide was quite worried about me as I just couldn’t stop throwing up everywhere.
Anyway, bit of a disaster.
On top of that we might not get home because we are flying back through Panamá and they just had a 7.7 scale earthquake. So there is no guarantees we can land as aftershocks are going on.
The good news is that Sepultura the Brazilian Metal band are in first class and the lounge wirh us and I got mistakes as one of the road crew which was pretty funny considering I don’t speak a lick of Portuguese.
There was some good stuff too but for a 30 anniversary break it’s been a bit of a disaster. But, as they say. Bad choices make good stories.
Chicago: Slightly chile.
On my way to Leeds for a few days with work. Life has been pretty busy/stressful the last few weeks and I've not been sleeping well so I'm looking forward to a couple of nights in a hotel by myself. Really need to try and be mentally strong and not get drunk with colleagues both nights though so that I can get some decent sleep.
In Leicester to watch the Lionesses with my boy, decided against wearing any Forest clothing.
Think you could have got away with the pants.
Russell Martin doesn't seem to be.
With my smile and the amount of women here, it's a risk.
I'm in row DD, the jokes make themselves.
