Author Archives: Dreamaticus

Runners forced to change route to avoid bomb death trap (Rousse)

Posted on November 15, 2014 by Dreamaticus

KA and I were forced to run along the grassed central reservation. This was to avoid the primitive bombs that the terrorists had scattered along the pavement in a bid to kill us.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged amateur, avoid, bomb, bombs, central reservation, grass, kill, pavement, primitive, route, run, scatter, target, terrorist, terrorists | Leave a comment

A missing child, lost glasses, and vegetable sales to pensioners (Rousse)

Posted on November 15, 2014 by Dreamaticus

After our happy day on the beach R and I walked up the grassy dune and over the hill back to the village – where I lost her, and my glasses. Her mother K didn’t seem terribly concerned. The village … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged bar, bars, beach, cafés, cafe, child, coach, concern, discover, dune, find, glasses, grass, happy, hill, market, mother, Oakleys, pensioner, pensioners, rimless, safe home, sale, sales, small, spare, spectacles, tour, tours, vegetable, village | Leave a comment

Records management conference surprises (Rousse)

Posted on November 13, 2014 by Dreamaticus

I learnt two things at the records management conference. First, records managers are great entertainers: they choreograph and sing their conference presentations. Second, there is a whole branch of my mother’s family in Somerset. I learnt this from another delegate … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Annabel, branch, conference, delegate, discovery, family, mother, organise, organisers, presentations, records management, Somerset, surprise, surprises | Leave a comment

Carrier bag charge legislation linked to increase in drug abuse at Tesco (Rousse)

Posted on November 12, 2014 by Dreamaticus

I found numerous empty drug ampoules littered in and around the supermarket trolleys in Tesco car park. This problem had escalated since the introduction of carrier bag charge legislation in Scotland on 20th October 2014. I witnessed an addict shooting … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged abuse, addict, addicts, ampoule, ampoules, bag, car, carrier, charge, choice, drug, exercise, families, family, increase, legislation, message, niece, park, run, running, shop, sister, squash, squashes, supermarket, Tesco, TPR, trolley, trolleys | Leave a comment

A tale of three lodgers: human, rodent, and crustacean (Rousse)

Posted on November 11, 2014 by Dreamaticus

OC was still our lodger – almost 30 years since he first moved in wth us. Would he ever leave?! TPR and I pondered this question as we gazed out of the bedroom window and observed the lilies visibly sprouting … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged bedroom, crustacean, evict, frame, garden, grow, human, leave, lilies, lodger, lodgers, mouse, pond, prawn, rodent, rot, window, woodwork | Leave a comment

Secret sex with students (Rousse)

Posted on November 10, 2014 by Dreamaticus

X wanted to move to the same Californian seaside town where I had settled. The first job he took there was as a waiter, but he had an eye on something more exciting – teaching watersports to children. I tried … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged breakfast, California, car park, cereal, cereals, children, clothing, dress, dresses, food, forget, free, job, money, muesli, order, save, sea, seaside, secret, sex, shore, sleep, student, students, summer, TPR, waiter, watersports | Leave a comment

Child thieves adopt boy scout disguise in cash raids on Lake District hotels (Rousse)

Posted on November 9, 2014 by Dreamaticus

On the final day of the conference in the Lake District I packed my bag, checked in online for my flight to Amsterdam, and then wandered down to the hotel dining room to ask for a sandwich (in French). Although … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Amsterdam, baby, bag, basket, beach, boy, bread, bridge, cash, change, check, cheese, chef, child, children, climb, conference, criminal, criminals, departure, dining, dip, disguise, distance, EasyJet, filling, flight, flights, French, ham, hotel, hotels, hunt, husband, kitchen, Lake District, leader, lunch, March, motto, ornament, plane, planes, pouch, promise, raid, raids, ringleader, roll, room, sand, sandwich, scout, seed, skyscraper, staff, swim, thief, thieves, tourist, tourists, view, waiter, walk, warm, water, west | Leave a comment

Tibetan monks in icy ponds, packs of dogs on snowfields, and a wrong turn to the Blairgowrie 10k (Rousse)

Posted on November 8, 2014 by Dreamaticus

NP, DT, WB and I were all running in the Blairgowrie 10K. We were supported by TPR, JM, SF, my parents and C the cocker spaniel. We drove up the A9 in separate cars. I was in the back seat … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 10k, admit, BBC, Blairgowrie, broadcast, car, cocker, council, destination, dogs, drive, estate, highland, ice, journey, line, lost, mistake, monks, mountains, outskirts, packs, parents, participate, play, ponds, race, Radio 4, run, seat, signal, snow, snowfields, spaniel, starting, Stilo, Tibetan, turn, turning, visit, wrong | Leave a comment

Back to the future (Belle)

Posted on November 6, 2014 by Dreamaticus

It was the 1980s again and I was living in an abandoned sweatshop on Brick Lane with a much better version of my (worst ever) boyfriend. He’d become a nice person and I had a really great haircut and … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged boyfriend, Brick Lane, haircut, miners, Scritti Politti, seatshop, tattoo | Leave a comment

University of Birmingham stages reconstruction of Manor House fire (Rousse)

Posted on November 4, 2014 by Dreamaticus

The Manor House reunion served several purposes. First, it was a chance for old undergraduate friends to meet up again. Second, it gave the fire service an opportunity to stage a reconstruction of the recent arson attack. Third, senior female … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged arson, attack, baby, Birmingham, Birmingham University, boasr, buildings, bump, distress, Euston, female, fire, flames, Friends, futuristic, hall of residence, home, Manchester University, Manor House, meet, mother, nephew, Northfield, public engagement, reconstruction, staff, stage, station, undergraduate, university, University of Birmingham, University of Manchester, work | Leave a comment