When I took down all the posters from my office walls it was obvious that I would need to call Facilities and ask for the whole room to be repainted. There was even student graffiti to remove. Fortunately I would be away for a couple of months, so this job could be done during my absence.
I put in my office repaint job request by email using a computer keyboard that had only two keys: escape and P.
I couldn’t believe it. I caught my mother reading a book about decluttering!
KT left her seat and took to the stage. Then the rest of the choir pushed out through the door to the right of me, poured down the main aisle and climbed the steps to line up behind the star singer.
BK, who was orchestrating the whole folk festival, introduced the act. Then KT’s voice sang out across the audience. Everyone was spellbound: many could not believe that this woman was a mere amateur.
My mother was amongst a few who did not recognise KT in the spotlight. I explained that KT looked different because she was wearing goofy false teeth and a tight, busty bodice as part of her role.
We returned to Northfield, Birmingham to visit S and NY and family, all crammed into our old two-bedroomed house.
The neighbourhood was much smarter than in our day, largely due to the conversion of the former rat run into a quiet cul de sac, and the building of new houses to replace their shabby predecessors. For example, a beautiful pale-blue painted wooden chalet had been constructed where T and M’s old house once stood.
The demolition work in the surrounding area also opened up the views to the stone circle in the near distance. However, best of all, was the brand new science museum at the end of the street. If I still lived in Abbeydale Road, I’d spend all my free time there. This was especially attractive now that I knew that MS could be found there too, and that he was often up for a wee kiss and cuddle with me amongst the exhibits.
I was so strong that the National Trust (NT) employed me on a regular basis to carry the back end of a Land Rover over rough ground.
On this occasion the NT staff were patrolling a site of outstanding natural beauty on a cliffy peninsula. The sandy beaches and Caribbean blue coves below were very popular with holiday-makers, despite the dangerous access.
I did all I could to keep hold of the vehicle as it trundled down the steep sandy path, but eventually my strength gave way and I went tumbling over the edge of the track. If I hadn’t also trained as a champion rock climber, I would surely have crashed to my death on the rocks below.
I saw two athletes with a tandem racing bike on Princes Street, Edinburgh. The wheels of their steed were the same size as those on the front of a penny farthing bicycle.
Just outside the Balmoral Hotel, the lycra-clad stoker was struggling to mount the back seat. This looked an impossible feat.
I was reading the cast list and costume requirements for the ice spectacular. The main character was described as “… the famous monkey detective, with his eight fur coats and stetson hat”. I almost hugged myself in delight.
One of the advantages of working at CERN was that you could leave your laptop lying around anywhere, safe in the knowledge that nobody would be interested in stealing it.
PC and SA cleared out the unused contents of their house. I had never seen such an impressive collection of clutter.
My favourite item amongst the mess of random objects was a sad, faded yellow, wooden Pelham puppet trapped in a tangle of its own strings.
I had my eyes on a giant 1970s yellow melamine convector heater. Even though it was the size of a large kitchen table, I thought that it would look fabulous in our flat.
I just had to find a way of sneaking the device out of my parents’ house without the knowledge of my sisters.
Dreamaticus 