Flying on Air Force One – but not sleeping with the president (Rousse)

Posted on September 14, 2017 by Dreamaticus

I flew the international skies on Air Force One as a member of the US president’s core team. Unlike LM, however, I was not also sleeping with the leader of the free world.

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Vertical paragliding (Rousse)

Posted on September 10, 2017 by Dreamaticus

My neighbour’s AS’s hobby was vertical paragliding. He’d come back from work, attach his rainbow silks, and shoot into the sky above our building.

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Early for the bus (Rousse)

Posted on September 10, 2017 by Dreamaticus

I put on my long black cashmere coat, hoisted my rucksack over my shoulders, and headed out of the door to the bus stop. I could see a number 11 coming down the hill, but didn’t manage to reach it in time because an elderly couple was blocking the pavement.

I waited a long time at the bus stop in the cold. Thank goodness for the pair of the gloves that I found buried in my coat pockets. It was only when I checked my watch did I discover why there was so little traffic on the road. I’d left the house far too early for work: it was only 3:00am.

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Balderdash, chocolate buttons and Amelia Earhart (Rousse)

Posted on September 7, 2017 by Dreamaticus

I had to interrupt this ridiculous game of Balderdash. Why did anyone ever get the impression that it was a straight general knowledge quiz?

So what if Amelia Earhart was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic? More interesting would be alternative explanations for her fame read out loud, followed by a vote.

I organised everyone around the table for a practice round, with Cadbury dairy milk chocolate buttons served as an alternative to breakfast.

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The black-haired fake Beatle (Rousse)

Posted on September 7, 2017 by Dreamaticus

My sisters-in-law had given my husband a make-over. His hair was now dyed jet black and flopped over his ears Beatle-style. He looked ridiculous, but nobody was allowed to say so out loud.

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Building fake pillar boxes for reasons unknown (Belle)

Posted on September 6, 2017 by Dreamaticus

My mission was to place four red pillar boxes around the local area in a way that they would attract no attention at all. Using a mouthful of screws and two tiny screwdrivers I completed the task but realised later that I had positioned one as if it was waiting at a bus-stop.  Knowing that the crime of ‘messing with the Royal Post Office’ was taken very seriously, I set out to undo all my good work.

I evaded my assassin by becoming French as soon as I ran through the fire doors.

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To a school reunion by tricycle (Rousse)

Posted on September 6, 2017 by Dreamaticus

I caught FW on a tricycle heading along the cut between our house and garden. She’d got in through a gap in the fence caused by JS’s poor stewardship.

FW was embarrassed to have been apprehended on her way to the school reunion, all the way from the US. However, her shame was lessened when I revealed my identity and told her that I would be at the reunion too.

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Full moon in seaside spectacle (Rousse)

Posted on September 6, 2017 by Dreamaticus

TPR was impatient that we leave as soon as possible so as not to miss the spectacle of the full moon over the sea.

I packed my bikini and a spare jumper then jumped into the back of the car with my colleagues AL and IMcG. AL admitted his well-disguised Portuguese heritage to us all and for the first time I could hear it in his speech. IMcG shared menus from a recent meal that he had enjoyed in a French restaurant. I noticed the prices of the dishes. We would never pay so much for our supper.

TPR drove us through the dark to a house above the cliffs. There we waited until the moon rose. At the appointed time we grabbed our warmer clothes and cameras to head to the beach. TPR kindly helped my colleague DG put on her coat.

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Unsatisfactory Austrian holiday experience (Rousse)

Posted on September 3, 2017 by Dreamaticus

It was a difficult flight. On several occasions the plane nose-dived and we feared for our lives, so we were relieved when we spotted the helicopter escort that would lead us into the Austrian village. It wasn’t too difficult to disembark from our landing spot, half way up the tree in which the plane dangled.

I raced to get to the front of the check-in line at hotel reception. I needn’t have bothered because everyone but us was registered on a single accommodation voucher, and the person who held those details reached reception before me.

We spent much of the first day of our holiday in a craft shop. The owners were clearly amateurs in shop design. When I climbed up a set of shelves to look at a porcelain ornament the whole structure came away from the wall because nobody had bothered to secure it.

Belle and I was amused to discover that a newly appointed shop assistant had just arrived from Leyburn in the Yorkshire Dales, and knew of CB.

The next day we were meant to be continuing our holiday in Turkey, but I slept beyond the time by which we were meant to join everyone else for the coach journey.

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The wrath of Florence (Rousse)

Posted on August 31, 2017 by Dreamaticus

SS pulled me back.

‘Don’t venture down the executive corridor’ she cautioned, ‘Unless your are prepared to face the wrath of Florence’.

This intrigued me – and I decided to risk it. I continued through the double doors and past Florence’s desk. She glared at me, annoyed that I was yet another person using her work space as a thoroughfare.

I pointed out that if she turned her desk around to face the wall, she was less likely to be disturbed.

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