Child criminal caught red-handed at Paris airport (Rousse)

Posted on October 30, 2016 by Dreamaticus

We had just landed in Paris on a flight from Copenhagen when I noticed that my red rucksack had gone missing. Then I saw it, in the hands of a small French girl. I knew that it was mine because I had attached a rare Sun Microsystems Sunrise club label to the handle. The little girl claimed that it was hers because she had scribbled her name on it.

I grabbed the bag and tipped it out – only to find that it contained the child’s dirty clothing. Even if the bag was mine, clearly its contents were not. So what had become of all my belongings?

Another passenger caught up with me, pulled an unusually shaped portable video camera out of his pocket, and displayed some footage on a nearby screen. This showed the child stealing my bag in Copenhagen. Now we had the evidence to prosecute her – and/or her father (who, conveniently, was sitting well out of the way, working on his laptop).

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A slow ride to France (Rousse)

Posted on October 28, 2016 by Dreamaticus

I set off on holiday to France with AS in my red Peugeot 205. TPR and AS’s wife would join us later.

Over the course of three days we only drove the distance from Edinburgh to Darlington. We suspected that this was something to do with my little sister. She appeared to have drained my car battery to power the latest tour by her band.

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Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen at the National Library of Scotland (Rousse)

Posted on October 28, 2016 by Dreamaticus

Sitting side by side on the wide staircase of the National Library of Scotland were Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen. Doing my best to hide my surprise at finding the pair of them there, I risked stepping closer to check for certain that I wasn’t mistaken.

Yes, these two musical heroes were having a chat on Scottish turf, and – to my complete surprise – Dylan had a terrible stutter.

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North west Scotland serves up a tropical treat (Rousse)

Posted on October 23, 2016 by Dreamaticus

We’d never known weather like this in the far north west of Scotland. It felt like the Caribbean. DT, TPR and I played for hours splashing about in the beautiful clear water next to the boat.

When it was time to leave we did as much as we could to help our host repack the remains of the picnic. For some reason the wine bottles took up more space in the cane basket when empty than they did when full.

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Mis-sold holiday accommodation (Rousse)

Posted on October 22, 2016 by Dreamaticus

AT, JS, TPR and I opened the locker and pulled out the carrier bags of food. Would our sandwiches have survived three days? What about the two tubs of ice cream? Would it have melted?

We loaded everything onto our bikes then cycled over to the house that JMH had hired for the holiday. She had sold it to us with a promise of acres of space and marvellous views. It was true that we had an entire floor of the building to ourselves, but the view of a tractor in a field and Sainsburys across the road was hardly enthralling.

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Adele: opening keynote singer (Rousse)

Posted on October 22, 2016 by Dreamaticus

The conference delegates turned to face the runway in the centre of the room. I followed their gaze to the plump woman with a microphone in her hand. How exciting that Adele was the keynote singer! Although I barely knew her work, I wondered whether she would be willing to sign autographs later?

This certainly pepped up a conference where the most excitement to date was a leak that dripped over the bunch of techie boys (including AH), who would later be speaking on digital marketing.

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Australia unappreciated (Rousse)

Posted on October 18, 2016 by Dreamaticus

I took a coach trip across Southern Australia. My travelling companion was a deaf old man. I tried to ignore him by reading a comic. I rarely looked out of the window and so was unable to really enjoy the passing scenery.

I wish that I could have fully appreciated the changing landscape of flat desert sands, lush pasture, and stony mountain ranges.

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Privacy at risk in doctor-patient relationship (Rousse)

Posted on October 18, 2016 by Dreamaticus

I upset my whole family by refusing to allow them to attend my medical consultation. I was upset because the doctor invited TK to give his expert opinion on my mental health.

Whatever happened to privacy in the doctor-patient relationship?

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A new baby and sticky prawn salad (Rousse)

Posted on October 16, 2016 by Dreamaticus

As the boat set sail for a tour of the harbour (£40 per person) SPL went into labour. How would she cope with a new baby at her age?

Back home again I was making a mess wherever I went. For example, I managed to spill sticky prawn salad over the carpet. This led me into a conversation with TPR about a long-overdue house move – although we’d need to do a lot of work before putting the flat on the market.

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Interesting impending divorce makes up for boring birthday party and bookcase (Rousse)

Posted on October 13, 2016 by Dreamaticus

HW’s daughter’s 21st birthday party was dreadfully dull, as was N and SY’s bookcase.

It was interesting, however, to learn that restaurateurs VC and CC were on the brink of divorce.

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