Suing CalMac for ruining ‘holiday of a lifetime’ (Rousse)

We disembarked the CalMac ferry in Stornoway and stood on the dock to wait for the staff to bring our bikes up from the car deck. It soon became evident that the bikes were no longer stowed below. Eventually we discovered that they had been thrown overboard into the sea, just as the boat came into port.

Some way along the coast, we saw random bike frames and wheels tossing about in the waves. We waded into the water to search for our own bikes, but they were nowhere to be seen. Instead, I picked up a 3-gear girl’s bike from the 1970s. This would have to do for the time being.

TPR also found a temporary steed. He rushed back to Stornoway to hire a top maritime lawyer. We would sue Calmac for ruining our ‘holiday of a lifetume’.

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Hanged for minor misdemeanours (Rousse)

In my new life, in my new town, I immersed myself in voluntary activities. First, I helped out at the public library, and then served on the school board.

My main priority, however, was to outlaw the archaic practice of punishing youngsters for their minor dismeanours by public hanging.

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Pyjama party for the blue-haired (Rousse)

While her husband K was out of town with the children, DTJ hosted a party for her girlfriends.

I felt very out of place in my cotton dress amongst the blue-haired, pyjama-clad youngsters.

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Monkey in a motorhome (Rousse)

With my sister at the wheel of our motorhome, we were driving south through France to the drop off my niece A and her partner D at a ski resort. It was a wonder that we weren’t killed en route. My sister insisted on driving on the left hand side of the road, forcing the oncoming vehicles to cross the carriageway to avoid colliding with us.

Unfortunately the tiny 4-inch high monkey (seated with us on the back seat) didn’t survive the journey. Somehow it got trapped under one of the other passengers. The first sign of its distress was bleeding from the eyes. Soon afterwards its entire body disintegrated into a bloody blob.

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John Peel, the Cure, and the B-52s (Rousse)

John Peel and I discussed interesting beats in pop songs. I moved the conversation on to two of my favourites: A forest by The Cure, and Planet Claire by the B-52s.

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The pretend polyglot (Belle)

I met a man at a party who claimed he spoke ‘many languages’. When I asked for an example, he said “Modern Hieroglyphics”.

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Hotel cutlery ‘extras’ (Rousse)

‘Are you insured?’ asked the hotel manager.

TPR looked up from his plate of parma ham and Hollandaise sauce. Why did she need to know this?

‘It’s just that we noticed on the CCTV from last night’s dinner service that you use your knife and fork with a great deal of force. This probably explains that damage to our crockery over the duration of your stay with us.’

It sounded like an ‘extra’ was about to be added to our hotel bill.

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Hotel house Womble greets guests (Rousse)

As the two-foot tall house Womble wandered the hotel corridors, he hailed every guest with a handshake and the cheery greeting: ‘Remember you’re a Womble!’

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Mother and daughter Cosmopolitan cover girls (Rousse)

Hidden in the pile of ancient copies of Cosmopolitan were three issues of particular interest. My mother – aged about 35 – featured as the magazine’s cover girl on two of them, and my sister S on the third. They both looked fabulous, but I had some questions:

  1. How had this come about?
  2. Why had I never known about this?
  3. What kind of magic went into the makeovers to transform my nearest and dearest into beauty queens?

My third question was answered by a photographer: clever lighting and camera angles.

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SWAT team descends on market in terrorist hunt (Rousse)

I could easily take the safe route home past the university, alongside the privileged students. So why did I periodically abandon all caution to walk through the rough market, squeezing my way along the narrow streets in a crush of the poor and marginalised?

Not so that I could be gunned down by a SWAT team hunting down terrorists, as turned out to be the case on this occasion.

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