Hi all
Thanks for the kind words.
I had hoped to have a quiet day but things did not go to plan.
Yesterday was a very interesting and enjoyable day and although it included some travelling on the motorways, traffic was fairly light and free flowing so no particular hassles there.
Today was supposed to be a bit laid back and restful but with another holiday weekend looming I just had to fit another visit in that could not wait any longer. Normally a straightforward journey, but I knew I was in for a bit of bovver when I joined the M25 immediately in a barely moving four lane queue. Where on earth had all these people come from and where were they going? Unfortunately my journey involved a couple of sections of the A3 and M3 as well and the story was the same on each of them. The return journey was no better but I managed to go cross country in some places which shaved a bit off the journey time.
So I spent much my Birthday checking out the exhaust pipes of big 10 wheelers and listening to the radio. I tried to start a conversation with the lady in the satnav but I didn't get very far with that.
I had some nice presents from the kids. One put together a basket of retro sweets which is very nice. I cannot remember when I last had a Flying Saucer or a Sherbet Fountain but they still taste pretty good and I am looking forward to the boiled sweets, Refreshers, Coconut Ice, Nougat and a Wham Rocket. I am not sure what a Wham Rocket does but it does look a bit like a firework, so perhaps I am meant to light it rather than eat it, but I will soon find out what the effect is and either way I think it will be explosive.
My other offspring gave me a set of presentation beers, which look pretty tasty, together some Liquorice Allsorts.
So it seems one is trying to fatten me up and then blow me up and the other is feeding me all the ingredients of a prolonged trip to the loo. Bless them
So here I am, Birthday finished for another year, but I don't feel that much different now to how I did twenty or thirty years ago. The body has slowed down a bit and I cannot do some of the things I used to but not much else seems to have changed significantly. My outlook on the World is the same as it ever was, although perhaps a tad more cynical over the years, and I see things and sense things in the same way as I always have done so it is not really too surprising that I do not feel any different.
With my birthday moving forever further away into the past and the next one now fast approaching, I am sitting at my computer, devouring Retro Sweets with alarming amounts of sugar in them, swigging special beers and checking that the loo is well stocked with the door open and ready for quick access. Sugar, Sherbet and Flying Saucer flakes find their way down between the keys on the keyboard washed down by the odd splash of high octane beer, Train Simulator 2013 loaded in the background and the steady reassuring whirr of the computer provides a restful ambience.
All this plus good wishes from family, friends and my UKTS friends .... to hell with the M25, this is the life and a birthday that turned out very nicely in the end
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