“Either he's dead or my watch has stopped.”

Lazy sod! Me that is. A sudden burst of posting and then a week of nothing. I'm back into my work routine and unfortunately I can see my wasting of my days off falling back into place. One good thing however is I feel a whole lot more positive, that sense of dread and doom that often totally disabled me is thankfully missing (at least for the moment - wait until the full blast of winter hits you!) - Hey ! stay cheerful!

Whilst in Vancouver we had a night of storms and the next day the power was out. (This seems to be quite common in a land of so many trees). Consequently I had an interesting day of experiencing the modern life style sans electricity, no shops no music, no heat. Actually the whole day was really enjoyable, thankfully Barbara had a ready supply of candles and boardgames. One bonus was the view of the night sky, without the light pollution , the stars were beautiful ( even to me with my night blindness!)

“A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world.” - Oscar Wilde

“If you've heard this story before, don't stop me, because I'd like to hear it again.” - Groucho Marx

(Angel of the North anyone???)


Whilst I was away quite a few things changed at work. Three new members of staff, and enough subtle little changes to make the place feel quite fresh. It isn't the same place it was a year ago for sure. One thing that has really cheered me up is my colleagues genuine interest in my holiday, and even more so in my relationship with Barbara. Some were (honestly) quite worried that I would be the victim of an Internet serial killer (how sweet and or frightening!)

Anyway back to my flight, I watched three movies and a few TV shows (the Simpson's Movie was so disappointing, funny yes, but not quite the event I expected). Unfortunately when we landed at Vancouver the cloud was so low that the mountains to the North of the airport I was so looking forward to seeing were completely invisible - disappointing yes but who cares, I was in bloody Canada! woo hoo!

The baggage Carousel area was strangely deserted, likewise passport control. As I passed through the doors into the Airport proper (where only weeks before a poor Polish man had been tasered by the RCMP and died) I was greeted by a most wonderful sight, the Wonderful Barbara Hultberg, whom until that point was a voice and a mental image, in living breathing "real world-o-vision". Without wanting to sound big-headed, I have never seen anyone so pleased to see me in my whole life, She actually ran to me, and as we hugged and I felt so very very happy ( I was tempted to ruin that last sentence with a sarcastic comment, but sod it, it was simply great!).

“Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.” - Buddha

“Why don't they make the whole plane out of that black box stuff.” - Steven Wright

Despite feeling pretty good last night, as soon as it came time to go to bed, I felt so alone, and so cold! You may think I'm wallowing in self pity, and I am, but isn't that what blogs are? personal?

The flight from Amsterdam to Vancouver was about 10 hours, but the journey to a destination is, for me at least, shortened somewhat by the excitement of arriving (and of course the trip home is correspondingly lengthened!)

I was only a few rows back from business class, and those empty seats seemed such a crime to us sardines in economy! The on board entertainment was excellent. I assume it was like a giant DVR, with a huge selection of TV shows, movies, and music, plus some fairly decent games, and that map view that I love (although I could have done without the accompanying Muzak!) The drinks were plentiful too (I don't mean just alcohol!). I suddenly realised about an hour or two into the flight, that I'd forgot to put on my flight socks! I'd wished I hadn't worn lace up converse boots as I struggled in the toilet to get into my protection against a rogue blood clot!)

more soon...


Stick with this clip, it's long but fascinating!





“I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn't arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I'm going to be happy in it.” - Groucho Marx

“Experience is the name every one gives to their mistakes.” - Oscar Wilde

Well that wasn't so bad!

glumbert - Charleston to the Daft Punk

“Thinking is easy, acting is difficult, and to put one's thoughts into action is the most difficult thing in the world.” - Goethe

“To talk much and arrive nowhere is the same as climbing a tree to catch a fish”

It's after two in the morning.

I went to bed earlier but couldn't sleep (plus I needed to go to the toilet!) So I'm just going to sit here for a while until I get very tired.
(I put this sudden insomnia down to going back to work later today, plus my melancholy over missing Barbara)

Let me tell you something of my trip to Vancouver.
I flew with KLM from Newcastle via Amsterdam. It was so much more pleasant than previous trips, none of that nasty bus from terminal to terminal, plus Schipol has some lovely shops and facilities (sadly my none existent budget meant I couldn't really sample any of them!) and a more cosmopolitan feel than Heathrow and Gatwick (which is blatantly untrue if you think about it - duh!).

It amazes me that although you are checked when entering the Airport , after that you are essentially on your own (and in my case quite literally - I did feel I was quite the solo jet setter, at least as much as economy class would allow anyway). Even though I was amongst thousands of people (remind me to mention the contrast with Vancouver later!) I felt completely alone. The thought of travelling thousands of miles to see someone, that although I felt I knew quite well, I had technically never met before, was a little frightening (let me assure you gentle reader, that any such fear was unfounded, and apart from an initial little problem with eye contact, I felt as though I'd known Barbara for years!)

to be continued...

glumbert - Canada Apologizes to America

“Man who waits for roast duck to fly into mouth must wait very, very long time.” - Chinese proverb

“Alcohol preserves everything except secrets”

Wednesday : post number 2

The cost of living, at least from my brief experience, seems a lot cheaper in Canada. One strange difference I noticed however is the cost of alcohol (off sales I mean, I have no idea how much alcohol costs in a pub/club in the UK). For some reason alcohol can only be purchased in dedicated liquor stores, which are not quite the same as our "off licenses" and seem to be mostly attached to pubs. The prices are significantly higher too, about 30-40% I'd say. It was strange going into a huge supermarket, but not seeing an alcohol aisle at all. However this one glitch doesn't cancel out the cheaper prices of services, food, electrical goods, cars, housing etc etc.
By the way don't let this cheery post fool you, I remain supremely grumpy and unhappy!

(Ironically I spilled a conciliatory alcoholic drink on my keyboard upon my return - now I only have occasional use of control, K, 0, and right shift , and f9 has ceased to function at all - ha!)

glumbert - James Brown Dance Lessons

“No drug, not even alcohol, causes the fundamental ills of society. If we're looking for the source of our troubles, we shouldn't test people for drugs, we should test them for stupidity, ignorance, greed and love of power.” - P.J. O'Rourke

“You know what makes my problems bigger then everyone else's? They're mine!”

I'm still in between realities.
I dread returning to work tomorrow, and I'm paralysed by post holiday blues. I know that all those memories will eventually become treasured, but whenever I think of being in Canada with Barbara, still only a few days ago, It almost hurts, I want to be back there so much.
Today I've been sitting for hours feeling numb (not literally of course). Snap out of it! (I don't really want too!)

On a purely touristy note, Vancouver is a beautiful city and really quite compact, and what I saw of British Columbia, though often shrouded in cloud sadly, was equally beautiful. I know it's a cliche, but almost everyone I met there had such a friendly air, politeness seems like second nature there.

We went to see Sondre Lerche, and this clip is from that actual performance.

(He started late, and our true middle agedness came out when we became so worried about still catching the last bus home!)

“Madness is to think of too many things in succession too fast, or of one thing too exclusively” - Voltaire

“Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.”

At last - here I am again. I suppose you'd expect my first post to be about the fantastic time I had (and the time I had was a fantastic one readers) but first I wanted to let you know about my personal experience with jet lag. I'd planned on posting as soon as I got home on Sunday evening. When I arrived home however I still didn't know what day it was never mind stringing together a lucid report. Two full days later I just about feel awake enough. Two days off wasted!

The previous two weeks to me, were not so much a holiday as a glimpse at how fun and enjoyable life could and should be, thanks Barbara, not only for being a wonderful and generous host, but for being lovely in general.

More soon , I promise.

“I refer to jet lag as 'jet-psychosis' — there's an old saying that the spirit cannot move faster than a camel.” - Spalding Gray

“I love talking about nothing. It is the only thing I know anything about.”

Well contrary to the popular belief of my work colleagues , Canada did not greet me with Arctic conditions. The weather here is exactly like I left at home. - see, I told you so!

Special thanks to Frank, for getting me to the airport. at the risk of being late himself.

I had lot to drink last night, including some Jim Beam, which I actually enjoyed (I can only tolerate spirits as a mixer!) I danced for the first time in nearly two years, and boy did I feel old. Where as once I could dance for hours at a time , after a few songs I was out of breath. Nevertheless today I feel okay.

The weather on arrival was atrocious with cloud all the way down to the ground. Which means I saw nothing of the city skyline, or the mountains, but it's early days...

“"But I don't want to go among mad people," said Alice. "Oh, you can't help that," said the cat. "We're all mad here."”

Come fly with me!

Well hello! for what might be the last post for a few weeks. Yes of course I'm off to Canada tomorrow (as opposed to Canda, which was where I got all my clothes in the 1970's ! - did any one get that obscure reference?).

I got up at 6am today to check in on-line. All I can say is blimey! there are some early risers out there, half the plane was full and of course all the extra leg room seats were gone ( I am six foot two after all!). If anyone cares to look at an Airbus 330 seating plan, I'm in 14b.

Work was just a dimly remembered blur, I was out of there ASAP, but rather unexpectedly there were some very genuine and touching goodbyes to me, Awwww!

I'm off to see my Daughter for the last time (before I fly!) and then I'll have a few hours to do all the stuff I should have done sooner, like pack!!!

If inspiration strikes, see you later if not see you in a couple of weeks.

Billy has left the building.

I love this song, and the video is simply perfect.

"I'm explaining to you because you look nervous."

"I'm not nervous. Well, maybe I was a bit...concerned but that's not the same thing"