Goodness

Eight days have passed. Its been busy. I'll be with you in a minute.

Bright Lights and Theivery

After a busy and sad week last week, Slinx and I made a rare trip to the West Madlands. To be specific Walsall. Keen eyed readers with good memories will remember that this is the home of an excellent butcher, an enormous amount of pubs, a not very good football team, the highest percentage of teenage pregnancies vis a vis population and currently, my Mother.

The trip was three fold in purpose. Firstly I wished to take the ever lovely Slinx to see some of this authors history. Secondly it was to take my Mother a gift of a personal computer and introduce her to the Interweb for almost the first time and thirdly to visit the very famous Walsall Illuminations. Or as the locals call them 'The hallucinations'

Now don't say you have never heard of them. Indeed stop saying "what Walsall? In Poland? Your ignorance of the parts of Staffordshire known as the black country is shocking. Then again I had never heard of Coppull either until I just looked it up. Its in Cumbria. Come to think of it, where's Cumbria? And what's it for?

Now. The Walsall Illuminations are held for a month or two every year in the Walsall Arboretum. The Arboretum is a large park in the town with a lake or two, paths, green bits, tennis courts, bowling greens and at least one bandstand. In the summer its home mostly to drunks and the occasional dog walker. In the winter people first started 'lighting up' in 1872 and on and off this happened until 18982. After that it seemed people got bored and decided to go to the pub instead and the practice died off. Someone must have remembered as in 1950 it was started again and has been happening ever since.

I bet the people of Walsall don't know that Arboretum actually means.."A place where an extensive variety of woody plants are cultivated for scientific, educational, and ornamental purposes." (Dictionary.com)

I bet they do know that its second only to Blackpool Illuminations in this country. Its a smorgasboard of bulbs, tableaux, strings of light and laser shows. Its bloody good actually. And it has a fairground in the middle.

Slinx bought a pair of flashing bunny ears to wear around the park. I agreed that's its not fair to let children have all the fun.

The night was finished by a great Chinese meal with some old friends of mine. If your up in that area you can't go much worse than eating at 'Simons on the Chester Road near Aldridge.

The Unexpected Case of the Stolen Pound Coin

I had an unplanned day off today. It was unplanned in the sense that I only decided to have it last night. I felt a sniffle coming on and not to put to fine a point on I felt knackared. A good sleep and a make myself useful day beckoned.

As part of this theme I visited that national institution B&Q. These purveyors of home improvement and hardware tools were going to sell me some loft insulation. Yes, its true. I too think of such mundane subjects as keeping warm sometimes.

As I parked up a man was unloading his shopping trolley which I noted contained packs of laminated flooring into a wholly unremarkable maroon ford car. He to was wholly unremarkable with wispy hair and I'm afraid to say a neatly trimmed, ginger, Nigel Mansell styled mustache. I waited a few moments for him to unload and with a polite smile he gave me his empty trolley. I reached in my pocket and handed him a pound coin as at this particular branch of the hardware shop 'trolley theft is obviously rife. You need a coin to release a trolley from its neighbors.

He took the coin and said thank you. I trolleyed on and shopped.

You can guess the rest can't you. I purchased the insulation and filled my car with it and then returned the trolley to the pack.

Guess what? My trolley was broken and had no pound coin to eject. In fact the mechanism was broken so it couldn't be used.

What a shylock!

And one that thought quickly on his feet at that.

That's my pound that is, and I'd like it back. Watch out for the man with the mustache at B&Q. I bet he does it every day, dozens of times.

One other thing. There is a nice Turkish chap outside this particular shop that sells hamburgers, teas and hotdogs from a van. Being a touch peckish I sampled his wares. Inside his little kiosk was a sign. The sign read "B&Q employees please note that from next week tea and coffee will be 50p"

I wondered if it were an old sign and as such that week was last week. Or whether it was placed weeks ago and every week impoverished employees had to plead with the man that it couldn't have gone up because next week is, well next week and not this week.

What did tea cost last week. Was it more or less?

This world sometimes confuses me.

Other Momentous News

My Brother who lives far away in Seattle America has conspired with his wife Kristy to grow a child. Liana Morgan Palmer was born a few days ago. Good luck to her for at least the next 90 years or thereabouts. I wonder if she will be another reader?

TG

Mouse: The Cat: 1996 - 2004: Approx

Mouse was a noble black and white cat about eight years old. Age is often a mute point with cats. He was always bit odd, even when he was a kitten, but he was my friend, and others to. I know he was only a 'furry friend' but I shall miss him an awful lot.

It seems he didn't have proper kidneys. Then again I'm surprised I do.

He left for good. Today.

Normal blogging will resume after a moment or two of silence.

I'm burying him in the garden in the morning at dawn. With a view.

Please paws for thought, especially if you knew him.

I will.

Thank you

TG

Update Today

I have added the second part of the Ibiza story below.. Scroll down for part two.

It seemed more sensible than adding part two above part one...