Selling the farm.....

...house.

Arrived back in the UK a while ago after a very interesting journey back. Started off waiting at Golfito airport for the little plane.

Golfito Airport

12 seater to San Jose.

While sitting in the shade waiting for the flight to San Jose I couldn't help projecting ahead to the change in flights at San Jose and Atlanta. From a beautiful little airport with a view of the rainforrest to a small international pretty generic airport to a great sprawling mass where passengers are treated like cattle and herded to the right places. Know where I prefer to wait.
Had a new excuse for a delayed flight in the Delta leg from Atlanta to Chicago, had a plane but no crew. Delayed for nearly 3 hours. You would thing that in the airlines home base they would be able to rustle up a crew a bit quicker than that....

Anyway back to the so called civilisation of Cornwall, with all the stupid rules and regulations that seem to restrict the people more and more, to get the house sold. The missus finally managed to sign and deliver the sale documents to the lawyer, Peter Fitzmaurice of Borlase and Company, bit of free advertising there, meaning we have accepted an offer.

The buyer then had his survey done and has come up with a whole host of problems, from needing the chimney swept to rising damp in one wall. He also brought along horror stories regarding environment agency rules and water treatment plants. Talking to Pete about this he says not to worry as the agency is so backlogged at present they are reacting to polution problems rather than looking at places with no problems.

Have been ringing around to get quotes for work needing to be done but am seriously thinking of telling him to shove his offer and looking again. Probably won't as I want to get the hell out of this bloody country.

The bar in Zancudo is still a very viable option as it seems that others interested are not willing to complete until the end of 08 where I want to be in by Easter. Will keep you updated with progress.


On a sporting front Millwall now have a new manager who won his first home league game in charge, maybe the turning point of the season. Cury managed to pick up a draw 4-4 at the weekend although both are still at the wrong end of the table.

A rant at the England team and setup.

Three Lions are now three pussycats, did not try last week against Croatia. All England players were roundly booed wherever they played last Saturday and thouroghly deserved it was. Did the usual, threw away the game and then fought to get back in by playing the right tactics then when all seemed well threw away a qualifing position by sitting back and willing the opposition to come on to us. Did the same during the last Euro champs letting the frogs win in injury time and then letting the portugeezers back into the game to knock us out. Same in the last 2 WC's letting a poor Brazil side beat us in Tokyo and not performing in Germany. Problem started with Sven and carried on by his inept sidekick, the ginger tosser. --- Rant over.

Leaving Paradise

I am back in San Jose after a week traveling around paradise. I have been looking at properties here and have found some beautiful places, even in the lousy weather that is October in CR.

First there was the bar, restaurant and cabinas that is the Oceano Cabinas in Zanduco in the far south of the country. This is a delightful place that starts on the only road in the town and stretches to the beach. A long narrow establishment.

The bar at the OC

The rear entrance to the bar

After a couple of days staying with Mark and Steph there I moved on to Dominical about 3 hours drive up the coast. I was shown many properties and other interesting places by Mike Wilson of the real estate company Bargain Costa Rica Real Estates. Saw some very nice places but the best was left for last. Unfortunatly it was pissing down as we arrived at the house in the afternoon so I had to imagine the views of the central valley overlooking San Isidro De General.

If I cannot land the bar in Zancudo then the house in the hills overlooking San Isidro will hopefully be my next home.

Watch this space.

Costa Rica....

Thursday I travelled down to Playa Zancudo. Hell of a trip. Started off with being told that my computer bag was too big for carry on luggage and had to be checked. Needed to hand carry the laptop and retrieve andvaluables and send it off. Then asked how much I weighed, which I thought was odd, until I saw the plane. A tiny 12 seater with 4 rows of seats immediatly behing the pilots. I was in row two in a double seat and instead of the usual lapstrap there was an extra shouldef strap that clipped onto the lapstrap. Like in a car. I could watch the pilots and the instruments all the way. FYI San Jose is at 3,000 feet and we climbed to 9,500, the single nose prop was at max revs all the way and the other dials I had no idea what they did. Landing at Golfito was a bit like landing at the old Hong Kong airport. We came in off the ocean and headed straight for the tree covered mountain. At the last minute, which with the winds almost seemed too late, we veered to the left fley in over the town and landed on a tarmac strip carved out of the rainforest. Plane pulled up by the gate, literally the gate in the fence, off-loaded the bags which were collected for me by a very friendly taxi driver and walked off of the airport. No arrivals hall although there was a building there which I guess is for departures, I'll find out next week.

Stage two was the taxi ride down the middle of the road, dodging pot holes and oncoming traffic to the 'docks' where I picked up a private ferry to Zancudo.

Golfito Dock

Andrew and his water taxi

On arrival in Zancudo, after a 30 minute trip, I was transferred to an old short wheel base landrover that had seen better days and taken to the Oceano Cabinas. A truly delightful bar, restaurant and cabinas in the heart of the sand spit that is Zancudo. (More of which later)

Wandered up and down the only road in the dark and had dinner in a little soda (Tico cafe) which consisted of the world wide staple of rice and chicken. It seems like everywhere I have travelled I have eaten a version of rice and chicken, or chicken and rice, sometimes both options are on the menu. Ended up in Bar Sussy chatting to the Spanish owner Manolo and an Argentinian who of course as soon as he found out I was English steered the conversation around to 'the hand of god'.


Walked back along the beach in the dark, dodging the trees and other flotsam left behind by the retreating tide, good job I took a torch. Fell asleep to the booming music from another bar a few yards up the street, will have to check it out tonight.

Fiesta day 8 and beyond....

Saturday day 8. Another mass assencion from the field, another 4am start. Today Keith took his daughter Kim and Dennis the weatherman flying and managed to put the balloon down in the Rio Grande and drift downriver for around half a mile before flying off to Corales. Landed in a back garden and gave the homeowners kids a ride while we pulled the balloon out of the rough prickly stuff and laid out on their back lawn. Good PR for the balloonists and great fun for the kids. For a flavour of the mass accencion take a look here.

After flying we all went to Wecks for breakfast where myself, Ray and his lady Karen took our leave and headed back to Illinois.

Arrived back around 3:30pm Sunday after a long tiring drive. Managed to wash some clothes which included my credit cards, driving licence and 90 dollars. I'll say one thing for the yank money, it cannot be destroyed by a washing machine and tumble drier.

Tuesday I left Peoria and headed to Chicago on the Peoria Charter Coach to Midway for a Wed morning flight to San Jose, Costa Rica (another 4am start). Had to spend Wednesday in San Jose as I did not make the connection for the flight down to Golfito and will take the morning one.

Had an amazing meal at a Brazilian resaurant. You can spend hours there eating at your leisure from meat carved off large skewers brought to your table. Very good food.

Fiesta day 7...

Still going strong... have not had a decent nights sleep since leaving home last Tuesday, 10 days and counting. Having too much bloody fun.

Yesterday (Day six) was the first day of 'special shapes' where they flew from the field and all the regular baloons had to fly from off field. 'Sky Angel' had a companion for the day, 'Salida del Sol@ piloted by Scott Esposito. As Scott had no crew we helped launch and land his balloon as well as 'Sky Angel'. As they landed at different times it gave us plenty of time to do both.

Some of the special shapes are pretty interesting.

There was the Brandenburg Gate

A Shamrock called Paddy

Darth Vader

And some bees kissing

Today (day seven of 4am starts) was again special shapes only there was a competition for the regular shapes. They had to fly from off field and drop a 'baggie' onto a target on the balloon field. Due to the odd winds and the 'Alberquerque box' Keith, the pilot for Sky Angel' took of south of the field, flew north, climbed and then went east, dropped lower and headed west to get himself positioned for a run south across the field. He hit just inside the first target and with his second baggie landed about a foot off the center of the big X. Scored some points, will have to wait for briefing tomorrow morning to find out how well he did.

There were some more special shapes today that did not fly yesterday including...

An American Eagle

The Orient Express

The Space Shuttle

After flying it was back to the field for another tailgate party. Someone turned up with a box of stuff called Tarantula, this was a blue Tequila drink that was bloody nice. Haveing just toooooo much fun here, I am sure I will pay for it somewhere along the line.

Fiesta day 5.

Wednesday Day 5 of Fiesta.

Went flying yesterday, Tuesday. Due to the fatality on Monday and the cancellation of all further flights, the 'brains trust' that runs fiesta decided that ALL pilots who wanted to compete for the days competition would leave the field and fly back to score on the field. This would mean 600 balloons trying to find a launch space to the north of the field, probably in the gravel pit there. Keith decided to just fly for fun, so we left from the north end of the field and flew south. We dropped low over the old field so the emmets there could take pictures and then dropped into the flood spillway and finally landed on a vacant lot.

Sky Angel

Yesterday afternoon I bought a new camera, the newest model from Cannon the SX100 IS. Checked on the internet for prices back home and found that here in the states it retails at $299 where in the UK it retails at £299. Brits are paying double the price........

Today was flags of the nations day. This means that all the international balloons could fly the flags from their home countries. Darth Vader was flying today along with some other neat balloons.

This afternoon was the Zoo party. The Alberquerque closes for the day and the balloonists take over for the afternoon. Fiesta lay on free food and drink supplied by the sponsors, Warsteiner and Admiral Nelson rum. Good excuse to have even more fun and get to meet other balloonists from all over the place. Talking to these people I get the feeling that the Fiesta days are numbered as many are concerned by the lack of landing sites due to the rapid growth of the city as well as the bumbling incompetence and down right comercialisation of the whole event. Examples of the weather predictions constantly stating low winds and good flying conditions when the pilots can see the flags around the field are standing out stiffly.

Another fun day was had by all.

Day 3 at Fiesta.

Sunday the wind was too strong to fly, although quite a few balloons did take off Keith our very experienced pilot, along with most of the other local pilots, decided that it was too wingy to fly.

Went to breakfast instead, spent the rest of the day getting ready for Monday's tailgate party. Went shopping and made lots of jelly shots while drinking beer.

Monday was competition day we were due to fly from the field and had to fly over a target site and drop a bag to score points. Again it was a bit windy but today Keith decided to fly and took a couple of crew as passengers. Wind was starting to pick up a bit but he had a landing site in mind and reached it with little bother although there were many others at the landing site where he nearly crashed into a couple of chase vehicles. Due to the wind and the Monday morning rush hour traffic, he beat us in the chase vehicle to the land site.

While we were packing up the balloon we started getting reports of a fatality. It seems that a balloon got caught on a power pole which ripped out the side of the basket and one of the paying passengers fell out. Cannot really speculate on what happened as there will be a full investigation.

This news put a bit of a dampener on the tailgate party but it went ahead anyway. Was windy to start with but by midday the sun was beating down and all jackets were shed and sunburn was kicking in. We had a 50/50 draw that turned into an impromptu raffle with many gifts donated on the spur of the moment. The profits went to the 'Balloon Historical Society' based in Taos, New Mexico. They are initially trying to protect the Stratobowl site in South Dakota where the early balloon exploration of space was carried out.
George Yost

George Yost, son of Ed Yost the father of modern ballooning, drew out the initial 50/50 tickets. The imptomptu raffle was then conducted by the pilot of Sky Angel, Keith ReevesKeith the raffle king and a lucky winner.

Fiesta time.

Left home last Tuesday morning and nearly missed the bus to the station, not sure if it was early or I was late but had to run the last 100 yards with suitcase. Got to London and went to see Millwall play Northampton in a league match, We won 2-0 and did not look too bad.

Wednesday was London to Peoria, Illinois via Detroit. No problems with getting into the US this time and even arrived in Peoria 15 minutes early.

Left Peoria early Thursday and drove to Alberquerque with an overnight stop in Elk City, Oaklahoma. Arrived Friday evening not sure what day or time it was.

Fiesta started today so we were up at 04:00 to get down to the balloon field. Wind was looking to be a problem but luckily it held off long enough to fly at 07:30. Was part of the mass assencion where up to 700 balloons took off in 3 waves.

Mass Assencion

This afternoon we went down to the Trinity site which has 2 open days per year. Trinity site is where the first atom bomb was set off. It is in a very empty part of New Mexico. All there is now is a n obelisk made of lava rock.

Trinity Site

Offer accepted

I have finally received an acceptable offer on the house. After ten months of not very much interest I finally switched estate agents and had a deluge of viewings. Eventually 3 different people were bidding against each other which helped push the price to an acceptable level.

All I have to do now is get the soon to be ex-missus to sign the forms and we can finally get divorced. I don't know why she has been sitting on the divorce papers for the last year and it is difficult to find out when all she comes out with is 'I'll have to get advice from my lawyer'. Very frustrating.

Off on holiday this week. Going ballooning in Alberquerque, New Mexico amongst other things.

Club de plungee

The first day off in Algeirs I found the local diving club down at the spa in Sidi Fredj, a couple of miles from the hotel. Needless to say I took the plunge and went diving in the med.

Terrible decision to make.

The rental of the equipment, shortie wetsuit, BCD, bottles, weightbelt came to around 8 pounds sterling. The people there while not speaking much English and my french about as bad made me feel very welcome, brotherhood of divers I'm sure.

From the surface the med looks delightful, under the water it looks like the toilet it really is. Visibility was around 2 meters and there was lots of things floation around down there. Diving off the rocks was a new experience for me and the buffeting from the surf and the tidal currents was disconcerting at first but got used to it after a little while.

Whilst initially getting my bearings and balance underwater and getting used to the current I inadvertently put my hand on a small brown spikey creature. Picked up what I thought was a thorn of some kind. Thought nothing of it at the time.

The next day while eating lunch one of my colleagues noticed a red mark in my arm which looked like a pressure mark from leaning on the table. A couple of hours later this mark had not gone and was in fact creeping up my arm and could clearly be seen to eminate from the 'thorn' I picked up diving the previous day.

Heigh-ho off to the quack, very pretty lady incidentlt, where I had an anti-toxin in the arse and a course of antibiotics for the infection. tried to go diving a couple more times but the weather and waves were not right and visibility would be zero so did not get to repeat the experience or get back there and kill one of the little things that poisoned me.

Algeirs cont...

Algeria is a police state.

There are cops and gendarmes everywhere. Tight security at the hotel and work site. Cops at every street corner and at all junctions on the motorways. Looked a real raggety outfit so not sure how effective they would be in a firefight with terrorists, but I suppose they are there for show mainly.

The hotel we stayed in was a Sheraton and probably the worst sheraton in the world. the service was pretty appaling and for the most part I had to have luke warm showers. Only once in the entire 33 day stay did I get a really hot shower, sometimes it was cold. Complained often to no avail.

Most of the people that worked in the restaurants and bars were very helpful and sometimes too attentive, while some were downright rude. Had one barman refuse to serve me unless I spoke french to him, very wierd.

Worked six days a week so did not have too spend too much time at the hotel. Took to drinking wine on the beach or by the pool on our day off.

Beach at the sheraton Algeirs.

The last month or so.

Sorry it has been so long since my last post but access to the website was blocked by the company I have just been working for in Algeria. Coupled with an extortionate internet access rate at the hotel I have had to wait until I arrived back home.

Rather than one big entry I will jot things down roughly as they happened over the last month or so.

Getting the visa for Algeria was fraught with problems, sent the forms off to a visa processing firm by royal mail with a guarenteed next day delivery on what turned out to be a day of strike action. Long story short, after 4 phone calls from me and some from the agency I was finally told that postman Pat would not redeliver the letter and I had to get somebody to pick it up from the sorting office. These delays caused me to be over a week late on the project in Algeria.

Eventually arrived in Algeirs to work on a disaster recovery project that was already 2 weeks old. Again the team was a pretty odd collection of people, there was the part Indian very British ex-government employee PM to the converted muslim Canadian. The guys I spent most time with was a Californian and a Brit from Aldershot.

Drinking buddies from Algeria. Victor and Todd.

Back to Cornwall

Home again. The job in Kuwait ended rather suddenly at the end of July so arrived home during the week and had a few pints to celebrate. Actually a bit more than a few.

Things around here don't change much, the lass that runs the Mounts is still a misery with no people skills. The county is full of emmets Wednesday was a terrible day to get home as it was Culdrose Airday, when the local navy base is open to the public. It is located on the only road from Helston to the Lizard and took me 45 minutes to do the mile past the camp.

Have been busy cutting the grass in the garden as it was left to grow while I was away, looks bloody awful now and will grow again when I go off again next week.

Leaving Kuwait early has enabled me to drop into another project immediatly, I am off to Algeria as soon a a visa is obtained.

Went around the local estate agents Friday to see if any one else can sell the house as the ones I am with at present have done nothing. I now realise why selling a house is such a traumatic experience, you have to deal with arsehole estate agents. I thaugnt lawyers were full of double speak but these clowns are in a league of their own. I had one idiot try to convince me that their sliding scale of prices that depended on the value of the property was not in effect a percentage based fee structure. He was also explaining how it was harder and therefore more expensive to sell a more expensive property. Still did not explain what extra work they had to do to justify the extra fee. Greedy bastards the lot of them. I cannot see why they just dont say it will cost x pounds to sell your house regardless of the value of that house. Rant over.

Highlight of my week..........

...was getting a haircut.

That just about sums up the excitment there is to be found in Kuwait.

Mind you it is only the third haircut that I have had overseas, and what a haircut it was. Not only did the young Indian lad spend over half an hour snipping away and then finishing off with a cut-throat razor. He then proceeded with a 5 minute scalp massage. I wondered what the hell he was doing when he started to beat me around the head. Was all ready to cuff him one but soon realised what was going on and tried to relax. After that he got out a hand massager and spent the next 5 mins doing my back as I leant forward in the chair. Very odd haircut. All for 2KD. I then bought a pair of Levi's for 4KD, not sure if that make it an expensive haircut or a cheap pair of jeans.

Back in the sandpit.

Arrived back in Kuwait last Friday morning. It only took 22 hours overnight from hotel to hotel, at least the bar in Dubai airport was open 24 hours so managed to get some Guinness during my 5 hour stopover.

Lagos - what can I say?

After a dubious start with no room at the inn and the worries raised regarding the security of the city, things turned out pretty good. Don't get me wrong, it is definitly NOT a place to visit ubless you have to, as there are few amenities or relaxation places, bars, restaurants etc. But when you try to make the best of a bad spot you can have some fun.

The people I met there, as is the case anywhere, made the place livable. They were a collection of long term ex-pats who have made Lagos their home and mainly oil workers just passing through for a few months/years with no intention of staying.

Once you scratch the surface Lagos seems to be the last wild frontier town where almost anything goes. The people are aware of the need for tight security, with armed police at the doors of the places where foreigners gather, but are pretty relaxed about the situation. It is a bit disconcerting the first time you go to a bar where you have to run the gauntlet or armed guards but after a while you just nod to them and enter, just as you do the bouncers at the pubs back home on a Saturday night.

I managed to fall on my feel and was luck that Pat's bar was just around the corner from my hotel so I could walk there and back. I met a whole collection of odd-ball characters there, I suppose you must be a little strange just to accept a contract in what most of the rest of the world considers one of the 10 most dangerous places on earth. They ranged from the ex-military from all cornerd of the empire who cannot get off the adventure trail to the young graduates looking to get on it for the first time. There were the guys who just loved the place and have taken a local wife and want to stay and create their own business, the ones that have a family back in their homeland who have taken up with a local girl as their in-country girlfriend to deflect the bipedal mosquitoes and the others who are like a kid in a candy shop and want to try a diferent sweet every time.

Then there are the bipedal mosquitoes, the bar girls. These come in roughly two flavours, the hard core working girls who are out every night looking for a mark to spend the night with at a cost of up to 10,000 Nira (£40/$80) although I have been told that you can haggle although I heard the going rate was about 8,000. A lot of these girls had travelled up from Port Harcourt in the oil fields of the Delta region once the ex-pats pulled out a few months ago once things there became too dangerous. Then there are the weekenders, the young college girls who are looking for fun, dancing and a few beers. If someone can supply these great, if they can find a foreign boyfriend so much the better. These girls ask money, as does everybody in Nigeria, for things like text books, cloths, shopping. I heard that after they get you hooked they also have a whole army of sick relatives that need taking care of. People have to be tough to get by.

On the whole like most places I have travelled to it took a little while to get into the local culture and find out just what the place is like. I feel that I was starting to understand the island when I left. I still could not see the attraction of staying for years but would not be adverse to returning to learn more. I have always thought that 3 months is the minimum needed to get a good feel of a place, as work takes up most of you time, so a month was a bit short. But still better than 2 week holiday time anywhere.

If any af the people from Pat's ever get to read this, then thanks for a great time.

Strike in Nigeria

Things in Lagos took a turn for the worse last week, a national strike was called last Tuesday night. After the newly elected civilian government was elelected a few weeks ago they tried to sell of Nigeria's oil refining capacity, double VAT and increase fuel by around 15%. The unions, or what passes for unions here, decided to add to this a demand for a 15% pay rise. After 5 days the government backed down so everybody is back to work today. Although the bipedal mosquitoes did not strike, they were as much in evidence in the bars over the weekend.

And what a weekend it was. Without the worry of having to get up for work most of the ex-pats here were in party mode. The weather and the fact that most places were closed did not dampen anybodies spirit. I had a few busy nights in Pat's bar until the wee hours and then working from the hotel during the day. Problem with that is the only place to get internet access in the hotel is in the courtyard next to the pool, very distracting. After a couple of early finishes at Pat's just in case the strike was cancelled, Friday ended up a long one, not getting back to the hotel until around 3:30.

Saturday was going to be a couple of beers while watching the rugby SA vs NZ. But as those of you that know me may already have guessed this did not happen. Watched the rugby, which was a good game, A couple of mates and I went on to what we thought was a cuban bar but as with lots of things here it had been changes. Now a regular bar called Michaels. One of the guy's girlfriend felt sorry for us two without female company so called a couple of her friends. This led to a slightly embarassing time initially as bor both the girls and us as we did not feel comfortable having two girls dumped on us. After a while while the beers flowed things relaxed and we had a good time laughing, joking and generally being a little bit silly.

Met a fellow Millwall supporter there and after a few reminisces we treated the bar to a loud rendition of 'No-one like us' to a round of applause from the staff. If we had done that at home we would have probably been asked to leave. You gotta love this country....maybe. After leaving there and returning to Pat's we packed the two girls off home in taxis and I got left with my mates girlfriend as he had to be at work for early shift Sunday. Why me? was the feeling as she nearly started a ruccus in the bar by telling a white girl that she liked her outfit - her story, or by chatting up a white girl - white girl's story. Truth as usual somewhere in between. After assuring Pat I would keep her out of mischief I managed to get her off home shortly after.

Babysitting duties over and enough ju-ju juice under my belt I hit the dance floor. After a while a few of us decided to hit another club to play pool. We ended up at YNOT a well known local haunt. I had heard of this bar and looked it over on the first night in town. It did not look up to much then but I was assured that there was another part to the club. They were right as upstairs there was a large dancefloor which had working A/C. Plus a clapped out pool table in the corner. Spent the next few hours drinking and dancing. Home around 4am. Great weekend.

Sunday, a few beers at Pat's in the afternoon for a de-briefing session and an early night as the strike was over and back to work early this morning.

Still no news of when I will get my passport back from immigration, but at least they will be working on extending my visa again. I am expecting to leave this Thursday if possible.

Still on Victoria Island.

Have ventured out and about somewhat in the last 10 days. Have found a couple of pubs worth visiting which have satelite tv so managed to see the England vs Brazil match, but unfortunatly the Estonia game was blocked from being shown in Nigeria for some strange reason. Had a night in Pat's bar and met some ex-pats who had also gathered for the game. Ended up in an impromptu quiz session, not the greatest entertainment but passed an evening.

Last weekend we went to find a bar that had the football. I had found a few places via the internet and we set off to find them. One of the problems here is the lack of street signs, most of the streets do not have name plates so it is a lot of guess work. This is made worse by there being no light as the streetlights are out more often than not due to power cuts. Anyway we eventually found the location only to discover that the whole complex or bars and restaurants had been demolished.

On to plan B, forget the football and get a pint! Another hour later we found the Thistle bar down an overcrowded back road which our local driver had never heard of. Arrived just in time to see Terry score the goal from Beckhams free kick. Thought I was back in south London, lots of black guys in a pub watching England and cheering on 'Becks' with cries of 'Yeah, Becks is back', 'Come on England'. Surreal.... Mind you they cheered just a loudly when Brazil equalised.

That night we also discovered the indoor mosquitos, the local girls flock round the westerners like a swarm and all take a crack at you, you have to almost swat them away to get a peaceful pint. They are regular girls trying to make a little on the side by getting taken home for the night for a fee, amateur whores I suppose.

Weather has turned bad as it has rained for most of the week, but still it is not cold so I can live with a bit of water.

One of the guys I am working with has come down with malaria despite taking his anti-malaria tablets bought in Kuwait. Glad I bought mine back in Blighty.

Had the bosses in from Kuwait last week and they are already cutting deadlines. Monday they arrived and told us they wanted an interim report by the end of the month. By the time they left on Thursday this had come in to 20th. Only problem is that the do not know what they want in an interim report, good I suppose as they should be happy with anything.

One of the drawbacks with working with muslims came to light Tuesday morning. We had had a meal together on Monday night in the hotel, lots of Lebanese food and everyone but me rabbiting on in scribble, oops sorry Arabic, felt a bit like a mosquito in a nunnery. I of course ordered a glass of wine with my meal whils everybody else was on the soft drinks. Tuesday it was pointed out to me that in future it would be advisable that when the customer is dining with us maybe I should refrain from taking alcohol. Told them not to bother inviting me in future as a) i am not a muslim and therefore do not see why I should not have a drink with a meal, and b) I was bored rigid as no-one saw it necessary to speak English at any point.

Nigeria.........

...NOT a place to come on holiday. Been here 10 days now and am realising that the scams that flood the interweb that originate from this country are just the tip of the iceberg. The whole economy seems to be based on graft and scams. Everywhere you go people want handouts and backhanders. Every building is set behind high walls and razor wire, the guards on the gates want money when you either enter or leave, went to a bar last weekend and a gorilla of a bouncer pointed out our vehicle to us and wanted payment. I have been to places where there are many beggars that are a pain but here everyone is after your cash.

On the security front Victoria Island seems to be pretty safe but we have been advised not to travel into Lagos without a police escort. Won't bother doing that until I go to the airport, hopefully end of next week. Have found some bars and restaurants although not really good they offer basic meals and local beer. This is on the nights when the driver decides to come and get us, a few nights now have been spent in the hotel due to lack of transport and the fact that white guys walking the streets in the dadk is a big no no here.

Had a 4 day weekend last week which was excruciatingly boring. Monday and Tuesday were public holidays declared last Friday. This was because the newly elected government was being sworn in and there were fears of trouble. In the end it all passed of rather calmly, only everywhere was shut so had to spend 4 days lying by the pool behing the walls and razor wire of the hotel/guest house.

Kuwait and Nigeria

Spent a few days in Kuwait which is just like any other gulf city only a little more decrepit, not as shiny and new as some, maybe due to the fact that I arrived during the back end of a four day sandstorm. First couple of days I could not see much beyond a few hundred yards of the hotel, but on the last morning there it was clear and the city stretched for miles.

Arrived in Lagos to the usual chaos of third world airports. We were pulled out of line for immigration by a uniform with a sheet of paper with the other guys names on, so I just tagged along thinking it would be quicker. Sent to the front of the queue and processed by the first immigration official who found my visa with CANCELLED stamped over it. This wasn't right as it wasn't like that when I checked it when my passport came back from the embassy in Kuwait. Turned out that this visa was for a single visit and had been cancelled because I had been issued with another 12 month multi entry visa. Was a bit worried when this big official kept pointing at the cancelled stamp and staring at me with hostility in his eyes. I had visions of spending time in custody waiting for a flight back to Kuwait. Fortunatly the project manager travelling with me knew there were two visas in my passport and the problem was averted. After this we had to line up again for the second round of immigration. This involved a woman checking the first guys work and entering the details into a computer and then passing my passport to a third guy so he could give me an entry stamp. After bitching about how he didn't like the stamp he finally did his job and I was in the country.

Why the rush to get us to the fron of the queue at imigration I do not know as we had to wait for another hour for out bags. They cane onto the baggage belt in two's and three's. We speculated that there were only two guys emptying the hold by hand and carrying the bags from the plane to the terminal. Either that or they were bored and trying to drag out the job to fill their day, kind of like council workers.

Once we were through the rest of the airport security, which consisted of checking baggage against the tags given to us when we checked in in Kuwait to ensure that we had our own luggage and nothing stoled from the carousel, we were met by our personal security. This consisted of a couple of wide boys who were there to get us through the police barriers keeping back the hawkers and general melee of people who hang around airports in all third world countries trying to shake down any unsuspecting mark. We were escorted to our vehicles and headed off to Victoria Island with a police escort, sirens wailing, horns blaring, the lot. Seem a daft way to transport foreigners securely - by announcing their presence - but we arrived at the hotel so it worked.

On arrival at the hotel I was not totally suprised to find that it was overbooked and I had to be farmed out to another place nearby. The new place was a cheap and nasty guest house who's owner saw a white face and immediatly tripled the price. When he asked for 22,750 Niras, I assumed there were around 1000 to the pound.... wrong, there are only about 250 to the pound which made the romm including taxes come out at over £100 pound for the night. I noticed in the booking ledger that other rooms going to people with local names cost a third of the price around 8,000 Niras. Welcome to the capital third world rip off countries.

3 views of a £100 room Nigerian style.

Had dinner with the other guys at the Scarlet Lodge, where I was supposed to stay and found that everything is overpriced, must be a notional passtime to rip-off everybody you can.

In the morning I moved to the Scarlet Lodge which is 'only' $120/night for a room without breakfast, which cost around £10 for a bit of scrambled egg and a cup of tea.

Back to work

Well after waiting a few weeks for a contract to be produced I am off on another wander around the globe, this time to Kuwait and Nigeria, two new countries for me.

As usual the people who want me to work for them keep hanging about until the last minute and then expect you to drop everything and run. After 2 weeks of waiting for a contract they produced one on Monday and expected me to be in Kuwait the next day.... have these people never heard of booking flights, hire cars etc... it's not easy getting out of Cornwall in a hurry. In the end I travelled on Friday. Could not get a taxi to Truro as all the local ones seem to be on 'school runs' or sleeping in the afternoons. Had to catch a bus from Cury to Truro to pick up a rental car. Only made contact with the emploters on Friday morning regarding where in Kuwait I had to go as I was arriving at 06:30 and did not want to be left stranded at the airport. Was told what hotel I was booked in and that someone would be there to meet me.

All went fine, no trouble on the roads and even the guy at the bag drop counter was helpful in telling me that I could change my seat to one in the exit row as there were lots available but he could not do it from his terminal but I had to change my seat once I had gone through security. LYING BASTARD......there were no spare seats in the exit row, why the little scots c**t told me that I don't know...maybe it's genetic!!!!!

Flight was uneventful enough except that BA seem to thing diabetics have no taste buds as they keep serving up bland shit meals. With the delightful aroma of shepards pie wafting through the cabin I get served cous-cous with FRIED tomatoes, how this is classed a diabetic meal I have no idea. Maybe BA should employ a diabetic to write their menu's. To top it off breakfast was a CHEESE roll,. Fried food and cheese were the first things the dietician told me to avoid.

Arrived tired after an overnight and after going through the amazingly incompetent visa aplication procedure I found that there was no-one from the hotel to meet me. Had to buy a local SIM card as vodafone for some reason had blocked me rom using my UK SIM. Their loss.
Called the local contact and found that they had changed the hotel without letting me know. Whole project seems loused up even before the start.

Seems that I am only here to get a visa for Nigeria as there is no-one else to discuss the project with. Why the rush, must be the old hurry up and wait syndrome.

Wembley

Last weekend I took my son to the new Wembley Stadium. The reason was to see Truro City play in the FA Vase final. Travelled up to London on the Saturday and had a night out with my big Dutch mate in Sudbury. You can catch his travels on his blog http://greyhound10.blogspot.com/

Anyway the new place is pretty good for a football stadium but I was expecting something a bit special for 750 million. All clean, shiney and new, lots of food outlets with nobody much buying anything because of the extortionalt costs of everything. £3.50 for chips, £5.00 for a burger and £8.50 for fish and chips. Took ages to find a programme as there waer no sellers of anything outside and I could only find 2 stalls selling them inside which were located adjacent to each other.


The only thing outside is the 20 foot statue of Bobby Moore.

Inside the stadium did not seem as big as I expected, it holds 90,000 people but seems smaller than the old place possibly due to the seating coming right to the pitch without the running track between the crowd and the playing surface.



I was a good dayout with Truro lifting the trophy to complete a treble of FA Vase, League champions and Cornwall Senior Cup.

The Den

Last weekend I went to London the city of my birth. I incorporated a trip to the dentist as well as a visit to the last home game of the season at the Den to see Millwall beat Bristol City.

After having my teeth cleaned after the annual checkup I took a walk around Lewisham, which hasn't changed much since I was a kid, except the road layout and the market stalls now sell yams as well as traditional veg. Sign of a multi-cultural society?

Spent the afternoon sitting in the park, Manor House Gardens to give it its full title. I spent most of my formative years in this park as I had to go through it to get to primary school, and everybody I knew as a child used to hang out there. Seeing all the little kids playing there took me back to my youth and some of the escapades. I remember when I was at the primary school we had to wear caps and blazers as well as short trousers and ties. One day a lad called Sean threw my friend Joe's cap into the duck pond, why I am not sure and didn't really care as we picked him up and threw him in to retrieve it. Later that evening Sean's mum went round to see Joe's dad to complain about Sean's dunking. When Big Joe found out that we had thrown Sean in to fetch little Joe's cap he told couldn't see a problem and told Sean's mum to go away. Over the years nearly everyone was thrown into the pond at one time or another. I was never actually physicall thrown in but jumped in on many occasions during the long hot summers of yesteryear, especially the summer of '76 which was spent almost entirely in the park. Lazy hot summer days hanging around on the grassy hill until being chucked out at closing time then waiting for the parkie to lock up and leave we would then climb the fence and hang out there for the night. At least it kept me off the streets.

Saturday was my first visit of the season to the Den to watch Millwall. Living in Cornwall and working all over the world I do not get there as much as I would like but try to get there at least once a season. After a few seasons of turmoil the club seems to have turned itself around and the future looks bright after an investment from an American and a property tycoon from the Isla of Man. The team looked good for a third division outfit and with a couple of new players in the summer we should challenge for promoyion next season. As for the game it was a typical end of season fare although Bristol City were looking to gain promotion they did not seem to want it enough and were easily contained with Millwall nicking the winner 10 mins from time.

Buying a woman

A few weeks ago I was dragged alog to a charity night at the local British Legion club by my mate Scouse. Turns out that his daughter was up for sale in a charity slave auction. She asked us to make sure that she was not the cheapest or left on the block, ended that I bought her for the evening. Could not leave her to be purchased by her dad could I? Not the best slave for sale, as I had to keep looking or her to send her to the bar, but certainly the prettiest.

Me and my 'slave' Linda.

Full sory can be found here under the link on the left.

Busy weekend.

It has been a pretty dull few weeks since my last post spent mostly decorating the house and sitting in the sun reading. Easter was quiet as I couldn't go very far as my car had a leaking radiator. Took about a week to get it repaired as the mate fixing it was given the wrong rad twice each time necessitating a replacement the next day, with the bank holidays it seemed that I was carless in the countryside for ever. It is not until you are stranded that you realise just how bad local transport really is. One night after getting the bus into town to watch the Liverpool vs PSV game I went to the shops and waited for the bus at the supermarket stop only to find out too late that the last one at night does not cal there. Ended up walking home from Helston, 5 miles at 11:30pm with two bags of shopping. Tried to hitch a lift and was lucky enough to get one for some of the distance so it only too just about an hour. Good exercise though!!!!

Mum in her new kitchen

Last Friday we had a party for my mother's 80th birthday at her home in Shrewsbury. We were three of my sisters from the Worcester, Mass,USA, Folkstone, England and Perth, Scotland with their families, family friends from London and Scotland, grown up nephews from Edingurgh, Scotland and neice studying in Prague, Checz Republic along with some of her friends in Shrewsbury. It was great to see them all as I have not met many of them for years what with living at the far end of Cornwall and working around the world. The weather was glorious and most of the day was spent in the garden drinking and eating. Mum had not wanted a big do for her birthday as she professes to hate large family gatherings, something she should have thought about before having 7 children. She had not wanted for us to spend lots on a frivolous party and asked for contrubutions to her latest epic journey. In the evening after cutting the cake that Dette and her daughters decorated to look like mums garden, although I still think the tree was a rogue scarecrow, we handed her a bok of cash to help pay for her Trans-Siberian railway trip this September.

My sster Bernadette and family

The following day I had to leave the ongoing festivities as I had another function to attend. A friend's sister's birthday party in the Black Forge, Walkinstown, Dublin, Ireland. Drove to Liverpool and left the car at a mates place before flying of John Lennon airport. Arrived at the digs in Dublin to find nobody in I called his mobile. The landlord was out with his kids but he had kindly left a key under a rock in the front garden for me to get in. Only in Dublin would you get such a thing these days. The party was a one as Shelia had no idea about it until we managed to get her upstairs in the Black Forge on a pretext and suprised her. After her initial shock everybody had a great time.


Sunday saw me back in Liverpool where Scott picked me up at the airport this time instead of forgetting as he had done in the past. That time I had flown in from Amsterdam for a party they were having to celebrate his father Denis recovering from cancer. Only I had left my mobile and phone book behind and could not get any change for the phone or anyone at home to look in the my spare phone book. Ended up getting hold of my ex boss, who had Denis's number, the next day and finally meeting up the day after the party. As I say this time Scott collected me from the airport and after dropping his van off at his place we hit the bars of Woolton in Liverpool. Had a pleasant Sunday bar hopping with him and Denis.


Monday I went back to Cornwall via Shrewsbury to spend a day with my sister Sheelagh and her family as I had not seen them for at least 18 months as they live in the US. Unfortunatly as I arrived they were leaving to go to the races at Wolverhampton, so I stayed a while with my mum befor heading home. Shitty journey as the motorway was blocked at Bristol. Decided to go through the city rather than sit on the motorway. Not the best idea as lots of other people decided the same and the narrow roads south of the city were clogged but moving. Took 7 1/2 hours instead of the usual 4 1/2.

Spent last week recovering.

Had an offer on the house last week. Very derisory, why do people think that when a house is priced with a rider stating 'Offers In Excess Of' a figure they can offer 10% LESS. Are these people stupid or just greedy. Their excuse for this insulting offer was that they would need to do a lot of work to the house implying that I live in a sub-standard building. If I hadn't laughed at the eastate agent I would have been rather rude about the offer. I did not accept. If anybody knows someone who wants to move to Cornwall and buy a fine 5 bedroom farmhouse the get in touch or visit

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-13546720.rsp?pa_n=1&tr_t=buy

A week in Ireland

Just spent a week over in Ireland. Flew from Newquay in Cornwall to Dublin using the south west's own cheap airline AirSouthwest, only cheap if booked in advance. First went down to Kilkenny to visit relatives and had a nice couple of days chatting to my aunt and cousins. Found out that my aunt who is now over eighty has recently completed a degree in history at Kilkenny university, there is hope for us all!!

Found out more about the ancestors and a monument called 'The O'Connor Stone' that marks their grave in Balinasloe in Co Galway. It is an impressive celtic cross over 15ft tall with the names of 3 generations carved upon its base. The oldest is that of Michael O'Connor who died in 1891 and was/is my great-great-grandfather. One of my sisters (Sheelagh) started tracing the geneology of our family some years ago and has already discovered this ancestor, so nothing new but it really is an impressive monument which was made by his sone who were stone cutters along with most males in the family until my grandfather decided that it was too hard a life and insisted on his sons getting educated and doing something easier.

The O'Connor Stone

After a quiet couple of days in rural Ireland it was time to hit the big city - Dublin. Back in 2000 I worked there for six months installing the third mobile phone network for Meteor. Had a great time and met some really nice, although somewhat strange, people and have kept in touch. It was these that I visited last weekend. Started off with a Dublin Coddle made by Dereks wife Gaye, as usual it was delicious. Followed by a quiet night in the Bently, which is a pub called The Black Forge, so why everyone still calls it the Bently I do not know. Caught up on news and happenings with them and Jim, heard all about their escapades in Turkey where they go every year with most of the pitch and putt club. I will have to join them one year as it sound like a blast. Derek's son Gavin had been in town and actually queued up for half an hour for a Borat swimming costume, not sure he should have though.

The Irish Borat

Saturday night, after watching the Irish beat the Scots in the rugby, we hit the Temple Bar area of the city. For those that do not know Dublin Temple Bar is the area where most of the weekend hen/stag parties go to. You get people from all over the world there. That night there were a lot of scots there in kilts not sure why as the rugby match was played in Edinburgh. As usual it was very busy with some bars being full before 8pm, although with all the bar hopping going on they usually allowed more people in later. One bar we went to, The Quayes, had a bouncer on one door stopping people from entering whilst the door to the bar next to it had no-one stopping entry. Not unusual you might think except that inside the two bars were connected and you could walk freely from one to the other. A very Irish solution!!!

Met up with crazy Jonny, Derek and Gaye as well as Gibbo, a friend I first met in Frankfurt when I worked there in '99. John is one of those people that is great fun to be around, everything has a bright side when he is there and the Guinness and the laughs flowed freely. John cannot whistle, although I once witnessed him being thrown out of a pub for pretending to. He puts his fingers in his mouth to simulate the whistle and Derek ducks behing some people for cover and does the actual whistling. All people see id John with his fingers to his lips and he gets the blame. You gotta be there have a few inside of you, believe me it has had me many a time.

Gaye, Me, John and Gibbo

Sunday was a quiet day, watched the Chelsea v Spurs game had a wonderful dinner ay Derek's then went to the Bently for the England v france rugby international. For the first, and what will probably be the only, time I heard a pub full of Irishmen in Dublin cheer on England at any sport. Very wierd. Reason being that once England beat france it left the championship open for Ireland to win. We all now know they didn't, but only because in their next match the got greedy and went hunting for more points after the 80 minutes were up and gave the ball away to the Italians for them to score a converted try. Eventually losing the title to france by a points difference of 4.

Passing out.

Last Friday I went to the local police training centre, not to join the dark side and become a stormtrooper of blair's Britain, but to see a friend pass out as a police community support officer. It was an odd feeling seeing so mant police in one place without a football supporter or riot shield anywhere. Scouse was the one I went to support along with his wife and another friend, Terry. Met another regular of the 'Blue' in the canteen there as her daughter was also passing out. No worries with bumping into Scouse when he is at work as he has been given one of the housing estates in Camborne as his patch.

Ended up in the 'Blue' that night as usual but this time two of my boys were there, son Lorcan and eldest step-son Kent, good evening with them. First time Lorcan hes ever bought me a pint. There was a beer festival on at the pub with about 20 beers on. Cost a pound to enter which all went to the 'Blue Anchor Under 70's Cricket team'. Bumped into the skipper who asked if I was going to play again this summer, I am hoping to be overseas again by then. Here is the team last time I played for them in 2004.

Blue Anchor Thirst XI 2004

(Derek, Martin, Rupert, Lorcan, Pete(W), Me, Steve
Mike, Paul(C), Shane, Robin)

Our Scorers
(Allie and Jenny)

Went back to the festival on Saturday and was stunned by the price increase of the beer over the last time I was home for one of these do's. £2.60 a pint - last time 18 months ago to was £2 a pint- 30% increase, inflation running wild!!!!! Everyone was complaining as last time out it was still £2 per pint for up to 5% and £2.50 for stronger due to higher taxation imposed on the stronger beer. That's my moan for this week, anyway I had a good time.

Home again

I finally arrived back in bloody freezing Cornwall on Friday lunchtime after stopping off in Melksham, Wiltshire to visit some friends and have a few at the Pig and Whistle with Timmus. Seems that the same old people are there sitting in the same places having the same conversations as when I was living there 6 1/2 years ago.

Met up with a mate called Scouse on the Friday night for some beers in the Blue Anchor (www.spingoales.com) in Helston. I have known Scouse since we were running the Helston under 12's foolball team back in the late eighties. Good to catch up after being away for 3 months.

Saturday was my son Lorcan's 18th birthday. He went out on the town with his mates and brothers. Expected him to pop down the Blue but he got drunk elsewhere. First I saw of him was at 8am Sunday when I got up, he was fast asleep on the floor in the utility room. He woke up around 9:30 and crawled off to bed. Roused him around 2pm and took him off to the Wheel Inn just over the road in Cury and bought him a hairy dog. Strange thing about this is that he left home over 4 months ago.

Hello World.

After travelling the world for many years now I finally thought that it was time to record my adventures.

I am about to embark on a new adventure as there are big changes going on in my world at present, more on these later.

First a little about myself as things stand now.

I am a fortysomething, OK 47, bloke who has been married for nearly 20 years and have a son who is celebrating his 18th birthday this coming Saturday 20th Jan. I have mostly been working in the telecoms industry for over 30 years since leaving school in 1976. Over the last 15 years or so I have been wandering the world working on a veriety of projects for many different companies. I have met a lot of interesting people and some very wierd ones. Stories of my past escapader will be documented on line somewhere once I get round to recording them.

Tales on this blog will begin in 2007.

The year started with me 'down under' visiting a friend in Cairns, Queensland, Australia. Clive is one of the interesting characters I have met and become firm friends with. He was an IT director with a big advertising agency when I met him back in '99 although he gave it up to become a diving instructor on the Great Barrier reef although he now has his own IT business in Cairns, www.cairns-itc.com.au

Had a great new years eve at 'The Chapel' overlooking the Esplanade in Cairns. The firework display was pretty good and even the locals were impressed 'the best one for years'. Moved onto the casino where we partied untill the very small hours.

The next few days I spent travelling the tablelands, beautiful scenery and lots of waterfalls.


This is a picture of Josephine falls.

The last weekend I was there I completed a PADI open water diver course. Did this using PRODIVE in Cairns. 2 days pool/classroom training and then 3 days out on the Great Barrier Reef. I have been meaning to complete a diving course for many years, ever since starting BSAC training in 1982 while at Liverpool Poly. Not bad, only too a little over 24 years to get certified.


Well I am now in Bahrain finishing off a project, have been writing the technical specs for a bid for the 3rd GSM license in Saudi Arabia. Pretty boring pen pushing shit.