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.