For
some reason I discovered that this is an American celebratory month, but I
suspect that it is simply a device sponsored by Stanley Gibbons and the like to
promote sales. But it prompted me to do a quick internet search and, - low and
behold – October is also National Squirrel Awareness Month, Dwarfism Awareness Month and National Sausage
Month. There are one or two other observances for October, but this can get
tedious if it goes on for longer than a few lines.
We have been away for a week. We were going to France for a longer
period, but things are never straightforward, especially as anno domini takes
control.
Anyhow, we went to Devon, not France as my health insurance people
are now imposing conditions that would have been expensive whatever either of
us might have developed, so foreign travel was out. Fortunately we had booked
the hotels through an agency that did not charge for cancellations, no matter
how late. Actually you pay extra for that privilege, but it buys peace of mind.
So the next step is to research the holiday insurance industry. It will teach
us to prepare properly when we plan holidays, and not to imagine that good things
go on for ever. Because they do not seem to.
We went to Thurlestone in south Devon, and stayed at the
Thurlestone Hotel. Go to http://www.thurlestone.co.uk/home.htm
for details. There are 2 pools, indoor and outdoor, both heated, which meant
that I could swim every day, The outdoor pool is 16m which means that you do 12
lengths to get a 200m swim, instead of the 8 that I have to do in the Tonbridge
school pool. I went back to Tonbridge pool when we returned and found that the
school teach water polo in the autumn term, - something that I think is really
sensible. There were 2 teams of 14 year-olds who were really playing very well.
Back down in Devon we went on the usual boat trip from Kingsbridge
to Salcombe and back – we try to do a boat trip whenever we go away – it is a
great way to see both town and country. We also went to Agatha Christie’s house
at Greenway – go to http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/greenway/
The National Trust have managed to make it more interesting than they managed
with Chartwell, which I thought looked like any other rich old man’s home, all
old furniture of no particular interest. The Christies had spent 5 generations
there, and they had a mania for collecting, and the wherewithal to be able to
collect good and interesting things. And they never threw anything away. It
made it look like an over-stocked antique shop, but I happen to like antique
shops so I was as happy as Larry there, even though it rained cats and dogs,
which stopped my better half from looking round the garden. There was another
NT house close by which we called on, called Saltram. It was very much more an
historic pile, and has a long history – go to http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/saltram/
Having
been invited to a splendid golden wedding party we have also started thinking
about what we are going to do in 2016. It’s a long way away at the moment, but
time does seem to pass more and more quickly.
The
day after we got back from Devon I had another duty – I had been persuaded to
be race controller for the Tonbridge half-marathon. 1500 runners, who between
them raised over £60,000 for various charities. Not so energetic for me, but it
meant getting up at the crack of dawn and concentrating until the last runners
crept in on Sunday afternoon. It’s an interesting event to help organise, and
involves road closures, circulating leaflets to the villages who are affected,
and communications systems like SW radio, a bank of telephones and cars that go
before to check the route and to sweep up the casualties. Actually the most
difficult casualty was a huge dead deer that was found across the route first
thing in the morning, having been run down by a car some time in the night.
And
finally…………
Two crocodiles were sitting at the side of the River Thames .
The smaller one turned to the bigger one and said, 'I can't
understand how you can be so much bigger than me.
We're the same age, We were the same size as kids. I just don't get
it.'
'Well,' said the big croc, 'what have you been eating?'
'Politicians, same as you,' replied the small croc.
'Hmm. Well, where do you catch them?'
'Down the other side of the river near the parking lot
by Westminster .'
'Same here. Hmm.....How do you catch them?'
'Well, I crawl up under one of their Lexus, BMW or Mercedes cars
and wait for one to
unlock the car door. Then I jump out, grab them by the leg, shake
the shit out of them and eat 'em!'
'Ah!' says the big crocodile, 'I think I see your problem. You're
not getting any real
nourishment. See, by the time you finish shaking the shit out of a
politician, there's nothing left but an arsehole and a briefcase.
And for being so patient, go to http://m.wimp.com/waitlive/ for
something really clever.
Have a good month.
