Misfits Mid-Life Crisis……..

Misfits Mid-Life Crisis Adventures in …………..Surrey, Croydon, Essex.

Week 52 (or Week 15 of the new adventure), Saturday 13^th June until Friday 19^th June 2015.

 Great dive at the lovely dive site Manta Reef.

This week is week 52 of the So-Called Blog, however its next week that I celebrate one year since I went to Mozziebeak.  This is the final instalment of the So-Called Blog until something interesting takes place.  My first trip to East Africa was September 2013 and I was captivated, as a result I packed up my life re-homed Spike the cat and returned to Tofo in June 2014.

    Some of the lovely people I met and worked with in Tofo.

I met wonderful people, far too many to mention, some of them live in Tofo.  Others came and went from all over the world.  I qualified as a Dive master and got to experience Mozziebeaks wonderful marine life up close and personal.

 Just stunning.

Tofo is a place I miss a lot. I miss the people, the diving, the marine life, the dogs wondering around, the cats, the amazing beaches beautiful sunrises and sunsets.  I am currently missing Humpback season, which started a month ago.  These wonderful ocean giants have returned to Mozziebeak waters until about November.  Travelling to a dive site everyone would be looking around humpback spotting; they would be everywhere.  Mothers and calves along with their escorts would breech out of the water or resting almost sunbathing on the surface.  My fave was watching mums and babies jumping out of the water a little like skimming a stone across a lake.

   At work. 

I would spend my day at the dive shop, working, yes it was work but it was a pleasure to be there.  I could never say that about an office job watching a skyscraper being built.  I loved being at the dive shop the whole environment appealed to me.  Setting up for dives and ocean safari, snorkelling trips, I really enjoyed everything.   I miss everyone at the dive shop, there’s a huge family atmosphere with everyone pulling together to make every dive or other trip the best experience that the customer hoped for.

   Veronica on the left and Victoria on the right.

Walking round Tofo was always nice; it’s a small place that consists of just a few sand roads that criss crossed.  The market is the heart of Tofo, where you could buy fruit and veg and very fresh fish. There are a number of drinks stalls, even one that sold ice cream and occasionally chips.  In one street you could eat and eat lots of very tasty fried Tofo fast food such as pizza, chips and burgers.

  Tank on the left and Tiger on the right.

I stayed in some lovely places, Casa Barry my Tofo home from home, the staff were always smiling and welcoming, I can see Freddie and Lawrence when I think of the place.  I spent a number of months house sitting for Martina and family and had a wonderful time with housemates “Tiger” the cat and “Tank” the dog.  Walking Tank everyday was a highlight, when she saw me coming at the end of the day I would have to brace myself as she would come running at full speed.  Made a new lifelong friend Jenny, I lived in a couple of places with her and I look forward to being her housemate again in the next couple of months when I return.  One of the houses had a view (slightly spoiled by a house across the road) of the sea.  I would sit eating breakfast watching the sea; at night when the moon was full we were bathed in moon light I got some wonderful pictures of our nearest celestial neighbour.

 My flight from Joberg on way home.

When I left Tofo and Mozziebeak in March my heart was broken, yes it was lovely to see family and friends.  Being met at Heathrow by my 3 year old niece was a moment I will never forget.  But there is a part of me that can’t wait to return, my niece regularly asks me with a giggle “when you going back to Africa” is she hinting.

 At Bundu in South Africa during a visa run.

I am saving like mad so that I can return; at the moment I hope it will be July/August for another 8 or 9 months or longer if possible.  This mid-life crisis is definitely not over; in fact it’s not really even started.

  Signs I painted.

This blog has not been a success, a handful of people have read it and enjoyed it, but I have kept going as a record of what I have done.  One day when I’m even older and unable to remember these times I hope that my nephews and niece will read me these blogs to remind me what i did and experienced.  I don’t have much to be proud of for 46 years on planet earth, but my time in Tofo is so special.

  Yes that’s me. 

The So-called Blog ends here for now…. Until something more interesting happens in my life.  Thank you for reading and putting up with this drivel weekly.

To be continued……..

   The lovely Alice Cooper.

No mooching in North London this week with MOZ.  I have been extended at Croydon Council until end of July.  In the mornings I have been eating cold toast with strong cheese and marmite.  Watching new Clangers on TV and introducing them to my niece, I think she like them.  Met up with Moira, had a BBQ in her garden, visited our old flats before they get pulled down.  We sat in the park got buzzed by a bat, saw a fox and a large flying stag beetle.

This week I have been watching: “Graham Norton” (Season 17, eps 11), “Thunderbirds are Go” (Season 1, eps 11), “Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (eps 5), “Game of Thrones” (Season 5, eps 7), “Gadget Man” (Season 4, eps 3), “Vicious” (Season 2, eps 3), “Interceptor”, (ep 2), “TFI: Friday” (Special, with the wonderful Ron Grainer theme from “Man in a Suitcase”), “The Sky at Night”, (eps 659), “In Conversation with Julie Walters”, “Clangers”, (eps 1 to 5), “Humans”, (eps 1), “In Conversation with Ken Loach”, “Timeshift, How to be Sherlock Holmes: The Many Faces of a master Detective”.

This week I have mainly been listening to, “Morrissey”, “Florence + The Machine”, “Vaccines” and on Xfm, “Green Day”, Arcade Fire”, “Foo Fighters”, “The Cure”.

Reading on Kindle……“A Game of Thrones, A Song of Ice and Fire” book 2 “ A Clash of Kings” by George R.R. Martin.

Misfits Mid-Life Crisis Adventures in …………..Surrey, Croydon, North London, Central London, Essex.

Week 51 (or Week 14 of the new adventure), Saturday 6^th June until Friday 12^th June 2015.

 Keats house (he actually only lived there a couple of years).

Sunday night is a night I dread.  I think most people do; I remember as a kid I hated the thought of school the next day.  Now as a so called adult the thought of work on Monday morning is just as painful (possibly more).  Recently I have been spending the weekends discovering North London.  I grew up in South London, I have worked and lived in West London and stayed in East London a little.  But “T’Up North” was until recently a land of great unknowns.

 Pigeon on the week in Regents Park.

That’s all changed these last couple of months, as with my best friend MOZ in toe we have been exploring this hilly and uncharted landscape.  There are many wonders that I can report.  They have electricity, speak a tongue very similar to our own (though at times they can be hard to understand as there grunts are more guttural then my South London one).  They have mastered the use of crude tool like objects such as bottle openers and cork screws and have abandoned the use of animal skins to cover their overly hairy bodies. North London is not the primitive wasteland I always assumed.

   Scandi Bread.

The big pulling point is Hampstead Heath, until a couple of months ago id never been there.  I’m getting to know the area well these days; I enjoy finding small tracks in amongst the trees and undergrowth that lead to hidden area’s out of sight.  I always imagine that I will stumble across some magical campsite hidden from view.  The only things I stumble across are people walking dogs and runners straining as they go up yet another steep hill. Then there’s Kenwood House, for coffee, cake and ice cream.  When I reach a good vantage point like Parliament Hill I am captivated by the view of London looking south.  I don’t think the capital is a pretty place as a rule, but from a place like that there is something special about the way it gleams in the sunlight.  I remember when the skyline didn’t look so complicated; I have fond memories of the Thames TV London Skyline logo not a skyscraper in sight.

 My childhood (not my pic). How it might look today (not my pic).

I enjoy mooching about streets in North London walking past huge posh houses that I’m not really worthy to even look at.  I wonder who lives there, is there a famous person behind the door, gate or overgrown wall (with security cameras).  I can’t imagine what their lives must be like, they might not worry about money but I bet they do think about the important things in life “what’s for breakfast”, “what’s for dinner” and most importantly “what’s for tea”.  Once we were walking down a road when a small private security car passed by slowly, the driver watching us carefully, that put us in our place.

 Good food in Regents Park, lovely runny egg, overdone chips.

North London has a reputation for being arty; there are a number of actors and musicians and other celebrities who live in that area.  I have to say it does feel an arty place with lots of indie coffee shops, craft shops and places of interest.

 On the roof at work 5 floors up, a nice quiet place for lunch.

There are streets and houses that haven’t changed in appearance in a very long time.  I can imagine horses pulling carriages, smoke coming out of the chimneys, ladies in huge skirts and men in top hats with moustaches while children run along the cobbles streets in between piles of horse poo spinning steel hoops. I really have seen too many films.

 Emmmm so tasty….

At the end of the weekend when I say goodbye to MOZ usually at the train station I do feel very sad.  I sit on the train and reflect on the fun I have had over the last 48 hours.  And think of the stress of the next 120 or so hours.  Travelling home I read and watch things on my Kindle, looking up to watch London pass by. As I approach Croydon I don’t look up, I don’t want to see the place, I’m going to see a lot of it over the next 5 days.  I wouldn’t want to overdose on all the excitement that Croydon has to offer from the window of a train.  Sunday night is not a night, there’s a shadow of dread about the coming week, how everything will pan out and will I make it to the next weekend, fingers crossed.

 Big bird.

End of good week. Interesting tour round Keats House also reading poetry (I’m cultured now). Lots of feeding Squirrels and Pigeons on Hampstead Heath and Regents Park, it’s very relaxing. Buying Scandinavia bread from North London café, I love. Spoken to so many angry people who have been summoned (my ears hurts). A woman on the train next to me was reading a book chapter 13 was called “Pendulous Breast”. Finding I was on the same train, in the same carriage as SAZ on the way home last Sunday night. Problem with tongue stud bought new ones.

 The Mid-Life Crisis cont…..

This week I have been watching: “Graham Norton” (Season 17, eps 10), “Have I Got More News For You” (Season 49, eps 8), “Thunderbirds are Go” (Season 1, eps 10), “Murder in Successville” (Season 1, eps 6 “Orangerfinger”), “Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (eps 4), “Game of Thrones” (Season 5, eps 3 to 6), “Springwatch” (2015, eps 9 to 12), “Springwatch Unsprung” (2015, eps 9 to 12), “Gadget Man” (Season 4, eps 2), “1864” (eps 7 & 8), “Vicious” (Season 2, eps 2), “Pinewood: 80 Years of Movie”, “Premium Bond with Mark Gatiss and Matthew Sweet”, “Interceptor”, (eps1).

This week I have mainly been listening to, “Morrissey”, “Morrissey”, “Morrissey”, “Smiths”, “Morrissey” and “Plup”.

Reading on Kindle……“A Game of Thrones, A Song of Ice and Fire” book 2 “ A Clash of Kings” by George R.R. Martin.

Misfits Mid-Life Crisis Adventures in …………..Surrey, Croydon, Central London, Essex.

Week 50 (or Week 13 of the new adventure), Saturday 30^th May until Friday 5^th June 2015.

Wordsworth wrote “I wondered lonely as a cloud”. I spend a lot a lot of time looking out of the window watching clouds. When I was in Mozziebeak travelling on the boat to a dive site I would love to look up and watch the clouds pass by. For me it was all the part of the pre dive excitement. Once there was a beautiful rainbow waiting for us over the dive site (Manta Reef). Another memorable occasion was surfacing from a dive only to be faced with a sky full of dark storm clouds. We raced back to land with large raindrops hitting our faces like bullets, we all ended up wearing our dive masks in order to see where we were going.

 Interesting door knocker.

At work I spend a lot of time gazing out of the window over the metropolis that is Croydon and watch the clouds. I imagine myself being like them not being constrained by international boarders, not having to save money to travel and do nice things or having to sit in an office for 8 hours a day.

 So sweet…..

I’ve always been a cloud surfer, I remember watching them at school (answers why I didn’t do very well) and imagine myself travelling away with them. I love to fly; I get a kick out of flying in and out of clouds. Travelling on LAM (Mozziebeak national airline) small propeller plane I felt closer to the clouds than I do in a huge airliner. There is something about the noise, the vibrations of the engine and the propeller outside the small window which makes me want to reach out and touch the white stuff.

 I was expecting to see Hobbit’s dancing around the tree.

I did a skydive a few years ago for charity and remember falling through the clouds trying to grab them as I free fell towards the ground. Of course it was over so quickly, once the shute opened the noise from the freefall suddenly stopped and was replace by total silence. What an amazing feeling looking down on the Earth from above, birds really are lucky.

 Helps make 8 hours go past quicker.

We’ve all seen cartoons were people walk from cloud to cloud; I wish I could do that. I have great memories of the late 70s Japanese TV show Monkey, the main character would travel around on a cloud. I spent many an hour flying cotton wool balls hanging from cotton thread tied to a bamboo stick pretending that it was a magic flying cloud. I often look out of the window at work and see the clouds in animated form from the start of the Simpsons, and hear the singing from the beginning of the theme “The Simpsons” (just me then)…

 I was robbed, that’s at least one sweet missing.

Clouds are what dreams are made of, and when I look up I travel back to sunny Mozziebeak. I think of all the lovely people I met, the friends I made, the sites and sounds from this small beautiful costal settlement.

 Mum on a night out in Surrey.

While looking out of the window I zone out and have to remember why I’m sitting in a hot stuffy office for 8 hours a day. I’m collecting every penny I can so that I can return to East Africa as soon as possible; I am hoping that this might be late July or August. I went to the pub this week with my mum, we sat down and I felt like I was in a job interview when she said “So tell me what your plans are for the future”. I said Mozziebeak is my future at the moment, after what who knows. I’m looking forward to walking around Tofo and looking up at the white clouds that drift over the small town and over the Indian Ocean.

 “Cheese“….

End of a busy week. I stopped for a road accident, but was told that I was not needed. Mooched about Regents Park with MOZ feeding Squirrels and Pigeons (I wonder if there is such a thing as a professional Squirrel and Pigeon feeder, I could deffo do that). I have noticed while cycling a lot of single gloves lying in the road, and a number of dead birds in the gutter (Birds and gloves were not together I should point out). Met Moira, had a huge Kebab and enjoyed sitting watching Geese, Ducks, Swans a couple of Rats running around bushes a few bunnies and a Squirrel on a seat, a lovely evening.

The Mid-Life Crisis cont…..

This week I have been watching: “Graham Norton” (Season 17, eps 9), “Have I Got news For You” (Season 49, eps 9), “Thunderbirds are Go” (Season 1, eps 9), “Murder in Successville” (Season 1, eps 5 “Dr Death”), “The Game” (eps 6), “Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (eps 3), “Game of Thrones” (Season 5, eps 3 to 6), “Springwatch” (2015, eps 5 to 8), “Springwatch Unsprung” (2015, eps 5 to 8), “Gadget Man” (Season 4, eps 1), “The Woman in Black 2”, “1864” (eps 5 & 6), “Vicious” (Season 2, eps1)

This week I have mainly been listening to, “Morrissey”, “Smith”, Julian Cope”, “The Cure”, “Sleeper”, “Kate Bush”.

Reading on Kindle……“A Game of Thrones, A Song of Ice and Fire” book 2 “ A Clash of Kings” by George R.R. Martin.

Misfits Mid-Life Crisis Adventures in …………..Surrey, Croydon, Essex, North London, Central London.

Week 49 (or Week 12 of the new adventure), Saturday 23^rd May until Friday 29^th May 2015.

A year ago this week I stopped working for Sutton Council, this was the start of the Mid-Life Crisis………

However I have decided to not bother posting what I have written, because last week “The So-Called Blog” got 2 views.  I know its crap, but didn’t realise that it was that shit.  So this week it’s just pictures taken during the last 7 days.

 Shockingly small Macchiato, in a indie café in North London.

 Lots of lovely smelly cheese from a shop in Camden Passage near Angel.

  Must go into Keats house, loved seeing Keats the cat (that’s what I call him) again.

 Feeding cute animals in Regents Park.

 Love the CAKE.

 Taken by my 3 year old niece Anaia.

 Random pics.

 Lovely family in Hampstead.

Highlights of the week, travelling on a rail replacement bus when the driver got lost and took a detour.  Passed a house Gracie Fields had built, a house that Madame Tussauds lived in.  Mooched about North London feeling very inadequate walking past huge posh houses, wondering who lived in them and what there life was like.  Played a game spotting alternative reality look-a-likes, such as Rick Wakeman, David Yip, Billy Connolly and Pamela Stephenson (together), Jasper Carrot and Henry Winkler. Bought some interesting prune bread.

Its been a good week, when I wasn’t sat in an office in Croydon…..

The Mid-Life Crisis cont…..

 The NEXT Generation, she really liked the Dalek.

This week I have been watching: “Graham Norton” (Season 17, eps 8), “Have I Got News For You” (Season 49, eps 8) , “Have I Got More News For You” (Season 49, eps 7), “Thunderbirds are Go” (Season 1, eps 8), “Murder in Successville” (Season 1, eps 4, “Mayor The Force Be With You”.), “Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (eps 2), “Game of Thrones” (Season 5, eps 2), “The Dome: A Secret of World War”, “1864” (eps 1 to 4), “Springwatch” (2015, eps 1 to 4), “Springwatch Unsprung” (Season 2015, eps 1 to 4), “Episodes” (Season 4, eps 3), “The Game” (eps 5).

This week I have mainly been listening to, “The Vaccines”, Florence + the Machine”, “Lana Del Ray”, “Outkast”, “The Beautiful South”, “Morrissey”, “Bombay Bicycle Club”,

Reading on Kindle……“A Game of Thrones, A Song of Ice and Fire” book 2 “ A Clash of Kings” by George R.R. Martin.

Misfits Mid-Life Crisis Adventures in …………..Surrey, Croydon, Sutton, North London, Docklands (East London), Essex.

Week 48 (or Week 11 of the new adventure), Saturday 16^th May until Friday 22^nd May 2015.

 What a beautiful old man.

Fifteen years ago on 18 May I met a kitten who would change my life.  That kitten grow up to be Spike, we lived together for 14 years in a first floor flat.  There was a garden but it was just impractical for him to get there and back past main doors and up and down communal stairs safely (in my opinion).  We were happy together, lots of cuddles he really was my companion over the years.  There were times when I felt low and would come home to an empty flat as always Spike would be waiting for me.  We sat for hours watching films and TV, or lay in bed together hiding from the world.  Without that cat I very possibly wouldn’t be here today.

 All of this is his.

When I decided to pack up my life and go to Mozziebeak the biggest problem I faced was what was going to happen to Spike.  He was just over 14 with a heart murmur; he takes medication (a dab of Marmite always helped the medicine go down).  I contacted charities but no one wanted him.  I was getting a little desperate.  Then fate took over, I was in the post room at the place I worked talking to Nigel about going abroad and mentioned my problem.  He said with a wink “Don’t mention Spike to Jane his wife”.  The funny thing was that Jane worked in the team behind me so she knew of Spike.  It was the next morning when Jane came up to me and said “was there something that you weren’t supposed to tell me”.  This was the start of a life change for Spike.  Jane and Nigel came to meet him a couple of times, they thought long and hard about how he would change their life.  Spike went to live with them, he had a new home and a garden after 14years he became an outdoor cat.

 This weeks, MOZ eating and drinking picture (at Kenwood House).

While I was away I got regular e-mails and pictures of Spike and his new life, I consider this his retirement.  He loves the garden and chases other cats out of it, it’s his territory now.  Part of me looks back and feels bad about his life, should I have found a way for him to access the garden (My friend Moira did get him a lead and I did take him in the garden a couple of times on it, he wasn’t impressed).  Sometimes when I got home from work he would be looking out of the window down at me.  I used to leave the radio on for him as I felt that indie music or a talk radio was a little company.  The flat was his life; he didn’t really have any experience of the outside world.

  The Angel, comedy god Graham Chapman used to visit there often.

While I was away in Mozziebeak I became attached to a couple of cats. A cute 2 day old kitten that we called Swazye who was looked after by members of the dive shop for 3 weeks.  We really loved that kitten, helping to feed, poop and generally be mum.  I was so upset when it was killed by a couple of dogs.  Then there was a cat that we called Alice Cooper (he had a black patch on his mouth that made him like Alice Cooper the rocker).  This cat had a home but it seemed to like being with us, over a period of a couple of months it spent more and more time at the dive shop, that might have had something to do with the cat food I would feed it for breakfast.  Alice was a loving and appreciative kitty.  That all changed when he was attacked by a sick dog. He was never the same and soon stopped being sociable.  The last time I saw him he was at home and didn’t want any human contact; this was a complete turn-a-round to how he used to be.  I was so sad to see him like this, but at least he was alive and at home.  I hope that when I return to Mozziebeak I will bump in to Alice along one of the dirt roads of “down town” Tofo.

  I remember the great storm in October 1987, so does Kenwood House.

Spike lives a totally different life to Alice, Spike is a happy cat and it makes me so happy to see him running around his garden and laying about on the sofas in the living room, while Jane and Nigel looking on like proud parents.  It was great to be with him on his birthday this week.  I was Spike human mum for 14 years, he is still part of my life I’m just part of his extended family now, Jane and Nigel are his parents these days.

 Saw a stowaway at London bridge train station.

End of another week.  Mooched about London’s Docklands saw sunbathing Pigeons and one with one leg (love a Pigeon).  Walked passed a pub in Highgate village with a plaque stating that Graham Chapman from Monty Python used to drink there.  Revisited Hampstead Heath and Kenwood House with MOZ.  Saw a man who looked like Peter Capaldi (the Doctor) come out of a building at work which made me stop and stare.  Saw large storm clouds over Croydon while at work.  Passed a nasty cycle accident, the man overtook me on a hill a few minutes earlier.

The Mid-Life Crisis cont…..

This week I have been watching: “Graham Norton” (Season 17, eps 7), “Have I Got news For You” (Season 49, eps 7), “Thunderbirds are Go” (Season 1, eps 7), “Atlantis” (Season 2, eps12), “Shark” (eps 3), “Murder in Successville” (Season 1, eps 3. Dead, Rich and Famous), “Alan Partridge, Papa Alpha”, “The Game” (eps 3 & 4), “Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (eps 1), “Game of Thrones” (Season 5, eps 1), “Tatau” (season 1, eps 7 & 8)

This week I have mainly been listening to, “Pet Shop Boys”, “Morrissey”, “Alanis Morrissette”.

Reading on Kindle……“A Game of Thrones, A Song of Ice and Fire” book 2 “ A Clash of Kings” by George R.R. Martin.

Misfits Mid-Life Crisis Adventures in …………..Surrey, Croydon, North London, Essex.

Week 47 (or Week 10 of the new adventure), Saturday 9^th May until Friday 15^th May 2015.

 I’m, ready for my close up.

This week I have been doing my impression of super villain Bane (from the Batman film “The Dark Knight Rises”).  The last couple of weeks cycling to work I have been a little smogged by the occasional car/lorry/bus.  When I was in Mozzibeak I hardly ever had to use my Ventolin inhaler (I took a case load of them with me, I left most of them in Tofo to save weight on the return journey).  In the last 10 weeks I haven’t had to use them very often.  But in the last couple of weeks since I have been cycling there have been times when I have felt a little chocked by the deposits coming out of the exhaust pipes of my fellow road users.  I made the decision to get a face mask, on a normal day I don’t actually see anyone wearing one, it would appear that cyclist in leafy surrey don’t really need them.

   In Essex.

MOZ my friend came up with the idea of a mask used in building and construction, it looks like a Hospital mask with a small filter in the front.  Within a few minutes my face is hot and sweaty and generally uncomfortable.  There are occasions when some of my breath seeps out of the top and fogs up my sun glasses, how I wish there were windscreen wipers on my sunnies.  The very thin elastic strap I pull over my large head won’t last long so I will have to get a few more.  Now and then other apart from the latex/plastic smell I do get a whiff of combustion engine but it doesn’t last long.  My worry is that even though I’m not getting a large puff of pollution the small amount that gets in does seem to linger, so the mask has its pros and cons.  One of the major pros is that when I’m climbing a hill and pulling faces looking like a loon no one can see this as my stylish mask covers everything up.  No wonder masked super villains appear to always be angry because there masks are tight, hot and sweaty.

   Coffee and Cake in North London (That’s MOZ in the right hand corner of the left pic).

Talking of super villains, this week I paid for another month of storage.  When I packed up my life last year I got rid of so much giving lots to charity shops (I panicked when asked about all the belongings I was off loading, I said a person died….oops).  I did a number of car boot sales and visited the dump a lot (I really enjoy visiting the dump).  I was still left with box after box of Sci-Fi shit, things I have collected over my lifetime.  I have a 47 page catalogue/list a complete breakdown of what’s in every box and crate.  I also took pictures of everything so now I somehow need to try to match up the pics with the description, no easy task.  I am a hoarder, I like to think I’m a collector but deep down I know I’m a hoarder.  I did sell some stuff at auction last year and made some nice money.  There is stuff that could be classed as shit and thrown away, but I also know that there are things that are worth money.  I have Sci-Fi bits and bobs from the 60s to the 00s and there are definitely some that are worth a pretty penny it’s just getting organised.  A new Sci-Fi comic shop has opened near me so I’m hoping to get them interested in some of the magazines and comics that I have (I actually need to meet up with a dear friend Claire who kindly collected a few magazines for me while I was away, so I am still hording sorry collecting).

   North London tube and Kenwood House library ceiling.

I won’t make squillions of pounds but there is money in that 30 square meters of Sci-Fi shit.  There are things that I will never part with such as my full size cardboard cut-out of Mulder and Scully from the X-Files or my Red and Blue Star Wars trading cards from 1977 I collected as a 8 year old.  Then there’s my R2D2 collection, I really love R2. There are also a few models of super villains proudly wearing their face masks.  I’ll have to visit the storage and have a look at how super villains make wearing a wearing so cool.

 What’s becoming a regular item, MOZ eating and drinking picture of the week.

End of another week.  Celebrity spotted this week at Kenwood House, Baron Bragg or Melvin to us common folk.  Lovely time strolling around North London with MOZ and Rachel, consumed lots of ice cream and coffee and cake.  I got extended at Croydon Council. Another appointment with my sexy dentist, yes I’m sad.  Got locked out of the house after cycling 10 miles in the rain and a little tipsy, slept in the porch its official I’m a Hobo…..

 Outside my bedroom window.

The Mid-Life Crisis cont…..

This week I have been watching: “Graham Norton” (Season 17, eps 6), “Have I Got news For You” (Season 49, eps 6), “Thunderbirds are Go” (Season 1, eps 6), “Atlantis” (Season 2, eps 11), “Ballot Monkeys” (eps 3, 4 & 5), “It Follows”, “The Badadook”, “Charlie Brooker’s Election Wipe”, “The Sky at Night”, “Bugsplat” (eps 1), “Tatau” (Season 1, eps 5 & 6), “Sherlock” (Season 1, eps 2 & Season 3, eps 1), “Sappho: Love & Life on Lesbos with Margaret Mountford”, “Shark” (eps 2), “Murder in Successville” (Season 1, eps 2 Bunch of Cults), “W1A” (Season 2, eps 4)

This week I have mainly been listening to, “Morrissey”, “Smiths”, “Velvet Underground”, “Jake Bugg”.

Reading on Kindle……“A Game of Thrones, A Song of Ice and Fire” book 2 “ A Clash of Kings” by George R.R. Martin.

Misfits Mid-Life Crisis Adventures in …………..Surrey, Croydon, North London, Essex & Kent.

Week 46 (or Week 9 of the new adventure), Saturday 2^nd May until Friday 8th May 2015.

I miss driving; I took my fossil fuel chugging ride for granted.  My car recently failed the M.O.T in spectacular fashion.  When Gimli (named after my fave Lord of the Rings character) was loaded on the scrap truck and taken away there was a tear in my eye.

    Train spotting.

My friend MOZ and I go to this large craft fair in Kent, in the past Gimli took us there like magic.  I pointed him in the right direction and he got us there safely.  I’m a huge fan of science fiction and do feel a little robbed that we don’t have hover boards and flying cars yet.  I know that there are driverless cars in development but as a kid I would have thought that by 2015 we would all be going around in cars that drive themselves.

 MOZ walking to the craft fair, pavements haven’t been invented in the countryside.

I have no idea how Gimli worked, there could have been a heard of Magic Unicorns under the bonnet, I think of a car as a magic chariot.  I can look at a water wheel and can see it working in front of me, but a car is a different matter.

 Penshurst Place in Kent.

MOZ and I decided to go to the fair as normal; the train journey was quick from London.  Once we passed Redhill you knew you were in the country as the tightly packed houses were replaced by rolling green hills. Once at Penshurts we realised that the walk from the station was about 2.5 miles.  We walked passed fields with lambs and the horse looking at us strangely, because we were studying our small illuminated devices looking at maps; the animals really must have thought we were not great advertisement for the human race.  We reached the fair in 30 mins.  Pavements haven’t been invented in the countryside so we had to walk road, with large 4x4s coming up to us and pulled away at the last moment.  I’m sure that when I travelled in Gimmie he didn’t do that, if we saw a pedestrian walking around looking at their illuminated devices we would slow down and move around them carefully.  But then Gimmie was a special car not a brute of a 4×4.

 She says “it’s coffee”, honest.

The craft show was nice, it was good to see others arriving late like us.  We had a couple of hours there before it closed.  High lights were a couple of cups of coffee, some honey liquorice and real life Owls and Vultures from a sanctuary (they also had a very large and hairy Tarantula in a plastic box, I wanted to hold it but thought I’d look a little strange as I think it was there for the kids, or was it there to eat the kids).  Every time we went to the fair Gimmie would happily carry all of the crafty object we had spent our hard earned cash on.  This time we would have to carry all our own crap that helped us save money and just look at stall after stall.  I could have bought everything from stained glass objects, rabbits sculpted out of clay, handmade leather shoes and bags, lovely clothes, small trinkets, bits and bobs that just gather dust.  This time I bought nothing but a couple of pies for lunch at work.

    Alfie the Barn Owl & Maggie the hooded Vulture.

Leaving we knew we had a rush and it was all up hill.  The 4×4’s seemed to want to run us over again, in fact one woman actually waved as she passed us at speed (B***h).  We passed the fields; rushing by the sheep who looked at us as if to say “what did we do, you spoke to us earlier”.  Made it to the station I got my ticket rushed back over the bridge and stood there.  We stood a little longer, according to MOZ’s small hand held illuminated device the train should have arrived to take us home.  The reality was we were still waiting at the station as the rain began, the only company we had were birds and squirrels and a cat staring up at us from the other side of a fence.   Luckily in front of the country station was a country pub.  An hour later sitting on the train with a belly full of larger shandy swilling around I was glad to be going home.  Its days like that I really miss having Gimli around, I really did take for granted how easy it is to travel somewhere like the craft fare in the middle of nowhere when you have wheels.

 emmmmm, so tasty.

A short work week because of the bank holiday.  Went to the Olympic Park (wasn’t impressed).  Mooched about Belsize park and Hampstead Heath again (was impressed).  The more time I spend in north London the more I like it, it’s not a part of London I know well.  Another dentist appointment, lots more cycling, painting oh and voting.

 There all a load of crooks, but I did pick one.

The Mid-Life Crisis cont…..

This week I have been watching: “Graham Norton” (Season 17, eps 5), “Have I Got news For You” (Season 49, eps 5), “Ballot Monkeys” (eps 1 & 2), “W1A” (Season 2 eps 2 & 3), “Atlantis” (Season 2, eps 10), “Into the Woods”, “Thunderbirds are Go” (Season 1, eps 5), “Nick and Margaret: The Trouble with Our Trains”, “James May’s Cars of the People”, Tatau” (Season 1, eps 4), “The Game” (eps 1 & 2), “Murder in Successville” (Eps 1 “The Mob”), “Shark (eps 1).

This week I have mainly been listening to: “David Bowie”, “Morrissey”, “PJ Harvey”, “Smiths”, “Kate Nash”, “The Charlatans” On Xfm, “The Black Keys”, “Alt-J”,” The Artic Monkeys”,

Reading on Kindle……“A Game of Thrones, A Song of Ice and Fire” book 2 “ A Clash of Kings” by George R.R. Martin.

Misfits Mid-Life Crisis Adventures in …………..Surrey, Croydon, North London, Essex.

Week 45 (or Week 8 of the new adventure), Saturday 25th April until Friday 1^st May 2015.

 My view of Croydon between 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday.

This week I have been cycling to work, that’s 30.2 miles there and back.  There are a few hills otherwise it’s a pretty flat ride.  The worst part is towards the end of the return trip, I’m minutes from the bosom of the family from cuddles from my nephew and niece but I have to first negotiate a couple of nasty hills.  There great to cycle down in the morning but I pay for it on the way home.  Newton’s Third Law comes to mind “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction”.

 Lunch time can be so boring.

I’ve been cycling for years.  I remember my first bike, it was more of a tricycle that was blue with a red seat and all made of metal, I actually preferred to use it as a drum if I remember.  I also remember the amazement when my stabilisers came off as id leant to cycle properly.  One memory I won’t forget is going down a steep hill with George my best friend from school, my brakes didn’t work as well as they should.  But his brakes failed completely I actually think he lost a brake pad (or am I imagining that) he did manage to stop without injury.

 Ice cream at the weekend in North London, emmm so tasty.

Another memory of travelling on wheels but not on a bike.  I was moving house and had somehow gathered an old office chair (I’ve always collected crap), I rode the chair down the very steep long slope at Norbury Train station from the platform to the street.  As I travelled faster and faster one of the small caster wheels came off and rolled away in front of me.  I actually went out of the station and was only stopped by the railings before the main road.  “Thank the Great Pumpkin” no one with children or elderly was coming.  Yes looking back with older eyes it was a very stupid thing to do, but at the time we laughed like drains (George was with me on this occasion as well).

 This is not my home, its Kenwood House in North London.

I love to cycle, I have done 9 Triathlons (you wouldn’t know it from looking at me) the cycle part is in between the swim and the run.  I really enjoyed doing the races, I never raced other people I was only racing myself, could I be quicker than the last time.  The cycle section was on a closed track in which I had to do 4 to 5 laps (about 5k each lap), it was my responsibility to keep track of how many times I had gone round, to few and I would be disqualified too many and I would had screwed up my overall time.  There was every kind of bike at an event like this, from posh expensive racing bikes made from super space-age lightweight materials to bikes with a basket on the front that I always expected to see a dog sitting in it with its ears blowing in the wind.  The cycle was my favourite part of the whole race.  The 5k run at the end was always horrible; I must have looked like I had been on a horse for far too long without a saddle.

  look who I met  In Reigate this week, yes I got very excited.

I wear all the high viz gear and a helmet so I stand out but even so I have been knocked off twice in the past.  This means that every day there is a small amount of fear in the day’s journey.  I am weary of parked cars, are they going to pull out suddenly, is a door going to open.  At junctions I am careful and always nod or give a little wave to the driver that’s waited for me to pass.  This week I’ve had a car pull out in front of me, and 2 people just step off the pavement and right into the road, I’ve managed to stop each time cycling in London you have to be alert.  I’m also a driver (was a driver, don’t have a car at the mo), so I fully understand why drivers get angry with cyclist who break the road rules, run red lights go down one way streets.  It annoys me when I see this happen as were all tarred with the same brush.

 At the weekend  watching Car Share on the train.

I’m enjoying the ride in to work, it’s saving me money and hopefully it’s helping to keep me healthy, if my knee holds out that is.

 Testing new water colours.

End of another busy week.  Continued strolling round North London with MOZ, went to Kenwood House and Hampstead Heath at the weekend.  Raced on the tube to make a train at London Bridge, made it by 1 minute (woo hoo) it felt like Treasure Hunt (the classic TV show).  Got some new watercolours and have done another test painting for the children’s story.  I signed up with a GP.

The Mid-Life Crisis cont…..

This week I have been watching: “Graham Norton” (Season 17, eps 4), “Have I Got news For You” (Season 49, eps 3), “W1A” (Season 2, eps 1), “The Last Leg” (Season 6, eps 1 & 2), “Car Share” (Season 1, eps 1 to 6), “Thunderbirds are Go” (Season 1, eps 4), “The Mekong River with Sue Perkins” (eps 1 & 4), “Mama”, “The Maze Runner”, “Atlantis” (Season 2, eps 9), “Tatau” (Season 1, eps 3), “Inside No9 (Season 2, eps 6).

This week I have mainly been listening to: “Blur”, “The Good, The Bad and the Queen”, “They Might Be Giants”, “REM”, “Kylie”, Carly Simon”, Morrissey”.

Reading on Kindle……“A Game of Thrones, A Song of Ice and Fire” book 2 “ A Clash of Kings” by George R.R. Martin.

Misfits Mid-Life Crisis Adventures in …………..Surrey, Croydon, Essex and North London.

Week 44 (or Week 7 of the new adventure), Saturday 18th April until Friday 24th April 2015.

I have been watching: “Harry and Paul’s Story of the Twos”, “Atlantis (Season 2, eps 8), “Inside No9 (Season 2, eps 4 & 5), “Thunderbirds are Go” (Season 1, eps 3), “Helix” (Season 2, eps 4 to 7), “Have I got News For You” (Season 49, eps 3), “The Graham Norton Show” (Season 17, eps 3), “The Mekong River with Sue Perkins” (eps 2 & 3), Travelman: 48 hours in Marrakech” (Season 1, eps 4), “Raised with Wolves” (Season 1, eps 6), “The Island with Bear Grylls” (Season 2 eps 5 & 6)

This week I have mainly been listening to: “McAlmont and Butler”, “M.I.A”, “The Cure”, “Sparks”, “Lana Del Ray”, “Morrissey” on Xfm “James Bay”, “Arcade fire”, “The Prodigy”, “The White Stripes”.

Reading on Kindle……“A Game of Thrones, A Song of Ice and Fire” book 2 “ A Clash of Kings” by George R.R. Martin.

 I stopped cycling home to watch trains.

I don’t like a hot seat, and I don’t mean the hot seat of a TV quiz show. I think that kind of hot seat would be fun with the buzz and excitement of the lights and cameras.  Then Dale (Winton) asks me a question about classical Greek mythology that’s when I’d start to regret applying and the last thing I would remember would be slipping off the stool and ending up a crumpled heap behind the cheap ply wood desk. No not that kind of hot seat.  I’m talking about a seat that someone has recently vacated normally on the train; when I plant my large lardy ass on it I can feel the left over warmth from there bottom through my clothes.

 A warm Saturday in North London.

Normally travelling to work I spent a lot of it standing in a corner listening to the radio or watching or reading my kindle, trying to position it in such a way that I don’t see my ugly mug on the screen (due to the reflectiveness of the glass).  At each station stop everyone starts looking around, trying to do it in a cool way as if they don’t care that there still standing after 3 stops.  But everyone is scanning the seats around them, is someone gathering their belongings are there signs that there about to vacate a seat.  Once a seat near you looks like it’s about to become empty that’s when the shuffle around the carriage starts, everyone standing is trying to get into position because they want that seat.  This is a well-choreographed dance as someone moves one way there passed by another person squeezing themselves past in the opposite direction. If I manage to win the prize the seat, I can feel the hate from my fellow passengers as they imagine throwing me out of the seat and off the train.  Thank the maker; people don’t have the ability to shoot laser beams from their eyes, just imagine how bloody commuter trains could be.

 Loving the egg.

There’s something I don’t like about sitting down and feeling the warmth from the previous occupant’s bottom.  It’s a subconscious thing, it’s a bottom thing.  There wearing clothes, I’m wearing clothes so it’s not like our bottoms have actually touched the seat.  Of course the condition of the actual seat is not always good, but a seats a seat.  So the warmth from another person’s bottom really shouldn’t make any difference.

 My trusty steed, Shadowfax.

In London there is a bicycle hire scheme (the bikes are commonly known as Boris bikes after the Major of London, BoJo the clown sorry, Boris Johnson).  You hire a bike for duration of time; they certainly appear to be popular. However I wouldn’t want to use one unless I had a packet of wet wipes with me.  A couple of years ago I was in London and witnessed a couple of hundred people celebrating “World Naked Cyclist day”.  Every type of bicycle was in the procession including Boris Bikes.  Yes naked bottoms were rubbing against the cheap vinyl of the bicycle seat of a Bojo bike.  It was a hilarious sight, just not pretty.

  Ice skating at Ally Pally.

There is also “go to work in your pants day” when I was in Mozziebeak I saw on the BBC website pictures of people on the Tube travelling in their pants, of course these pictures were of good looking models in underwear.  They didn’t show you ordinary Mr and Mrs Joe Public rushing around the Underground in their undies.  I hope that the 07.40 to London Victoria has never had a naked bottom rubbing against the slightly grubby manmade fibres of the seat, even the thought of someone in their pants sitting on a train seat is not appealing.

 Ally Pally

I’m just going to have to zone out when I next sit in a seat that’s just been vacated and concentrate on something else as the warmth from there bottom disappears.

 The madness that is London.

End of another week. Went ice skating last Saturday in North London at the beautiful Ally Pally with MOZ, we didn’t fall over (yeah).  Busy week at work trying to ignore toothache (boo hiss) originally I has an appointment for a week’s time, but I now have one on Friday (hooray).  Got A3 paper so can start the painting for the children’s story. I have started to cycle to work, a long ride of just over an hour but still enjoyable.

The Mid-Life Crisis conts…..

Misfits Mid-Life Crisis Adventures in …………..Surrey, London, Essex and Croydon,

Week 43 (or Week 6 of the new adventure), Saturday 11th April until Friday 17th April 2015.

I have been watching: “The Graham Norton Show” (Season 17, eps2) ,  “Have I Got News for You” (Season 49, eps 2) , “Nightmare at the Museum 3”, “Helix” (Season 2, eps 2 & 3) , “Travel Man: 48 Hours in Istanbul” (Season 1, eps 2) and Iceland” (Season 1, eps 3), “Reggie & Thunderbirds: No Strings Attached”, “Thunderbirds are Go” (Season 1 eps3), “Raised by Wolves” (Pilot ep & Season 1 eps 5), “Inside No 9” (Season 2 eps 1 and 3), “The Island with Bear Gyrills” (Season 2 eps 3 & 4), “The Sky At Night”. 

This week I have mainly been listening to: “Elbow”, “Natalie Imbruglia”, “Divinyls”, “Morrissey”, “Smiths”, “Placebo”,“ Jamie T”.  On Xfm “The Kings of Leon”, “The Manic Street Preachers”, “The Yeah Yeah Yeahs”, “ MGMT”, ” Paul Weller”.

Reading on Kindle……“A Game of Thrones, A Song of Ice and Fire” book 2 “ A Clash of Kings” by George R.R. Martin.

This week the weather got better, the sun came out.  I can tell this for a couple of reasons.  I didn’t need to wear my coat; I have been walking around holding my coat or trying to hang it on my ruck sack straps or just carrying it while juggling other things such as small illuminated screens that rule my life.  I have never been a fan of the heat or the sun (don’t get me wrong I’m fascinated by the sun as an astronomical body, the fact that it takes light 8 ½ mins for light to reach us through the vacuum of space constantly amazes me), but I do I try to keep in the shade or just stay in as much as possible.

 Vest and shorts is all I really wore in Mozziebeak.

Recently I spent 8 to 9 months in Mozziebeak a county where there is a lot of sun and in some places not a lot of shade.  I got used to the heat overtime, but I would never say I fell in love with it the way I did with Tofo and its people.  I was covered in factor 50 and always wore my battered M&S hat, plus I spent a lot of time in the sea which helped.

 Me and my battered hat in South Africa.

Another reason I knew that the weather had changed is that people have been wearing less, and I’m not talking about the ladies.  Frist I noticed while in London that a lot of men were wearing shorts (this was definitely the first time in a while that these bodies had been touched by UV radiation). Then on the hottest day of the year in Croydon there was an explosion of men walking around with no tops on.  The park that I eat my cheap supermarket sandwich appeared to be full of men laying on the grass either alone or in groups topless. I tried to find a spot that was not near this display of public nakedness. I have to admit that it did make eating my cheap plastic cheese sandwich difficult.

After I gulped down my food I made my way back to work, partly to get out of the sun (I didn’t have any factor 50) and to stop my eyes from burning from the south London nakedness.  Once in reception I started seeing people entering the building carrying large ice cream cones, some of them even had flakes sticking out of the top.  It was amusing to watch then struggling to open the entry gates (like the ones at a tube station) while carrying official paperwork or expensive handbags.  There was a small part of me that hoped that the artificial creamy goodness would slip off the cone and in to the expensive bag or stain the official council paperwork.  This is only because I didn’t have one. No one did have an accident; obviously the employees of Croydon Council are experts at balancing ice creams while operating mechanical devises.

 I do work in Council Tax after all.

So far the heat wave hasn’t lasted; there has not been any further displays of naked ness while I eat my past its sell by date sandwich. I haven’t seen anyone with an ice cream either. In Croydon summer came and went in one day.

After spending month’s just wearing shorts and vest tops I’m still getting used to wearing normal clothes.  When the sun came out I went through a case and pulled out some clothes that haven’t seen the day of light since just before I left for Mozziebeak.  There crumpled and musty but after a clean I will be able to stand in the corner of a packed train commuter train in them.  The big question is “are they smart casual” which is the description that I was given by the agency for this job.  I will have to test some of them out once the sun returns.

Everyone looks forward to Friday at the office not just because it’s the end of the week but its “dress down Friday”.  Looking around I haven’t seen any of the men walking around without their tops on. However an ice cream wouldn’t go a miss as the building I work in is really a huge cube of glass.

 The glass cube I call work.

Another busy week.  A week of train delays and changing trains when I wasn’t meant to. Spending time with MOZ in Essex and London which is always nice.  I’ve joined the 21^st century and started to download programmes on to my kindle to watch while standing in a corner of the train. I also finished a test painting for my children’s story, just got to paint the real things now. Highlight was the new Star wars trailer, I’m very excited.

 Just some of my R2D2 collection now in storage.

The Mid-life crisis cont.….