Just got back from grocery shopping, and we had to laugh at Asda (now owned by Wal-Mart). But in the middle of laughing, on the other side of your face, you have to show appreciation for their market knowledge, and their ability to make a fast buck while at the same time providing a public service.
What am I talking about? The store was piled high (and I mean HIGH!) with cheap toasters, kettles, and portable TVs. Why? Today is the last day of Fresher's Week, so all this week new students have been settling into their digs and returning students have been drifting back ready to start lectures next Monday. How many of them will have arrived in their new bedsits, residence hall rooms, digs, and thought "damn! Forgot the kettle!" or "I could really use a toaster in here - it could sit on the windowsill!" or "I have my first wedge of student loan in the bank...I'm going to treat myself to a personal telly?" (At only £45 that last option must seem pretty irresistible).
It's working a treat. We saw two sets of students carting off telly boxes during the 40 minutes or so we were there. Way to go Asda!
1. Do you like looking at stars?
I have done this for as long as I can remember, so it's something that's always been with me. But of all those years of memories, two stand out.
First was about eight years or so ago. Blythe would be 4, or maybe 5. So Natalie was 10-ish. I took them up to the top of Holme Moss one clear winter's night and started pointing out constellations to them and waxing lyric about the clarity of the sky. After about ten minutes I noticed Blythe was physically shaking from the cold. With profuse apologies I bundled my freezing children back into the car and took them home for a hot drink.*
Second was the time we went for a late night walk along the beach in Pefkos. Summer 2005. Nikki and I, Natalie and Blythe. The stars that night were so clear you could almost touch them, and the almost total absence of any human-generated light gave us the best view of the Milky Way I've ever had.
2. Who do you say "I love you" to?
I'm sure we've had this one before. Nikki. My girls.
3. Did you say "good night!" to anyone last night?
Yes.
4. When is the last time you felt blue?
Any time I have to go to work, just lately :-\
5. Tell us one of your dreams:
I've bought a house. It's a fixer-upper, only it's the weirdest kind of fixer-upper you ever saw. It has a front wall with a door and windows, but behind that there aren't any floors. Only beams. And the staircase is really rickety. The builders have installed one of those cage lifts, but it's very temperamental and won't always go where you tell it. This is a real risk, because it might get it into its head to take you to The Top Floor. There are no lights on The Top Floor and there's a family living up there that we don't talk about. Then after a while, the heating or the plumbing system springs a leak. It's affecting the plasterboard (suddenly now there's plasterboard on some of the walls and ceilings), making it bow and sag. And the source of the leak is on The Top Floor, so I'll have to go and check it out... (and hope I wake up before I get there).
*The experience clearly had a profound influence on Blythe. One of the constellations I'd shown them was Orion (the obvious one, lol). A couple of days later we were driving home in the dark and Blythe had been gazing out of the window for some time, deep in thought. Suddenly she piped up "Daddy! I think I can see Brian!" Naturally, this has become a part of family folklore.
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2 comments:
"Brian" lololol!
I think buying a house where you've done so much renovations is haunting you! LOL! My dad always had dreams about the first house he owned, he said he rebuilt that in his dreams a hundred times or more. But the house itself wasn't a fixer upper when he owned it other than the usual painting and repairs.
that dream is my reality :-]
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