Vagueness and the Aftermath - A sporadic diary

[Karabiner]

Educated guess- late 60s early 70s. Need more info from Ralph.

You have a Twitter account?

Ralph posts pictures on your Twitter account?

Yes, it's mainly (99%) for work purposes - when I write an article or Blog, I promote it on there, & then Sky Poker, Sky Bet & a bunch of friends pick it up & retweet it. The page is Sky Poker branded. It was actually very busy whilst I was in Vegas, with a lot of interaction. The whole idea of the blogs etc is, of course, SEO based, so they are written in a particular style & format. Not what you & I would much enjoy reading, tbh, but essentially the stuff is written to order, & gets uploaded on either SkySports.com or SkyPoker.com.

Ralph does not normally post photographs on my Twitter account, no, don't recall him ever doing so before, but on this occasion he asked me to re-tweet the photo, which was why I posted it here.

Fortunately, Sky don't ask me to have a Facebook page. Think that'd be a step too far for me.

I think the last photo that I retweeted with you in mind was that gigantic old mower that Ken Brown posted a couple of years ago.

[RED-DOG]

We flew home today into East Midlands airport. Just as we cleared customs we were stopped by an official looking chap who sad he would like to ask us a few questions. I thought he was a customs officer but he explained that he was from the government office of statistics and was stopping every 10th person to do a quick survey.

Q- Where do you live? A- Europe.

Q- Where in Europe? A- Leicestershire.

Q- How did you vote in the Referendum? A- Remain.

Q Really? Why? A- Because I like being part of the EU, I think a world without borders would be fantastic.

Him- Hmm... I bet the refugees would like that too.

I was very surprised to see someone in his position offering opinions. God knows what 'anonymous' answers he was writing on his pad. I demanded to see his boss and relayed the conversation to him. He was gobsmacked.

I know it is a bit simplistic, but that has always been a dream of mine, God/Nature/whatever never intended that there should be borders, & one way & another, most wars & unrest seems to be caused by either borders &/or religion.

I was in Vegas when the "OUT" vote happened, & it was such a terrible shock, it seemed to me we are going backwards, not forwards. A really sad thing, imo. Quite depressing, overall. 

After millions of years of evolution and so much good fortune that the odds are incalculable, we are lucky enough to get born and have the opportunity to spend a relatively short amount of time on the most amazing planet imaginable. What a shame we have to divide it up in to little portions and make rules about who can go where and for how long.

[RED-DOG]

Where did you go for your holiday, Tom? Just you & Mrs Red?

Enjoyable?

Well I'll tell you, but you have to promise not to laugh.

[tikay]

Ha.

I promise not to laugh.

[booder]

Where did you go for your holiday, Tom? Just you & Mrs Red?

Enjoyable?

Well I'll tell you, but you have to promise not to laugh.

Was i right ?  Was it Bridlington ? 

[doubleup]

We flew home today into East Midlands airport. Just as we cleared customs we were stopped by an official looking chap who sad he would like to ask us a few questions. I thought he was a customs officer but he explained that he was from the government office of statistics and was stopping every 10th person to do a quick survey.

Q- Where do you live? A- Europe.

Q- Where in Europe? A- Leicestershire.

Q- How did you vote in the Referendum? A- Remain.

Q Really? Why? A- Because I like being part of the EU, I think a world without borders would be fantastic.

Him- Hmm... I bet the refugees would like that too.

I was very surprised to see someone in his position offering opinions. God knows what 'anonymous' answers he was writing on his pad. I demanded to see his boss and relayed the conversation to him. He was gobsmacked.

Given your age and accent he was probably genuinely surprised.

Just saying

[RED-DOG]

Mrs Red and I found ourselves with a free week and decided to take a short break. We usually like to travel, explore and sight see, which is great, but we usually come home exhausted.

Mrs R commented that we never do a sea and sand, relaxing type holiday so we decided to book one of those.

We went to the local travel agents and asked if they had any last minute bargains, the girl offered us one or two things then she said "I do have this if your interested".

It was a Thompson 'Gold' holiday in Menorca. I asked what that was and she that Gold holidays are aimed at the more 'mature' end of the market, so basically, Saga by another name. (Ok, you can laugh if you want to, I would)

I can't say I much fancied an old fart break but it looked great on paper. There was a good hotel, (no children allowed) with a balcony overlooking a fabulous horse-shoe bay with a wide sandy beach like the one fiction writers always describe in romantic novels, it was almost too perfect. There was an excellent menu, (Breakfast and dinner included) and, for those that wanted it, a show in the evening.

The real clincher was the price, £1500 down to £780 if we could leave in two days time. What was the worst that could happen?

We booked it and I have to say it was excellent. No screaming kids, no larger louts, no arguments, no gratuitous swearing. Everyone was old, but they were pleasant and had a 'glass half full' kind of attitude about them. It was a real breath of fresh air.

We ate too much, but in mitigation the food was absolutely first class. We joined in with the activities, Sang along with the turns, gasped at the magician and laughed at the comedian.

We came second in the afternoon quiz and with a run of form akin to that of Leicester FC last season Mrs R won the French boules competition, beating about 50 assorted old duffers in the process. We went snorkelling in the bay It was warm, gin clear and teeming with fish. We loved it.

Click to see full-size image.

[nirvana]

Sounds idyllic and a proper treat :-) Good there were no louts, whatever their size

[RED-DOG]

Sounds idyllic and a proper treat :-) Good there were no louts, whatever their size

When I go out I never have any mind altering substances because I feel like if anything were to kick off I wouldn't be alert enough the be able to get myself and Mrs Red out of harm's way, but I was so relaxed on this holiday I had a bottle of San Miguel every night.

[RED-DOG]

My attempt at underwater photography with my phone in a freezer bag.


Not exactly Jacques Cousteau is it?

Click to see full-size image.

[RED-DOG]

Sounds idyllic and a proper treat :-) Good there were no louts, whatever their size

Just worked this out.

8/10.

[tikay]

Good there were no louts, whatever their size

Excellent work Glenn, very good indeed.

[The_nun]

Sounds like it was just the job. Lovely picture of the never aging Mrs R.

[nirvana]

Sounds idyllic and a proper treat :-) Good there were no louts, whatever their size

When I go out I never have any mind altering substances because I feel like if anything were to kick off I wouldn't be alert enough the be able to get myself and Mrs Red out of harm's way, but I was so relaxed on this holiday I had a bottle of San Miguel every night.

I like the concept of staying vigilant, quite chivalrous. Makes you a bit of a throwback in a very positive way. Also like the idea of completely letting your hair down and having one bottle as you'd carefully assessed the risk/reward. I'm not averse to getting a bit tipsy but when we go out as a couple, other than to family things, I always limit myself to one or two. Never really thought why until reading your post.

[tikay]

Mrs Red and I found ourselves with a free week and decided to take a short break. We usually like to travel, explore and sight see, which is great, but we usually come home exhausted.

Mrs R commented that we never do a sea and sand, relaxing type holiday so we decided to book one of those.

We went to the local travel agents and asked if they had any last minute bargains, the girl offered us one or two things then she said "I do have this if your interested".

It was a Thompson 'Gold' holiday in Menorca. I asked what that was and she that Gold holidays are aimed at the more 'mature' end of the market, so basically, Saga by another name. (Ok, you can laugh if you want to, I would)

I can't say I much fancied an old fart break but it looked great on paper. There was a good hotel, (no children allowed) with a balcony overlooking a fabulous horse-shoe bay with a wide sandy beach like the one fiction writers always describe in romantic novels, it was almost too perfect. There was an excellent menu, (Breakfast and dinner included) and, for those that wanted it, a show in the evening.

The real clincher was the price, £1500 down to £780 if we could leave in two days time. What was the worst that could happen?

We booked it and I have to say it was excellent. No screaming kids, no larger louts, no arguments, no gratuitous swearing. Everyone was old, but they were pleasant and had a 'glass half full' kind of attitude about them. It was a real breath of fresh air.

We ate too much, but in mitigation the food was absolutely first class. We joined in with the activities, Sang along with the turns, gasped at the magician and laughed at the comedian.

We came second in the afternoon quiz and with a run of form akin to that of Leicester FC last season Mrs R won the French boules competition, beating about 50 assorted old duffers in the process. We went snorkelling in the bay It was warm, gin clear and teeming with fish. We loved it.

Click to see full-size image.

What a beautiful spot that looks to be Tom, well done. Almost jealous here. Mrs Red looks well too, if she were a horse I'd describe her as "a good doer". 

Seaside holiday with geriatrics? Confirmed old fart, obv.

I need to be careful with the jibes though - tomorrow, I'm taking Gill to the seaside, on a train, & we are both stupidly excited.

It gets worse though - we have hired a beach hut for the day. A beach hut. How old farty is that? We'll sit outside, in what will likely be rickety deckchairs,  & watch the world go by.

We are really hoping we can have a nice pot of tea outside our little refuge, too.

And here's the thing - can you cast your mind back to the days when a visit to a seaside beach was not complete unless we had a Beach Tray. For the younger readers, a Beach Tray was a tray with a pot of tea, plus cups, saucers & spoons. It was a luxury, the best thing ever. Can't remember exactly, but I think they used to cost half a crown, but there may have been a 5 bob deposit on the tray & crockery.

Does anyone know if it's still possible to get Beach Trays?

Managed to find this Beach Tray image, which sums it up a treat. Hands up who remembers them?