Modern Vespa

So that's why I spend the nights curled up on the settee under a blanket.

Having said that it's not all bad, sometimes she throws me a biscuit.

Bill XX

mrs kam usually enjoys a bit of scooter talk but the finer points of headlight adjustment, and the fact that my lack of adjustment is immortalised on a modern vespa calling card, is sadly lost on her.

she loves talking about my next scooter modification though. at least i thought she did. shit, maybe she's just humouring me and is really just sitting there nodding whilst fantasising about dragging me up to bed once we get the children fed, homeworked, bathed, jim-jammed, hot water bottled-up, spelling tested, times-table tested, bedtime storied, tucked in....................

Agreed, the task list is a long and winding road.

I got around the bored shitless by scooter talk look by spreading the disease to my husband. Now instead we can have arguments about scooters and riding instead... gah, you can't win, can you?

I take heart that he'd rather be bored shitless by me than anyone else....

My other half doesn't last too far into a scootery conversation before she glazes over. I have to pepper any news throughout the course of a day or two and then give it a rest for a while. But then, the same goes for my mates who mostly takes the piss after similar shows of endurance so I reckon I must probably go on a bit. I like that though. It kind of makes scootering more my own thing. I'd love it if any of them were in to it, but it's a quite nicely solitary pursuit at times.

Got my last day of work tomorrow then the leaving do on Friday night, which should be a good hearty laugh. I can hear the Tennent's Lager calling out to me. We've booked out the back room of a cracking city centre pub, and I've just had a momentary pang of doubt about the availability of the TL, but I'm almost certain it has no foundation. I find if I'm on a Lager trip of an evening and they don't serve that stuff I end up blowing terrible wad on the Continental offerings. Ach well, there's always Guinness. So, aye, should be a laugh.

Everyone got nice weekends planned?

I am blessed,. My wife was the one that suggested I look into getting a scoot. Just last night said that it would be OK to look into getting a larger scoot or a new commuter scooter.

As for the scooter conversations... she puts up with my blathering while I deal with her Cricut passion. I have even gotten her to watch a few TopGear episodes with me. She was laughing as hard as I was. She loved the Vietnam special and the Lorryists.

Imagine my surprise when I returned to the bike bay on Gt Russell St yesterday and found a row of these hubcap/ashtray thingies had been installed while I was at work! They'd managed to get them in place despite the bay being full of bikes, though they had given my ET4 a generous coating of mud in the process

The cynic in me says Camden are gearing up to charge for bike parking.

The cynic in me also says that Westminster has yet to install any such security in the bays round my way even though they've been charging for a year. My boyfriend is the only person who will put up with my blow-by-blow accounts of rides I've been on ('and then I turned left, and then I turned right, and then it started to rain a bit, and then I did this brilliant overtake'). In return I get to listen to his latest scientific strategies for riding even faster, whoops I mean 'better'.

Ah Gt Russell Street - I know some excellent if slightly skanky pubs around there so if anyone fancies a midweek pint I'd be up for that.

I would be well up for a skanky pint at some point in the next couple of weeks! (Not tonight though as I'm going to karate. It would not be a good idea.)

Or these may become resident's 'Permit' bays like RBKC. Note that many of these in RBKC now have the 'Permit' bit painted out. I wonder how that could have happened...

http://ukfrancebikers.com/2010/01/15/kensington-chelsea-are-having-a-taste-of-westminsters-defaced-bike-parking-signs/

Right now I'm about to finish work for the last time for the foreseeable future. Scary moment - just wanted to share it.

Best of luck.

Cheers Jim.

Fingers crossed I'll be boring all with tales of jobhunting success in the near future. Probably a good opportunity to get stuck into some slightly overdue maintenance in the meantime.

J I'm sure it won't be long until you find something thats suits and keeps you out of trouble.

Why not enjoy the silence for a while ?

Ever thought about posting your CV to all the companies that you'd like to work for ?

That's how I got my previous job.

The very best of luck to you young man.

Bill XX

Cheers Bill. It's heartening to hear that approach can come up trumps. The Mrs may have floated the very idea. Got a busy weekend, which I fully intend to enjoy to the fullest, and then next week the process changes up a gear.

Good man. Don't - I assure you don't! - get into the habit of being relaxed with no urgency. That's reserved for us older folk. Keep your usual wake-up and sleep regimes. Pretty vital for keeping that next job. If you slide into my 25 hour days (and a monthly body-clock reset, yes, bed soon) then you are doomed to a life of leisure.

Good luck, J-dawg!

An hour and a bit more work and then it's curry time. CURRY. TIME.

Alice, you're like so totally wrong dude on the curry front...................it's a fact universally acknowledged that Friday night is PIZZA time!!!

This is hugely exciting, because the return of pizzas to Friday nights mean only one, very important, thing.....


......namely that the rugby league season has started again (HUUUUUGE happiness).

(It probably also means that I'm terminally sad because I'm really looking forward to staying in on a Friday night just so I can watch RL, but I can live with that )

I usually hasten home on Fridays to vegetate with some South Park and a nice wodge of E numbers, but tonight I am bucking the trend and eating out with a mate.

you all think you're sad.... listen to this: my mum got me a slow cooker for christmas. it had its first outing yesterday - i produced a very delicious vegetable and lentil stew. this evening, the leftovers were topped with mashed potatoes and cheese and run under the grill to produce a scrumptious golden brown cheesy crust. the entire thing was devoured.

now i'm feeling very over-stuffed and looking for something to watch on the telly. that's how sad i am

My flatmate's parents have just given him a slow cooker for his birthday and he's not sure what to do with it. I'll pass this information on, though I don't think he's quite as interested in lentils as I am (I love them).

I've just made rock cakes! They are very tasty, but I think I'll cut down on the nutmeg next time.

This coming Saturday I will be spending most of the day cleaning and polishing the Hornet and the Ka and if any of you are at a lose end you are welcome to come and join me.

There will be every possible cleaning and polishing product available and more tea and biscuits than you can shake a stick at so if you fancy a ride South please feel free to visit my humble abode.

I may even have a little ride out in the lanes afterwards if you fancy.

You are all welcome.

Bill XXX

PS I was watching Top Gun recently and did I miss something first time around or was it aimed at entirely at other men if you catch my drift ?

top gun was on tv the other night and i have to say its the most homoerotic film ive ever seen ... its one of our lasses faves and she says its only me that thinks this and i have a problem

glad im not alone

You see I thought it was just me. All those really good looking guys in uniform strutting about and being all macho, flirting with each other outragously and all that volleyball in slow motion OH !

There's only so much a boy can take. It was worse than a George Micheal video.

I may have to watch it again.


Mr Wonder - are the bad guys flying a Lockheed Freedom Fighter ?

The thought that Mr Uplift Shoes bats for my team is pretty awful.

We should introduce him to Cliff Richard, somehow I think they'd get on famously. Which one of them could produce the most shit eating grin?

I very much doubt that Tom Cruise prefers the company of other gentleman which also goes for Val Kilmer but as the the characters they play and the enviroment they are in ?

Also there are way too many men with moustaches.

Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad thing I'm just feeling a bit of a dumbass for not spotting what a macho-fest it was before.

Bill

its ok i didnt spot it till our lass bought the anniversary dvd.... having said that i hadnt seen it since it was released ... i actually payed to see it in 86 .... thinking about it at 16 i had a lucky escape

I was actually tempted to post a "Just how Gay is Top Gun?" thread but I was given that look as if to say "that's a really bad idea and you know it" so I decided to voice my observations in a quieter place.

I also had a fear that the people without a sense of irony or for that matter a sense of humour may object and the thread would get locked so for once I buckled to my own limited sense of reserve.

Bill - Jet Ranger

how happy am i .... i just found the in private browser on my comp ..... now she wont catch me out when i forget and start another nuclear rant

Anyone out there eaten at a Spagetti House ? I saw one on Saturday afternoon and it looked like a good place to meet up and the best thing was there was loads of parking for bikes just around the corner from it.

If only I could remember what street it was in.

Oh yeah Doug doesn't like Carluccios either.

April 4th.

Bill XX

that spag house is in sicilian avenue, holborn.

doug's gone off carluccio's for good? i have to admit i've gone a bit lukewarm on them since the dreaded runny yolk incident. though the one just north of oxford circus is nice.

back to work. going through conference abstracts. i doubt i'll be doing much sleeping this week.

Thanks Genie. It's almost as if you were there.

I'm going to suggest we change the venue on the 4th of April to the Spagetti House in Sicilian Avenue Holborn mainly because Carluccios have let us down badly twice in the end so lets vote with our feet and try somewhere new ?

The Restuarant looks pretty big so I'm sure we could get a table for 10 or more of us.

Bill XX

Looks good.

Any one know what parking is like or are adult beverages in order?

Gets my vote. But I'm so easy it doesn't really count.

Indeed they are. The USAF used them as pretend MIG-21s during the Cold War.

In other flying related news, I was unable to go anywhere for most of Saturday due to a very thin layer of compacted snow over East Dulwich's roads, and only managed to get some flying in at the end of the day today, as I had to wait until late morning before I was satisfied that Hampshire's A-roads would be thawed enough to ride on safely.

In other news, heated gear still rocks, and I get better mileage if I don't treat every traffic light like an F1 start grid.

Top Gun

Wait, isn't April 4th Easter? I'll probably be away as it's a long weekend. Can vouch for Spaghetti House's tastiness though.

Who is the Skoker with the nice metallic red scoot kept under a cover on Morwell St? I saw the sticker peeking out.

Commisserate with me, Skokers. I lost the biggest commission of my natural today, and while its not the end of the universe it would have been amazing had I got it.

So I am feeling upset, irritated and a little weepy.

sad news but seek something bigger and better or make something small evolve into something massive using your talents and show them the error of their ways.

positive thinking, onwards and upwards 8)

Oh, damn! Consolatory boozes? Big hug?

Ugh I feel so stupid and let down by myself. I had the temerity to be out enjoying myself and I missed the opportunity to entirely change my life.

I suppose I will try and remember that its unlikely to be the only opportunity I will ever have, but at the moment, I just feel like like my heart is in my socks.