Bad Weather
In today's inbox a mail from Derek Atkinson asking weather (typo on purpose!) I am okay. Was I blown away in this weekend's storms? Glad to say I wasn't. Although the same can't be said of Derek's beloved garden friend. Not sure if it's Bill or Ben but he's definitely gone flobbadobbely.
By strange coincidence I am reminded that on this day two years ago (29th October 2000), England's South Coast gets its worst storms in ten years. Why do I remember that? Well, guess who happens to be crossing the Channel in those force 10 gales! Not only that but I am coming back from a beer-festival in Belgium and have got one of the worst hangovers I've ever had. They left us swaying in the middle of the Channel for 6 hours as they tried to get ferries to stay still long enough to be able to dock in to Dover. There were a couple of times I threw-up over the side only to have the winds blow it straight back in my face. Awful, absolutely awful. The only way to cheer myself up was watching people with trays of drinks trying to get from one side of the ferry to the other with their drinks intact.
Talking of the Channel, I met this guy last week. The nutcase. Anyway, more about that tomorrow...
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I often think that many of the people here in the States are a 'few cards short of a full deck'. Then I come across something like today's blog about "flobbas" (or whatever they are called) and I realize that the whole world is a nuts.
What are those things?
Bill & Ben were "The Flower Pot Men" of course! ;o)
They were children's tv-show characters from the 1960s (?) that have recently had a revival. They were much like the Teletubbies in that they couldn't speak properly. All they could manage was a few "flobbadobbas" here and there.
If anything I think we (the US and the UK) are quite sensible compared to the rest of the world....
Well, if they are like the Teletubbies, then how bad could it be. :{
I am grateful our ancestors dropped down from the trees and spent thousands of years evolving(?) and surviving so that our species could produce a TV exec that could come up with the Teletubbies. I half expect that we are all part of some Douglas Adams book.
It's for 1 - 3 year olds.
I heard Lala is gay and Poo has a eating disorder.
Nothing like a ferry ride on rough seas after two hours sleep and more booze in your gut than you remember putting away. I remember mine well. Good times!
That guy must really like swimming.
Looking at the map, I reckon he swam about twice as far as necessary, with a big loop in the middle.
Call me lazy (I do) but when I set out to do something, I do it with the least amount of effort possible!
As part of the "rest of the world", OI!
Unless, of course, you subscribe to the view of the geographically-challenged North American that Australia is part of the US (which route is that on?), in which case you obviously weren't including Aussies in the not sensible category.
Unlucky for you to be crossing the Channel, I was also at a Beer festival in Belgium that weekend, but we crossed via the tunnell!
Anura - Apparently it was the tide that took him on that route. But the man does love swimming. When I first met him a few years ago we had just climbed Scafell Pike (England's tallest "mountain") and he then insisted we all swim across the lake at the bottom of the descent. It's a wonder I don't hate him!
Kathy - You Ozzies are the craziest of all. For example, take our Channel swimmer. Which country do you think he's from? Come to think of it, he probably swam it to Britain...
Jon - Ha ha. Yer a big wimp!
Jake, call me what you like, but if you were given the choice wouldn't you have taken the tunnel?
Yes!
This is the lesson learned: never take a boat to England after having a beer night in Belgium. And ... never underestimate Belgian beers...:-)
Thomas
Antwerp, Belgium
I blame the Leffe (There's no need to make beer that strong!!) and my inability to regulate my drunkenness.
The way different people react to the gales and storms amused me. It seems that "homeowners" are those that worry most (for financial reasons).
I didn't bat an eyelid, but my woman owns her home and was worried all night, and hence kept me awake. For ALL the wrong reasons.