A Semi-productive Use Of A Decade
Oct 5th
SECR 440 No. 470 passing Shakespeare Cliff, Dover with a down train
Nice picture huh? It’s an old picture of a train going past some cliffs. The reason for it’s stunning relevance awaits the committed reader who hangs around to the end of this short note.
Where to begin, I wonder.
Well, first of all I need to provide some relevant background for those who weren’t around in my life between September 1979 and July 1986. I will be as brief as possible but if you don’t read the next few paragraphs, much of what comes over the next few weeks and months might be a bit of a struggle. If you were around during those formative years, read on anyway just in case you get a mention.
*clears throat*
A young Neil outside The Duke of York's Royal Military School, September 1979
On September 13th 1979, I was 11 years, 4 months old and along with my late dad, walked into The Duke Of York’s Royal Miltary School (DYRMS). It was (and still is ) an imposing scattering of buildings spread over 150 acres atop the cliffs of Dover. In the summer it was quite warm and in the winter/rest of the year it could be bloody cold, wet and a tad foggy. Until I went there, I thought knee-high morning fog was the invention of Arthur Conan Doyle and his literary ilk but no, it actually happens in real life. Most of the buildings were knocking on a century old but these had been supplemented in recent decades by an assortment of newer buildings and even some porta-cabins. So what was I doing there? Well, dad was in the army and every couple of years he got posted somewhere in the world and his dutiful, loving family would have to follow him. This was generally brilliant, if a little disruptive to the education of any children who might be along for the fun. It seemed a sound decision to send number one son to a solid, dependable boarding school in England to address this issue. I was told, rather than consulted, about this life-changing decision but I don’t remember being that bothered.
So, I went to a boys boarding school. I liked some of it and I hated some of it. The End.
I wish.
When I left in July 1986, I couldn’t wait to see the back of the place. My academic achievements could generously be called “unremarkable” and more realistically called “disappointing for all concerned”. My dad was in Beirut at the time and by the time we had the chance to review my scholastic achievements face to face, many years later, I was gainfully employed and dwelling on it didn’t seem like a productive way to spend an afternoon. Although of little consolation to my parents, I mostly had a great time and on reflection, it’s hard to believe so much was crammed into such a short period of time.
In the years since then, I created a website and a bit of an online community for those who went to the school. Facebook has more or less superseeded the sort of website I created but the discussion forum is active to this day. From the start, my friends and I discussed our shared history. It was not always pleasant to remember what went on but it was always interesting and because it didn’t look like anyone else would do so, I decided to write it all down. No, I did, I really did. I actually started writing. Then I stopped and then I started again. Ten years later, I am still doing so. It needs to be finished.
So that’s the plan. If you have read this far then I hope you will continue to read what follows. I am not going to write the whole book on my blog ( I am sure I will include a few paragraphs now and then). My plan is to share the process more than the content. I hope that doesn’t sound too dull. Fear not, I don’t do “dull” very well.
Oh and one more thing.
In case you haven’t figured it out, the postcard shows a train on it’s way to Dover, on the same line as the one that took me there on September 13th 1979 and my mum bought it in a collectables shop just after I decided to finally knuckle down a few weeks ago. I took it as a sign. It probably wasn’t.
Next time, I will talk about writing plans and why having one about 10 years ago would probably have been a good idea.
N x
Popularity: 27% [?]
Sunday Service
Oct 3rd
The Most Expensive Car In The World
Marooned
..and so I dribble to the end of one of the most full, stressfull, penniless and dismal months of my short young life. With no irony whatsover (considering the medium on which you are reading this), I won’t bore you with the minute details. A lot of you with whom I speak on regular basis will know about most of it. The maroon metal monstrosity pictured above played it’s part in no small measure. So far this year, I must have spent the best part of £1000 on it, despite only paying £595 about 3 years ago. The world is full of people willing to dish out advice when this happens but the answer is never so simple as most believe. “Get rid of it!” they yell. But you can’t “get rid” of a car that is broken can you? Who will take it? So, you fix it and then you don’t need to “get rid of it” at all. In fact, the thing you have just fixed is one more thing on it that is less likely to go wrong again. I use this dubious logic to convince myself that after this year’s repairs – the thermostat, clutch, exhaust and alternator will not go wrong again for ages. I know…I know…
Anyway, it’s booked in tomorrow at the garage next to work (I know…I know) that I have often spoken about. Yes, I always feel stupid in there but you have to understand that it’s very convenient and thanks to my kind friends, I won’t have to spend £25 on taxis. By this time tomorrow, I will be able to stop disconnecting the battery every time I park up at home, at work and anywhere else where I am going to be more than about 10 minutes. It’s amazing what you can put up with sometimes isn’t it? If it does have one downside, it’s that I have to wait around at work so that all my colleagues have driven off before I lift the bonnet to fiddle with the battery. They are all really kind but you do get a bit fed up of “are you ok?” or “do you need a hand?”. It’s my fault really. I shouldn’t know so many nice people.
I shouldn’t knock it too much though. As is always the case in the middle of diversity like this, I have learnt so much. I can now disable and re-enable the immobiliser with consumate ease. I know where the fuse for the horn is, I know how to change the battery, I know how to tell if the battery is charged just by looking at it and I even finally got round to putting new batteries in my key fobs.
But you are right. I should get rid of it. But look at it..it’s 13 years old and it’s still so shiny. It still has new car smell. Still!
So one final thank you to the RAC men who have helped me these past few weeks. Most of you were friendly, kind and helpful. One of you wasn’t but in his defence, it was very early, very cold and I did jibber like an idiot in an effort to pretend I knew the first thing about motor vehicles. To say I have got my money’s worth out of an annual RAC membership this year would be something of an understatement.
So that’s what’s been happening. It is certainly the only part of it entertaining enough or amusing to post here.
Progress
Long time pals will have been watching this blog on an almost daily basis for signs that it is going to be a going concern anytime soon. Well, I have now finished putting the last seven years of blog posts in and like most such jobs, it was a drag. This is mostly my fault as I re-read most of them before putting them in. Some I left out as a result of sheer tediousness or irrelevance. Some of them were too short to bother and after reading and disregarding the third of forth such dribble, I remembered that my first blog template was a skinny, single-columned affair where such tiny snippets would have filled half a page. Most of them would barely fill a Tweet these days.
Some of the entries reflected how much has changed since in the last 5 years. I had few friends at work who read my blog and it was very much a school friends blog. This is by no means a bad thing but nowadays, many of my work friends read this and would be a bit bored and/or mystefied by talk of things boarding school. I did (unwisely) bitch about work on occasion too. Why I thought this was appropriate is a bit of a mystery.
There is no mention of my dad passing away although there is of his funeral a week later. Likewise, there is little mention of my being diagnosed of Diabetes but there is of my memorable visit to a medical “workshop” a few weeks later. On reflection, I probably didn’t feel like blogging about dad at the time. I suppose the same could be said of my medical bombshell too.
So I guess I am “back” now. My next blog post will be the first concerning the writing of my book. If you didn’t know I was doing such a thing then you will no doubt be fascinated by what I have to share with you over the coming weeks. If you did know, then once again I promise that I will actually get on with it.
Popularity: 16% [?]
A Historical Explanation
Sep 1st
I thought I’d better explain what I am doing at the moment. I found a backup of all of my blog going back to 2004 and have decided to import most of it into here. This is a good thing, mainly because I thought that most of this was gone forever (even the best backup policy doesn’t always work). This is the reason the blog appears to be filling up backwards. I am reading each entry before it is (re)posted just in case it’s not suitable for a modern audience. This could be for any or all of the following reasons.
1. In the days when I first blogged, only my school friends read my blog and I occasionally moaned about work. Reading these entries makes me sound a little churlish and I regret it.
2. Some of it is just dull. Really dull.
3. Some of it is really short. I don’t know what I was thinking posting 1 paragraph. It wasn’t interesting and hardly worth a visit.
I have not edited them in hindsight. What I thought at the time remains unchanged.
I have also made a good start on the book nonsense and can’t wait to tell you all about it. My mum also found something in an antique fair at the weekend which is something of a good omen. I’ll share that too.
Popularity: 10% [?]
