Dirty old world

One of the things that Julie and me like to do to relax is to go for a drive. For us, it's a great way to de-stress ourselves. If I have a bad head, for some reason, it works wonders to get into the car and just pootle about for an hour or so. What we like to do is go exploring; lots of little roads, places we've gone past, names we've seen on signposts. Alternatively, just driving along long stretches of road, enjoying the air (if it's warm enough) and listening to music.
That's if Julie manages to stay awake, that is. There's something about the movement of the car that just lulls her to sleep. She has often said that if someone came up with a bed that mimicked the motion of a moving car - while remaining in the one place - then they could make a fortune.

Naturally, we do enjoy the scenery, but as the driver, I tend to miss a lot - we tend to agree that concentrating on the road should be my main objective.* However, because I do pay a lot of attention to details, I often see things that Julie misses or has not seen until then. My peripheral vision will pick up things like the slight movement of a rabbit by the roadside, or some bird of prey hovering over a field.

Red Kite in Wales. Pic from Byrdir, a farm that does accommodation
and has a nice little blog going too. http://byrdir.co.uk/

In contrast, and possibly caused by the aforementioned lulling motion of the car, Julie's visual acuity seems to be less than 20/20...

Quite possibly, love, quite possibly.

*My father was notorious for not being able to keep his eyes on the road. It was very common that we would have to act as a second and maybe even third pair of eyes. I especially recall one family holiday in France. We were driving along one side of a beautiful valley, and Dad was constantly distracted by the admittedly gorgeous scenery on the other side.

(Dad) "That's a pretty chateau over there." 

(us) "It's a very attractive road in front of us, Dad!"

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PS
I'll tell you what; when I went looking for a picture of a red kite, I never expected to find one as part of a blog by a Welsh farm, a farm that has a large amount of accommodation to its name.
The front of the website looked so good, I decided to see what the options for staying there were like. Very nice, as it happens. A beautiful location, nice cottages to stay in... I think I might have to keep this place in mind for sometime in the future (when we have the money, in other words).
Here's the link again http://byrdir.co.uk/

Sick at the sight of Spike?

As you read this, I am hopefully out and about, doing my roadie bit for my company, as they try and hawk their wares to a multitude of possibly uninterested and occasionally larcenous (going by my latest experiences) hairdressers. On the way, I aim to meet a few friends, and have indeed managed to do this already, both on this tour and on the previous round. Silliness was prevalent and fun was had by... a few, at least.
By the time I post this, I should be in Coventry, and aiming to be in Manchester for the following day. On that particular day, a Thursday, I will be in a damn sweet hotel, albeit one that has changed its name (and, indeed, ownership) since I last visited, a mere few months ago. The thing is, last time I was there, there were a few problems with communication, one way or another, and one of my friends never made it to the meet-up. That was a crying shame as the lady I did meet, turned out to be just as nice and fun in real life as she is on the other side of a computer screen.
This time, there are problems once more; with timing for the previously absent friend (although he may yet make it) and with Mamacat, as I originally knew her, there is a health situation, as I explained to Julie.

Wow - nice one love; A complete sympathy fail and a crushing put-down in one sentence? Sorry, Mamacat, but I think I managed to catch the brunt of that one.
I don't know, considering my friend has contributed to this blog on more than one occasion, courtesy of her young daughters, you'd think Julie would at least extend some professional courtesy... unless she's jealous, of course...

UPDATE
I AM in Coventry, in a library, and glad to be out of the hotel. I woke up with a headache, which was unpleasant. I would have had a shower, but having seen that the shower patently hasn't been cleaned, I think I may limit myself to a quick wash-over with a sponge. Yes, the shower IS that bad; even worse, it's the 2nd room. When I saw the black-spot mould all over the shower in the first room, I immediately refused to use it and demanded a second room.
Sheesh. I wish I was back in Cardiff...

A vacation to Venus, perhaps?

I don't think there is a person that hasn't done it, to one degree or another. I mean, even those who seem to have everything they want must yearn for something. Of course, for the rich, such yearnings are usually easily satisfied (unless it's the desire for another country to control, perhaps...), but for the less affluent, it's a little more difficult.
Hence the powerful machine that is gambling. Some people bet on sporting events and some may even do well from it (although I have a colleague who is something of a Jonah to anything he puts money on. Seriously - everyone else makes  a note of what he's wasti... er placing his bet on, just so they know which horse, driver to avoid). Others will try things like casinos (why the hell do people waste their money on roulette and slot machines?) or, scaling things down somewhat, bingo halls.
Of course, there is always the easiest, most freely-available option - the lottery. In Britain, we are lucky(??) enough to have a few choices of lottery. We have the national lottery , now renamed Lotto, the Euromillions lottery and a few smaller scale ones that are basically individual causes vying for our money. Tonight is going to be a good night for some lucky bas- people in the UK as there are apparently going to be a guaranteed 18 new millionaires as a result of the Euro lottery draw. And yes, I have a ticket. Well, a man can dream, can't he?
Talking of dreams, what should we do if we won the jackpot, Julie?

"Somewhere else?" Richard Branson hasn't actually managed to get any holiday trips to outer space yet, love...