¦ dialling in from workstation ¦
08:32 GMT, Thursday 10th September 2009. Another morning of glorious sunshine. Beautiful. Cold mind you, especially when blasting along winding country roads that hug the upper ridge of the hills between Bristol and Bath with the hood down. I got my car back last night. I rang Terry, my mechanic, yesterday afternoon to get the bad news on what had gone so wrong to cause such awful noises. I was holding my breath during the call, especially when he said “it was your catalytic converter, totally blown, the inside looked like a hammer had been at it; I had to replace the whole front end of your exhaust system”. A month ago, the same week I bought the car, I’d already heard somebody mention that a new exhaust system for a BMW cost them £1,600. So Terry said, “It was expensive, Dave, I’m sorry. It cost £180 to buy the parts. How about we go fifty – fifty?”
“Why would you want to go fifty-fifty?” I asked.
“Well I feel bad, Dave, you’ve not had the car long.”
This was true. So I went round, gave him £120 anyway, and drove off with a big grin stretching my face.
Which didn’t last so long.
Had a phone call from my sister last night. Mum’s had the results back from latest blood test. I guess I’d managed a mental sleight of hand over previous few weeks, after seeing my mum so ill on my last time to Newcastle…. I’d put it down to flu; I’d fooled myself that the cancer had sunk down into a pit for a while. After Cornwall, in July, mum bounced back with radiant health and vitality and smiles and laughter. It was incredible. My sister says mum’s now very ill. Both cancers are spreading. Mum’s now moving into an escalating phase of pain-control. I don’t feel upset. I’m just kind of numb to it now… from this distance, but I know next time I go up there (next week), and see her, see the suffering, that’s going to be tough.
Changing subject.
I saw District 9 last night.
Utterly fantastic film. The acting, the special FX, the script, the story… even the massive gaps in the story, the sort of broad sweeps of a pen that leaves you wanting to know more. Brilliant, simply brilliant.
UK National Lottery magic.
I’m not referring to Derren Brown’s stunt last night to predict all six numbers of the National Lottery. But I did mention this to my compadre, GonzoBen yesterday, and he jokingly quoted a string of six numbers, followed by changing his mind on two of the numbers. I had a vibe and wrote them down.
I played the numbers he gave me, but I also remember the variations he gave, i.e. when he changed his mind. So I played all three.
Checked the results this morning.
1st line, I scored 4 numbers out of 6
2nd line, I scored 3 numbers out of 6
3rd line, I scored 4 numbers out of 6.
Holy shit!!!! How cool is that.