Sunday, June 20, 2010

Countryphile


Hi there readers

First up, I feel I need to proffer up my all too usual apologies for a severe lack of regular posting recently. You wouldn't believe the last two weeks I've had. Although, if you're a long termer you might. I just don't ever seem to get the rub of the green. So far 2010 has been one of the worst yet. Which, if anyone takes the trouble to read 2009's postings, is saying something!

My misadventures with Dippy in Australia were followed by returning home jobless to find the Tories in charge. I was then unceremoniously kicked out of my own home. And if that wasn't bad enough, just when I managed to get myself back up and online, I was burglarized!

I've feel violated :-(

I thought South London was bad enough with its dog and bike thievery, not to mention its legally and positively encouraged by the powers that be Day Light Bloody Fucking Robbery. But I'd not been out in the sticks five minutes before my own domicile had been breached and evacuated of its contents.

On the night of my last post, I signed off the pages of Newsdesk and proceeded in a southerly direction to the local pub. To be totally honest I fancied a crack at the barmaid. Sadly, I didn't really make much progress. I sparked up a conversation fair enough saying that I was new to the area and wouldn't mind finding someone with local knowledge to show me around. I name-checked a few famous people I'd met as a successful writer down in London, names like Pete Andre, Bruno Brooks and Barry McGuigan, but I could tell she didn't really 'get it'.

That's the thing with these country girls, they lack sophistication, imagination and ambition. They end up working behind the bar of their local village pub, getting up the duff with the centre forward of the pub football team and then settling down to a life of domestic abuse, misery and dreams of what might have been.

In many ways that barmaid reminded me of my own poor mother. I still can't believe she's been blinded by Roger Leache. You would have thought she would have learnt her lesson when dad ran off with the lollipop lady. Some people are just born victims.

I can't really remember leaving the pub that night or indeed the long and dark stagger home. I woke up with a splitting headache and dragged myself out of bed only to discover that the front door of Greta's place was wide open and some git had been in and made it away with half my stuff. My laptop (and dongle), mobile phone, wallet, my TV (still boxed from the move), microwave which was brand spanking new - and while not technically mine, per se, was still something I was looking forward to using - my passport and the box set of The Wire!! Still at least they hadn't discovered the six pack of Cobra in the fridge. I had to have one just to settle my nerves.

Once I'd had the police around and spent about two hours going over the previous night's events and the details of the stolen contents, I had to walk all the way to Lincoln because the tealeaf had also nicked the keys to Roger's Ford Focus that he let me borrow for the move. Honestly, judging my his reaction when I got there you'd think cared more about his missing motor than the fact that I could have been murdered in my sleep.

I had to sleep on the sofa that night. IN MY OWN HOME! The indignity of it all!!!!

I did a lot of thinking that night on the sofa. I was going to have to sort my life out. I was going to have to get home. But, well, I was also pretty bloody excited about the World Cup. The thieves had at least not stolen Greta's ancient, but fully functioning telly.

Mum came up to me the following morning when Roger wasn't around and gave me a few quid. Not 'gave', as such though, because I will pay her back, natch. She's a great old girl really my Mum. Although, I think she's lost touch with reality a bit, I doubt she even knows how much a Frey Bentos pie is these days. Fortunately, I know where she keeps her spare credit card. I thought, if England get past the group stages I could be holed up in that cottage until July.

When I got back to the cottage the next day I was in for yet another unpleasant surprise. Roger's son Gary was on the sofa watching TV in his boxer shorts. He barely even diverted his eyes from the set to acknowledge my entrance. "All right Barry mate," he said, "have you got any booze?"

'Cheeky twat,' I thought as walked into the kitchen, 'there's no way I'm letting him get his hands on my Cobra.' "...only I've finished off that flat shit in the fridge and I thought you might have something decent on you.." bellowed Leache.

Even above the din of my internal rage I think I heard him scratching his balls. I went straight to my room, and I'm not afraid to admit it readers, I had myself a little cry.

Later that night Gary shouted up asking me if I wanted to go to the pub, I didn't bother answering, I thought I'd just pretend to be asleep. I heard the door slam a little later and I went down and polished off the contents of Greta's liquor cabinet while watching a documentary about sex tourists in Vietnam. Makes you sick really, hopeless, socially inept, middle aged men picking up girls young enough to be their daughters.

I woke in the night to the sound of rhythmic banging. Leache had clearly been more successful than I had down at the village boozer. Stands to reason really, he's exactly the sort of uneducated Philistine that impresses teenage barmaids. When I got downstairs the following morning both Leache and his companion were nowhere to be seen.

Gary has kept himself to himself since that first night. He turned up the day after England v USA with an XBox and a copy of FIFA 10, and he even bought me a case of Heineken to replace my Cobras. We played a few games and thanks to my management training with Zach Abrahams I didn't disappoint on the virtual pitch.

It turns out that Gary keeps quite odd hours and is sometimes away for days on end, but he seems to be amazingly successful with the ladies. I had to buy some ear plugs from the chemist just to get a full night's sleep when he's around!

Anyway, he turned up last Friday night and we sat down together to watch England/Algeria. I hate to admit it, but we had quite an entertaining night, despite the fact that he kept calling the Algerians "rag 'eds". Still, he's not really a man of the world like me, I think he's pretty much never moved away from the East Midlands and he certainly didn't go to university.

This morning he turned up at the cottage driving a black Peugeot 206. He was giving me a lift over to Mum's place for Roger's Father's Day meal.

I took a calculated risk, remembering comments that Gary had made to be about his father when we first met, and revealed to him that I knew about Roger being a nazi. It was as risky gambit as I had suspected during the England game that Gary might also being a member of the BNP. But it turns out he hates Roger even more than me. He didn't really have a decent word to say for the man. Gary's racism, it turns out, is not politically motivated, he's just a bit provincial.

Anyway, they're all downstairs as I write this post - I'm using Roger's computer which is set up in Mum's room. That's one in the eye for fascism!

I can hear the laughter and clink of glasses. I know for a fact that Gary has only really turned up to brown nose Greta. He reckons she'll be dead by Christmas and he'll have a third share in the cottage.

I'd best get myself back down there before the pigs in blankets have all gone.

Yours in News

Barry

10 comments:

  1. Hi Baz,
    God - you make my life sound so bleedin' boring!! Here's me, ticker hanging on by a thread (literally!) and teaching the old 9 to 5 (well 3:30 actually with 6 weeks off in the summer) and the most exciting thing that's ever happened to me is extricating an HB pencil that my eldest grandson jammed into my DVD player! You on the other hand have intimate knowledge of psychotropic drugs, get burgled, are fighting a Nazi plot to annexe Lincoln, rescue orphaned playpusses (platypussii?)in the Australian outback and have a foul-mouthed friend called Dave the Roofer who impregnated your former girlfriend who was a rebound from that sexbomb you fancied in Blockbusters!! Bugger me - It's just too unfair!
    So I decided it was time to make my life a bit more Newsdesk! Even though Chicken Tikka Masala brings me out in a rash and an ill-advised poppadom dipped in sour cream and chives can make me cough for a week, last night I hauled me and the protesting Mrs C out to the local Indian for a slap-up 3 courses and all the trimmings - and what did I see? They had the Newsdesk tipple, Cobra - on tap!!! Never ever seen so much as a bottle of the stuff in Asda (usual relaxer being a stout Merlot with overtones of honey and Ribena). What choice did I have? I thought - "What would Barry do" and quick as a flash came the answer " Get half a pint down you. son!" Bloody hell, Baz - it was like gargling with turpentine. Felt dizzy in minutes - and the wife ended up with a lap full of half-digested Lamb Dhansak! I'm in disgrace and I doubt I'll be getting any of the old conjugals until I've paid the bill at the cleaners and several weeks of sleeping in the shed have helped to erase the memory! I've been permanently banned from the Mogul Azam Tandoori and Kebab House - the shame of it all!. Baz, I'm just not cut out for excitement - will just have to carry on getting my thrills vicariously through reading your adventures.

    Keep on blogging!
    MrC

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  2. I might as well hide and not post but hey, Barry, guess who this is ! I haven't been much on the web as well except for twitter, where I found a place where I can whine and complain about anything without being judged !!
    And glad to see you are still here Mr C and you're right, my life sounds so pretty boring in comparison but I really hope you're gonna sort that shit out like I did over the past few months ! Coz same here, 2010 has been the worst year so far, and I've been reading my writings from 2009 and made them a 'book' or so to say, well, my thoughts on all that happened in my life this last year, which is gonna end in six days precisely. Cobra is your best ally, so is white wine for me, and ciggies, and i'm on my way to a new and fresh start, coz I'm going back to school. I've been accepted in a masters degree...in English ! New adventures begin Sept 5 and I'm gonna have a blog about it me thinks, that could be interesting.
    Anyway, some things don't change, and I'm glad you're still here, with your interesting point of views and sense of british humour. You take care my friend.

    X

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  3. Have just come over from my brother,Eddie Bluelights' Sunday Roast and wanted to let you know that I enjoyed the interview and thought it went down very well.
    I see that your last post was action packed but sorry you have been burgled. I bet you feel like murdering the person who did it.

    Always good to meet new people.
    Maggie

    Nuts in May

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  4. Hi Barry
    I am hoping you are around to see your roast.

    If you are aroung put up a link to the roast.

    Just read about your burglary!
    They should be strung up!!

    Cheers
    Eddie

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  5. Stopping over from Eddie Bluelights. You totally crack me up. Loved your spin at being Roasted!
    Cheers,
    jj

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  6. Hi Barry, thanks for the mention on Sunday Roast, never heard of it before! I've moved my blog from little acorns to knitsamadworld BTW. Donna

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  7. Hope you are alright. It has been a while. Happy holidays, hope to hear you blogging again soon.

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  8. Happy New Year, Barry! Hope 2011 brings you all you would wish for.

    Missing your blogs - hope all is well.

    MrC

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  9. Mr C. I think it is fair to say that 2011, cannot be much worse than 2010. It was an anus horriblus in so many ways, that I can't describe there is something about the way you look tonight that takes my breath away.

    Too much has happened that I'm not sure I can say... too much, too young.

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  10. Computer Motherboard
    It was raining and it was sunny. Between rain and shine, between sips of my coffee, between page 15 and 16, between the corgi on leashed outside and the fortunate patrons inside, I found myself looking at an property ads on the paper. I knew that was it.

    ReplyDelete