Here Today, Gone Tomorrow

I took this photograph of the bin outside when I parked up outside the kebab flat one night this week. As always I have my camera in my ‘saddle sack’ as Phil calls it and it was so weird I couldn’t resist a shot. When I got safely inside, I showed the shot to Phil and he said something along the lines that “God has been”. To be honest I have seen some very strange things since living in the kebab flat that nothing really surprises me much anymore. I have seen a man in his PJ’s buying milk at the city store next door and we had a bloke running starkers right by past our lounge window right admist the rat territory. When I was queuing just the other day to buy electric on our card for our meter, I was surprised at the number of single blokes buying either a single can of cold beer or the cheapest half bottle of scotch before midday. Most bizzare. You have to believe me when I say that I don’t feel as if I fit in here. Honestly I don’t.

Phil wasn’t very well yesterday morning and I have to say I wasn’t very sympathetic at first, having put down his un-wellness down to too much beer and a very late night with the Wednesday night boys. But I was wrong; he had a fever and a very nasty red rash. Too bad that I had a list of jobs for him to do and although I knew he didn’t really feel like it, I had to make him. First up, I had to get him to take off the bathroom door and then rip out all the silver fish ridden skirting -board. Next up, was ripping out the old plastic silver looking towel rail which took some doing. He sprayed the silver fish remnants and I did my bit by hovering up the weird things and finally by scrubbing the floor on my hands and knees, literally. I did feel bad for Phil, especially as it was obvious he had a fever but it had be done. On Monday we have David (our posh plumber) booked in to replace the sink, bog and to re-tile the floor. Normally of course, we would do it ourselves but there is no way can live here without a toilet. We are out of the country next week and much against Phil’s economic drive, we have no choice but to get in a man that can do the job and pay for the privilege. Hey ho………….

Somewhere around mid morning we drove to IKEA to pick up some mirror type splash-back for the back of the freestanding 2 plate electric hotplate. Unfortunately for us, IKEA have stopped production of the cheap aluminium splash-back due to technical reasons until December. B&Q do something in a similar range of a far higher quality but at a stupid inflated price. We settled on 2 packs of mirror wall tiles at £4.99 for a pack of 4 and even though I say it myself, they look fabulous.

Phil downloaded a voucher for 2 for 1 at ASK in the Sno-zome so we went there for lunch. The big boy choose a calzone which looked and tasted pretty good, while yours truly opted for a chicken penne pasta thingy with a mushroom sauce. It wasn’t great and so obviously not freshly cooked and needless to say, I won’t be going back there. They charged us £11.50 for 2 glasses of mediocre wine and even with no pudding and the 2-4-1 deal, the bill still came to 25 quid.

We got back and Phil died on the sofa. Not literally so don’t panic, but the rash had spread to his face and he didn’t look very good. I left him and went to my safety haven ‘David Lloyd’ for a scrub down and a shower. I really wanted to book in for a lime and ginger exfoliation because I had at £10 voucher off which expires at the end of Oct ’08 but there just wasn’t time. Janet saved the day with a tub of Sanctuary Spa Convent Garden Body Butter which she gave me for my birthday, which did the job just as good.

Today is finish off jobs; VAT return, PAYE, take the toilet seat back to B&Q, collect the post from Kiln Farm, put up the rack in the kitchen and get a Phil a haircut. As I type this Phil is still asleep and so I am really hoping he is better today. He is refusing to go to the doctor so I am I am home medicating him with aspirin, anti-histamine and Aquarius cream which was prescribed for him by the doctor for his Jacuzzi rash when we were aboard the Queen Mary 2.

This afternoon we’re going to see Ghost Town at The Odeon which has just been released. Tomorrow morning Phil will pick up Georgina and her friend Jennifer and we will are flying out to Costa Brava around midday for a weeks stay at the Pineda Palace in Pineda De Mar. Phil's paid good money and it’s meant to be a 4* but two thirds of the reviews on Trip Advisor are really grim. The lead review when I last checked was entitled “Never again” and the review below it was called "never again, ever!" So I have no great expectations of the hotel especially as Pineda De Mar lies between Lorret De Mar and Tossa De Mar, which just about sums it all up really. Forever the optimist, I wait to be pleasantly surprised, but deep down I don’t hold out much hope. So this blog is probably the last from me until we return. Next week, you will no doubt, be reading all about Phil’s rants and raves from the Costa Brava. Adiós a mis amigos!