Back from Blackpool

The mini break to Blackpool was good but it wasn’t without some stress. At 40 bucks a night I wasn’t expecting much of the hotel but actually The County was okay. A bit tired and battered in places and in need of some TLC (bit like me really) but the bed was comfy and we got a good Wi-Fi connection in our room. The best thing about the hotel was the fact that it was smack bang in the middle of Lytham and so right amongst the shops and pubs and a stone’s throw from the sea. It was good to see Steve again and he hasn’t changed a bit. Just as we were walking out of our hotel room on Thursday evening I got a call from mad Betty. She’d been watching the blinds in the CF flat all afternoon and was convinced we had squatters. I told her “thanks for the neighbourhood watch but there was nothing I could do until we returned home”. Phil said “ignore her” but it weighed on my mind all evening. For some reason I wasn’t feeling too great and after a morning on Friday seeing the sights of Blackpool we returned back to the hotel.

We weren’t long back when I received a frantic phone call from Harriet to say that Shane had been mugged not far from the flat. The 3 hoddies that punched him off his bike got away with £140 cash, an old mobile and the keys to the flat. Again, I told Harriet there wasn’t anything we could do until we got back to MK. Nonetheless, this weighed heavily on my mind, and all sorts of things were going through my head. Too much imagination, that’s my trouble.

The drive back on the M6 was horrendous, heavy traffic, rain and gales all the way home. Poor Phil wasn’t feeling very well and he literally collapsed on the sofa as soon as we walked through the door. The house was cold so we whacked up the central heating and I fed Phil orange juice and Aspirin. We had intended to go and change the lock at the OB flat but the locksmiths was closed so this job had to wait until after the weekend. Phil was feeling a little better on Sunday but still not 100% so we had an easy day. Not quite a full-on duvet day but still, a stay at home day - lunch, telly and a whole load of domestics for me.

Yesterday we drove over to Whaddon to pick up the Ford KA. It went in last Wednesday for a replacement sump and a service ready for the winter. Unfortunately it wasn’t ready before we left for Blackpool so we had to leave it in the garage over the weekend. It’s running much better now so I’m glad I had it done. After we picked it up, we went straight to the OB flat to change the lock. Phil got the barrel and went to the locksmiths while I waited with Coke the dog, who was as always, pleased to see me. The rest of the day was paperwork, phone calls, computer stuff and tiddly jobs around the house. I went next door for a cup of tea with Emma and finished the day off with a swim and a steam to clear my head.

I still haven’t quite recovered from my blog issues on Friday which forced me to make the blog private. As you know, blogging for all the world to see, public profiles and all the privacy issues that go with it, have been on my mind lately. I was tempted to delete the naked bloggers altogether but I just couldn’t bring myself to hit the delete key. No, instead I’ll carry on until the 9th November finishing with some kind of summing up last posting. Whilst travelling, Phil tends to do the lion’s share of posting so it makes sense that he is chief author. Phil will then go live with his travel blog on the 10th November which will follow our adventures in Hong Kong, Bali, Australia & the USA. Not sure yet whether he will go public or blog by invitation, that’s down to him. No doubt I shall chip in here and there, going cold turkey and disappearing into thin air, would be, I fear, all too much.